Knight and Wand

Chapter 228 Encirclement
At some point in the sky, a cold, damp wind started blowing.

Leon lowered his body on the griffin's back and continued to chase the Manticore Knight who was fleeing in the distance.

Relying on its faster speed than the opponent, it gradually closed the distance, and the Death Claw suddenly carried Leon into the gloomy clouds.

The two Scorpion Knights looked back nervously and suddenly lost sight of the griffins pursuing them. They seemed to realize the danger and they pulled the reins of their mounts and descended at full speed, trying to stay away from the dark clouds above their heads to prevent sneak attacks.

Although the two felt that they could fight Orland's Griffin Knight in a two-on-one battle, for safety reasons, they still wanted to meet up with their companions in the southern airspace as soon as possible to form an absolute advantage in numbers.

The acceleration brought by the dive made the two Kantadar riders feel a little relieved.

Suddenly, they saw a large group of Uriah cavalry marching on the land ahead, and they relaxed their vigilance even more.

——Boom!
Suddenly there was a roar of thunder.

A flash of lightning struck down from the sky where the atmosphere was churning, and rushed far ahead of the lion scorpion's flight path.

The streaking lightning struck a manticore on the back.

A shrill scream was heard, and the heavy magic spear hit the knight riding it.

Electric arcs exploded, steel helmets dented, and the terrifying impact force from the sky allowed Gungnir to penetrate the armor of the Kantardar rider.

The knight's body fell from the saddle.

After taking his first "kill" since joining the war, Leon rode the griffin out of the clouds and raised his hand to summon the magic wand.

Gungnir, wrapped in lightning, flew up into the sky from the corpse that had not yet fallen to the ground, until he was caught by his master.

Driving the Death Claw to fly levelly, Leon watched the frightened Manticore fly even faster to lower altitudes, thinking it was a pity.

He only killed the knight, but failed to kill the lion scorpion because the knight's body blocked the knife.

It's not that he didn't want to, but at such a long distance, he was lucky to be able to hit with Gungnir's elemental projection.
Looking at the large army of enemies fleeing to the ground and the manticore that had lost its rider, Leon thought again and again, pulled the reins and gave up the pursuit.

Although the Death Claws are powerful, they are far from being able to take on an elite army alone, and it is impossible for him to do it alone.

The giant beast companion's huge wings were not protected by the battle armor, and he risked going down to chase the landing lion scorpion, bearing countless war bows. If the griffin was injured, both he and the beast would be in trouble.
Besides, there was no guarantee whether there were other Scorpion-tailed Lion Knights lingering in this airspace and getting involved in a fight. If it delayed the battle that had already started on the east coast, it would be a waste of time.

But another Uriah army?

Leon turned around and quickly looked at the cavalry, which numbered more than a thousand men. He knew that he had to go back as soon as possible to inform them of the unexpected arrival of enemy reinforcements.

They returned north at full speed, circling in mid-air and found the Orland army that had already joined them.

Elipher, with his 2,400 men, was marching at full speed toward the village of Beyer, which lay on the shallow bank of a tributary.

Falling in front of the army, Leon hurriedly reported the new situation discovered in the south to the feudal lord.

Count Thornflower reined in his horse and frowned. The sudden appearance of more than a thousand enemy reinforcements was not what he had expected.

They came too fast. The enemy should have been halfway there before our side took action.

Regardless of the reason, the Lord of the Thorn Flower did not hesitate, nor did he stop the battle. He turned around and ordered, "The entire army must march quickly to capture the enemy camp in Bayer Village as soon as possible. Lord Anguila will take 800 spearmen and 400 crossbowmen to stay behind to block the enemy from crossing the river until we have defeated the enemy and come back. Do not retreat a single step!"

After adjusting the deployment, Earl looked at Leon and said, "The plan remains unchanged. Go back to help Balf and hold off the enemy. I will bring reinforcements in an hour."

On the battlefield on the east bank of the tributary, the Orland archers who retreated to the slope fired a rain of arrows, once again forcing back the enemies who were moving like the wind in front of the shield formation.

The knights on both wings of the Thorn Flower Army galloped in a figure-8 pattern to drive away the Uriah cavalry who kept trying to get closer.

But seeing that the enemy had no intention of fighting, the knights did not rashly leave the front line to pursue them. They only drove away the enemy cavalry that tried to cut off the corners, and then rode back to the army formation.

The light cavalry, firing their bows, constantly provoked the Knights of the Thorn Flower, intending to lead the heavy cavalry of the northerners away from the wings of the infantry phalanx. Whenever the knights of Orland dared to advance, the War-Oath heavy cavalry behind the Uriahs would rush forward, separating and devouring them from the infantry phalanx.

Achaji looked up among the heavy cavalry and observed that the soldiers in front of him were constantly forcing the northern army to retreat.

The tribal cavalry rotated in turns, using harassment tactics to exert pressure and force the Orland army to move and turn.

