Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 182 Battle
In fact, this is not a very bad idea, because the commander of the Romans is very cautious and does not give them any decent chances. This is the first time to go out of the camp and confront them directly.

Even if the enemy has a slight terrain advantage, the slope of the hill here is very gentle, which is actually not that exaggerated. It's just a slight disadvantage in vision, which is not a fatal flaw, and we can still fight.

So, after hesitating for a while under the Romans' noses, the coalition forces of these Germanic peoples finally took action, forming rows of lines and preparing to launch an attack on the Romans on the top of the hill.

The first thing that started was a shooting match between long-range troops. In this round, the Romans had an absolute advantage. The troops that Orville carefully selected from the Gaul province were not just good-looking. The basic skills of these hunters were quite good. After several months of training, most of them could basically pull a bow of more than 60 pounds, which was considered a relatively qualified archer.

The long-range troops on the coalition side were mainly composed of native Anglo-Saxons, and their troop levels were undoubtedly typical of their unevenness.

English longbowmen were very famous in later generations. Putting aside the issue of cultural propaganda, they did have something in them. England at that time had a group of very high-quality archer reserve talents, who could become excellent longbowmen with a little training and integration. However, this quality was not innate. It took a lot of effort to produce so many good talents, thanks to the governing measures and long-term cultivation of successive English kings.

The Anglo-Saxons should not be considered a magical nation that is naturally proficient in archery. If their archery talent is not cultivated, it will be just ordinary. England is now in such an ordinary era, and there is no highlight in its long-range troops.

Therefore, these poorly equipped and trained English archers, javelin throwers and slingers did not gain any advantage. On the contrary, they were suppressed by the well-trained Gallic archers.

Orville had not even sent out his most elite large-shield crossbowmen, but he had already suppressed the enemy in the shooting phase, forcing the Germans to use their cavalry again to disperse the skirmishers in front of the enemy phalanx.

Orville also knew when to stop and quickly ordered his troops to retreat. The Germans originally wanted to take advantage of the situation and pursue the enemy, going around the flank of the Roman line to divert the enemy's attention, but at this time they found it difficult to move freely.

This is the battlefield carefully selected by Orville and a group of military advisers. It seems to be the place where the Battle of Hastings took place in history. In addition to being a small slope, this place also has a significant advantage - there are lush trees on both sides of the slope and a swamp behind it. No matter which side the cavalry is on, it is difficult to charge and they are inevitably restrained.

The visibility in the forest is very poor, and it is difficult to see the situation inside. The Germans already knew in advance that there were many Celtic light infantry among the enemies. These people have been active in mountain forests all year round and are considered professionals on this kind of battlefield. The cavalry did not dare to rush in rashly because they lacked vision and impact power.

Therefore, after dispersing the enemy, these Germanic cavalry could only choose to linger in front of the enemy's front position, and the cavalry's mobility and flexibility were difficult to bring into play.

Orville specially pulled over a few crossbows. Seeing this situation, he directly ordered the soldiers to start shooting at the enemy.

Even though there was thunder but little rain, and the number and shooting accuracy of the crossbows were not enough to hit the vigilant enemy hundreds of meters away, the crossbow arrows that were deeply embedded in the ground still successfully intimidated the surrounding Germanic cavalry, making them dare not get too close to the Roman lines, and instead shrink back at a distance.

It might be okay to let them charge and kill the enemy, but it would be a bit frustrating to die inexplicably on such a thing. It is human nature to fear death. In this situation, the German infantry coalition slowly approached the enemy, and then both sides began the last few rounds of fire before the battle. Bows, javelins, crossbows, slingshots... all kinds of weapons were fired as much as possible. The formations of both sides were very dense. At this time, accuracy was not important. If you throw far enough, you can basically hit the target with your eyes closed.

In this round of confrontation, Orville still had a slight advantage because his long-range troops did have stronger projection capabilities.

Among the various types of infantry, there are many light infantrymen holding long poles that are quite eye-catching. Orville is also carefully observing the condition of these new slingers, which seem to be doing well at the moment.

He gave these soldiers a slingshot, which worked in the same way as a normal fishing rod, both rely on swinging to throw objects out, the difference being that a fist-sized stone was tied to the slingshot.

This is also a convenient way. Using a slingshot can significantly reduce the difficulty of using a slingshot. If a slinger has not been fully trained, not only is the accuracy difficult to guarantee, but even the range is hard to say. Twenty to thirty meters is considered good.

Using a slingshot can alleviate this problem to a certain extent and lower the threshold for getting started, but it is also difficult to grasp the specific position of the slingshot, and the accuracy is difficult to guarantee. But to be honest, accuracy is not needed at all now. Basically, if you throw it out without being ridiculously crooked, you can hit someone.

Small stones may look insignificant, but they can be fatal if they hit an unarmored target. Just like a crossbow, stones can kill people, or at least cripple an arm and make a person lose combat ability for a short period of time.

Orville's long-range troops are not fully formed in any sense, they just have the actual combat capability. Their projection ability cannot be called like rain of arrows, but it is enough to deal with these Germans in front of them.

Although the Germans suffered considerable damage before the battle, this did not shake their morale because the core strength of the Germans was not damaged.

The cavalry temporarily lingered at a safe distance. Both the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxon heavy infantry were not afraid of this level of projected firepower. Apart from a few unlucky guys who were hit in the vitals, there were not many casualties. The casualties were mainly caused by the light infantry who came to make up the numbers.

To put it nicely, the role of these people on the battlefield is to fill the front line; to put it bluntly, they are high-level cannon fodder. It is still that small number of elite forces that determines the outcome of the war.

After marching a hundred meters, the troops of both sides collided and began the most important and most brutal hand-to-hand combat.

The Romans did have higher military literacy and a generally higher level of weaponry and equipment, but they were at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, and no matter which group the Germans were, they were generally taller in physique than the Romans. When the two sides were in a contest of strength, the Germans actually had the advantage, which to a large extent offset the enhancements of acquired training and equipment. The two sides were evenly matched at the beginning, or it could be said that the Romans were at a slight disadvantage.

(End of this chapter)