Drinking Really Gets in the Way!

"Th-this... Father God, will this work?" Xuanyuan Huangdi asked hesitantly.

What news could have made even Xuanyuan Huangdi sound doubtful?

Based on the actual situation of the dwarf army, Zhang Yang ordered Xuanyuan Huangdi to gather all the Yellow Rice Wine in the Xia Dynasty, however much there was. None was to be brewed on the spot, lest the opposing Star Lord notice something amiss.

Then it would all be shipped to the front, where the air force would drop Yellow Rice Wine instead of bombs.

This strategy made Xuanyuan Huangdi question his life and his intelligence, but he could not question Father God's decision.

Father God was heaven, Father God was earth. Like the esteemed readers, he was beyond question.

"After the Aerial Combat Force drops the Yellow Rice Wine, wait a moment, then order Chiyou to attack," Zhang Yang said calmly, before falling silent.

"Yes!" the Yellow Emperor answered respectfully.

The aerial transport units brought every jar of Yellow Rice Wine they could gather nationwide to the front.

Zhang Yang was not worried that the opposing Star Lord would see through his scheme. This was an overt stratagem.

At Zhang Yang's command, the Xia Dynasty's state machinery sprang into motion, sending an endless stream of Yellow Rice Wine to the front.

Watching the flames ahead dwindle, Chiyou ordered his troops to prepare for battle.

The Beast Tamers stood at the very front of the formation, their beloved pets beside them.

Those treasured pets were Tyrannosaurus Rexes, Velociraptors, Triceratops, Brontosauruses, and Giganotosauruses.

They were Titanoboas, Megalanias, Gigantopithecuses, and Sarcosuchuses.

All were treasures the Human Race had raised from infancy. After more than a decade of training, they acted as one with their Beast Tamers and obeyed their commands.

Obtaining these young creatures had cost nearly ten thousand lives.

Ji stared in bewilderment at the mountain of Yellow Rice Wine piled behind him.

These were military orders. They could be questioned, but they still had to be carried out. Any problems could wait until after the battle.

He immediately ordered his subordinates to carry the Yellow Rice Wine and load it into the baskets secured to the Quetzalcoatluses' backs.

All the Pterodactyls that had come to transport supplies were requisitioned and kept there. Soon, they would be needed to lead the charge and destroy the enemy's Steam Airships.

With the experience of the previous battle, the Pterodactyls now carried spears and Copper-Cased Bombs on their backs as well.

If they could not succeed, they would die for the cause.

Once the two armies engaged, all the bombing units would even have to drive their Quetzalcoatluses into suicide attacks against the enemy's Steam Airships, Steam Gatlings, Smoothbore Cannons, and other heavy weapons.

"Report! General Chiyou orders the air force to take off immediately, destroy the enemy's Steam Airships, and cover the bombing units as they drop the Yellow Rice Wine. Afterward, act at your own discretion to destroy key enemy military targets." As the messenger delivered the orders, the air force began taking off.

Watching the enemy air force take flight again, Bo'er, the Dwarf God, let out a deep sigh.

After passing the orders to Nodin, he looked toward the dwarf army. He had little time left.

Suddenly, he felt nostalgic. With the explosion of the universe, he had come into being as a world consciousness, knowing that his mission was to nurture life, guide civilization, and keep striving toward higher civilizations.

When the world's first dwarf was born, when the first technology tree lit up, when civilization made its first leap...

In the blink of an eye, seventy million years had passed.

There had been so many firsts. Looking at the dwarf army around him, he suddenly found so much he could not bear to leave behind.

Bo'er murmured to himself, "Time..."

As the Human Race's air force took flight, dark clouds formed in the sky once again, slowly advancing toward the Dwarf Race.

Flying through the sky, the air force troops looked at the densely packed human army below with surging excitement. These were their people.

When an outside enemy invaded, they were one whole, striving toward a common goal.

"They're... they're coming again!"

"Quick, hide!"

"The outsiders!"

Seeing those familiar silhouettes in the sky, the dwarves were filled with fear. They never wanted to experience that crush of bodies again, trampled to death by their own people.

That feeling brought nothing but despair.

Nodin, the Dwarf King, took a deep breath, then ordered, "Steam Airships, prepare for aerial combat! Aim the Multi-Barrel Gatlings at the sky! Infantry and musketeers, face forward and prepare for battle!"

"May the great Dwarf God Bo'er bless us with victory!"

"Defeat the outsiders, and I'll treat everyone to drinks! All you can drink!"

At those words, the dwarves who heard the orders lit up, their fighting spirit instantly soaring.

Inside the Steam Airships, the dwarves' breathing quickened as they watched the outsiders' flying army draw closer and closer.

The terror of the outsiders recklessly charging into their Steam Airships to perish together during the last battle gradually flooded back into their hearts.

Closer... closer still.

Thump, thump. Their hearts raced.

"Aah!"

A scream made the surrounding dwarves tremble all over. Unable to withstand the pressure, one dwarf seized control of a Steam Airship and headed to the rear at full throttle.

He was afraid. He was one of the dwarves who had been shot down by the outsiders before, yet survived the fall.

