novelAbuy #422 - Engage in battle!
#422 - Engage in battle!
Footsteps, perfectly synchronized footsteps, accompanied by the creaking sound of winding springs.
The steel forest was rushing forward at a speed they couldn't comprehend, a dense thicket of spears overlapping, forming a long wall of blades, leaving only a sliver of the dark cyan hills visible in the background.
"Faster, faster!"
Armor-clad sergeants pushed and shoved within the large infantry formation, lashing out with whips on the backs of the slow-moving guards.
Under the duress of imminent death, these sergeants had never been so efficient in getting the rear ranks of soldiers to turn around.
The legions halted just thirty to fifty meters away.
At this distance, the gap between them was no more than a knight's charge. Face to face, they could even make out each other's features.
The spears lowered, occasionally tapping the shoulders of the holy riflemen, the dark muzzles silently pointing towards their ranks.
Perhaps it was just an illusion, but many soldiers in the Church army felt a moment of tranquility in their hearts.
"Fire!"
"Praise the Holy Wind!"
A rain of lead fell upon the backs of the guards, the sickening sound of bullets tearing into flesh filled the air.
Their bodies shuddered, jets of blood shooting from the wounds that pierced through them, the bullets even capable of piercing another guard's body beyond.
Within this short thirty to fifty-meter range, the twisting trajectories of the lead were almost visible to the naked eye.
The holy riflemen operated mechanically like puppets on a stage, the first rank stepping forward to fire, then retreating, followed by the second rank, then the third.
For the Church army guards, the first rank fell, followed by the second, third, and even the fourth and fifth ranks.
The screech of firing and the creaking of winding mechanisms grated on the nerves, the guards taking the brunt of the attack on their backs fell in droves.
They curled up on the ground, clutching wounds that had exploded into empty cavities, cold sweat covering their faces, howling in pain and fear.
Even the armor-clad sergeants cried out in anguish under the barrage of lead.
"I've been bitten by a demon, a demon!"
"Mages, quickly suppress the sorcery! Where are the mages? Where are the monks?"
"The demons have defeated the Holy Lord!"
Amidst the continuous blasts, blood dripped onto their clothes, a stream of doomsday-like blood carrying pale yellow fragments of fat flowed past the guards' feet.
The spiky grass tickled the guards' ankles, they didn't even have time to fear, only bewilderment, utter bewilderment.
This bewilderment was followed by a peculiar silence after the continuous gunfire ceased.
Had the demon's wind stopped blowing?
Many guards raised their heads, and then they saw the backs of the holy riflemen as they retreated from both sides of the formation, seeing a hundred spears leveled like the quills of a porcupine.
The double rows of spears swayed with the strides of their wielders, no one doubted their inability to pierce their bodies.
The gleaming spear tips trembled, and the hearts of the guards trembled with them.
It was at this moment that the devilish words came from the mouth of Legion Commander Rudylo – "Too slow, charge step!"
"Thump!"
Three hundred spearmen took a heavy step forward in unison, the vibrating dust leaped up, weaving a yellowish-brown curtain of sand in front of the spearmen.
"Gallaher!"
The Salvation Army infantrymen shouted the Pope's surname, launching a charge against the large infantry formation within a twenty-meter range.
The entire large infantry formation cracked in an instant, they cried and pushed each other, knocking comrades to the ground, stepping over them, and squeezing towards the rear.
The shaking spears continuously pierced through the crowded formation. A battle monk used the momentum to plunge his spear into a guard's chest with a 'poof'. The guard cried out "Mama" and collapsed sideways, clutching his chest.
Pulling out his spear, blood spurted out. The battle monk, along with his fellow monks, shook his spear to deflect weapons while plunging the spear tips into their throats, chests, backs, ribs...
As Alman had predicted, the four large infantry formations that engaged with the Gallaher formation were all crushed in one wave after a close-range volley followed by a spear charge.
The wounded lay on the ground wailing, deserters and fleeing soldiers burst out from the gaps in the formation, discarding their heavy armor on the ground as they ran.
No matter how the supervising knights killed, they still couldn't keep up with the speed of the fleeing soldiers.
Leaning on his horse's back, Alman ignored the failure of the infantry formations, instead, his eyes were fixed on the Salvation Army's left flank.
Because the left flank was close to the King's Road, which was the most convenient route to escape.
So Alman sent out 400 knights from Hottam County to open a path for the dignitaries of the Edict Company.
At this moment, the 400 transcendent knights consisted of about 200 ordinary transcendent knights and 200 squire knights. Because the two flanks were regular infantry, they were still eighty to ninety meters apart.
But for Desai, who volunteered to charge at the forefront, eighty to ninety meters was an extremely short distance, almost instantaneous.
"Fire!"
A thunderous roar rang out, 120 holy rifles roared simultaneously, 120 lead bullets turned into rapidly flying clouds, whistling through the charging knights.
A series of crackling sounds like popping beans rang out, warhorses neighed and reared up, the knights swayed and trembled like small boats in a rainstorm, sliding off their horses on their backs.
