Chapter 113: Battle Of Hattin Forest (5)
The formation of the Francois Republic had become a chaotic mess, having completely lost its order.
Ignoring the commands of nearby platoon leaders and senior non-commissioned officers yelling to reorganize the formation, the soldiers just screamed in panic.
Save me! Save me!
Damn, I dont want to die like this! Mom! Dad!
Formation, we need to reform the formation!
Normally, in such situations where the enemy is in disarray and unable to respond properly, the winning soldiers, in their excitement, might attempt to take prisoners or let their guard down.
However, the soldiers of the Reich Empire knew well that killing even one more enemy during their confusion could increase their chances of victory in the upcoming battles.
Due to their rigorous training, the soldiers, like killing machines, automatically moved their arms and legs in unison at the command of one, two, and under the loud command of their battalion and company commanders, they continued their slaughter, stabbing and withdrawing their spears.
Seeing this, the Francois soldiers were so terrified that some even wet themselves, and many of those in the front ranks lost control completely.
Damn, those bastards are monsters. They move as if they were measured and aligned with a ruler!
Crazy bastard, if someones going to die, it should be you! Im going to live.
Move, get out of the way!
There were even soldiers, acting like idiots, who lost their senses and ran in the opposite direction of their advancing unit.
All of them were promptly executed on the battlefield by the officers or senior non-commissioned officers of the Republics army.
Meanwhile, Major General Yaeger, who was observing this scene, signaled the crossbowmen and the mage unit with a flag to aim at the middle of the enemys infantry column.
As a result, the Francois infantrymen in the middle of the column, holding spears, were helplessly sacrificed to the incoming arrows and magic attacks from above.
Due to the relatively small size of the battlefield, Division Commander Pompadour couldnt utilize their numerical superiority to form an encircling formation like the Crane Wing.
Unable to issue any command to turn the situation around, he vented his frustration by waving his sword in the air and cursing.
Peter Yaeger, this cowardly and cunning bastard! If he claims to be a noble, shouldnt he at least adhere to the basic etiquette of battle? Not satisfied with just using archers, now hes moving his infantry back and forth to avoid a fair fight!?
Normally, when someone would say something like this, any officer nearby would agree.
But everyone, including Division Commander Pompadour, believed in the truth that victory in war justifies the means.
His subordinates didnt dare to contradict him, only thinking that he was talking nonsense because he was losing the war.
Pompadour, while wielding his command baton, thought of the only way that might resolve this situation and decided to implement it.
Since we have far more crossbowmen and mages, we can launch more arrows and magic at once on this narrow battlefield. And since the frontline is already blocked, we should take the risk of friendly fire.
He then raised his command baton to the sky and brought it down as he had ordered.
Direct long-range support to the frontlines will result in more enemy casualties than friendly fire! Support them with magic and arrows, but try not to hit our own troops!
Following his order, the standard-bearers and the band signaled with flags and music to initiate long-range attacks near the frontline of the Republics army.
The mages and crossbowmen, wary of accidentally hitting their own troops, began firing as ordered at the very front of the Reich Empires soldiers.
As soon as the signal was received, the Reich Empires archer cavalry and knight units simultaneously broke out in the same direction, and some of the Francois infantry who witnessed this reported to Pompadour, but
Since Division Commander Pompadour had no other troops left to counter them except for the knights, he ordered the knights of the glorious republic to intercept the flies of the empire!
He had no choice but to mobilize 750 knights, who were not very effective against the archer cavalry.
Lieutenant Anastasia, aware of all these movements through Major General Yeager, ran towards the knights, holding a bow in her right hand, and asked her archer cavalry,
Major General Yeager, who avenged us by personally slaying Ludwig, trusts us. Can we really lose to these cowardly snails wrapped in iron?
To that, all the archer cavalry responded loudly,
We would gladly die if its an order from him who avenged our sworn enemy!
Who else but him made us, discriminated for being northerners, live like humans?
Now is the time to repay even a little of his grace!
Thus, Lieutenant Anastasia led the archer cavalry at high speed and found about 700 Francois knights targeting the empires knights.
She and her troops circled around the left, right, and rear of the enemys wedge formation, shooting arrows as nomads typically do.
This gradually slowed down the knights and caused problems in maintaining their formation.
Colonel Werners knights, who were not attacked by the Francois Knights, were able to spot the enemys crossbowmen and mages positioned on the left and right flanks, who were targeting the infantry.
The crossbowmen and mages had the responsibility to support their infantry in the battle to ensure victory.
They were so focused that they failed to notice the approaching knights.
Werner, commanding the knights of Yeagers brigade, laughed crazily and said,
Looks like those crossbowmen and stupid mages cant turn their heads! How could they keep looking forward in this situation? Gahahaha!
Thus, the knights he commanded targeted the rear of the long-range attack units positioned on the left and right wings.
They charged in a diagonal formation designed for maximizing impact, not a wedge formation that prioritized penetration.
This was because those armed only with long-range weapons were virtually useless in close combat.
When the Reich Empires knight brigade got about 100 meters away from Francoiss rear unit, the latter noticed and tried to respond, but it took time for the command to spread throughout the unit, and as a result, only a few mages and crossbowmen could respond to the lance charge.
What are the knights doing? We outnumber them several times in terms of knights!
I dont know, damn it! If you want to live, load your arrows and shoot! Just shoot at anything!
Ah Ahh!!
Then, the knights wielding lances trampled over the enemy, who could not put up any proper resistance, and pierced them with their lances.
The blood of the enemy and their screams resounded greatly across the battlefield.
At the same time, the attacks from the long-range support units on both left and right wings ceased, and without their support, the frontline of the infantry began to gradually tilt in favor of the Reich Empire.
Major General Yeager naturally didnt miss this opportunity and ordered his soldiers,
Each infantry units long spear soldiers, keep your spears forward and charge while maintaining the formation. Use the gaps between soldiers in the infantry phalanx to send forward the polearm troops. Its time to start a one-sided massacre.
Thus, Major General Peter Yeager began to completely seize the advantage in the battle against the more than 10,000-strong Francois army.
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