After two days of chasing those damned Elena troops, John Clermonds' 17th Army and Alan Carvallo's 18th Army finally caught up with the enemy.

More precisely, it was the enemy who gave up on fleeing.

On the side of a small river one hundred and eighty kilometers away from Rufeng Mountain, this belated decisive battle is finally about to begin. The enemy stopped by the creek and began to prepare for battle. They built a simple line of defense out of earth and stone and began to dig trenches in the ground. And the soldiers of the Negrus Republic, blocking the flanks with cavalry and broadsword, began to line up in front of the enemy. The formation, or the gun formation invented by Gastens. And the goal of the formation is the inventor of this formation.

"These little bunnies are pretty good at running."

On the makeshift podium, John Clemons and Alan Carvallo were chatting. From their point of view, they could clearly see the enemy's gray uniform, like a wriggling ground rhinoceros, humble and dirty.

"What if you can run again? Now Anken Rein has no one to help him, and no one to stop us. When we kill these people, occupy Elena, get their technology, and eat Ankenrein, we will become the number one nation in this world. At that time, the size of our territory will depend entirely on the mood of our parliament. ”

"Haha, you think it's a good thing", Clemmonds smiled and punched his colleague, "These grandsons have killed many of our brothers, and the soldiers under my command who can fight, dare to fight, and are willing to die are almost dead, and I guess you are the same." If they hadn't run out of bullets this time, I guess the rest of my buns would have run away a long time ago. ”

"yes, that weapon, called a steam machine gun, is terrible."

Carvallo remembered his despair and disbelief when he was ambushed a few days ago and saw the enemy tilt demonic bullets from that tiny device.

"Who would have thought that a small serf would be able to do this with weapons!"

"He's a genius indeed, but it's a pity he's gone the wrong way. If he had not engaged in communism, but continued to rely on Eliot to develop, I am afraid that it would not be us who would have fought Anken Rein now, but Eliot would have invaded our territory with hundreds of thousands of troops and a large number of steam machine guns. ”

Clemmonds felt that his summary was on point. This young man had a genius brain, but he took the wrong path. What is the use of such a thing as communism, except for fooling a bunch of people to die?

"Also, how can communism be such a thing as a thing except to fool people to death?" Carvallo's idea is the same as that of Clemonz: "Look at our Workers' Party, living in harmony with the capitalists through parliament, fighting for the rights of the workers without having to fight and die, that's the royal way of the workers' movement, isn't it?" ”

"Come on, you're not a worker, doesn't your father want to kill the Workers' Party in Parliament?" , Clemmonds knew Carvallo's family background as well as Carvallo knew his background. The two of them, one is the son of a high-ranking official, and the other is the child of a capitalist, and they have never suffered hardship, so how can they understand the workers and support the workers' movement?

"It's better to be dead, and if you're not dead, that's all it can be," Carvallo smiled as he watched the herald wave the flag.

"It's time to begin, let's die for Elena together."

As he spoke, Carvallo even took off his hat and performed a funeral ceremony. Clemmonds looked at him and smiled, and fell silent.

The sound of an air whistle, representing the attack, sounded in the air.

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"Brigadier, you're all set."

Amid the melodious sound of the air whistle, Oleg, the commander of the 1st Regiment of the Guerrilla Brigade, stood in front of Bellanchir with a solemn expression.

"Then what are you hesitating about", Bellancheer straightened the golden badge on his chest. It was Gastens' favorite badge and a symbol of his status at Elena. If the enemy wants to capture Gastens alive, he will definitely make the soldiers pay attention to this badge. As for the other parts that can be disguised, he Bellanchier also tried his best to imitate them. Although it is impossible to hide from the people who have seen Gastens, it is already the best way to confuse the eyes of the pursuers.

