122 – Battle of the Plains of Crecy (7)
When the Empire’s infantry was struggling to block the charge of the enemy knights, Captain Patton heard when and how to charge from a galloping horse. I was thinking about whether to go.
‘According to the words of the knight who sent the reconnaissance, the enemy infantry is positioned in a three-line formation like ours, but their morale is at an all-time low no matter how many times we check. So, just looking at the imperial knights charging towards them, there will be a lot of idiots who are urinating and can’t even hold a spear properly.’
Captain Patton, who was aware of the situation, decided that no matter which direction and how he attacked, the assault was bound to be successful.
Furthermore, even the knights of the François Republic, who are the only variable that can check our knights who are turning clockwise from the left and targeting the enemy’s right, are completely tied in body and mind to the empire’s infantry.
Patton was well aware that in situations like this, the first digit of the number of casualties for our knights could vary depending on how effective the first charge was.
He combined his sense of the wild with the knowledge he learned while attending the Academy and Staff College, and after continued deliberation, he succeeded in deciding on his assault policy.
‘If the enemy infantry is standing in three rows, the most common way is to stab them in a vertical direction, but they probably won’t be fooled by such a standard method. Then, we will now attack in the diagonal direction, which is the most difficult for the enemy to respond to.’
What he thought this way was that the infantry formation, especially the formation created by the infantry with low morale, was ultimately bound to be in the shape of a long horizontal rectangle.
The vertices of rectangular-shaped objects are weaker to impact than the corners, so the four vertices of an infantry’s long spear square will have the weakest defense and attack power.
Of course, the Republic Army is not a complete idiot, so it may try to respond by changing the direction of its formation.
Then, at that time, the direction of the Reich Empire’s knights’ charge should be slightly bent to aim for the enemy’s blind spot.
On the other hand, knights charging in a wedge formation have almost the same breakthrough power no matter which direction they go as long as they maintain their formation properly.
“Lift up the whole army! We, the 6,000 knights of the Reich Empire, dig in and charge at the very top of the right front, not the exact center of the enemy’s right! Strengthen your resolve!”
When Captain Patton gave the order, the knights who heard the instructions opened the face shields on their helmets and spread them around.
“Dig in from the right vertex! Remember, it’s the right vertex!”
“You idiots with no confidence, just read the chronicles of knights around you and follow me!”
“Just follow the leader’s movements! Right vertex! Break through there at one point!”
Not long after the order spread.
“I can see enemy infantry 500 meters ahead! Perhaps because of low morale, the formation is not properly formed!”
This is the situation that everyone here had hoped for the most.
The news spread to everyone that the cavalry stopping power was at an all-time low because the infantry could not properly form formations with their spears.
After hearing the news, the morale of the brave knights of the Reich Empire began to soar to the point where it reached the sky.
“Long live the Reich Empire! Long live your Majesty the Emperor!”
“Follow the captain! Deus is with you!”
“It’s as if we won this war!”
On the other hand, Francois and his infantrymen, who were watching this situation from a distance of 500 meters, began to scream and panic as they saw the knights approaching.
“Knight! Where have the drivers gone?! If this continues, we will all die!”
“Private Jang, you crazy bastard! Come out right now! “If you don’t want to be left behind, run!”
“I can’t f*cking lag behind like this! It’s unfair to die, leaving behind a rabbit-like child and a fox-like wife! “If you die, you’ll go to hell!!!”
Some of those who said that tried to run out of the formation, but were beaten in the face by senior soldiers and returned to their seats crying.
A very lucky few were able to take advantage of the chaos and escape without being stopped by their colleagues.
The officers who were watching this war situation secretly resented the commander.
That’s because the damn Duke of Valois is using all his knights to beat down the Reich Empire’s infantry.
No matter how much they thought about it, they couldn’t see any hope of blocking the attack of the knights who were approaching from the side, raising dust, with only infantry.
Still, they resolved to fulfill their duty as free citizens and nobles of the republic and began struggling to survive instead of running away.
“You idiots! If you don’t want to die, grab your spear and unite! “Otherwise you will die!”
“Any cowardly bastard who runs away while his comrades are dying will die by my sword!”
“You rotten deserter! “You die here!”
By scolding and beating the soldiers like that, and killing a few as an example, the shape of the formation itself was somehow maintained.
To the 6,000 knights led by General Patton, their spear formation looked weak, as if it would collapse if struck with a sharp blow.
So, no matter how skilled a knight is, when he collides head-on with infantry in formation, he internally feels fear of charging into a wall made of dense spears.
As the distance between the knights and the Republic infantry got closer, their morale began to rise as they thought about how they would be shattered with a single lance charge.
“Maybe because they are excommunicated assholes, they don’t even look like they are united even though the spearmen are united together!”
“Take it down like this! “For every one of our infantrymen, we must kill 10 of these bastards!”
“Show the glory of the Reich Empire!”
Looking at the scene with great satisfaction, Captain Patton ordered his knights to charge in the direction he wanted with the most desirable mental state.
“Raise your speed to maximum! Strike into the heart of the beast!”
With that command, the knights spurred their horses to maximum acceleration and charged towards the enemy, colliding with them, and their lances mercilessly stuck into the enemy soldiers.
For each cavalry spear (lance), at least one, at most two to three, enemy infantrymen were pierced and fell to the ground groaning.
The crushed infantrymen were trampled by horses weighing 0.5 Tons and began to die, turning into meat paste.
Of course, there were cases where some of the knights of the Reich Empire were killed by the soldiers of the Francois Republic who were forming a long spear phalanx.
The ratio of casualties was much higher in the Republic, where spearmen were overwhelmingly composed of low morale.
In addition, the knights’ charge has a great effect beyond simply stabbing and stomping numerous infantry to death.
“f*ck, f*ck! Jean, Charles, Louis!!”
“Uh, uh… Why is everyone turning into pieces of f*cking meat? “I’m going to die like this now…”
“Why fight when the battle is already lost? “I want to f*cking run away!”
This means that he succeeded in completely lowering the enemy’s morale.
However, Captain Patton gave another order as if he could not be satisfied with just this.
“The entire army leaves the enemy camp for a moment! Then, as coordinated in advance, 1,000 people disperse, form formations, and charge autonomously! Turn them all into mincemeat!”
When the order was given, the knights of the imperial army left their positions, killing the soldiers around them with the maces or swords at their waists.
According to Captain Patton’s orders, they gathered together in units of 1,000 men and charged in with swords and maces in the direction that seemed most advantageous, taking time apart.
Then, the already collapsed formation of the infantry of the Republic collapsed to the point where not even a trace remained.
The corps commanders and division commanders, who judged that there was no chance of victory, gritted their teeth and gave orders.
“Retreat! Retreat! “We are starting to reorganize!”
“Run back!”
“If you don’t want to get killed, run! “Run to your death!”
From noble mtl dot com
I wonder if the soldiers who had been suffering helplessly until recently also waited for this order.
As soon as they heard the order to retreat, everyone from slow-moving new recruits to experienced soldiers split into two groups: those who gave up the fight and surrendered, and those who ran for their lives to avoid being captured and made prisoners.
“I will surrender, so please save me!”
“f*ck, I have to run even a little faster to survive! “You stupid bastard, don’t be like this!”
“Step, save me!”
When Captain Patton saw that, he thought about chasing them, but the game was already almost decided anyway.
“The infantry does not track. Instead, we go to hit the enemy knights in the back!”
After giving such an order, he led the knights of the empire and turned their horses to attack François and his knights, who were now left alone.