Chapter 251 – The Battle of Bitburg 7

Chapter 251 – The Battle of Biddle Castle 7
The army on the right flank was defeated!
The generals of Kent’s army saw a sight that was hard for them to accept. They thought that the archers could make an even fight with the opponent’s fire crossbows …… or at least hold out a little longer.

The earlier flurry of musket fire attracted everyone’s attention on the battlefield, and then the right flank of Kent’s army was killed by a bayonet assault by the Ardar as both sides watched.

This result had a much more direct impact on the officers and soldiers at the bottom, and it was clear to feel that the Kent army’s morale had dropped instantly, while the allied army’s morale had risen dramatically.

The sound of killing resumed, and due to this increase in morale, the allied forces forced the enemy to retreat.

The Aldar army also reloaded their ammunition, reversed their direction, and began to fire from the right side of the Kent army.

The Kent army’s morale fell even lower as they were suddenly hit by flanking fire, and unauthorized turnbacks and escapes abounded.

Jaaius fiercely whipped an officer who was obviously in a state of panic, and furiously yelled, “Go! Lead the reserves to hold off the enemy on the right flank!”

He already had plans to retreat, but the collapse of the right flank had put himself in a half-surrounded dilemma, and a risky order to retreat would most likely turn into a rout.

The reserves rushed up, but what made Jaaius spit blood was that a burst of fire from the Ardar’s fire crossbows dispersed them.

Originally, in Jaaius’ arrangement, the reserve unit was screened down as a second-tier unit, and its equipment and quality belonged to the bottom of the line, and he was in a hurry to count on such a unit to hold back the Aldar.

Moreover, the artillery of the Arda army had never been idle, the artillery company first concentrated their firepower on destroying a few crossbow trucks of Kent’s army and then began to bombard their reserve troops.

In order to minimize casualties, and not to let these guys, who were alarmed by “magic” after receiving a few shots, scatter, Jaiais had to let the reserve troops lie down in the bushes.

Even so, by the time the reserves were called to fill the right flank, the number of people had been reduced by almost half compared to the beginning of the battle.

Defeat was inevitable, and Jaius ordered a retreat.

Unsurprisingly, except for the knights and a few elite soldiers who managed to maintain basic order, most of the soldiers ran around like headless flies.

Earl Parker wasted no time in waving his flag, and the squares that had stayed behind as a reserve immediately moved forward to join the pursuit.

Jaaius fled eastward in a hasty manner under the escort of the family knights, and the other large and small lords who were dependent on the Kent family were also looking after their own.

The allied forces chased after the routed soldiers for several miles before calling it quits, and by the time they returned to their quarters, it was already evening.

……

“Hahaha!”

“Drink, drink!”

After nightfall, the entire garrison was filled with laughter. A bunch of bonfires were built, and the officers and soldiers of all ministries gathered around the bonfire to feast and drink.

Although the ultimate goal of this battle, Fort Bido, had yet to be defeated, today’s victory was so significant that it was impossible not to celebrate it. In order to celebrate this great victory, the lords and generals agreed to reward the troops.

Kent’s army obviously didn’t have the time to clean up their own quarters when they retreated, and the supplies inside were all cheaply given to the allied forces.

While cleaning up the Kent army’s quarters, some very unpleasant things happened between the armies of the various territories in order for their side to capture more loot. The old Earl Price Parker, who had personally led the cavalry in pursuit of the enemy, arrived back and proposed that the seizure should first be put into one place, and then after the capture of Fort Biddulph, the people would negotiate a fair distribution plan that would take care of all parties. In view of Earl Parker’s prestige, all agreed to his proposal.

After cleaning up the battlefield, pigs and sheep were killed in each army camp. Normally, the lower class soldiers ate simple food such as black bread, but tonight they were finally able to feast on meat.

Because of the large amount of money gained, and in order to gain a good reputation and maintain morale, the lords were happy to show their generosity for one night, anyway, the newly captured pigs and goats are still considered “public property”.

In the house where the lords and generals were gathered, the atmosphere was even more joyous, as they exchanged cups of wine and discussed the day’s battles with great interest.

Lieutenant Colonel Bryce Alder, the commander of the Aldar army, was the center of attention at the banquet, after all, the Aldar army had contributed a lot to today’s battle.

The crowd had watched as the Aldar had marched steadily in a thin three-row formation, braving arrows, and within a few minutes of their approach had defeated the Kentish archers on the right flank, and then repelled a counterattack from the opposing reserves, whose collapse on the right flank had eventually spread to the entire Kentish army.

“Bryce, let’s have a drink!”

Derek of the Heller family raised his cup and clinked it heavily with the cup in Bryce’s hand.

“Cheers!”

Bryce wasn’t modest either and drank the wine in their respective cups with Derek.

Today, the Heller family’s army had dipped into the Alda army’s favor, and the Potteri infantry formed the left flank of the allied army together with the Alda infantry, except that they were arrayed behind the Alda infantry. When the Alda army attacked, the Portree infantry also advanced right behind them, and when the battle entered the physical combat phase, even they could easily deal with the Kent soldiers who had already been frightened by the firearms.

This battle cleared the shame of the previous defeat due to Derek’s adventurousness in one fell swoop, so Derek was still grateful to the Arda people.

Including Earl Parker, some of the prestigious people in the allied army came to Bryce for a drink, and although many of them still had the same condescending attitude that the nobles had when facing the commoners, they had softened quite a bit in their tone compared to when they first met.

Undoubtedly, today’s battle had proved to the northwestern territories that Lakeheart Town held a strong armed force.

Not only are the weapons powerful, but also the quality of the officers and soldiers is extremely high, some of the generals who participated in the King’s counterinsurgency last year secretly compared them with the elite troops directly under the royal family, and were surprised to find that the caliber of this troop was already above it.

However, there is still an important shortcoming – the number of people is small, the size of the force of one thousand people, for the occupation of a slightly larger town is too little.

But who knows how many more such troops the town of Lakeheart held?

In the future, they would have to weigh their options carefully when dealing with the “Exile Family” that ruled the most remote territory in the northwest.

Although Bryce was quite proud of his drinking ability, he was also a little drunk at this time. Normally, as a commander, he shouldn’t drink so much, but since the one who persuaded him to drink was the lords of various places, it was a bit troublesome, and he couldn’t make the relationship between them and the Gleiman family stiff.

In order to deal with this situation, the only one of the two battalion commanders who came to the banquet was Bryce, and Joyce didn’t come on the pretext of being injured, he was shot in the arm during the daytime battle, but fortunately it wasn’t very serious.

In case of any emergencies, it was Joyce who commanded the troops instead of Bryce.

(End of chapter)