The grassland people did not engage in hand-to-hand combat with the northerners by relying on numbers. Relying on their two-legged infantry, they could not catch up with the advantage of four-legged war horses. The cavalry pulled back and forth with extraordinary mobility, waiting for the enemy soldiers to lose patience and physical strength, exposing the loopholes in the formation.

But Balf, standing behind the army and overlooking the battlefield, remained calm.

Although soldiers were shot by arrows and fell from time to time in the army, he still ordered the troops to retreat in stages, as if he had given up the intention of fighting and gradually withdrew from the battlefield.

However, the Uriah people did not take this opportunity to launch a rash attack.

After all, "rout" and "retreat" are completely different states in a battle.

As long as the formation is intact and maintains an orderly retreat rhythm, the attacking side will have to weigh the consequences of forcibly attacking the entire army.

The Uriah cavalry was indeed powerful, but both sides were elite troops equipped with complete armor. In this case, the cavalry was superior to the infantry only in terms of initiative and speed on the battlefield, not in melee combat.

Even the two thousand fully armored Uriah cavalry did not dare to charge head-on before the opposing heavy infantry phalanx collapsed.

Using cavalry in that way is either a last resort, or when facing a mob where the enemy is weak and we are strong, or when someone is a fool who thinks that heavy cavalry can penetrate a complete infantry phalanx.

At this moment, Balfe sincerely hoped that his opponent would be such a reckless daredevil.

It’s a pity that the nomads on horseback obviously understand cavalry better than most Feru people, and they will never take action rashly until they see that the enemy is exhausted.

The stalemate was broken until a shadow passed across the sky.

Baron Balfe raised his scarred face and saw the giant wings in the sky, and his heart was relieved.

The slowly walking Thorn Flower Knights all looked sideways, excited by the return of the Griffin Baron.

Every knight who participated in the military meeting knew that this meant that the feudal lord's flanking troops had arrived behind the enemy.

A gust of wind blew over the heads of the three infantry companies. The Death Claw carried Leon, flapping its wings and hovering in the air, accompanying the army formation below.

The cool breeze penetrated into the gaps between the soldiers' armor, and even alleviated the humidity and heat they felt from running back and forth and the tension.

Holding Gungnir, Lion pointed the spear blade at the enemy and nodded to Balfe who was looking at him not far to the right.

The next moment, the Uriahs in the south heard the northern army change the rhythm of the trumpet sounds.

At the resounding attack signal, amidst the flashing forest of guns, the sound of footsteps shook the heavens.

The spear phalanx that had been retreating in silence just now began to push forward with their shields in an orderly manner.

Can't the northerners bear it anymore?
Achaji's face showed a fierce look. The tribal war chief had extraordinary vision, so he naturally saw the griffin hovering above the enemy's head.

But even with such a powerful war beast, it is not enough to reverse the situation of advantages and disadvantages between the two armies on a battlefield of such scale.

However, it is certainly impossible to leave such a giant beast alone.

"Give me my bow!" Achaji shouted.

The sworn guards on the side heard the order, spurred their horses to the rear of the team, and ordered two strong slaves to carry the "Dragon Hunting Bow" that was taller than a man and the long arrows that were as exaggerated as siege crossbow arrows to the side of the war leader.

Achaji, who was wearing heavy armor, dismounted, picked up the heavy bow with one hand, and stared at the horse-eating beast that the northerner was riding.
The Thorn Flower Army Formation, in action, changed its previous passive attitude and took the initiative to move forward and approach Uriah's cavalry.

But the grassland people were not panicked. On the contrary, the moving northern army formation reduced the range and frequency of the northern longbowmen's shooting, allowing Uriah's cavalry to get closer to the enemy with each jogging and turning, and their horse shooting became more and more accurate and fierce.

The shields of the thorn flower warriors in the front row had been pierced into hedgehogs by sharp and heavy arrows. Arrows occasionally penetrated the gaps in the shields when they moved. The injured soldiers screamed and were forced to move forward. Even if they accidentally fell, they would be stepped on mercilessly by their comrades behind them.

Military law is ruthless, and anyone who disrupts the formation will be killed. Before the battle is over, no one will have the energy to help the wounded.

Many wailing soldiers were left behind.

On the ground ahead, there was a Thorn Flower warrior who had been shot by an arrow and could not be dragged back to the camp in time, and was trampled to death by Uriah's horse's hooves.

Before the fierce battle even started, the Farolis family had already paid the price of dozens of corpses.

The army continued to push forward, facing the fire from the cavalry's bows. Finally, the rain of arrows gradually stopped, and in front of the solid line of the Thorn Flower family, the Uriah people had used up all the arrows in the quivers of the left and right armies.

Sharp military whistles sounded, and the footsteps of the Orland soldiers became faster and faster, and the phalanx was slightly out of shape in the soldiers' quick steps.

Achaji, who was holding the long bow, couldn't help but sneer.

