The future brother-in-law is going on a date with his big sister!』

The next day, while Wang Xiaole was having lunch in the cafeteria, he heard a voice coming from the crowd.

Perhaps this proposal was very appealing to everyone present, as the female knights in the group all agreed with the companion who had just spoken.

Led by Flora, this small group surrounded Wang Xiaole, who was sitting in his seat, making it impossible for him to leave easily.

Feeling the terrifying persistence of these people, instead of directly refusing, Wang Xiaole brought out their leader:

『Even if I agree, it's useless. If Little Ye disagrees, the promise you get from me now will only deepen your later discontent.』

This indirect way of refusal is effective when facing a majority of people.

Unfortunately, Wang Xiaole didn't realize until the next moment that these women belonged to the minority and common tricks wouldn't work on them.

『On the eldest sister's side, we will call on other companions to make her have to agree; as long as the future brother-in-law nods now, everything will be settled!』

Listen to this, would regular subordinates say such things?

In the end, it's because Ye Chuxue has been too indulgent towards them.

She only occasionally punishes, not really letting these people learn enough lessons, which leads to them causing trouble time and time again.

『Agree, agree...』

After hearing these same words in his ears for over ten minutes, Wang Xiaole gave in.

He raised his hands in surrender, giving his ears a moment of peace.

The knights adopted a divide and conquer strategy, taking advantage of Ye Chuxue's absence; after solving the male side's issue, they were ready to target the female side.

Just then, Ye Chuxue walked into the cafeteria.

But the female knights didn't approach her because they sensed that something was off in the atmosphere surrounding the eldest sister.

Now she was not a young girl anymore, but a knight of the empire.

『Everyone, we have a task today; after everyone is ready, we will go to the Achima Kingdom.』

The Achima Kingdom, with a history of 435 years, is located between Dibiles and Inran; the country survives by relying on its relatively strong national power and maintaining a balance between the two major nations.

Achima does not align with any country, refusing to accept the big brother, occasionally singing a different tune from Inran; until today, the kingdom has been doing well, but this situation will not last until tomorrow.

In the cafeteria, Ye Chuxue announced the day's mission:

『Destroy the Achima Kingdom and make it a direct territory of our country!』

What does it mean to be a major power?

On the battlefield, the essence of a major power is simply the use of force to eliminate whoever they want to eliminate, apart from equal opponents.

Following this logic, Ye Chuxue, as a knight, could be considered a female bandit!

The war was not a coincidence.

Ye Chuxue failed in the attack on the Eastern stronghold yesterday. On the other hand, Le Song's main force was slow to join, leaving the Flame Assault Knights with nothing to do.

With nothing to do, they decided to find something.

From a perspective of interests:

The Achima Kingdom has a vast territory, and destroying it can bring unimaginable benefits and also serve as a warning to those restless small countries.

Unable to attack Dibiles at the moment, the kingdom is the perfect target.

Since they were about to exert themselves in the war, the knights couldn't talk about anything else now; unfortunately, the matter of the date had to be postponed until they returned.

Before that, they needed to prepare for the daytime battle.

『Xiaojun, come with us; you won't need to exert yourself later, just stay by my side and watch the battle.』

Since it didn't involve Dibiles, Wang Xiaole didn't decline Ye Chuxue's invitation and chose to follow by her side.

Later on, all the knights arrived outside the inn.

They stayed until the eldest sister shot out a bullet and activated the teleportation array before leaving with her.

Today, Little Ha the flying dragon would also accompany them, serving as a mount.

Since they hadn't gone to war with the kingdom before, the Flame Assault Knights had to use the teleportation array to reach the border region of the kingdom; if they wanted to advance further, they needed to take over the kingdom's border areas.

The kingdom's border troops were ready, and this morning Ye Chuxue officially declared war on them in the name of the empire.

Upon the arrival of the knights at the border, the soldiers of the neighboring regions had assembled.

Considering that Inran hadn't sent a large army, the kingdom decided not to engage in a defensive battle but to have an open-field battle in the plains outside the borders.

Cavalry was the kingdom's superior unit, and they were confident in winning this battle.

When the battle commenced, Ye Chuxue was sitting on the back of the flying dragon, raising her hand above her head and giving the order with a resolute posture:

『Form a circle formation!』

Immediately, the flag bearers raised their flags high, and the various captains of the knights stared at the flag signals, shouting in unison:

『Change formation!』

With the drums and signals from the central troops, the three formations on the plain quickly closed in, then slowly stretched outward before becoming a circular formation with an open center.

