The sky gradually darkened, yet this night was destined to be sleepless for many.
Indeed, the Northern Ridge reinforcement that Gis worried about would never appear, because Tang Mo had not sent a telegram for help to Northern Ridge at all.
The message he sent to Alice explicitly instructed her to take advantage of the chaos and immediately take over the remaining assets of the Shireck Consortium in Northern Ridge.
At the same time, King Leite VII received a feedback message as night fell. The message was intriguing, stating only that the Shireck private army had lost 2,000 men and still had not broken through the defenses of the Great Tang Group.
After receiving this message, King Leite VII finally made up his mind, marshaling 4,500 soldiers, virtually deploying his entire force, led by himself, marching west along the road, ready to flank Shireck with the Great Tang Group.
Meanwhile, in Baron Stela's tent, the baron was packing his belongings. His troops had suffered heavy losses and did not need to participate in the night's attack, so he was allowed to remain at his camp on standby.
At this very moment, he was stuffing his valuables and some other assorted items into his suitcase.
In the central area of the entire camp, Gis was not sleeping either. He sat in his place, staring blankly at the map.
He truly did not understand why things had changed so drastically in less than a year.
He did not know why a broken-down port called Brunas within his jurisdiction had given rise to a demon called Tang Mo, nor why this demon managed to rise as a power that even the Shireck Consortium could not control, all within less than a year.
In fact, in the past few days, he felt the urge to smash things every day, but such times did not permit him to show such irritability in front of his subordinates.
Therefore, he found another way to vent the frustration in his heart—he had captured several women in the territories belonging to Tang Mo on the way to seek a decisive battle with Tang Mo, and had been venting his almost collapsing psyche by abusing these women for several days.
His subordinates became even more silent as ice, because they saw brutality and ruthlessness in Gis's behavior, which intimidated them, making them cautious and wary.
But the disadvantage on the battlefield made the atmosphere even more awkward. Everyone had their own ulterior motives and were half-hearted.
As time ticked by, the moment to rally the troops finally came, and in an almost pitch-dark environment, the Shireck troops began to assemble.
Everyone was shoving and pushing, relying only on the faint glow of the campfires to discern their positions, then these soldiers left their encampments and began inching closer to the defense line of the Great Tang Group.
In fact, with so many people gathering at night, they had already betrayed their presence to the sentry troops of the Great Tang Group before even leaving their camp.
Their intermittent fires and the rustling sounds could actually travel a significant distance at night.
The Shireck camp was less than 4 kilometers away from the real battlefield, which, based on past experience, was a very appropriate distance.
Choosing the battlefield here was actually decided by the higher-ups of the Great Tang Group; it could be said that this place was a grave deliberately dug for the Shireck Consortium forces, and even the epitaph had been inscribed in advance.
As Shireck's troops gradually neared the defensive positions of the Great Tang Group, the Rangers of the Great Tang Group had already retreated to the main positions and were making combat preparations with all the soldiers.
With the help of moonlight, they could see large dark shadows slowly approaching, and they could feel the confusion and fear of their enemies.
100 meters, the enemy was only 100 meters from the trenches, the dense mass of soldiers who carried K1 Quick Guns with bayonets began to reflect the cold light of the moon.
50 meters, some of Shireck's soldiers had already stepped on corpses that had not been removed during the day. Their boots rolled over the palms of the bodies, producing subtle crackling sounds.
20 meters, even under the moonlight, the figures of these soldiers could actually be seen clearly.
Of course, the Shireck commanders who had reached this position were overjoyed.
To approach so silently to this point already signified that their plan was nearly a success!
"Bang... Crack!" With a piercing boom, a light like the sun exploded in the sky. This sudden burst of light forced all the Shireck soldiers facing its rise to squint.
They did not know what it was, only that it illuminated the sky and exposed them in the darkness without a place to hide.
Clearly, it seemed that the other side had already discovered them and was just waiting for them to get close, just waiting for the perfect moment to strike!
