Section 8 Barricades

In the Underworld, in this labyrinthine society of nezumi, an army is on standby in a large passageway.

The cavern was very dark, with only a few mosses that naturally glowed, providing a faint light to this subterranean realm. Of course, the creatures that live in the Underground Realm hardly need such a light - the long years of living in the Underground Realm have made them all evolve the instinct to operate in this Dark Realm. They either have a very developed sense of smell and hearing, which can largely replace the role of vision, or they have evolved an incredible ability to see darkly.

The Nezumi is a combination of both.

Shredded footsteps rang out, and then the soldiers on the front line saw a figure hurrying towards the front. It was a motley-furred clan warrior, and as he approached, his companions got out of the way, allowing him to run all the way to the army generals. The commander of this army was a very tall nezumi, almost a double and a half taller than his kind, and his fiery red fur stood out among the rats. He was wearing filthy bronze armor and holding a giant sword that shone with magical energy. These two points alone can tell that he is a rat-man general. In the rat society, the position of general has always been held by the clan leader's closest subordinates, or simply the part-time job of the patriarch.

"Lord...... Master...... Enemy...... Barricades were set up there. The variegated fur warrior of the clan hurried up to his general and reported with a quick voice.

"What about their troops, their generals, and the fortifications of the barricades?" asked the nezumi general. The question he asked was actually a very simple question, but it made the clan warrior unable to answer for a moment.

"Don't you know anything?" the nezumi general waited for a few seconds but didn't get an answer, and immediately became angry. "I made you a scout, not for you to see the enemy and run back!"

"Lord...... Master...... There are a lot of them...... A lot!"

"How much is a lot?"

"Than ...... ...... than us ...... more," the clan warrior replied in fear. He heard a low, angry roar coming from the general's mouth. Every nezumi warrior understood what could happen when a warlord became angry, and the clan warrior fell to his knees in fear with his legs unable to support his body. His general looked at him with a cold gaze, but at most he only pointed with his hand.

"Go there, first row!"

The clan warriors ran to that position as if they had been pardoned—it was the first row of the whole army. This means that once engaged, he will have to be the first (or at least the first) to engage the enemy face to face.

If only I could hire a bunch of scouts. Ashrufat had learned from Shaka that there were good Scouts and Scouts among the Nezumi - and they could be hired. In fact, in the rat-man society, the army is a kind of property of the clan. Any kind of army can be hired as long as it can afford to pay the price. Of course, while almost all clans are willing to rent out their armies, short-sightedness and forgetfulness are common. As long as you can exceed your opponent's bid, you can easily turn their mercenaries directly against them on the battlefield.

The exception, of course, is the case for troops like War Beasts.

This is one of the reasons why Ashrufat did not hire scouts. Another reason was that he didn't feel the need to hire scouts. He had no intention of having the clan warriors scout the details of the enemy, let alone look for weaknesses in the enemy's defensive line. All he wanted was a simple general idea of the enemy—the kind that could be obtained by stopping and observing for a while. You don't need any professional skills for this kind of work, right?

But the situation is that even such a simple thing cannot be done well by clan warriors. These rats are too timid, and when they are alone, they only dare to attack things that appear to be visibly weak or crippled, and even in this case, they tend to attack from behind. When the enemy seems stronger, individual clan warriors are basically afraid to step forward, they only dare to lurk in the shadows, observing the enemy with a cautious and fearful gaze. Going on a solo mission to scout an enemy unit is beyond the limits of the Clan Rat's courage.

Ashruphat can now assume that only when the clan warriors have a large enough number will they have enough courage to join a protracted battle.

But at the very least, this cowardly and incompetent subordinate brought a useful message - the enemy had built barricades ahead.

The battles in the Underground Realm are different from those in the Superficial Realm. This is due to the fact that both sides of the war can only fight in the passages dug by the nezumen, and tactics such as detours and outflankings are completely unfeasible. The improvised construction of fortifications on the battlefield has become a very desirable way of thinking. Of course, from an objective point of view, the defense of the barricades is not perfect. On the battlefield on the surface, it is always easy for an army to gain the upper hand in battle when it occupies battle fortifications such as walls, camps, fences, etc. This is because their ranged units can make the most of this effective terrain and give them a lot of damage when the enemy is blocked by fortifications. However, in the Underworld, barricades are far less meaningful than surface fences, as ordinary nezumi soldiers are not equipped with bows and arrows. They had only simple catapults and had a very close range.

Of course, it's easy to understand. When you're in a cave, especially in a narrow tunnel, the bow and arrow are really unreliable. Moreover, it is a troublesome thing to manufacture and maintain a good bow and arrow (especially in the damp and dark underground world), so the rats do not use this weapon at all.

