Standing on the ruins of the Duchy of Aquitaine, Bodrick, Duke of Bordero, couldn't help but think of the previous storm.
Bodrick was already a hundred years old this year. If he hadn't drunk the Holy Grail Water, the old duke would have completely aged by now. Even if he had drunk the Holy Grail Water and stepped into the sanctum, Bodrick had gradually begun to lose interest in internal affairs.
In the previous civil strife, Bodrick himself had always been in a neutral position. He neither stood on Laing's side nor chose to join the free Brittany. Even if the knights and nobles there offered extremely high prices to rope him in, the old duke was unmoved.
He was really a little tired.
But he knew how serious the crisis this time was. Carcassonne had been destroyed, and the Skaven Ratmen were going straight for the heart of Brittany, even going straight for Laing's City of Jean. If the enemy couldn't be stopped in the old Duchy of Aquitaine, the disaster of the Skaven Ratmen would cause the entire Knight King's Kingdom to suffer a great loss. So Bodrick decided to personally lead the troops.
Thinking of this, the old duke couldn't help but smile. His son, Fedmond, was gradually maturing and had children.
Naturally, the temporarily conscripted troops of Bordero weren't too many. But thanks to Bordero's extremely prosperous business environment, high industrialization, and the continued expansion of the Sea God's Fleet, Laing only gave an order and Bordero immediately formed an army of 12000 men and marched out of the Duchy. Even though Bodrick knew that the Skaven Ratmen were numerous, so what? The Ratmen had always relied on numbers to win.
As the commander-in-chief, Bodrick's army was in the center of the front line. The Sea God's Knights and the Mannen Guards were guarding the duke himself. There were also Bordero's marines and five regiments of free infantry. These troops proved to be well-tested. Unlike most of the Brittany Duchies, Bordero was the first duchy to be equipped with cannons. The old duke looked at his two artillery regiments, a total of 22 cannons and 4 rocket launchers, and he was quite satisfied.
The army on the left was the defeated Duke of Magritte, Juan's Vichy Army, 4,000 men. These troops were made up of the Estalian militia, three orders of knights, and a small number of Juan's personal guards.
Bodrick looked down on this group of Estalians. Due to historical reasons and the pride of the Sea God's Fleet once defeating the Invincible Fleet, Bordero and Brittany's Admiral thought the Estalians were a bunch of cowards.
The army on the right was's's army, led by Duke Theodoric..
Theodoric was also a sly old man. The moment there was a problem with the Goddess's faith, the duke once again began to pick a fight. His attitude towards the Goddess of the Lake, the kingdom's patron saint, was that he did not deny the Goddess' contributions to Brittany, but he also did not think that nothing would happen. In the face of Laing's speech and orders, Theodoric did not listen. He still stayed in Bordero and watched every move of the Southern Kingdom. From this point alone, Theodoric was competent.
However, after losing the Goddess's faith, this guy's old habits resurfaced. He began to drink, indulge in debauchery, and seduced noble women. He did not even let the free men's wives go. Duke Theodoric's old problems probably meant that he would never be able to get close to the Holy Grail, but he did not care.
The situation quickly reversed. With the success of Laing's speech, the first thing Theodoric did was repent. He immediately responded to Laing's order and loudly confessed his sins to the Goddess. If he wanted to show his sincerity through battle, Theodoric did it. Under his warhorse hung the heads of five Skaven warlords, the Gray Prophet, and the Skaven captain.
Theodoric fought to be the first to charge. Boddrick was surprised by Theodoric's courage and determination. However, recklessness was often not a bad thing for a knight, right?
"Our middle army will be responsible for dealing with the enemy's main force." Boddrick was very familiar with tactics. The admiral said to Juan and Theodoric, "Our cannons, musketeers, and crossbowmen will exchange fire with the Skaven warlords. Our strong shield wall and formation will be able to deal with the number of Ratmen. When the time is right, the knights will charge through the flanks and target the Skaven warlord."
"A group charge of the knights? That's too obvious. "Juan was a little hesitant.
"The Lake Prophets will provide us with cover from the fog," Boddrick continued. Bodrick continued, "The Sea God Knights will also assist you. I'll charge with them."
"I know the Skaven Ratmen. These rats can't take a little setback. Our knights will give them the most fatal blow!" Duke Theodoric said excitedly.
