At two o'clock in the afternoon,
"Your Highness, aren't they awfully slow? It's been over two hours since lunch and they still haven't finished organizing their formations. Look, our men have even had time for an afternoon nap." Schwade pointed at a few family soldiers below the watchtower who were stretching and yawning, just waking up.
Reidi laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "That's exactly why His Highness told everyone to get a good rest after lunch. You were against it, weren't you? Said it was too careless, that if the enemy launched a surprise attack we wouldn't be able to react and would take a beating. Well, look now—we've had a nap and the enemy still hasn't finished adjusting their formation. If we'd spent two-plus hours standing at attention like you suggested, everyone would be completely exhausted by now."
Schwade hurriedly tried to defend himself. "But I said that as a precaution! If we'd all dismounted to rest and the enemy suddenly attacked, we wouldn't have time to react. They're only three hundred meters away—those mobile cavalry could sweep through our positions in minutes. I'm just puzzled... why didn't they launch a raid?"
Lorist chuckled. "If we were facing only that old fox Fisablen, I wouldn't have let everyone dismount to rest. That would be too risky. But we're facing the Four Central Duchies' forces now. Once we arrayed ourselves for open battle, even if the Fisablen family's mobile cavalry wanted to strike us, they'd be opposed by the Four Central Duchies. Look across—the Four Central Duchies have clearly deployed their main force in the center, intending to use their numerical superiority to crush us in one decisive blow and claim ultimate victory.
But they're infantry—slow-moving—and they took heavy casualties capturing the first defensive line earlier. It'll take them time to reorganize. On one hand, they worry that our dismounting is a trap designed to lure them into a rash charge. Even if they sent the mobile cavalry to probe, if it really were a trap, those raiding forces would suffer devastating losses. A defeat like that right before the main battle would crush their morale. So they'd rather do nothing than risk it—they won't agree to let those cavalry launch a raid. The other reason is they need time to arrange their formations. Our dismounting is a signal to them: we won't attack and disrupt their deployment. Once they've finished forming up, we'll begin the decisive battle."
Tiger Ross and
"How are things on your wings? Which enemy are you facing?" Lorist asked.
Tiger Ross glanced at Pachiko, who nodded to indicate Tiger Ross should answer.
"Your Highness, both our wings face the same enemy. From their banners, they're two regiments of the Fisablen family's Fifth Border Patrol Mobile Corps. I'm facing the First and Third Regiments, and Pachiko has the Second and Fourth. Each of them also has twenty thousand barbarian cavalry supporting them. Pachiko and I are each facing roughly forty thousand enemies," Tiger Ross replied.
"Twenty-four or twenty-five thousand against forty thousand. Their numbers exceed yours, but they're unlikely to make either wing their main thrust. Those barbarian cavalry are a rabble—they only fight well when things are going their way. Just withstand their first three ferocious charges, and once the fighting becomes a drawn-out engagement, they'll lose steam. With our Flying Tiger Corps' strength and equipment, we crush them in every respect.
As for the Fifth Border Patrol Mobile Corps—from our intelligence and prisoner interrogations, it's a newly formed corps, ranked last among the Fisablen family's forces. The only thing worth noting is that the vast majority of its soldiers are equipped with crossbows and other ranged weapons. Their preferred tactic is reportedly dismounting and forming longbow formations for ranged attacks. So when the lancers launch their charges after the battle begins, stay alert." Lorist spoke thoughtfully.
"Understood, Your Highness. We'll be careful," Tiger Ross said. "But what concerns us now is the center—the enemy has clearly committed everything they have. Won't the center be a bit thin?"
The enemy's two wings already totaled eighty thousand troops. Across the way, the center appeared to consist of roughly sixty thousand elite infantry from the Four Central Duchies as the main force, supplemented by over twenty thousand troops from the Fisablen family's reserve corps—bringing the total to eighty thousand as well, more than double the strength of Lorist's center. No wonder Tiger Ross and Pachiko were worried.
"No problem," Lorist said with a shake of his head. "I've already moved Oveigis's Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion and
"Understood, Your Highness." Tiger Ross and Pachiko straightened their backs.
"Good. Go back and command your troops. Looking at the enemy formations across the way, they're nearly done forming up. The battle is about to begin. Take care out there—do your duty, but protect yourselves as well."
