Bloody Battle

The archers were extremely sensitive to commands; twenty-one days could form a habit, and while three months wouldn't ingrain it into their very bones, they would react instantly if Reiner gave an order.

Dressed in leather armor reinforced with thick padded jacks, they appeared even more robust, perhaps even rivalling the melee infantry. Drawing a bow required immense strength, and those lacking it simply couldn't pull a heavy bowstring. Years of drawing had developed their upper bodies and arms immensely.

Reiner peered through his helmet's visor, silently estimating the enemy's distance. "Two hundred meters… one hundred eighty meters…"

"One hundred twenty meters!" Reiner mentally calculated the enemy's numbers. One hundred twenty meters was precisely the range of the fine Recurve Bows in the archers' hands.

Reiner immediately drew the longsword from his waist, pointed it at the approaching enemy, and shouted, "Fire!"

Thwip thwip thwip… A series of twanging sounds from bowstrings rang out, and arrows, whistling like falcons, flew towards the enemy.

A chorus of screams erupted as over a dozen Krad People instantly fell to the ground. Little blood spilled out, mostly absorbed by their thick fur clothing. Only a small amount dotted the thick snow, beautiful like plum blossoms in winter.

No one wanted to admire these beautiful flowers of death. Their warm fur wasn't enough to protect against arrows fired from the fine Recurve Bows, and weakened by lack of food, the Krad People simply couldn't withstand such injuries, collapsing to the ground, riddled with arrows.

However, due to the small number of archers Reiner commanded, even with the enemy's extremely dense formation, they only inflicted a dozen or so casualties.

The deaths of a dozen men did not deter the Krad People from their goal of defeating the enemy and plundering supplies. They bypassed the bodies of their fallen comrades and continued to advance with the main force.

The thick snow reached their knees, and hindered by it, their progress was slow. They could only trudge forward.

This gave Reiner's archers an opportunity. The enemy's slow movement meant they had more time and chances to shoot.

"Prepare!" At Reiner's command, the archers again picked up arrows from the ground and nocked them. With their current stamina, they could fire their Recurve Bows eight times before tiring out.

"Fire!" He issued another firing command, and twenty arrows flew into the advancing enemy ranks.

After five rounds of firing, seventy to eighty bodies lay piled in the snow. Losing seventy to eighty men before even reaching the enemy lines caused a wave of apprehension to ripple through the Krad People.

At this point, Reiner did not have the archers continue firing. They were already fatigued after five rounds, and the enemy was gradually closing in. Now was the time for the melee infantry to shine.

"Sir Cord!" Reiner called his name, and Sir Cord, standing beside him, immediately responded, "Yes, I'm here, my lord!"

"Take your troops, along with Sir Melan's, Sir Belar's, and Sir Brogan's troops, and hold the enemy for ten minutes at the front. When you hear my horn, immediately bring your mounted squires and rendezvous with me. We will charge the enemy's rear and break their lines!"

"Sir Valas! You will lead all the knights under my command in an assault on the enemy's rear. I will lead my direct troops, and once you've broken the enemy's rear, I will immediately have them continue to tear apart the enemy's formation, while also inflicting casualties on their main force!"

"Yes, Baron, your command will be obeyed!"

The Moreland Family had, in addition to five Crimson Gryphon Knights, ten landed knights and six unlanded squire knights. Last time, when suppressing the Red Dwarf Bandit Organization, only eleven were deployed, with five remaining in the castle for defense.

This time, with the survival of the territory at stake, Reiner dared not hold back, bringing out all the knights.

The five Crimson Gryphon Knights clustered tightly around Reiner, responsible for his safety and for breaking enemy formations during a charge.

Upon receiving the order, Sir Cord bowed, hand over his heart, and said, "Rest assured, my lord, I will carry out your command and hold the enemy!"

Sir Cord, Sir Melan, and Sir Brogan all nodded heavily. This was indeed a dangerous operation. With four knightly forces totalling less than a hundred men facing over seven hundred enemies, it might not be a "mantis trying to stop a chariot," but it was certainly a severely outnumbered fight.

However, Reiner believed they could hold for ten minutes. Among their eighty-plus men, besides the knights, there were squires with combat training and experience, as well as freemen with good physicality and some combat experience.

Compared to the physically weak Krad People, they still held an advantage in individual combat strength.

The Krad People had now advanced to within about thirty meters of the Morland army's front. Reiner's direct troops had begun slowly retreating behind him.

Highlander, the Krad leader, also noticed this change. Even among the primitive and impoverished Krad People, warfare existed. While most were disorganized brawls, he understood the simple truth that a broken rear flank would lead to defeat.

Furthermore, in previous years, Krad raids rarely met resistance from lords, so they had never even known that there was such a powerful and swift, terrifying force as knights in this world.

"Have the warriors in the rear stay alert! Those damned Redka People will surely ambush us from behind! They are fewer in number than us! As long as we are vigilant, they won't succeed!" Highlander said naively, unaware that the greatest strength of knights, this powerful military unit, wasn't their killing power, but their deterrence, their blow to enemy morale, their ability to shatter formations, and even to rout infantry ten times their own number.

And yet, he naively believed that as long as his side had a numerical advantage, they could hold the enemy.

"Yes, Chief!" A minor leader said to him, then quickly rushed to the rear to relay his order.

Reiner had already led his army to the Krad People's front flank, estimating about ten more minutes until they could circle behind the enemy.

Meanwhile, Sir Cord and the others had officially engaged the Krad People with their troops.

There was no formation, just the simplest teamwork. Dozens of men huddled together, swinging their weapons at enemies equipped even worse than themselves.

Due to the snow, neither side could gain speed in their charge, thus lacking the force speed would provide. Therefore, the initial clash resulted in only a few casualties on either side.