A single blast marked the beginning of a battle that would change the world. One huge explosion after the other marked the beginning pink showers of mist for the enemy brigade.
Soldiers called out vectors of fire with machine like precision, and the tanks obliged, clearing out large swathes of enemy presence. Craters started marking the ground where enemy soldiers had been moments ago. With each shot from a tank, men lay wounded or dying. Still, the volleys continued.
Following the first few volleys of tank fire, the battalion commander realized that tanks would be overkill for an enemy whose cavalry amounted to "Horses on carriages." He got on comms and ordered. "All tanks, cease fire! We are wasting ammo." Luckily, the tanks had fired only a few volleys before the commander had realized his oversight.
"Utilize the .50cals, crew served weapons, and all other small arms fire capabilities. We cannot afford to waste our higher caliber ammunition against enemies with little to no resistance."
Decimation, carnage, and terror. The damage delivered by the battalion was unimaginable to modern soldiers, but in this world? Armor might as well be paper, and magic barriers might as well be plywood shields. The commander watched as his forces ripped through the enemy brigade. The first volley had already decimated a large portion of the enemy formation, and the commander sighed as he leaned back in his seat as he looks around. His battalion lived and breathed as a competent machine. The years of training had molded these men into ruthless but professional soldiers.
Training to fight enemies that hid amongst civilian populations vs an enemy in plain view on open terrain might as well be compared to an adult having a rifle versus a child having a bb gun. He looked down at the now scattered formation of the enemy brigade, and offered a silent prayer for the men losing their lives.
Large and booming blasts were replaced by the sharp cracks of crew served weapons and small arms fires.
Eric watched the enemy lines break apart. The enemy formations were rapidly unraveling under sustained fire. This wasn't a fight, it was a dismantling. He talked into his radio, calmly issuing commands. "Adjust fire as needed. Keep close watch on ammo." He then lit a cigarette, watching the chaos with somber eyes. There was no going back from this, the world had crossed a line of which there was no return.
Hezel realized that something had to change, and quickly. He looked at the chaos that was being wrought on his soldiers. With little to no time to think, he yells out orders in rapid fire professionalism. "Spread out! We are too close together! Mages! I want barriers around the formations!" One of the mage commanders tried to argue, and Hezel growled at him "Follow my fucking orders! We are being killed by something that can target large groups at once! Barriers… NOW!" The soldiers spread out as the large explosions that ceased. Hezel sighed in relief before utter shock replaced his reprieve. Instead of thunderous roars shaking the world, large cracks that seemed to push the world apart echoed in his ears.
The mages had followed his orders perfectly, and the soldiers had spread apart, but that made little difference. Instead of his soldiers dying in large clumps, they were now being killed as if the enemy had a pick-axe scraping the ground. Men went down one after the other as clumps of dirt exploded around them. The shields the mages had conjured over the companies closest to the battlefield were disappearing almost as fast as they appeared.
Hezel watched in horror as his brigade was decimated. He stood still in shock as explosions ripped through his pride and joy. Men were dying left and right as he stood there, unable to process the situation. No tactics worked, no strategy he know would allow the brigade to escape this decimation. There was a brief moment of silence through the smoke and destruction, and Hezel looked up at the hill where hell was being rained down upon them.
"Is this the end of the empire?" Hezel gasped out. He saw tan beasts with air flowing around their backsides, and demons dressed in green. They held large black tubes that seemed to usher out death with small explosions.
As Hezel was making observations of the "demons on the hill", Someone had yelled out "RETREAT, EVERYONE FOR THEMSELVES." And then chaos erupted once more. The violent ground scouring began anew as the brigade began scattering to the woods.
One of his advisors grabbed him, throwing him into the forest. "SIR! SIR, we must go! We have to rep-" a crack echoed in Hezels ears, deafening him as he felt warm liquids cover his body. The advisor whom had covered Hezel with his body gasped out one last word: "G..o..." Hezel looked at the face of the dying man and nodded, sighing. "Someone has to tell them." He then turned around, following the rest of his men whom had survived.
The batallion commander watched as the enemy brigade started retreating. Masses of men scrambled into the forests they had appeared from like sheep that had lost their shepherd.
"Cease Fire! I say again, Cease fire!" He shouted into the radio. He then began a long list of commands. "I want an ammo count, casualty count, and any vehicle damage reports. Also, send medics down to the valley. Save anyone they can, and take the survivors as prisoners of war. Intel! Your time to shine. Grab anything that seems to be of use!" He took one last look at the valley that had been decimated. "Move out, and maintain operational security. Remember that there might be lingering remnants of that unit. You are free to engage. If you encounter any hostiles that surrender, bring them back here."
The hill became a beehive of activity once again, medics rushed down the hill to the valley, while infantry platoons escorted them.
The medics had to rush through bodies one after the other to determine dead and dying, while infantrymen spread out, they kept watch while medics sifted through chunks of what used to be soldiers from the enemy brigade. "We got a live one over here!" A voice yelled, a sense of urgency calling out.
The battle of Demon Hill had ended.