CHAPTER 407: CHAPTER 350 WAR ERUPTS_2

The magic flying in from the rear continuously replenished the clouds with energy, allowing the bombardment to persist without interruption.

From a distance, this wall-like net of lightning stretched across a narrow region for dozens of kilometers, a truly spectacular sight.

Faced with such a magic bombardment, the Eternal Domain troops, informed by the Goblins about the various attack modes of the Cloud Tower’s heavy Magic Bombardment Devices, had made early defense preparations.

The Eternal Domain’s fortifications were a web of trenches and dugouts, with a troop bunker at regular intervals.

Each bunker was equipped with waterproof provisions and used iron supports to construct a "Faraday Cage." As long as the people hiding inside the bunkers did not touch the metal of the cage, they would be safe from electric shocks.

Observation posts outside the fortifications had similar protections.

It was because Marquis Anderson saw the extensive use of steel in the fortifications of the Eternal Domain that he thought to use lightning attacks, aiming to exploit the conductivity of iron to harm the soldiers of the Eternal Domain.

However, he did not realize that while iron’s conductivity could harm people, it could also protect them.

The lightning attack did not last long. Under the relentless bombardment from the Eternal Domain’s heavy artillery, the Force Field Barrier protecting the heavy Magic Bombardment Device was breached.

To protect the Mages and the crucial weapons, Anderson had no choice but to order the withdrawal of the heavy Magic Bombardment Device personnel and equipment.

At the same time, ground troops initiated an attack on the Eternal Domain’s fortifications.

Airships advanced in the sky once again, and large numbers of Divine Beasts flew out, dispersing into the nearby airspace to escort the airships.

In the skies of the opposing side, the Eternal Domain Air Force’s front-line squadrons were closing in.

When the news of the war’s outbreak reached the Eternal Domain, Yan Xing was in the command center, examining the virtual sand table of his own fortifications and considering where to add some more firepower.

The coronation ceremony Anderson held in Storm City was grandiose. It also signaled that the inevitable was about to happen.

So, when Chui Chui informed him that the Wildwind Highlands Legion had commenced their attack, Yan Xing didn’t feel anxious. Instead, it was as if a great stone had been lifted from his heart, and he sighed with relief.

Waiting had been too agonizing.

Now... it was time to fight.

Yan Xing quickly donned his armor with the assistance of his maids and then ascended to the top floor of the Lord’s Mansion.

His treasured horse Fei Ying was already waiting for him there, alongside ten Armored Gryphons and their Knights.

Yan Xing walked toward Fei Ying, his metal boots clanging powerfully against the stone floor.

At that moment, war alarms sounded throughout the Eternal Domain, but it seemed the people in the cities were not greatly affected. They had long known that war would break out and also believed in their Lord, confident that he could defeat all enemies coveting the Eternal Domain.

At the military airport to the northeast, squadrons of fighter jets took off in waves.

A flock of Griffons, as if sensing the approach of war, let out cries and whooshed past in the nearby airspace.

Yan Xing approached Fei Ying, patted its shoulder, and then mounted the horse.

The securing clasps automatically snapped shut.

Fei Ying reared with a neigh and then sprinted upward, running on the Air Barrier towards the sky.

The ten Armored Gryphons gathered momentum with a running start, launching off the roof one after another and stretching their wings.

Their iron wings protected their feathers, and the turbo-boost engines initiated, rocketing the Armored Gryphons straight up.

Riding Fei Ying, Yan Xing raced across the sky above Eternal City. He did not rush to the front lines but instead circled around the city.

The Armored Gryphon escort caught up, reducing speed to form a protective formation on either side of Yan Xing.

After a while, the squadrons from the northeastern military airport arrived, joining this airborne assembly that seemed to be parading through the sky.

Hundreds of flying units crowded together, circling densely, almost covering the entire sky above the city.

Everyone in the city came out of their buildings.

They stood on the streets, on squares, gazing upwards, awestruck by the magnificent spectacle.

At first, not a sound was heard. Then, after a while, a cheer erupted from somewhere, followed by a complete outburst of enthusiasm throughout the city.

People cheered for the Lord galloping at the front on his warhorse, tossing their hats high into the air.

When several enormous bombers flew from even higher altitudes, the city’s atmosphere surged to a new climax.

