The knights, originally tasked with containing and harassing enemy lines, found themselves in an unexpected and arduous battle due to the sudden appearance of enhanced alien undead.

More and more undead gathered together and began to attack the knights, whose speed was gradually slowing down.

In order to create distance from the enemy, the knights had to change their route and evade the enemy's pursuit.

Standing in the watchtower, Cumberland, who was constantly monitoring the battlefield, frowned and said to his adjutant, "Have the Valkyrie take the bait and try to break up the enemy's formation."

Moments later, three Valkyries riding griffins set off from behind the city wall, their mounts carrying special bait made of blood and scraps of flesh.

The undead birds and bats that had been circling above Twilight City turned their attention to the Valkyrie after spotting her and began flying toward the battlefield.

The Valkyrie commanded her mount to fly over the undead army.

The undead, upon smelling the scent of flesh and blood, are like flies drawn to rotting flesh.

Many undead broke away from their original group and began chasing after the Valkyrie in the sky, running further and further away.

But this situation did not last long. It was as if an unseen hand suddenly blocked the undead that had broken away from the horde and pulled them back.

One of the Valkyries was unwilling to give up, so she commanded the griffin to lower its altitude, hoping to bring the bait closer to the horde of corpses and increase its luring effect.

However, several bone-spiked undead aimed at the griffin in the sky and shot it down in a few rounds of fire.

Seeing the Valkyrie disappear instantly after falling into the horde of corpses, Cumberland quickly ordered, "Bring them back!"

Looking at the horde of corpses approaching the central formation, Cumberland stroked his chin, a look of anxiety appearing on his face for the first time: "Hundreds of thousands of undead soldiers, how could someone possibly control them so precisely from a distance? Is that even possible?"

The adjutant leaned closer to Cumberland and whispered, "Sir, the second batch of ammunition for the Thunder Beasts has just been loaded."

Cumberland: "Order the Knights to retreat and disengage from the battle. The central formation should strengthen its defenses. The Thunder Coil Cannons should have their power reduced and be switched to projectile firing. Once firing is complete, withdraw from the position."

A dozen seconds later, another massive explosion erupted from the center of the battlefield.

Countless undead were torn to pieces amidst the flames and explosions, with limbs and bits of flesh flying everywhere, some even falling onto the distant walls of Twilight City.

As the smoke cleared, Cumberland raised his binoculars again and looked at the battlefield.

Because the distance between the horde of zombies had shortened and their formation had become more compact, the second explosion was far more effective than the first.

Even so, a rough estimate suggests that the remaining number of the undead army still exceeds 200,000.

The adjutant, watching the horde of corpses slowly gather and advance towards our central ranks, subconsciously said, "Sir, there are still many of them."

Cumberland gripped the railing tightly with both hands, first glancing back at Muxi City, then turning back to grit his teeth and saying, "Order all regiments in the central formation to prepare for the assault! Especially the shield wall of the Crusader heavy infantry, they must hold off the first wave of undead assault!"

The adjutant glanced at the battlefield and whispered to Cumberland, "Sir, the Crusader heavy infantry only numbers a little over nine hundred. Even with the entire shield wall deployed, it's impossible for them to defend against all the undead's attacks from every angle. Moreover, most of the soldiers in the central formation are garrison troops from Holy Guard City and Silver Ring City... they..."

The lieutenant's voice trailed off as he saw the rage in Cumberland's eyes.

Cumberland suppressed his voice and whispered, "You mean to back down?"

The adjutant shrank back and didn't say a word.

Cumberland raised his voice: "This is just the first horde of giant corpses we've encountered. There will be a second, a third... If we retreat behind the walls now, we'll never have the courage to face these undead again!"

After a pause, Cumberland looked at his adjutant, closed his eyes, suppressed his anger, and softened his tone: "Do you know what our biggest disadvantage is compared to the undead?"

Adjutant: "...Number of people?"

Cumberland: "No...our biggest weakness lies in our emotions."

“Any intelligent being has a variety of emotions: fear, despair, withdrawal, madness... When external pressures break their will, these emotions will spread like maggots in a jar.”

“Look ahead. After being bombarded twice like that, any human army would never have been able to maintain the determination and will to continue attacking... Only the undead, only these monsters that have no souls and only know flesh and blood, could still launch an attack after suffering such heavy damage.”

"Therefore, the biggest challenge in this battle is not how to preserve our strength and kill the enemy... but how to keep our troops determined to continue fighting."

Cumberland looked at the battlefield, where a tidal wave of undead army was charging towards the Crusader's shield wall.

Cumberland: "If we back down here, then negativity will spread like a plague through the army. The best way to defeat fear is to face it, so we must hold our ground."

Taking a deep breath, Cumberland straightened his back and gave his adjutant another order: "Church heavy infantry, solidify the shield wall. The central units of each regiment shall adopt a fan-shaped defensive formation. The Knights' regiments shall form a wedge charge formation and prepare to flank and penetrate the enemy's rear."

After waiting for his adjutant to finish issuing all the orders, Cumberland hesitated for a moment and said, "Have the reserve forces left behind by the Knights prepare."

The adjutant paused, then looked at Cumberland and asked, "Have the reserves get ready?"

Cumberland looked at the undead birds and bats that had just arrived over the battlefield and said in a low voice, "If the battle goes against us, send the reserve team into the battlefield with spores."

The adjutant immediately understood the deeper meaning behind Cumberland's words.

The adjutant opened his mouth, wanting to say a few words of advice, but found that under such circumstances, any persuasion would seem pale and powerless, so he nodded slightly and stopped talking.

Cumberland stared intently at the approaching undead army on the battlefield, his knuckles turning as white as paper from the force he exerted.

Finally, with a deafening roar, the horde of corpses crashed head-on into the Crusader's shield formation.

The originally straight shield array bent slightly inward after being subjected to a huge impact, and then quickly rebounded, forcefully blocking the first wave of undead that rushed up.

At this moment, the Knights completed their wedge charge formation and, relying on the speed of their exotic warhorses and the sharpness of their dragonbone armor, launched a charge towards the rear of the horde of corpses.

The entire battlefield instantly entered a state of intense combat.