The Final Gamble

At this critical moment!

"Bang!!!"

A deafening gunshot rang out almost right next to my ears!

Tokel, who was pressing down on him, suddenly stiffened, his movements freezing instantly!

On the side of his helmet, near his temple, was a gruesome bullet hole, from which a mixture of blood and brain matter gushed...

The fierce light in his eyes quickly faded, his heavy body swayed, and then he collapsed weakly to the side.

Still shaken, Roderick pushed the body aside and looked up sharply. Not far away, Musketeers Otto Musketeer was standing on a pile of debris, the muzzle of his Flintlock Rifle still emitting smoke.

He nodded slightly to Roderick, then quickly began reloading, his cold gaze continuing to scan the battlefield, searching for the next valuable target.

The Musketeers had long since abandoned volley fire in formation, instead breaking into smaller units and moving like ghosts along the edge of the chaotic battlefield.

Taking advantage of the reloading intervals, they calmly sought opportunities to specifically target Sauron Army or Berserker who were engaged in close combat with their comrades and unable to pay attention to anything else, delivering precise and deadly sniper shots!

This tactic proved unexpectedly effective in the chaotic close-quarters combat, with Sauron elite constantly being felled by lead bullets that seemed to come from nowhere!

On the other side, Karl had just deflected a Sauron Berserker's Battle Axe with a skillful parry and then slashed at the opponent's neck armor with his sword.

But the blade only sent up a string of sparks, which were deflected by the heavy neck guard.

The Sauron soldier grinned maliciously and swung his axe horizontally backward!

Karl ducked to avoid it, deciding not to try to break through the armor anymore.

He abruptly abandoned his sword, lunged forward, and in the moment of his opponent's surprise, grabbed him around the waist, using the force of the impact and his skillful maneuver to throw him to the ground!

The two fell heavily into the mud!

Karl quickly flipped over and pinned his opponent down, then used his gauntlet-wearing fists to relentlessly pound the helmet's visor with each punch, as if striking iron!

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The dull thuds of impact continued unabated.

The Sauron soldier was stunned and struggled desperately inside his helmet, but Karl held him down firmly, his fists raining down on him!

Finally, the visor snapped open with a sickening metallic twisting sound!

Karl seized the opportunity and punched through the gap, smashing directly into his opponent's face!

The soldier let out a piercing scream, and his struggles instantly weakened...

The entire battlefield has descended into complete and out-of-control chaos.

Everywhere you looked, there were soldiers fighting in pairs, the sounds of clashing steel, roars, screams, and sporadic gunfire all mixed together.

Blood soaked into the soil, forming patches of dark red swamp.

Corpses and wounded were scattered everywhere, and no one paid them any attention.

Formations and tactics have long been forgotten, leaving only the most primal bloodshed and survival instincts.

Flesh against flesh, steel against steel!

Every second someone falls; every moment someone erupts in despair or dies in fear.

Carnford's outer defenses have become a huge and brutal arena, devouring everyone's lives and sanity.

On a slightly higher earthen slope behind the position, Unag and Invag watched the chaotic meat grinder with grim faces.

Invag slammed his fist into the tree trunk beside him, staring intently at the berserkers struggling in the mud and then being Berserker like livestock by the light infantry. His voice trembled with anger and heartache.

"Insidious! This plan is utterly insidious! They deliberately poured water, turning this place into a mud pit! They knew our men would be hampered by their heavy armor!"

"My soldiers! My most elite Berserker! They're being stabbed to death by those peasants with daggers! They're almost wiped out! Unag! If this continues, all my elite troops will be lost here!"

Unag's gaze was sinister. How could he not feel sorry for them? Those Berserker were also a valuable asset to the tribe.

He turned his head and suddenly looked at the hundreds of emaciated, trembling auxiliary soldiers behind him. He gritted his teeth and suggested, "Let the slaves go! Throw them all in! We can break through the gap with sheer numbers!"

"No way!" Invag flatly refused, pointing at the auxiliary troops with disdain. "Look at them! They're terrified sheep, not wolves! Sending them to fight those bloodthirsty Carnford light infantry?"

"They'll only collapse, only flee backwards, disrupting our own formation! They simply can't muster the same ferocity and determination as those Broomflower light infantry!"

He whirled around, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Unag, his voice almost a roar, "Send your cavalry! Immediately! Right now! Their men are all stuck in the mud! Exhausted!"

"As long as we have a full-strength fresh force to charge in! We don't need to kill many people, we just need to break their formation! Create chaos! Trample them with our horses' hooves! They will surely be defeated!"

Unag's lips were pressed tightly together, his gaze fixed on the chaotic battlefield below, his knuckles turning white from the force of his grip.

He desperately wanted to end this damned battle immediately, but his cavalry was his last trump card and the foundation of his survival!

These Light Cavalry excel at harassment, pursuit, and mounted archery, rather than charging infantry formations, especially since the enemy formation includes many heavily armored soldiers!

"Invag ..." Unag's voice was hoarse, "My cavalry are light cavalry! They don't have heavy armor! Charging into this melee, losing their speed advantage, they'll be sitting ducks! Those madmen will drag them off their horses and beat them to death with hammers."

"Not to mention, they also have those damned Caltrops! If my cavalry were to force their way through those things, at least a dozen horses would need to use their bare hands to ram through them and carve a path! And that's not all; even if they managed to get through, their speed would be greatly reduced, and they would immediately be surrounded by infantry!"

Unag turned his head, staring intently into Invag's eyes, and said, word by word, "By then, we won't even have the last bit of strength left to quickly evacuate and preserve our power! Once the battle completely collapses, we will all die here! Do you understand?"

"Retreat?" Invag shrieked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Retreat now? We've paid such a heavy price! So many elites have died! Retreat now? Chief Harald will turn our heads into drinking vessels! Unag! We have no way out! Win or die!"

He stepped forward, almost touching Unag's face, and lowered his voice, but his tone was even more ruthless. "Think about it! If we don't take Carnford today, even if we manage to get back alive, we'll lose everything! Military power, status, honor... even our lives!"

"But if we win, all these losses will be worthwhile! All the glory and spoils will be ours! Cavalry losses can be replenished, but once the opportunity is lost, it's gone forever!"

"Look at the sun!" Invag pointed to the setting sun, which was about to sink below the horizon, his voice filled with a desperate madness. "We have no time! Either end the battle before dark, or... wait for the reinforcements from Fran City to completely surround and annihilate us after dawn!"

"Take a gamble! Unag! This is our only chance! Bet your cavalry on a future!"