Airborne soldiers. Although they called it the defense line, the soldiers just hid behind makeshift barriers such as old barrels or bags of dirt. Dianna was not expecting such a flimsy defense barrier.

Usually if they had to defend, they would have some horse pikes to stop cavalry or have wooden shields to protect against arrows. However, from the looks of it, she didn't see anything resembling conventional defense tactics.

Furthermore, as she observed the soldiers in front of her, they were not in any uniform formation. Each soldier just found some sort of cover as protection. Some even were finding cover behind white cloth bags which she assumed to be filled with dirt.

The men were just waiting for something to happen. Given how spread out their men were, she wanted to know how their command structure worked.

"Excuse me sir, but do you mind telling me how your command structure works? I am just surprised by how spread out your men are across your defense line."

"At first glance it may seem complicated, but our command structure is simply made up of smaller groups. Our smallest group is a team. A team is made up of four soldiers usually led by a sergeant."

A team is only four people? Dianna was confused. Just what could a team of four people even do? But looking at the men again, she can see now why the men were able to be somewhat spread apart. And it looks like they call their knights "soldiers" then? Although Dianna had questions, she held it back to listen to her assigned guards explanation.

"The next would be a squad, platoon, company, battalion, brigade or regiment, division, and a corps. There is a long line of command, but it becomes necessary for managing large fighting groups."

"How many of your soldiers are managed in a corps?"

"Roughly 20,000 to 40,000 men. Its quite big."

20,000 men!? That is bigger than most single standing armies in the kingdom!

"Do you know perhaps how many of your soldiers are being deployed in the Astra Kingdom?"

"I know for sure that at least a brigade has been sent to help. A brigade is composed of a couple of battalions, so at most 3,200 soldiers. Our group in this village is just a company that is part of a larger battalion."

Normally I would have not been to worried to hear that they were only bringing 3,200 soldiers in the past. However the situation is different now. If this small group of only around a 100 men can defend against groups more than two times their size, then 3,200 soldiers is significant.

"What are "Airborne" soldiers?"

"We have been specially trained to jump out of these things called airplanes. We are still technically part of the US Army."

As the soldier was finishing up his talk, his radio started to sound off.

"Your highness, the western regions forces have begun their attack."

Princess Dianna immediately focused her eyes on the soldiers in front of her. As soon as he said that, the soldiers began to prepare for their attack. The western regions forces began with a conventional horse charge. There were nearly a hundred knights in metal and other men in leather straps. These men were partly made up of the western regions standing force and also partly made up of mercenary groups.

The charging knights wielded large lances while also wielding swords strapped to their sides.

This initial charge would strike fear into the enemy while also clearing the way for their infantry to break through. Their men on the ground could be seen already moving out while the horses charge on front.

However, once the horsemen started to approach nearly 600 meters, one of the soldiers in front of princess Dianna shot off warning shots to the ground near the approaching cavalry. Princess Dianna thought they missed their target for a second.

"They are firing off warning shots. We are required to do so."

"What? Warning the enemy?"

"Each soldier is trained in memorizing a series of steps known as escalation of force. Usually there are five steps, but in this case we just went to step four which are warning shots since its kind of obvious what the enemy is trying to do."

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"Is this required?"

"We would be kicked out of the military if we didn't follow it your highness."

So strict! Even with nobility its quite hard to control every action of one's soldiers during wartime. Why does the US have such strict standards?

However, despite the warning shot, the cavalry continued their charge towards the town. The cavalry soon got within 500 meters of the village defense line.

"Sir soldier, what is the fifth step of your escalation of force procedure?"

He paused for a moment.

"Shoot to kill."

Pa Pa Pa Pa. Sounds of fire came from the black cylinders while yellow metal casings fell out of it. Each horsemen fell with each shot sounding out of their black barrels. Sounds of men screaming from the pain and fear soon could be heard. It didn't take long till nearly half of their men fell. Their remaining force scattered and ran away from battle.

