Joining battle (II)
The rain of arrows fired by the archers of the First Legion hung like a dark cloud over the Heavy Infantry of the Southern Marching Legion, but its effect was no different from rain, except that it made a clanging sound as it landed on their armor.
To the front-line Sword-and-Shield Soldiers of the First Legion, the Heavy Infantry in front of them were like a wall. The rain of arrows had no effect on them and did not stop this black steel wall from continuing to advance towards them.
It cannot be said that the Heavy Infantry suffered no casualties. The archers of the First Legion, with their arrows mixed in with the rain of arrows, accurately hit the joints of the Heavy Infantry's armor. Some even hit the breathing and observation ports reserved on the Heavy Infantry soldiers' face shields, seriously injuring or even killing the hit Heavy Infantry.
However, there were far too few of these archers. The fallen Heavy Infantry did not hinder them at all. The Heavy Infantry phalanx continued to advance at a steady and continuous pace, their heavy footsteps treading neatly on the hard salt flats. The Sword-and-Shield Soldiers of the First Legion seemed to feel the earth trembling in front of them.
Meanwhile, the archer units of the First Legion behind them did not expect that the Heavy Infantry in front of them were so well protected. The volley of fire from six battalions, totaling nearly 6,000 men, only caused negligible casualties on the other side.
It should be noted that many archers have excellent eyesight; they could tell that the opposing Heavy Infantry force numbered at most 1,000 men, with each man taking an average of 6 arrows, but suffering very few casualties.
Some Heavy Infantry were covered in arrows, looking like hedgehogs, but these arrows had no effect on them. Faced with this situation, many people's confidence was shaken, and for a moment even the speed of drawing and nocking the bow slowed down.
Beck and his officers had been watching the battle from the command tower at the rear of the army, but seeing that their own archers' arrows had no effect, they all turned pale.
At this moment, Beck noticed that the archers seemed very slow after firing one volley, and were hesitant to fire a second volley. He directly lashed out with his whip at the messenger who was standing aside waiting for orders, "Didn't I order the archers to fire ten volleys? How did you relay the order?"
"Legion Commander, I have conveyed the message; nothing has been missed!"
The messenger's face was slapped raw and bleeding, but he dared not touch the wounds. He knew his Legion Commander well; if he couldn't explain things clearly in time, he might be beaten to death.
Fortunately, shortly after he finished speaking, the archers finally began their second volley. However, this volley was ineffective. Three battalions failed to fire their arrows immediately, and one battalion even missed its target. The arrow rain covered too far forward, causing many arrows to miss the Heavy Infantry units altogether.
Beck's eyes seemed to want to kill. He said fiercely to the Legion Deputy Commander beside him, "You take your men to that longbow battalion. Kill the Battalion Commander on the spot. Then you take command of the crossbow phalanx. No volleying is allowed to stop without my order."
"Yes!"
The Legion Deputy Commander quickly led his men away, heading towards the crossbowmen unit.
Just then, Beck's adjutant suddenly shouted, "What's going on?"
Beck found it extremely grating and was about to burst into a tirade when he noticed his adjutant pointing towards the right flank and shouting at him, "Legion Commander, look at the army of Great Oak Territory, something's very wrong with them!"
Beck looked toward the right flank and saw that the two square formations on the left flank of the Southern Marching Legion had overlapped with the square formations of the private army of the Great Oak Territory, but the two sides did not engage in battle. Instead, they were like two parallel lines without any contact.
The private army of Great Oak Territory began to move directly to the right, clearing the frontal space. The two square formations on the left flank of the Southern Marching Legion rushed towards the flank of the First Legion through this opened passage.
Upon seeing this, Beck suddenly felt dizzy. He hadn't expected this to happen. His allies had directly cleared the First Legion's flank, exposing the First Legion's vulnerable side.
Just as he was still unable to accept this reality, his Personal Guard suddenly turned pale and said to him, "Legion Commander, our left flank..."
Beck suddenly realized something. He turned his head and saw that the Coalition of Nobles on the left wing had suddenly fallen into chaos. He could see it clearly from the command tower. The Coalition of Nobles was being attacked from both sides.
