Chapter 980 — Dusk
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 5
An Luo did not let herself wallow in despair for long.
It was true that Typhon had fallen a step behind on the modern battlefield, but that did not mean Typhon's military strength had fallen wholly behind the Cecilians. For now her forces had merely been forced into an unfavorable position under particular circumstances, reduced even to passive defense within Winterwolf Fortress—yet even so, it would not be easy for the Cecilians to break through that line.
Her gaze went off into the distance. To the west, in the direction of Winterwolf Fortress, smoke and dust were slowly rising...
...
Heavy treads ground against the hard, cold wasteland. The low growl of magic-energy engines and the mechanical rasp of gears and connecting rods came from every direction. The muzzles of the "Warhammer" main battle tanks were raised high, and ahead of this steel legion, the towering ramparts of Winterwolf Fortress and the gleaming fortress shield were already visible in the far distance.
The first attack wave was gradually nearing optimal firing range. The echelon commander, seated inside his armored vehicle, surveyed the scene ahead through the periscope. Apart from Winterwolf Fortress, there seemed to be no enemy obstacles left on the open plain—no token wooden barricades, no crisscrossing entanglement nets, no irritating blocking forces.
"Seems they've given up trying to stop our tanks out here in the open," the commander shouted over the loud mechanical noise to the vehicle commander ahead and to his side. "We're closing to firing range."
"Those Typhons ought to know by now just how much trouble they've brought on themselves!" the vehicle commander shouted back, raising his voice as well. "I thought the famous Winterwolf line would be something to reckon with—this doesn't even look as tough as the Crystal Cluster Legion at Boulder City!"
The echelon commander immediately cautioned him: "Careful! Those Typhons have been acting a little off on the battlefield. Watch out for traps..."
Over the past year and more, the front-line units of the Eastern Domain had been continuously expanded and trained. Their ranks now held not only the original First Legion soldiers transferred from the Southern Domain, but also a number of Eastern Domain veterans who had once garrisoned Longwind Fortress and had been lucky enough to survive the Crystal Cluster Calamity; retrained, they too had become members of the new-style army. The commander of this echelon was one of these "retrained veterans."
His rich combat experience and his understanding of the Typhons had made him a junior officer at the front, and now, more and more confusion was rising in this commander's heart.
The Typhons had never behaved so strangely. As the side that had declared war first, they acted just as hurried and at a loss as the Cecilians; as a powerful legion of the border region, they were oddly constrained on the battlefield, and many of their elite units had yet to show themselves. He had long heard that the Typhons too were reforming their army and strengthening the fighting power of their border garrison, yet now it appeared... why was Winterwolf Fortress performing even worse than in the Anzu era of a few years ago?
Confused thoughts turned in the commander's mind, but he did not neglect his vigilance, keeping a close watch on his surroundings.
Just then, he suddenly felt a faint tingling, prickling sensation ripple across the skin of his arm.
He looked down and saw the hairs on his arm standing on end.
"Magical trap!" The echelon commander reacted at once, dashing to the communications console. "Left and right wings spread out, rear elements slow down and go around, forward elements clear the area with close-range fire, infantry prepare to engage—"