372: Chapter 361 The Horn of Counterattack

The coalition's infantry regiments remained motionless until their cavalry was annihilated. It was only when the Lake infantry moved into the fallen Pack Rhino herds to finish off survivors and the tank groups turned their muzzles that they finally took action.

"They are retreating," the mechanic said, turning his head after seeing the situation outside through the observation lens.

"Retreating?"

The tank crew members were completely bewildered.

They sent out elite cavalry for a decisive battle, yet the infantry regiments watched from a distance, seeing the cavalry wiped out before retreating. What kind of trick were they playing?

The tank groups reported the situation faithfully to the Command Post, and a reply came quickly.

"Rest and reorganize in place; replenish ammunition."

Listening to the voice from the loudspeaker, the crew parked their vehicle with their companions in a defensive formation to prevent the enemy from launching a surprise counter-attack.

However, the coalition did not seem to be brewing any conspiracy; before long, they disappeared behind the distant horizon.

The tank commanders breathed a sigh of relief.

The total annihilation of the enemy cavalry was indeed a fruitful result, but the tanks' consumption was also very severe.

Most tanks were nearly out of shells, and gasoline was running low. If the coalition had truly charged with everything they had, it would have been quite difficult to handle.

As the infantry finished dealing with the wounded cavalry and returned, the logistics team sent by Domit also arrived.

The crew members got out of their vehicles one after another to receive supplies, while Zhang Mu returned to the Command Post to watch the live drone footage with Domit.

The coalition seemed to have lost its mind; after retreating over a hundred kilometers, they stopped and set up camp, seemingly not planning to leave anymore.

Then what was their intention in sending out the cavalry to clash with the First Armored Corps?

Were they frightened by the power of the tanks?

Neither Zhang Mu nor Domit could figure out what the coalition was up to. After pondering for a long time, they decided that since the enemy hadn't left, they would temporarily halt the offensive and wait for all the infantry regiments to be in position before making the next move.

A day later, all the reorganized legions arrived at their target positions. Domit delayed no further and immediately ordered the entire army to attack.

Facing the menacing Lake legions, the coalition commander's IQ seemed to have reclaimed the high ground.

The coalition Soldiers were divided into two groups: several elite legions wearing armor stayed to build fortifications and cover the rear, while the remaining legions retreated with all their might.

After Domit confirmed via drone that there were no ambushes in the coalition camp, he continued his orders.

The Lake side formed a formation with the tank groups in front and the infantry regiments slightly behind, reaching the coalition camp that afternoon.

The coalition had not left many Soldiers behind to cover the retreat—only about fifty thousand—making them very easy to deal with.

After several rounds of howitzer fire, the infantry and tanks coordinated their advance, with the infantry regiments following closely behind. In just half an hour, the enemy was routed.

As the drone captured the scene from above, showing the enemy fleeing in all directions, Domit frowned.

During the exchange of fire, he felt a sense of dissonance seeing that the enemy's resistance wasn't very strong, but he couldn't figure it out due to a lack of clues.

Now, looking at the enemy who collapsed after only five thousand casualties, he finally understood.

These fifty thousand men were not the elite legions at all.

But they were wearing high-quality armor...

After a moment's thought, Domit realized the truth and let out a wry laugh.

No wonder they set up camp there.

Having seen the power of the tanks and believing victory was hopeless, they used tents to block the drone's surveillance, allowing the elite Soldiers and ordinary Soldiers to swap armor and weapons.

Hoping to save the elite legions?

Pointless.

The coalition commander must have considered that since defeat was inevitable, minimizing losses was the most urgent priority.

He was worried that Lake would target the elite legions, so he used ordinary Soldiers to impersonate them and deceive Lake's eyes.

However, Domit didn't care about any of that at all.

Unless they were Professionals, the only difference between veterans and recruits in front of legions equipped with firearms and magic-conducting weapons was whether they died sooner or later.

"They're overthinking it."

Domit shook his head, sighing that the coalition commander was somewhat wise, but unfortunately, he ultimately did not understand the true strength of mechanization—speed.

Or rather, transport capacity.

As one of the first people on the Saul Continent to encounter mechanized warfare, Domit knew very well how profound the role of transport capacity was in war.

For instance, right now, so what if you were allowed to run for an hour first?

As long as you weren't a Professional, could those legs of yours outrun tires?

Domit ordered the tanks to pursue, ensuring they inflicted maximum casualties on the enemy.

On the side, Zhang Mu lowered his head and pondered. As he counter-attacked the various nations of the coalition, Lake's territory would surely grow broader, and the importance of troop transport capacity would increase accordingly.

Various troop carriers and armored vehicles needed to be put on the agenda.

Keeping these inside 'The World' was not very convenient.

First, moving them in and out was very tedious, and second, managing the arsenal entirely by himself was simply too much to handle.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Mu planned to eliminate the internal WD, and after consolidating the foundation of Lake's rule, move the arsenals for the original weapons to Lake.