Amidst the chilling sound of flesh breaking, the leading dozen knights and their warhorses fell to the ground like broken sacks.
Behind them, another seven or eight knights were hit by stray bullets. The knights covered their chests or arms, burying their heads deeply into the horses' manes.
As for some of the horses that were hit by stray bullets, they even recovered from the frenzy of the potion, allowing their clever intelligence to take over once again.
After hearing the rumbling roar, they actually neighed madly, throwing off the knights behind them, and fleeing on their own.
The knights whose path was blocked by corpses and warhorses slowed down more than a little, and at least a dozen knights even secretly left the charging ranks.
"Quick, they've finished firing, charge past, charge past!"
Enduring the tearing pain in his shoulder muscles, Desai ignored the thick blood flowing from the armor gaps, raised his banner, and shouted at the chaotic transcendent knights.
"Don't charge, if we wait for them to press up, we won't be able to charge past, charge!"
The knights, whose horse speed had been reduced by at least 20% compared to the original, continued their charge.
Their eyes were red, their faces were ferocious and fearful. The knights were like beasts trapped in a trap. If they missed this opportunity, there would be no other chance.
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"In the name of the Lord, slay these demons!"
The holy riflemen who had finished firing slowly stowed their holy rifles. Under the squad leader's command of "Turn left/right," they quickly walked towards the rear from the sides of the gun formation.
The first wave of holy riflemen split apart, revealing the second wave of holy riflemen. They were still in the front kneeling and rear standing firing position, but they had placed ten spring-powered hand cannonners in the front row.
"Turn left! Change formation!"
"Change the left column to double!"
A strange shout came from the side. Desai glanced over and felt as if a large stone was pressing on his chest.
The first and third rows of the Legion Holy Rifle Division's holy riflemen stepped to the left in unison, and the second and fourth rows of holy riflemen stepped to the upper left in unison, wedging themselves into the gap.
Thus, the firepower on the side doubled.
"Lie on the horse's back!"
After the fifty-meter volley, the second wave of volleys at thirty meters once again descended on the heads of the transcendent knights.
In addition to the 80 lead bullets and at least 200 iron pellets from the front, there were at least 50 lead bullets coming from the side, hitting them from the side.
Blood poured out of the armor with a crash, the warhorses kicked up their heels, shaking their bodies in terror. This time, at least dozens of knights fell from their horses.
The cloud of bullets dissipated, but the thunder of the holy rifles had reduced the knights' speed to less than 30% of what it was.
Lead bullets whizzed past his ears, even though Desai was prepared, he couldn't help but feel frightened and even lost consciousness.
It wasn't until the whizzing and thunder stopped that Desai dared to raise his head blankly and found that he hadn't charged at all, but had long unconsciously tightened the reins.
The damaged heraldic banner twisted and rolled on the ground, the warhorse panted like a broken bellows, and a small river of blood slowly flowed from its body.
Hundreds of spearmen leveled their spears, pointing the spear tips at the charging knights. They even started to move, charging towards the knights.
"Kill!" Three hundred battle monks roared at the same time.
"Run!" It was unknown who took the lead, but the knights scrambled past Desai, crying and running away.
Only a little over a hundred knights remained on the battlefield, the rest were either shouting that their term of service was over or shamelessly running away.
Among them, only about ten riders beside him actually charged to the enemy's front line. The rest were either injured, dead, or had run away.
"We're already in this position, we have to keep charging, let's turn around and charge their rear holy rifles..." Desai grabbed the knight captain who was trying to escape and shouted loudly.
Before he could finish speaking, he felt a whooshing sound coming from the side of his ear. Unfortunately, his visor's field of vision was too narrow, and he didn't notice a halberd hooking towards his head.
Pain and a tearing sensation came from his neck, and the immense force almost strangled Desai, but before he could regain consciousness, he felt a dizzying sense of weightlessness.
The halberd hooked his neck, and the halberd shaft bent into an arc in an instant. Desai flew off his horse and fell heavily to the ground, face up.
The heavy knight landed on the ground with his armor, stirring up a cloud of yellow sand and dust.
Seeing the knight twitching his limbs and then stop moving, the battle monks drew their armed swords, ready to lift his armor skirt to finish him off.
But after taking only two steps, they stopped. A sharp whistle sounded, and the battle monks' faces changed, and they immediately returned to the rear.
Even at the cost of retreating from the foothold they had just gained, although they couldn't see what was beyond their field of vision, they could hear the cheers of the guards and the trembling of the earth.
Needless to say, they all knew who it was.
Sure enough, the Edict Company couldn't hold back, and Victor even felt that they had appeared a little early.
To be precise, several legion commanders had been wondering which lucky person would get this opportunity and when.
Victor had always had good luck.
"We've hit the jackpot." Legion Commander Victor raised his feathered spear, standing on the side of the first row of soldiers, raising the feathered spear to the same height and position, "Prepare for defense!"
"The Edict Company is here!"