Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 155: Bloody Battle and Scorched Earth

Chapter 155: Bloody Battle and Scorched Earth

When we looked up, we saw that several mechanical birds had appeared in the sky above us.

"They're here! They're really here!" I couldn't hold my excitement as I could feel the blood rushing to my brain.

A total of five mechanical birds were flying in circles in the air above us. Everyone remained hidden beneath their cloaks, not daring to make any movement. Our simulation devices were perfectly covering us with a projection of the terrain, even protecting us from heat-based scans. Thus, the mechanical birds were unable to notice us.

Soon, more and more mechanical birds appeared in the sky. At one point, there were dozens of them up there performing a detailed scan of the area. After more than 10 minutes, the mechanical dogs appeared as well. Dozens of them started roaming the lands, with most of their focus on the two mountains by the path.

At that time, the advantage of hiding on our mountain was unveiled. Because we were surrounded by several taller bare mountains with no path up, the mechanical dogs couldn't search our area. In any case, I believed that the barbarians had not expected a counter-ambush at all.

After the mechanical creatures searched the area for about half an hour, the barbarians arrived. A group of ox-headed warriors equipped with massive axes, hammers, and blades had appeared. Compared to the Wargod soldiers, they looked sturdier and had darker skin tones.

More and more of them arrived. Among them, I could see many individuals equipped with bows and arrows just like Anxashe. The newly arrived soldiers climbed onto the two mountains by the path and hid. At a glance, there were roughly 8,000 of them.

Suddenly, four sturdy ox-headed warriors appeared from a part of the mountain. They looked as valiant as King Carter's personal guards, but there were also more signs of battle visible on them.

Appearing immediately after them was a fully armored individual with a massive sword resting on his shoulder. His lower face was covered with a thick beard, and he had an imposing appearance that made him look like a leader.

'This person might be the barbarian leader, Maley,' I thought.

Surprisingly, I saw a familiar figure standing beside the leader.

I was sure I wasn't seeing things. A Storm was standing beside the leader. An individual from Dondon and Master Crystal's race. I could hear Master Crystal's breath intensifying beside me. He was probably as surprised as me.

'What a surprise. The Storm civilization that we had thought to be lost is actually scattered across the Milky Way.' I couldn't help but be astonished by this discovery.

The army before us were rapidly moving to their posts. Even the leader was moving quickly to his own hiding spot. The moment they arrived at their spots, they turned invisible. Even their mechanical dogs all turned invisible.

In only a short period of time, thousands of soldiers had become one with nature.

'This invisibility is much more impressive than the cloaks we're using,' I remarked inwardly.

When all the soldiers were done hiding, the mechanical birds in the sky left. If they stayed, they would risk exposing the ambush. A bizarre scene thus unfolded. The Wargod warriors were heading toward an ambush, and the barbarians were waiting in ambush, not knowing that soldiers from the Interstellar League were waiting to ambush the ambushing party.

This was a perfect demonstration of "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."

I checked the time. Based on their estimated travel speed, the Wargod soldiers would arrive in about 30 minutes. At this point, the mechanical birds had fully retreated from the sky. Thus, I was free to signal Lin Feixue with my hands, telling him that no movement was allowed without my direct order. Those who disobeyed would be subjected to military law.

Just like that, we lay silently while waiting for the incoming battle. I intended to have the barbarians and Wargod soldiers fight for a while before launching a surprise attack from the back. Otherwise, throwing the 100 soldiers we had at the thousands of barbarians would be the same as moths flying into the flamecompletely pointless.

And thus, the two ambushing parties remained silent. Apart from the rumbles of the core, only the sound of the breeze could be heard. The area became so silent it felt unnatural. Thirty minutes later, a mechanical dog appeared in the distance.

'How punctual.' I was feeling impressed with my own deductive capabilities.

Dozens of mechanical dogs served as the vanguard. In the sky above, about a dozen mechanical birds served as guides. Behind the mechanical dogs was a large number of Wargod soldiers blanketing the land as they advanced.

The soldiers were traveling on foot. After several hours of marching quickly, their formation had become lax. They formed a long line as they walked. I could see several carts pulled by mechanical birds among the soldiers. These carts seemed to carry the military leaders and supplies. As they got nearer, I was finally able to see the exhaustion written all over their faces.

'To wait at ease for the exhausted enemy. This saying does make sense, after all,' I thought.

After the soldiers had traveled such a long distance, their armor was disarrayed, and the soldiers were spread over a long line. The soldiers marching at the very front had already entered the ambush. But due to their exhaustion, they did not notice any danger that their mechanical dogs and birds did not detect.

I signaled the soldiers lying in ambush with me, informing them that the battle was going to start soon and to wait for my order. The Kenante army slowly entered the valley between the two mountains. Finally, roughly half of them had entered the ambush, leaving only 500 still trailing behind. A shrill whistle suddenly sounded, followed by murderous roars that reverberated across the valley. I could see a rain of arrows unleashed upon the Kenante soldiers by the barbarians.