The Sakalaha clan reacted much faster than expected. Ashrufat believed that they had already known that the Baku were going to attack them, or at least they had guessed what the Baku were doing. Wars between clans are the norm in nezumi society, and they are also the way in which the rat gods recognize the elimination of the weak. Therefore, each clan is on high alert for attacks from compatriots. They had built barricades in front of the Baku in preparation for battle. There is no doubt that they must have also mobilized a considerable number of troops. However, Ashrufat was not sure if they were attacking in full force.

The environment of the Underground World Realm determines that this battle is a simple frontal battle, and there is no possibility of opportunistic shortcuts.

"Attack!" Ashrufat ordered the troops around him. Whether the Sakalaha clan chooses to send a force to defend or an entire army to attack, the outcome will not make much difference.

At this time, at the location of the barricade, the Patriarch of Scoratt was listening to the situation report brought by his subordinates.

"The ...... Damn the Baku want to come back!" he already knew that the enemy army had arrived at the front and could attack at any moment. He wasn't too nervous, though. The current Baku people are no longer what they used to be, and many people know that the main force of the Baku people has been wiped out.

In fact, when the Sakalaha clan took over the original territory of the Baku clan, they originally planned to wipe out this weakened clan. However, the Baku tribe performed well at the crucial moment, and fled so fast that the Sakalaha clan could not catch up. When they inquired about the location of the remaining members of the Baku clan, the Great Grey Prophet stepped in to protect the tragic clan. So this matter has to be settled. Patriarch Cisco Rite is still a little regretful. But now this opportunity is suddenly coming to the door again. I heard that a new patriarch suddenly came to the Baku tribe, and that patriarch was an abyss lord who suddenly appeared, the ruling body at the highest level of the nezumi society, and one of the members of the Abyss Council.

But no matter which onion the new patriarch is, this will not change the weak nature of the Baku people. When it was determined that the Baku clan was about to launch an attack on the Sakalaha clan, the Skreit patriarch was really a little surprised. He thought it was a ploy of the Grey Prophet, but he learned that the Grey Prophet ignored it - like all civil wars in nezumi society, the Grey Prophets never intervened, because such battles were allowed by the Rat God and were a way for the Nezumi to eliminate the weaker members of their race.

Without hesitation for a second, the Patriarch of Scoratt immediately organized his troops and prepared to destroy this rival clan, which was already weakened and vulnerable.

"Are they going to attack? good...... Very good......" Patriarch Scoratter touched the long, stiff beard around his mouth with his hand. "Send the slaves up, quick!

With the whistling of the whip, several groups of slaves were released. These miserable nezumi slaves were whipped on their skinny bodies and wore heavy collars around their fragile necks that represented their lowly status. Driven by the whip, they surged forward in confusion, the grinding of rusty chains dragging on the ground echoed through the wide tunnel.

Now, under the control of the whip, the slaves were the first line of battle before the barricades. Behind them, a group of nezumi soldiers armed with special weapons climbed high up the barricade. If a human had been present, he would have been surprised to recognize that the nezumi were using the same smoothbore muskets that were common in the Anthropocene. However, these weapons were not captured from human soldiers through trading or looting, but were demonic stone muskets made by the rats using their magic stone craftsmanship. In fact, aside from its appearance, this weapon is fundamentally different from a human firearm. This is because this weapon uses magic stones instead of gunpowder as the energy to power the bullets. Human muskets are actually very difficult to use in the Underworld, and the smoke from gunpowder firing alone is a big problem. In the Underground World, it is difficult to disperse the smoke of gunpowder.

The Baku clan went on the offensive. Dense footsteps and shouts of killing came from the end of the tunnel. Then, the Patriarch of Skrit saw hostile nezumi swarm out of the dark tunnels and pounce on them.

The patriarch immediately gave orders to his subordinates. His men immediately swung their whips, and the nezumi slaves moved before the enemy onslaught under the threat of the whips. At the same time, the smoothbore gunners from the heights began to shoot. The first salvo had a good effect, and the powerful force of the magic stone bullet could directly erode the life of the victim. The rats were hit by bullets and fell to the ground, convulsed, and died in agony. As the gunmen reloaded, the two armies had already come into contact, and the slaves were chopped to the ground by the attacking nezumi as if they were chopping melons and vegetables. Many of the slaves tried to flee in fear, but the rats who came from behind stopped them with weapons and whips, making them good shields against the Baku attack.

The gunners didn't care about the death or injury of the slaves. If the rat people's shot hits the slave by mistake, it will only cause a gloating laugh. The gunfire continued. The density of nezumi in the tunnels makes it difficult for bullets to miss. In just a few moments, the Baku attacking forces suffered heavy casualties and began to retreat.

"Pursuit!" Patriarch Scotert saw that the time had come, and immediately ordered his subordinates.