It was early in the morning. Perhaps due to the warm weather in the spring, the valley is shrouded in a faint morning mist. It's not sunny today, but it's not gloomy either. The spring wind blows along the valley, but even the warm spring breeze at this time cannot change the solemn atmosphere of this land.

The scouts on the outskirts of Ryan's army had already detected the situation of the undead legion. The scout's report, coupled with the mage's senses, can clearly grasp the situation of the undead legion's march. Unless the vampires stop their march halfway through, in another hour or so, the undead army will arrive at the battlefield that has already been chosen.

Leto rode on a tall horse, wearing a shiny cuirass and helmet, and a sword at his waist. Because it was decided not to give the vampires a chance to line up at the beginning, they were taking advantage of the last time to review the appearance of the army and boost morale. The formation of Ryan's army was just as Leto had expected,

The elite musketeers and pistolmen had already gone to harass the undead legions. With them, it can ensure that vampires can't set up a formation before approaching the battlefield. In fact, even if these cavalrymen with muskets did not go, Leto did not believe that the vampires would be able to approach after formation, because the terrain itself limited the matter. Regardless, this move can definitely consume a significant portion of the vampire's elite troops before the battle.

Leto raised his eyes to look ahead, but because of the fog, he could not see the distance at this time. He tried his best to look calm and composed, but his heart was filled with excitement: it was his first time commanding an army. Although he was well aware that he had an advantage in combat power, he still had an inexplicable excitement and impulse, as if he was still a young man.

But he couldn't express any of his inner emotions. He is the commander-in-chief, and he must make those generals and soldiers feel that he is the embodiment of iron will and the belief in victory.

In the center of Ryan's army was a dense phalanx of infantry. There is a small gap between the phalanxes to ensure that the musketeers can safely retreat to the rear by interval. The front-line soldiers are almost always armed with halberds, and their task is to counter enemy charges, taking advantage of the length of the halberds and weakening the impact of the enemy army. The second-line soldiers are dominated by swords and shields, and they will use the melee advantage of swords and shields in hand-to-hand combat between the two armies. in order to defeat the enemy in a protracted battle.

Although these infantry were relatively poorly equipped, they were outnumbered enough to withstand attrition. In Leto's vision, they would assume the role of "anvil", holding the undead army firmly in place.

On the left flank of Ryan's army, they formed around the small dirt hill that had been dug into a lonely peak. Since it is occupied by a large space of dirt mountains, there are slightly fewer troops here. Greatsword warriors who are highly trained and wear high-quality armor guard the place. The Giant Sword Soldiers are well-equipped, and all of them are selected from experienced veterans, and their combat effectiveness is far stronger than that of ordinary soldiers, and they are the elite strength of the infantry. This time, though, Leto didn't intend to make them break through, but only hoped that they would protect his true secret weapon.

Guarded by the Greatswordsmen, the Ryans' proud military machinery is being placed on top of Lone Peak, turning it into a veritable turret. A whole line of Tempestal Cannons - these are the latest achievements in military machinery, the most powerful artillery in the Anthropocene. This position was carefully selected by Leto and placed here, and the range of these cannons could cover the entire battlefield. Once these new types of weapons are able to exert their firepower, they will deal a very heavy blow to the vampire undead legions.

In addition to these cannons, there were two magicians sent by the church on the battery. They will use magic to provide protection for the turret, just in case. With their help, vampires will be disappointed if they try to eliminate the cannon with magic.

Ryan's powerful Order was placed on the right flank by Leto. This time he went out with two knights (the musketeers were independent and did not belong to ordinary knights), all of which were elite troops with a long history and glorious records in the country. There was no need for anything else, just by looking at the Knights' various flags. There is a tradition in the Kingdom of Ryan that a unit that has made special achievements has the right to have its own unique flag. The fact that a knightly order has more than a dozen different flags is a testament to its prominence.

This is also the most elite unit in Leto's hands. If everything goes according to Leto's plan, then the Knights will act as a "hammer", after defeating the enemy in front of them, detour back to the enemy's rear, and then strike with the "anvil". Clamp the undead legion in the middle and smash it completely.

But horses take up a lot more space than people. In order to allow the knight to have enough space to charge and reorganize. The ranks of the knights had to be stretched back and actually turned into a column. But Leto doesn't think there's anything wrong with that. Anyway, there shouldn't be any unit in the Undead Legion that can withstand the frontal charge of the Iron Knights - the Black Knights are too few in number, and the other units are too poor - even if the front is a little narrower, it doesn't matter.

In the rear of all these troops, there stood a very uneven dirt slope two or three people high. Musketeers, archers, crossbow archers and other troops were placed here. In particular, the musketeers, who occupied the heights of the dirt slopes. Leto had hoped that they would be able to support the front line with fire in a steady manner. But the truth seems to be a little joke. There was really not enough time in the day, and the mountains were piled up high enough, so that the musket shot was not as effective as it could be, and it was far less than Leto had expected.

