CHAPTER 390: CHAPTER 269: BLUFF AND DECEPTION

At this moment, Oluus in the center of the formation shouted loudly: "Brothers, don’t worry! Just hold your position! Grip your square shield tightly, protect your body well! These cavalry wouldn’t dare crash into us! Believe me, they absolutely wouldn’t dare crash into us!..."

Oluus shouted this over and over again, his voice becoming hoarse in the end. Under his influence, the team officers also joined in the shouting. The soldiers were half-believing, but at least their bodies stopped trembling.

The enemy cavalry was getting closer! Closer! The momentum of their charge grew stronger!... Some of the soldiers facing them closed their eyes out of nervousness...

Terles saw that he had already rushed to the front, but the enemy line still stood firm, and a sense of disappointment filled his heart.

Sure enough, the warhorse beneath him then slowed down, its long neck turning to the left, so he had to pull the reins to the left, and the warhorse successfully made a left turn.

The horse is a timid and sensitive animal. As long as it senses danger ahead, it will never foolishly charge forward unless its eyes are covered or it undergoes special long-term training to overcome this fear. But apparently, the Pannonians were unwilling to make such an investment and lacked the technical skills.

As he turned, Terles swung his longsword to the side, "bang" — it struck against a thick square shield.

Missing with one blow, Terles didn’t pause and was carried swiftly to the left by his warhorse...

The soldier who blocked the strike with his shield felt a weight lift from his heart, thinking: The Legion Commander was right; these cavalry might look terrifying, but they’re actually nothing and rather easy to deal with...

With these thoughts flashing through his mind, he instinctively raised his head, wanting to see the departing form of the disappointed enemy cavalry.

Suddenly, the urgent shout of the team officer came from behind: "Fool! Get down! Get down!..."

It was too late!

A cold flash streaked by — a longsword swung by the cavalryman following behind Terles, who had also turned left. The sword grazed the edge of the square shield and struck the soldier’s helmet. Though the helmet protected him from being cut, the powerful impact left the soldier dizzy and exposed even more weaknesses.

Another cavalryman following closely behind swung his longsword. The sword shimmered through the air and struck the exposed neck of the soldier. Blood splattered instantly, and he fell backward.

The centurion behind him, disregarding camaraderie at this moment, kicked him forward with great force. The soldier’s body flew out of the formation, landing in the path of the advancing cavalry, causing the galloping warhorses to panic and stumble on the muddy ground, affecting the cavalry following behind...

Taking advantage of the chaos among the enemy cavalry, the centurion took a big step forward with his shield raised, reestablishing the foremost shield wall.

Meanwhile, the team officers loudly reminded their soldiers to hold firm to the shield formation, protect themselves, and not be disturbed by the enemy’s attacks.

The Desitia Cavalry Formation, after turning left, galloped swiftly along the Nix formation parallel to the left. Taking advantage of their momentum, they continuously swung and slashed, creating a flurry of flashing blades in front of the Nix’s Shield Formation.

As longswords forcefully struck against the shields held by them, and the flashing blades swooped from above or beside, with the enemy’s roaring and the heavy whinny of warhorses, despite the team’s officers’ constant reminders, there were still a very few soldiers who, under such suffocating pressure, nervously relaxed their grip and had their shields chopped off, lost their protection and were struck down by swords, or couldn’t resist attacking and were eventually struck down by exposure...

Although the Desitia Cavalry seemed to be in an advantageous position, the road became slippery after the rain. During the rapid gallop, the warhorses easily lost their footing. Moreover, although square saddles help cavalry sit more steadily on the horse, if the longsword became embedded in a square shield and couldn’t be promptly withdrawn or released, the immense forward inertia would still push the cavalryman off, and falling to the ground often resulted in broken limbs, which was minor compared to being trampled by the following warhorses, which was almost fatal...

This led to a strange phenomenon where, after the Desitia Cavalry assault formation, their casualties outnumbered those of the opposition.

During this period, Temagis had already combined the spear formations from various tribes into two large square formations. Upon seeing the cavalry’s attack failed to break the enemy’s shield formation, he quickly issued the command for an "infantry attack."

The two Desitia formations advanced side by side. When they reached about thirty meters from the enemy, the warriors on the right formation launched a frontal charge against the enemy, and the warriors on the right formation also accelerated their pace, preparing to assault the enemy’s flank.

Meanwhile, Casinos, who had retreated with the cavalry to rest behind the enemy formation, led his subordinates once again to attack the rear of the enemy formation.

In no time, Oluus’s troops were attacked on three sides (except for the left side along the Kupa River), and the situation became even more severe.

