Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 312 General Attack
Initially, it might just be a subconscious dodge.

Faced with a behemoth far larger than oneself, the instinctive human reaction is to give way. What's more, on the back of that behemoth is an even more dangerous, howling, and murderous humanoid beast.

However, the individual's instinctive avoidance quickly led to the collapse of the company's formation.

The fierce armored soldiers who leaped over the trench abandoned their broken spears and drew their swords to slash wildly. The surrounding militiamen threw down their weapons and retreated in a panic.

"Youth soldiers" were originally the most vulnerable part of this army.

The "adult soldiers" had at least experienced the baptism of the Battle of Pangtuo River, while the young soldiers were completely civilians who only received the most basic training.

Young soldiers can also form a seemingly impregnable battle line, allowing ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows, and muskets to be used effectively.

But when that moment actually came, they lacked the will and conviction to charge forward.

"[Herd] Break the line!" the Teldun cavalry roared, taking advantage of the chaos to push their chevaux-de-frise and palisades into the trenches, and poured into the battle line in single file: "[Herd] Break the line!"

……

In the central command, someone frowned and asked, "What are the Harts howling about?"

"Breaking the formation means [breaking through the enemy's military formation]." The old merchant, who had spent many years traveling the wilderness, answered cautiously, adding, "I haven't heard of it for many years... almost thirty years."

……

At the same time, the sound of thunderous war drums resounded from the foot of the mountain—the main force of the bonfire brigades pressed towards the central army of Iron Peak County.

Hundreds and thousands of Teldun cavalrymen advanced slowly, at a very slow pace, but the intense sense of oppression made the people of Iron Peak County feel almost suffocated.

The saying "a single hair can affect the whole body" perfectly describes the situation right now.

One wolf had already bitten Winters' left hand hard, but if Winters dared to look away even slightly, the other wolf would not hesitate to tear his throat off.

The long standoff seemed to have been building up momentum at this moment.

When the brass horn sounds, all the beautiful pretenses of war will be torn to shreds in an instant. Ultimate violence will erupt like a torrent, rampaging across the land without restraint.

Seeing the left wing in peril and the central army pinned down, everyone in the command post looked toward the tribune of Montagne.

Even the most pessimistic people of Tiefeng County could not have predicted that the battle would reach a critical juncture of life and death so soon after it had just begun.

"There's still time to transfer troops from the right wing!" someone blurted out, unable to contain himself.

The Teldenans had concentrated their forces on the left flank and in the center. At this moment, the troops on the right flank were practically sitting idly by.

Winters gave the other person a deep look, but said nothing.

The man riding a black horse nearby sternly reprimanded, "Shut up! Look more! Move? The barbarians are just waiting for you to make a move!"

Although the Black Horse Rider was present during the negotiations, he and his squires were clearly separated from the Iron Peak County people. The person who just spoke was one of the Black Horse Rider's squires.

“I’m sorry to have made you laugh,” the black horse rider said, turning to Winters.

Winters watched the battle on the left flank, his expression unreadable.

To be precise, he simply had no emotions, and it wasn't that he intentionally wanted to be this way.

Winters was never a passionate commander. Arpad was, Andrei was, but Winters was not.

Andrei would severely whip those who were cowardly, and would also sit around the fire and share a bottle of wine with his men, laughing, cursing and joking; Arpad could boost the morale of the entire army simply by stepping onto the battlefield.

They were passionate, dazzling, and fearless. Soldiers idolized them and worshipped them, cursing them viciously as they charged into battle alongside them.

What Andrei and Arpad could do, Winters could do too; no one can question his courage.

But he was fundamentally different from the other two.

Therefore, he became silent and detached when faced with bloodshed and death. The more he experienced, the more he became like this, as if his subconscious self-protection completely shut off a part of his emotions.

Not far from Winters, the tall, thin Mr. [Jacob Green], determined to write an epic, trembled as he surveyed the battlefield while secretly observing Winters Montagne's expression and trying to fathom the latter's inner world.

