Chapter 104: Don't go off track on the 104.

On the other side, in the military formation of Suthers, atop a gentle slope, Tucci was riding his warhorse, staring intently at the flanking battlefield enveloped in black smoke.

His trusted troops had crossed the roadbed over there, but battle broke out quickly. Things were developing in a direction beyond his expectations, and they seemed to be growing increasingly out of control.

That bizarre explosion and the unprecedented sound of gunfire filled Tucci with unease, until he saw a Knight galloping toward him, bringing news that somewhat shocked him.

"General! There's half a battalion of enemy forces on the other side of the road! Our troops are already lining up for battle!" the Knight reported the latest news and then stopped in place, waiting for Tucci's command.

Tucci looked toward another subordinate and immediately ordered, "Take men to reinforce them, wipe out that isolated force of the Northern Ridge!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the officer was preparing to lead men away. But at that moment, another Knight came rushing over, stopped next to Tucci, and reported loudly, "General! Captain Mars sent me to request reinforcements...the enemy..."

"It's too late..." Tucci said with a wry smile, shaking his head, "Mars is my most formidable commander, and he has sent out two messengers so quickly... The situation over there must be worse than I thought."

While speaking, he turned to the subordinate who had just been about to lead the troops out: "Forced march! Leave the artillery! Get there as fast as you can and help Mars stabilize the front!"

"Yes, General!" The officer left briskly with the orders, while in the direction of the village, another round of dense gunfire erupted, and the Legion led by Viscount Romel, which had just managed to organize a third charge, was again repulsed.

The soldiers of Suthers, dirty and dispirited, seemed unable to muster the courage to climb over that seemingly frail low wall anymore.

In this tiny crossroads, Suthers' famed commander Tucci, along with the Viscount Romel-led 4,500 men and three Legions, were now mired in battle for almost two hours, still making no progress.

"It's not just a battalion! Absolutely not!" Tucci frowned, repeatedly scrutinizing the battlefields on both sides, then said to his adjutant, "It can't be just one battalion! How could there be such sustained intense gunfire on both fronts?"

"But... General, if the enemy has arranged half their forces here, doesn't that mean on the main battlefield, a mere 800 of them are facing our army of 5,000?" the adjutant said, rather shocked.

"Strange... Everything here oozes strangeness!" Tucci couldn't make sense of it and complained to his adjutant in irritation, "Could it be that Northern Ridge actually has two legions? An army of 3,000?"

"That might be possible..." the adjutant mused, "Fisheo is cunning and sly, probably hiding some forces and only revealing them at the critical moment..."

"That's why I hate these schemers the most." Tucci gripped the reins of his warhorse, gritting his teeth, "Those bastards from Shireck swore to me that Northern Ridge's armories couldn't possibly arm so many troops!"

"They said they sent Northern Ridge a large batch of defective firearms, claiming that once the battle started, the Northern Ridge troops would collapse quickly..." he gestured toward the distant village as he spoke: "Yet at this insignificant crossroads, I've been held up by a force of over 700 men!"

He did not yet know that Tang Mo's force truly comprised only one battalion, which was just slightly overstrength, and not the familiar battalion-size he knew.

In Tucci's astonished gaze, the soldiers took only a dozen seconds to lift their rifles and pull the trigger once more against the nearby Suthers troops.

The second volley arrived as expected, and Tucci felt his throat go dry, even shouting orders became a struggle.

He even wanted to rush over, snatch a weapon from the hands of the enemy, and take a close look at what exactly it was.

The aide-de-camp, seeing the chaos in the distance, turned to his superior. Seeing Tucci standing bewildered, he had no choice but to pluck up the courage and ask, "General! The enemy troops are crossing the road... Our troops are too disorganized, should we call a retreat?"

"Have them retreat! Mas's troops have collapsed... If he comes back, bring him to me," Tucci snapped back to his senses, grudgingly accepting the reality that the force he sent out in an attempt to encircle the enemy was pushed back by the enemy.

The signalmen, receiving the order, immediately sprang into action. They rode their tall horses down from the hillock and dashed toward the chaotic crowd.

What Tucci and his officers didn't notice was that, in the distance on another high ground, which was by the road, Tang Mo stood there, watching the hillock full of knights, and put down his telescope.

"Do you see that hillock over there?" Tang Mo pointed towards Tucci's breakthrough position and turned to ask a soldier.

"I see it! Sir!" The soldier immediately nodded to show that he had seen it clearly.

"Calculate the parameters with me! Using the artillery position as the reference!" Tang Mo glanced at the intentionally chosen artillery trainee standing with him, and said, "You are the top of your class in artillery! Don't be nervous! Just do what needs to be done."

Tang Mo knew his troops were few, and it would be impossible to sweep the entire battlefield with casualties. It was practically impossible for just under 200 men to launch an attack and crush 2,000.

So, he never expected his infantry to sweep the battlefield; all he wanted was to locate the enemy's command post and bombard it with artillery fire.

His artillery had a range of 3 kilometers, sufficient to cover the entire battlefield. As long as the parameters were calculated correctly and the firing data were accurate, he was confident that with his new artillery shells, he could take out the enemy's command structure.

This was his tactic, and also roughly the least costly option. Thus, he gave a thumbs-up towards the distant hillock.

The artillery trainee not far from him also raised his thumb, starting to measure the distance. He was focused and dedicated, as if the fierce combat on the battlefield had nothing to do with him.

Soon, Tang Mo braced a notebook against his waist and wrote down a set of coordinate parameters. The artillery trainee likewise jotted down a number and handed it to Tang Mo.

The two numbers were very close, which indicated that there shouldn't be any significant problem with the precision of this figure. Tang Mo tore off the page from his notebook, handed it together with the trainee's note to a soldier holding a horse beside him: "Take this to Redman! Tell him, this time, don't miss!"

"Yes, sir!" The soldier mounted his horse, yanked the reins, and sprinted back in the direction they had come from.

In the distance, Tucci stood on the hillock on his tall horse, just catching sight of a blurry figure standing on the road. He instinctively stared at the figure, who also seemed to sense that the shadow was observing him.