All this while, Hua Feng had been fully focused on observing the Eagle Tribesmen Air Force Regiment high up in the skies. As for the Mammoth Regiment, he did not seem to worry about them at all. Seeing that the Northwest Army Command had actually sent four Cavalry Regiments to their aid, especially with three elite Heavy Cavalry Regiments… it was clear that they had already realised the importance of the Peerless Battalion to this war. Perhaps all those reinforcements added together might not be able to defeat the Mammoth Regiment, but he was confident that it was definitely sufficient to protect the Peerless Battalion. The only worry Hua Feng had was the Eagle Tribesmen Air Force Regiment high up in the sky… After all, being suppressed was not a good feeling at all. The destructive power of the Eagle Tribesmen soldiers were not to be underestimated at all, and besides the Heavy Infantry soldiers and the Purple Tasseled Regiments, the rest of the Northwest Army Regiments would not likely be able to block their attacks.
“Wait a while more.” Hua Feng said solemnly.
Lei Zi said urgently: “Battalion Commander, let us go. They do not have any more javelins, they haven’t thrown any in quite some time. Our Brothers can hold up their shields as we charge up… there should not be any big danger. Once we reach a sufficient distance, we will be able to exchange fire, and show them our own strength.”
Hua Feng hesitated a moment, eyeing the skies calmly. Finally, he turned to Shangguan Fei’er and said: “Chief Drill Instructor, please lead the First Main Company up. I leave them in your capable hands.”
Shangguan Fei’er had long since been aching to join the fight, and she nodded before turning to Lei Zi, saying: “I’ll lead the way to draw their fire and cause them some trouble first. You all follow suit.”
As she said that, two dark gold lights sprang out in an aura around Shangguan Fei’er’s body. At the same time, a green light spread out from her body, sweeping up several dozen of the fallen Eagle Tribesmen javelins that had fallen to the ground. As Shangguan Fei’er flew up into air at lightning speed, those javelins flew up right behind her, and the massive gold and green ray flew towards Eagle Tribesmen Air Force Regiment.
The massive dark gold Consolidated Wings and her sheer speed caused Shangguan Fei’er to look like a strange dark–gold meteor smashing towards the Eagle Tribesmen Air Force.
The greatest strength and advantage of the Eagle Tribesmen Air Force was that they were airborne. In terms of pure defensive capabilities, they were perhaps no match for even the Wolf Cavalry soldiers.
As Shangguan Fei’er flew up into air, dozens of blood mist sprayed out in mid air. The javelins that Shangguan Fei’er had thrown up with her powerful Heavenly Xu Energy and Wind Attribute force was not something that ordinary War Eagle mounts or Eagle Tribesmen could handle. As for Shangguan Fei’er, she had already charged into the midst of the Eagle Tribesmen, like a war goddess smashing into them.
She had long since been bursting with impatience, itching to join the fight. After all, she was most adept at air combat… it was what she had trained for all her life… being suppressed by an enemy air force, how could she feel happy at all? She did not use her other Consolidated Equipment, not even her bracer-claws, just with her pair of dark gold Consolidated Wings, and she was like an unstoppable spear stabbing savagely deep into the formation of the Eagle Tribesmen. Where she flew to, the corpses of the War Eagles and Eagle Tribesmen fell, and the Eagle Tribesmen Regiment which had been enjoying their unparalleled easy life high in the skies were suddenly put in disorder and disarray.
In truth, the Eagle Tribesmen Regiment knew about the Peerless Battalion having several hundred Air Force troops of their own. As such, they had saved a portion of the javelins in preparation of their attack which they had expected at any time. Alas, they had never in their wildest imaginations dreamed that it would only be a single person flying up first… a single but deadly person indeed.
Soon after, Lei Zi led his First Main Company behind Shangguan Fei’er, all of them using their small round shields held protectively in front of them as they flew at top speeds high up into the skies.
When the Northwest Armies soldiers saw five hundred men actually fly up into the skies and charging towards Eagle Tribesmen Regiment, their jaws almost dropped in shock. They only had one thought in mind: Since when did we have an Air Force?!