……

Because the militia's training level was extremely limited, the formations of the companies and battalions of the Tiefeng County Army were not the "square formation" commonly used by the regular army, but rather closer to the "horizontal formation" of the classical era.

That is, a company of 120 men is arranged in a [15 columns][8 rows] configuration, with the four companies of each battalion lined up side by side.
The battalion, totaling 480 men, was deployed in a [60x8] formation, with chevaux-de-frise and fences protecting both sides of the battalion-level horizontal formation.

During combat, everyone stands facing the same direction, and all actions are guided by the military flag.

Eight rows of depth is obviously a bit thin for the militia, but Winters needs to occupy as much width as possible.

Because the total width of the battlefield is close to one kilometer, being outflanked is more fatal than being breached head-on.

Moreover, the militia temporarily conscripted could not possibly carry out the rotation tactics of the ancient imperial legions. After engaging in battle, only two things would happen: "rushing in" or "scattering in disarray," so depth would not be so important.

……

Under the combined attack from both inside and outside, the [4th Company of Xiaoshi Town], which was the first to engage the enemy, collapsed almost immediately.

None of the militiamen who had traveled a long way to get here had planned to run away from the beginning—why wait until now if they wanted to run away?
Hatred, authority, desire... they enter the battlefield for all sorts of motives. No one is "ordinary," and if everyone's joys and sorrows were compiled into words, it would be a weighty epic.

However, within the massive vortex of the battlefield, they are extremely small and powerless.

First, there was a partial collapse, then a company, and then a battalion.

The Teldun cavalry used scimitars and spears to drive the fleeing troops toward neighboring camps, but they soon encountered their first obstacle—the fences and stakes between the camps.

……

Left wing, second line of defense.

Witnessing hell descend upon the world, the monkey and Doug felt their palms turn cold and their limbs go limp.

A trench was dug in front of each of the two battle lines.

The fleeing soldiers initially tried to escape to the east and west, but were blocked by fences and wooden stakes. They then fled to the rear, where they stopped at the edge of the second trench.

One after another, panicked and disorganized soldiers jumped directly into the trenches.

The grinning barbarian raised his scimitar and slashed down, crushing a piece of the young man's skull as he stood crying for help in front of the trench, instantly losing all strength.

The monkey watched helplessly as the body of a child even smaller than himself fell into the ditch, and his heart skipped a beat.

The sergeant [Lu Xirong] remained expressionless, seemingly unmoved. He drew his longbow and shot an arrow into the cheek of the grinning barbarian: "Move the barricades!"

The barbarian fell from his horse, but wasn't quite dead yet. The old soldier drew his bow and nocked an arrow, but for some reason turned and shot at another barbarian.

The monkey swallowed hard and dared not look any longer.

When digging the trenches, the company commander specifically ordered that two meters be left undug every twenty meters to serve as a passageway, large enough for three people and two horses to walk side by side.

The entrance to the passage was blocked by chevaux-de-frise and palisades, and after entering the battle line, there were also fences on both sides, leading directly to the rear of the battle formation.

Light infantry moved through the battle lines using these vehicles, and food and water were also delivered to the various camps via them.

The militia guarding the passage removed the obstructions, and the routed soldiers finally found a way out, rushing towards the passage like madmen.

Two battle lines, one in front and one behind, were arrayed fifty meters apart. Those fifty meters were the distance between life and death.

The barbarians slaughtered indiscriminately between the two trenches, and the fleeing soldiers who were slow to escape were killed one after another.

At the entrance to the passage, people were being squeezed together, with screams of agony from the oppressed and fleeing soldiers being pushed into the trenches.

Behind the crowd, barbarians were wielding scimitars and hacking and slashing wildly.

"Take up your weapons!" the monkey heard the company commander roar. "Any fleeing soldiers charging our lines will be killed without mercy!"

He then heard the company commander angrily shout, "Where are the light infantry? Damn it! Where are they?!"

Light infantry rushed over in a panic, standing behind the trench and shooting at the enemy with all their might.

But the Telden men continued to pour into the first line of defense through the breach, seemingly endless.

