405: Chapter 392 The Legendary First Army

Regardless of how the war situation between the Allied Forces and Lake evolved, it had ultimately persisted for nearly two years.

During this time, let alone the Allied Forces, even among Lake's own legions, very few had come into close contact with the First Army.

Most of their understanding of the First Army came from the instructors the First Army sent out.

For the sake of secrecy, the instructors could not reveal too much, so this understanding remained very limited.

For nearly two years, except for a few like Damu who were active externally, most of the First Army stayed on standby at the base.

Perhaps because of this, a veil of mystery was cast over the First Army in the eyes of Soldiers from both sides, even sparking heated discussions about the "legendary First Army."

So, what was the First Army, which remained out of combat most of the time, actually doing?

In fact, their daily routine was not complicated.

They performed routine physical training and familiarized themselves with various new magic-conducting weapons; besides that, most of their time was spent studying.

They studied the "Basic Physics Knowledge Manual" and the "Basic Biology Knowledge Manual" specifically formulated by Zhang Mu.

After receiving the mission to deal with the Wyvern Cavalry Regiment, Zhang Mu personally gave them a crash course on common knowledge regarding wyverns on the eve of their departure.

When the First Army, carrying anti-aircraft guns, spotted the wyverns overhead while traveling through Allied territory, the Soldiers sitting inside the armored vehicles showed no surprise at seeing wyverns for the first time; they all looked enlightened.

As expected, just as the Lord Marshal taught, they were completely just large flying reptiles.

As Lake's most elite legion, the First Army naturally would not let their inner thoughts interfere with combat, methodically starting up the multi-barrel anti-aircraft guns.

Once the wyverns entered range, they immediately pressed the fire buttons.

Just as Zhang Mu predicted, the wyvern knights didn't recognize the anti-aircraft guns at all and didn't command the wyverns to perform evasive maneuvers to break the muzzles' locks, instead diving toward the First Army's formation at an angle.

Then, they slammed right into the "ropes" formed in the air by the flaming bullets.

As the barrel angles were corrected, the "ropes" seemed to be swung forcefully by someone, sweeping across the sky to form an arc.

All wyverns within the arc's trajectory instantly exploded into clouds of blood mist.

Oh, there were some lucky ones who were only grazed by the "ropes," barely surviving with some severed limbs or other body parts as they fell straight to the ground.

The Wyvern Cavalry Regiment was likely dazed by the sudden attack; they had already brought the First Army into range but forgot to open their mouths to release Wyvern Fire.

The First Army was pleased; they had originally thought there would be some losses, but now it seemed they could take down the Wyvern Cavalry Regiment with zero casualties.

The driver in the driver's seat turned to look at his companion controlling the turret: "Let me have a go later to enjoy myself?"

"Don't mess around; there are only about three hundred wyverns in total, not even enough for us to split."

"That's a pity then."

"Speaking of which, aren't they claimed to be the Gangnuo Empire's strongest Wyvern Cavalry Regiment?

How come they don't even know how to dodge when attacked?"

The driver stifled a laugh: "Stupid, the Gangnuo Empire only has this one Wyvern Cavalry Regiment; if they aren't the strongest, what are they?"

"This..."

The gunner, realizing his own foolishness, poured bullets into the sky even more frantically out of embarrassment and anger.

300 wyverns were not a small number, evidenced by the fact that they could destroy a city overnight; the fact that the Gangnuo Empire had only accumulated this number over thousands of years was also proof.

However, in front of anti-aircraft guns with terrifying rates of fire, it was truly not enough to look at.

The anti-aircraft fire net lasted for several minutes, leaving only a single-digit number of wyverns in the high altitude; these knights were more clever, immediately pulling up their altitude and using their companions' bodies to block bullets to narrowly escape.

Most wyverns didn't have their good luck; basically all died under the bullet fire, and even those not dead but heavily injured were killed by the fall from the sky to the ground.

As for the knights on their backs, after realizing the wyverns had no hope of escape, they immediately abandoned the wyverns and jumped into the air.

The selection standard for the Wyvern Cavalry Regiment knights was at least a High-level Knight; they didn't need to worry about falling to their deaths from this height, at most suffering some injuries.

If wyverns were compared to Blue Star's fighter jets, then the knights were the jet pilots.

According to international conventions, countries should prohibit shooting at parachuting pilots, but unfortunately, the Saul Continent had no such agreement.

The First Army Soldiers knew that the Professional level of the knights falling from the sky would definitely not be low; although they weren't very afraid with their magic-conducting weapons, why take the risk of melee combat when they could easily deal with the enemy in the sky?