The facts had indeed proved themselves… What Lei Zi promised to Hua Feng earlier was no exaggeration. As the gap between the two Air Forces drew close, the first salvo of the Peerless Battalion First Main Company Air Force once again rang out with the familiar shrill ringing of arrows flying through the sky, and what resulted was a tragedy for the Eagle Tribesmen.
It wasn’t that the Eagle Tribesmen lacked powerhouses, but when Shangguan Fei’er had charged in at the front, all of the powerhouses had gone after her.
At this point, the superiority of personal flight versus mounted flight showed itself. In midair, Shangguan Fei’er moved around at lightning speed, and the sheer speed and agility was not something that the War Eagles could match, especially while carrying their riders. Amongst the Eagle Tribesmen Air Force Battalion, there were a few dozen Heavenly Jewel Masters, and out of them there were a few Six and Seven Jeweled ones. However, even for them, against Shangguan Fei’er’s terrifying offensive power, they did not have a chance at all.
Along with the shrill sounds of the Consolidated Bows and arrows, a large cloud of blood mist appeared in the skies. Below, the four thousand and five hundred Peerless Battalion soldiers on the ground shouted in unison: “Peerless… Peerless!” This time, even the Northwest Army soldiers were infected, shouting out loud together with them. Under the leadership of the Purple Tasseled Regiment, the four Cavalry Regiment reinforcements charged towards their foes.
When armies met on the battlefield, one of the most important things that would influence outcome was definitely morale. With the invincible Eagle Tribesmen Air Force suffering an unforeseen beating, it was like injecting an extra boost of stimulants to the entire ZhongTian Northwest Army. More importantly, the Peerless Battalion had proven to them that the Beastmen were not unbeatable. In a short amount of time, soldiers used their lives to start pushing back against the berserking Tyrannical Bear Regiment, and for once with some measure of success.
The Eagle Tribesmen Regiment realised things were not going well, but by the time they wanted to react better against the Peerless Battalion, they had already reached the same level height as them.
Being at equal height meant that only arrows could be of any use, and the javelins would no longer be effective.
Even for the finest javelin thrower, being able to throw a distance of a hundred yards accurately was already a miracle. Normally, the effective killing distance of a thrown javelin was about forty to fifty metres, but in mid air, what was a mere forty or fifty yards?
Next, the true clash would be the archery skills and defensive capabilities of both sides.
Indeed, with the protection of their War Eagle mounts, the Eagle Tribesmen had a pretty decent defense. However, when compared to the Peerless Battalion all dressed in titanium mail, their defense was definitely not on the same league. More importantly, the killing power of the Peerless Battalion’s Consolidated Bows were far superior to the ordinary, if well crafted, long bows of the Eagle Tribesmen warriors.
In just four rounds of exchanging shots, several hundred out of the two thousand Eagle Tribesmen Air Force fell to the ground. Seeing that things were not going well, the Eagle Tribesmen Regiment did not dare continue fighting against the Peerless Battalion, fleeing back towards their side. The Peerless Battalion Air Force gave chase, and in the end barely a hundred of the strongest Eagle Tribesmen managed to escape with their lives. The two thousand strong Eagle Tribesmen Air Force had been almost wiped out.
The Peerless Battalion Air Force were not done with that. After all, throwing javelins was not just something the Eagle Tribesmen could do. Soon after, the first salvo of javelins from the Peerless Battalion descended upon the Mammoth Regiment.
Alas, the Mammoth Regiment truly lived up to their names as the aces and ultimate elites of the WanShou Empire. Their huge and tough bodies, along with the massive wooden totem poles in their hands… even the javelins thrown by the Peerless Battalion did not manage to harm them, with only a few causing some minor injuries.
From the air, it was extremely clear to see everything on the ground and the situation. Shangguan Fei’er did not continue chasing the remnants of the Eagle Tribesmen Regiment, instead turning around and leading the Eagle Tribesmen Air Force back towards the center lines of the ZhongTian Army formations. She knew that not all of the Beastmen would be as powerful or tough as the Mammoth Tribesmen, being able to withstand the onslaught of the javelins.
By this time, each of the Peerless Battalion Air Force soldiers only had about three javelins each, and they were all ‘gifted’ to the currently berserking Tyrannical Bear Regiment.
