Chapter 283

Chapter 283.

“On the 26th, the scouts reported that they found the Kent family’s army moving towards us. But from the intelligence obtained, it seems that the other side should have around 5,000 men, while our army has the advantage in numbers, with more than 8,000 men, and the difference in strength is so vast that everyone feels that the next battle will inevitably be won.”

In the parlor of the lord’s mansion, Viscount Derek Heller was telling Paul about the previous battle.

Also listening were Chief of Staff Schroeder, Head of Intelligence Cecil, and others.

“We lined up in formation and slowly approached in the direction of the enemy, and after the encounter, the opponent was indeed far smaller than us. But unlike in the past, there are a large number of soldiers in the Kent family’s army equipped with a special kind of bow – the longbow, those are probably the mercenaries that Maltz got from the south, after all, training longbowmen is not something that can be accomplished in a month or two.”

“It was late in the day at the time of the encounter, so neither side had any intention of fighting and just settled down. During the evening, we presented our war letters to the opposite side and agreed to fight the following day. Although it rained heavily during the night, the morale of the entire army was high and full of confidence in the certainty of victory in the battle the following day.”

“The next day, the morning of the 27th, the two armies were finally to face their fate. The enemy lined up most of their forces in a horizontal line formation, with the vanguard arranged on the right flank and the rear guard on the left flank, with archers placed between the gaps in the various battle formations, and the two flanks also consisting mainly of archers, and with the whole force lined up in a diagonal line, seemingly with no reserves.”

“And we made a plan of battle, with Earl Malcolm and Viscount Johnston each leading a cavalry unit to charge the archers on the opposing flanks, while I led the other cavalry unit in a circuitous manner to the opposing rear camps and attacked the supply caravans, and Earl Parker and the other generals led the infantry in an attack on the center of the enemy army.”

“If the plan can be successfully implemented, then the opponent will undoubtedly quickly collapse under the simultaneous attacks of several of our forces.”

As he said this, an expression of indignation mixed with resignation appeared on Derek’s face, and he took a large gulp of wine to refresh himself.

“However, the consecutive victories of the previous days have dashed the minds of many people, many officers from the nobility, because of their similar status, are at odds with each other, and the original orderly plan was messed up by these nobles who wished to take the headlines, resulting in a large number of troops appearing in inappropriate positions, and this has caused a series of tragedies after the start of the war. ”

“Another reason is the damn ground, due to last night’s heavy rain, it made the ground very muddy, which seriously affected the play of our cavalry units. Discipline coupled with the road conditions both made it impossible for our side to form a tight formation while the other side waited nicely for us to attack.”

“The Kent family’s army had roughly 3,000 longbowmen who raised their longbows and shot arrows in unison. Those arrows were so dense, as if they were raining, so violent and so swift. Their force was so great that they were even able to penetrate some of the metal armor and pierce the flesh, and the miserable cries of the officers and soldiers after being hit by the arrows were constantly ringing out from our army, and the frightened and injured horses were even madly neighing and struggling wildly, losing control. We were in a state of disarray and dismay.”

“Round after round of arrows and and the muddy ground severely slowed down our charge, in fact, the kills caused by the longbowmen were mainly those of the weakly-protected escorts, and did little for the well-protected knights, but because of the rotting mud, quite a few chose to dismount and walk, and because of the heavy armor – -specifically designed for charging on horseback-the mud under their feet greatly depleted their physical strength and seriously affected the flexibility of their movements, and as a result, after charging to the enemy’s position, many of them had their lives ended by the lightly-armored enemy with lead hammers and daggers.”

“The first cavalry charge failed, but our main body of infantry continued to close in on the enemy with shields raised, and at a distance of about fifty yards the enemy’s longbowmen ceased to block their fire toward the sky, but aimed straight and straight, and the wounded in front fell to the ground, while those behind tripped in droves, and it was in this constant struggle that our troops exhausted their strength. ”

“In the face of this situation, it now seems that the reasonable response is to use the same long-range means to change planes, but at that time our archers and crossbowmen were located in the rear of the infantry and cavalry, their range could not cover the enemy troops, and the position was too far back for them to shoot rashly, they would injure their own people in front of them.”

Derek Heller said with shame and remorse, “With that, our attack failed and Count Parker had to order a retreat while the enemy took advantage of the situation to pursue us. Our men were scared out of their wits by the opposing longbowmen, and were so disorganized in their retreat that they could no longer organize an effective resistance.” “After that battle, only about 3,000 of the 8,000-strong force remained, and once again, the advantage went back to the Kents. After that, we gathered the routed soldiers and reorganized our troops to start another battle with the enemy, but we were defeated as well, the opponent’s longbowmen were just too powerful, and had seared fear into the hearts of the soldiers.”

Derek Heller covered his face.

“And so it was that we retreated all the way to Fort Biddle – the place where we had set out after the rendezvous again – and lost all the land behind us to the Kents, and a month’s worth of fighting all but disappeared.”

Listening to Derek’s account, Paul shook his head with sympathy.

“Oh, Derek, I’m sorry things have come to this; is there any help you seek in coming to me?”

Derek stared at Paul eagerly, “Yes, Count Greiman, only you can turn our tide now. Get your muskets and cannons back on the battlefield, only those firearms can restrain the opponent’s longbowmen.” Paul frowned tightly, “Derek, as you know, it hasn’t been too peaceful in my territory lately.”

“Haven’t the riots been suppressed for a long time?”

“There might still be rats lurking in the shadows ……”

“You punished so many people, those people don’t have the guts to stage a second one so soon.”

Paul had to say, “All right, Derek. But I’ll have to talk it over with my generals.”

Derek said gratefully, “Thank you, Count Gleiman, but please make it quick. Also, if possible, please sell us a batch of firearms, even if they’re the ones you’ve eliminated, we’ll be happy to talk a big price for them.”

“I’ll have to discuss this …… with my men as well.”

In fact, at this moment, Paul’s heart had already made a decision, he did not want to be in an alliance that was about to fail.

(End of chapter)