Chapter 110 The Horn of Attack
As the vanguard force according to plan, she led her team charging right at the front, gradually approaching the enemy camp near the border.
It was late at night with few patrols. Anne's side hid in the darkness and had specifically trained to lighten their footsteps, so approaching the camp went exceptionally smoothly.
She raised her hand, and the archers in the team, led by Cynthia, all drew their bows. Their arrows aimed at the side of the camp facing Soth Empire. The allied forces' camp was heavily guarded, with a high platform holding a burning torch every ten meters, each manned by rotating guards. Half of them operated crossbows, and Cynthia's team needed to take them out first.
As bodies quietly slumped in the corners, Soth Empire's vanguard force gradually closed in on the enemy camp.
The scouts sent out reported that Saslov had been escorted back to the central tent. Before long, an argument seemed to break out inside. Frol walked out coldly, accompanied by a mysterious figure wrapped tightly in a cloak.
As Anne received this news, Friedel had already arrived at her side. As the commander of the eastern battlefield, in this crucial battle, he had to stand at the front of the formation, becoming the spear that would pierce the enemy camp, leading everyone to drive the allied forces completely out of Soth Empire's territory.
Once everyone was in position, Friedel took a deep breath. "Charge!"
Instantly, a massive dark army rushed straight toward the enemy camp, moving so fast they reached the camp entrance in almost an instant.
Because there were too many people on the platforms, even with the archers' best efforts, they couldn't eliminate them all. The previously quiet camp suddenly became as noisy as boiling water.
"Get up! Enemy attack!"
"Damn it, don't those Soth Empire bastards sleep? Always attacking in the middle of the night!"
"Kill them!"
"Kill them all!"
The two sides quickly clashed, but because they had prepared their attack plan in advance, Soth Empire's army kept changing formations. Anne and the others pushed forward with Friedel, swinging their weapons. In just moments, they had created a field of corpses.
Since Cynthia was an archer who also had to direct the other archers in coordinated combat, she didn't move with Anne and the others this time, staying in the rear instead.
Her eyes focused as she nocked an arrow and drew her bow, directly piercing through the forehead of a soldier operating a crossbow on a distant platform. Then she turned and shot down an archer on the other side. In an instant, Cynthia had taken out two people.
With her leading, the archer team constantly watched the platforms. As for shooting into the crowd, that wouldn't work—who knew if they might hit their own troops.
Suddenly, Cynthia noticed something strange on the right side.
Logically, with Anne and Friedel's planning, the battlefield layout and design had gone through multiple simulations—there shouldn't be any problems. But...
Oh no!
Looking carefully, Cynthia saw that the small squad disrupting order on the right was led by none other than Candy!
"That damn woman!"
Cynthia was furious—Candy was supposed to attack in the third wave from the right rear, but she had already rushed to the front before the first wave even ended!
The distance was too far for Cynthia to notify Anne. While cursing Candy, she prayed she wouldn't mess things up. If this affected Anne's plan and ruined the whole battle, even if they won in the end, she'd make Candy pay!
Anne and Friedel had led the vanguard to the camp gates, fighting fiercely with the enemy forces pouring out. Anne especially—her sword moved through the crowd like a nimble snake, each swing taking a life. Blood stained her sword and armor. In the eyes of the Zotfort and Viller Empire soldiers, this terrified some of them into trembling, backing away while murmuring, "Killing machine... Soth Empire's killing machine has appeared again!"
Anne didn't mind having another title, especially one the same as her father Duke Skoda's—to Anne, it was the best compliment.
She quickly scanned around and signaled Samira, who raised an eyebrow, spun her spear to clear the area, then pointed it down. Anne ran over, stepped on the spear tip, and Samira launched her upward. Anne leaped high, deflecting arrows with her sword while using the platform firelight to survey the battlefield.
Naturally, she also saw Candy causing chaos on the right.
Anne frowned. "Candy brought people to the right side and disrupted the formation."
Friedel cut down the soldier in front of him, his voice ice-cold. "If she wants to die, let her die quickly."
"Metodi is over there. He has experience, it won't be a big problem."
Hearing this, though Anne was still somewhat worried, she had her own area to handle and couldn't change strategy mid-battle. Since Friedel was confident, she didn't ask further.
Metodi was leading the first attack on the right side when Candy suddenly charged up with her squad, forcing him back. He froze, then cursed loudly. "What the fuck, this is a battlefield! Do you understand what military orders mean? Didn't Lord Friedel assign you to the third round of rotation attacks?"
Candy sneered. "What's left to kill in the third round? Friedel just doesn't want to give me a chance to earn merit, wants to keep it all for himself. Dream on!"
Metodi was annoyed. "What merit are you going to earn? You lost the duel and won't admit it, and you expect everyone else to forget you have no military record? Take your people and get to the back!"
Candy completely ignored Metodi's words. She didn't care about anything now. As long as she led her people to the front and successfully joined up with Holden's team to wipe out the surrounded enemies, all that merit could go to Holden. As Holden's wife, she could enjoy the benefits those merits brought.
Moreover, Candy remembered she was Soth Empire's first female knight commander, once praised by Queen Mother Smith. If this operation went smoothly, she could ask Queen Mother Smith to advocate for her, to have the king preserve her position as knight commander and her military record.
Candy steeled herself—she had to achieve great merit to have something to negotiate with!
And although Holden had apologized to her that night and promised he would never neglect her again, Candy still felt uneasy. She had to show Holden her abilities.
Military merit? She could earn it too, she could prove herself too!