Ch.144I’m now taking an army with me

“Enemies in sight!”

May 21st, 45th year of the Amurtat Calendar.

It was around the time when the summer sun, slowly beginning to heat up, was soaring toward the center of the sky.

A report, almost like a scream from the scouts, was delivered to headquarters, and now the soldiers of Amurtat began to prepare for battle.

“Distance?”

“About 1.4km to the east from our position. The enemies are moving, so they’re probably closer by now.”

“How many?”

“Around 30,000… No heavy infantry or cavalry were spotted.”

“30,000…”

The fighting force available was about 10,000. A battle of 10,000 against 30,000 couldn’t be taken lightly, even with gunpowder weapons.

“What’s their armament status?”

“I couldn’t see clearly, but most had light armor and crude melee weapons. There were quite a few archers, but judging by the absence of carts, they’re probably just for harassment at most.”

“Any other peculiarities?”

“Well… judging by their gait, and what appeared to be syringe-like objects stuck in some of them, it seems they’re controlling their troops with drugs or alcohol.”

“I see…”

With the scout’s detailed report, the enemy’s profile began to take shape.

Against the rumored might of the Amurtat army, they couldn’t rashly deploy their elite forces.

In any case, this incident marked the ‘first’ external intervention by the Amurtat army, and the power of their much-practiced and trained gunpowder weapons remained completely unknown.

That’s why the troops being sent now were just a large number of ragtag soldiers.

Poorly armed, untrained, and even dependent on alcohol and drugs.

However, their sheer numbers couldn’t be ignored, and how the enemy would fight in the future would be determined by how many casualties they suffered.

“Meat shields.”

“Meat shields indeed.”

Once the conclusion was reached, the response strategy was also decided.

“Spread the battle line wide. We need to spray bullets over the maximum area.”

“Drugged men won’t employ tactics like flanking maneuvers, so there’s no need for reserves. We’ll annihilate them in one go with overwhelming firepower.”

“Artillery should be positioned diagonally for canister shot. Build mounds to secure high ground.”

A drug-intoxicated army could only perform frontal charges.

Of course, if they were using properly developed combat stimulants, this would be a foolishly complacent judgment, but these were crude drugs made by heathens.

And even those were in short supply, supplemented with hard liquor, so the assessment wasn’t overly complacent.

Moreover, the enemies visible on the ridge looked too pathetic to be a disguise.

It was hard to tell if they were coming down the ridge or simply falling over, and of the reported 30,000, only about 20,000 had actually appeared.

“Hmph. What fools. Definitely not the sort I’d want to cross swords with.”

“Agreed. All troops!!! Load!”

“Load!”

The long line of infantry simultaneously tore open paper cartridges with their teeth and poured the contents into their musket barrels.

The gunpowder went in, and Minié balls were precariously placed at the muzzle, then rammed down the barrel with ramrods.

Finally, they pulled back the hammer to ensure the flint and frizzen would strike to create the necessary spark, and with a click, the loading was complete.

The soldiers then moved in perfect unison to shoulder their weapons, and even as the enemy came into view, they executed the loading and subsequent positioning flawlessly without a single mistake.

“Hmm!”

The officers looked on with pride at this display, and then turned their attention to the artillery positioned diagonally.

“All batteries loaded! Ready to fire!”

“Canister shot ready!”

Soon, the artillery officers signaled their readiness, while the still-intoxicated enemies approached with movements like melting octopuses.

If they had truly been undead, they might have been free from the shock and terror they were about to experience, but no sympathy was felt.

Eventually, they came within rifle range, and the front-line commanders gave the order to fire.

“Commence firing!”

As the order was given, thousands of lightning bolts poured down with thunder, delivering death to the heathens with glazed eyes.

In a time too brief for humans to recognize even pain, let alone death, thousands fell and never rose again.

“Uh…uh…aah?”

The acrid gunpowder smoke, shattered drug vials and liquor bottles, and the sound of thunder awakened their senses. Soon, the numerous corpses before them began to stain their hazy eyes crimson.

Eventually, the scent of death wafted into their nostrils, and what that scent meant was answered not by their reason but by their instincts.

“Huaaaa…uaaaagh!!!”

The first scream was heard, and it didn’t take long for that scream to change from singular to plural.

Ratatatatatatat!

“Kuhak!”

“Aaagh!”

However, their increasingly numb legs were slower than the trained soldiers’ reloading and firing, and once again, thousands collapsed to the ground as cold corpses.

The only difference between these men and those who died in the first volley was simply whether they were shot in the stomach or the back.

“Huk! Huuuk!”

“Uweeeeek! Uweeeeek!”

Fear does not guarantee loyalty.

Especially when that ‘loyalty’ is pledged to metaphysical thought entities beyond the barrier.

Their drug-soaked bodies were as heavy as water-logged cotton, and the meat shields, with their insides turned by the miraculous combination of alcohol and drugs, couldn’t flee far before collapsing to vomit their empty stomachs.

And just as they managed to empty their thin gastric juices and stand up again, another volley swept through them.

Ratatatatang!

“Kyaaaak!!”

“My leg!!! My leeeeg!!!”

To an observer, it might have looked like an oppressive force indiscriminately massacring innocent paupers, and there was some truth to that perspective.

But they were heathens.

Whether coerced or willing, they had taken the field, and the soldiers of Amurtat, who had no stake in their affairs, had no reason to show them mercy.

“Hiii…hiiiiek….”

After three volleys, the 30,000—no, 20,000—’soldiers’ disintegrated instantly.

It was only natural.

They may have been called an army, but they were civilians who couldn’t even match street ruffians, and they had no NCOs or officers to command them.

It was the very definition of meat shields.

Rumble rumble…

But then, the remaining 10,000 heathens who had deserted were cleverly crossing over the ridge, and they too were intoxicated with alcohol and drugs.

The reason for their return was simple.

Since they hadn’t yet experienced death, they had made deals with devils to maintain the pleasure provided by alcohol and drugs.

If they died, that would be the end, but if they survived, they wouldn’t get alcohol and drugs.

That’s why the scattered remnants had gathered in small groups and were heading to their original destination.

“…Additional targets confirmed. Shift gun positions.”

“Shifting gun positions!”

Rattle rattle! Rattle rattle!

At this sight, so absurd that it didn’t even elicit a chuckle, the soldiers didn’t even bother to reload.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to fight; they had other weapons specifically for killing these enemies.

“Gun positions shifted!”

“All batteries! Ready to fire!”

“Fire!”

KWAAANG!

Canister shot erupted from twelve 24-pound howitzers.

Being hundreds of meters away, the drug-addled mass of 10,000 felt no warning signs, and thus died in dreamy pleasure without knowing anything.

Is this what it means for humans to be torn apart in death?

Like objects bound by rubber bands suddenly unfurling, flesh separated from flesh, and bones crumbled to dust.

Before they could even scream, the 10,000 were transformed into minced meat, leaving not even enough to be called corpses, and only the miserable screams of a few survivors could be heard from the ridge.

“Break formation! Find all survivors and execute them!”

There was no information to be gained from them anyway.

All that remained was to grant them a small mercy at the end of a blade.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

Iron-reinforced boots trampled the grass as they approached, and those who still had enough body parts to feel fear tried to drag their heavy bodies away to escape.

Bang!

“Ungh.”

But they failed.

Soon, hundreds more gunshots were heard, followed by dozens of stabbing sounds and death throes, and then only silence remained.

In this battle, the heathen force of 30,000 was annihilated without a single survivor, and the Amurtat army didn’t even have a single wounded soldier.