Chapter 606: Beast Battalions
Translator: TYZ Editor: X, TYZ
Helian Tianxiao looked in front of him at the four leaders of the beast battalions.
The first battalion leader was named Yang Xianyong. His face was broad with thick eyebrows. His four limbs were muscular and bulky, giving him a mountainous build. Yang Xianyong wasn't a gifted individual, but he was very hardworking. He had nurtured many outstanding soldiers who were recruited by blood divisions and god divisions. Thus, he was rather reputable in the beast battalions.
The second battalion leader was named Xuan Chong. He was short and stout, resembling a young calf. He had a fierce-looking face, making him appear unusually ferocious all the time. He was brave and good at fighting, but he had an irascible temperament. There was one time when he committed a grave mistake and was almost beheaded. Eventually, he was punished by being sent to a beast battalion as a battalion leader.
The third division leader was named Mo Shaojun. His skin was uniquely dark green in color. He was tall and skinny, resembling a person who suffered from tuberculosis due to living a life of extreme debauchery. One would commit a grave mistake if he or she judged him by his appearance and underestimated him. He was a ruthless and vicious individual.
The fourth division leader was named Wei Fumin. He was very short, resembling an old sun-baked farmer. His face always contained an unscrupulous smile. He had a slippery character and very few people were able to take advantage of him.
This was the first time Helian Tianxiao came into contact with people from the beast battalions. Usually, if the God Wolf Division lacked manpower, Helian Tianxiao would directly transfer people from the Silver Frost Blood Division or the Ardent Flower Blood Division. These two blood divisions had more interactions with the beast battalions.
"How about it? Do you have any strategies?" Helian Tianxiao asked amicably.
The four battalion leaders looked at each other. After a while, Yang Xianyong stepped out and replied, "We have some ideas…"
Just as Yang Xianyong was about to report their ideas, Helian Tianxiao waved his hand and interrupted, "There's no need for you to report to me. All of you are veterans and should know how to fight this battle. I believe in all of you."
Helian Tianxiao had led an army for many years and possessed rich military experience. He knew that he, himself, was unfamiliar with the beast battalions. If he commanded them, he might get in their way. Yang Xianyong and the rest weren't rookies, this was not the first time they had set foot upon the battlefield, and they were more familiar with their own subordinates.
A look of relief appeared on the four battalion leaders' faces. They felt very motivated. After all, gaining the trust of Sir Helian was a huge encouragement that did not come by easily to them.
Helian Tianxiao's facial expression turned solemn, and he said, "I don't want to emphasize the importance of this battle to all of you. I just want to tell you that everyone here is in the same boat, be it you from the beast battalions, the God Wolf Division, or the Silver Frost Blood Division. Everyone, including me, is in the same boat. Either we obtain a victory or we die here!"
"Yes!" A cold shiver snaked down the spines of the four battalion leaders.
Helian Tianxiao stood up and waved his hand, "Go and capture the God-subduing Peaks!"
"Yes!" the four battalion leaders replied in unison.
Following which, they walked out of Helian Tianxiao's tent. Outside the tent, the soldiers from the beast battalions were ready to set off. From a distance, they resembled a dense and enormous dark mass, looking extremely spectacular. The countless broadback batfish looked like a black sea. Whenever the broadback batfish flapped their wings, black froth appeared to spray across this black sea. .
"Set off!"
The black sea rose into the air. The sky darkened as countless broadback batfish covered the entire sky.
Looking at the sky, Song Xiaoqian could not help but exclaim in admiration, "It's spectacular!"
All along, she had not thought highly of the beast battalions' fighting capabilities. However, when she saw this scene, she was overwhelmed with shock. Usually, beast battalions rarely had the opportunity to fight on the battlefield. Back in the day, when Ye Baiyi finished raising the combat divisions for the God Nation, he created a roster to increase the combat level of every combat division. There were a total of 18 combat divisions, six god divisions and 12 blood divisions. The roster was very packed, so the beast battalions did not have a chance at all.