Several industrial cities could be established and guarded by heavy troops.

As for the magic-conducting weapons, it was still safer to keep them in 'The World'.

Hmm, this way, Geoffrey could come out before long.

Zhang Mu's thoughts gradually drifted away.

...

The pursuit between Lake and the coalition continued.

The coalition fled for their lives, and Lake pursued relentlessly.

Whenever the tanks caught up, the coalition would send a portion of their Soldiers to cover the rear.

These Soldiers couldn't stop the tanks; they were purely used to consume the tanks' shells.

Novak wasn't familiar with the structure of a tank, but his logic was that a Professional's mana would run out, and an archer's arrows would be spent, so there was no reason your weapons could fire forever.

Surprisingly, this tactic did have a miraculous effect.

Tanks could choose not to fire to save shells and simply crush their way through, but the infantry couldn't. Thus, they had to clear each encounter like a stage in a game before they could pass.

After several repetitions, Novak even managed to figure out a pattern. The number of Soldiers he left behind was extremely precise—neither too many nor too few, just enough to exhaust most of the tanks' shells.

This infuriated the tank commanders, especially Barr.

Zhang Mu's military merit peerage system had already spread throughout the army. This was the only channel for those at the bottom to cross social classes; who wouldn't covet it?

As for how much military merit a Soldier was worth, it naturally depended on their strength. Professionals in particular—a Trainee Professional could be worth dozens of ordinary Soldiers.

Everyone was eager to kill enemies and claim rewards, but Novak naturally wouldn't let them have their way, focusing solely on fleeing.

After half a month of chasing and fleeing, they finally passed Keton City.

For both sides, the stretch from Keton City to the border was the final leg of the journey.

One side was fleeing for survival, while the other was earning military merit.

Both sides exerted all their strength, going at full throttle.

A few days later, the tank groups rumbled to a halt on the grasslands at the border. The commanders leaned their upper bodies out of the observation hatches, gazing at the distant, panicked figures of the retreating coalition.

"Heh... ha, hahaha..." Looking at the coalition Professionals with stronger physiques running at the very front, one commander grinned and laughed silently, and then the laughter grew louder and louder.

This prompted the other commanders to join in, and laughter soon echoed across the grasslands.

The clouds seemed to be intimidated, scattering to both sides as the morning sun spilled down, making the tanks and their commanders look as if they were clad in golden armor.

...

The news quickly reached the Command Post.

Zhang Mu felt a bit of regret that he hadn't been able to witness a battle between Saint-ranks.

Although Blova and the others had fought during the internal strife in the Lake Royal Capital, they seemed to be wary of something at the time and fought with great restraint.

However, it was also a good thing, as sacrifices among Blova and the others would have been unavoidable if a real fight had broken out.

As the joyful news of the coalition's retreat across the border spread throughout the army, Blova and the other two, who had never found the enemy's Saint-ranks, rushed back to the Command Post to ask Zhang Mu for further instructions.

Hearing about the counterattack in the coming days, the three were not too surprised.

Zhang Mu had hinted at it at the beginning of the war, and even if he hadn't, the three of them were very open-minded.

Originally, they thought Lake would perish under the coalition's crusade, and resisting was just a way to show their unyielding will.

Now, they had not only survived but also defeated the coalition. Whatever happened next would be a pure gain.

Pestoya even excitedly asked Zhang Mu when the counterattack would be launched.

Zhang Mu waved his hand with a smile, signaling her not to be in a hurry.

The coalition, after all, consisted of over twenty member states. No matter how weak their national power was individually, it could not be ignored when combined.

Zhang Mu figured that since the coalition was no longer able to enter the country, his plan could begin.

He instructed the three to immediately head to the border to prevent any chaos from the coalition's Saint-ranks, while he turned back to the Royal Capital to find Avril and issue orders one by one.

The first task was to build an industrial city to provide Lake with various models of troop carriers, weapons, ammunition, and so on.

Site selection was very important. Zhang Mu and Avril discussed for a long time before finally settling on Keton City.

That's right, the border city—Keton City.

Zhang Mu believed that once the counterattack began, the pace of Lake's territorial expansion would grow larger and larger.

If the location was set in the central region, it might not be too far from the front line now, but over time, as the border pushed outward, the distance would increase.

Next was the issue of personnel training.

To a person from Blue Star, work on a modern industrial assembly line was something anyone with a normal IQ could handle.

But in reality, that ease was built upon a complete system of universal education, rather than being truly simple.

The Saul Continent did not have a large number of talents who had completed compulsory education; everything had to start from scratch.

Avril took out blank sheets of paper and drafted documents according to Zhang Mu's dictation.

He planned to build three schools in Keton City, drawing citizens from elsewhere to enroll, while also dispatching the First Army to be stationed there to assist indigenous engineers in transforming the city.

