CHAPTER 382: CHAPTER 261: ESTABLISHING THE FIRST MERIT

"Speed up and charge forward! Charge quickly!" The tribal leader in the rear shouted hoarsely, urging the warriors to advance quickly.

Indeed, the enemy isn’t far ahead, rush forward to engage them, and they won’t be able to shoot arrows anymore... The warriors began to charge desperately, yet while speeding up, they also tightly shielded their head and chest with their wooden shields.

The sudden changes by the Brochi warriors had no impact on Valerius. After the first round of crossbow arrows was shot, he raised the red flag again: "Crossbowmen, prepare!"

The front row crossbowmen immediately handed their crossbows to their comrades behind them, while receiving another already strung and loaded crossbow.

"Fire arrows!" At Valerius’s command, the front row crossbowmen pulled the trigger once again, unleashing a rain of arrows pouring down the hillside.

This was the two-stage attack that the crossbow soldiers had honed over time under Maximus’s suggestion: two soldiers worked as a pair, one soldier was responsible for stringing and loading the arrows, while the other, more proficient in shooting, performed the shooting continuously, which shortened the shooting interval of the arm crossbows, leading to a more consistent attack.

Seeing the incoming crossbow arrows, the Brochi warriors at the forefront confidently believed their wooden shields could block them, but they soon screamed in pain because the rudimentary wooden shields were pierced by the powerful triangular iron arrowheads, injuring arms or other parts of their bodies, diminishing some of their combat ability...

The crossbowmen continued firing round after round of crossbow arrows ceaselessly, transitioning from initial nervousness to becoming calm and composed, as the crossbows in their hands were lethal weapons constantly claiming enemy lives.

The Brochi warriors charging toward them paid an extremely heavy price, leaving the path over a hundred meters long stained with blood, wounded warriors lying everywhere, groaning in agony...

When the charge was within thirty meters of the crossbowmen, their formation had already become sparse. In extreme fear, the Brochi warriors hurriedly retreated as the crossbow team prepared to shoot the sixth round of arrows.

The red flag raised in Valerius’s hand did not swing forward with force to let the crossbowmen kill the remaining enemies in front but instead, he turned and waved the flag behind him, shouting, "Crossbowmen, retreat!"

Although the enemies in front of the crossbow team had been defeated, the enemies on the flanks had already charged up the hill and were about to engage with the legion soldiers at the rear... To prevent the enemies from the rear from surging over and threatening the safety of the crossbowmen, Valerius made the decisive choice to retreat,

The legion soldiers behind the crossbow team and crossbow cannon team witnessed the newly formed long-range units directly crushing the enemy’s frontal assault. While surprised and envious, they also rose with the thought of competing to see which team was superior.

The collapse of the Panoni Formation’s leftmost wing caused a large gap of over 300 meters to appear, west of the Kolana River’s north bank. As the crossbowmen and crossbow cannon team retreated, several Centurion sub-units rapidly advanced from the rear.

Of course, to avoid repeating the mistakes of past battles with the Otarlat people, in the pre-war military meeting that Maximus convened, he repeatedly emphasized to the Legion Commanders and Great Captains: all teams must strictly adhere to battlefield discipline, and violators must face severe punishment.

Naturally, the focus of Maximus and the Chief of the Ministry of War was on the Third Legion’s rightmost unit, designated as the attack’s main effort. The military judge was directly stationed at their rear for supervision, and Legion Commander Torrelugo was present in the rear, ensuring that Centurions continuously reminded their soldiers loudly as they led their units forward: do not break formation to pursue fleeing enemies but remain calm, follow directions, and stick with the main force, prepared to outflank the enemy’s side.

As the Third Legion’s rightmost array pivoted east and maneuvered on the enemy’s flank, it also revealed the Nix Tribe’s reserves in the battle— the Third Legion’s First Battalion.

The battalion commander was named Eorokus, who was once a laborer from the port of Napolet and had joined the rebel army with Camillus. He participated in all the battles that the Maximus Army experienced, earning several merits and also experiencing defeats (at the Battle of Women River and during the feigned retreat at the Battle of Segestica).

Over two years of war had forged him into a seasoned veteran. Amidst the thunderous battlefield, he maintained his composure, refraining from immediately following the Third Legion’s forward units to also encircle the enemy’s flank. Instead, he positioned himself at the forefront of the line, leading his ten Centurion formations straight ahead, descending from the hill, and then arraying from north to south. While shielding the flanking Third Legion units and serving as a barrier for the advancing crossbowmen, he also observed the evolving battle situation, ready to lead his unit into combat at any moment.

