The news that pirates and barbarians would be the first to enter Twilight Town spread like wildfire throughout the Silver Ring Alliance.
Compared to the regular armies of the Northern and Southern Legions, the nobles were clearly far more anxious about this shameless behavior. In their view, victory in the attack on Muxi Town was a foregone conclusion; the key issue was how to distribute the spoils. Although it was agreed beforehand that the Silver Ring army and the pirate barbarians would split the spoils 50/50, those who arrived first, regardless of who they were, whether openly or secretly, would always receive a larger share—a practice that had been in place for centuries. How could the greedy nobles tolerate seeing this prize snatched away by a group of pirates and barbarians who had arrived first?
Thus, a peculiar scene appeared along the marching route. At the front of the army, nobles, each with their own private armies, raced ahead, lured by wealth; the Southern and Northern legions marched hastily in the middle, urged on by their commander, Roderick; while the rear of the allied army consisted of supply trains and logistics units.
At first, the three groups of troops maintained a relatively safe distance from each other, sending messengers to check on each other's situation every now and then, while scouts constantly explored the surrounding area.
But as time went by and the march became monotonous, the distance between the troop sections grew larger and larger, and the messengers and scouts gradually disappeared. From the commander-in-chief to the cooks, everyone had only one thought in their minds—why haven't we arrived at that damned Muxi Town yet?
By noon on the fourth day, the three-day forced march had almost exhausted every soldier's stamina, leaving the entire force weary and exhausted. The distance between the front and middle sections of the Allied forces had widened to 7.5 kilometers, and the vanguard in the middle section could not even see the dust raised by the troops in front.
As a scout for the "Successor," Edgar recently had a new superpower implanted in Todd's laboratory—"Chameleon Camouflage"—which allows him to get closer to enemy forces without being detected.
He crouched low and ran at full speed across the plain, until he came to a grove of trees at the foot of a hill, where he found Cumberland eating bread with his water bag.
The old knight saw the returning scout, wiped his mouth, handed him the food and water, and waited for a report.
Edgar, who hadn't eaten for most of the day, made no attempt to be polite, taking the flatbread and water and devouring it. After a while, the scout, whose stomach was feeling a bit better, said to the old knight, "The enemy is divided into three groups. The people at the front have different clothes, armor, weapons, and badges; they don't seem to have any formation, just a chaotic mess. The people in the middle are clearly a regular army. Oh, and I also heard someone call a man named Roderick 'commander'..."
“Marquis Roderick? That arrogant bastard?” Cumberland rubbed his hands together excitedly, beaming. “This is a great thing for us.”
"My lord, we can already see the vanguard of the allied forces."
Cumberland listened to his subordinate's report and waved his hand dismissively: "Let them pass. Our target is the enemy commander."
Wearing full armor, Huggins approached with his twelve subordinates and asked Cumberland, "Commander, when do we launch our attack?"
The old man did not answer his question, but stared at the thirteen cavalrymen in front of him, whose bodies were completely hidden under their armor, and said, "I heard from the commander-in-chief that you are carrying a secret weapon that can kill the enemy with one blow? I am a little curious."
Huggins shook his head, his voice filled with helplessness: "Sir, believe me, you will regret it after you see this."
Cumberland said nonchalantly, "Since the Commander-in-Chief has said it's a secret weapon, I won't press for an answer. I require you and your men to attack the Allied Commander's Guard directly from the northeast while I lead the troops to draw the enemy's attention. Remember! You only have one chance! If you fail, I will have to resort to a direct assault to crush this force."
Huggins placed his fist in front of his chest, patted the armor over his heart, and nodded emphatically.
Half an hour later, the central force of the Silver Ring Alliance appeared.
Looking down from the sky, the central force was flanked by the Northern Legion and the Southern Legion, with Marquis Roderick's guard sandwiched in the middle.
Cumberland mounted his horse behind the mound, looking at his subordinates who had fought alongside him countless times. Without saying much, he simply tapped his shield with the hilt of his sword and roared, "Attack!"
The cavalry and soldiers, fully equipped and ready to go, raised their weapons, took off, and swept towards the enemy army in front of them like a tsunami.
A sharp, long howl echoed across the battlefield.
"Enemy attack!"
The first battle of the Battle of Muxi has begun.
After a volley of arrows, the two armies clashed without any fancy moves, shields smashing against shields, swords slashing against armor, and the loud, ear-piercing metallic clang echoed continuously.
Cumberland chose to attack at the junction of the Southern and Northern Legions' formations, and focused his main offensive force on the Northern Legion. This was partly because the two legions were still somewhat unfamiliar with each other, and attacking from the junction would be more effective; and partly because many men in the Southern Legion had previously served in the same unit as Cumberland and might not fight with their full strength.
As he expected, the soldiers of the Southern Legion, upon recognizing the familiar faces opposite them, immediately adopted a strategy of much ado about nothing, shouting louder than anyone else but retreating, their weapons striking mostly their own shields.
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