'The battle has begun!' I gripped my gun tighter.

Wave after wave of arrows flew out as the barbarians removed their invisibility and charged out roaring. The sight of countless soldiers appearing from everywhere around the mountains was quite a visual impact.

At that moment, I finally understood why their race was worthy of being called the Wargod race. Despite being in a disadvantageous position, the Kenante soldiers still displayed their impressive combat capabilities.

From the moment the first arrow was fired, all the soldiers activated their energy shields while pulling back toward the center of their formation. I could see that dozens of them were struck down by the massive number of arrows, but the majority managed to pull back safely.

Soon, the soldiers started unloading their steel handheld weaponry from the carts. The soldiers formed layer upon layer of walls and formed a perfect defense against the rain of arrows. Next, the mechanical dogs were unleashed from their defensive position. The dogs rushed toward the attackers and clashed against the mechanical dogs of the ambushing party. The dogs rolled all over the ground and tore at each other.

Meanwhile, the Wargod archers finished getting into position. Over a thousand arrows flew out of their formation, heading straight toward the barbarians. Naturally, as ones with the courage to ambush the Wargod army, the barbarians were not to be trifled with. With their own shields, they blocked the arrows. Only a few of them were actually struck.

With their numerical superiority, the barbarians did not take long to cut the Wargod formation into three parts, forcing the Wargod soldiers to face enemies from all sides. At that point in the battle, bows and arrows were no longer effective. The soldiers of the two sides were fighting each other at close range.

This was one of the cruelest battles I had ever witnessed. The ox-headed warriors of both sides were strong and vigorous. With their sturdy bodies, weapons such as war hammers, broadswords, and giant clubs could be seen all over the battleground. Their roars rumbled throughout the valley.

We could see that the Wargod army had to face 8,000 enemies with only 3,000 soldiers. Moreover, they had marched a long distance, so they were in an absolutely inferior position in the battle. But thanks to their excellent training and battle tactics, they were able to put up a good fight relying on their formations.

The melee soldiers formed a circle around their archers. At the outer layer, the soldiers would defend with their shields while madly attacking the barbarians with their weapons. Meanwhile, the archers behind them were unleashing a constant stream of arrows at the barbarians. In only a short while, a large number of barbarian corpses were left on the ground.

Seeing the corpses of his companion, the barbarian leader raged. With a roar, he personally led a group of shieldbearers and charged forth. Even with the distance between us, I could hear how loud the roar was. With the barbarian leader joining the battle, all the barbarians turned berserk and started fighting without regard for their own lives.

One of the barbarian leader's personal guards was currently very conspicuous on the battlefield due to his three-meter-tall height. With two massive swords in his hands, he hacked away, forcefully cutting an opening into the shield formation before him.

At that time, a mechanical dog jumped from his back while he was unprepared, but the barbarian warrior easily cut the dog into two with a single slash. His ferocity further roused the spirits of the barbarians behind him as they madly fought alongside him. As they hacked and slashed, the opening grew. It started looking as if the Wargod army's central formation was about to collapse.

"Canyue, let's make our move. I don't think Gunda's army can last much longer," suggested Kelly when she saw that the barbarians were distracted enough that we could launch an ambush.

"Wait. I want to wait longer. I keep having the feeling that the time isn't right yet," I said firmly.

Everyone obeyed my order, but I could see that Anxashe was starting to grow restless as he saw his people being slaughtered. Suddenly, a warrior in white armor walked out of the Wargod army's shield formation. That warrior was probably a military leader. Brandishing a massive hammer, he easily smashed two barbarian warriors in front of him into the ground.

The valiant guard was about to step forward when the barbarian leader stopped him. Then, all the barbarians roared madly as I saw the barbarian leader personally face the warrior in white with his axe. I realized what was going on. The barbarian leader was aiming to deal with the opposing leader with his own strength and destroy the Wargod army's morale.

A massive duel was about to unfold amid the bloody battlefield. The massive axe whistled through the air as it headed straight toward the white warrior's head. It moved with so much force and speed that it seemed like the axe could cleave even a mountain apart.

As a military leader of the Wargod army, the white warrior was naturally not someone to be trifled with either. He easily lifted his hammer and swung upward to dissolve the attack. The white warrior had stopped a two-handed attack with only one hand. Thus, it looked like he held the advantage in terms of strength.

At almost the same time, the white warrior drew his side blade with his left hand and stabbed at the barbarian leader. I was confident this leader was none other than Maley. As the supreme chief of the barbarians, he was also an experienced combatant. Facing the incoming stab, he weakened the blade with his energy shield before twisting his body to the right, avoiding the attack completely.

At that exact moment, he drew the ray pistol strapped to his thigh and fired at the white warrior. This was an exchange between classical weaponry and modern weaponry, with the death of one party being the only possible end to the fight.