Gradually, a thick fog began to appear on the plains.
Boddrick de Bordero, the old Duke of Bordero, looked at the battlefield he had chosen. The Duchy of Aquitaine used to be a very beautiful and rich place. There were crisscrossed fields, prosperous manors, and noble knights, but everything changed after the Red Duke incident.
Now, most of the Duchy of Aquitaine had been merged into the Duchy of Bordero. Most of the land was plains, and there was no way to defend it. It was very suitable for cavalry to charge. Historically, the duchy was surrounded and not easy to be invaded. Therefore, the knights and nobles here loved to fight among themselves. They built a large number of castles on the plains. As time passed, most of these castles became ruins.
Perhaps one day, the prosperous Bordero would also become a ruin?
Boddrick looked at the beautiful scenery in the distance, the rural scenery of Aquitaine. The old Duke could already faintly hear the bells of the Skaven Ratmen and the very messy sound of horns.
Boddrick had cursed and regretted the truth about the Lake Nymph. However, he was probably the first Duke to accept the Lake Nymph's identity as the Goddess of the Elves. The reason was very simple. First, he was a Knight of the Holy Grail and had a vested interest in it. Second, he didn't only believe in the Lake Nymph, he also believed in the Sea God, Mannen.
If one couldn't do it, at least there was another.
The old Duke looked at the battlefield and clenched his Sea God's trident.
My old friend! We are going to fight side by side again, Duke Boddrick thought.
The sea, the trident, and the unique smell of fish and the sea.
For the Lady, and even more for Brittany and Mannen!
The order was passed down like flowing water. The army was in formation, the artillery was in position, and the shield wall was built. There were also the nervous and expectant free people who were temporarily recruited. Although the Sea God's Knights weren't fighting on the sea, which they were best at, they were still eager to fight.
"Artillery ready!"
"Fire!"
The sound of the artillery firing first spread throughout the battlefield. Duke Boddrick closed his eyes. A beautiful place like Aquitaine was about to become a slaughterhouse of flesh and blood. The sound of horns rose and fell. The brave horns and shouts of the Knight King's army drowned out the noise of the Skaven Rat Men. Hundreds of slave rats made the first wave of attack, but they were soon drowned out by the arrows and artillery.
The two armies began to fight.
Even though they were equipped with muskets, the archers and crossbowmen still had a place in the army. The experienced Brittanian longbowmen and the crossbowmen armed with dwarven crossbows proved to be very satisfactory. Volley after volley of arrows caused huge casualties to the slave rats at the front. Ikot Talon also noticed this. The chief engineer ordered the soldiers to move forward, but the Skaven Ratmen's triangular shields had very little coverage among the shouts of "yesyes!" and "diedie!" that filled the air.
None of the Skaven Rat Men cared. The slave rats were meant to be sacrificed.
Duke Boddrick also noticed that there were a lot of slave rats, so many that they covered the entire front line and still continued to advance. The old duke cursed inwardly. How many rats did the enemy have? Then he ordered Juan's Vichy Army to press on from the left flank.
Let the Estalians and the slave rats exchange! Their only goal was to break the Skaven Rat Men's central army! Bodrick judged that only by letting the Skaven Ratmen taste the taste of defeat would they be able to make them collapse one after another.
"Duke Theodoric of Berleon is here! Good grandson of the Rat Men! Your grandfather is here! In the name of the Lady, scram back to your underground! " Duke Theodoric was the first to charge. The brave and fearless Theodoric might be an old lecher, drunkard, violent, and reckless guy, but he was also a brave warrior. Theodoric held the giant axe of the first Holy Grail partner, Balduin, and rushed forward. Wherever he went, he was invincible.
"Descendants of Balduin, where is your courage?"
"We are here!"
"Don't let a single rat go!"
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Theodorick's bravery greatly boosted the morale of Braon's army. Behind him were dozens of knights, 200 squires, and the infamous Pig Squad. The army of a thousand men charged forward as soon as the battle began. It was a battle of life and death.
"Skaven, yes, yes, break, break, Skaven, the strongest, the strongest!"
"We are many rats, many rats!"
"The Horned Rats protect the Skaven, we will protect the Skaven, yes, protect them!"
