The cataphracts stormed towards the hastily formed spear wall, the horses kicking up a dust of sand and soil as the brave men upon the armoured horses led the way. The horses and spears that the cataphracts wielded slammed into the spear wall, sending men of the Gerheist army flying and instantly coughing up blood as their internal organs are shattered.
The Gerheist men hastily attempted to reform the line, however, the cavalry proceeded to plow forward, mowing down any who stood in their path, their spears bathed in blood and guts.
“Onwards, onwards!” the men at the head of the charge shouted, murder in their eyes. One of the cataphract riders hurled his spear and it smashed through one of his enemies, which held up a shield.
The spear smashed into the shield and pierced the soldier, who simply collapsed.
“Hold the line! Hold the line!” one of the enemy nobles shouted, waving his sword in a futile attempt to halt the flow of his men trying to run back against the horde of cavalry.
Lawrence watched as Kraft nodded to Longines who blew another note on his war horn. The cavalry neatly regrouped and pulled back. This time, the Owl Shields marched forward, their shields raised and long spears held out. A phalanx.
“Archers, fire!”
Lord Eugene had rounded up the archers and they fired upon the advancing foot soldiers advancing towards them.
“Testudo! Shields up!”
The commanders in each individual unit raised their shields and closed ranks, the arrows bouncing off harmlessly. The formation slowly advanced towards the reformed line of swordsmen who have rushed forward, after the line of spearmen was decimated.
“You’re armies of the King of Gerheist! We will not falter here! Charge!” Lord Eugene shouted above the chaos of war and the swordsmen, in an unorganized chaos, rushed forward, surging past the corpses of their fallen friends.
“For Lord Black! For the Carmine Kingdom!”
A trumpet blares, and Kaisenberg and his retinue of knights charged forward-
“Aim for the horses! Loose!” Lord Eugene shouted, the arrows producing a resounding twang as the archers began to fire towards the unarmoured horses-
“Loose!”
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Arrows looking like locusts flew towards the archers in response, as if guided by the wind, they penetrated neatly into their thin protective armour, blood spewing from their wounds as the Gerheist archers collapsed one by one. To be fair, these weren’t even properly trained archers, just hunters or trappers with some experience in the usage of bow and arrows.
These weren’t professional soldiers, just levies.
Lord Eugene grabbed a shield that a soldier had dropped and shielded himself as the arrows slammed into it. He flinched. Why were the arrows so heavy? Casting his gaze to the side, he could see the archers being cut down as the arrows pounded their formations. Some had even ditched their bows and are using their fallen friends as human shields while trying to retreat.
The Owl Shields now were simply slaughtering the swordsmen who came forward. The Gerheist swordsmen could not even physically reach them as their long spears simply impaled them once they got near.
If Lawrence had to describe it, it would be like a bulldozer slowly ploughing its’ way forward in a demolition site.
Slowly and surely, the Owl Shields made great progress.
To make things worse for the Gerheist forces, Lord Black’s knights have stampeded into the rear of the swordsmen in a pincer movement, sandwiching them. For the swordsmen, it was either death by horses or death by being impaled on the spears.
“Reform the line! Fall back to the camp! Shut the gates!” Lord Eugene shouted as he rallied the soldiers back into the encampment instead of engaging in the open. The surviving soldiers sealed the doors leading into the camp.
Lord Eugene looked anxiously as the soldiers from the Carminian side withdrew and spread themselves out, as if readying to lay siege. Laying siege would actually benefit him but… Why does it feel like they seem really relaxed…
This time, what seems to be three trumpet blasts can be heard.
“S-Sire, my lord! Look!” a soldier pointed in the direction of General Kaffe’s camp and Lord Eugene, tired, bloodied and battered, turned to look.
From atop the plateau, burning logs were set up. From where he stood, Lord Eugene could make out General Kaffe.
The general kicked one of the logs and the rest of his soldiers followed suit. The burning logs tumbled downwards towards the camp and rolling black smoke seemed to engulf the camp as the logs burned-
“Bastards! They coated it with tar!” Lord Eugene screamed in anguish as the toxic fumes enveloped the encampment in a wave of toxic black smoke. Then, arrows once again scattered the disoriented and disorganized Gerheist soldiers.
Through the smoke, Lord Eugene could barely make out what seemed to be a large wooden log used as an impromptu ram by those men with large shields…
Lord Eugene opened his mouth, wanting to shout a command for the men to block it. However, no voice came out.
His squire screamed as he watched an arrow pierce his own lord’s throat.
The Gerheist soldiers surrendered and General Kaffe’s troops could be seen withdrawing and moving towards Lawrence and co.
Kaisenberg’s retinue suffered some casualties, men being thrown off their wounded horses. The Owl Shields had some light injuries and the Owl Cavalry had sustained one dead from being thrown off the horse and then being trampled on.
However, the Gerheist casualties were far worse.
Some lords will never ever be called lords in their homelands ever again, even if they did survive the onslaught. Their powers were broken – If a lord proved incapable of protecting their own levies, which were their own citizens, this was a guarantee that grieving families would be holding a grudge against their lord.