The Flame Assault Knights were positioned on the outskirts of the kingdom; it was open and had no defensive areas to rely on; coupled with their initiative to attack, they didn't bring any defensive structures.

In this open field, there was no differentiation between front, rear, left, or right; the highly mobile kingdom cavalry could launch attacks from any direction as they pleased.

As a result, surrounding the four sides became a necessary choice in the plains, and setting up a circular array was the best option in the current circumstances.

The square formation was an offensive formation, while the circular formation saved troops and was more suitable for defense; if the situation turned favorable, the circle formation could quickly convert back into an offensive square formation.

Wang Xiaole estimated:

Ye Chuxue intended to hold a solid defense first, then turn the tide against the energy of the kingdom's soldiers, showing them some color in the process.

Thanks to their rigorous training, the knights executed the formation changes methodically, without any noise or confusion in the ranks.

Different from when they were gossiping, each one of them now was a dedicated warrior.

With the flags and drums commanding, when the enemy was still over two hundred steps away, all the knights had already taken their positions; gunners, spears, halberds, all poised for combat!

At the front of the circular formation, three thousand magic gunners stood, arranged in three rows holding their rifles upright, with a thousand soldiers in each row.

Behind the three rows of gunners were two rows of pike bearers; each of them carried a shield, so they could also be considered spear and shield units, responsible for guarding against the enemy's arrows.

Including the captains of each squad, there were eight hundred spear and shield soldiers in this position, divided into two rows.

At the corners of the two rows of spear and shield soldiers, there were three hundred magic gunners, with a hundred soldiers on each side, also arranged in three rows.

In Ye Chuxue's arrangement, at each junction of the circular formation, there were magic gunners left behind; they could be protected by the spear and shield soldiers, take a shot, then receive cover from their partners until they could shoot again.

The spear and shield soldiers who were not suited for close combat would drop their weapons and armor when the situation allowed, assisting their companions in shooting.

Compared to the front, the number of knights in the other three directions was significantly less; five thousand seven hundred knights were evenly distributed into three areas for defense, with the remaining two hundred serving as a "firefighting team," riding horses to support wherever needed on the battlefield.

Seeing their forces set up, with the enemy still distant, Ye Chuxue notified the entire army:

『Take your positions in the formation!』

With a clanging sound of armor, everyone sat down quietly.

This arrangement allowed them to conserve some energy, preparing for the forthcoming battle.

Under the scorching sun on the dry land, time passed relentlessly.

Slowly, the enemy troops in the dust drew closer, finally entering over three hundred steps away from the circular formation.

Wang Xiaole could see clearly that the first wave of approaching enemies numbered over two thousand; leading them were several hundred heavy knights clad in double-layered armor, each wielding a large shield.

Behind and on both sides of them, dozens of lightly-armored archers followed behind at a distance; further back were a group of soldiers with weapons in hand, clad in dense formations.

Wang Xiaole had already discerned that the main targets of this wave of enemy attacks were in the direct front position of the circular formation.

In addition, two more waves of dust and smoke were rolling in;

One consisted of infantry, the other of cavalry, making it difficult to determine which sides of the circular formation they were targeting.

Ye Chuxue kept her gaze fixed on the enemy across from her; estimating the distance, she ordered the magic gunners in the front of the circular formation to stand up as the targets came within three hundred steps.

The flag bearer raised the flag, staring intently at the flag-signaling knight captains and immediately shouted:

『Stand up!』

In an instant, the knights who received the order all stood up simultaneously, each holding their magic guns upright.

『Ready!』

All their ammunition had been prepared in advance.

Before this, they stood in three rows; when they were ready, the soldiers of the front row knelt down immediately, while the two rows behind remained standing, each still gripping their weapons tightly.

The enemy troops had quickened their pace, and the distant sounds grew louder.

Estimating the distance, the captain shouted:

『Countdown to fire!』

Ten.

The people about to fire were relying on their eyes to target the oncoming enemies, each finding their own targets.

Under the scorching sun, the faces of the knights turned red; even so, they remained silent, focusing solely on aiming.

Nine.

The enemy soldiers quickly closed in within a hundred and seventy steps, shouting loud battle cries as they charged.

Eight.

At this moment, there was still silence on the side of the circular formation, except for the standing knights, everyone else sat quietly under the sun.

However, many of them could not help but fix their gaze on the direction where the enemy charged from.