90 The Big Push

400 years ago, the Fertile Plains had fallen to the demons and humanity was pushed into the corner of the continent. Humanity had been on its last legs. However, now things had changed. Humans had once more entered the Fertile Plains, taking back the city of Taquila. Now, it was time to reclaim the rest.

The army marched toward Starfall City, their first target. It was a massive army, put together over many years for this very purpose. They advanced methodically, making sure to check for any traps or ambushes. Planes were a constant sight in the air, scouting the surrounding regions.

The advance was noticed far in advance by the demons, and they made their preparations. The bulk of the demon army had been recently transferred over to replace the many that were lost. Now, the vast majority of the demon forces in the Fertile Plains assembled in Starfall City to meet the human advance.

It was quite a larger force than the one used to guard Taquila since Red Mist was no longer a limited resource. Though it was still a great deal smaller than than the army that had initially been amassed to attack through the mountains.

The demons were aware of generally how the human armies operated from what they gleaned back when they had first fought. The demons knew that the humans had powerful weapons that could shoot long distances. As a result, simply trying to defend a location by hiding behind walls would be useless.

As the human army drew near, the demons emerged from Starfall City and attacked. The armies would meet in pitched battle.

The first sign of activity occurred when the demons finally entered within range of the cannons. As the cannons began firing, the leading groups of demons started being destroyed. The demons had been somewhat surprised, as the range of the cannons had been more than what they were expecting. By now, cannon design had improved greatly.

Still, the vast numbers of demons continued to charge through the artillery fire.

In the air, the Devilbeasts and fighter aircraft clashed. Gone were the days when Devilbeasts could strike the backlines with impunity while the humans would be unable to do anything until they got in range of the anti-aircraft guns. The development of aircraft allowed humans to regain the initiative and fight the Devilbeasts directly.

The aerial combat looked like a dance as the planes darted back and forth among the Devilbeasts. The superiority of the planes was shown here. While planes could shoot hundreds of rounds a minute, the demons on the Devilbeasts had to slowly pump up their arm before throwing a single spear. The differences in the rate of fire were simply too vast.

Furthermore, in comparison to the sleek, nimble, and fast aircraft, the Devilbeasts looked downright clumsy in comparison as they chased after aircraft to no effect. The Devilbeasts, despite having vastly superior numbers, were utterly suppressed by the human planes. Already they had lost dozens of Devilbeasts while only a single plane had gone down from a lucky hit.

By now, the front of the demon advance had already made it through the withering cannon fire and was now approaching the infantry lines. At the moment there still weren't too many of them so the machine guns were able to take care of demons. However, with every demon killed there seemed to be two more that emerged and the numbers seemed to keep increasing, putting great pressure on the machine gunners.

In the center of the demon army were large stone pillars being pushed along. The pillars were quite sturdy and it seemed that the cannons were unable to break through the stone within a short amount of time. The stone pillars shielded several Spider Demons and other junior demons behind them. Although the artillery fire was able to slow them down, it seemed that they continued to advance. If the Spider Demons could get in range to begin a barrage, it would be quite dangerous.

It was time to wipe out the threat. A fast mobile group would need to pierce through the demon lines and strike directly at the targets. It looked like exactly what cavalry would be used for, but of course knights would have been torn apart before even getting close. Instead, what would be used was the newly made Main Battle Tanks.

The squadron of tanks charge forward through the demon horde, running over the small demons. The tank formation quickly pierced through and went around the first pillar. Now arriving at the back, they fired their cannons and began blowing apart the Spider Demons behind those pillars.

The tanks charged through the battlefield, neutralizing the stone pillars. Artillery bombardment had already been redirected away from those pillars so that the tanks wouldn't get hit by friendly fire. The charge of the tanks was devastating and most of the Spider Demons which were trying to hide behind the pillars were taken out. Unfortunately, a few of the tanks had broken down and were soon mobbed by demons. The rest of the tanks had to leave them behind as there was no way to save them.

The tanks returned to the encampment with their job complete. Meanwhile, they would be refueled and minor repairs would be done.

The battle in the air was mostly decided and Devilbeasts retreated. Meanwhile, the demon tide in the ground had thinned out as their attack slacked. While the infantry had suffered moderate losses when a few demons had gotten through, for the most part they were able to hold back the demons.

Finally, the demons retreated, leaving a field of corpses behind. With the main body of the demon army shattered, there was nothing stopping the human armies from advancing.

The next day, tanks rolled through the ruins of Starfall City. Over the next few weeks, Arrieta was retaken by humanity and the demons were expelled from the Fertile Plains.

On the other front, the demons weren't doing too well either. The armies of the Sky-Sea Realm had taken advantage of the weakened defenses and attacked. After weeks of continuous assault, the defenses couldn't hold and the Sky-Sea people broke through.

The demons were in full retreat, being crushed on both sides, but now the three sides of the war would finally come together.