The enemy had been spotted, their size sending shivers through the defense force, but panic didn't set in , they weren't even afraid. They were just hungry with anticipation, their palms claiming up inside their protective gloves. The enemy numbers far exceed anything they had ever come across before. Some of them who newly joined joined the defense force had been dreaming of battle but for their first battle to be against an army of this magnitude, it could be that the gods were mocking them. They had heard stories of how their force had always been able to defeat numerically superior armies but still they were skeptical .
The veterans were calm , especially those who had fought alongside Ceaser in the endless forest when forty men armed with nothing but crude weapons and a molotov cocktail defeated an army more than twice it's size .
Soon Ceaser was spotted riding casually on a horse as he approached the front line . In his hand was a spy glass that was retrieved from the previous wreckage of the battle field. He peered through the glass and saw the enemy arranging their selves in smaller groups, this was probably to counter the effects of the cannons. Their vanguards were surprisingly well equipped, this was not going to be a battle like the others, this was deducted due to the formation which they were forming. It was clear that they were going use a human wave to bug down and tire out his men.
He then turned to the men who were looking at him with eager eyes and announced.
" Our enemy who stand not far away from us do not see us as human beings, they see us as animals that should be gathered in cages and whipped into submission to their needs.
When they look at us they see property, property that need to be owned because we lost a war we didn't start. But ask me what I see when I look at them."
" What do you see Ceaser?" An unknown soldier asked which caused Ceaser to smile before his face turned Grimm.
" What I see when I look at those men waiting to take our lives is a mistake waiting to be corrected, that is why I have you all as my hand to help me correct the mistakes of all , to bring peace, freedom and stability to a new empire.
Some of us might die today, but know this , no death is going to be in vain. Every person who dies here in battle died to protect the lives and freedom of thousands of people , for every one of our men who fall, fifty of their would fall in return. Remember trust in your training, we achieve victory through order, victory over death!"
The entire defense force chanted the slogan that has become part of their mantra, something that even the little children of the town knew by heart and had filled their hearts with hope ever since they heard it for the first time, "victory over death."
At exactly midday as the sun shone brightly in the middle of the sky three horse riders emerged from the enemy lines and approached the defense force, Ceaser and two other men rose out to meet them in the middle.
Before the Blackthorn riders could even say anything Ceaser interrupted them.
" Return back and send my message to count Bataglia, tell him to go home with his army and accept peace, if he refuses tell him that after this battle when I finish slaughtering his men , I will behead his two sons and with their skulls I will fashion out drinking cups. And as for their bodies, I will boil their bodies as feed for my horses .
Tell him that this is what I say , tell him that this is the words of Augustus Caesar and for your sakes , pray that he chooses peace." Ceaser said leaving the stunned messengers and riding back to the trenches.
As soon the message was delivered to the count , at first he flew into a tirade , bellowing of how he was going to kill and crush Ceaser but then realization set in, if his son's were to die , it would mean that some his alliances would die alongside them, he would lose territory which meant a loss of funds and a loss of standing with the imperial court. It turned out that his entire well being was being dependent on either his victory which was the best choice for him at the moment or retreat which would mean a further loss in reputation and standing within the empire.
As he was still in thought, Magnus entered the tent and announced that the army was ready for battle.
Bataglia then steeled himself and ordered for the first set of soldiers be sent into battle.
Three separate groups, each containing about two thousand each, set out for attack, no longer tightly in their tightly packed formation but now with space enough that the the casualty rate of the explosive shells was reduced.
Immediately they entered into the range of the cannons which had now reached a staggering two hundred and fifty in number started firing at four shots per minute. The effect was total decimation as solid shot and shrapnel from the cannons decimated the troops before they could even reach 700 meters leaving only a handful of survivors.
A feeling of horror and weakness spread throughout the enemy camp, their thoughts went as far as to think that sorcery was involved. They imagined dying, killed by an enemy that they couldn't see .
As for Baron Goodman and Count Bataglia, after the feeling of dread washed over them, another feeling crept into their hearts, it was the feeling of greed.
They were already having wet dreams of what they could accomplish if they could only get their hands on such devastating weapons.
Their objective now was no longer to only crush the rebellion, now it was to capture the weapons and Ceaser who was clearly the mastermind behind everything.