The First Army Soldiers ignored the few wyverns that escaped, turning the muzzles to sweep the free-falling knights.

Thus, clouds of blood mist exploded in the sky like fireworks, possessing a hint of seductive beauty.

The First Army Soldiers, accustomed to cruel combat, didn't care about the bloody scent drifting through the air, focusing on shooting the knights.

Finally, not a single intact person could be seen in the sky, only the gradually dissipating blood mist.

"Combat ended, clear the battlefield," the commander ordered. The Soldiers kept the anti-aircraft guns on standby to prevent the escaped remnants from returning, while the rest of the Soldiers got out of the vehicles and headed toward where the Wyvern Cavalry Regiment had crashed.

They held their guns and fired a finishing shot into the heads of the knights lying on the ground in various poses, just in case someone was faking death.

Only after doing this did they begin to collect the wyvern remains that were still somewhat intact.

Once the surrounding area contained only knight corpses and blurred wyvern flesh, they turned around to load the remains onto the trucks and returned the way they came to Keton City.

They weren't withdrawing from the front lines. After handing the remains over to the research institute, they still had to continue fighting at the front; after all, anti-aircraft guns weren't just for shooting wyverns—if deployed properly, they were also very effective against Magisters and Great Knights.

On the way back, a driver and the gunner in the passenger seat were chatting.

"How did it feel to fire the cannons?"

"It was alright."

"How is it different from firing a gun?"

"Hmm... because the maximum range exceeds the limit of eyesight, the aiming method is a bit different."

"Be more specific."

"Let me think... if an enemy is hiding in the clouds, the anti-aircraft gun's range can reach them, but I can't see the enemy, so I can't aim. In that case, if the enemy discovers our weakness, it will be hard to deal with flying magical beasts in the future; they will definitely fly very high to avoid our line of sight."

"No need to worry, I heard the legion is training radar operators."

"radar operators?"

"Soldiers specifically for controlling radar."

"Does the First Army have such a training project?"

"You didn't know?"

"Uh, I didn't."

"Well, I heard it from the company commander. Legion Commander Domit selected a group of Soldiers for secret training a few days ago; the training goal is to learn to operate radar."

"radar... I remember this thing is used to scout for enemies?"

"Yes, it can scout enemies beyond the line of sight."

"drones can do that too."

"It's different."

"How?"

"I'm not clear on the details, I only heard the company commander say that with radar combined with drones, we won't need to use our eyes to aim at enemies in the future."

"Really?!" The gunner turned to stare at the driver's profile.

"That's what the company commander told me, anyway."

"So it's not certain then?"

"Eh~ who cares, we'll know in a while when it's announced."

"True."

The convoy drifted further away along the dirt road, soon turning a corner and disappearing behind a mountain.

...

Night was about to fall.

At the foot of some nameless large mountain, the Bauhinia Legion was busy setting up camp.

The Legion Commander was the commander of an army, so naturally he didn't need to handle these trivial matters personally; he found a spot on a rock by the stream and sat down.

His Aunt, with her hands behind her back and still wearing that suit of armor covering her entire body, walked over from the camp.

It was strange; clearly she was a God's Blessing, and even if she didn't reveal her identity, her aura could not be faked, yet the Soldiers she passed ignored this extraordinary woman, preoccupied with their work.

"Aunt," the Legion Commander looked up and saw her.

"Call me Lord God's Blessing."

The Legion Commander could no longer be bothered to care why she was asking him to switch back to the formal title again; he could only say that women were all the same regardless of age, their moods changing whenever they pleased. He was powerless to resist and could only be obedient and submissive: "Lord God's Blessing."

"Mm."

"Do you need something from me?"

"Marching less than a hundred li a day, when will we reach Lake?"

"Our mission location this time doesn't involve Lake."

"A God's Blessing has the right to take over command."

"Then you should just give the order, Lord God's Blessing."

"Call me Aunt."

"I..." The Legion Commander sighed deeply, "Aunt."

"Good boy." The woman's face, hidden by the helmet, likely had eyes crinkling with a smile as she stepped forward and ruffled his hair. "Be understanding of your Aunt's desire to reunite with her lover as soon as possible."

"You two only just..."

"It's already been almost over two years!"

"Two years for a God's Blessing is..."

"Wuu——"

A sudden wail in the sky interrupted their conversation.

The Legion Commander looked up in confusion; it sounded like the cry of a wyvern, but why did the sound feel...

After a moment, seven wyverns emerged from the clouds, wobbling in the air as they lowered their altitude and landed before the two.

