Chapter 348 - Forward!
The sun illuminated the battlefield as both arms prepared for the clash. Rean and Roan looked around and could see the red color of Killing Intent rising throughout the surroundings. Kentucky, of course, could see the same thing. Still, after many months, Rean and Kentucky were already used to it. Roan obviously didn't have this problem.
Kassie then looked at Roan for a moment before looking back at the battlefield.
"Left Wing, Right Wing, start!"
Jialin Forces were spread into three primary forces: Right Wing, Left Wing, and Center. The first part of the plan was to have both those wings move at the same time.
In an instant, tens of thousands of cultivators began to move in unison. Spiritual Energy got chaotic as they channeled it. They didn't charge forward but moved in a disciplined manner. However...
"Where are they going?"
"They aren't coming at us."
"Are they trying to surround us?"
"Don't be ridiculous! We selected an elevated terrain so that we could be ready for attacks from any side."
"Correct. It doesn't matter what side they choose. The final result will be the same."
The right and left wings opened even more distance from the main unit at the center. Yet, they weren't trying to surround the Cassen Country cultivators. Instead, those two wings formed what seemed to be a bowl or funnel shape.
Seeing that everyone was in their respective positions, Roan immediately gave an order to march forward to Kassie.
"Right and Left Wing, Echelon Formations! Forward!"
The two wings then assumed the echelon formation. The echelon formation was also called the ladder formation since it was in a ladder shape. This type of formation allowed the units to change into other formation types faster while moving all the companies together.
As one could expect, the Right Wing's ladder shape matched the right defensive line like how the left one did the same to the left line.
Everyone began to move in the direction of the enemy's defenses. Little by little, their movement speed began to increase as they moved together.
Roan then looked at Calina and her group in the body of the army.
'Tell the Elite groups to move forward as well. Illia already knows what to do.'
Kassie nodded as she passed to Calina Roan's orders.
Calina then looked at her group.
"Let's go! Don't walk too fast. Remember, we can't be the first group to arrive. The Left and Right Wings need to prepare the terrain for us first. Otherwise, the Cutting Edge Formation won't work properly."
Calina was putting on a strong front, but she was quite nervous. The Cutting Edge Formation was very hard to use. Roan had only explained to her how to use it, but had never tried in a real battle. It's not like Roan didn't want to, but it was that there were not enough cultivators to make it work.
In fact, the three thousand or so cultivators in Calina's Unit were just barely enough to bring it out of the theoretical stage. To make things worse, they didn't have time to properly train it. They could only achieve a basic level of understanding.
Fortunately, the Elite Units that formed this bigger one weren't called elite for nothing. They were much faster than the average warriors at grasping orders. If not for that, even the cutting edge's basic level wouldn't have come to fruition.
The Cassen Country wouldn't just watch as the enemy charged at them, though. Gofel, the commander in charge of all units, made a move as well.
"Ranged Cultivation Units! Begin the suppressing attack."
In less than a second, several attacks began to come from behind the defensive line. There were various cultivators specialized in long-range attacks. There were even a lot of archer cultivators as well.
However, Jialin's Left and Right wings were not slow either.
"Shield Formation!"
The various blocks of the Echelon Formation immediately changed into a defensive form. Although it was called the shield formation, shields were not the only things used in it. Several cultivators specialized in defense stepped forward and used their skills, armors, and finally shields to defend the units. This was the cultivation world. The cultivator's means were several times broader.
*Clang, clang, clang...*
*Bang, bang, bang...*
The attacks rained down as units defended against the attacks. However, several casualties already began to appear even though the defense was put in place.
Kassie looked at Roan from the corner of her eyes.
'Is this okay?'
Roan shook his head and sighed.
'There's no helping it. They had to learn how to use the shield formation in just a single day with the other types. Naturally, a lot of gaps and confusion would happen.'
'Still, it's already showing a result far better than I expected. Don't worry, we will not be in this passive form for too long.'
Roan was right. They could only defend at first due to the elevated terrain on the enemy's side. That allowed their opponents to throw all their attacks further away. If Jialin's group fired back, it would have little to no effect at that distance.
Eventually, the right and left wings moved forward enough so that they could retaliate.
"Ranged cultivators, Suppressing Fire!"
In the shield formation's center, several cultivators opened space for the ranged attackers to do their jobs. Immediately, several skills, arrows, and other means of long-ranged attacks began to come out. However, contrary to all expectations, they didn't target the cultivator's on the enemy side.
*Boom, boom, boom, boom...!*
"They are targeting our offensive!"
That was correct. Roan knew that using ranged attacks to deal damage on elevated terrain would be of little use. It's not that it wouldn't work, but that the enemy was prepared for it. The entire terrain on the enemy cultivator's side was protected by a vast formation that spanned the entire defensive side. As soon as those ranged attacks arrived there, they would lose most of their attack power or not reach the enemy at all. That being said, it would be much better to focus on reducing the casualties first.
And just like that, Jialin Forces continued to advance.