Chapter 61: The Victor Does Not Face a Court-Martial

According to the plan, Zhuldulov was to lead the armored troops and the [Blade of Andrei] to thrust into Lahail, while Panfilov would command the truck-borne infantry to assault the city and hold it to the death. Four Khanate cavalry divisions would flank Hailaer, ensuring that not a single Yamato soldier could reach the Red Tower front via the prairie railway.

The plan looked promising, but no one was certain whether it could be successfully executed.

Regardless, the immediate priority was to carry out the luring maneuver to the end.

If the previous deployment merely involved a band of squires and apprentices known as the [Blade of Andrei] bluffing their way through Red Tower to draw the attention of the Yamato, the force deployed this time consisted of true, elite knights. Although they were only small detachments dispatched from the 1st and 2nd Berya Divisions, the casualties they inflicted were terrifying enough.

In an alley due south of Red Tower, as a Yamato Oni warrior fiercely drove the tip of its 2.1-meter-long naginata against a crumbling wall, a majestic heavy infantryman in golden armor leaped out from the billowing smoke.

Another Oni warrior abruptly raised its weapon, discharging a short, thick-barreled specialized shotgun at the golden figure.

To its surprise, this enemy, who was significantly bulkier than the Oni, managed to execute a sharp sidestep mid-leap—moving with such velocity that a golden afterimage was left lingering in his place.

In a hair-trigger fraction of a second, the golden-armored warrior dodged the shotgun's fatal slug, at the cost of the steel plating on his left shoulder cracking audibly.

Giving the shooter no chance to fire a second time, the heavily armored infantry knight raised his shield with his left hand to parry the naginata's overhead strike, while twisting his waist and pivoting his wrist with his right. A short-handled battleaxe was drawn from the scabbard behind his shield and hurled directly at the shooter.

"Clang!"

Such brutal violence!

Conventional sharp weapons, such as the bayonets of Arisaka rifles, were virtually useless against combatants clad in heavy armor.

Battleaxes were a different story!

Since ancient times, this weapon had been the ultimate shield-breaker.

In the long run, the antagonistic evolution of spears versus shields, and projectiles versus armor, always progressed in a dynamic, upward spiral.

When a Lassian knight drew a purely steel throwing axe weighing at least twenty pounds, so-called defense became a mere joke.

The throwing axe was hurled in an upward trajectory, first scraping golden sparks across the surface of the samurai armor. Immediately afterward, the extreme physical penetration brought by the bear-man transformation shattered the shoulder guard of the Oni warrior who had fired the shot, severing its right arm—complete with protruding bone spurs at the elbow—sending it spinning twice high into the air before it even hit the ground.

On the other side, the momentum unflagging, the Lassian heavy infantry knight raised his shield and recklessly charged directly at the naginata-wielding warrior.

The confined space forced the naginata warrior, too late to dodge, to abandon his overly long naginata and instead draw a short blade that, given his height of 2.1 meters, resembled a traditional samurai sword.

The two giant physiques collided with a deafening crash.

The moment blade and shield intersected, the divine runes engraved on their equipment burst with radiance, and the point of impact seemed to seethe with blood-red flames.

Yet amidst the clash of extraordinary divine powers from their respective deities, there was an ultimate contest of raw strength, speed, and close-quarters combat technique.

Realizing his physical strength fell short of the Lassian infantry knight—transformed into a bear—the Oni warrior executed a maneuver akin to 'pulling the rug out from under someone,' suddenly withdrawing his own force and dodging to the flank.

Just as the 'big bear' lost his balance in the Oni's eyes, the creature utilized the spiked armor on its right knee to launch an extremely covert knee strike.

It succeeded. The spiked claw, wreathed in black smoke, pierced the armor seam at the opponent's waist. Although driving the spike any deeper seemed impossible, it undeniably tore through the nerve bundles in his ribs.

The golden-armored knight's pupils ignited with extraordinary divine radiance, and with a roaring explosion of "In the name of Perun!", his entire body instantly surged with electricity.

This divine spell assault struck the Oni warrior squarely as well.

While the Oni warrior suffered a brief paralysis from the electric shock, the oversized dagger in the golden knight's right hand successfully drove into the gap between the Oni's helmet and chest armor at the left side of its neck.

"Ah—Namu..." The ferocious glint in the Oni warrior's eyes rapidly faded.

When the golden-armored knight stood up once more, his heavy metal boots treading in a puddle of the enemy's blood, he was surprised to discover that the other Oni warrior—who had lost its fighting capability after having its arm severed—had already fled.

"Suka! Spineless coward!" he spat fiercely, clutching his wound with his left hand.

At that moment, a companion's call echoed from the other end of the alley.

"Nikola, you dead yet? If you're not dead, catch your breath."

"Pfft, I'd still be alive even if you were dead. Boris, didn't you take a hit too?"

Another golden-armored infantry knight entered the alley, flanked by Lassian soldiers. Soon, personnel were deployed to secure the perimeter and clear the battlefield.

Boris nonchalantly pulled a broken samurai blade out from his chest: "Talk nonsense, I'm wearing three layers of armor. This opponent was decent, able to pierce both my plate and chainmail. Too bad I still have a layer of leather armor underneath."

"..."

The art of 'layering armor' was a classic European tradition.

During the medieval era, as long as a horse could bear the weight and a knight's family was wealthy, one could wear outer plate armor roughly 2mm thick, intermediate chainmail, and an innermost layer of leather armor.

As for heavy infantry in foot combat, the quantity and weight of the armor they wore depended entirely on their own muscular strength.

In this regard, the Lassian bear-man knights held a distinct advantage. Their height and strength, far surpassing other races, routinely allowed them to go into battle wearing multiple layers of armor.

Of course, heavy infantry could not become the absolute trump card on the battlefield simply because armor, no matter how thick, could never rival a true heavy tank.

Heavy infantry encountering a 37mm anti-tank gun were finished.

If they were actually shelled, the outcome remained scattered to pieces.

On this side, the Berya Principality had clearly deployed the elite of the 1st and 2nd Divisions, news that further provoked General Honda, Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Kanto Army.

Hesitating no longer, he swept his hand forward, and his remaining three standing Type-A divisions—the 1st, 8th, and 12th Divisions—began rapidly assembling, boarding trains bound for Lahail, transiting through hubs, crossing the grasslands, and deploying to the Red Tower front.

Coordinating with these three Type-A divisions were six Type-B divisions: the 23rd, 24th, 25th, 28th, 29th, and 57th.

In this era, the mobilization of nearly 200,000 troops could conceal itself from no one.

Not only the Lassian Emperor, the Odinic Emperor, and the Britannians, but even the Alicans across the ocean and the Sereans further south were closely monitoring the developments of the situation.

The Sereans, in particular, felt both concerned and conflicted about a war between great powers.

They harbored neither particular animosity nor so-called goodwill toward the Lassians. They were far more concerned with whether the Berya Principality could defeat the Northern Kanto Army.

As long as the Northern Kanto Army was severely crippled—no, merely bogged down—then Serean territory, half of which had fallen, would gain a breathing window and an opportunity to procure more weaponry and reorganize its military.

Of course, even the most optimistic Sereans would not expect the Berya Principality to severely cripple or annihilate the Northern Kanto Army, let alone execute some sort of north-south pincer movement against the Yamato.

On this chessboard called 'world,' Zhang Shan, who served as a mere chess piece, lacked any awareness of being a piece at all.

He had been left entirely speechless by the system.

[Winners are never sent to a military tribunal!]