Engagement (4)

Under Beck's watchful gaze, Verati mounted his warhorse. He nodded slightly to Beck, then took the helmet handed to him by the guard, put it on, grabbed the reins, and spurred his horse forward. He picked up the military flag planted on the ground and galloped eastward.

Rumble.

The Personal Guard Cavalry followed closely behind him on horseback, surging eastward. At this time, fighting had already begun on the left flank of the First Legion to the west.

There was no space left for the army to pass through that battlefield, so Verati led his troops to detour from the east. The infantry had already set off and would move close to the main battlefield to draw the attention of the Southern Marching Legion's main force and create space for the Cavalry of the Personal Guard.

Beck watched the dust trails left by the departing Personal Guard, his brow furrowed. He knew that Verati's mission was extremely difficult. Judging from their performance on the main battlefield, the Southern Marching Legion led by Viscount Golden Sunflower was truly formidable.

Their superior combat skills kept their warriors at an advantage, and the intense fighting did not affect the integrity of their formation. Their near-perfect armor coverage and sturdy armor made them difficult to harm. It could be said that this Southern Marching Legion was a force that Beck had never faced before.

However, the First Legion's reputation for being an iron wall was well-deserved. Although the defensive lines on the main battlefield had been battered and bruised by Heavy Infantry, they still managed to hold back the Southern Marching Legion's attacking forces with their tenacious fighting spirit, preventing them from advancing or retreating.

Victor was well aware of this as well. He led his guards and personal guards to remain under the banner, and with the advantage of the chariot's height, he could easily see the entire battlefield.

The Heavy Infantry unit, originally intended as a hammer to crush the enemy's defenses, failed to retreat in time as planned and is now being held back by the First Legion's Sword-and-Shield Soldiers phalanx, which is suffering heavy casualties.

In particular, after the ranged units of the First Legion found that they could not launch a volley against the Heavy Infantry mixed with their own troops, they simply pushed forward further, attempting to unleash a rain of arrows on the Pikemen behind the Heavy Infantry.

Victor's ranged units, relying on their longer range, suppressed the opposing ranged units, but the First Legion's ranged units pressed forward relentlessly with their numerical advantage, disregarding casualties.

Archers continued to fall as they marched, but despite their fear, the soldiers of the First Legion did not stop. Slowly, the First Legion's ranged units reached their designated positions.

The Legion Deputy Commander of the First Legion finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although the Sword-and-Shield Soldiers in front had held back the enemy's front, he knew that the soldiers were only holding on with the help of the supervisory team and their last breath, and could collapse at any time. He had to relieve the pressure on the front-line troops as soon as possible.

At the Legion Deputy Commander's command, the ranged units began unleashing a rain of arrows. Countless arrows rose directly from the formation, tracing dense and deadly parabolas in the sky before falling towards the First Legion's Spearman Phalanx.

Although Marvin and Santos had discovered the enemy's intentions and tried to shrink their formation to reduce the area covered by the arrow rain, they still suffered some casualties. Even though the Pikemen had helmets and breastplates, their exposed limbs were still vulnerable to injury.

A single volley of arrows rendered three companies of the main force incapable of fighting. Keep in mind that the Southern Marching Legion only had a little over 8,000 men on the main battlefield. Apart from a little over 1,000 Heavy Infantry, the remaining Pikemen were only nine detachments and 45 companies. Such casualties from a single volley were something even the clumsy Marvin, who was not good at calculations, knew that they could not simply endure the blows.

But if the Pikemen retreated now, the Heavy Infantry would be completely surrounded from both sides. Neither Marvin nor Santos could bear such a responsibility. They had to grit their teeth and hold on, or find another way.

Fortunately, our ranged units have a long enough range, and with this advantage, we can try to suppress the enemy's ranged units and reduce the casualties of our Pikemen.

Soon the original Spearman Phalanx began to adjust, shifting to the left, allowing the five Bow and Crossbow Troops, who were already prepared, to begin their performance, in addition to the other half of the battlefield.