The goal was to have workers ready by the time the factories were completed.

Just as Avril was about to stamp the document, Zhang Mu reached out to stop her, telling her to add one more thing—build a training class outside the city.

Avril asked in confusion, "Aren't there already schools? Why build a training class outside the city?"

Zhang Mu smiled without saying a word, only telling her to write quickly, then said, "I'll handle the blueprints."

After complying, Avril spoke about the recent situation regarding the loss of Lake's subjects.

Since the divine oracle descended over a year ago, the flight of subjects from Lake's territory had been ongoing. After the coalition's defeat, it hadn't improved but had instead continued to worsen.

Zhang Mu knew the reason.

In the eyes of himself, Avril, and the Soldiers who had personally experienced the war, the current Lake held infinite possibilities, all thanks to firearms and magic-conducting weapons.

These products, which came entirely from another civilization, had almost caused the Soldiers to revere Zhang Mu as a god—strictly speaking, bringing weapons from another civilization was indeed no different from a deity.

But in the minds of Farmers, townspeople, merchants, and Soldiers who had not personally experienced the war, Lake's victory would not bring light, but an even deeper darkness.

Gods were omnipotent; this was the consensus of the people of the Saul Continent. Even the most powerful empires had to obey the gods.

Was a coalition of over twenty kingdoms and principalities strong?

Any empire could easily crush the coalition by sending out a single legion.

Empires occupied the wealthiest regions of the Saul Continent. They possessed multiple Saint-ranks, multiple Gods Blessings, and those terrifying Epic-level beings.

In addition, relying on fertile land and numerous dungeons, the empires had nurtured a vast number of high and low-level Professionals.

Lake's subjects had heard stories from merchants traveling from afar about how powerful empires possessed more than one all-mage legion.

A legion consisted of over ten thousand people. Even if an empire only sent one legion to attack Lake, who could withstand ten thousand mages?

With such thinking, the flight of Lake's subjects was not hard to understand.

Not fleeing would be the anomaly.

After listening, Zhang Mu was not anxious and had a smile on his face.

Avril turned her head, her icy blue long hair swaying gently: "I'm talking about serious business with you, what are you laughing at?"

"You're underestimating the military merit peerage system, aren't you?"

What was the most numerous group of people on the Saul Continent?

It wasn't Professionals, of course; it was the Farmers in villages scattered across the continent.

Coincidentally, these people cared the least about gods.

Churches generally didn't establish chapels in villages. If villagers wanted to worship the gods, the nearest places were the surrounding towns.

But with villagers worrying about their livelihoods and harvests all day long, how could they have the time to worship gods?

Actually, some villagers had tried, praying for the gods to bless this year's wheat harvest, only for that year to be a drought with no harvest at all.

Furthermore, the church rarely took the initiative to proselytize even in small towns and cities, let alone villages without churches or Divine Officials.

In Zhang Mu's view, these people were his best source of Soldiers.

They were constantly under the threat of death from hunger; as such, why would they care about defying the gods?

Now Zhang Mu had come to tell them that as long as they defied the gods, he could not only fill their bellies and let them live in warm houses, but their families could as well.

Gods?

I'll take a hoe and swing it right at you.

Avril thought for a moment, and her eyes suddenly lit up.

She remembered from the reports handed in by various city lords that the villagers in various places indeed had the smallest loss of population.

It wasn't that they weren't afraid of being affected by the war, but that they had nowhere to run.

The wheat harvest for villagers each year, after taxes, was basically only enough for the whole family not to starve to death. And that was in a good year; if they were unfortunate enough to encounter a bad year, several people in each household would definitely starve.

Usually, it was the children.

Children could be replaced by having more, but if the parents died, the children would definitely not survive.

This was basically the situation with the villagers' food reserves. How could they flee?

Before they had even run very far from home, they would probably starve to death on the road.

The more Avril thought about it, the more reliable it seemed, and she immediately pulled another blank sheet of paper from the drawer.

Zhang Mu pressed down on her hand holding the pen: "Don't use the usual document format. Those villagers are illiterate. If you write simply, someone will still have to explain it, and if you write in a complex way, they won't understand it."

"Then how should I write it?"

"One sentence will do." Zhang Mu took the pen from her hand and wrote while reciting on a piece of scrap paper next to the blank sheet: "Go to the City Lord's Mansion for a meeting and you can receive a bag of eggs."

Avril blinked: "What meeting?"

"Oh, it's a recruitment activity. The 'meeting' is just a pretext."

"This way... won't they feel cheated?"

"If you directly write 'go to the City Lord's Mansion to join the army' on the notice, who would go?

The higher the reward mentioned, the more they will suspect it's a conspiracy."

Avril looked thoughtful as she took the pen Zhang Mu handed back, wrote the document, and stamped it.