75 - Retreat
At the end of the afternoon, the long-awaited river finally comes into view. After they cross it, only the desert will be between them and the border.
However, when they get near the bridge, they can see a cloud of dust rapidly approaching from the south.
"That will be the cavalry!" Morris shouts. He immediately hands out his orders: "Sergeants Ice, Mateo, push the men to march as fast as they can go. Captain Harris, you and I will go ahead to capture the bridge before the Chakranian cavalry can arrive."
With the plan made, Sergeant Ice, as the oldest sergeant, takes charge of the two platoons of legionaries.
"Mateo, we’ll make a square with the pack horses and wounded in the middle. You take the rearguard and the right side, I’ll take the front and the left side with my men. Just put two squads on the side and three on the back, I'll mirror you. The main danger will come from the back and from the south. You have two minutes to arrange that, then we leave. Anyone who is not yet in position should run a little faster."
"Understood Sergeant! Men, right and behind two and three squads, move it!"
Even before Morris and Harris can start their charge forward, the entire column has turned into a rectangular formation around the vulnerable wounded. At the same time, they also begin to pick up their pace, until they almost catch up with Harris' procrastinating warriors. There is even singing coming from within the formation!
Morris has to concentrate to hear the actual words, but when he does, he immediately stops and urges his men forward. Let Harris enjoy the harsh words from the legionaries, but he won’t hear any more about him, his men, and their horses.
Unfortunately, even the herculean effort from the legionaries doesn't seem to be enough to be the first to reach the bridge. Slowly, the dust clouds begin to reveal their contents, as first the outlines of men and horses, and later the warriors and horses themselves emerge.
"What do you think Harris, about a thousand? Or will there be more?"
"I think about double that Morris. Those guys have enough horses, and the survivors from the fort must have told them how many men approximately have. I think even the Chakras find twenty against one good enough odds."
"Well, that means they're spread out over a considerable distance. That means that maybe we have a chance. We’ll position the men in a straight line all the way from the bridge to the infantry. Make sure there is no space between the horses and let everyone keep their spears ready. It's our job to hold that bridge till the soldiers arrive."
"Are they going to make it? If I were them, I would surrender immediately. At least in the slave armies you have a small chance to escape. We should leave everything behind and race to the border."
Morris shakes his head. "You won't make it. Our horses are pretty much exhausted. And don't write the legion off yet! Remember what they did at Linh? If do something like that again, they'll be with us in no time."
Moments later though, it's clear that the legion can't get to the bridge in time, so Morris lets his warriors retreat to the bridge.
"With three people in a row, we have enough weight to hold the bridge for a while. I want to see swords and shields at the front, the rest use those spears wherever you can."
Shortly after the warriors have braced themselves on the bridge, the Chakras arrive. However, none of them is so stupid as to venture straight onto the bridge. The group of defenders looks determined and their numbers make little difference on the narrow bridge. Slowly they form a semicircle around the bridgehead.
Some warriors make an attempt to swim to the other side, but in winter the river flows much too fast. After the first two men are dragged away along with their horses, they quickly give up.
Meanwhile, the legionaries are still running. They have just seen their escape route blocked by hundreds of enemy warriors, but even that can’t faze them.
"Standard marching pace!" Orders Sergeant Ice, after which their speed becomes a lot slower. He knows that his men have little chance of breaking through when they are out of breath.
"We still have a short distance to go, and then we’ll fight our way to that bridge. I have no intention of letting this raid fail now. Mateo, what do you think. Are we going to go straight at them in an arrow formation and smash ourselves straight through to the bridge, or do you have a better plan?"
"How about charging them first in a shield wall and then stopping for the crossbows and spears."
"Yes, that was my plan as well," Sergeant Ice interrupts the other sergeant.
"Let me speak for a moment. I suggest keeping the shield wall straight and hitting the enemy head on. Then, during the battle, we switch to an arrow formation to make our way through. This way the shield wall will have effect over a larger area, and we may be able to get through them more easily in the middle."
"I don't know if that's a good plan. I wouldn't hesitate for a moment against infantry, but these guys are all on horseback. We can't just push them away like we did at Linh. We probably have to use our spears now to hit those horse lovers, with the two-handed weapons to mow away the legs of those horses."