Dianna was amazed by their weapons capability. They didn't have to leave their defenses and also completely ruined their cavalry charge in a matter of seconds. However, she was a bit confused as to why they were not firing after seeing their cavalry charge failing. This would be the best time to chase down the enemy and kill off future enemy forces in battle.

"Sir soldier, why are your men not firing down on the enemy?"

"Because we would be kicked out of the military. Our current rules of engagement does not allow us to fire upon fleeing enemy forces, even if they may present danger later on."

What? Their military does not even allow their men to fire upon fleeing enemy forces!? That is insane! Princess Dianna took one look at the soldier next to her to confirm that what he said wasn't a joke.

She just could not believe that they would let the enemy get away like that.

"Are you sure you want to just let them go? They came with the intent to kill everyone here!"

"Rules of engagement can only be changed by the higher ups, or our battalion commander. Even if our company captain thinks otherwise, only the lieutenant Colonel can determine rules of engagement changes if he deems it necessary."

So even if they wanted to, they can't then? They have quite a rigid command structure compared to any army I have ever seen up till today.

"Sir soldier, I am curious about those black artifacts your soldiers have."

"Those are the standard issue M16-A1 assault rifles. They are given to every US army soldier and were one of the most used in our past world. They have an effective range of 500 meters and has variants used throughout the US's different branches of military."

These rifles are given to every US soldier!? They weren't artifacts? If they can produce that many supposed artifacts, then that means this country must be quite rich. From just looking at it, I wouldn't even know how the thing operates, let alone producing it.

"Does this "rifle" use magic of some sort?"

He chuckled a bit. "No your highness, it uses ignition powder to send a small metal bullet to fire from the rifle at high speeds. Its fast enough that one cannot see it with a naked eye."

She has heard that it was being developed as experimental technology since cannons demonstrate it could be done. However its nothing on this level of development. However, what she couldn't understand even more is why the US hasn't tried invading this entire kingdom. If they have so much power, why would they go through the effort of helping the royal family instead of just taking over this country?

Of course, she didn't have the nerve to ask directly since she was scared of the answer to be quite honest. Did my father and Gerald not even take the US seriously?

While she was thinking, she spotted more of the western regions forces knights and mercenaries moving towards the village. Some 50 bowmen could be spotted while the rest were holding long pikes or swords.

Dianna thought about how before she would be worried, and yet now she was almost confident that the US soldiers could immediately wipe them out if they wanted to.

A squad fired off warning shots once they approached the village nearly 600 meters again. Some of the soldiers stopped and wanted to run, but couldn't. They pressed forward nonetheless. Dianna had a heavy heart for the enemy. It was a first for Dianna. She knew what would befall these men who worked for years honing their sword skills. The pike men had trained for some time, but it was nothing compared to a knight.

Warning shots were sounding off more this time, however the infantry kept moving forward. Soon, they got within 500 meters and sounds of gunfire started once more. However they were not missing now. They were dead set on shooting to kill this time.

Once the first person fell to their gunfire, the infantry started running towards the village. However, Dianna could only see the soldiers in front of her calmly firing off rounds one shot at a time. Picking their targets.

Dianna was anticipating that this time around, the soldiers in front of her were not going to have much trouble. However she was still baffled that nearly 200 men were being pushed back against only 25 men.

The western regions knights and mercenaries didn't even get within 300 meters of the villages defense line, and yet nearly a hundred have fallen. Soon a horn sounded and the men started to retreat.

What laid in their path was bodies, weapons, and blood littering the field. The battle was over, and not a single casualty for the US. Once the enemy was driven off, the soldiers in front of her cheered.

However, Dianna was shocked looking at the battle from this close. She wouldn't have believed that a mere 25 men had repelled a force of nearly 300 by themselves if she heard it from someone else. However she was here when it happened, and its still hard for her to grasp the situation.

She looked at her guard Sean and also saw how dumbfounded he was at the battle that just occurred. If that was them instead, they would have very little chances in winning. Although Dianna was confident in her magic abilities in combat, she really didn't want to end up on the opposite ends of these soldiers.