When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 565: The Vanguard Battle on the Riverbank (4K -in-)

"Your Highness, just watch from here." Alphos Taylor, the captain of the Third Imperial Order Company, stopped Prince Condé from stepping forward. "Their devilish wind can blow far."

Beside him were guards cutting down bushes to widen the road, and on both sides were buglers and flag bearers waving flags.

Standing on a mound, Prince Condai, wrapped in a fur cloak, squinted his eyes and looked at the semicircular battle formation in the distance.

Nearly a hundred carts formed a long wall on the river beach. The large carts were covered with thick door shields and sandbags, and behind the door shields were seven or eight halberdmen and spearmen.

On each chariot, one could see seven or eight standing holy musketeers, with flails and sabers on their waists.

Standing inside the carriage, the Holy Gunners placed the black gun barrels on the triangular gaps in the side panels and fired a shot from time to time to intimidate the light cavalry roaming around the edge.

Behind the long wall, barges slowly moved downstream to the other side, about to transport a new batch of Salvation Army soldiers to the river beach.

Prince Kongdai was not slow in arriving. In less than half an hour, he arrived with four imperial edicts.

But by this time, the number had more than doubled compared to the nearly two thousand infantrymen reported by Alitugu.

Behind the long wall there were at least 4,000 infantrymen. They wore uniform black knee-length waistcoats and tied their wide trouser legs with leggings, making their khaki military trousers look like bubble pants.

At this moment, the pikemen, in units of 300 men, formed an irregular polygonal gun formation behind and along the semicircular chariot fort.

The densely packed spears flashed with the brilliance of the scorching sun, dazzling Prince Kongdai so much that he had to squint his eyes.

His eyes swept back and forth across the riverbank, he turned his head and shook his head at Lacunio.

"Alphos, Edmund, Galien, the three of you lead a team of command companies each and charge in turn, but don't fight too long, and it's best not to have any casualties." Turning around, Prince Conde ordered the three captains of the command companies around him, "We've fought with the Eagle Regiment before, so there's no need to fight this time. Let Sternberg of the Death Regiment lead the charge once."

When it comes to what to fight and why to fight, His Royal Highness may be confused, but when it comes to how to fight, he will be excited.

If he had only relied on charging bravely, he would certainly not have had such a prominent position and prestige as he has now.

Moreover, this time, he treated the Savior Army as a formidable enemy. It was impossible for him to take the easy way out as he did in the past and just charge at them without caring about anything else.

"Uuuuuu——"

The standard-bearer waved the blue and black checkered flag, and at the sound of the trumpet, the squire knights, who were part of the light cavalry, went out first and rushed towards the chariot formation.

"Here it comes, here it comes." Delawan pulled the sleeve of Bucken, a clerk of the Third Guards Legion beside him, and couldn't help but remind him.

After the war in Kasha County, all the students of Saint Ting Frick Middle School who remained on the battlefield were promoted to a certain extent.

Men like Delavan and McGowan, who could read and write, worked as scribes for the legion clerks.

As if he didn't hear it, Bucken was still directing the orderlies to assemble a small clockwork catapult.

Delawan could only anxiously direct the placement of supplies while looking towards the front line.

The first thing he saw was a rain of arrows flying diagonally into the sky, drawing a parabola and flying towards the Holy Gunner on the chariot fort.

The continuous clinking sound of arrows hitting the armor could be heard clearly even by Delawan in the back.

Arrows fell on the carriage boards and the standing black-clad soldiers. Occasionally someone groaned, but almost no one fell down.

The squire knights used horse bows, which had relatively weak bow power. Unless they happened to hit the weak spot in the armor, it would be difficult to break the defense of the holy musketeers.

Currently, the armor-wearing rate of the Salvation Army's vests and plate armor is more than 6%, which is not a small number, because this is more than % after the army was expanded to legions.

These vests and plate armors are basically worn by veterans, usually with a brim helmet and a breastplate. Some spearmen also have arm and thigh armor.

They can basically ignore the shooting from ordinary cavalry bows.

The arrows on the wooden board of the truck bed were still shaking, and few of the comrades standing around him fell down.

Above the battlefield, along with the sound of arrows breaking through the air, there was also the sound of springs turning and gears turning.

The black muzzle of the gun protruded from the triangular gap, aiming at the squire knights who were about to leave after shooting an arrow not far away.

"Praise the Holy Wind!"

The whistling sound from the air pressure equalization hole pierced the eardrums of the soldiers. They all trembled all over, and hundreds of lead bullets flew out in waves.

"Get prone!" The squires and knights screamed as they turned around and saw the black line attacking them.

They immediately fell on their horses, and around them there was the sound of rag bags being punctured and chain mail being scattered all over the ground.

The war horses cried out in pain, and the knights' backs were jerked forward and they fell off their horses one after another.

When the squires raised their heads again, at least a dozen of them had fallen off their horses and a dozen were injured.

