Summoning Total War - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Massacre! (Part 2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The evacuation of the infantry regiment was done very skillfully. When the gnolls charged in, they were immediately blocked by the Greek infantry with rounded hoplons.

Then, a javelin was thrown at the gnolls.

There was no need to aim at all due to how densely the gnolls were grouped together, and the number of gnolls at the front was basically cut by half from the hundreds of javelins. Most of them were penetrated by javelins, but they didn’t die until a while later.

On a real battlefield, death took time.

At that moment, it was the Greek infantry’s turn for action. Their weapons were long spears about 2.5 meters long, with a maximum attack range of about three meters. This distance was enough for the infantry to quickly finish off a gnoll in the front row who hadn’t died after being shot by a javelin.

The timing of the five rounds of javelins was precisely calculated by Murphy.

With the physical strength of adult men, the javelin throwers were capable of throwing a javelin five times in a row without issue. Hence, there was no need to take a breather in-between throws. One throw took twenty seconds, and five throws would only take about a hundred seconds, which was only about one and a half minutes.

In a minute and a half, the gnolls that had charged to the front also fell to the ground, and the rest of the gnolls were injured.

The gnolls would basically be asking for death if they chose to fight up close against the dense Greek infantry formation without powerful weapons of their own to counter them, or sufficient auxiliary support.

They couldn’t break through the line of defense, and what’s more, they were also within the javelin’s attack range.

So, due to their innate wisdom, the gnolls decided it was wise to temporarily retreat. Because the javelin’s attack range was limited, it wouldn’t be possible for the humans to throw the javelins very far.

As soon as the gnolls retreated, an empty space of about fifty meters was left in the middle of the battlefield.

Faced with the Greek’s spear formation, the only way to break through was to push forward with heavily armored infantrymen. If they got up close enough for melee combat, then the Greek infantry would no longer be able to use javelins to their advantage. With the Greek formation’s terrifying killing ability stripped away, the battle wouldn’t be that much different from a battle with average soldiers. When the heavy infantry advanced to break the formation, it had to either prioritize defense by adding an extra shield, or prioritize attack, just like the Modao formation in the East or the crusaders in the West.

However, the gnolls’ obviously wouldn’t be able to achieve this with their crude weapons.

After the Greek infantry pulled back a distance into an empty zone, a dull horn sounded from behind the Greek infantry.

Subsequently, the javelin squads began to evacuate, and the Greek infantry slowly retreated.

Seeing that the enemy wanted to retreat, the commander of the gnolls gave a wolf-like howl, and the adult male gnolls who had just retreated started to excitedly charge forward.

But before they could even approach the humans, the javelin squads that were ready to retreat returned and stopped the gnolls’ attack.

There was the sound of something piercing the air, and another javelin was thrown over!

This…

The gnolls who’d wanted to take advantage of the enemy’s retreat to overwhelm them were dumbfounded.

A dozen corpses fell to the ground, and the gnolls were once again pushed back.

Adult male gnolls who were used to charging into the enemy’s formation were some of the gnolls’ most elite soldiers. Thus, they were few in number. The gnolls’ actual fighting power was at the rear and was an army of female gnolls and semi-adult gnolls. The gnolls were a race where everyone in the clan was soldiers, and they had been learning how to hunt and fight ever since they were born!

Even a young gnoll was definitely more dangerous than a regular adult human male.

After repelling the second round of attacks from the gnolls, the Greek infantry slowly retreated under their captain’s command. This time around, however, the gnolls didn’t know whether or not to continue with their attack.

If they chose to charge, they were afraid the enemy would start launching javelins again.

If they chose not to charge, then they would have to watch as their enemies retreated, and they wouldn’t be able to live with the fact that they just watched as the enemy escaped.

When the town of Athens was being built, Murphy had designed the town to make it convenient for combat. The design was very interesting.

The entire town of Athens was shaped like a hexagon, and behind the fence was a road about three meters wide that encircled the entire town. The interior was cross-shaped and divided into four areas, with the central town square in the middle. The town square was an open area that was more than 300 meters in diameter. To one side of the square was the temple, and the Governor’s Mansion was behind it. In other words, besides for the cross street that ran through the entire town, all other areas were very narrow alleys.

