Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 254 - 23: The Rain Keeps Falling...

On the day of the decisive battle.

The sky sprinkled a light rain.

The slanting wind and fine rain nourished all things.

It was a good time for farming.

Yet, farming and warfare have always gone hand in hand.

Now, Roman’s army had the upper hand in numbers compared to the rebel forces.

But the battle was still fraught with danger for him.

The rebel army had not retreated after a major defeat and was determined to tear down and rip up the flag of the River Valley King.

Thirty Judgement Knights rode the finest warhorses.

Clad in vivid red armor, they stood in the rain like statues, as raindrops coalesced and flowed over the cold hard armor, resembling blood.

And the forty Shattered Archers were light cavalry.

Heavy Armor was restrictive and inconvenient for shooting, affecting the archers’ flexibility.

The remaining mercenaries and believers lined up in ranks, drenched to the bone.

They looked nervously at the infantry phalanxes standing in the rain in the distance.

Only when looking at their own Conquest Knights did their tension lessen significantly.

Kate and Bishop Merlad had promised that this would be an all-out war, and the Judgement Knights would fight alongside them.

An invisible aura of solemn killing intent condensed.

The spring rain was gentle and dense, yet did not hinder movement—it was just right.

Roman launched the attack.

He saw that Kate’s army had been scared by the defeat and dared not attack, so they adopted a defensive formation.

Someone had to launch the offensive.

Roman ordered all the infantry to form up and push forward.

The vanguard consisted of spear and shield bearers, the central army was made up of Crossbowmen, and the rear and flanks were composed of Heavy Equipment units.

"There are no flaws," a Shattered Archer said.

"There will be," someone replied.

They had excellent vision, sitting on horseback with a wide field of view, watching the army of the River Valley King.

When the two sides were 150 meters apart, they first exchanged fire with arrows, each sustaining injuries.

But overall, the rebel forces suffered greater casualties.

Arrows shot out from the infantry phalanx in great numbers, like hundreds of monkeys vaulting to the sky.

They were extremely fast, accurate, and powerful with area coverage.

If the rebel forces hadn’t adopted a defensive formation in advance, it was feared they wouldn’t have held through to close combat before crumbling.

Several thousand people is no small number; when gathered, an infantry square is like a moving basketball court.

"Sir Flant!" Kate shouted.

Flant of the Bexites family looked helplessly at the army in front of him, solid as steel plates.

Those spears, four to five meters long, were utterly terrifying.

But now he was on the right wing of the rebel forces, the main unit.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and join the fray.

"Warriors of the Bexites family! The great beasts are with us! All Gods are with us!"

Flant was no longer young, but his voice was still full of vigor as he roared.

Nun Mapple, leading a choir of over three hundred nuns, blessed the entire army!

The Holy Chant entered their ears, and a thousand elite troops, greatly inspired, began to charge from the flank, aiming to disrupt Roman’s left side.

Normally, armies are asymmetrical, with the right flank stronger than the left.

But Roman was different; he had Heavy Equipment units placed on both flanks and the rear.

When Bexites’s troops attacked, Heavy Equipment could only rush out to meet the enemy; otherwise, their space would be compressed, becoming crowded and leaving the central army helplessly trapped.

At this moment, the Judgement Knights and Shattered Archers also began to ride at a gallop.

They roamed the outer reaches irregularly, looking for flaws and opportunities to enter the fray.

The Shattered Archers fired while riding.

Ordinary riders had a range of merely fifty meters, but Shattered Archers could still snipe at a hundred meters on horseback.

They had two types of arrows, light and heavy.

Light arrows were for killing ordinary soldiers, and heavy arrows for taking down Conquest Knights.

The latter were specially made, costing 2 silver coins each because they contained copper, silver, and a trace of gold.

Furthermore, when using heavy arrows, the distance had to be reduced to seventy meters to maximize their lethality.

Using them on ordinary soldiers was wasteful, but they couldn’t afford to care about that now.

They had to create a breach!

The Shattered Archers said to themselves.

The shooting rate of forty Shattered Archers was uniform, and with each volley, twenty or so heavy infantry were struck, either having helmets penetrated, or shoulders and necks hit—only those who were protected by Large Shields were spared.

The Shattered Archers worked together to strike, and in less than a minute, they had inflicted casualties on forty to fifty heavy infantrymen.

And by this time, the vanguard forces of both sides had finally engaged in close combat.

It could only be described as a one-sided affair.

The hastily assembled vanguard of the rebel forces simply couldn’t withstand the frontline pressure.

If it weren’t for the Holy Chant in the background, providing spiritual support, the rebel forces would have fled long ago.