Several war horses on the riverbank were running around in fear, and the ground was covered with blood-soaked knights howling. The expressions of several company captains were tense.

Elad, the former captain of the Fifth Order Company, was right. The power of the Devil Wind was greater than they had imagined. It was not just a more powerful crossbow.

"Can it penetrate the chain mail?" Edmund and Alphos looked at each other, and suddenly they understood why these Saviors were invincible.

The power of the devil is really tempting. It would be great if we could recruit a group of them to surrender.

The squire knights had just deceived a wave of lead bullets and when they were turning around, they saw a yellow dragon of dust and sand coming towards them. Under the fluttering swallowtail flag was their own captain, Galion.

Brushing past the circling squire knights, Galion, with a hundred imperial knights and square-flag knights, divided into three groups, charged straight towards the gaps in the chariots.

"Go ahead and knock their chariots away!"

Galianka's timing was just right. The Holy Gunners were just changing positions at that moment. The Holy Gunner at the back walked to the gap with sweat all over his forehead and stuck the muzzle of the gun out of the chariot.

"Bang bang bang!"

In panic, several surrounding chariots opened fire one after another.

Feathers fluttered in the smoke and dust, and at least five or six knights fell to the ground screaming, but Galion himself roared and pulled the reins violently.

Amid the neighing of war horses, he and several knights of the imperial decree seemed to fly, jumped over the door shield and jumped into the back of the chariot.

Several other knights of the Imperial Order crashed into the chariot and the door shields without caring about their lives. The door shields seemed to explode, and wood chips flew everywhere.

The warhorse whined and crushed the spearman behind the door shield.

The chariot was knocked askew, and although the wheels were held by chains, a gap was formed in them.

The Holy Gunners in the truck were swaying from side to side and almost fell out.

The seven or eight imperial knights who fell off their horses due to the gap jumped up on the spot, drew their swords with a grim smile, and charged towards the halberd-men and spear-men who were injured by their horses.

These spearmen, whose breathing techniques were only at the third stage, were certainly no match for the Imperial Order Knights if they were not in formation.

In three or five rounds, heads and limbs flew everywhere, and the blood and screams made the Holy Gunner who was wielding the flail and winding the spring on the car turn pale.

But although they were afraid, they still subconsciously listened to the officers' orders, resisting the attacks of the square-flag knights while desperately winding the springs.

Delawan swallowed his saliva and stood where he was, not even paying attention to directing the transportation of the goods. He just stared blankly over there.

This was the first time that Delawan saw the power of the Knights of the Imperial Order.

"What are you looking at?" The legion clerk Bucken slapped Delawan on the back of his head. "You are not a frontline monk. Do your job well."

"But there's almost a big gap in the front." Delawan cried out, covering his head.

Bucken sneered: "Gap? Do we fear them just because there is no convoy? Just wait and see. If they dare to come in, they will suffer a great loss!"

…………"Die, you pigs!"

He kicked an axe wielder away and the armored Knight of the Order snatched the battle axe from the soldier's hand.

He took two steps, jumped high, and smashed the chains on the battle tank with the axe.

Sparks flew, the chains broke immediately, and under the shove of the Imperial Knights, the two chariots were slowly pushed apart.

Seeing that a gap had been opened in the chariot array, Galian couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Go on, break through their gun array and kill them."

Dozens of knights with square flags immediately filed in through the gap. In the distance, Prince Condai's face darkened and he immediately shouted, "Blow the horn and tell them to come back. They are charging too far ahead."

The standard-bearer's cheeks puffed out, and the sound of the bull's horn spread across the battlefield, while Galion looked up in confusion, still wondering why.

However, his doubts did not last long.

Because at the same time as the sound of the horn stopped, the creaking sound of the winding spring also stopped.

"Praise the Holy Wind!"

A dent suddenly appeared among the knights pouring in from the gap, and blood spurted freely in the air.

A distance of twenty meters is almost the maximum killing distance of lead bullets.

Amid the sound of lead bullets piercing flesh, the knights watched in horror as their companions fell one after another.

"Damn, they have Holy Musketeers on both sides of the gun formation!" shouted an Imperial Order Knight.

At some point, four rows of holy musketeers stood in the gun formation, with long spears pointing diagonally forward on both sides of their shoulders, and their hands were aiming and firing slowly.

After another wave of lead bullets flew, the Holy Gunners in the front row split into two teams. They turned left and right collectively, changed from horizontal rows to vertical rows, and walked neatly from the gap between the two square formations to the back of the gun formation.

If we rush over now, we might be able to defeat those Holy Gunners.

But this place is only 20 to 30 meters away from the gun formation, and the knights have just been hit by a wave of holy musketeers, so they may not be able to increase their speed.

Listening to the more urgent sound of the horn in the distance, Galion made a choice between continuing to defeat the Holy Gunners and retreating.

"Retreat, retreat immediately!"

