About 400 meters away, the Norton Family's armed forces were arranged in a strange formation. Three squads of silver-armored infantrymen were arranged in a horizontal formation, while the cavalry on both sides were also arranged in three squads, but they were arranged in a vertical formation.
Even though the Second Prince was experienced in battle, he was still confused at this moment. The formation of the cavalry on the two flanks was very orderly and could be used for both offense and defense. But the center only had three infantrymen lined up in a straight line. Wasn't that a little too thin? Furthermore, the distance between the three infantrymen was a little too far. If they were more compact, they could squeeze in another infantryman's formation.
There were nine phalantrymen, and each phalantryman had about 20,000 soldiers. It seemed like the Norton Family had suffered great losses in defending against the magical beasts. But why did the Norton Family still want to fight in the wild with such a small number of soldiers? Or was it a cornered dog that would do something desperate, and was prepared to fight to the death with him? Was he going to drag him down with him and use him as a scapegoat no matter what?
Thinking of this, the second prince decided to bide his time and let the first army of the kingdom maintain their defensive formation. If the Norton Family's armed forces did not move, he might as well order Earl Kenneth or Baron Shahin to send out some of their troops to test the waters. After all, the Norton Family only had this small number of soldiers, and he had 100,000 soldiers on his side. With five to one, the Norton Family would not be able to overturn the situation.
At this moment, the second prince was already considering whether he should bring the private army of the nobles behind the first army to the front to confront the Norton Family's armed forces. This was to prevent the first army of the kingdom from being damaged in battle.
"Your Majesty, it seems like the Norton Family is really rich. Look, their soldiers are all wearing a brand new shiny silver armor that covers their entire bodies. Tsk tsk tsk …" The one who said this was the Iberian Royal Family's Master Swordsman. He was a guest in name, but was actually the second prince's personal bodyguard. If not for him, Baron Shahin Henned, who was originally a Gold Knight, would not have obediently followed the second prince for so long.
The second prince then turned his attention to the soldiers of the Norton Family. He was instantly filled with jealousy and hatred. An ordinary soldier of the Norton Family was wearing armor that was even more complete than the armor of some of the knights under him. It looked even more exquisite, and each of them was like a shiny human can.
"Humph! The Norton family had nowhere to spend their money, so they could only spend it on the armor of their soldiers. After all, they had to rely on these soldiers to resist the wave of demonic beasts. The stronger the defense, the more willing these soldiers would be to fight against those ferocious demonic beasts. But it doesn't matter, these shiny silver armors will soon be mine. When the time comes, I'll use these silver armors to form a personal army that will follow me … "The Second Prince clenched the whip in his hand tightly and waved it in the air, as if the silver armors would soon fall into his hands.
"Your Majesty, look! What is that? War chariot? "The Great Swordmaster of Rouinsi reminded the second prince that there had been a change on the battlefield.
The second prince came back to his senses and looked up. He saw the Norton family's carriage and horses galloping. Countless black war chariots passed through the space between the three infantry phalanxes and came to the front of the formation. They lined up in a straight line. They did not seem to pay attention to the phalanx formation. They lined up one after another and even blocked the front of the two cavalry phalanxes, continuing to spread to the sides.
These war chariots were shaped like large open wooden boxes. At the front sat the coachman, who was also dressed in silver armor. Behind him stood two soldiers holding bright silver kite shields and spears. It seemed like there were two more behind them. One war chariot, two horses, and five soldiers.
"Haha, this is the Norton Family's trump card?" The second prince laughed maniacally. "With just these war chariots, they think they can fight against my 100,000 strong army? Does this stupid bear of the north think we are magical beasts? His brain must be rusty … Haha … This is too stupid. Have they been separated from the human world for too long? "
"Your Majesty, what do you mean?" The Great Swordmaster Rouinsi did not understand what the second prince was laughing at.
"My dear Rouinsi, as a Great Swordmaster, you focus all your time on the way of the sword, so you do not know much about military affairs. It is obvious that the Norton Family wants to use the open and flat battlefield to surprise us with their war chariots. They want to use the two characteristics of the war chariots, which are strong in defense and fast in movement, to use the war chariots to break through or kill our line of defense. Then, the rest of the troops will follow up and kill us, and victory will be at their fingertips … "the second prince explained.
"Is there a problem with that?" The Great Swordmaster still did not understand.
The second prince felt very tired, especially when he was explaining tactics to a military idiot. "My dear Rouinsi, you do not understand. Hundreds of years ago, humans abandoned these impractical things like war chariots on the battlefield. No matter how strong their defense was, or how fast they moved, as long as they were within the range of the longbow, the horse pulling the chariot would be the best target.
