Looks of surprise, hesitation, and shock appeared alternately on Duke's face.
After confirming the order with Raul, he glanced at the tent at the top of the hill, gritted his teeth and ordered.
"The enemy is defeated, everyone chases them out and kills them!"
With his order, the soldiers who had no intention of pursuing them jumped out of the trenches and joined the team that killed the enemy. Except for those who were injured, out of strength, and temporarily unable to move, everyone in the entire position basically rushed out.
The size of the pursuing troops reached 16,000, which was almost a general attack.
Since the beginning of the war, the changes in the battle situation have often exceeded Heinrich's expectations, but this was the most surprising one for him.
More than 10,000 remnant soldiers pursued the elites of the empire. Although he ordered the retreat, why did they dare to chase them out!
Generals cannot imagine, let alone ordinary soldiers, that the training and combat skills of battlefield soldiers in this era are important, but courage and morale are the important factors that determine the outcome of a war.
In Earth, there have also been many battles in which the victor's casualties were much greater than those of the loser, but the loser was defeated by morale. Casualties do not determine victory or defeat, but achieving strategic goals does.
When the professional soldiers of the puppet royal army saw the enemy pursuing them, their morale was seriously shaken.
Those people were wearing bloody armor, breathing heavily, holding bloody weapons, and staring at them like wild beasts. Some of them still had heads hanging from their waists. They seemed to be no longer human.
Raul shouted loudly in the crowd, "For the title and gold!"
Countless people roared, "For the title and gold!"
Now in the eyes of this group of people, the enemy is not an enemy, but gold, wealth, status, and a better life.
They were originally at the bottom of society, living in confusion. Their lives were meaningless. Now there is an opportunity to change their destiny. Most people will choose to fight for it.
The elites of the Puppet King's Army who had a superior life were naturally reluctant to risk their lives in such a place, so they fled, and their morale began to collapse like an avalanche.
A magnificent sight appeared on the battlefield. A group of ragged motley soldiers were chasing regular troops with bright armor, just like a group of adults chasing a group of ducks.
In order to run faster, the regular troops threw away their weapons and took off their armor. Those who did not have time to take off their armor were caught up by the motley crew, hacked to death with knives, and had their ears cut off and pierced around their waists.
After witnessing the collapse of his own army, Heinrich recovered from the shock. He thought that Chloe Princess's army would be more difficult to deal with, but he did not expect that they were lunatics.
"Quick, let the nearby teams go up to support, and send the heavy infantry up too!" Heinrich waved his hand forward and ordered.
After the communication mage conveyed the order, the imperial army standing by immediately stepped forward to meet them. Two teams of ten thousand people marched up to meet the broken troops and enemy troops in neat steps.
In order to prevent the defeated troops from overwhelming the team, their spears and swords mercilessly turned their compatriots into cold corpses.
In order to survive, the defeated soldiers had no choice but to bypass the front and escape from the side of the formation.
These defeated troops have completely lost their fighting spirit. They just want to escape from this battlefield. The first batch of 25,000 troops is already finished.
At this time, the Chloe army was completely infected by the excitement of victory. The nobles of the second formation did not want their credit to be taken away by the mud-legged soldiers of the first formation, so they also rushed down the hill.
The first group of soldiers who had gone crazy rushed out of the narrow intersection in the hilly area and collided with the puppet royal army who came to support them.
Thick shields, sharp spears, and sturdy heavy armor played a key role. Although the soldiers in the first line had high morale and were brave and fearless, they were still flesh and blood.
Soldiers continue to fall in front of the steel, and the casualties are increasing. They can hold on for a short time, but when the number of dead exceeds a certain critical point, they will collapse like the puppet royal army just now.
At this time, the second formation of 10,000 noble private soldiers joined the battlefield. They were well-equipped and well-trained, and were carefully cultivated by the nobles to ensure their rights and territories.
Soldiers like this are very expensive, and a noble can only cultivate dozens or hundreds of them. However, when they are gathered together, they become a terrifying force.
For the great nobles, cultivating such soldiers is not as effective as cultivating more cheaper and larger armies. Therefore, dukes like Duke will not focus on cultivating such elite private soldiers.
The leader of these elite private soldiers is Ymir. He is now very powerful. His giant shield and heavy armor are very effective for ordinary people. But for him, they are just toys that require a lot of effort.
A powerful Psionics slash was cut off by Ymir, and the heavy infantrymen were instantly knocked off their feet.
Not only him, there are also many people with high martial arts skills and strength among the elite private soldiers. They either learn from Ymir and use Psionics to cut through the front line, or they use Psionics to strengthen themselves and break the line.
The elite heavy infantry front began to be broken through, and many places fell into melee. In the melee, the elite private soldiers played a greater role. They had been honing their martial arts for a long time, and their equipment was tailor-made.
In one-on-one battles, elite private soldiers have an advantage in chaos.
Hoplites also have shortcomings. The thick armor will make people move slowly and consume more physical strength.
There were also gaps in the armor. In the chaos, more than one hoplite was pushed to the ground by three or four ordinary soldiers. They rode on him, took off his helmet, and cut his neck with a dagger.
Since the mages developed Clairvoyance, generals have been able to observe the battlefield in more detail, and commanders have played an increasingly important role in the outcome of the war.
Seeing that the heavy infantry were also at a disadvantage, Heinrich was much calmer this time. He narrowed his eyes slightly, observing and thinking.
Princess's army is a powerful enemy, and the pressure on him is greater than that of the second prince. He must go all out to win.
He did not order the disadvantaged troops to withdraw, nor did he send new troops to increase their numbers. Instead, he asked the remaining 50,000 troops to adjust their positions, and at the same time, he divided the magic crystal cannons into groups of five and entered the artillery position.
I still have a reserve team of more than 50,000 people, and Princess still has more than 10,000 people, including the last high-level Knights. Considering the terrifying monsters, the formation and details should be considered more carefully.
Heinrich raised his head and looked at the sky. Since the war started in the morning, it has been fighting until noon, and the sun is already hanging in the sky.
The human body has its limits. No matter how brave a warrior is, he still needs to eat, drink, and rest.