Chapter 241 – Hollow Square Formation 1
Chapter 241 – Hollow Square Formation 1
“Bayonets!” “Mount bayonets!”
There was a loud clatter as the Aldar soldiers drew the bayonets on their belts and holstered them at the muzzles of their guns.
“Officers forward!”
Bryce’s bellowed, and immediately Joyce, the second-in-command, repeated his order, “Officers forward!”
No one moved, for the officers of the companies, platoons, and squads were in the foremost row of their ranks at the outset.
The Kent Family’s cavalry was getting closer and closer, less than 500 meters away from the square formation.
“Ready!” “Ready!”
The outermost row of soldiers on both sides of the square facing the cavalry immediately knelt down on one knee, the second and third rows of soldiers still maintained their standing positions, the third row of soldiers passed their muskets through the gap between the soldiers in front of them, and all three rows of soldiers pointed their muskets in their hands towards the front.
“Steady, steady!”
“Never fire without orders!”
Makarov whispered to remind those around him that many people would not be able to resist firing early in the face of a high-speed advancing enemy army, regardless of whether or not the other side was in range, especially those new recruits who had never been on a battlefield before.
Joss nervously wiped the palm of his left hand, which was made sweaty, down on his body before he resumed pulling the trigger again. The guy was a lefty when he started out with the musket; everyone else held the gun in his left hand and pulled the trigger with his right, only he held the gun in his right hand and pulled the trigger with his left. After a period of training this habit was forcibly corrected by Sergeant Makarov, who strictly adhered to the 1991 Infantry Training Regulations (compiled and issued by the Staff). But in such tense moments before a great enemy, he unconsciously reverted to his primitive habit.
He was arranged to stand in the third platoon, which was a “care” for this group of new recruits, but accordingly the protection on his body was not as good as that of the first two platoons of soldiers, Jos’s upper body was only covered with a leather armor, while the first two platoons of soldiers basically wore important parts of the armor made of metal. After all, this was an era where cold weapons were prevalent, coupled with the fact that he himself could produce a large amount of iron, Paul did not at all skimp on boosting his army’s armor rate to cope with white-knuckle battles that might occur at any time.
……
The corners of Jaaius’ mouth turned upwards in a contemptuous, shameful laugh.
He recognized the flag that the army in front of him, blocking the way, was that of House Gladman, the small lord’s house that had almost fought House Kent last year.
“Paul Gladman! Sparing you last year was already an extraordinarily generous favor, I didn’t expect that you wouldn’t know how to be grateful but instead presumed to continue to fight against us!”
“Gleeman, look at your army! Just over a thousand conscripted peasants with ridiculous weapons that aren’t sticks or guns, and those horses are just worn-out ones used to pull wagons and loads. Oh! The formation is quite neatly arranged, but what is the use of it?”
He ordered his second-in-command to wave his flag and signal to the other cavalry–one left and one right to break up the square. Even with the knights and their escorts, the cavalry team he led totaled nearly 300 men, and although they were far fewer in number than Arda’s army, Jaaius was confident that it would not take much effort to break up the square formation.
Knights and peasants, the difference in combat power was vast.
The knight at the head of the party copied the spear hanging on his horse – unlike on Earth, the knights here did not consider the use of long-range weapons to be despicable and shameful – according to his past knowledge, as long as he and his companions behind him threw their spears, the farmers who had just put down their hoes would hold their heads in their hands and their heads in their hands. The peasants will hold their heads and pout on the ground or simply scatter, and when the other side’s formation is disorganized, they can rush in and trample on them recklessly.
And look at the opposite side of the square formation even crossbowmen are not, this is more reassuring, they can be unscrupulous “molest” each other. However, even if there are crossbowmen, with the inferior bows that ordinary soldiers can equip and their thick armor, it is very difficult to cause effective damage.
……
Close! It was getting closer and closer! Bryce raised his command sword high.
In the Arda army, the four sides of the hollow square were referred to as front, back, left, and right, and now each of the four battalion commanders, the head and the deputy, were in charge of one side, and Bryce was in charge of commanding the troops in front.
Finally, the first enemy rushed to a place that was about 50 meters away from the square formation, and the opponent had a pitcher raised in his hand ready to fire.
“First platoon ahead fire!”
The command saber quickly fell, and Bryce’s order resounded throughout the square formation.
“Touch!” “Touch!” “Touch!” Successive musket blasts rang out, and thick smoke immediately enveloped the front of the square formation.
Several knights running at the front immediately tumbled over, keeping their guns raised and tumbling backwards, falling under their horses.
……
“Not good!” The knight who fell to the ground instinctively wanted to roll to the side, he didn’t want to be trampled into mush by his companions who couldn’t restrain their horses’ hooves behind him.
But what made him feel bad was that the strength in his body seemed to have been drained away all of a sudden, and it was difficult to roll over.
Wait, what the hell just happened? The knight’s brain realized what was wrong.
Just now, he only heard a loud noise, and then it was like he was hit by something hard, and then he fell off the horse.
What exactly was it, there was absolutely no trajectory of the incoming attack seen.
The knight suddenly felt a burning sensation rising from the right side of his abdomen, and subconsciously touched it with his hand.
A large hole – the touch on his hand made him feel a shock in his heart, the thing had penetrated his thick armor!
Something even more terrifying followed.
The pain …… increasing pain …… replaced the previous burning sensation and began to spread radially throughout the body.
“Damn it! It hurts!”
The knight grabbed a handful of grass from his side and threw it in midair in a fit of rage.
What was reflected in his eyes was a horrifying sight – the dry grass leaves that should have been yellowed were colored red by something.
……
“Second platoon ahead shoot!”
The Kentish cavalrymen following behind suffered the fate of their companions in front of them.
The two battalions that had marched out had been fitted with flintlock rifles, and the absence of the cord of fire allowed the soldiers to line up in close proximity almost shoulder-to-shoulder, and one of the great effects achieved was a great increase in the density of fire output when firing in unison.
Some of the cavalry rushing forward were shot, some horses were shot, and some horses and horses were shot. However, thanks to the accuracy of the smoothbore rifles, there were also many who were spared, and some of them had horses that were frightened by the sound of the gunfire, and ran away from their masters unmaneuverably.
But there were still some lucky ones who rushed to the throwing distance of the spears and threw the spears towards the square formation with all their strength.
Under the attack of these few knights, the Arda army suffered casualties.
The wounded were immediately dragged to the open space in the center of the square formation, where some newly trained medics who had mastered the basic knowledge of disinfection and bandaging techniques immediately treated them.
“Third platoon ahead open fire!”
Bryce hatefully gave the order, seeing the hard-trained soldiers injured made him suddenly feel a little heartbroken.
The third platoon of guns rang out, and the Kent Family cavalrymen who had finished throwing their pitcher guns and turned their horses in an attempt to disengage from contact were swept away.
The first round of firing resulted in nearly 50 enemy cavalrymen being incapacitated.
(End of Chapter)