"Your Excellency......", Oleg stood still, his voice a little hesitant, "Let me play the head, you just change into an ordinary military uniform and retreat with everyone, okay?" You really don't need to do this kind of thing. You have been fighting with a guerrilla column for so long, you have a lot of military experience and command experience, and the leader will not want you to die. ”

"We will always die", Berranchier finally did not avoid Oleg's topic of death this time, "The only question is whether our death is heavier than the snowy mountains or lighter than the feathers, isn't it?" ”

Berranchir was quoting a phrase that Gastens often repeated, and Oleg knew it. He looked at Bellanchier for a moment, then wiped the corners of his eyes.

"Brigade Commander, you have to take care!"

"You too, give me a good life!"

Bellancheer and Oleg hugged tightly and then separated. At this critical juncture, both of them have their own tasks. The two-day pursuit not only exhausted the ammunition of the first regiment of the guerrilla brigade, but also exhausted everyone's spirit. They could neither get rid of the enemy nor launch a decisive counterattack. Later, at a meeting held by the party members and comrades in the brigade, everyone unanimously decided that it would be better to have a painful battle than to be chased to death by the enemy so aggrieved. Put the vast majority of combat-capable men in a regiment in the back and fight the enemy to the death. The lightly wounded were evacuated. At the same time, all fighters were given information of a unified caliber, and as soon as captured, the enemy was told that Gastens was among those who were retreating.

Only in this way can the partisan brigade be wiped out by the enemy, continue to pin down the enemy on this land, give Gastens and the large army, more time.

Oleg watched his brigade commander Bellanchier Warren turn around and suddenly stopped him.

"Brigadier Commander!"

"What's wrong?" , Berlancheil turned and looked at Oleg.

"What if...... If I had to have a surname, I would call it Taylor. ”

Oleg's voice was not loud, almost all of which was drowned out by the sound of the empty whistle that had already sounded. But even so, Berrancier heard him. He responded loudly.

"Taylor, yes, I remember. By the way, if you make it back alive, remember to tell the boss that I like the last name, which is called Fry! ”

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Three hours later, the battle of more than 40,000 men against 1,000 men was over.

The midday sun of midsummer shines on the land, making everything hot. The blood on the ground had seeped into the ground, leaving only a dark red trail. Corpses and weapons are strewn across this nameless land.

Like a spectacular sculpture.

The commander of the 17th Army, John Clemonz, stood beside the three entangled corpses, silent. The commander of the 18th Army, Alan Carvallo, stood beside him, equally looking at the tragic scene in front of him.

In front of the two of them were three ordinary soldiers, one from Elena, wearing a gray, blood-stained military uniform, holding a Thunder Type 1 rifle in his hand, and the three-edged military thorn on the head of the spear pierced deeply into the Negru Republic soldiers who pressed on him. And the long knife in the hand of the Negru Republic soldier was also deeply inserted into the chest of the Elena soldier. But the Elena soldier was clearly not dead, and after he and the Negru soldier had stabbed each other and fell to the ground, he still had the strength to reach out and grab a Negru soldier who was passing by him. The soldier clutched the long knife in his hand, and the blade was half stuck in the arm of the Elena soldier on the ground, as if it was about to cut off the arm of the dying Elena soldier. But a stray bullet that flew out of nowhere drilled into his chest, ended his life, and made the last moment of the three of them frozen on this land.

"These people ......," there wasn't much excitement or joy in Clemmonds' voice, "...... It's horrible. ”

"It does ......", Carvallo very much agrees with Clemmonds. Along the way, on this small battlefield, the fierceness and ferocity of the battle between the two sides have completely shocked him. As the commander of the 18th Army, it was the first time since he joined the army that he had seen such a battle that did not want to die, was not afraid of death, and had to take the enemy with him even if he ran out of blood. Even if they win in the end, even if they kill all the enemies who resisted until the last moment, even if they have almost completed the task. But standing in front of these corpses, looking at these scenes, smelling the thick smell of blood in the air, Carvallo felt a chill down his spine for some reason.

