Ironvine Territory (Thirty-Nine)
"They're here!"
Jules, a Squad Leader Yule Two Rivers Territory, observed the battlefield through an observation hole in the wall. When the bugle call of the Allied Army right flank sounded, he quickly shouted to his squad, "The enemy is charging! Everyone, get ready and watch out for the arrows!"
His troops were all Pikemen, responsible for the defense of the first line of the wall, which meant they had to move from their originally safe positions to the front.
Yule gave the order, all the soldiers spontaneously crouched down, holding their spears at a 45-degree angle in front of them, ready to avoid arrows.
Soon, the first volley of arrows rained down on them. Thanks to the arrow shields built along the wall and the arrow-avoiding formation formed by long spears, most of them survived the volley safely. Only a few unlucky ones were hit by a few arrows. Fortunately, everyone was wearing helmets and chainmail, so they were mostly only slightly injured.
Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to get up and fight, a rock the size of a human head suddenly fell from the sky, hitting a soldier squarely in the chest and knocking him to the ground.
By the time his squad leader ran over to check on him, the man was barely breathing. Even the breastplate couldn't protect him; his chest had been crushed.
Squad Leader Yule also ran over to check, and when he saw the stone bullets that had been polished very smoothly, he knew that they had been attacked by the enemy.
"Damn it, how come the enemy still has Catapult? Why didn't the watchtower spot them?"
However, this cannot be blamed on the watchtower. The Scorpion Ballista that Dawan purchased from the East Sea Alliance was fired at a very low angle, shorter than a person, making it difficult to notice when blocked in the formation.
However, since they had been attacked by slingshots, Yule immediately wanted to report to his superiors and quickly sent two soldiers to the rear with the slingshot, while he led the remaining troops to prepare to meet the first wave of enemy troops.
However, the slinging attack had clearly frightened the soldiers, and their movements had slowed down considerably.
"Damn it, we've brought in too many new recruits. They're causing problems as soon as we get to the battlefield. It's all the Detachment Commander's fault for taking half of the veterans from my squad."
Yule was furious. He walked straight up to the most timid soldiers and kicked them one by one. "Sit up, all of you! Don't embarrass yourselves. Once the enemy infantry charges up, they won't dare to fire arrows and throw stones anymore."
"Anyone who dares to back down in battle, the Military Judge are watching closely. Think of your families and the Military Support Farmland allocated to your families. Don't blame me if you end up losing all your benefits."
His words made the expressions on the soldiers' faces firm again.
Most of these soldiers were recruited from the militia of Golden Sunflower Territory after the Battle of Rotten Tree Beach. Although they had received training, they did not have much combat experience.
However, in order to boost the morale and fighting spirit of these soldiers, Victor directly instructed the Department of Civil Administration of Golden Sunflower Territory to allocate some Military Support Farmland to the families of these soldiers, about 10 mu per household. As long as they served in the army, they would not need to pay rent, and even their taxes would be reduced by 10%, which can be said to be quite generous.
These soldiers had gone through layers of selection to join the Southern Marching Legion in order to obtain these Military Support Farmland. Although there was bound to be chaos at the beginning of the battle, they all knew the significance of these Military Support Farmland to their families. After they understood this, they were able to quickly demonstrate the results of their training, and their movements became much smoother.
Yule nodded in satisfaction. "Prepare, the enemy has already climbed the hill. Form ranks."
At this moment, Foss returned to the lookout tower located behind the battle lines, and together with Marvin and Manzo, they observed the overall situation of the battlefield.
They happened to meet the messenger sent by Yule' superior and learned that the garrison at the front had also been attacked by Catapult.
"The enemy has Catapult? How come we didn't notice them before?"
Marvin curiously touched the stone projectiles that the two soldiers had brought over, which still had some congealed blood on them, while Foss questioned the lookout on the watchtower.
"Forget it, Foss, we didn't notice it before either, so don't blame them."
I've heard that the East Sea Alliance has a special crossbow that fires stone projectiles. It's very low and easy to hide. The nobles in the Southern Region often fight against the East Sea Alliance, so they might have similar weapons."
Marvin turned his gaze to Manzo, Manzo quickly nodded. "The East Sea Alliance does indeed have such weapons. Their range is not as good as that of ordinary Catapult. Although I have never seen one, I have heard my uncle, Viscount Ferry, mention it."
Marvin stood up. "Let's get our Catapult firing! Launch them at the densest parts of their formation, let them know that our Two Rivers Territory Catapult are the strongest."