377 Danger! High Explosives! (1/2)
Northern Front, 'The Baiting Line', Marine First Battalion, 'A' Company
All along the line of defensive works, Marines slept with their helmets and gear on. The land between the Marines and Imperials were pockmarked with craters and bodies. The once waist tall wild grasses were flattened and charred from spells and explosives. The Marines named the land between the two forces as the Baiting Line, for once the Imperials crossed an imaginary line, the Marines will attempt to bait the Imperialsin and hit them with massed artillery fire.
Surprisingly, the First Imperial Army remained steadfast and its men held their discipline, while its auxiliary troops' morale had long broken from the punishing fire of the artillery strikes. The Imperials had retreated for the third time in good order while the Marines cheered. And now, the Marines were stirring up as the skies slowly brightened up, signaling for another attack soon.
”New orders!” The platoon Sergeant dropped down into Slow's fighting pit. ”We are gonna stage a retreat! So pack up your essentials and left the rest behind!”
”Huh?” Slow scratched his head. ”So we are running?”
”Yes,” The Sergeant nodded as he waved over a couple of guys. ”A fake one. The demo boys will be rigging up the whole place with explosives and mines! So get ready!”
”We gonna stand on those boom booms?” Slow's beady eyes enlarged in surprise as he watched a couple of combat engineers shoved earth out from the floor of his fortified position while another stacked crates marked with white bold letters 'DANGER! HIGH EXPLOSIVES!' on the side.
”Yes!” The Sergeant grinned. ”Don't worry, soldier! Nothing a good dose of high explosive can't solve!”
”But... Sarge!” Slow looked worriedly at the pile of explosives being planted around the area. ”What happens if one of those fireballs land here?”
”That's why we are baiting them to close the Baiting Line!” The Sergeant replied. ”Once they close the line we give them a good volley and we run!”
”We gonna let them think our weapons are exhausted and let them chase us!” The Sergeant explained while those nearby all listened attentively. ”We will stop the artillery fire and let them think we ran out of ammo. Once they reach our lines, we will drop everything on them.”
”And if they take cover in our defensives,” The Sergeant gave an evil smile and patted the crates of explosives. ”Well... like I said. Nothing a good dose of explosive can't solve!”
”So, suck it up!” The Sergeant said. ”These babies won't hurt you! Just remember to run as fast as you can to the fall back lines the engineers are building!”
”Fark...” Slow sighed as the Sergeant walked off down the lines. He looked at the engineers carefully burying the explosives with soil and hiding the detonation wire. ”You sure this won't go boom?”
The combat engineer looked up and gave a shrug. ”It shouldn't... just don't let it catch a fireball or meteor spell!”
”Oh, Slow no like this...”
-----
First Imperial Army
The Lord General of the First Army watched as his legions formed up again for another attack on the rebels. The auxiliary forces consisting of slaves and penal legions were being whipped into positions before the legions. For the past few attacks, he had used the slaves and penal legions as probes, letting them tank all the damage while his hardened troops observed the enemy.
He had noticed the casting rate of those screaming demon spells that burst in the air had lessened in the previous attack and he nodded to himself, thinking that the rebel mages shouldn't have the ability to constantly cast those spells with rest.
Now, it was time for an all out attack. With the mountains on the rebel's left, the Forest with its deadly monsters at their rear and the order of Knights cutting off the way to the city. Those rebels will be crushed by the end of the day!
He had his veteran legions, all six of them arranged in two columns, one on each flank. In the middle, were the slaves and penal legions, a total of five legions, each legion roughly consisted of ten thousand bodies. At the rear of the main formation, supporting the slaves and penal legions were the conscripted troops consisting of another two legions.
He had no cavalry or Knights with him as he sent them all on a mission to cut off the city and the rebel forces before him. His dragons were badly mauled during the first few encounters by the rebels' strange demon cursed fliers.
The weapons of the rebels were also baffling to him, but from experience, he decided to switch his tactics to dealing with a ranged enemy. The thunder weapons were like crossbows, but many more times deadlier and had further range.
To deal with that, he can only do two things. One was to close as fast as possible and let the useless slaves and scum absorb the attacks while letting his veteran troops avoid the brunt of the attacks.
Once the rebels had deleted their spells and thunder weapons, that was when his veterans' legions will hit the enemy lines. Too bad, the General thought. His dragons were totally ineffective, if not, he will use his dragons to wreak havoc behind the rebels' rear.
”My Lord!” An aide stood respectfully behind the General. ”The men have formed up and are ready!”