As a result, if the gnolls wanted to break through the defense line, they’d have no choice but to fight the Greek infantry in the limited space of the streets.

There were houses on both sides of the street, and unless the gnolls had the amazing ability to fly or walk over walls…

It would be very difficult for them to attack the weaker wings of the Greek infantry.

Beasts also had some intelligence.

Seeing that the infantry formation couldn’t be shaken, some of the smarter gnolls started climbing over the houses in an attempt to attack the sides and rear of the infantry formation from the roof.

However, all this was useless now, as the infantry had gradually started to retreat.

Even though gnolls were more agile than humans, they wouldn’t be able to leap a few meters across from a house on one side of the street to a house on the other side, right?

Unless they were able to stop the infantry in its place and go around from both sides to attack the rear.

The problem was that faced with the Greek infantry’s tight formation, the dense array of spears that resembled a forest really made the gnolls’ hair stand on end, not to mention just rushing forward like this.

After several strong rounds of javelins from the javelin throwers, the gnolls were already beginning to feel a little timid.

If one was a living creature, then one was afraid of death. The enemy was like a porcupine. It couldn’t be bitten.

Nobody was willing to go in and die.

After shuffling here and there…

The rear of the gnolls’ forces began to press forward.

Three to four thousand gnolls jammed and filled the streets. The gnolls at the front flinched and didn’t want to go forward, and the gnolls at the rear couldn’t squeeze forward due to the lack of space.

During the delay, the infantry retreated to the edges of the town square.

The chaotic situation continued until the loud howling of a gnoll echoed throughout the town.

At this gnoll’s powerful command, the chaotic gnolls began to get into formation. The strong males stood in front while the weaker female gnolls scattered, ready to cut into the battlefield from both sides.

Close to four thousand gnolls surrounded the entire square, dense and impermeable!

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Murphy looked at the crowd of gnolls in front of him and couldn’t help but lament: “If this fails, it really will be a mass genocide!”

He didn’t know why!

But he suddenly felt a burst of compassion in his heart!

Perhaps men were just born with a desire for battle!

Conquer!

Conquer through a massacre and fresh blood!!!

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Clang!

Murphy pulled out his sharp sword from at his waist, and for the first time, a bloodthirsty smile appeared on his face.

But this gave the soldiers around him unparalleled courage!

“Burn!”

With this order, a huge fire suddenly broke out around the central town square.

Within only a few minutes, a cloud of thick smoke spread out from the direction of the fire.

The central square was an open area. The fire couldn’t burn beyond the square, but the smoke it created was able to spread throughout the entire town.

For a time, all the creatures felt their noses and eyes become sore.

At this point, there’s no need to mention common anatomical knowledge.

It was well known that gnolls had an extremely sensitive sense of smell that was countless times more sensitive than a human’s. Their sense of smell wasn’t that far off from a hunting dog’s, and their sensitivity to the stench of blood was second only to feral beasts. This meant that when the gnolls smelled something strange, it would affect them more strongly than it did other creatures! In this way, a choking smell was much more dangerous and lethal to the gnolls!

When smoke gets into a person’s eyes, they tear up, and when their eyes tear up, their vision becomes blurry.

The gnolls’ greatest advantage was their superior night vision ability, which was one of the humans’ greatest flaws.

Since the humans couldn’t make up for this disadvantage, they decided to drag everyone down to the same level!

Almost all the creatures’ eyes were affected by the irritating thick smoke. Everyone was on equal footing, at least before the weather changed and the wind blew away the smoke.

“Ready!” the officer beside Murphy said, issuing the powerful command.

Immediately, everyone picked up a wet cloth they had prepared and tied it around their mouths and noses.

The sky was filled with flames!

The entire city was enveloped in flames!

Under the blazing fire, the gnolls and humans had to face each other under the same conditions.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

As long as people were alive, the burned town could be rebuilt.

And as everyone knows, gnoll fur catches on fire very easily…