Such behavior dealt an enormous blow to morale. The operators of Steam Airships that had escaped being shot down last time immediately followed him in retreat.

Nodin watched the airships retreat, but he had no time to deal with them. The outsiders' air force was already upon them.

"Open fire! Anyone else who retreats before battle will be executed!" Nodin ordered coldly.

They simply had never experienced war. Since the birth of the Dwarf Race, they had never fought a war, and the Dwarf God Nodin had always directed their civilization's development.

With orders constantly issued in the name of their god, the Dwarf Race had never suffered external oppression or war.

In the previous battle, many Copper-Cased Bombs had exploded high overhead, actually inflicting very little damage on the Dwarf Race. But the Dwarf Race had never experienced war.

They had not even experienced tribal wars involving a thousand people, as the Human Race had.

The Human Race had fought heaven, fought earth, and fought nature since its birth. Among themselves, their struggles had been ceaseless.

Small tribes fought one another and were swallowed by medium-sized tribes. There were large-scale wars, and even after the Xia Dynasty was established, they constantly trained their troops to counter external threats.

An important part of that training was hunting giant beasts and capturing their young to bring back and tame.

Where had all these Pterosaurs come from?

They had all come from dinosaur eggs, plucked one by one from nests by the Human Race...

Only after the Pterosaur population reached a sufficient size could they breed among themselves and maintain steady growth.

The Aerial Combat Force arrived first. Drawing on their previous combat experience, they flew straight to the highest point above the Dwarf Race before diving down.

Three people rode on each Pterodactyl's back. One held a shield in front of the Beast Tamer, while another carried a Pure Iron Spear. A secured basket sat between them, with several Fire Strikers beside it.

This minimized their chances of being hit, but it also greatly reduced their chances of surviving.

Watching the Steam Airships flee in fright, the Human Race's soldiers roared with laughter.

Only a small minority of the Steam Airships fled, fewer than a hundred.

Several hundred aircraft remained, opening fire on the Human Race's air force ahead.

The enemy not only refused to surrender, but dared to shoot back at us?

At their commander's order, the Human Race's Aerial Combat Force immediately pulled upward.

Inside the Steam Airships newly transferred from the rear, the dwarves had initially felt some fear. Hearing their comrades describe how terrifying the outsiders were, however, they had been half convinced at best.

Several dozen airships had even been scared into fleeing before battle. What cowards! What useless trash!

They immediately steered their Steam Airships upward in pursuit, aiming their gun barrels skyward and spraying bullets wildly.

"Huh?"

The outsider army they had thought was fleeing suddenly dived from above.

???

The Pterosaurs nimbly dodged bullets in midair. Thick smoke suddenly billowed from the backs of some whose vital areas had been struck.

They spiraled down, crashing into the dwarf army.

Boom!

With a deafening blast, they took several nearby dwarves along to meet Father God.

Other Pterosaurs had their wings struck by bullets. Their Beast Tamers barely managed to control the Pterodactyls, guiding them toward the nearest Steam Airships.

Just as before, the Human Race's warriors at the rear lit the Copper-Cased Bombs, which exploded in midair along with the Steam Airships.

More aerial warriors thrust their straight spears toward the enemy pilots' positions, then swiftly climbed back into the sky.

The great bombing force in the sky also reached the airspace above the entire army and immediately dropped its ceramic jars of "Yellow Rice Wine."

Seeing the bombs falling, the dwarves below began fleeing in panic again, shoving one another.

Clang! Clang!

The jars they had expected to explode did not explode at all. The nearby dwarves grew excited!

Could they all be duds?

Yes, those worthless outsider craftsmen must have made a whole batch of duds.

"Hahahaha! These outsiders are pathetic!"

"I'm dying of laughter!"

"Huh? Something's not right."

"What a wonderful smell!"

"It's wine!" One dwarf sniffed the air, dancing with excitement as he hurriedly searched the ground. Some jars had landed on dwarves and remained intact.

"Fine wine! Fine wine I've never tasted before!"

"Mine, mine! It's all mine!"

"Get lost! This one landed on me!"

"Keep grabbing, and I'll shoot!"

Bang!

As one dwarf fired, the dwarf army descended into chaos.

Huge quantities of Yellow Rice Wine kept raining from the sky as the bombing units moved toward the rear of the dwarf army.

After dropping the last bottle of Yellow Rice Wine, they began withdrawing.

The Aerial Combat Force withdrew as well. Looking at the several hundred Steam Airships that had crashed to the ground and those fleeing to the rear, they did not pursue.

Watching the dwarf army dissolve into a boiling pot of chaos, Zhang Yang's lips curled slightly upward.

Drinking really got in the way!

Looking at Chiyou's army, ready and waiting, Zhang Yang sent him a direct message. "Attack."

Hearing the voice in his mind, Chiyou was ecstatic. Father God had answered him again!

This is Father God's acknowledgment of me! Father God is watching me from the sky!

"Velociraptor Cavalry Corps, clear the way ahead and push toward the outsiders' rear!"

"Main army, follow quickly! Wipe out the enemy in one stroke!"

"The great Father God is watching us!"

"Victory to the Human Race!"

At Chiyou's command, several thousand Velociraptor cavalry mounts raced forward at tremendous speed.