As long as the horse pulling the chariot collapsed, it would affect or block the charge of the war chariots behind it. Often, an overturned war chariot would cause a chain of accidents. A few or even a dozen war chariots colliding together was an extremely rare sight on the battlefield. To avoid such an outcome, they had to widen the distance between the war chariots, but this way, they would lose the impact on the defensive formation …
Furthermore, the war chariots have very high requirements for the terrain. A half-meter-deep trench would be enough to stop them from charging. Most importantly, we have a large number of cavalry. As long as we circle around to the back of the war chariots, the soldiers on the war chariots will become fish on the chopping board. That is why I mocked the Norton Family for treating us like magical beasts. War chariots can indeed deal with magical beasts, because magical beasts do not know long-range attacks and do not know how to circle around. However, if they want to use war chariots to deal with us, dream on. "
"War chariots actually have so many inconveniences. I thought it was pretty cool to sit on a war chariot. Your Majesty, after we win, get me one to play with … Uh … Your Majesty, look over there. Are those two huge war chariots too? " The Great Swordmaster looked curiously at the two huge war chariots that appeared on the Norton Family's side. Pulled by a dozen or so horses, they slowly drove into the space between the three infantry phalanxes and stopped.
…
Alright, this was all Laurist's fault. Because he was so confident in the outcome of this battle, he did not make too many demands of his family's knights. His strategy was to have the war chariots fire a few rounds like a storm, crushing the enemy's will to resist. Then, the other battalions of the family would start chasing after them, and that would be it.
It was not that Laurist looked down on the allied army of 100,000 northern nobles led by the second prince, but the war chariots they had were too overpowered. Five war chariot battalions, each with 500 war chariots. The entire war chariot army had 2,500 war chariots, and they could shoot at a distance of 320 meters. The only thing Laurist was curious about was how long the kingdom's first army that the second prince had formed could last under the fire of the war chariots …
Thus, Laurist had been careless and underestimated the desire of his family's knights to fight. When the horn sounded, Bofinger's three heavy armor battalions, Ferocious Tiger Ross's three lancer battalions, Terman's knights, Yuri's ranger battalion, and Josk's archer battalion all rushed out of the Monolith Castle like a swarm of bees, leaving the war chariot army that was supposed to be the main force behind. Laurist, who had not expected this scene, stomped his feet in anger.
Fortunately, those fellows were not crazy, and knew to wait in formation instead of charging into the enemy's formation. Laurist hurriedly had Malek command the war chariot battalion to get into formation.
Aire had caused some trouble again, insisting on bringing the two giant super war chariots that Master Fallin had made to the front of the formation to see blood. He commanded the guards to push and pull the two huge flat chariots over the drawbridge of the city gate, and with great difficulty, they were finally pushed onto the battlefield.
"Loke, it's not that I'm stubborn, but I want to test the maximum range of these two super war chariots. Master Fallin said that they can shoot at a distance of more than 500 meters. Think about it, if we shoot at the enemy's command center twice, it'll be very lively. Perhaps it'll work, just like the decapitation tactic you mentioned. Without a leader, the enemy will collapse without a fight … "Aire said.
Forget it, let him do whatever he wants. Since victory was already in his grasp, Laurist could not be bothered to argue with Aire.
"How did you get it? How did you get it back after we're done?" Laurist yawned. He had played around with Miss Tracey too many times last night, and it seemed like he had not had enough sleep.
"Alright, Malek, once the war chariot battalion is in formation, let's move out. You go take command, and the sooner we finish the battle, the sooner we can go back and rest. We still need to develop the Black Clay Swamp," Laurist said to Malek, who was riding a horse with the war chariot.
"Yes, sir." Malek placed his hand on his chest in a knight's salute, and urged his horse forward.
Laurist sat down on the war chariot in boredom, and listened to Aire gesticulating, "It's that flag in the middle, the one with the crown insignia, it represents the second prince. That fellow must be under the flag, just aim there …"
"Sir, I really can't see clearly," the archer of the super war crossbow complained.
That was true, he could see clearly from 500 meters away, not a human, but an eagle.
"You idiot, what kind of eyesight is that? You can be an archer like that? Someone else, someone with better eyesight, "Aire scolded in dissatisfaction.
After much difficulty, Aire jumped off the war chariot and ran towards another super war crossbow. Before he left, he even pulled a guard over to take his place in command, "I'll give the order to fire once I'm done. You guys immediately fire too, understood …"
The horn sounded, and the war chariots and crossbows at the very front advanced more than ten meters before stopping, followed by the second row, and then the third. These were the three rows of war chariots adjusting their firing ranges.
The drums sounded, signaling the start of the attack. Before the drums stopped, all war chariots and crossbows were to only fire, and unless the crossbows malfunctioned, they were not to stop firing.