As more and more troops were deployed, the Telden men tore down the barriers between the battalions and pushed outwards to the east and west.

The breach turned into an ulcer, the first front was already teetering on the brink of collapse, and the morale of the troops on the second front was also wavering.

The valiant general Teldun, who had broken through the enemy lines in one fell swoop, threw away his blunt blade, took a new one, and reined in his horse, looking around.

Suddenly, he spurred his mount and charged straight towards the passage of the second battle line. The Terdon armored soldiers around him followed without hesitation.

The warhorses, adorned with armor, charged wildly, and the fleeing soldiers at the entrance of the passage were unable to dodge in time and were all pushed into the trench.

Teldun's fierce general charged into the second trench and was about to break through when a dark figure approached him with a whooshing sound.

The monkey saw the company commander wielding an incredibly long spear, roaring as he slashed at the barbarian leader who looked like he'd been pulled out of a pool of blood.

Telden's reaction speed was far beyond that of ordinary people; he leaned back and barely dodged the attack.

The spear grazed the armor plate and struck the saddle, snapping the shaft instantly. The warhorse immediately collapsed, its hind legs buckling.

The old sergeant Lu Xirong, unable to fire his arrows because his own men were blocking his way, cursed incessantly, grabbed a rock and threw it: "Idiots! What are you standing there for? Kill them!"

When the other militiamen came to their senses, they lashed out with flails and clubs, and stabbed wildly at the other side of the fence with spears.

The Teldun riders' lances and scimitars also pierced back through the gaps in the fence.

The two sides were killing each other through a fence, shouting and yelling in languages ​​they couldn't understand.

The Teldun cavalry were heavily armored, and being hit with clubs or stabbed with spears had no effect whatsoever.

The militiamen of Tiefeng County wore only cloth clothes, and a single thrust of their lances would leave a horrific, bloody hole.

The monkey's eyes were wide with terror, its nostrils flared, and its breathing was so labored that its eardrums bulged. People were everywhere; the monkey couldn't see the barbarians at all. It propped its spear against the fence bar and began poking at it wildly, like a bellows.

The monkey stepped on something slippery, lost its balance, and fell to the ground.

Only then did he realize that he had stepped on a piece of intestine, and the other end of the intestine was connected to the abdominal cavity of a fellow villager next to him who was screaming in agony.

"Mom!" The monkey burst into tears without warning, the greed that had sustained him all the way here completely crushed.

The monkey, who was far from being devout, vomited while frantically making prayer gestures, crying out, "Help me! Help me!"

"Don't fucking stab people!" The company commander, wrestling with the barbarians like in a tug-of-war, roared, "Kill their horses! Stab their horses!"

Another curved knife extended from above the fence and swung down towards the company commander.

The monkey's company commander seemed to have forgotten that he could dodge. He just gripped the gun barrel tightly and watched helplessly as the blade fell on his stiff body, chopping off half of his left shoulder.

The knife got stuck in the bone, and the monkey's company commander staggered and fell to the ground. The panicked militiamen dragged him away in a flurry.

The monkey's company commander was still screaming in anguish, "Stab their horses!"

Between the two fences, the fierce general Nateldon had already switched to another horse. He was also shouting at the top of his lungs, "[Herd] Pull down the fence! Pull down the fence!"

However, apart from a few close confidants around him, almost none of his followers responded to him.

When battles descend into extreme bloodshed and chaos, the people caught up in them often repeat the same thing over and over again, as if they were possessed.

The archer will keep shooting arrows, shooting arrows, shooting arrows...

The person chopping will keep chopping, chopping, chopping...

The person stabbing will keep stabbing, stabbing, stabbing...

Because doing the same thing repeatedly can give people a sense of security.

When people face the ultimate threat and are left with only instinct, even the faintest sense of security becomes addictive and impossible to shake off.

This is what is known as "being blinded by rage".

People don't become "red-eyed" from killing; they are so terrified that they lose the ability to think and are left only with the reflexive action of repeating the killing.

