Forced River Crossing

Early the next morning, Count Lloyd's troops began preparations for the attack.

During his brief standoff with the Gaba forces yesterday evening, Count Lloyd confirmed that the number of enemies on the other side of the river was not large.

He wasted no time throughout the night. In addition to sending Cavalry units downstream to find boats, he also ordered troops to cut down trees to make rafts and sent out several reconnaissance squads to cross the river to find out detailed information about the enemy forces.

After receiving feedback from the reconnaissance troops that the enemy only had about 4,000 troops, Count Lloyd did not intend to waste time and would launch an attack early in the morning to open up the road back to Ironwire City.

Gaba also noticed the enemy's gathering on the opposite bank of the river. Considering his limited forces, he originally planned to hold the position directly on the riverbank.

But after last night's exchange of fire, he knew that holding the riverbank would only make his troops easy targets.

Just as he was worrying about the battle plan, he received a message from a messenger in the early morning.

He received a message from Dirac that Dirac and his Cavalry had arrived at a place not far from the river crossing.

Dirac also spotted the opposing forces, but instead of making any rash moves, he took the initiative to contact Gaba and exchange intelligence.

Gaba was overjoyed to learn that Dirac's Cavalry had arrived near the battlefield.

With the help of such a Cavalry unit, his battle plan gained a better direction.

Before dawn, he took a few guards and personally went to Dirac and his troops to discuss a new battle plan with Dirac.

So when Count Lloyd's troops began to assemble and prepare to launch an attack, Gaba ordered his troops to retreat.

Count Lloyd was somewhat surprised by the actions of the opposing army.

The cautious Count Lloyd, seeing this situation, did not rush to launch an attack. Instead, he summoned a group of officers for a discussion.

One officer's assessment was unanimously agreed upon by most, "Sir, I think the reason they did this is because our long-range troops last night made them realize that the riverbank is not worth holding. They are probably planning to give up the riverbank and launch an attack while we are still in the middle of crossing the river and not yet firmly established."

After listening, Count Lloyd had some doubts, but he also thought it made a lot of sense. "So, what are your countermeasures?"

"The solution is simple: gather and prepare more boats and rafts, and send as many troops as possible across the river at once."

"As long as we can hold our ground, we will surely defeat the enemy with our superior numbers and weaponry!"

After listening, Count Lloyd paused for a moment, then asked the quartermaster, "How many boats and rafts do we have now, and how many troops can we transport across the river at once?"

The quartermaster immediately replied, "Because of the short time, we have only collected more than 100 boats so far, mostly small boats. Even with the rafts we have rushed to build, we can only transport a maximum of two battalions of troops at a time."

"Two battalions? That's not enough manpower!"

Upon hearing this, the other officers began to discuss it. After all, the previous suggestion was indeed in line with the advice for a fair and square war, and there was nothing wrong with it. As long as it was followed, they would not lose.

However, the reality for the troops is that they lack sufficient transport capacity to cross the river, and there are no fewer than four battalions of enemy troops on the other side. It would be very difficult to resist them without 4,000 soldiers.

Count Lloyd looked into the tent and saw the discussion growing louder and more noisier, which displeased him greatly. He slammed his sword hilt against the table.

"Our time is precious. Ironwire City is currently under siege by the enemy's main force. My family and your families are all inside the city. The sooner we arrive, the better the safety of Ironwire City can be guaranteed."

I'm hoping you can offer some better suggestions, anything that can help us achieve victory quickly, even if it means letting me cross the river first.

At this moment, an officer suddenly said, "Sir, how about this? We should prepare to cross the river now, but we can split into two groups. One group can go upstream along the river to find a suitable place to land and launch an attack from east to west."

The other route is our main force. We will send a small number of troops across the river and prepare quick defensive facilities for them to build temporarily, such as setting up rafts to block the city walls.

Simultaneously, long-range troops were deployed to support these forces in expanding and defending the landing zone.

"That makes sense. This way we can launch a surprise attack on the enemy. As long as we can make three round trips, we can definitely occupy the north bank of the river."

"That's true. Our ranged units have a much greater range than theirs, Count Excellency. Why don't we do it this way?"

At this point, the suggestion was unanimously agreed upon.

Count Lloyd also intended to adopt this suggestion, and soon the Cavalry was tasked with splitting up their forces. They would land at another location and attack the enemy's flanks once the enemy's attention was drawn to the main battlefield.

Unfortunately, neither Count Lloyd nor Gaba anticipated that their respective backup plans consisted of Cavalry units.

Soon, as the war drums sounded, Count Lloyd's troops began crossing the river, with a large number of small boats and rafts carrying thousands of soldiers from the south bank of the Green Forest River to the north bank.

Gaba remained calm. He noticed that the enemy's ranged units were moving forward to take advantage of their range and help their allies cross the river.

Gaba simply ordered his troops to remain stationary, and at that point, it was a test of who could hold their breath the longest.

In any case, once Count Lloyd's troops land, he will have the advantage in range.

To Gaba's surprise, Count Lloyd's crossing troops, upon reaching the riverbank, directly dragged some of the rafts used for crossing the river ashore.

Gaba was wondering why this army was doing this, but then he saw the rafts being driven into the soft ground near the riverbed, becoming makeshift walls.

Gaba quickly ordered the archers to fire a volley, but the effect was poor, causing little damage to the crossing troops. Meanwhile, the second wave of crossing troops had already begun to set off.

Faced with this situation, Gaba dared not waste any more time. If the Ironvine Territory Army landed more troops, his plan to defend the crossing would be a complete failure.

Soon, Gaba's troops launched an attack, intending to use their numerical superiority to drive the crossing troops back into the river.

But just as they reached within fifty paces of the riverbank, dozens of enormous crossbow bolts and stones dealt them a heavy blow, leaving the entire attacking force stunned.

It turns out that most of the Bed Crossbow and Catapult that Viscount Ferry purchased from the Golden Sunflower Territory were assigned to Count Lloyd's main force.

When Count Lloyd insisted on returning to Ironwire City, Viscount Ferry handed over all the Bed Crossbow and Catapult he could find to Count Lloyd's troops.

Count Lloyd did not use these heavy weapons last night, but this morning they were deployed directly to the riverbank, giving the Gaba troops a severe blow.

The crossbow bolts, resembling spears, pierced directly through the soldiers' bodies, sometimes even piercing through two soldiers in succession.

The polished, round stone balls rolled directly on the soft riverbank, skipping stones like stones, carving a bloody path through the water.

Seeing the troops that had launched the charge suffer such losses, Gaba was naturally furious.

But he was also decisive, knowing that these weapons were extremely powerful, but their reloading speed was definitely not fast. As long as he rushed up and mixed in with the troops crossing the river, he would not be attacked.

Under Gaba's command, the two forces finally clashed and began a fierce battle on the riverbank.