The others nodded their heads as they were shocked by the scene as well.
From afar, the three God-subduing Peaks lit up one by one. The enemy was prepared to face them. A gentle brilliance engulfed the three God-subduing Peaks. Even the dazzling sunshine from the morning sun could not eclipse the gentle brilliance they emitted.
As the number of skirmishes between the blood elementalists and elementalists increased, no one in the God Wolf Division dared to underestimate their enemy any longer. If it was another combat division that deployed this kind of tortoise defense, they might think that that combat division lacked courage. However, the Spear of Heavy Cloud had already proven their worth.
Whether it was Helian Tianxiao or the soldiers, all of them clearly knew that an unprecedentedly arduous battle was waiting for them.
The beast battalion leaders sitting on their broadback batfish understood this too.
The area that the enemy forces were defending was very small. The three God-subduing Peaks had sealed up the air tunnel above the bridge very tightly. The body size of the broadback batfish was enormous, and their troops could not spread out. This implied that it would be very difficult for them to rush the defensive line with a huge number of troops.
For the past two days, the four battalion leaders had been discussing how they planned to deal with the enemy's defensive line. Even though the enemy was like a thick tortoise shell, they were still able to come up with a few tactics.
"We will proceed according to the original plan," Yang Xianyong said.
"Okay!"
"I will take the lead!"
"Let's see how they react."
The other three battalion leaders replied and returned to their respective beast battalions.
The one taking the lead was Mo Shaojun. The other three beast battalions separated and pulled away from each other. The enemy position was too small and could not fit so many broadback batfish. By pulling away from each other, they could prevent the sky from being too congested.
Mo Shaojun's face turned sinister. He licked his lips as a look of madness flashed across his eyes. "Ask the first unit if are they ready."
The vice battalion leader beside him turned around and passed down the question. Rapidly, he received a reply and reported to Mo Shaojun, "Sir, the first unit is ready. They can strike at anytime!"
"Let's begin then," Mo Shaojun replied with a cold voice.
"Yes!"
The captain of the first unit was named An Shun. He was a burly, 40 year old man. Honestly speaking, he had not expected to be able to set foot upon the battlefield. He had spent a long time in this beast battalion. Given his current age, it wasn't possible for him to receive a promotion anymore. He had already decided to stay a few more years in this beast battalion before he retired and went home.
When he heard that the beast battalions were going to provide reinforcement at the front line, he couldn't believe it.
He wasn't afraid to die. From the day the blood catastrophe broke out, there were people dying daily. When one was born in times of chaos, it was normal for him or her to feel numb toward death. There were special reasons why he felt this way. When one was used to seeing death, he or she would understand how insignificant and fragile life was.
There was nothing special about dying on the battlefield either. His death would only bring about some benefits for his wife and daughter.
He married his current wife quite late in life. He had been very lucky, becoming a blood elementalist after surviving blood refinement. Unlike him, all his family members had already died during the blood catastrophe. His current wife was luckier than him. She had survived the blood catastrophe with her daughter.
Whether he felt sorrow or grief, life still moved on. Both he and his wife were honest and dutiful individuals. After their mutual friend acted as a matchmaker for them, they got married. His wife's daughter was obedient as well as sensible, and he treated her like his own daughter.
The benefits of dying on the battlefield were much better than the benefits that he would receive if he retired. Therefore, he was fine with going to the battlefield.
However, he was slightly surprised that his unit was in charge of launching the first wave of attacks.
Many thoughts flashed across his mind. His swiftly vision became spacious and empty. They were all alone now because their unit had already separated from the main force.
There were 1,000 men and 50 broadback batfish in the first unit.
This attack only needed 50 men, but An Shun felt that he should lead by example since he was the captain of the unit.
An Shun maintained his composure. He knew the plan of attack like the back of his hand.
Right now, he was gauging their distance from the enemy line. He heard that many scouts had lost their lives in order to clarify the attack range of the enemy forces.