……

The first line of the left flank was on the verge of complete collapse, but the momentum of the Teldun cavalry was also slowed down.

Throughout the entire process, Winters did not give any orders to the wingers.

This is not a company-level battle that can be easily controlled using [amplification]. The army of tens of thousands has been fully deployed, and the difficulty of communication increases sharply as the battlefield expands.

Any command exceeding two sentences must be transmitted manually unless a pre-set signal is provided.

Even with efficient communication, untrained militia members are not capable of executing complex tactical maneuvers.

Winters did not issue orders to the flanks, because their tasks had already been assigned in advance:

"hold fast"

Abandoning mobility and offensive capabilities, they surround themselves with trenches and barricades, forming an impenetrable fortress, and wage the most brutal war of attrition.

The fire-brooders might choose to surround Winters without attacking, dividing their forces to cut off his supply lines; or they might choose to confront Winters head-on.

Regardless of the choice of who is warming themselves by the fire, Winters has a corresponding contingency plan.

But a real showdown is what Winters wants—and probably what the Fire-Bothers want too.

In Imperial language, the word "battle" is derived from "massacre," which alone is enough to explain the nature of a major battle.

It is the cruelest solution, and also the most straightforward.

The Battle of Iron Peak County-Teldon, which is difficult to classify as either a war or a campaign, has brought too much suffering.

Both sides deeply desire a clean and decisive end to everything.

……

The left wing, the first front.

Although the Teldun tribe suffered heavy losses in the Great Wilderness War, the true strength of the Fire-Burning People—the ferocity of the Khan's Tent Guards—was still far superior to any barbarian the Iron Peak County had ever seen before.

The heavily armored cavalrymen tore through seven palisades in succession, charging back and forth in the narrow battle zone between two trenches. The militia of Tiefeng County almost collapsed the moment they lost the cover of their fortifications.

On the left flank, only the westernmost battalion and the easternmost half-battalion were still barely holding on with their fortifications.

As the armored soldiers charged, unarmored cavalrymen responsible for providing cover also poured into the trenches in droves.

Unbeknownst to them, the area between the two trenches became increasingly crowded.

The head of the imperial guards, with a quiver at his waist and a golden helmet on his head, reined in his horse, ripped off his sweat-drenched helmet, and panted as he surveyed the battle situation:

The attacks to the east and west went smoothly; however, the next trench to the south remained uncaptured for a long time.

Moreover, these trenches are like narrow-necked bottles—easy to get in, but impossible to get out;
The war drums continued to thunder, and the guard leader grew increasingly uneasy, rushing forward and shouting: "[Herd's words] Stop advancing! Go south! Go and attack the second trench! Go west! Go around to the back of the two-legged men! Stop advancing!"

……

Left wing, second front.

The battle in the camp where the monkeys were located had also reached a fever pitch.

The fierce general of Teldun whipped and dragged the surviving soldiers away one by one.

The monkey thought it had won the battle, but soon the barbarians returned with the lasso.

The Terdun soldiers were well-commanded; they secured ropes to their saddles and used spears to drag down a row of fences and chevaux-de-frise in one go.

In contrast, the monkey's company commander had been forced to withdraw from the battle due to serious injuries, and the young soldiers' company to which the monkey belonged was in disarray.

Seeing that the fence was about to be completely torn down, Sergeant Lu Xirong roared in despair, "Fight them to the death!"

Having said that, he picked up his flail and charged out of the fence. Some militiamen, inspired by Lu Xirong's bravery, followed suit.

The monkey's blood boiled, and he wanted to charge bravely, but his legs wouldn't obey him.

It was at this moment that the monkey realized that he was not the kind of person he had imagined.

Then he saw his friend climbing the fence.

From childhood to adulthood, the monkey always comes up with ideas and makes decisions, while the dog is a reliable follower and executor.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, deep down, the monkey actually considered itself a superior leader, while its taciturn friend was a subordinate.

The monkey stared blankly at its prey, a broken spear in its mouth. It scrambled up the fence with its hands and feet, then leaped up and, with the speed of a rabbit and the agility of a falcon, knocked the barbarian leader, who was shouting orders, off his horse.

