Free Web NovelChapter 184: Zero Casualties
Caldris rode nearly ten li before finally stopping to rest.
The group around him looked utterly wretched. Their nerves were still frayed, and any trace of discipline had vanished.
"Commander, have some water."
A subordinate offered him a waterskin.
Caldris finally came back to himself.
Anger and humiliation surged through him. He knocked the waterskin to the ground and roared.
"One hundred thousand soldiers! A full army of one hundred thousand! I never even saw the walls of Newhaven before returning in defeat. How can I possibly face Thalric again?"
No one answered.
Until now, they had only heard tales of Newhaven’s thunder and fire.
After witnessing it themselves, none of them felt awe.
Only fear remained.
Every time they remembered the terrifying scene inside the camp, their bodies began to tremble.
The deafening explosions still seemed to echo in their ears.
Even the slightest movement in the surroundings now made them react like frightened birds.
By the following day, Caldris’s unease had only worsened.
He led his men another twenty li back while gathering the soldiers scattered during the rout.
After an entire day, only twenty thousand Thalric troops had returned and been reorganized.
The rest had vanished.
Some had died in the camp.
Others had fled in different directions.
They had arrived as an imposing army of one hundred thousand.
They never even reached Newhaven’s gates before being driven back dozens of li in complete disorder.
After only one day, a mere twenty thousand remained.
No battle in history had ever been fought like this.
The humiliation was unbearable.
Caldris’s eyes were bloodshot with rage.
He looked ready to tear someone apart.
Never in his life had he suffered such a miserable defeat.
A subordinate approached cautiously.
"Commander, what should we do next?"
Caldris’s expression hardened.
"We continue the attack on Newhaven."
The subordinate stared at him in alarm.
"But we only have twenty thousand men left. Newhaven’s thunder and fire is far too powerful. Even with one hundred thousand soldiers, we were crushed. Attacking again would be suicide."
"You dare defy my command?"
Killing intent surged from Caldris as his saber gleamed in his hand.
The subordinate went cold.
"I would not dare."
"Hmph."
Caldris looked like a cornered beast preparing for one final struggle.
"Do you think the King of Thalric will spare us after a defeat like this? I cannot swallow this humiliation. Even if I cannot take Newhaven, I will tear a piece of flesh from them."
"Understood."
Caldris looked over the battered remnants of his army, and rage rose again.
"Get up, all of you! We march on. Our supplies are gone, and we have almost no food left. Unless you want to starve to death, then fight your way into Newhaven."
The defeated soldiers looked at one another.
Under the pressure of Caldris’s murderous gaze, they had no choice but to form ranks again.
Yet they staggered forward in loose, broken lines.
They no longer looked like an army.
"March on Newhaven!"
Caldris roared.
Then the sky answered.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless shells fell once more.
The Thalric soldiers had endured the mortar barrage only the day before.
Now, as the bombardment began again, despair consumed them.
"I do not want to fight anymore! I want to go home!"
"Where is the enemy?"
The Thalric soldiers looked wildly in every direction.
They could not see even the shadow of the First Army.
Even those prepared to fight to the death had no idea where to point their blades.
"Ah!"
Caldris made no attempt to hide.
The fury trapped inside him had nowhere to go.
All he could do was throw back his head and roar helplessly at the sky.
A shell landed beside him.
Boom!
The blast hurled Caldris to the ground.
Fragments tore into his body, riddling him with wounds.
"The commander is dead!"
At the sight, the surviving Thalric troops wished they had grown another pair of legs.
They abandoned Caldris and fled in every direction.
Shells fell like rain, blasting them apart in groups.
Before long, everyone still capable of running had escaped.
Only the dead and wounded remained.
It was then that they finally saw the First Army closing in from the distance.
"Cough!"
A Thalric soldier with both legs mangled struggled upright and leaned against a rock.
Blood covered his face.
He raised his bow with hatred burning in his eyes.
"Even if I die, I will take one of you with me..."
Bang!
Before he could aim, a bullet from several hundred meters away struck his head and destroyed it.
That was what happened when a large caliber sniper round hit a human body.
The First Army soon reached the battlefield.
Whenever they found a Thalric soldier still alive, they fired a bullet into his head.
There was no need to use sabers.
That avoided giving anyone pretending to be dead a chance to strike back.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire continued without pause.
The Leader’s order was annihilation.
The First Army had no need for prisoners.
"Cough!"
Caldris spat out a mouthful of blood and weakly opened his eyes.
A dark gun barrel filled his vision.
The shot came a moment later.
Bang!
Blood sprayed outward.
Caldris’s final expression froze upon his face.
The commander of an army died at the hands of an ordinary soldier from the First Army.
No one even cared who he was.
"Commander, do we continue the pursuit?"
"No."
The commander of the First Army looked toward the fleeing remnants.
"The scattered survivors no longer pose a threat. Pursuing them would take us deep into Thalric territory and place too much strain on our supply lines. They are not worth destroying. Withdraw."
"Understood."
In less than two days, Newhaven’s First Army achieved a crushing victory. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
Three thousand against one hundred thousand.
The First Army suffered zero casualties.
The only cost was ammunition.
They had not even used it as quickly as Newhaven City’s military factories could replace it.
"Report the victory to headquarters."
That same day, while the First Army was still returning to Newhaven, emergency newspapers had already printed news of the triumph across the front page.
"Major news! Three thousand against one hundred thousand! Newhaven City’s First Army annihilated a Thalric army of one hundred thousand within two days without suffering a single casualty!"
"Major news..."
The story exploded across Newhaven City.
"Three thousand soldiers destroyed an army of one hundred thousand?"
"You have to be joking!"
Newspapers sold wildly that day.
Traveling merchants found their entire understanding of warfare overturned.
The news seemed impossible to believe.
Discussion raged throughout Newhaven City.
Then the story spread outward like a hurricane, sweeping across the surrounding regions. freeweɓnovel.cøm
Newhaven had always maintained strict secrecy.
Aside from the highest levels of leadership, no one knew how far its military technology had advanced.
Its true combat strength remained a mystery.
Because of that, many still believed Newhaven’s army had remained at the same level as when it captured Valdren years earlier.
They could not have been more wrong.