An Shun thought to himself that that was a pity. The scouts from the God Wolf and Silver Frost Divisions were elite among elites. It wasn't easy at all to train such a high level scout. An Shun knew this very clearly.
They shortly entered the attack range of the enemy forces. An Shun yelled, "Madness blood pills!"
The other 49 men took out the madness blood pills that they had prepared beforehand and fed them to the respective broadback batfish they were sitting on.
If god divisions were first line forces and blood divisions were second line forces, then beast battalions would be third line forces. Beast battalions were mainly in charge of nurturing new soldiers for blood divisions. The strength level of beast battalions was also lower. This could be seen by the low number of blood elementalists who possessed an Ability of God. The only blood elementalist with an Ability of God in An Shun's beast battalion was Mo Shaojun. The promising prospects that they nurtured were usually sent to blood divisions too.
Regardless, Ye Baiyi still formulated some simple battle tactics for beast battalions. These battle tactics made ensured that the beast battalions were useful in certain special occasions.
Madness blood pills were one such tactic.
Madness blood pills were created by the Beast Venom Temple. They allowed blood fiends to enter a special state of frenzy. In this state, the blood fiends would become unusually ferocious and violent, while their strength would increase tremendously as well. They would become creatures that had no concept of fear.
The enormous size of broadback batfish and their terrifying strength allowed this tactic to be filled with destructive power.
Feeling slightly sad, An Shun patted the head of the broadback batfish beneath him. With a calm tone, he said, "Big Blackie, come."
When a madness blood pill was fed to a blood fiend, the blood fiend's brain would be irreversibly damaged. There was very little chance that it would survive after its blood was completely burned out. Even if it survived, it would be disabled and could not return to its beast battalion. For a blood fiend, this was a fate worse than death.
An Shun's broadback batfish was very docile and obedient. It had followed him for many years, and they had an extremely close relationship.
Big Blackie swallowed the madness blood pill obediently.
An Shun smiled and patted the back of Big Blackie. "Don't complain that I'm taking advantage of you. If you can't survive, I will die here too. We head to the underworld together."
Big Blackie did not understand An shun's words as the madness blood pill began to take effect. Its facial expression was filled with agony, and its body was trembling nonstop. Countless blood patterns began to appear on the two thick blood lines on its body. Like fast-growing vines, the blood patterns speedily spread all over its body.
Pfff, pfff, pfff.
The sound of skin and flesh erupting could be heard.
Thick, durable white spurs of bone grew out of the front of Big Blackie's huge wings. The bone spurs radiated with a demonic red glow. Densely-packed red metal spikes grew out of its long tail. They were so sharp that they struck fear in people's hearts.
Big Blackie let out a roar of agony as its eyes turned blood-red.
Its wings began to flap violently. Suddenly, Big Blackie erupted with a terrifying strength and shot higher into the sky.
An Shun had never felt such violent strength from Big Blackie's body before. Big Blackie almost dismounted him from its back. Fortunately, his reactions were fast as he grabbed on to Big Blackie's scales. Right now, his body was hanging in the air.
Big Blackie continued to frantically fly higher. Only by doing so could he feel better. The surging slipstream made it difficult for An Shun to stabilize his body.
Even though An Shun had trained this tactic many times, this was the first time he had personally executed it.
Big Blackie's body stopped trembling, and An Shun knew that the drug had taken effect completely.
An Shun continued to hold on to Big Blackie's scales tightly. His palms dripped with blood after being cut by Big Blackie's scales. He looked as if he felt nothing and roared at the top of his lungs in the face of the violent wind, "Big Blackie, charge!"
As though it heard An Shun's command, Big Blackie drew an arc in the sky and flew toward the God-subduing Peaks
A faint bloody glow engulfed Big Blackie and An Shun's bodies. Like a meteor falling from the sky, An Shun and Big Blackie dived down from the heavens with raging flames and a deafening whistle.
Huge silhouettes appeared behind An Shun and Big Blackie, following their lead closely.
The bloody glow that rose from their bodies lit up the sky and illuminated the three God-subduing Peaks.