"Bah you're right, do you know if the handbook has any other tactics for battling cavalry?"
"I have to say that I can't remember that part very well. So far, we haven't needed it either. These tactics have always worked."
"Sorry, Sergeant Ice, Mateo, I heard what you said," one of the soldiers reports, "the handbook gives the tip to keep to the formation in most cases and keep the cavalry at bay with spears and ranged weapons."
"Thank you soldier, that’s what we’ll do, I think," Sergeant Ice replies, "Mateo we're going to form two rings. My men have already fought in a shield wall last night, so yours can now be in the front. My men stand behind yours with spears and crossbows. Then we walk like a hedgehog: shields overlapping with the spears in between. The second row holds the shields high and protrudes over the men in front while the men who are not in danger use their crossbows."
"Understood," replies the second sergeant, "Team leaders come forward!"
Less than five minutes later, the newly formed 'hedgehog' comes within reach of the Chakran cavalrymen. There is still enough distance between the two units, so Sergeant Ice decides to test the shooting skills of his men.
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"Stop! Take up your crossbows, choose targets and on my signal we'll see how many we can hit." The sergeant puts his money where his mouth is, and counts to three just to be sure. "Shoot!"
Nearly a hundred arrows fly at the enemy. The rear soldiers don't want to be left behind, and just aim at enemies who are a little further away. This way they can shoot nicely over the heads of the others.
Many of the arrows go astray or hit horses, but the effect is clearly visible. Almost the entire first row of Chakras opposite the legion fall down, while here and there others are also lifted from their horses by the hard blows. When a second shot is fired a little later, none of the Chakras knows who’ll be the next to be shot down. Of the ordered formation is therefore soon nothing to be seen.
Sergeant Ice knows he has to take this moment while he still can.
"Forward!" he shouts, and the whole formation immediately starts to run, while the soldiers who were still holding their crossbow quickly hook them back into their holders and quickly snatch their spears with them.
Now that the formation of the Chakras has been disrupted, it takes the soldiers no effort to break through the first rows of enemies. There is not much left of the first row anyway.
After a few minutes, the advance starts to become a lot more difficult. The soldiers of the legion also sometimes have a hard time maintaining their tight ranks. There are dead horses and warriors everywhere, and here and there the still living horses also get in the way. Yet they slowly but surely manage to get closer to the bridge.
When they finally arrive at the bridge, the relief is noticeable. The hedgehog breaks open at the front to let the wounded on the carts and the pack horses through. The soldiers quickly rush to reinforce the rear. This is the last chance for the cavalrymen to capture the New Legion.
However, the expected attack does not materialize. Apparently the enemy commander is shocked by the ease with which this small group of soldiers has broken right through his army.
Both Sergeant Ice and Sergeant Mateo have lined up with the soldiers who cover the retreat.
"I think we'll make it, Mateo. What do you think?"
"I think so too. They only have one more chance, which is when most of our men are on that bridge. Then they could attack the last men on this side."
"I don't think they do. Then they would have attacked us now, now that they can take more of us."
Even as Sergeant Ice makes this prediction, they hear a huge crackle and scream behind them, followed by a huge splash. They quickly turn around to see what's going on. Unfortunately, there is little to see by all the soldiers standing between the two sergeants and the cause of the noise.
"I'm going to look, you just make sure that those Chakras don't get any ideas." Sergeant Ice calls out to his colleague, while he is already making his way between the soldiers.
After a few minutes of struggling, Sergeant Ice finally arrives at the scene of the accident. After looking at the situation at a glance, the man begins to curse from the bottom of his heart.
One of the wagons lost a wheel, and then fell into the river with horses and all. And unfortunately, it’s the car with the twelve dead men and three soldiers who were wounded in their legs.
Miraculously, one of the three wounded soldiers survived, clinging to the remains of the railing of the bridge. The other two unfortunately sank immediately due to their heavy armor.
When everyone except a two-team rear guard is over the bridge, the captains discuss how to proceed.
"Ice, Mateo, you will have to walk to the border as soon as possible. Despite the speed with which you can march, those cavalrymen are a lot faster."