"Yes. Thank you, Your Highness."
The thunder of war drums rolled across the earth like muffled thunder. From the watchtower, the enemy formations across the way were a forest of waving banners, and waves of cheers and battle cries drifted over in a cacophony...
Lorist's spirits surged. "It's finally starting. Schwade, what time is it?"
Schwade ran down and quickly returned. "Your Highness, it's a quarter past three."
"Sound the horns. All forces to battle readiness. Wait for the enemy to attack."
No envoys came to deliver declarations of war. No knights rode out to issue dueling challenges. The Four Central Duchies' elite infantry and the Fisablen family forces, having rested for less than half an hour after forming their battle lines, launched their assault directly. Countless two-wheeled shield carts built from logs formed three ranks and were pushed to the front, rolling toward the third defensive line where Lorist stood.
"Your Highness, we can order the Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion to fire their stone balls now. They're well within range." Schwade watched the waves of log shield carts advancing like a tide.
"No rush. They've only just started moving. Wait until they cross the center line—there'll still be time to fire. I've already ordered Oveigis to calculate the range and trajectory. In about ten minutes, go wave that black flag to give the signal." Lorist spoke with calm composure. "Also, order Suleymos to prepare for contact. His Heavy Armor Corps is our center's first line of defense."
Suleymos was a family knight of Duke Kemais, at the Gold one-star combat force rank. It was said that he had once been a slave gladiator in the Haneabada Kingdom. Back then, Kemais was still a viscount, and his father had traveled to that slave kingdom on business and watched a bloody gladiatorial match. He took an interest in the victor, Suleymos, and paid a large sum to buy his freedom. The grateful Suleymos became a knight of the Kemais family, and he now served as regiment commander of the Kemais family's Heavy Armor Corps, which had been transferred to the Southern Province for this campaign.
The infantry formations of the Four Central Duchies that had launched the attack seemed imposing, but their advance was not particularly fast. Pushing those first three ranks of log shield carts all the way to the third defensive line was no easy task—it was nearly three hundred meters, and these carts had been roughly constructed, their two wheels hardly even circular, some different sizes altogether. After pushing them just fifty or sixty meters, many of the carts were already giving out, with several breaking down entirely.
Lorist had estimated ten minutes, but in reality it took twenty minutes, nearly half an hour, before the first rank of log shield carts finally neared the center line. At that point, several formations behind the carts halted—they were longbow formations, now within arcing range, preparing to unleash volleys of covering fire upon the Northern Families Alliance's forces arrayed along the third defensive line.
"Order the Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion to fire their stone balls and destroy those log shield carts! Order Malek's Chariot Steel Crossbow Corps to elevate their aim and concentrate fire on the longbow formations! Order Suleymos's Heavy Armor Corps to prepare for ranged defense!" Lorist fired off three rapid commands. Schwade and Reidi rushed to the edge of the watchtower platform and began waving flags to relay the orders.
When the first batch of five hundred densely packed stone balls soared into the sky and began raining down upon the advancing infantry formations of the Four Central Duchies, everyone who didn't know what they were could only stare blankly as the enormous stone balls plummeted from the heavens and crashed down...
Those two-wheeled log shield carts could withstand steel crossbow bolts, but they could not withstand these enormous stone balls falling from the sky. Dozens of carts were smashed to splinters on impact. Worse still, when one massive stone ball struck a cart head-on, the log shield not only shattered—the entire cart was sent flying through the air, along with several unsuspecting soldiers who had been pushing it, landing seven or eight meters away, while also knocking over a dozen or more unlucky souls nearby.
That was only the stone balls that actually hit the carts. Even more that missed struck the ground, bounced, and went rolling into the neatly arrayed infantry formations. In an instant, the targeted zone descended into chaos. No one could stop these enormous boulders as they spun and rolled forward—any soldier in their path, no matter what stood before them, was finished. Either dead or wounded. The screams from the dozen or so formations in the center blended into one unbroken wail...
But this was only the beginning. Countless dark shadows descended once more with ominous whooshing sounds, pouring through the gaps created in the line of destroyed shield carts. Crossbow bolts from the Chariot Steel Crossbow Corps swept through the ranks of soldiers who had survived the stone balls but were now shaken and disorganized. Corpses piled like mountains, blood flowed like rivers—a scene too horrible to behold.
