121 – Battle of Cressi Plains (6)
“Deus protects us! Long live Deus! Long live your Majesty the Emperor! Long live the Reich Reich!”
“As long as we blocked the charge, it’s as if we won!”
“There is no need to be afraid. “We, protected by Deus, will win!”
The morale seemed to be sky-high as the soldiers and lower-ranking officers were shouting hurrahs and celebrating having stopped the charge of over 10,000 knights.
This situation felt rather scary to me, and the tension I felt increased to more than twice the amount before the war began.
If I say this, there may be people who block me and ask what kind of nonsense I am talking about.
Due to the assault of 10,000 knights, many of the defenses we had built were destroyed.
In addition, because our unit was deployed to our left wing rather than the center, which can be said to be the tip of the knights’ spear, it was able to escape the strongest impact to some extent, resulting in less casualties.
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Anyway, my stamina was greatly exhausted as I had to withstand a considerable number of knights’ attacks.
The next knight charge will definitely feature soldiers who will not be able to withstand due to low stamina.
Unless the Duke of Valois is more than an idiot, even though he failed in the first charge, he will raise the morale of the François Knights and come back by spreading false propaganda that our infantry was defeated by their brave and bold charge.
Therefore, there is no guarantee that the second charge can be blocked as easily as before.
It may be very difficult to block, or in the worst case, it may break through the center and the infantry may be annihilated.
“It’s still too early to celebrate victory! The enemy still has over a thousand powerful knights left! Everyone, come to your senses!”
With those words, the soldiers of our brigade calmed their excitement and came to their senses, and the commanders of other units seemed to have grasped the situation a little later than I did, but they pulled out their swords and shouted loudly anyway.
“The war is not over yet! If you don’t want to die, reorganize! Reorganize!”
“Assemble your formation and evacuate the wounded! Leave the dead alone! “There is no time for that now!”
“Those with broken spears, bring the spear of the dead soldier next to you. “If you can’t do that, go to the rear, get the spear, and return!”
Just by reorganizing like this, the enemy knights were faced with the enormous challenge of having to break through the reorganized square.
It is somewhat unreasonable for other units, including our brigade, to receive 10,000 lance charges again.
I thought about the best preparation we could do in the current situation, and ran to where our unit magicians were.
“Lieutenant Colonel Dennis, mobilize the magicians under your brigade right now and cast a water ball or mud spell on the slope of this hill to make it as muddy as possible.”
“I understand. But I don’t think it will have much meaning unless other units also do the same.”
“I am now a brigade commander, too. I will send messengers to high-ranking people such as brigade commanders and division commanders in other units to ask for their cooperation, so hurry!”
During the first charge, we did not prepare at the infantry level because we thought that if we made it too obvious that we had set up a trap, the Duke of Valois would divert the knights and come.
The current Francois Republic knights achieved some success in their first charge anyway, so they will definitely charge with confidence in their abilities.
“As for the crossbowmen, the enemies will charge again, so go to the rear and fire arrows! “We need more arrows to shower them with arrows!”
After saying that, I sent a messenger to ask for cooperation from other high-ranking people and began to cover all the slopes of the hill with mud.
At the same time, I requested the chief of staff in the rear to place 1,000 knights from their horses in the battle line.
When we finished preparing for about 30 minutes, we began to hear the sound of horses pounding the ground from the front.
“Glory to the Francois Republic! “Knights, let’s risk our lives this time!”
“Long live the great Francois Republic! Long live the people’s country! Long live the revolution!”
“Let’s step on and kill the imperial pigs who have disturbed the republic!”
At the same time, the wizards and crossbowmen on the hill fired magic and arrows feverishly.
“Die, you damn Francois!”
“There are a lot of excommunicated pagans who talk dirty! “Just die!”
“You have to fire at least one more shot!”
Just like last time, when the distance between them and the knights narrowed to about 100 meters, the crossbowmen and wizards gave the final blow and ran away.
I ordered the 30 hippo knights (dismounted knights) and infantry stationed around me.
“Hippo knights, come into the square right now! And after repelling the knights’ charge, you take the lead and charge all at once!”
Originally, they belong to a different unit, so I don’t have the authority to give orders, but the military is a group where rank is the top priority.
After hearing my order, the Hippopotamus knights immediately went among the infantrymen who had formed a square with their long spears and prepared for a full-scale battle.
At that time, the enemy’s 10,000 knights were trying to break through the center and enter in a wedge-shaped formation like they did a while ago.
From the center, the sound of a horse stepping on mud was heard as it grew wider and louder.
“Everyone prepare for shock!”
Not long after hearing those words, knights holding lances approached us.
5 Meters, then 3 meters, then 1 meter, then blood and flesh splattered widely, accompanied by crackling and breaking sounds and screams of men and horses.
“My arm! “My arm!!”
“My legs!! Argh!”
“Help me, damn it! Help me!!!”
This time too, the enemy died more than us, but our infantry also consumed stamina when blocking the first lance charge.
When some soldiers were stuck with a spear by a horse, they were unable to overcome the recoil and did not penetrate properly, or they bounced off like a basketball and met their death.
“f*ck it, save people!”
“Fly!”
As a result, the formation of our infantry and Francois’ knights was completely destroyed at the same time…
The number of soldiers who died in this conflict must have been quite large.
However, the fact that the formation was so messed up meant that the Duke of Valois had no time to focus on the knights under Captain Patton.
Because the knights can’t form a proper formation, it means that it’s very easy for us to get inside them.
At the same time, the Duke of Valois will no longer be able to do crazy things like form squares and rush into the waiting infantry.
“The enemy will dismount! Beat him before he gets off his horse! Form a group of three and charge straight to the center! Then the High One of the enemy will be there!”
My soldiers responded well to those words, but they responded in a somewhat tired voice due to having blocked two lance charges.
“Long live Brigadier General! Long live the Reich Reich!”
“Let’s break the enemy knights’ helmets!”
“Throw away the spear! Throw away your spear and pick up your mace, sword, or sword! “It’s time to celebrate!”
And then the friendly knights took the lead and ran to quickly kill any of the knights who were busy getting off their horses.
I continued to look around, imagining the current battle situation in the center of the brigade.
All the infantrymen around had abandoned their spears and were fighting the enemy knights with their own weapons, such as one-handed weapons or two-handed swords.
If we had fought one-on-one, we would have lost out of ten in a battle against knights with heavy iron armor and strong fighting skills.
By teaming up with 3 or more people and somehow connecting and fighting, we were able to fight on equal terms.
“You heretic knight, die!”
“Seeing how he behaves like a coward even though he is wearing iron armor, I can clearly see Francois Corazzi!”
“Die! Die! Die!!”
In that way, we were able to gradually break through the enemy’s lines and move forward, entering the enemy’s camp.
“The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd battalions alternate with the 4th, 5th, and 6th battalions, and the Hippopotamus knights continue to block enemy knights at the vanguard! “We must clear a path to the center at all costs!”
As I said that, I gave a loud command to the rider behind me.
“Tell the rear troops to follow our brigade! Receive support from the brigades in the 2nd and 3rd rows, and widen the hole between the enemy knights like this! Raise the flag!”
After saying that, I looked back and saw units running from behind at high speed to respond to my request.
Let our unit move forward while gradually defeating the enemy knights.
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The flags of high-ranking people began to appear before my eyes.
“If we go just a little further, we can win! Fight as hard as you can!”