……

On the west side of the battlefield, at the foot of Tiefeng Mountain.

Anglu finally saw the promised red flag.

"All mount up!" Anglu drew his saber and roared with all his might, "Forward! Forward!! Forward!!!"

The cavalry no longer concealed their tracks; the charge music had already begun.

The rider first accelerated until they entered an area with sparse trees, at which point he began to let his warhorse gallop freely.

They were not cavalry—and were never called "cavalry"; they weren't even a real cavalry unit—the real cavalry unit was taken away by Andrei.

They were farmers, merchants, craftsmen, Dussacs, clumsy riders who had just learned to ride, and ordinary people who had never thought of going into battle.

Whoever they were, at this moment, they all clenched their legs together, lowered their bodies, and uttered the most fearful yet bravest cry: "Forward! Forward!! Forward!!!"

The bravest men of Iron Peak County charged down the hillside with a roar, cutting the Telden troops attacking the left flank in half.

At the same time, the second front also launched a counterattack. The barricades and palisades were pushed into the trenches, and the able-bodied soldiers from various battalions rushed towards the Teldun cavalry, who had exhausted too much energy and were trapped between the two trenches, in a chaotic melee.

But will the battle end like this?
No, seeing the Iron Peak County army's ambush launched and seeing Champion Palatour reveal his trump card, the Fire-Baker also fired the last arrow hidden in his quiver.

The bugle calls shook the heavens, and the iron hooves of warhorses seemed to tear the earth apart—not from the front, but from behind.

The outflanking Teldun cavalry arrived on the battlefield, and the Teldun main force followed suit. Where banners fluttered in the wind, the cavalry, clad in heavy armor from head to toe and on horseback, finally charged out.

Their target was neither the left wing of Iron Peak County, which had already been soaked in blood, nor the central army of Iron Peak County where Winters was stationed.

Their target is the right wing of Tiefeng County, who have been "sitting" there until now.

At the same time, more than a thousand riders who had been hiding on the reverse slope of the northern hill rushed down the hillside.

These newly arrived Teldun people were rarely armored—and they were indeed newcomers, and not the "Khan's elite."

They were remnants of the army that had been driven back by Winters on the west bank.

The fire-bringer displayed all the armored cavalry to Winters, but kept the thousand-plus light cavalry hidden until now.

The more than 1,000 light cavalry did not follow to attack the right flank of the Tiefeng County army, but instead headed straight for the central army of Tiefeng County.

The Teldenans launched a general offensive.

This is not the end; this is the beginning of the end.

[Could it barely qualify as half a major chapter?]
[I fixed a bug; the battlefield width should be [one kilometer]. I recalculated and found an error in the previous calculation (facepalm). The text has already been corrected; this is the revised version.]
[Because the "cavalry" commanded by Anglu were not true cavalry, the text refers to them as "cavalry unit" and "riders."]
[Actually, there were also Teldun people. Some Teldun people were described as "riders," meaning they were temporarily conscripted herdsmen who were not skilled in combat except for riding horses and archery.]
[Some Teldun people used "cavalry," meaning they were, to some extent, a full-time warrior class and belonged to a relatively elite main force.]
[For example, the Telden people encountered early on, and people like Gan Quan, should all be using riders.]
[Similarly, Winters' troops are rarely described as "soldiers" these days; they're mostly militia. The more elite units are called "warriors" (facepalm).]
[Although 10,000 "Dragon Roar Berserkers" are equivalent to two standing legions, Otto and Audi are ultimately different...]
[Now that you mention it, it suddenly seems like the situation in Iron Peak County is a bit like the Lake Goddess faction in Bathor (facepalm). In the early game, you only have peasant soldiers who don't require maintenance fees, and you're constantly fighting greenskins (facepalm)]
[Thank you to all the readers for your collections, reading, subscriptions, recommendations, monthly tickets, donations, and comments. Thank you everyone!]


(End of this chapter)