Yan Xing surveyed the crowds filling the streets and squares below. After gathering all the flying units supporting the frontline battlefield, he spurred Fei Ying to lead the airborne cluster towards the Outpost Fort.

"Attention all airborne combat units, I am your Lord, Yan Xing. I will serve as the overall air combat commander at the front, with Chui Chui acting as the liaison officer for the battlefield.

"It is an honor to fight alongside you; I... am deeply honored.

"Chui Chui will now issue combat missions to each unit.

"Maintain speed and altitude, for our enemies this time are formidable.

"But... we are stronger."

The distance from the Eternal Domain to Outpost Fort was short; after a few minutes of rapid flight, the combat scene could be seen from afar.

The flying units from the frontline airfield had already joined the battle.

The air cluster Yan Xing brought from the Eternal Domain didn’t plunge directly into the fight, but instead rapidly climbed to approach the combat zone from high altitude.

At reachable flight altitudes, aircraft held an absolute advantage. While other flying creatures are limited to a maximum height of 4,000 meters, the Eternal Domain’s fleet could loiter at higher altitudes with impunity.

The supporting fleet spread out gradually according to their individual missions. Based on their flying altitude, Gryphon Fighter Jets operated at the lower level, and Deer Hunter Dive Bombers at the middle level. Beak Eagle Bombers ascended to an altitude of 8,000 meters.

Yan Xing ordered the majority of Armored Gryphons to stand by with the Beak Eagle Bombers. He then led ten Armored Gryphon escorts on Fei Ying, entering from the north end of the frontline.

He flew at low altitude along the battle line towards the south end at breakneck speed.

The turbocharged engines roared loudly, and following a series of sonic booms, Fei Ying and the Armored Gryphons streaked supersonically over the battlefield.

The pressure generated rolling airstreams, creating fierce winds above the battle line.

Observing the fight up close, it was clear to see the attacking Wildwind Highlands Legion being met with a fierce counterstrike from the Eternal Domain’s defenders.

The attacking force was no longer called the Wildwind Highlands Legion. Duke Anderson established the Wildwind Principality. The former Wildwind Highlands Legion was reflagged and splintered off from the Silvermane Principality’s military order, forming the Wildwind Principality’s army.

After completing a round of magic bombardment, the ground troops of the Wildwind Principality’s army advanced under the cover of their frontline Mages.

However, the scene they had envisioned, where the defenders suffered massive losses from the magic bombardment, didn’t materialize.

Indeed, the defenders deliberately let them get closer before striking.

When they charged to within a hundred meters of the Eternal Domain’s positions, they were met with crisscrossing barbed wire barriers.

Before the accompanying Mages could use Magic to destroy the barbed wire, the defenders’ various fire points suddenly spouted flames, sweeping down the frontline soldiers of the Wildwind Principality.

The charging soldiers of the Wildwind Principality suffered significant losses, but those suppressed by gunfire on the ground activated the Defense Spells on their Charged Magic Wands.

Magic shields blocked the bullets. Even if they couldn’t last long, it was during this brief time that the Mages rushing to the front line used Magic to erect a temporary earthen wall cover.

With the cover established, more Duchy Soldiers poured in unceasingly as reinforcements.

Relying on the cover, they used Charged Magic Wands to unleash magic beams, exchanging fire with the Eternal Domain’s soldiers.

Whenever possible, the Mages would use Defense Magic to protect themselves, then unleash attacks to blast open the barbed wire or take out the defenders’ fire points.

Although the Eternal Domain’s defenders also had Mages for magic confrontation, the Eternal Domain’s time in training Mages was too short, and Magic had always been their weak point.

As for the enemy’s earthen bunkers, only a hundred meters away from their own positions, the rear artillery feared friendly fire and dared not strike. Meanwhile, the infantry’s guns and rocket launchers at the front lacked the power to destroy them.

Even if a small portion was blown open, it was quickly repaired by the Mages sheltered behind.

The defensive constructions laid out by the Eternal Domain were being destroyed bit by bit.

Flying over the battlefield and witnessing this situation, Yan Xing immediately gave the order: the stationed Gryphon Fighter Jets were to provide cover for the Deer Hunter Dive Bombers to carry out precision bombing on the enemy’s temporary frontline cover.

After a while, a shrill and tense screeching sound pressed down from the sky towards the ground.