Chapter 860: The Final Encirclement

Senar returns to the Mobile Strike Group's base after going to the Western Federation and killing a few stubborn fools from the church and the empire.

The Western Federation can do little about the killings.

Putting either a divinely favored one or a bearer of a god-descended bloodline on trial is an extremely complicated business.

Senior members of the church must be present, and the empire's core leadership must sign the order.

The expedition's leaders from the Abundant Continent may have the rank, but they have no authority to conduct such a trial.

If they acted rashly, they would fail to put Senar on trial and give interested parties a weapon against them when they returned home.

Cases involving a god-descended bloodline normally go before the Imperial Family Council.

Those involving a divinely favored one belong to the Church Tribunal.

Neither institution is easy to deal with. Both guard their authority jealously.

Anyone who tries to encroach on that authority becomes an enemy.

Prince Kevin and Cardinal Stansen belong to neither institution.

More importantly, Senar is a peak Iron Knight, just one step from Glory Rank.

No one doubts his talent. He is all but certain to advance before the Calamity War ends.

And he is still under fifty!

Who would offend a rising star like him over a few dead men?

Besides, falling out with Senar over this would have other consequences.

They would certainly face criticism when they returned home.

Senar came to the Abandoned Continent to reach Glory Rank during the Calamity War.

Afterward, he will become a prince of the empire and a Godsworn Bishop of the church.

The church and the empire have agreed on this. For certain reasons, they must set aside their differences and work together now.

Senar belongs to the church and carries the empire's god-descended bloodline.

Yet he came from outside their established elites. He has no deep ties or entrenched support in either camp.

He will therefore become the link that brings the two sides together again.

Such a candidate is hard to find. No one fits better than Senar.

Whether he serves as a Godsworn Bishop or an imperial prince, he will have the right to raise his own army.

The Mobile Strike Group is already his core force. Once the Calamity War ends, he will take most of these elite troops with him.

Removing him from his post because he killed a few fools who did not know better would be another matter entirely.

Neither the Western Federation's senior officials nor even the expedition's leaders could bear that responsibility.

An accusation of deliberately sabotaging cooperation between the empire and the church would be enough to give them all a headache.

No one dares offend Senar over this. Anyone planning more underhanded tricks will now have to think carefully.

Is a scheme worth dying for?

At the temporary base in Warmflow City, Pabos has just seen off the fallen soldiers' coffins himself when the final battle report for Operation "Dried Fish" arrives.

After several days under the blazing sun, the bandit breakthrough force trapped in the barren ground had lost much of its fighting strength.

Once Leo River was confirmed secure, the two warbands from the Southern District of Peace Haven began advancing south.

The Lumir Twentieth and Twenty-Third Legions followed close behind.

The Cross Scythe Legion and Lumir Eleventh Legion moved from the bandit force's flanks to block its front.

A legion arrived on each flank to take over the defensive line.

They were the Hatchet Legion and the Bone-Cleaver Legion.

Like the Cross Scythe Legion, both were newly formed elite legions with Peace Haven officers at their core.

Partridge commanded the Hatchet Legion, and Lambert commanded the Bone-Cleaver Legion.

Like Tuge, the two were Peace Haven officers awaiting promotion to warband commander. For the time being, they served here as legion commanders.

These were the main forces for the final annihilation battle.

There were three numbered legions, three named legions, and Peace Haven's two warbands.

Nearly a hundred thousand elite troops began slowly pressing in on the bandit assault force, leaving it less and less ground.

Senar did not want to miss the battle. He brought all his middle- and senior-ranking officers to observe it in person.

Only once before, at the Northern Mountain Front, had there been an annihilation battle on such a scale.

The various factions sent observers to record what happened.

Marshal Clifford handed overall command to Tuge, commander of the Cross Scythe Legion.

Tuge and his people had spent a full year fighting and matching wits with the calamity bandits during the defense of Pearl City.

Their troops were among the coalition's best at fighting this enemy.

Tuge and his people had planned the operation in the first place.

Letting Tuge finish the job made tactical sense. It also showed that no one intended to steal his people's credit.

Tuge did not order an immediate attack when he took command.

Instead, he called in the engineering troops to prepare something special.

They made slight modifications to weapons resembling incendiary projectiles. The two ballista companies accompanying the Southern District troops then launched them into the enemy ranks.

They did little direct damage. The explosions killed few enemies, and the flames were quickly put out.

But the bombardment continued to consume large amounts of moisture in the enemy ranks. Heavy smoke followed.

The burning ammunition gave off toxic, corrosive smoke that seemed to disperse quickly into the air.

The smoke was actually made up of microscopic solid particles. They had merely fallen to the ground or stuck to the enemy's bodies.

Three days later, Tuge ordered a fierce advance along the whole front.

The bandit army formed up to meet them. Just before the armies made contact, Tuge stopped the advance and ordered his troops to fortify their positions and settle in.

At that distance, the Thunderclap Ballista could reach deep into the enemy formation. Even ordinary catapults were close enough to bring their fire to bear.

Another two full days of incendiary bombardment left a pungent reek across the battlefield.

On the third day, with the observers still puzzled, Tuge suddenly ordered the attack.

As soon as battle was joined along the front, the observing officers noticed something strange.

The subterranean bandit breakthrough force was huge, and its troops were elite.

Tens of thousands of extraordinary creatures showed how much importance the commander of the Subterranean River Bandits had placed on this operation.

Yet the bandits proved astonishingly weak when the fighting began.

Their lines crumbled almost as soon as the legions reached them.

True, they had been trapped for more than ten days. There were no rivers here, and the dry conditions had badly reduced this elite army's fighting strength.

Even so, they should not have been this weak.

Far from being elite troops, they were hardly stronger than the nobles' serf troops of old.

Senar was puzzled too. The bandit army still had a force of spellcasters.

The spellcasters could still use enhancement spells, even if they could not produce rain or mist.

They could at least keep the bandits' skin moist, or even cover it with a film of water. Even in daylight, their fighting strength should not have dropped so drastically under those conditions.

Senar did not stand on ceremony. He asked Pabos directly, "You've fought their elite troops. What's going on?"

Pabos pointed upward. "The smoke! The smoke from earlier!"