"I don't agree with that, Captain Morris," the sergeant replies. "My men can do a lot, but marching much further to the border is not one of them. We all fought last night, after which we also marched all day to fight here again. We will have to camp here for at least a few hours."
"I guess you're right about that, I'm sorry sergeant. I hadn't thought that marching is a lot harder for you than for us on horseback. My men are tired, but they still have a few hours in them, I think."
"Well I'm actually pretty tired, Morris." Now Captain Harris is also involved in the conversation.
"Yes, we all are. But the longer we stay here, the greater the chance that those people will find another place to get to this side of the river."
"We'll have to rest anyway Morris," Ice said. "It's starting to get dark now, so let's give the men as much rest as possible. Mateo and I will let our men stand guard until it starts to get dark. If we make a schedule with short guard times, that should not be a problem."
"Yes, and then our men will have to keep watch all night. That doesn't seem fair to me!" Captain Harris replies immediately.
"Well, that's about what it comes down to." Sergeant Ice now begins to grin viciously. "By the time it's dark, you and your men can take over. In the meantime, our soldiers will be a bit rested, so we will start the march to the border as quietly as possible. As you always say, you are so much faster than us, that you can easily catch up with us when you leave a few hours later."
"Ha! and the Chakras will meanwhile make a lot of effort to cross the river, only to find out that we are no longer there. Great plan sergeant!"
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With a soft thud, Ryker moors the large warship at Centurion's largest pier. With practiced precision, his men throw the bunches around the bollards, not that anyone from the New Legion knows what the ropes and poles are called with which the ship is secured. Probably Ryker and some of his men are the only ones on the entire continent who know what they are called. Since the large ships of the past have disappeared, that knowledge has also been lost. The fishing boats are usually pulled onto the beach, or fastened in any place where there is space.
When the ship is firmly tied down, the gangway is extended. In order not to waste time, Ryker immediately goes ashore to look for Captain Brandon.
However, even before he reaches the end of the pier, a full platoon of soldiers appears in the distance. As always, all soldiers are exactly in formation, with the sergeant in the front. As soon as they arrive at Ryker, the sergeant gives the order, and at exactly the same time the whole platoon comes to a standstill with a thud.
"Sergeant Roland reports, permission to board captain."
"Uhm, but of course sergeant, but why?"
"According to Priest-Captain Gareth, you are here to get reinforcements for Captain Raidon, sir. We are the first platoon of those reinforcements. The second platoon will join you when you have spoken to Captain Brandon."
"Oh, well, in that case, once again welcome on board. My first mate will show you where to go, I have to report to the captain first."
"Of course, Captain. Forward, Mars!"
Full of wonder, Ryker looks at the soldiers, how they know Raidon is in trouble is a mystery to him, but it saves a lot of time. At the earliest, Ryker had expected to leave the next day, and if his luck was bad, he had expected to only after a few days. With a shock he notices that he has been staring at the soldiers, who are already on board his ship. He quickly rushes to the Legion headquarters to report to Captain Brandon.
Moments later, he's in Brandon's office.
"... so that was the situation when I left. Captain Raidon urgently asks for reinforcements, because they will not be able to last long if the plan fails and tens of thousands of Chakras keep banging on the gates. And even if the plan does succeed, they will still have a difficult time."
"Then it's a good thing Gareth convinced me to get two platoons ready to leave. I couldn't believe that was necessary, with the border armies to support the first company, but in the end he persuaded me to at least be ready just in case."
"Let me leave right away, the sooner we can help Raidon the more soldiers will survive. I assume the second platoon that goes along is ready?"
"Of course. I've already informed Gareth that he's the boss in Centurion while I'm away. He has Sergeant Noah to help him with the everyday things, but as a captain he is the only one with the necessary authority."
"Are you going along yourself then? I'm sure the sergeants will be able to keep their men in line during the journey."
Brandon immediately shakes his head.
"That's true, but we don't know what kind of situation we'll find. It may just be that something happened to Raidon. Then someone will have to take command. These two sergeants are not ready yet. And in addition, there should be two more platoons with Morris. If we also take them with us, we have almost a whole company of reinforcements. With so many soldiers, I prefer to take command myself. Gareth and Sergeant Noah are perfectly capable of keeping things running."
"As you like, but can we go now?"
"Of course, I’ll follow you captain."
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