(Guiying POV)
Things were beginning to look so much better that I even allowed myself to have a sense of hope.
With my senior sisters' assistance, we have managed to stop the Dong army's advance temporarily while our soldiers worked hard on culling the numbers that were present in front of them.
Though it might look like we can actually win this, I know for a fact that my senior sisters were mortals too, even they can grow tired and sluggish from participating in this fight long enough.
There were thoughts of having our Practitioners bolster our numbers with summoned elementals, but since those can be easily controlled by the opposing force's Practitioners if they possess someone strong enough, the idea was shot down quickly.
With everyone committed to the fight, it was now a do or die scenario. No point in us keeping reserves when the entire might of their army now bears down upon us.
When the messenger returned with the news that we faced two hundred and eighty thousand men, we knew that our resistance here was nothing more than a suicidal one. Even if the promised reinforcements were to come, I doubt that could turn the tide either.
Senior sister Diao Chan had already delayed the main army's approach, if we can just push the current group back to the barricades, we might still be able to kill our fair share of these Dong dogs.
"Give the order," I called out to one of the generals nearby. "Have the wounded and the hospital team evacuate immediately. Hopefully they can warn the other villages and towns of our plight and seek shelter before the dogs come for them."
He looked at me with concern, "What about you, Your Majesty?"
"I will not run while my own people fight here, if they perish here then so shall I."
"To lose our Queen right after we got her… Our people will not take this well."
I glanced at the general, "If the Dongs conquer us… That will be the least of our worries."
Reaching out my hand, I picked up my helmet that I had placed aside to put it on my head.
"Your… Your Majesty? You… You aren't?" The general stuttered.
"Yes, I am going to the front lines. When I ordered for everyone to commit to the fight, I really meant everyone. Push them up to the first barricade before the main army can reach us, then even if we are surrounded, they would only be able to attack us from two directions."
One of the generals stepped up in a panic, "Princ… Your Majesty! If… If you were to fall, it would be detrimental to our morale!"
I scowled at him, "I do not intend to die pathetically and I am not helpless. Join me at the front if you will, but I shall go whether you do or not."
Not waiting for an answer, I strolled forward with as much confidence as I could show. In the distance, the whistle of arrows could be heard as the main army's archers fired at us.
Not missing a step, I gathered the Lightning that senior sister Lian Li had taught me how to wield in my hands, my eyes never leaving the sky.
Once they were charged, I released the Lightning into the air, disintegrating the swarm of arrows that had been fired from the main army, not leaving a trace.
The Practitioners who were supposed to deflect the arrows away turned to stare at me in open-mouthed awe. Most of them still wasn't aware of my real strength after all.
The fighting at the front had grown even more intense.
Our soldiers were slowly inching their way forward while being supported by the Practitioners throwing Techniques over their heads or fighting beside them.
My senior sisters were all occupied with taking down the Dong's Practitioners and the giant men. It was purely thanks to them that we were able to push forward at all, or else those giant men would have crippled our Practitioners' ability to fight back and effectively allowed the Dongs to slaughter us.
I have a feeling that the Grand Sects that refused to participate in this war knew about this which was the real reason why they chose not to help us. Whether that is true would take some time to investigate but they were already traitors in my eyes.
Moving to senior sister Lian Li's side at the top of one of the buildings, I joined her in using our Divine Lightning to strike down the enemies that dared to stand against us.
"We won't last much longer…" Lian Li pointed out, her brow dripping with sweat. It was a clear sign that she was already exhausted from fighting for so long, and yet here she stood, unwavering.
"Then as short of a time as it may be… It was an honour to fight alongside you, senior sister," I sighed, electrocuting an archer that tried to take aim at us.
She gave me a weird look, "None of us intend to die today. Our lives belong to Master, there is no way we would let ourselves perish without his say so. On the off chance that we lose today, we will find Master and beg for him to help us."
I see… I am ashamed to admit that I had forgotten that our Master could still single handedly turn this whole thing around. I had been too focused on dealing with this right now that I never thought of considering for the future.
"Then we should kill as many of these Dong dogs as we can," I declared, summoning forth another lightning bolt to strike down an enemy Practitioner that was preoccupied with killing our men.
Lian Li seemed like she was about to say something when drums began to beat within the Dong's main army.
Most of us looked in their direction to see every single Dong soldier marching forward towards us, the two hundred thousand pairs of feet stomping on the ground was enough to make the earth shake.
It seems like this was the extent of senior sister Diao Chan's distraction.
At this point where we have yet to even secure the wall, there was no way we would survive their charge.
Their army was already starting to split, obviously aiming to encircle the entire town to cut off any means of escape.
I turned to look in the direction of our field hospital to see the evacuation had not even begun, there was no way they would make it out before the encirclement was complete.
I cursed under my breath, looking down towards our soldiers who now seemed to have lost all hope after seeing the approaching army. No flowery words of encouragement could get us out of this now. The best I can do is rile them up for a final last stand to take down as many of them as we--
Another horn sounded, this time in the far distance towards the North.
Lian Li and I turned to look towards the source of the sound, spotting a lone rider atop a horse on top of a hill.
"She's here," Lian Li grinned, her shoulders visibly relaxing.
I was still a bit doubtful that senior sister Elaria could do anything at this point in time but I would take whatever hope I could get my hands on.
"Fear not!" Elaria's voice boomed, most likely magically amplified for it to reach here. "BeiYang's calvary is here!"
"Spear wall!" A voice boomed out from the Dong army's flank, prompting the soldiers to do as instructed.
I sighed, Elaria should have just charged in without revealing herself, now we have lost our element of surprise. I guess she's not that well learned in the art of warfare.
"Sherman M-four-A-three-E-eight division! Line Formation!"
There was a rumble that resembled the sound of thunder echoing from behind the hill.
Several tens of what looked like metal boxes with a dome on top of them appeared on top of the hill around senior sister Elaria.
What in Master's name are those things?!