Before these pitiful soldiers could react, the chilling sounds of the devil-like laughter that echoed through the day once again filled the air.
"Ratatatat!" The harrowing sound of machine gun fire resumed, and many of Shireck's soldiers clutched their chests and fell.
However, without tracer bullets, aiming the machine guns accurately in the night indeed posed a problem.
Compared to the horrific casualties of the day, the night seemed somewhat more forgiving to Shireck's soldiers. The confusion and darkness blurred the sensory perception of death nearby, which significantly raised everyone's ability to withstand the casualties.
Similarly, since the machine guns were less accurate, the hit precision indeed declined, and the number of Shireck's soldiers mowed down by machine gun fire as they charged forward was noticeably fewer.
With both factors at play, and considering Shireck's troops were vast in number, quite a few of Shireck's soldiers actually managed to reach the front of Great Tang Group's security troops' positions.
"Bang!" Finally, those security troops who had been waiting all day got their chance to fire. They pulled the trigger with indifference, felling the approaching enemy soldiers.
What they wielded were Kar98K rifles, which had a 5-round magazine. After firing, they simply had to work the bolt to shoot again.
In that era, the firing rate of such a weapon was revolutionary. The K1 Quick Gun used by the Shireck soldiers, in comparison to the Kar98K, was practically a stick for stoking fires.
After a brief pause, a second shot rang out, and many more Shireck soldiers, who were even closer to the trenches, fell in droves.
However, these Shireck soldiers seemed to become frenzied with fear from the slaughter, their eyes seemingly bloodshot, recklessly charging toward Great Tang Group's defensive positions.
"Grenades!" In the darkness, the officers, who were continuously observing the battlefield, fired their lever-action rifles swiftly while loudly ordering the soldiers beside them to employ a new method of attack.
Following the command, a third of the Great Tang Group security troops knelt on one knee, drawing their grenades from their belts, twisting off the safety caps, and pulling the strings inside.
Then, assuming the standard throwing posture, they threw their grenades out of the trenches with all their might.
The Shireck soldiers charging in front of them vaguely saw objects flying out of the trenches, followed by those objects hitting the ground beside them like bricks, rolling to their feet.
By the time they looked down to see what had fallen, those metal lumps suddenly exploded, showering countless metal fragments.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Those Shireck soldiers, who had never seen grenades before, were immediately engulfed in the exploding fire.
A more intense fusillade followed, and amidst the smoke from the explosions, the Shireck soldiers, deafened by the blasts, staggered to their feet like drunkards, only to be hit by the subsequent bullets and collapse onto the corpses beneath them.
Everyone was stunned by the hellish scene in front of them; they thought that facing machine gun fire during the day was hell, but now they realized the true horror unfolded at night!
Under the ghastly white glow, the spilt blood appeared even more vivid, mingling with the splashed droplets and the rolling smoke from explosions, lending the entire battlefield an utterly macabre beauty.
If it were possible, setting up a camera here would capture montages filled with such grotesque grandeur. Add to it some slow motion and filters, and the footage would be so beautiful it would bring people to tears.
Just as all of Shireck's soldiers were in despair, the sun-like glow behind Great Tang Group's defensive lines finally began to dim and slowly descended towards the ground.
The surrounding area swiftly returned to darkness, and that damned light which had exposed everyone was finally gone!
At that moment, all of Shireck's soldiers were invigorated, excitedly getting up from the ground and moving forward again.
They wanted revenge, to charge over and teach those damned opponents a lesson, to catch those damned individuals and hang them from the trees!
These thoughts filled their heads, driving Shireck's soldiers to charge forward recklessly. They had lost all reason, and their anger and frustration made them forget their fear.
As the darkness returned in an instant, Shireck's soldiers seemed to see hope, as if they had already grasped the arm of victory.
But just as they stood up, determined to charge forward, another flare exploded in the sky, returning everything to how it was a minute before.
"Ratatatat!" The machine gun fire continued, the dense rifle shots continued, the explosions of grenades continued, the splattering blood continued, the falling soldiers continued...