Want to restrict your range of activities? What a joke. Behind them is a vast wilderness with plenty of space to retreat. The cavalry of the tribe only need to entangle the northerners and retreat a few times to exhaust the energy of these infantrymen and make the tight formation collapse.

Using infantry to chase cavalry seems to be the general on the opposite side who is impatient.

This would save trouble, Achaji thought. The opponent's formation was tight and they were retreating alternately. Apart from constantly exerting pressure, he really had no good way to break through the formation.
Just as they were feeling thankful that the battle could be ended more easily, from the rear of the army, a light sentry holding a command flag spurred his horse frantically, passing through the rear army unhindered and galloping to the flag of the central army guarded by the heavy cavalry who had sworn to war.

Seeing the leader, the sentry jumped off his horse, his face full of anxiety:

"It's terrible, Chief! The camp has been occupied by the Orlanders. The centurion didn't dare to fight and is leading his centurions to retreat. At least two thousand Orlanders are coming from behind the army!"

Achaji opened his eyes wide and was stunned.

".Two thousand? How is that possible? Where did so many people come from?!"

Those lion scorpion knights watched for the entire morning, but didn’t they only see 400 cavalrymen at the end of the west bank of the tributary and the south bank of the mainstream?
Did the two thousand Orland troops fly here with wings?

Achaji felt a chill down his spine and cursed inwardly those damn Kantardar people who rode on beasts, calling them blind rubbish.

But now was not the time to be angry at the useless spies of the friendly forces. Achaji said sharply:
"Where are the reinforcements from the Altun Khan? Have they arrived?!"

"Reinforcements. Our reinforcements haven't arrived yet."

The sentry had a sad face.

Achaji's expression darkened.

That’s right, if the thousand reinforcements from Alkin Khan arrived, how could he have lost the rear camp so quickly.

His hopes dashed, Achaji gritted his teeth and looked up at the Orlando army formation that was slowly approaching like a rock, regardless of casualties.

Damn his mistress, he fell into the trap.

Anger rose in his heart and Achaji spat fiercely.

Hurry, hurry, hurry! If it weren't for those damn Kantadar people urging them to go north, they wouldn't have been sent by the Khan.

I was also blinded by greed. I thought that if I didn't catch up with the looting of Sun City, I could at least make a little money in the Kantadar King City and show my face in front of the new Khan. If I had known earlier, I would have returned to the grassland to have fun. Anyway, I had robbed enough things from various tribes. What was the point of working for those Kantadar pigs?
What difference would it make to the Uriah people whether Abel was the king of the northerners or Kaso was?

Is there still a chance?
The Orlando army behind them has not been seen yet, so they definitely don’t have many cavalry.

If we can defeat the army in front of us as soon as possible.
Achaji handed the longbow and long arrows to the guard beside him, picked up the long-handled sword and spear and mounted the tall warhorse again.

"Listen up! The rear army will lead the way, and the left and right armies will attack the two wings of the northerners. All the rest of the 'war oaths' follow me."

The command flags, drums and horns changed. The 500 cavalrymen on each side of the army moved away, hung up their bows, took off the cavalry spears slung over their backs, turned their horses around, divided the troops to the left and right, formed a sharp formation and moved towards the Feru knights on the opposite wings.

The energetic cavalry of the rear army slowly advanced with five centuries and took over the center formation.

Five hundred heavily armored war-sworn cavalrymen, with their horses and men in full armor, put on their terrifying visors with bearded faces, held steel-bladed spears longer than the infantry's spears, followed the tribal war leader, galloped down the high slope on their horses, and entered the battlefield.

The sound of thousands of horses galloping made the earth hum.

The half-white and half-dark clouds in the sky seemed to indicate that a storm was approaching.

Leon, riding on the back of a griffin, saw the enemy army approaching with full momentum, and hurriedly urged his companions to flap their wings to increase altitude.

Seeing a large group of black spots approaching about three kilometers away, Leon knew that the general on the opposite side had probably already noticed the situation.

Then he looked down at the battlefield.

The sudden change caused the Northern and Southern armies, which had been keeping their distance, to move closer together quickly.

The phalanx of Orland soldiers below dropped their spears, halberds and blades, and the sound of long poles colliding became a continuous sound.

On the left and right sides, the Uriah cavalry and the Thorn Flower Knights galloped faster and faster.

The crescent-shaped Uriah cavalry was in the middle of the formation, and a rain of arrows flew towards Orland's phalanx before the swords and spears.

It seems that there is no risk on the right side and the center army for the time being. The only threat is Uriah's heavy cavalry that is making a detour from the left.

The two hundred Thorn Flower Knights on the left wing bravely charged against enemies that outnumbered them by more than twice their number.

The loud war cries of the Feru people and the terrifying howls of the Uriah people were first heard on both wings of the battlefield.

Leon knew that it would be difficult to prevent the enemy's main force from encircling him by relying solely on the knights and infantry phalanx on the left wing.

Pulling the reins, the Deathclaw roared and dived down with its companion on its back.
(End of this chapter)