At least a thousand Bear Tribesmen Heavy Infantry soldiers were savagely pinned to the ground, and the Peerless Battalion soldiers on the ground also started targeting the Raging Bull Regiments with their arrows.
It could be said that once the Peerless Battalion Air Force had taken down the Eagle Tribesmen, the tide of the battle was fully turned at last, and for the first time the ZhongTian Northwest Army were not on the back foot.
On the other side, the Purple Tasseled Regiment had also started clashing against the Mammoth Regiment. The strongest part of the Purple Tasseled Regiment was that they had an entire Squad of Physical Jewel Masters with cultivation levels of Six Jewels and above. These hundred men had personal strength that was at least able to hold their own against the Mammoth Tribesmen warrior. Under their leadership, although the four Cavalry Regiments had serious losses, at least they were managing to block the offense of the two Regiments.
By now, the destructive power of the Peerless Battalion was beginning to drop substantially. The main reason was because the ordinary Peerless Battalion soldiers on the ground had the majority of their Heavenly Energy expended, and they had no choice but to switch to their ordinary longbows and arrows. Such arrows when against the Raging Bull and Tyrannical Bear Regiment soldiers, they were not able to do much damage.
Of course, the Peerless Battalion Air Force was still going well. After all, previously on the battleground, they had been conserving their strength, and this was their time to shine.
Who knows if it was because she had been exposed to Zhou Weiqing for too long a time, Shangguan Fei’er had become so much craftier than before. She did not get the Peerless Battalion Air Force to continue firing arrows with their Consolidated Bows, instead flying down to the ground and gathering up more javelins that the Eagle Tribesmen had thrown down previously. With that, each of them gathered up a bunch of javelins and flew back into the sky… and once again, tragedy struck the Tyrannical Bear and Raging Bull Regiments.
Ma Long led a group of his Tribesmen, and as the Peerless Battalion Air Force rose back into the air again, they charged into the battlefield. Their target was naturally the scattered Heavenly Beast Unicorns that were now wondering amiss after their riders had been killed. The current biggest problem that the Peerless Battalion faced was their lack of movement and transportation, so how could they let go of so many Unicorns Heavenly Beasts? After all, these Unicorns were able to withstand even the weight of the heavy female warriors of the Gold Crow Tribe!
When the Peerless Battalion descended once again to collect another round of javelins, the WanShou Empire Armies finally decided they had enough, and the order to retreat was given. The remaining WanShou Empire Beastmen soldiers retreated like a tidal wave, with the last one to retreat being the powerful Mammoth Regiment. Although the WanShou Empire had indeed taken a big loss here, the Mammoth Regiment’s sheer power still sent shivers down the spines of all the ZhongTian Army soldiers.
With aid and support from the Nimble Panther Regiment, the thousand Mammoth Berserker Soldiers had actually managed to take down almost a third of the elite Purple Tasseled Regiment, and the other three Heavy Cavalry Soldiers lost almost half their men forever on this battlefield. This was also because the fight had not lasted too long. Perhaps if they had continued fighting on longer, even the Purple Tasseled Regiment was at the risk of being wiped out. The scary thing was that when the Mammoth Regiment finally retreated, they did not even leave behind a single corpse… their massive, terrifying bodies like that of a steel fortress, and even after such a tough fight, they had only sustained injuries, without a single death. In fact, most of the injuries had been either caused by the Physical Jewel Master Squad of the Purple Tasseled Regiment, or the javelins thrown previously by the Peerless Battalion Air Force.
The Northwest Armies did not give any order to give chase… attempting to strike out at Beastmen on the open fields was always a choice that ended in a tragedy of blood and tears.
When the Peerless Battalion Air Force descended back to the ground, the entire Northwest Army, from soldier to officer, raised the weapons in their hands. The slogan of the Peerless Battalion had somehow become that of the entire Northwest Arrmy… “Peerless in the world!” The four words rang out throughout the entire battlefield… throughout the entire north west zone…
Despite the fact that during this battle, the Northwest Armies had lost more than a hundred thousand of their soldiers’ lives, this was still considered a major victory in the fight between both Empires… an unprecedented victory in the history of their war indeed.