When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1206 The Battle of Gewu City (Part 1)
"Three, two, one, pull!"

"Three, two, one, pull—"

"Keep it up, you bunch of lazy little devils!"

"I'm straining so hard, I'm about to poop!"

With a soft "pop," Fran's clockwork cannon finally climbed the high hill outside the city of Gewu.

The artillerymen pushing the carts breathed a sigh of relief, some changing their trousers and others slumping onto the grass.

Meanwhile, Tzio, the Faran artillery officer from Thousand Rivers Valley who had betrayed the Holy Alliance and then Leia, stood at the very front, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Although he had been away from the Holy Alliance for a long time, he still subconsciously operated according to the contents of the "Holy Alliance Artillery Manual".

Artillery commanders need a broad field of vision and the ability to assess the battlefield.

The sunlight was intense, dappling the leaves and making one feel itchy all over.

Through the green leaves and sunlight, one can hear the deafening sounds of military drums, bugles, and footsteps in the distance.

A scream echoed between the horse's hooves, and a series of mournful howls whistled as they flew across its back.

Pushing aside the bushes and vines, Tzio cautiously peered down the hill.

They were in a field fifty miles south of Gewu City.

They were very close to the vampires' territory, but Tso never expected that they would appear here at this time.

White clouds and blue sky, lush green grass, birds singing and flowers blooming.

But in this peaceful and tranquil field, there were no bees or butterflies, only a strong smell of blood.

The smell of blood was visible to the naked eye.

This wasn't the first time Tzio had seen it, but every time he saw that blood cloud swirling over the battlefield, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

It was clearly just a cloud of red mist, yet it seemed to absorb all the sunlight, leaving behind rows of soldiers dressed in the same red uniforms.

These vampire soldiers are mostly composed of low-ranking vampires.

They couldn't lift the heavy Blood Pact Guns, so they used the lighter, more slender ones.

Unlike the Holy Alliance, whose soldiers always wore black, gray, or blue clothes, or the Fran, whose soldiers wore navy blue uniforms, the royal court soldiers mostly preferred to wear scarlet uniforms.

It is said that this red military uniform was personally designed by High Priest King Serfaye, with rolled-up cuffs and a tight-fitting waist.

The buttons on the front of the garment were arranged vertically from the collar to the waist, and when paired with the tall leather hat, it looked particularly eye-catching.

Beside them, copper basins were boiling, spewing out countless wisps of blood that clung to their bodies.

They lined up in rows about one or two hundred meters wide, which, to the naked eye, looked like streaks of red blood on a green field.

This tactic is similar to the previous Galal strait used by the Holy Alliance.

Turning your head to the side, you can also see the array slowly unfolding on Tzio's side.

Opposite the vampires were the Fran legion, which also employed a horizontal formation tactic, and the Leia legion, which was still using a large square formation.

Thanks to the Holy Alliance's generous support and the favor of the Holy Seeds, the Fran Legion successfully assembled a force of ten thousand musketeers.

These nearly 20,000 clockwork musketeers could roughly form three new legions of 10,000 men each: the First and Second Legions of Stormcap and the Fifth Guards Legion of Fran.

At this moment, apart from the Fifth Guard Legion bringing up the rear, the Second Legion of Stormcap was advancing ahead.

They marched in neat rows of bright blue, their steps synchronized, in time with the beat of the war drums.

In their ranks, one can see both musketeers on the flanks and halberdiers in the middle, as well as other melee assault troops.

On the other side, responsible for containing the enemy, were four extraordinary square formations of 12000 Leias.

Although it is still called the Dunjaran phalanx, in fact, it has basically replaced the archers with clockwork musketeers.

However, unlike the Fran and the Royal Court, who used musketeers as their main assault troops, Leia's musketeers were only ranged units.

Witnessing this scene, Tzio was overwhelmed with mixed feelings and could not utter a single word.

Thousand Rivers Valley, Mandshire, his hometown, his knightly estate, he could never return.

However, the clockwork guns produced in the Thousand River Valley have become popular throughout the empire in the past twenty years.

The two Thousand River Valley Wars, along with minor skirmishes between the Holy Alliance and neighboring countries, had already made outsiders aware of the power of the clockwork gun.

Furthermore, with the frequent wars throughout the empire, both Leia and Fran faced immense military pressure. Pressure breeds reform, and reform creates demand.

The three kingdoms under the empire, and even many imperial knight territories and free cities, have begun reforms to their clockwork musket units.

Fran was among the first to undergo reforms, while Leia is still struggling and being held back by the old forces.

As a former frontier region of the civilized world, the Thousand Rivers Valley has become a hot topic in the empire in recent years.

Whenever he thought of this, Tzio felt like both crying and laughing.

He had once hoped that Thousand River Valley could also become a province of great importance to the empire, and now that wish had come true.

However, he cannot share this honor.

“Fate is truly cruel…” Tzio sighed.

"Mr. Tso, what are you saying?"

"Nothing much. Have you rested enough? If you're rested, I'm about to give orders." Tzio glanced around, and the knowledge he had learned at the Saint Tangi Military Academy immediately allowed him to make an assessment of the battlefield.

"You say."

"Spread out the cannons and conceal them. Don't keep them in one place." Tzio said with his hands behind his back. "High-level vampires can fly, so be careful. Also, concentrate your fire on the left flank."

"Yes, sir." The artillery lieutenants received the order and immediately began relaying it.

The young adjutant, who was also Tzio's nephew, Little Bizez, came over and asked, "Uncle, why are you bombarding the left wing?"

"Because this is the direction of the infantry's attack."

"How did you figure it out?"

"You don't understand. In the past, they were all trash like the Leia Square Formation, which could be defeated without traditional wisdom."

Now we're fighting elite vampire soldiers, and that's where traditional troop deployment tactics come in handy.

What Tzio was referring to was actually a diagonal attack tactic.

Although both are horizontal formations, the Franco legions' horizontal formations are not evenly distributed.

A closer look reveals that the most elite squadron (500 men) of the Franco Legion consists of nine rows of men in full armor.

On its right flank were six ranks of second-class elite troops, but they were half-armored.

On its right flank, there were only six columns of unarmored soldiers, and on the far right flank, there were only three columns of unarmored soldiers.

Simply put, it's a clockwork gun version of the diagonal firing tactic.

A battalion of 4,000 men, consisting of eight companies, formed two lines of attack.

The leftmost column is the most elite and attacks first. After the nine columns on the left have marched a distance, the subsequent columns set off in turn.

This has one advantage: the most elite nine rows of musketeers fire continuously, covering the advance of the melee troops.

Once the melee troops reach their positions, they should immediately launch a charge and rout the enemy they are facing.

At this moment, the second squadron was engaged in battle with the enemy they were facing, allowing the first squadron to provide flank cover or even launch a flanking attack.

The new-style French legions gained a significant advantage using this tactic when they clashed with the Royal Court's Blood Pact Gunners in the Zealand Islands.

Clearly, the left flank is the offensive front in this area.

Overall, the Franco legions on the left flank formed the offensive front, while the Leia phalanx on the right flank served as a diversionary force.

Haha.

"Test firing!"

With the artillery positions set up, Tzio put away his pocket watch and gave an order.

The clockwork started with a hum, and a grapefruit-sized iron ball pierced the sky, whistling as it landed on the battlefield.

A thatched hut on the battlefield suddenly exploded, sending wood, thatch, and other debris flying into the air.

Sand and dust fell in a flurry, and the commander on Fran's side then issued an order—

"Start the attack!"

(End of this chapter)