The Legion Commander narrowed his eyes, staring at the seven knights jumping off the wyverns: "Where is your Legion Commander?"

They looked at each other, then lowered their heads in silence.

The Legion Commander's eyebrows shot up: "Only seven of you left alive? Did you encounter multiple Saint-ranks?"

"No..." One knight looked somewhat ill at ease, only continuing after a long pause, "We encountered the legendary First Army of Lake. They... used a strange magic item,

Uh, it might not be a magic item; I didn't sense any magic fluctuations."

The Legion Commander didn't seem to care about such heavy losses, looking at the woman beside him with interest: "Aunt, this is very interesting."

"I'll go check out this legendary First Army." The woman waved her hand and walked away.

She had long expected this scene, just hadn't expected it to come so quickly.

The Legion Commander's gaze shifted back to the seven: "So, you who were almost completely wiped out, the only two pieces of intelligence you obtained are that the enemy is from Lake's First Army and they used a strange weapon suspected to be a non-magic item?"

The seven knights remained silent for a long while before saying together: "Yes."

"Truly disappointing."

"It is our fault."

"If not yours, could it be mine?"

Faced with the Legion Commander's frantic sarcasm, the usually arrogant wyvern knights didn't dare talk back at this moment, hanging their heads and taking the scolding.

The Legion Commander seemed to find it boring to reprimand a few knights who had lost their spirit, standing up and saying: "With only seven wyverns left, you no longer form a combat force. Return to the Empire yourselves and ask the King for forgiveness."

"Yes."

They straightened their backs, looked at each other, and jumped onto the wyverns with bitter faces.

They were the ones who attacked without authorization, and the scene of the Legion Commander's warning was recorded by a shadow recording crystal; there was no possibility of shifting responsibility.

After returning to the Empire... the King's wrath could only be borne by the seven survivors alone.

It's over.

The images in their minds were all of the cruel punishments they were about to suffer; they piloted the wyverns to take off almost entirely by instinct.

The Legion Commander watched the backs of the wyverns disappearing into the horizon and said coldly: "A bunch of idiots."

...

Zhang Mu was on his way back to the Command Post.

Regarding the First Army's zero-casualty total annihilation of the wyvern cavalry, he had some expectations, but he didn't expect it to be so fast.

How long had it been since the First Army set out from Keton City?

Only a few hours; although in a few hours they had already traveled quite a distance.

One must know that the First Army was entirely driving armored vehicles and troop transport trucks; unlike commandos who relied on two legs, an hour was enough to drive dozens of kilometers, and that was even with speed limited by road conditions.

Zhang Mu was already preparing to build a highway along the major cities.

Once completed, Lake's troop transport capability would increase by several levels.

Furthermore, Geoffrey's magic armored vehicles, magic tanks, magic trucks, and so on were all under development; once successful, the First Army's comprehensive strength would undergo a qualitative change.

While thinking, he returned to the Command Post and found Domit to ask for the specific battle report of the wyvern annihilation.

Because the battle ended too quickly, by the time Zhang Mu arrived at the scene, the First Army had already cleaned up the wyvern remains and set off back to Keton City, so he knew nothing of the battle details.

Domit gave a simple account, and Zhang Mu burst into laughter after hearing it.

Although he guessed that the Wyvern Cavalry Regiment, having never seen anti-aircraft guns, would take a heavy blow, he still didn't expect this "heavy blow" to be quite so heavy.

"I estimate that Bauhinia Legion has received the news by now; they will definitely go crazy and then launch a retaliation. The Second through Seventh Armies must speed up to the front line. Although the new recruit regiments have been tempered by multiple battles, they use original versions of weapons; it's still too much for them to deal with an all-Professional legion."

Domit had a strange expression: "Lord Marshal, you are only half right."

"Hmm?"

"drones monitored that the seven wyverns that luckily survived did indeed return to the Bauhinia Legion, only... that Legion Commander doesn't seem angry; on the contrary... uh, he has been maintaining what can be called a leisurely marching speed."

"There's such a thing?"

"Yes."

Zhang Mu was somewhat puzzled: "What tricks are they playing?"

"Unclear." Domit lowered his head to flip open the battle report, scanning the text while saying, "drones can collect sound, but the prerequisite is being at close range.

The Bauhinia Legion has a large number of Professionals, and the Legion Commander is even a Saint-rank; we can't get too close."

"Then don't worry about it." Zhang Mu turned to walk out the door, "No matter what schemes they play, they only have so many people, and they are all within our sight; they can't make much of a splash.

Proceed as planned; the legions head to the front line.

As for me, I'll head there too after returning to the Royal Capital."

"Yes!"