Suddenly, the rear of the left-wing Coalition of Nobles was attacked by a Cavalry unit, whose banner was the military standard bearing the Great Oak Crest. At the same time, James's Cavalry unit also circled around to the side of the Coalition of Nobles, with the Heavy Cavalry leading the way, and directly tore apart the two small square formations on the flank of the Coalition of Nobles.
Driven by the two Cavalry units, large numbers of fleeing soldiers surged toward the inner flank of the Coalition of Nobles. The fleeing soldiers disrupted the formations of the noble private armies, turning the originally relatively orderly formations into complete chaos.
In particular, after careful observation, Beck also discovered that within the Coalition of Nobles, several private armies of eastern nobles had launched attacks on their friendly forces. The entire right-wing Allied Army formation, numbering nearly 100 men, was melting rapidly like a piece of butter being sliced by a hot knife.
Beck gripped the railing of the command tower tightly and said through gritted teeth, "Fine, I didn't expect this. That damned Count Black, I really didn't expect this. They're all a bunch of traitors."
Beck understood that the entire army was now in imminent danger. The right-wing Allied Army phalanx would not last long under the combined attack of nearly 10,000 Cavalry and internal traitors. He did not believe that the already disorganized right-wing Coalition of Nobles had any chance of turning the tide.
Meanwhile, the infantry phalanx of the Great Oak Territory private army to his left also moved to the left flank, attempting to attack the Allied Army phalanx on the left. Although the two sides had not yet started fighting, Beck did not believe that the Allied Army on the left flank could withstand the Great Oak Territory private army, not to mention that there might be traitors among the Coalition of Nobles on the left flank.
Even if he wanted to do something to salvage the situation now, it would be too late. But fortunately, the First Legion was still there, and he still had his iron wall. He didn't think he had no chance of winning at all.
Although Beck was burning with rage, he remained remarkably calm. As a seasoned general who had experienced many battles, he would never easily give up his army as long as he still had it.
Beck led his officer corps directly out of the command tower. By this time, the First Legion's flanks had been exposed, and the entire Allied Army were in complete chaos. His Allied Army Command Post, located at the rear of the army, was no longer of any significance.
Beck decided to lead his officer corps directly into the First Legion's lines, believing it to be the safest area on the battlefield.
At this moment, the First Legion's frontal phalanx had completely collided with the Southern Marching Legion's diamond phalanx, and the Heavy Infantry wielding long spears directly crushed the First Legion's front-line Sword-and-Shield Soldiers.
But that's where the impact of pure infantry units ends. Victor's Heavy Infantry, relying on their sturdy armor and accumulated stamina, launched a terrifying charge, but ultimately could only break through three ranks of Sword-and-Shield Soldiers.
The vanguard of the First Legion was incredibly thick. Even after breaking through three ranks, there were still five more ranks behind, a full five battalions of Sword-and-Shield Soldiers, providing solid protection for the front of the First Legion.
At this point, the Heavy Infantry phalanx no longer insisted on breaking through, but instead split into smaller phalanxes and forcibly embedded themselves into the First Legion's phalanx, directly dividing the front ranks of the First Legion into several irregular protrusions.
The Pikemen following behind the Heavy Infantry began to exert their strength, directly attacking the salient of the First Legion that had been squeezed out by the Heavy Infantry phalanx. At this point, the Sword-and-Shield Soldiers whose formation had been squeezed out of shape were completely unable to resist the Pikemen's attack.
Spears thrust into the gaps in the shields, and in each volley, swarms of Sword-and-Shield Soldiers fell to the ground. Meanwhile, the Pikemen of the First Legion were unable to support the troops in front of them. Under the command of the Legion Command, they had begun to move to the right flank to prepare to block the two square formations of the Southern Marching Legion attacking from the flank.
The two main phalanxes flanking from the right were the First Regiment led by Ron and a mixed regiment commanded by Baron Brown and Viscount Markut. Originally Cavalry- based, these two units, though now without horses, still moved faster than normal infantry. Led by their own bravery, the troops reached the flank of the First Legion before the First Legion's Pikemen arrived.