On the other side, the Skaven Rat Men's morale was also high. The clan rats and slave rats formed an ocean of rats. With so many rats, the Skaven Rat Men's morale was high. The plague monks raised their filthy flags and chanted the Horned Rats' motto. The engineering warlocks activated their terrifying war machines. With the will of the Horned Rats, the technology of Ekett-Talon, and the blessing of the plague, what was there to be afraid of in the Skaven? Fear not, fear not!
Duke Theodoric knew very well that the Skaven Rat Men were numerous. Thus, when the battle began, his target was the commander of the left wing of the Skaven Rat Men, Ekett-Talon's second-in-command, the engineering warlock from the Skaven Clan, Balquint Mazikuik.
"Cavalry! Cavalry! There are so many of them!" Balquint Maziquik had thousands of clan rats and even more slave rats under his command. However, when faced with Duke Theodoric's personal assault, his troops were a little overwhelmed. The soldiers of the Braean Pig Scoundrels followed the duke's lead. Even though they didn't like each other and couldn't wait to see each other die, in the face of a foreign enemy, the Braean people were still united in the end.
"Advance! For the Lady and Berleon, for the Brittany! " With shields, spears, and swords, the stupid pig men first attacked the weak points of the Skaven Rat Men's formation. There were too many of them, so the formation was not spread out. Many of the clan rats were blocked at the back, and the slave rats were easily defeated.
Duke Theodoric did not choose to gather his cavalry in one place. Instead, he spread them out a little. He personally led forty of them to charge forward. In his eyes, there was only one target, and that was the head of the Skaven Rat Men!
"Damned scoundrel, come out! Your grandpa Theodoric is here to take your head! "
A large row of clan rats formed a spear formation. There were thousands of them, trying to stop Theodoric's charge. The duke roared and raised the divine weapon in his hand. The blade flashed with the light of the Lake God's blessing, and dozens of spears were broken. Theodoric's angry roar made the nearby Skaven Rat Men tremble. "Rats, come out!"
"Hmph! Ignorant, hairless things! Ignorant! " Rats were rats. The Skaven Warlord and Engineer Balquint had no honor to speak of. He sneered at the enemy's foolishness, recklessness, and chivalry. He thought to himself, I have at least ten years left to live. Why would I trade with a hairless guy like you?
"Poison Grenadiers, Poison Cannons, ready!" The Engineer Warlock waved his hand. Dozens of Poison Grenadiers and three groups of Poison Cannons came forward. Dozens of poison balls and cannons filled with plague were fired.
Theodoric had to order his army to retreat temporarily to avoid the poisonous gas. Over a hundred corpses were left behind, and they gave up on the attack.
"Hahahaha!" The Engineer Warlock laughed loudly at the human's incompetence and weakness. He did not care that he had lost at least fifteen hundred Skaven Rats, and at least five hundred of them were killed by his own poisonous gas.
"Bah!" Duke Theodoric spat, "Shameless scoundrel, a scoundrel is a scoundrel."
"Lord Duke, what should we do now?" His servant shouted.
"Don't worry. His Majesty has already warned us that the Skaven Rats' poisonous gas is very powerful." Theodoric raised his Divine Battle Axe.
Behind the army, the two Lake Diviners cast a spell together. A Wind Blast was gathered under their control. The impure wind blew the Skaven Rats' poisonous gas and plague directly towards the Skaven Rats' army.
The left wing of the Rats' army collapsed. The slave rats and clan rats howled in pain as they tried to avoid the oncoming poisonous wind. Their formation was in a mess.
"Regroup! Attack again! "Theodoric charged forward once more.
At this time, the Engineer Warlock Balquint began to realize that the situation was not good. Apart from the sound of the horse hooves of Theodoric's knights, another group of knights was rushing towards him.
The leader was Carcassonne's Holy Grail Knight, Sir Amanric de Gardelon.
This old Grail Knight was a saint. Even in the south of Brittany, there were very few Grail Knights who were as tall and strong as he was. He was full of confidence in the Goddess. Carcassonne was destroyed, but he still had a chance to take revenge.
"Send out the Storm Rats and the raiding team to support Balquint."
"Tristan, send out two groups of Sea Diviner Knights. We must defeat the Skaven's left wing."
The two orders were given at almost the same time.
Bodrick and Ikter were determined. The confrontation between the Skaven Rats and the Skaven's left wing would be the key to this war.
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