Chapter 416: Battle for the Road of Life
Tens of thousands of soldiers gathered in front of the border fortress. Against the background of the endless white snow, the soldiers in white camouflage were not very conspicuous.
All of them had learned that they were going to fight soon, but none of them were afraid. Battles often broke out in the border areas, which made them something of a regular occurrence for them.
A huge army was standing in front of the fortress, waiting for orders, and the Elric brothers were stunned when they saw this.
— Why were so many people involved? An enemy army is approaching here?
Although Edward was considered a state alchemist, he didn't know what the war was all about.
— No, brother, this army seems to be about to move inland.
— This?.. Is it possible to... Edward thought of the terrible situation. He thought about how Major General Olivia Mira had decided to start a riot.
— What does she want to do, no, this kind of thing can't be allowed!
Just as Edward was about to run out of the fortress, a figure appeared in front of him.
— Shorty, don't meddle in your own business, " Su Xiao said and glared at Edward.
— Who are you and what do you want to do?
— What do I want to do? I want to attack Central and overthrow the current government.
Edward's pupils narrowed.
— What about the citizens of Central?
— This is the way.
— Are you kidding, there are also tens, hundreds of thousands of ordinary people living there...
Edward's breathing became heavy. If the army of the north makes a march and attacks Central, the civilians of the capital will not be very well off.
After all, the weapon didn't have eyes.
— You should have been present at our negotiations, " Su Xiao said and laughed.
Seeing Su Xiao smiling, Edward realized that he looked more like a crazy maniac than an ordinary person.
— Go to your father and tell him that your father's plan must be destroyed. If he doesn't participate in the final battle, we won't be able to deal with Father.
Although Edward's father wasn't very strong, he had a very special relationship with his Father.
— My father? He... But before Edward could say anything, Su Xiao threw a paper with information about his father in his direction.
Edward hesitated for a moment, but finally began to read the contents of the paper.
— How... How is this possible.
— Nothing is impossible. That's how my Father came to be. One country has already been destroyed by him. By the way, half of the Philosopher's Stone ended up in your father's body that time. And yes, that part of the Philosopher's Stone contained hundreds of thousands of souls.
Van Hohenheim was very important, he was the key to defeating his Father.
Edward stared at the paper in his hand reluctantly.
— This is just an inhumane incident, what does Van Hohenheim have to do with his Father's victory?
— You don't need to know, I'll see you in Central, "Su Xiao said, turning around and walking towards the fortress' exit.
— Wait, the army of the north can't...
Before Edward could finish, Su Xiao turned his head. — Mind your own business, if you get in my way, I'll kill you.
Su Xiao's short black hair swayed due to the wind, and his right hand landed on the hilt of his sword.
— Then I'll kill you and stop all this madness, " Edward immediately clasped his hands together and a blue light flashed between his palms.
— Heh~, just kidding, you can't die yet, after all, you're a very important person — " after saying that, Su Xiao turned around and left, while Edward remained standing in his place.
— Not good, very bad, he feels even more dangerous than Father, Alphonse, hey, Alphonse... Edward turned his head to look at his brother in disbelief.
— Did you see the pendant in his hand, brother? Alphonse asked suddenly.
— What kind of pendant? Edward thought for a moment, then realized what he'd just asked. — This.".. Winry Rockbell?!
She was Edward's childhood sweetheart.
— That bastard... Did he hurt Winry? Edward was enraged, and it was clear from the look on his face that he was ready to go after Su Xiao.
— Brother, stop, let's go to Winry's.
— But... Taking a deep breath, Edward forced himself to calm down. "Right, we'll go to Winry's first, and then... Let's go to Central and stop the war.
The Elric brothers left the fortress in a hurry.
Soon after, only a few thousand soldiers remained in the fortress, which was supposed to prevent the enemy from breaking through the border in case of anything.
----
Two days later.
The small Eastern city was located east of Central and was the administrative center of the eastern district of Amestris. Although it didn't have many people living in it, this city was very heavily guarded due to the fact that the railway directly to Central passed through it.
The army of the north wanted to invade Central with its ally, but it was obviously impossible for such an army to reach the capital of the country on foot, because they had guns and tanks that did not move very fast.
The railway station in the Eastern City was of strategic importance. If someone wanted to get to Central very quickly, they had to take a train, so by taking control of this station, all large and medium-sized supplies to Central would be under the control of the insurrectionists.
Naturally, the leadership of Central was not stupid and 20,000 soldiers were transferred to this city by order of the Fuhrer, as Mustang's people and he himself increasingly showed signs of an imminent uprising.
But unfortunately for them, they still didn't know that in addition to Mustang, the army of the north under Olivia's command was marching to the capital of the country.
After destroying a large number of observation posts with Central's men along the way, Olivia's army arrived at the borders of East City.
*Rumble*
A little more than a thousand tanks were slowly moving forward, leaving tracks in their wake.
The army of the north consisted of a total of more than 50,000 soldiers. On average, there was one tank for every 50 soldiers.
Su Xiao sat on the tank and looked at the Eastern City in front of him.
It was a very ordinary looking city.
Trenches were dug half a kilometer in front of the Eastern City. Sandbags were stacked in front of them and machine gun nests had even been installed in some of the trenches.
Central's soldiers were hiding in these trenches.
— Byakuya, the battle is about to start, don't sit on the tank, " Olivia said, and lowered her binoculars.
— How many soldiers do they have?
— From about 20,000 to 30,000, their trenches are like cesspools, and all the bags are filled with sand.
— After the battle begins, I will take care of their commanders.
Su Xiao didn't intend to kill ordinary soldiers. It was pointless — the most effective way to destroy large groups was to kill the leaders of these very groups.
— OK, then we get started.
From a trench ahead of them, a voice suddenly shouted, " Olivia Mira Armstrong, surrender, since you are a Major General, the Fuhrer will allow you to explain the reasons for the uprising and perhaps pardon you!" "however, even though someone shouted it, not a single head poked out of the trenches. The screamer simply didn't have the courage to stick his head out.
— Get ready!
Thousands of tanks were lined up, and behind each tank were more than fifty ordinary soldiers.
Soon the tanks were moving forward, and the infantry was right behind them.
This was the essence of fighting in the age of firearms — tanks were in front, and infantry was behind them.
*Boom-boom-boom...*
The tanks ' guns began firing shells endlessly. The ground near the trenches kept flying up into the air, however, sometimes shells hit the trenches themselves.
The Central officer was startled by the heavy fire and fell to the ground, shivering. He became a second lieutenant only because of his connections and in general never saw all the" charms " of war.
*Phew-yu-yu-yu-yu... Pum*
A strange ball, shaped like a bullet, the size of a soccer ball, got stuck in the ground of the trench near him.
The second lieutenant looked at this strange core in bewilderment, trying to figure out what it was.
*BOOM!*
The core exploded. The actual explosion of such bombs did not really pose a serious threat. A serious threat in such bombs was represented by shrapnel flying at high speed when exploding in all directions.
A junior lieutenant from Central died 43 seconds after the battle began.
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