Tanks fired round after round, and the enemy cavalry suffered more casualties, but there were still more coming towards them.
"Sir, how many minutes are left until air support arrives?" asked the driver as he was preparing to retreat.
"Just a few more. Prepare to retreat. Platoon commander, prepare to retreat," he said, and the commander responded back.
"We're just about to begin. We will clear a path, and you guys fall back first," said the platoon commander, and the tanks began to reverse behind the fortifications, slowly followed by the infantry forming lines and falling back per lines.
"Second line, fall back. First line, prepare for defense now. Third line, fall back. First lane, open fire!" the commander was directing his men and also firing his gun, seeing the approaching enemy cavalry not stopping any time soon.
"Damn, morale is high!" said one of the soldiers.
One of the soldiers used his binoculars and saw something off.
"Umm, sir, I can see the front of the enemy cavalry is not armed, just charging, and I think they are wearing blindfolds?" said the soldier.
"What? Are you sure?" he said and pulled out his own binoculars, seeing the same thing, and shouted to his radio.
"Wall 1, the enemy cavalry, I think made out of prisoners, are charging towards us, while the true armed cavalry are behind them," said the platoon commander.
"I see, but we must kill them. We have no choice until air support comes. We must kill them," the tank commander said as he continued to fire his 50 cal.
"How about flanking them while we hold the center?" he said.
"Are you sure? If you get breached, it will be an all-out battle," he said, as if they got caught, he couldn't support them.
"It's okay. Just flank them and hit their real soldiers behind that horde of cavalry," the commander said.
Soon the tanks split into two, with the other two going left and the other right. As they kept their distance and saw the rear of the enemy cavalry, they saw the more well-equipped cavalry behind with whips and banners. As the turrets turned, they began firing shell after shell, and the enemy was shocked by the flanking maneuver and tried to split up and gang up on the tanks but were too late.
BRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTT BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM
The Warhound, only a single Warhound, released its scythe and shadow as blood and fire spread.
"This is Reaper 1. I have received the message. Shall I do another run?" said the pilot of the Warhound.
The tank commander observed the now silent battlefield and seeing literally no one alive, he responded to the pilot.
"No need. No signs of life," he said.
"All right. I will head back to the carrier and rearm and refuel," the pilot said as he turned his plane and headed in the direction of the carrier.
"Sir, the platoon is lining up the battlefield. We can return to base now," said the driver, and the commander nodded, and the tank turned towards the base and drove back.
Andronomos
Jin was currently resting on a chair while his legs were on top of the table, and a soldier came in and spoke to Jin.
"Sir, one of our outposts that was under construction in Krakow, they were able to repel it," said the soldier.
"Well, any casualties?" he asked lazily.
"None, sir."
"Well, how many soldiers did they send to attack?"
"20k cavalrymen, sir, but the majority are prisoners or forced volunteers," said the soldier.
"Well, okay. So for now, increase surveillance on the frontlines since we're still focused on the capture of the mountain fortress," he said, and the soldier nodded.
The Iron Spire
A mountain created a wall over the east part of the region where the Draconian Empire is in control. Over that mountain provides a flat terrain towards the capital Valyria, and controlling that mountain provides a corridor and a direct striking point and attack to the capital.
Heading over to that fortress were 20 helicopters, 10 were the Scorpion type attack helicopters, and the other 10 were a mix of Lupra transport helicopters (more like a copy of the Chinook but imagine its capacity is 60 and can maneuver quickly) and Robin transport helicopters. The soldiers sent were special.
Five of the Robin transport helicopters were boarded by death squads that Jin included in the operation, and with them were the 9th company of the 2nd infantry division of the 8th Legion.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM
Soldiers in the Lupra looked out the window and saw 5 Drasian Type 1 jets drop 5 bombs each plane, causing the fortress to shudder from the vibration of the explosives dropped. Soon, another 5 planes came from different directions, and the infamous Warhounds, now the 9th Legion, had some resentment because they could not fight a more better and ready enemy when they meet on the ground and fight.
"Men, get ready! We're almost close," said the officer on board the helicopter, and everyone nodded.
Outside of the transport
Ten of the attack helicopters began their run after the Warhounds regrouped and returned to the airfield. They separated in pairs and headed to their assigned sections since the fortress is divided into 5 sections, while the 5th section is the middle where the high command and a final wall are. The mountains are called the Iron Spire, and the fortress the Spire.
After a few minutes, the helicopters landed in the 5 sections, and the other five went in and dropped on the walls of the center of the fortress.
"Go, go, go, go! Secure this section! Take no prisoners!" shouted an officer as he fired a controlled burst of bullets on the enemy soldier who was trying to move his ragged body from the fight, died. Unexpectedly, enemy soldiers poured out from the walls and tried to outflank the 60 soldiers but were decimated by the attack helicopters and did a danger close attack by the mounted Gatling gun.
As the fight continued, the soldiers were able to capture the walls and kill the remaining men, while the special forces were moving in and met with heavy resistance. A squad of the company moved to an entrance.
"Come on, let's find the commander! The special forces are having a hard time," said the lead soldier with a smile. But when they took a turn, a large bulky man, armored to the feet, swung a longsword of Valyrian steel to the lead soldier but aimed at the neck, and it was thankfully guarded by an anti-magic neck guard that could deflect arrows to bullets. But something shocked them.
Crink Crum Swack Thud
The leading soldier was beheaded and died instantly, and the others were frozen in shock as the first death in the war was recorded.
"Angelo, Nooooo!" the nearby soldiers spoke with anger in his tone and charged with his bayonet, and the others followed and fired their guns, but the bullets went through, but there was no response, no blood or anything. While the squad captain and a medic pulled the body and retrieved the head.
"Command, this is Charlie 5. One of my men died," the captain said, and someone responded.
"Wait! How did he die?" asked the one on the radio.
"We were entering the entrance of the main section of the fortress, and out of nowhere, we were ambushed by one man and used a longsword and beheaded my man."
"And your situation?"
"We are currently holding him back, but he has more layers of armor and more like a titan," said the captain.
"Copy. A death squad is en route to your location."
A few seconds later
The giant swordsman grabbed a nearby soldier by the neck and smashed him to the wall.
"Argh!" the soldier grunted.
As they tried to hold him, a small battle axe swooped down and beheaded the giant from the back.
Thud
And it came from the death squad who looked back at the squad and saw the beheaded body of the soldier and grabbed his radio.
"Men, leave no survivors behind. Just keep the fortress commander alive," said the squad captain with an emotionless tone, and no one responded back. It was a silent acceptance of the order, and for the next few hours, screams of pain were heard, and the Valyrian soldiers who surrendered were dragged outside and executed together, their bodies piled up and burned while the commander was dragged to the transport helicopter but was guarded by the special forces squad due to the other soldiers wanting to kill him.
And at the 1st section, soldiers lined up as they gave way to 4 soldiers who were carrying a stretcher. On that stretcher was the soldier who perished, known as the first casualty of the war, his body in a body bag and made sure his head is placed well.
To be continued