However, the soldiers did not feel afraid. Previously, the assault by the Desitia Cavalry caused them to be nervous, as they had never encountered such a battle style. But now with the enemy attacking on three sides, having already been tested, they felt a surge of fighting spirit fueled by hatred for the enemy and a desire for merit.

Under the loud reminders of the team officers, they contracted inwardly, crouching down simultaneously, with the square shields tightly protecting their heads and chests, gripping the shortswords in their hands, their eyes fixed forward, ready for a life-and-death struggle with any attacking enemies... the entire Nix Square Formation turned into a solid stone.

In that moment, the battle cries shook the heavens...

Temagis, mounted on his horse, observed the battle situation ahead, anticipating victory. He could tell this enemy was not easy to deal with, but that was precisely why winning would be even more delightful.

"Report to the Great Chief, enemies have arrived behind us!" The reconnoitre hurried to report: "It’s the same one from the other side of the river before!"

The cunning Nix people were trying to take advantage again, but this time they wouldn’t leave once they arrived! ...Temagis sneered and ordered: "Go tell Terles to bring the cavalry team over!"

"Great Chief, our cavalry is currently besieging the enemy in front, and bringing them over might be too late," a subordinate reminded.

"Never mind then." Temagis waved his hand indifferently and said, "Since the cavalry can’t come for now, tell our tribesmen not to charge, lest we scare them off. Let’s wait until they get closer and then attack."

Indeed, Temagis had already considered the possibility of the enemy in the rear causing trouble and had positioned nearly 3,000 warriors in the back formation, so they were not afraid of any surprise attack.

To better understand the enemy situation, Temagis rode ahead of the rear formation. In his view, a large group of enemy forces appeared in a wide fan formation, surging towards him. Because they were not wearing armor, they moved quickly and, without any pause, advanced within a hundred meters...

Not only was Temagis not nervous, but he also felt delighted: these enemies at the rear seemed much easier to deal with than those in the front!

"Attack, finish them off!" Temagis returned on horseback, issuing the command.

"Woo...woo...woo..." The horn sounded, and nearly 3,000 Desitia Warriors in the rear launched a charge, colliding head-on with the enemy.

At this moment, from behind the seemingly scattered Nix Soldiers’ charge line, three hundred elite soldiers personally led by Pequot, moved at lightning speed, rounding their far left flank, then circling the enemy’s far right flank, pouncing like a swift hunting cheetah towards their desired prey—the Segestica Army protected between the front and rear Desitia forces.

When Pequot received Oluus’s order from a crew member, he immediately knew it was an exceedingly difficult task; however, failing to act, allowing Oluus and his troops to be annihilated, and letting the chief reckon after the war would mean all his previous achievements would go down the drain, and he would also face severe military law punishment.

Determined to engage, Pequot did not act blindly. He first requested the crew to take him to a point in the river near the battlefield, quietly observing the enemy’s formation process, forming a plan in his mind, then returned to his troops, gathered the team officers, and explained and refined his combat plan... finally leading to the current scene on the battlefield.

When Temagis saw a suddenly arrived enemy force rushing from the rear directly towards the Segestica Army, his expression changed, and he shouted in dismay: "Quick, stop them! Quickly send someone to stop them!"

Unfortunately, with five thousand soldiers and cavalry actively besieging Oluus’s military formation in the front, and nearly three thousand warriors engaged with Pequot’s force of 1,300 soldiers in the rear, Temagis had no additional troops to dispatch. Even if he could pull a portion from the nearly three thousand troops nearby to intercept, it was already too late.

The Desitia people fought valiantly, while the Segestica people found themselves in the battlefield but mostly absent-minded, with compatriots gruesomely fallen by enemy swords and drowned in the cold river, even their new Great Chief was not spared... Last year’s dreadful shadow loomed once more, leaving them deeply worried: What path lay ahead for the Segestica tribes?...

Suddenly, terrifying Nix soldiers appeared before them, at the forefront being that grim and fearsome god of slaughter!

Safe within the Desitia protective circle, the Segestica warriors originally felt secure. Some soldiers even took the opportunity to wring out their soaked clothes, utterly unprepared for battle, resulting in an almost immediate rout, with the quickest to flee being their current leader, Casinos.

"Drive them over there!..." Seeing things unfolding as he anticipated, Pequot excitedly raised his sword and shouted.

In reality, his voice was drowned out by the Segestica men’s screams of terror, unlikely to be heard by his following soldiers, yet his highly faithful subordinates diligently executed the prior plan—driving the fleeing Skodisqi people towards the rear of the nearly three thousand Desitia Warriors’ spear formation.