Ironvine Territory (63)

Although he didn't know why the Northlands Cavalry opposite him would resort to such a tactic of killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of their own, Jindio didn't intend to do nothing.

In his view, even if his Cavalry had an advantage, it was a waste to squander such a precious Cavalry force.

His main force quickly began to adjust, with the Cavalry at the forefront taking turns to cover the retreat, and the infantry squares slowly moving forward.

The whole process was slow, in order to prevent the opposing Northlands Cavalry from launching a sudden attack while the vanguard's formation was scattered.

However, James may have been aiming for this very moment, just as the rear of the Cavalry turned their horses around and bypassed the infantry square.

James's Cavalry suddenly launched another Wall Charge, but this time it was not the Light Cavalry that had charged before, but the Chainmail Cavalry he had secretly placed in formation.

Earlier in the battle, these Chainmail Cavalry had already advanced to the front of the column by rolling in formation, and only now did they suddenly emerge from the ranks.

These were indeed James's Heavy Cavalry troops. Their original heavy armor, made of Iron Birch bark, had been left in Victor's main force. In order to fight alongside James and Ron, they carried only one set of chainmail and one set of leather armor.

James's plan was simple: first, use Light Cavalry to exchange blows with the enemy Cavalry, and then when the opposing commander began to worry about the depletion of Cavalry strength and prepared to use infantry phalanxes to advance,

James would send them out, using them as a heavy hammer to break through the infantry formation of this War Department. He would take advantage of their unstable footing and the moment they changed formation, disrupting their order and forcing the fleeing troops to break up their entire ranks.

James stood at the rear, watching the Chainmail Cavalry ahead, his hands gripping the reins tightly, his palms sweating profusely.

The two sides have been fighting for several hours since this morning, and James has been trying to lure the enemy's infantry forward. He believes this is the best opportunity.

The three rows of Chainmail Cavalry began to slowly pick up speed, their horses' hooves striking the ground in unison, the clattering sound echoing between the two mountains.

As the speed increased, the sound grew louder and louder, eventually turning into a series of deafening roars.

At this moment, the elite Heavy Cavalry of the Two Rivers Territory finally unleashed their full power. As they leveled their lances, bent over, and began their accelerated charge, chaos began to break out in the infantry formation of the Fourth Legion opposite them.

Especially since there were still many ducal Cavalry who had not withdrawn from the battlefield between the two armies, they had also seen the imposing Heavy Cavalry charge, and at this moment they were all thinking only of escaping, not wanting to become victims of this moving city wall.

At this point, although the infantry formation had not yet been fully arrayed, the front rank of troops, under the command of their officers, had already begun to deploy barricades in preparation for an enemy charge.

However, the first to charge into their gun emplacements were not James's Northlands Cavalry, but rather the Fourth Legion Cavalry, who had completely lost their footing.

In order to deploy their formation, the infantry phalanx began to encroach on the passages on both sides that were originally used for the retreat of the front-line Cavalry. Although there was still room to pass through, it could only accommodate one person at a time.

A considerable number of ducal Cavalry were unable to bypass the infantry phalanx and retreat to the rear, but by this time they had lost control of their horses.

These warhorses were spare horses for James's Cavalry, mostly used for riding. Most of them had not completed warhorse adaptation training. Although they were strong, fast and had good endurance, they were not suitable for charging into battle.

But after the Fourth Legion received these warhorses, they didn't care much about that; in their view, such good horses were more than enough for them.

After all, most Duchy Army have very few opportunities to obtain qualified warhorses. Even warhorses that are used as spare horses by the Northlands Cavalry due to defects are already a good choice for them.

Moreover, most of these newly formed Cavalry units had only undergone a very short period of training, and most of them barely passed the test and could not be considered qualified Cavalry.

When James set up his formation and began to fight, they quickly realized that their performance was far too weak.

The casualty ratio in direct combat was more than double, which is why Jindio had to abandon the offensive, since most of these Cavalry units were not his direct subordinates.

However, just as he ordered a change of formation, the weakness of these Cavalry horses—their lack of battlefield training—was exposed, especially since most of these horses were quite intelligent and sensitive.

After the Heavy Cavalry began their charge, the warhorses knew they were now on the front line of attack, and each one of them carried its rider and tried to run backward.

However, the roads on both sides were not wide enough for a large Cavalry to pass through, and these clever warhorses wanted to go straight through the infantry formation.

After all, compared to the terrifying Wall Charge Heavy Cavalry, the quiet infantry formation here looked much safer.

Thus, many of the ducal Cavalry's horses lost control, trying to squeeze through the gaps in the infantry phalanx for protection. They were like madmen, neighing and using their heads and forehooves to push aside the infantry's gun formation.

However, these infantrymen of the Fourth Legion were also elite Duchy Army, and naturally they would not allow their allies to disrupt their formation. They all knew very well that a well-organized formation was the guarantee of survival when facing enemy Cavalry charges.

Before the officers could give the order, many veterans thrust their spears at the crazed warhorses. Soon, the out-of-control ducal Cavalry horses were felled on the battlefield, and many unlucky ducal Cavalry were either stabbed to death or fell to their deaths. Only a few lucky ones managed to limp away to the sides of the battlefield, attempting to escape.

James was delighted to see the chaos in front of the enemy lines; his plan had succeeded, and the most important point had been achieved.

The theft of the spare horses had initially frustrated James and Ron, but James quickly remembered the horses' weakness, which he had been trying to exploit, and now that he had finally succeeded, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"We've done everything we could; now it's up to luck."

James glanced at his pocket watch; it was already past noon, and the entire battlefield was now at its most critical moment.

James's side didn't have many Heavy Cavalry charging, but these mere three hundred men had the potential to decide the outcome of the battle.

"Ron, if you hadn't come soon, I would have been in for a major job."

The battlefield is now located in the open space in the middle of a three-way intersection, a spot that James had previously chosen.

James's troops voluntarily abandoned control of the three-way intersection and retreated directly to the widest road on the right. The middle road was the rear guard of the Fourth Legion, while the far left was empty of troops. This was the breakthrough point he left for Ron's forces.

James's chance to win came when he used his Heavy Cavalry to charge, destroy the enemy's formation, and force them to retreat and regroup, while Ron charged out from another route at the opportune moment to deliver a second blow to the enemy.

Even before the battle began, James had already sent someone to inform Ron of the plan, but James has not received a reply from Ron yet.

"Oh well, if we don't have enough time, we don't have enough time. Even if we can't defeat them in one go, this is enough to break through their defenses."

James stopped worrying about Ron's lateness and began to focus his attention on the Heavy Cavalry and Fourth Legion infantry that were about to clash.

The three hundred Chainmail Cavalry, like a giant wall of steel, charged toward the Fourth Legion's infantry phalanx with overwhelming force.

The infantrymen at the front gripped their spears tightly, their faces pale with fear at the imposing Cavalry charge. Just as the two sides were about to make contact, time seemed to freeze.

"Kill!" With a furious roar, the Chainmail Cavalry slammed into the infantry formation.

In an instant, shouts of battle, the neighing of horses, and the clanging of weapons mingled together.

Spears were broken, infantrymen were thrown from their horses, and many Cavalry were also impaled by spears and fell from their horses. There were also many Cavalry who were thrown into the air and infantrymen who were knocked away. It was a scene of chaos.

Because of the disorganized formation, the front ranks of the infantry square were instantly torn open in several places, and the Cavalry took advantage of this opportunity to brandish their swords and charge through the infantry.

The infantrymen began to panic, and even the officers' shouts could not sway them; the chaos began to spread backward.