"Don't panic!"
Feeling the sudden shift in the entire battlefield and the drop in morale on the Marines' side, Sengoku stepped forward and roared across the battlefield.
"You are the Marines' well-trained elites. You bear the name of justice, so how can you lower your heads to mere evil? And open your eyes and look carefully. In terms of numbers, our soldiers still hold an overwhelming advantage over them."
Hearing Sengoku's words, the Marine soldiers standing on the front line also regained their spirits.
That was right.
Although the sudden appearance of these soldiers had been somewhat unexpected for the Marines, a glance was enough to tell that in terms of numbers, the Marines still held an absolute advantage. Not to mention, there were still fifty thousand Marine soldiers in the rear, ready to provide support at any time.
But for some reason, looking at the dark mass of Germa Family soldiers before them, their eyes cold as if they were dead, the Marine soldiers could not help swallowing nervously.
Across the entire battlefield, a grim, murderous atmosphere, along with the chill from the glacier beneath their feet, swept through every Marine's heart.
Just then, a roar rang out.
"Kill!"
Along with the leading Marine officer's roar,
the two dense, dark masses of warriors finally collided and began killing each other.
Clang, clang, clang...
Boom, boom...
Bang, bang, bang...
The sounds of all kinds of weapons clashing rang out: blades, cannons, and rifles.
Amid miserable screams and blood that flowed and splattered everywhere, the true battlefield of this war finally entered its proper course.
...
On the Marines' flagship, Sengoku said quietly, "Sakazuki, proceed according to plan."
"Understood."
As Sakazuki's voice fell, a person silently left everyone's sight.
The others did not pay attention to it. Their focus remained on the battlefield before them.
This was a massive battlefield of one hundred and eighty thousand people. Across the vast ice, dense masses of Marines and Germa Corps soldiers fought and killed each other everywhere.
After just a single clash, countless people had already fallen without a trace of life, while the rest stepped over the corpses of their comrades and continued charging at the enemy.
Watching Marine soldiers die one after another, Sengoku, Zephyr, Garp, and the others all showed unbearable expressions.
After all, these people were the Marines' elites. They were also their subordinates and disciples. But there was nothing they could do. This was war.
This was absolutely not what Sengoku and the others had expected.
During the previous intelligence gathering, when it came to the number of soldiers on the Sky Pirates' side, everyone had been certain that the Sky Pirates could not possibly have a large army.
After all, on this sea, assembling an army of hundreds of thousands was something even the Marines themselves could not do without a year or two, let alone one that could compare with trained elites.
But now, the answer was...
Sengoku's expression was ugly. He had not expected the Marines to fall into a disadvantageous start from the very beginning of the war.
"Damn the Vinsmoke Family!"
Just then, the Marines noticed that something was wrong.
"Sengoku, this doesn't look good."
Zephyr looked at the battlefield where the fighting continued and warned him.
In truth, Sengoku had long since noticed what was wrong.
As he had said earlier, even though the sudden appearance of the Vinsmoke Family soldiers had disrupted his troop deployment, he still had great confidence in these one hundred thousand Marine elites.
After all, among these elites, at least a quarter were officials from Commodore level and below.
Only sending ordinary soldiers to fight while the officers hid in the back was naturally impossible.
And anyone who could become an officer at Marine Headquarters possessed special skills of their own.
In terms of combat power, they were not people ordinary soldiers could compare to.
That was also the source of Sengoku's confidence.
And the actual performance of the battle had indeed been that way.
Under the assault led by those officers, the Germa Corps seemed completely unable to resist. The Marines quickly pushed deep into the Germa Corps before them, advancing triumphantly the whole way. But soon, the Marines discovered they could no longer push forward.
The soldiers from the Germa Corps suddenly seemed to have become completely different people. They did not fear death at all, as if they knew no pain, and resisted the Marines' attacks while cooperating with one another flawlessly.
This instantly trapped the Marines in the mire of the Germa Corps' fearless attacks, leaving them unable to advance even one more step.
At that moment, as the battlefield changed, Sengoku discovered something that made his eyes nearly split with rage.
The Marine soldiers charging at the very front had pushed too deep because of their unstoppable assault.
But now, the Germa Corps soldiers directly split the Marines in two, enclosing them like a trap closing from both sides.
In an instant, two circles appeared on the battlefield.
The more than ten thousand Marines who had charged at the front were surrounded and attacked by Germa Corps soldiers who outnumbered them two to one.
In the rear, although the remaining Germa Corps soldiers were fewer than the Marines, with their fearless resolve and powerful combat skills, they directly held back the rest of the Marines.
The Marines trapped at the very front also immediately realized that they seemed to have fallen into a trap.
The fear in their hearts caused their momentum to weaken even further.
As a result, the Marines, who had originally held the advantage in numbers, were trapped inside this encirclement. Facing soldiers twice their number, they fell into the terrifying situation of being constantly cut down.
The Marines in the rear also noticed something was wrong, but with the other Germa Corps soldiers blocking them, there was no way for them to break through and rescue their comrades in a short time.
In an instant, miserable screams from the Marines rang out one after another inside the huge encirclement. Marines fell one after another, while the Germa Corps, which held the numerical advantage there, did not suffer casualties nearly as severe.
Seeing this, the expressions of many Marine commanders changed drastically.
"We fell into a trap!"
At that moment, Sengoku suddenly regretted not bringing Tsuru with him.
If she had been here, she surely would have noticed the Sky Pirates' scheme.
But he had no time to hesitate.
Although being led by the nose by the enemy and forced into passivity at every step was the greatest taboo on a battlefield, if he did not send help now, the deaths of these ten thousand Marines would leave an indelible impact on the Marines' morale and fighting spirit.
Thinking of this, Sengoku picked up the Den Den Mushi and said coldly, "Tessis, it's your turn. You must get them out..."
A clear female voice came from the other side of the Den Den Mushi.
"Leave it to us, Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
As her voice fell, five enormous black shadows descended from the sky and appeared in front of the Germa Corps.
Boom...
The huge impact directly shattered the ice, and the Germa Corps soldiers standing nearby were blown away.
The Marine soldiers who had been trapped in the encirclement, watching their comrades die one after another in terror, looked at the huge figures that had appeared before them and shouted in tears of joy.
"It's... the Giant Vice Admirals!"
"Thank goodness!"
"We're saved!"