Thankfully, it didn't matter, Leto comforted himself in his heart. The most powerful thing about the musket is the armor-piercing ability of the bullets, which makes it still effective against heavily armored enemies. But for the undead legion, it doesn't matter so much. The undead have almost no armor, and bullets are far less effective than bows.

In any case, the dirt slope allowed the musketeers to try their hand at shooting, and without the dirt slope, the musketeers who were placed in the rear would probably not be able to do anything.

In the middle of the dirt slope, almost all the other magicians sent by the church gathered here. They will provide magical support to the army and will be ready to disrupt the dark magic cast by their enemies.

The range of the purple stone is indeed not large enough, and although it has been carefully arranged to make full use of the terrain, the actual layout is still very thick. However, the thick formation has the advantage of being thick, that is, it is extremely difficult to break through. The most likely tactic for the vampire is to personally lead the most elite troops to a certain point to carry out the "gouge through" tactic, using their powerful combat power to break through head-on. But in the face of such a thick formation, this tactic can only be a futile struggle.

Leto took a closer look at the lineup of the army. I'm going to win!" he told himself. No matter what the way you look at it, there's no chance of him losing. Of course, even if you lose...... And that path...... No, it was not so much just in case it was just a whim, not in his consideration.

In the distant mist, a strange sound could be heard. This is due to the echo effect of the mountains, which allows the sound of muskets to travel very far. The sound was still far away, but it was enough to show that the musketeers had begun to withdraw. This unit is responsible for harassing the front line and inflicting casualties on the enemy, and they cannot stop the advance of the undead army.

The battle is about to begin.

Soon, there was movement in the mist. It was the cavalrymen who were retreating while shooting. Hussars with two pistols and musketeers with repeating revolvers. These cavalry activities were very regular, all on the scale of squadrons. A squadron stops, shoots in formation, turns around when the shooting is over, reloads the muskets as they retreat, and fires again when the muskets are ready. Although the whole seems to be a chaotic retreat, in fact, each team is in order, there is no waste at all, and there is no accidental injury to each other. This is something that only a well-trained elite division can do.

But these musket-wielding cavalrymen also suffered obvious casualties. Something unintelligible seemed to cling to the cavalry all the time. Through the binoculars, Leto recognized them as disembodied ghosts. These monsters have no physical form, like a mist that will not dissipate. Leto knew that bullets had no effect on such monsters, but in fear and panic, there were still many people who shot at them, wasting precious bullets in meaningless places. The touch of these ghosts has a lethal effect on humans. When the ghosts passed through the cavalry, there were always a few people who turned over and fell off their horses.

"A bunch of idiots. Leto stood in the distance from safety, cursing in a low voice. However, it was no longer suitable for him to continue observing before the army, and he advanced backwards along the gap between the phalanxes, and soon came to the highest position in the center of the dirt slope. This is the place where he chose to command the battle. His heralds, riders, drummers, trumpeters, and the like were already on standby. And the magicians are not far away, ready to take his orders.

"Can you use magic to attack those ghosts?" Leto asked the magician beside him. He was the leader of this group of magicians sent by the Church, and his name was Bernando.

"No, it's too far away. And they are entangled with our people, and it is inevitable that they will be injured by mistake with magic. ”

Leto looked at it again. The fog was light, but it still affected the view considerably. At this moment, the main force of the undead legion is not yet visible. But Leto was sure that under the harassment of these ranged cavalry, the vampire must have felt the feeling of being disturbed by a chaotic stream of flies—unable to fight and unbeat, noisy and noisy to death.

"Your Highness...... I feel ...... They used black magic. Bernando looked up and paused for a moment in a gesture that seemed to be sniffing something. "That's the Dance of Death, a dark magic that can dramatically increase the speed of the undead. Probably with the help of this magic, those stone mound binding spirits were able to catch up with the war horses. ”

"Isn't that a ghost?"

"The overall name is Ghosts, but they are still a little different from ordinary ghosts, and it should be said that they are more powerful than ordinary ghosts. The touch of these monsters can suck the souls of mortals, and their very existence can make mortals feel terrified, and even frightened people crazy before they are killed. But don't worry, there are too few of them...... I heard that in the previous battle with the Hama clan, the loss of this monster was quite large. It's not so easy for vampires to summon them...... Oh," Bernando paused. "They're using this magic again...... Looks like I need to stop the undead if they want to get the undead into melee combat as soon as possible?"

"Of course!" Leto replied immediately. The forward troops must be disengaged and safely retreat to the rear, otherwise there is a risk of chaos.