After regrouping their forces, the Aldo Army quickly formed a new defensive line where they stood.
The Watchers Legion soldiers formed ranks and waited, their cannons aimed toward Gabella.
The Free People cavalry returned to the flanks and warily watched the enemy's movements, while the Vassal State armies formed a Reserve Force in the rear. The entire formation stood ready, awaiting further orders.
Siegfried's reinforcements successfully joined up with MacDonald's main force. The addition of five thousand fresh troops restored the Gabella army's formation.
By then, the sun had already begun to sink westward. The Dalos Field was littered with corpses and damaged equipment. After a rough count, the Aldo side had suffered around fifteen hundred casualties.
On the Gabella side, MacDonald and Siegfried held a brief discussion before ordering the troops to reorganize: the Fire Crossbowmen withdrew behind the center to rest, the infantry phalanxes filled the gaps left earlier, and the cavalry divided between the two flanks to form a protective screen.
The Gabella soldiers moved quickly. The panic caused by their earlier rout had been suppressed by discipline—after all, they were an army that had defeated the Holy See. Even after suffering setbacks, they still possessed the foundation of an elite force.
At the front lines of the standoff, both sides reassessed their opponents.
A Gabella Fire Crossbowman officer looked at the Aldo Army's still-orderly ranks. The contempt he had shown earlier had long since been replaced by solemnity. "Their formation has never broken. They maintained their ranks even after being bombarded by the Thunder Hammer. They're harder to deal with than the Holy Knights of the Holy See."
His deputy clenched his Longsword and growled in humiliation, "We were actually suppressed by a bunch of ordinary people. If word of this gets out, we'll lose all