War was an activity that made it all too easy to lose track of time.
From the moment Chris appeared within sight of the Minisians with his men to the moment Black-and-White Bear led the Han-Tang Warriors into the gate district of Golden Ear City, it seemed an eternity had passed...
Every second on the battlefield teetered between life and death. Every moment rang with clashing metal, roaring gunpowder, and the dying screams of men. Taut nerves and surging adrenaline blurred the markings on the hourglass.
Yet that was only an illusion. In fact, more than half a day had passed.
The midday sun had long since slanted westward, casting Golden Ear City's enormous shadow over the bloody battlefield. The First Army Group's Siege Heavy Cannons were obeying Prince Chris's orders, pouring volleys of shells onto the battlefield.
Heat rolling off the scorched earth churned up by the bombardment mingled with the cloying stench of blood and powder smoke, forming a nauseating haze.
The Minisian troops trying to envelop the Han-Tang Warriors from both flanks, whether spearmen or reserve cavalry, were powerless to advance through that apocalyptic bombardment.
With powerful artillery support, Black-and-White Bear led the barely three hundred Han-Tang Warriors who remained after successive enemy attempts to stop them. Like an iron spike that remained unyielding even when heated red-hot, they finally punched through wave after wave of routed soldiers and scattered resistance, slamming into Golden Ear City's final bulwark of flesh and blood... the gate district!
There was no room to flee here. The Minisians' last and finest troops had gathered in this place.
A formation of heavily armored Sword-and-Shield Fighters, made up of the royal guard and lavishly paid mercenaries, blocked the enormous arched gateway like solid rock.
They wore heavy Brigandine studded with steel plates and