Chapter 117: Battle Of Crecy Plains (2)
Upon hearing that, General Patton looked at me, smiled broadly, and asked for my opinion.
So, what are you thinking, Major General Yaeger? Im sure you have a good strategy to lead our Imperial Army to victory.
I believe the strategy I am considering now is the most likely to succeed and the most efficient on this battlefield.
After saying that, I placed wooden figurines representing the Francois Republic and the Reich Imperial Army at appropriate locations on the map of Crecy Plains.
I placed archers, crossbowmen, and mages at the very front of the formation, with infantry just behind them, and knights positioned at the rear.
Such a troop arrangement, focusing on defense, might seem passive, but it is typically used to fight a large number of enemies with a smaller force.
My proposed arrangement, like these wooden figures here, is to initially place units capable of long-range attacks at the forefront, with infantry and knights waiting in the rear. Since we wont attack first, the enemy will have no choice but to come to where our Imperial Army is.
Because their morale was already at rock bottom due to the scandal, if they wait for us to come for a certain tactical victory
without even spreading any rumors through scouts on the Reich Empires side, they would start saying among themselves that the higher-ups of the Francois Republic Army were too scared to attack.
And with the effect of the scandal? Surely, such nonsense would circulate.
Theyll say things like, In Hattin Forest, Deus granted a miracle to Major General Yaegers brigade, resulting in the total annihilation of 10,000 troops from Francois. And now, Duke Philippe de Balua, fearing hell fall into hell if he is dismissed, defeated, and dies, is too scared to attack.
Upon hearing this, Duke Balua might curse me and feel the urge to tear his hair out, but what could he do?
That was the reality they were facing. If they are upset, they should just attack and try to win.
Moreover, the morale of the Francois Republic Armys infantry is as bad as it gets. Their high command knows that deploying infantry would make the battle difficult. So, they will put forward their knights, whom they believe in the most first.
The best choice the command of the Francois Republic Army could make to restore the morale of the demoralized infantry was
to show the knights in action and instill in the infantry the belief that they could win.
This was why, even though they knew full well that Division Commander Pompadour suffered a heavy defeat in Hattin Forest, the chances were very high that they would make the same choice.
And the other generals also nodded their heads, seemingly in agreement with this opinion.
Especially General Patton, with a beaming expression, looked at me and asked in a bright voice, as if a child had just received a new toy.
So, are you suggesting the infantry serve as an anvil, and we deploy our knights to strike their flanks? Like when you smashed the flank of the archer cavalry led by that Ludwig fellow?
If we could time it right when they charge, and the Reich Empires knights could stab their flanks in a wedge formation
I would bet my life that no matter how many knights the Francois Republic has, they would be annihilated in a single blow.
The problem was, it was a trick not even a typical commander would dare to considernot just waiting in position and striking the enemy knights flank, but waiting in the rear and then striking at the right moment.
Unless the enemy commanders were as foolish as Mr. Mudaguchi from the Dark Independence Army, they all knew that the flanks were the weakest during a knights charge.
If they knew we might target the flanks, they would naturally try to change their charge path.
So, to properly target the enemys flank, as General Patton said, it had to be at the moment when theyd fully formed their wedge and couldnt change direction anymore.
Targeting the moment just about 3 minutes away when they were 10 to 300 meters from our infantry and attacking after a long detour as if to hit the enemy infantry from the rear was a trick that couldnt be imitated with just ordinary ability.
However, our commander in front of me, if compared to the characters from the Three Kingdoms, would not be inferior even to the likes of mighty warriors like L Bu or Guan Yu in handling cavalry and military strength.
If we could withstand two or three times, we would definitely succeed in defeating the enemy knights.
But in such a battle situation, it would seem quite unconventional for the commander of an expeditionary force to lead the knights personally.
However, in medieval and early modern battles
while it was mostly the case that the commander, the highest responsible officer of the army, supervised and commanded all units from the rear, it was also relatively common for them to directly lead the cavalry, which was key to the attack.
If they had the ability to strike the flanks, it could be a very good strategy.
But if you ask me if there was a reason for me to take such a risk
General Patton could easily spear the flanks of the knights if he would lead them personally. However, to show those still unreceptive to the Papal Excommunication and Deuss miracle, it might be better to have our infantry block their knights. Its difficult to halt their knights with just infantry, so Id like about 1,000 of our knights dismounted and placed in the vanguard.
The right answer was that there was no need for or value in such a risk.
Because here, the Francois Republic, whose brains were soaked in romance, would undoubtedly charge head-on.
Even if the infantry just held their pikes and maintained a tight formation, they could effectively stop a considerable charge.
Moreover, we would naturally create an environment that would make it difficult for them to charge with wooden stakes or earth mounds.
If the enemy knights targeted our infantry, the best countermeasure, as stated in military textbooks, was to strike the enemys infantry with our knights similarly.
Hmm, then the remaining 6,000 knights can just attack the infantry.
But anyway, since General Patton was the commander of this army, it was best to accommodate his mood to some extent and include a performance that could also boost our troops morale.
Other battles might be different, but this battle is on a completely open plain, making it difficult to ambush. Right before the battle, the Francois army will provoke disputes to make their soldiers and nobles believe our Imperial Army is bogus. At that time, I wish the Major General himself would deliver a speech from horseback to break the enemy soldiers morale.
Upon hearing this, the other generals expressions became a bit distorted.
It wasnt that their reaction was incomprehensible, as General Patton was someone who consistently behaved in a manly manner towards everyone, from starred generals to ordinary soldiers.
Each word he spoke was very harsh, so when condemning the Francois Republic, there was a high chance that unimaginable curses would come out.
But with the overwhelming weapon that was the Papal Excommunication, using undignified and easily understandable curses could demoralize the enemy soldiers by hitting them where it hurts.
Mixing the anxiety and unease of being excommunicated with anger towards us, even if the first charge failed, the enemys supreme commander would eventually
likely keep making the insane decision to continue the frontal assault, knowing it was a loss for them, just to appease the angry knights.
Like a gambler continuously losing yet persistently betting in the delusion that they might win this time.
Explaining how to handle knights here would be ideal, but the commander in front of me rose to his rank based solely on his skill in handling knights.
Given that, meddling in such details in front of him would likely result in nagging, so I quietly closed my mouth and ended my presentation.
Thus, my presentation overwhelmed the audience, and it was decided that initially, during the exchange of words, General Patton would launch personal attacks against the enemy with his fiery eloquence, as per the strategy I proposed.
After that, crossbowmen and soldiers capable of long-range attacks would be placed in the vanguard to kill the knights momentum and then blocked by the infantry.
We were able to perfectly establish the strategy of the Reich Empires knights trampling the Francois infantry.
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