On the plain five hundred meters west of Longxi City, the Holy Light Clerics Legion stood in orderly ranks, silently awaiting the enemy's arrival.
The Holy Armored Ones had already set up various types of Holy Light Cannon emplacements on the city walls.
Suddenly, thunder rumbled through the overcast sky, and heavy rain came pouring down.
Yet the Holy Light Clerics on the ground remained utterly still, their eyes fixed straight ahead.
"General Budo, it's pouring. Should we have the soldiers pitch tents and rest?" the staff officer reported to Budo through the downpour.
"No! The Empire's soldiers aren't that delicate. Keep moving. Another two kilometers should bring us to Longxi City, the first major city in the Northern Territory. Once we take it, the soldiers can have a proper rest," Budo said firmly.
"Yes, General!" The staff officer said no more.
The imperial soldiers could only march on in silence. As the Empire's elite, marching in foul weather was routine for them, though a chance to rest would certainly have been welcome.
Half an hour later, however, Budo abruptly pulled on his reins. "Whoa... halt!"
"General?" the staff officer called from behind him, puzzled.
"Look ahead!" Budo offered no further explanation, pointing straight ahead with his riding crop.
The staff officer sucked in a sharp breath. Five hundred meters ahead, through the haze of rain, an orderly white wall of men stood firmly across their path.
He hurriedly took out a telescope invented by the Imperial Engineering Institute and peered through it.
"General, my preliminary estimate puts the enemy at around twenty thousand. There are strange siege weapons mounted on the walls. They may be artillery."
"Heh. How arrogant. Twenty thousand men dare meet the Empire's hundred-thousand-strong army in open battle." Budo narrowed his eyes, his lips curling with