"Fortunately, it's just Elena......" Clemmonds said half a sentence before changing the subject, "how's it going, the casualty statistics and the whereabouts of Gastens have been found?" ”

Clemmonds didn't finish, but Carvallo knew what he was trying to say. Fortunately, only Elena has such an enemy. If half of Ankenrein's army could fight like these people today, then their Negro Republic would have no chance of entering the country at all.

"The casualty statistics are basically out, our side has more than 1,500 dead and more than 600 wounded, and the enemy has killed more than 800 people and wounded more than 20 people," Carvallo's tone was obviously heavy, "Although the enemy has no bullets, I am also surprised that the battle is like this." ”

"A thousand people don't kill two thousand of us, and that's still without bullets. I now understand why they say that Elena's soldiers are more combat-ready. If such a soldier was in my hands, Anken Rein would not have been able to enter our border last year. ”

"Well, that's true, such soldiers are hard to come by, and I don't know how they are trained."

"And one more question, why are there so few people?" Clemmonds sensed that something was wrong, "They're attacking us with more troops. ”

"There were a few deaths along the way, and quite a few in the first ambush. And, according to the captured soldiers, their leader, the guy named Gastens, and his own guards had scattered and fled disguised as civilians. ”

Carvallo had gathered all the information, and after sharing it with Clemmonds, he offered his opinion, "I don't think we can just go back now that we know that Gastens is here. It's best to catch him, so that Elena's problem can be solved once and for all. ”

"Well, I didn't expect him to come, I guess I thought I was going to win, and came to see our jokes, but I didn't expect that I became a lost dog, and I was chased around by us, it's ridiculous."

In fact, when he first learned that Gastens was also in the fleeing team, Clemmonds was a little unconvinced. What leader of any country or force would take part in such a dangerous front-line battle without regard for his own life? Only this serf-born lowly life, dare to play like this.

"I have arranged for the cavalry troops to pursue them, and I have assigned them the best scouts", Carvallo continued, "It should not be necessary to pursue the remnants of the army, otherwise I will stay here, John, you go back first, and give our commander peace of mind?" ”

Get back? When you go back, you catch Gastens eating alone, won't you eat it?

John Clemonz chuckled, "Now that Gastens hasn't been caught, doesn't it seem like we've done our job well?" Otherwise, I will send back to give good tidings, so as not to delay the close combat of the large army. How about we leave some people here and look for Gastens? The peasants in this vicinity have already run away, and they have nowhere to flee for their lives, and they can't find cover, so it should be easy to pursue. ”

"Yes", Carvallo knew that Clemonz had seen through his intentions, and he was not in a hurry, so he smiled and began to stand with Clemonz in the pile of corpses to arrange the next plan. The soldiers in charge of cleaning the battlefield passed by them, separated the three soldiers, and simply cleaned up the two Negru soldiers before being dragged away and buried. As for the corpse of the Elena soldier, they didn't look at it, and planned to just throw it here and let it rot.

"Ah, you," Clemmonds called out to the soldiers who were cleaning the battlefield, "this man, see if you can find his name, bury it." They fight so hard that even if they are enemies, they have to give a certain amount of respect, you know? ”

"Yes, General."

Several soldiers took the order and dragged the body of the Elena soldier away. After a few people left, all that remained in the area was the dark red blood stains on the ground, vaguely recording what had happened here.

Clemmonds watched as the soldiers dragged the bodies away, turned his head sideways, and exchanged words with Carvallo, "These soldiers aren't bad." I've heard people say that cleaning the battlefield is a fat mess, and you can make a lot of money from the dead. ”

"Indeed," Carvallo grinned, "but none of these Elena soldiers have any money. Some people have brought food stamps, and it is said that they can exchange food at Elena's livelihood bureau, but we can't use it. The people below also said that Elena's soldiers are all poor ghosts. ”

"Poor ghost," Clemmonds repeated, "maybe only a poor ghost can fight like this?" ”

"Yes, probably."

Carvallo fell silent, and around him, the bodies were being gradually cleared. In a little while, this land will be restored by time, and there will be no one who can remember what happened here except those who lived through this battle.

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Volume 7, the gradual bloody climax, ends.