After leading his team to retreat to the array’s rear, Valerius took a slight rest, then followed the Third Legion’s First Battalion in advance. As they passed through the field where the previous ranged attack occurred, he dispatched a few crossbowmen to do a simple cleanup and collect reusable crossbow arrows.

Despite the iron workshop craftsmen’s hard efforts, producing over 7,000 crossbow arrows in just two months, filling an average of 12 arrows in each Lubin’s quiver, and having fired only half of them in previous battles, Valerius believed that after easily repelling the charging enemies, the team under his command could still play a crucial role in today’s grand battle, and hence, the more crossbow arrows available, the better.

............

Alongside the sounding of the attack horn, of course, the tribal leaders led their warriors to fight the enemy. As the Great Chief, Bricks was stationed at the rear of the Panoni Alliance Army’s left-center, paying attention to the entire situation.

At this moment, with the beginning of the battle, the only force Bricks could still command was the 300-man Guard by his side. These guards were all robust, highly skilled warriors, mostly offspring of various tribal nobles. He promised them land and wealth, gaining their loyalty, and equipped them with iron armor, sharp double-edged longswords, and sturdy shields, making this Guard the most formidable force under Bricks and elevating his prestige within the entire tribe.

In fact, he had also learned this tactic from his neighbor, Andres, and further, he learned from the failure of Andres’s battle not to use his Guard as the vanguard to assault the enemy formation at the beginning of the battle but kept them by his side to prepare for unforeseen situations.

When the news of the leftmost wing’s warriors being routed by the enemy crossbow arrows reached him, Bricks was taken aback. Although he was aware that his tribe’s warriors were relatively less battle-hardened due to their more stable environment compared to several other major tribes, even inferior to Mazi (which had quite a few highlanders), he never expected that such a short time after the battle commenced, some of his warriors would be driven to flee.

Filled with anger, he also realized the impending danger. If he couldn’t stabilize the left flank quickly and the enemy seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack, it could lead to the collapse of his entire tribal army, and his ambition might become a mere illusion.

Therefore, he immediately dispatched the Guard to rush to the left flank to provide aid. Of course, he wouldn’t risk his most valuable asset alone, so he also sent subordinates to rally the retreating clan members and seek assistance from the other three Great Chiefs.

The news of the crossbowmen defeating the immediate enemy quickly reached the Nix Army’s command post, instantly dispelling the tense atmosphere.

"Leader, who would have thought the crossbowmen unit you personally established would be so formidable, actually directly repelling the enemy’s frontal charge!" Quintus said, both surprised and a bit excited, "I previously thought the first breakthrough to claim the initial victory would be some Centurion unit from the Second Legion or the First Battalion of the Third Legion."

However, Flanitnus seriously reminded, "Leader, while the crossbowmen defeating the enemy is certainly a great achievement, you need to carefully consider what kind of commendation they should receive. After all, compared to legion soldiers who courageously engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy and risk being injured at any moment, the crossbowmen are only engaged in long-range shooting, and when the enemy rushes in, they can retreat to the back of the formation without much danger.

If the standards for their rewards are the same as the legion soldiers, won’t the legion soldiers find it unfair? Moreover, it might discourage people from seeing serving as legion soldiers as an honor, as more would prefer to join as crossbowmen."

The smile that had just emerged on Maximus’s face quickly vanished. He stroked his chin, nodded, and said, "Flanitnus, the matter you’ve raised is important. The risks they endure should match the rewards received. The commendation standards for crossbowmen should indeed be different from those for legion soldiers!

However, this matter should be discussed slowly after the battle concludes. Right now, what we should focus on is how the battle will progress following the good news from the crossbowmen?"

"What we feared most before was how to create a breach in the enemy’s left flank, yet the crossbowmen quickly achieved just that," Flanitnus comforted, "We have already laid out a detailed plan beforehand. I trust Torrelugo and Eorokus will follow it step by step and ultimately defeat the enemy’s entire left flank! We need not be anxious and can patiently await the next piece of good news."

"Valerius, the Crossbow Soldier Team Captain, is an experienced veteran. I know him; he will not be content with merely achieving the first victory," Quintus continued, "With the crossbow team’s astonishing lethality, he is sure to lead the team to seize more opportunities and accomplish further feats."

"If that’s the case, we can rest assured and wait for victory to come. Right now, no matter how much we may worry, we can’t offer any more help to them," Maximus said with relief, his tone also turning somewhat jesting.

............

Apart from this section of the Kolana River’s north bank where the Nix Army gained the upper hand, on the rest of the fronts, both sides remained locked in stalemate battles.