After being blocked by the chariot and the holy wind, and having to turn, their speed was no longer the same as before.

Without speed and impact, the combat effectiveness of these knights dropped by more than an order of magnitude.

"Put down your spears! Charge forward!" The legion commander roared, gritting his teeth.

"Kill!" With a war cry, three hundred spearmen lined up in neat formation and charged towards the knights like a giant hammer.

The knights who fell behind were the first to engage in battle. Their horses kicked their rears, but were still pierced by the spears, leaving bloody holes in their buttocks.

After slowing down, the knights were first hooked by halberds, and then seven or eight spears were thrust out in succession. They could only wave their shields and knight swords in shock and anger to block the attacks.

Their armor is definitely enough to defend against spear attacks, but there are always weak points in the armor, especially at the edges and joints.

In front of the knights were their companions blocking the gap, on both sides were dazzling spears, and on the chariots were holy musketeers shooting.

Soon, several bloody holes were poked on the shoulders, knees and armpits of the lagging knights.

Some would simply stab the horse to death and drag the knight off the horse.

After leaving behind a dozen corpses and wounded men, the remaining knights finally managed to break out of the chariot formation.

But rushing out with them were the Holy Gun Cavalry led by Jeanne.

Seeing that several of Galion's Order Knights were first stabbed down by the Salvation Army's gun formation, and then were chased by the Holy Gun Cavalry, Prince Condai's face became even uglier.

"Idiot! An idiot worthy of being exhibited in a museum!" Prince Condé cursed angrily, holding back his anger and shouting behind him, "Bertold, go and provide support."

Bertold, a titled knight and commander of the Thousand Valley Parish Temple, rushed out immediately.

Seeing Bertold leading his troops rushing over, Jeanne did not continue to pursue him. Instead, she fired a burst of holy guns at him and then returned to the chariot formation.

Discipline comes first on the battlefield. The goal of Jeanne and the Saint-Muscle Cavalry is to expel and kill, not to continue fighting with the enemy.

The chariot formation cannot move and is a defensive formation.

Before all the infantry arrives, if the fighting escalates, it might ruin the overall situation.

As for Bertold, under the pressure of the Holy Gun's power, he did not continue the attack, but returned to Prince Condé.

Turning her head to look at Bertold leaving, Jeanne secretly exclaimed what a pity.

If only Bertold could replay what had just happened.

In this "exploratory" attack, the enemy left behind at least forty or fifty corpses and prisoners, while our side only had twenty or thirty corpses.

If the fireball crossbow had been assembled, or if the wizards had arrived, the knights would have suffered even greater casualties.

With chariots and holy guns, the casualty exchange ratio between the two sides reached two to one, and this exchange ratio was even between cavalry and infantry.

Even if Prince Conde put all his knights on the line, it would not make any difference. At most, the exchange ratio would become one to one or one to two.

But even so, Horn could still afford it. He had a Holy Gunner every three months and a Veteran every six months.

It takes at least ten years for Prince Condé to train a Royal Knight.

If infantry comes later, use clock bullets and fireballs to deal with them. If that doesn’t work, there is also the classic spider silk sticky ball.

His Majesty the Saint has too many cards.

In terms of positional warfare and defensive battles, the Savior Army can definitely be ranked among the top three in the entire empire.

This was not something Horn had done intentionally, but the Savior Army had always had to deal with attacks from the Imperial Knights and the Extraordinary Knights, and thus naturally developed this anti-cavalry positional warfare style.

"Your Highness." On the mound beside the riverbank, Galian half-knelt beside the prince's horse in shame. "Their clockwork gunners acted too quickly. We didn't expect it."

Prince Condé ignored him and asked Lacunio, "How is it?"

Lacunio understood and replied, "Among the casualties, 18 are known to have been killed in the battle, and there are 23 wounded and captured. However, the remaining 30 or so lightly and seriously wounded have all been brought back."

The first imperial edict was lost by nearly one-seventh in one breath, and Prince Kongdai's face twitched with heartache.

He rode on his horse and kicked Galian, who was half kneeling, to the ground: "Don't you understand my order? Fortunately, they can't move, otherwise there will be more casualties!"

Galian stood up with a dusty face: "I know I was wrong, Your Highness, I will lead the army myself..."

"No, there will be times when we can use you." Prince Conde interrupted him, "We will settle the score together after this war is over."

"Yes, Your Highness." Gallien quickly saluted Prince Condé in gratitude.

"Then...should I continue charging?" Alphos asked tentatively, looking at the traffic jam.

"Of course." Prince Kongdai's face flushed slightly, "I can tell you a hundred times how scary a lion looks like, but it's not as good as you touching it and seeing it yourself.

The first time you see a lion, you will be frightened. As long as you survive the fright, you will have the courage to fight the lion. Alphos, continue, but remember, don't rush too far."

"As you command, Your Highness!"

(End of this chapter)