Although their numbers were only half that of the opposing ranged forces, their arrows were equally accurate and deadly. However, their movements were spotted by the Legion Deputy Commander of the First Legion, and both units were now within the enemy's firing range.

The Legion Deputy Commander of the First Legion directly ordered the First Legion's ranged units to engage in a firefight with the ranged units of the Southern Marching Legion, believing that they would surely win with their numerical advantage.

However, after two salvos, the situation on the battlefield changed dramatically. The First Legion's ranged units did inflict casualties on the Southern Marching Legion's ranged units, but Victor's troops, relying on better equipment, suffered far fewer casualties than the First Legion, with a casualty ratio more than three times lower.

The Legion Deputy Commander of the First Legion observed very carefully. As the enemy rained down arrows, soldiers in his own troops who were hit by arrows were either killed or wounded, falling to the ground in droves. Meanwhile, the enemy troops had most of their arrows blocked by their helmets and armor.

He was deeply frustrated by the fact that even with a numerical advantage, the exchange of casualties meant that even if they fought to the very end, the other side would likely still emerge victorious.

Just as he was hesitating about whether to retreat, a messenger brought new orders: the Legion Commander the Beck Legion had dispatched reserve troops, who were flanking from the right flank, and had also deployed his Personal Guard Cavalry to directly attack the enemy's ranged units.

The Legion Deputy Commander then stopped ordering the ranged units to continue firing from a stationary position and began to gradually retreat. This situation was noticed by Marvin and Santos, who naturally did not waste the opportunity. The Spearman Phalanx continued to advance, and the ranged units continued to fire volleys.

Just as the two men were wondering why the enemy had suddenly retreated, they noticed smoke and dust coming from the enemy's left flank. "Oh no, the enemy's reinforcements are coming up!" they realized at the same time.

Santos said to Marvin beside him, "I'll try to stop them. My regiment can spare a detachment!"

Marvin knew that time was of the essence, so he nodded and said, "I can spare a squad as well. I'll leave the Regimental Commander Santos to you. I'll also speed up the pace of the attack."

Santos then left with two detachments, their only Reserve Force, the Sword-and-Shield Soldiers detachments, totaling just over 1,000 men.

Just as Santos saw the Cavalry below the smoke and dust, he suddenly felt his mouth go dry. He then shouted to the soldiers behind him, "Brothers, now is the time to make a name for yourselves! The Viscount will not treat you unfairly after the war. Follow me!"

After saying this, Santos ordered his troops to form a defensive formation, attempting to block the advance of the enemy Cavalry.

He believed that the enemy Cavalry was trying to attack the flank of the main force. Fortunately, the number of Cavalry was not large, and they were all Light Cavalry. Santos thought he should be able to stop them.

Santos stood directly in the center of the army formation, watching the approaching Cavalry. He estimated the distance between the two forces when they clashed. "100...90...80...70...60."

When the two sides were less than 50 paces apart, the Cavalry suddenly shifted to the right, cutting through Santos's formation in an arc. Santos thought to himself, "Not good!"

He quickly ordered his troops to move to the right in an attempt to block the enemy, but it was too late. The Cavalry simply rode off, ignoring Santos's forces and continuing to advance towards the rear of the battlefield.

Just as Santos was preparing to lead his troops to turn back and pursue, he was suddenly reminded by the Detachment Commander beside him that another army was charging towards them. Although it was an infantry unit, its numbers far exceeded those of the Cavalry unit from before. Santos knew that he was completely unable to move.

He quickly summoned a messenger and ordered him to immediately inform Marvin to be wary of the enemy Cavalry force, while he led his troops to prepare to intercept the approaching force.

Because messengers can move freely within their own ranks, they quickly found Marvin. After hearing the report, Marvin was also sweating profusely. The sudden appearance of such a Cavalry unit behind the main battlefield was not good news for him and the five ranged units around him.