The two shield-wielding guards standing at the front of the war chariots squatted down, revealing the war chariots and crossbows behind them that were ready to fire …
Beng, beng, beng, beng, beng, beng …
The continuous sound of steel wire bowstrings rang out …
Countless black bolts streaked across the space of nearly three hundred meters, plunging straight into the camp of the kingdom's First Legion. Screams filled the air, and the soldiers at the very front fell to the ground with black steel bolts sticking out of their bodies. Many of them had been skewered into bloody gourds …
The kingdom's 1st Corps reacted very quickly. With the sound of a bugle horn, the two Ranger Regiments on the flanks charged forward. It was clear that they wanted to take advantage of the slow reloading of the ballistae to charge into the formation of the war chariots, saving the infantry in the middle from a second round of slaughter.
Laurist, who was sitting on a huge flatbed war chariot, pursed his lips. The second prince's First Legion was indeed well-trained, but he had underestimated the advanced nature of the war chariots' steel crossbows. From firing to reloading, it would take no more than forty seconds, and that included the time taken for the archer to aim.
Thanks to Laurist's design of a pulley and a lever, after a war chariot's steel crossbow was fired, one only needed to grab a steel handle at the side of the crossbow and pull. Just like the old airguns in Laurist's previous world, the steel crossbow could be reloaded using the lever principle. The assistant beside him would place the steel bolts on the crossbow, and they could aim and fire again.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
This was the second volley of war chariots' steel crossbows. The two cavalry squads that had just charged into the front of the battlefield were thrown off their feet, their horses falling into a heap of corpses …
Apart from a few stubborn warhorses that were still neighing miserably, the entire battlefield suddenly fell silent. Even the two cavalry squads behind them had stopped their charge. They didn't know what to do. The two armies were separated by more than three hundred meters. If they continued to charge forward, they would have to endure at least four or five volleys of arrows. This wasn't a battle, but a massacre …
The horn sounded again, urging the soldiers of the kingdom's First Legion to charge forward. They stood beside the corpses of their fallen comrades and fired their arrows furiously.
Perhaps the quality of the longbows provided by the kingdom's First Legion was lacking, but thousands of arrows fell from the sky and pierced the ground in front of the war chariots. Only a few arrows landed in the middle of the war chariots. However, the horses that pulled the chariots were equipped with armor that protected them from arrows, and the war chariots were protected by their guards with shields. Apart from an unlucky pack horse that was shot in the butt, this volley only achieved one result.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The third volley of arrows began. Due to the lack of shooting range, the dense formation of longbowmen that were preparing to move forward a bit further seemed to have been punched in the face. More than half of the formation collapsed in an instant. The archers that were lucky enough to escape with their lives looked at the miserable scene of corpses strewn all over the ground and shivered. Suddenly, they let out a shout and threw away their bows and arrows, turning around to run. They collapsed …
Bang! Bang! Bang! Two loud sounds of bowstrings being released could be heard. That fellow Aire had finally let the two super steel crossbows fire. This time, there were two more archers that were shivering like quails in the rain.
However, something that Buckingham didn't expect happened. After the two super steel crossbows fired, the flag that represented the Iberian royal family with the crest of the crown fell down. The back of the kingdom's First Legion fell into chaos …
Baron Şahin, Knight Henned, and Baron Filim, who were arranged on the left side of the kingdom's First Legion, also moved. Their flags faced backward and began to leave the battlefield. In the blink of an eye, only dust could be seen in the distance. On the right, the armed forces of the Kenneth Family retreated 200 meters and began to set up camp, assuming a neutral stance.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
This was the fourth volley. Three short bugles sounded, but the drums did not stop. This meant that the chariots had to move forward thirty meters and continue to fire …
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
After the fifth and sixth volley, the enemies that were still alive had all turned around and fled …
The drums finally stopped, and the sharp bugles sounded. This was the order to chase after the enemies.
"Norton!" Cheers sounded. The lancers, rangers, archers, and knights began to chase after the fleeing enemies.
Aire jumped down from the flatbed chariot at the side and jumped onto a mount that was on standby. He roared: "All mounted guards, charge! Capture the prisoners!"
"This guy must be crazy! Why is he so excited? Also, shouldn't he be shouting 'kill them all'? That's easier to say. Why is he shouting 'capture the prisoners'? "Laurist turned around with a puzzled expression and saw Redi trying to hold back his laughter.
He had followed Laurist since the age of sixteen. Four years had passed, and as Laurist's eldest disciple, Redi had just advanced to the Silver rank ten days ago. He had been accepted as a family knight by Laurist, and was now the youngest knight in the Norton Family.
"What are you laughing at?" Laurist asked.
"My lord, have you forgotten what you said? You said that in the Norton Family, only criminals and captives are allowed to do labor …" Redi reminded him.
Damn! Realization dawned on Loriste, and he immediately understood why his family knights were so eager to fight. They were so excited when they heard that war was coming, and they were actually trying their best to capture more captives to replace them in the labor of developing the Black Clay Swamp. No wonder Bofinger said to capture more captives on behalf of the family knights. Even Aire's slogan was to capture more captives.
Laurist laughed and cursed: "These guys …"
… …
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