Chapter 210: Chapter 176: Retreat
"Get the second regiment ready. They can charge up now."
Robson watched the Beastmen across the field and knew they had successfully weathered the most dangerous moment of the war. Now, it was the human Soldiers’ turn.
A war of attrition was nothing to Robson.
Aside from the second regiment, Robson had also kept all the Extraordinary Knights at Thermopylae.
Although the enemy Extraordinary Soldiers’ first major breakthrough had failed, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t get a second chance to attack.
The moment the Beastman Extraordinary Soldiers retreated, their fate was sealed; it would be incredibly difficult for them to mount another ferocious, head-on charge like their first.
This was a matter of heart. Battle is all about morale. Once it falters, it quickly collapses.
"As you command, my lord." Bo Yang nodded.
With the threat of the Beastman Extraordinary Infantry gone, the humans now had the upper hand.
Before the second regiment’s Soldiers even reached the walls, the first regiment’s Soldiers had already filled the gaps. The human Extraordinary Warriors who followed began a slaughter on the ramparts, steadily picking off the remaining Beastman Extraordinary Warriors.
The first regiment’s Soldiers recaptured the defensive weaponry. Facing the vast Beastman Army, the Magic Crystal Cannons at the rear roared to life. Each shot blasted a clearing into the enemy ranks, sending innumerable Beastmen flying through the air.
On Robson’s panel, a single volley from the Magic Crystal Cannons killed several hundred Beastman Soldiers.
But this wasn’t the worst of it for the Beastmen. Dozens of Magic Crystal Cannons firing at once looked intimidating, but it was mostly sound and fury.
In reality, aside from the few battle-hardened Magic Crystal Gunners under Robson’s command, the reload time for most cannons was long enough for the Beastmen to sprint to the base of the walls.
The real problem started at the base of the wall. Once there, they would find themselves facing what seemed like an endless volley of crossbow bolts.
This was because Robson had put civilians to work, helping the Frankish Border Watchers reload their crossbows. All the Watchers had to do was keep firing.
If an enemy was lucky enough to reach the foot of the wall alive, he would realize his misfortune just as he was doused in boiling oil and filth.
If the Beastmen weren’t on a timer, Robson might have been a bit more nervous. After all, his strategic supplies were finite, and there was no resupply column on its way.
But by tomorrow morning at the latest, these Beastmen would have to clear out. This had been an unfair fight from the start. It wasn’t that Robson was overconfident—it was simply a fact.
....
The battle raged from noon until late into the night.
Earl Wei Man’s army was now less than seventy or eighty li from Thermopylae, its camp ablaze with light.
In fact, the army had been marching nonstop—at least, Sir Wei Man’s personal forces had.
But without many elite troops, covering forty or fifty li in a single day was already considered a rapid pace.
The most important factor was his system of Non-commissioned Officers. Robson had a unified command structure, with all NCOs swearing allegiance to a single person.
Whether it was a matter of needs or resource allocation, Robson could make every decision himself.
Earl Wei Man’s army, however, was a Noble Alliance Army, and the various nobles bickered constantly. For now, the presence of a formidable enemy outside meant their disputes were still minor and hadn’t yet escalated to the point of feuds—which, for a Noble Alliance Army, was already considered a good showing.
One only had to remember how those nobles had behaved when Sunset Fortress fell to know what they were like. They scattered in an uproar, each fending for himself. Escaping was left entirely to fate.
Even so, Earl Wei Man’s army still suffered from a massive problem common to all such allied forces.
The logistics couldn’t be properly coordinated!
Everyone wanted more supplies, and they all exaggerated their soldiers’ needs, claiming they could eat more than southern Frankish oxen.
It was fair to say that if not for Earl Wei Man’s firm hand and the uncompromising orders from his superiors, his army might have already shared the same fate as Sunset Fortress...
In a makeshift tent, nearly all the Officers of the Noble Alliance Army that Earl Wei Man had assembled were gathered to discuss how to coordinate with Thermopylae for a pincer attack on the Beastmen tomorrow.
"Once we reach Visqis Mountain, we can form a pincer with the defenders of Thermopylae, trapping the Beastmen between us. They will be unable to advance or retreat.
If the enemy turns to attack us, I am confident the defenders of Thermopylae will not stand idly by. If the enemy continues their assault on Thermopylae, then we can push forward.
Even if we can’t annihilate the Beastmen, it will be a simple matter to open a retreat path into the fortress," Earl Wei Man explained, pointing to the map.
’In truth, he hadn’t wanted to be the one presenting the plan.’ A commander laying out tactics could certainly stabilize morale, but it also meant he would have to bear full responsibility for any defeat.
’But he had no choice.’ The army wasn’t on the brink of collapse, but the situation was far from good.
Although Baron Orobson had successfully routed a contingent of Beastman Wolf Cavalry earlier, the main Beastman Army had still managed to cut off the Human Alliance Army from the fortress, and the siege was now underway.
Everyone really only had one worry, and it was one that Earl Wei Man couldn’t dispel no matter how much he spoke.
Namely: Had Thermopylae survived the first day?
To many, this might have sounded like a joke. What army couldn’t withstand the first day of an assault? But as Frankish Nobles who had long dealt with the Beastman Kingdom, they knew this was no laughing matter, but a very real and pressing concern.
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