Although this was only a small breach in the vast battle line, the entire infantry formation of the Four Central Duchies seemed to reel as if struck head-on, growing hesitant and indecisive. In the areas not hit by the enormous stone balls, the soldiers pushing the shield carts looked up at the sky. Not just them—even the soldiers in the formations behind fixed their attention upward.
They were not disappointed. The sky filled once more with dense clusters of enormous stone balls. Soldiers who had identified the landing zones immediately panicked. Those pushing the shield carts abandoned their vehicles and fled. The formations behind collapsed as well, soldiers screaming and scattering in all directions. Several centurions who tried to halt them were shoved to the ground, and then dozens of boots trampled over them without hesitation...
"What... what is that?" Standing on a watchtower in the middle of the second defensive line, Grand Duke Fisablen's eyes bulged in shock as he watched the infantry formations at the front being churned into chaos by the enormous stone balls raining from the sky.
"That's what they used to capture those fortress castles—a device capable of hurling massive stones. I believe it's called a catapult. Those stone balls must be coming from those catapults." Duke Sabagi beside him answered with a grave expression.
"Then what do we do now?" Duke Handera asked urgently. The forces being hammered at the front were his duchy's elite.
"Sound the retreat! We pull back first and regroup. Once we figure out how to counter these catapults, we can attack again," Duke Fakel suggested from the side.
"No!" Grand Duke Fisablen cut in sharply. "Look at the front—it's nearly in complete disarray. If you sound the retreat, the center will collapse for certain. The enemy will pursue, and you're all infantry—you can't outrun their cavalry on two legs. I say we sound the charge and launch an all-out assault! We still have numerical superiority and the losses so far aren't that heavy. An all-out attack is our only hope of victory!"
"What nonsense is that?" Duke Handera shot back, his eyes blazing. "Look at the front—they can barely maintain formation. How can we possibly launch an all-out assault? While we still have more than half our formations intact, we should withdraw quickly and regroup. With our numerical superiority, the enemy won't dare pursue..."
While the Grand Dukes argued fiercely over whether to advance or retreat, the situation at the front was spiraling further out of control. With most of the log shield carts destroyed, the Chariot Steel Crossbow Corps under Malek's command had shown the Four Central Duchies' infantry what a true crossbow storm looked like. Relentless volleys of bolts swept through the forward thousand-man formations like a tempest, and rank after rank of duchy soldiers fell beneath the barrage.
Facing the enormous stone balls from above and the storm of crossbow fire, the dozen or so infantry formations nearest the center collapsed. Soldiers dropped their weapons and fled, and the formations behind them began to grow restless and agitated...
"Sound the horns! Order the Angry Bear Knight Corps to charge! Have the Kemais family's Heavy Armor Corps follow up! Order Malek's Chariot Steel Crossbow Corps to advance and provide support! Order Oveigis's Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion to move forward and fire at maximum range to cut off the enemy's retreat!" Lorist issued his commands once more.
The charge of the Angry Bear Knight Corps, led by Terman, accelerated the collapse of the Four Central Duchies' infantry formations. Heavy-armored knights plunging into the retreating infantry was like tigers descending upon a flock of sheep. But the enemy reacted quickly—the Fisablen family's reserve corps rushed forward almost immediately, engaging the Angry Bear Knight Corps in close combat to cover the infantry's withdrawal.
Lorist was growing anxious. If the Four Central Duchies' infantry managed to withdraw in large numbers, the outcome of this battle would still be uncertain. Even with the current advantage, if the enemy could reorganize the withdrawn soldiers and throw them back into the fray, their superior numbers could very well turn the tide. The priority was to crush the enemy completely. If only his personal guard battalion were here—he could lead them into the battle himself.
"Saddle my horse. We're going in," Lorist said. Every bit of combat strength counted now.
No sooner had he descended from the watchtower and mounted his horse than thunderous cheers erupted across the battlefield.
"Your Highness, we've won! We've won!" Schwade screamed with wild excitement.
Lorist looked up to see the battle flags of the two Flying Tiger Corps regiments appearing on both wings. Tiger Ross and Pachiko had not failed his expectations—they were driving their lancers forward from both flanks, plunging into the enemy's rear.
Lorist smiled. "Yes, we've won. Sound the horns—all forces, advance!"
...(To be continued.)