...

And at this moment...

The Judgement Knights entered the battle!

...

Bexites and the Shattered Archers, sparing no expense, created a breach.

To be exact, it wasn’t quite a breach.

Because behind the heavy infantry were the flank infantry phalanxes, guarding the central army.

All thirty Judgement Knights,

From different directions,

toward the flank’s infantry square,

a full-speed charge was launched!

...

"Hoist the spears and grip them tight! Block them!" Jet bellowed in the central army!

He heard that thunderous charge!

Chaotic but swift!

Fast!

Too fast!

Like several tanks were rolling over!

Commoners often misunderstand, thinking tanks are slow.

But in reality, they are the swift kings of the land!

...

The soldiers of the flank’s infantry square glared with wide eyes!

Clutching super long spears that were five meters in length!

The whole flank’s infantry square held their spears, forming three rows, a hundred men each row, with three hundred spear tips blocking the side, as dense as a hedgehog.

Boom!!!

Like a blood-red, sharp cleaver, it hacked into a thick and sturdy piece of wood.

Not just one!

Thirty of them!

Hacking from different directions!

So the wood shavings instantly shattered!

In that moment.

Time seemed to freeze.

The frontline spearmen facing the battle saw the slanting drizzle, splintered wood shavings, blood-like armor, horses adorned with armor of the same color...

All the soldiers facing the onslaught stopped breathing for an instant.

Their thoughts drifted far away.

Concurrently recalling the time they enlisted, during their training, when Instructor Jet tirelessly guided and emphasized to them—

No creature on earth can withstand the charge of the Conquest Knights!

...

Boom!!

The flank collapsed in a moment.

Thirty Judgement Knights and their horses smashed through both the spear defense line and the infantry square.

The gleaming spear tips were completely useless against the Judgement Knights and horses in their red armor.

Spear tips broke off, wood chips scattered!

The momentum of the Judgement Knights slowed slightly, but they did not stop, continuing to press toward the central army!

They intended to cut through!

To slice Roman’s entire army in half!

Whoosh!

Donna, holding a cavalry spear with a half-meter blade, swung it like a horseman’s lance.

As the Judgement Knights charged, they brandished it, terrifyingly sharp, instantly reaping five or six infantrymen’s lives.

Brilliant flowers of blood bloomed in the spring rain!

In less than three seconds, they obliterated all the flanking soldiers, leaving none standing.

"Heavy crossbows!!" Jet roared.

The central army crossbowmen held fifty massive heavy crossbows.

Bolts at the ready, high-poundage refined crossbows that were very expensive, pushing the limits of the materials.

Specifically meant to pierce plate armor at close range and take down Conquest Knights.

Bang!

The heavy crossbows fired in succession, bringing down more than twenty Judgement Knights instantly.

They fell to the ground as if struck by a sledgehammer.

But they quickly got back up, stood, drew their short swords, and with one hand began mercilessly slaughtering the approaching professional soldiers.

A Captain’s eyes nearly burst from fury. He saw the effect of the heavy crossbows—two short arrows were lodged diagonally in one of the Judgement Knights’ abdomen, the blood-colored plate armor also dented in.

But it did not penetrate!

It didn’t penetrate!

The part of the arrow that entered should have gone through the abdominal muscles, the dented plate armor may have broken ribs, but it definitely did not damage the organs. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have the ability to stand up and fight.

"We can’t break through!" the Captain cried out in despair.

"It’s Mountain Copper Plate Armor!" Jet realized there was a huge problem.

This was not ordinary Judgement Knight armor; its material was made of mountain copper.

That stuff was far more terrifying than Magic Steel.

Each Judgement Knight was wearing seventy pounds of mountain copper in battle.

In reality, they were donning armor that weighed one hundred forty pounds.

Because that is the characteristic of mountain copper, forged with Magic Stones to reduce volume, significantly increasing the material density to one similar to the density of gold.

But once you adapt to it, once you connect with its power, its volume and weight would decrease back to the original seventy pounds.

Only the enemy realized that the weight of one hundred forty pounds was still there.

"Get down!"

Nathan, also fully armored, swung a thirty-pound heavy axe, clashing with the Judgement Knight’s cavalry spear.

There was a clang!

The Judgement Knight’s arm numbed, but his body remained as steady as Mount Tai, not swaying. But then, several hooked spears stretched out from behind him, like pulling down a steel wall, they worked together to drag the Judgement Knight off his horse.

Nathan, with both hands on the axe handle, approached the grounded Judgement Knight.

He swung the heavy axe, pounding, pounding, pounding...

The fine rain from the sky kept falling, kept falling, kept falling...