CHAPTER 391: CHAPTER 270: BATTLE THE CAVALRY AGAIN

The scene was like a shepherd herding sheep; although the Segestica Warriors outnumbered the team led by Pequot, fear had consumed their minds, and they completely lost the courage to resist. Terrified, they followed the surging crowd, crashing into the formation of the Desitia.

"Segestica people, think of your Great Chief Andres! Show your courage and fight back! Kill the enemies behind you; they are few and not your match!..." In desperation, with no other plan, Temagis urgently rode to the front of the fleeing soldiers, shouting loudly.

His Guard rushed over, forcefully dragging him away from the danger in time.

"Damn it! Damn it, Segestica people! God damn..." Seeing victory within reach, but faced with such a huge mishap, looking at the fleeing soldiers crashing into their own formation, shoving their warriors madly... the Desitia’s square formation started to become disordered... Temagis felt a stifling pain in his chest, couldn’t bear to watch anymore, and galloped towards the front line, intending to quickly pull enough troops from the frontline battle to quell this ridiculous chaos.

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

On the wooden walls of the stockade, Anrotas gazed at the battlefield. Logically, the arrival of reinforcements should have relieved the stockade’s dilemma, and as the leader, he should be happy, but his expression was wooden.

"Leader, should we send warriors to help them quickly take out the enemy?" one eager subordinate asked.

"Fool! Can’t you see the enemy is already surrounded? The troops we send out might not even reach the enemy’s edge; what help can we provide!" Anrotas scolded.

"It seems the enemy will be eliminated soon; should we prepare to welcome them into the stockade?" another asked.

"So many of them are coming; how can our stockade accommodate them? Didn’t the camp the Nix people built still exist? Let them stay there to avoid disrupting our people’s lives!" Anrotas said irritably.

Those around him noticed the leader’s mood and dared not speak further.

Anrotas indeed harbored resentment. He had sent messengers to Cabdes for help multiple times over the past few days but received no response, leaving him and his people in fear for so long. Now that the enemy was about to lift the siege, the reinforcements finally arrived. What use is this now!

It seems Cabdes still harbors distrust towards me, delaying the dispatch of reinforcements. If that’s the case, I no longer need to be conciliatory towards him; I’ll have to ally with Pulikas in the future... Anrotas thought deeply, his expression grave.

"Heavens, look! Enemy reinforcements!" someone suddenly shouted.

In the panicked cries of those around him, Anrotas came to his senses and looked west with everyone else, only to see a lengthy column moving swiftly along the riverside road...

"Quick! Quickly inform Cabdes! Tell him the enemy reinforcements are here and to be on guard!" Anrotas hurriedly instructed his subordinates to report, despite his grievances with Cabdes. He absolutely didn’t want to see the Alliance Army lose, as it would mean the end for his tribe as well.

In fact, the Alliance Army’s reconnoitre had detected the enemy earlier, but upon returning to report, found the battlefield in chaos and couldn’t immediately find the Great Chief’s whereabouts, so they reported to Terles first. After all, the cavalry numbered few and separate, attacking one spot, with the Banner Carrier closely following Terles to command charges, making it easier to identify.

Terles gathered his cavalry, taking some time, and the Nix reinforcements’ vanguard had already bypassed the stockade, heading towards the battlefield. Perhaps seeing the cavalry forming up ahead, they quickly stopped advancing and began to regroup.

From a distance, Terles saw the enemy before him was without armor or large shields, wielding weapons akin to short wooden sticks... Having led his cavalry to charge Oluus’ troops several times with little success due to their tight defense, losing some of his men—seeing the enemy reinforcements so poorly equipped, how could he miss this golden opportunity to annihilate the enemy? He immediately ordered an attack.

The vanguard of the Nix reinforcements was a Crossbow Soldiers team, crucial in the battle on the East Bank of the Kolana River, with no casualties, volunteering afterwards to clear the battlefield, recovering and repairing some crossbow arrows.

The next morning, Maximus led part of the troops back rapidly, including the Crossbow Soldiers. Because they carried lighter loads, they marched faster than other units, becoming the vanguard.

Maximus had learned from the crew that the enemy had started engaging with the Fourth Legion (since the Pannonia Alliance Army had effective reconnoitre, the Nix could only dispatch ships in the river to check the battle situation), daring to send the crossbow soldiers forward.

Though Valerius, the Crossbow Soldier Captain, was already breathless, he remained highly vigilant. Upon noticing distant enemy cavalry assembling ahead, he decisively ordered "Stop advancing, form ranks on the spot."

The Crossbow Soldiers quickly formed into two rows, preparing to shoot. Despite the arduous journey depleting much energy, their speed in pulling the bowstring and nocking arrows was undiminished. This was because someone found a stringing trick during previous battles, saving much effort: standing the crossbow vertically on the ground, stepping on the bow with both feet, pulling the bowstring upwards with hands, utilizing the strength of the waist and back.

Upon learning this, Valerius immediately promoted it across the team, and the soldiers quickly mastered this simple yet efficient stringing method, now proving useful.

They swiftly loaded arrows, with the front row soldiers leveling their Lu Bows for shooting and the rear row soldiers holding crossbows, ready to hand them forward at any time.

This time, Terles didn’t adopt a column charge but used a fan-shaped array, preparing to push forward and crush the enemy’s vanguard.

About 100 meters away, the speed of the warhorses increased. Charging at the front, Terles watched the enemy’s looser horizontal formation and their crude weaponry, recalling the frustration from previous attacks on the enemy’s dense shield formations, he took a deep breath, raised his longsword high, and roared: "Kill!"

Facing the aggressive enemy cavalry, the Crossbow Soldiers remained unflustered. In the previous battle, they easily routed cavalry far more numerous than this.

Having judged the enemy cavalry entering a 100-meter range, Valerius waved the red flag. This wasn’t a misjudgment due to panic; his experience suggested that given the cavalry’s advancing speed, firing now was just right, perhaps allowing the soldiers more time for another round of shooting.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." Arrows flew like locusts, and in an instant, men shouted and horses neighed, with the Desitia cavalry at the front falling in waves, slowing their assault.

As the rear cavalry maneuvered around their fallen comrades and continued charging, another volley of crossbow arrows came, felling more cavalry...

After two volleys, the Desitia cavalry’s formation had already thinned. Terles led at the forefront without slowing, not because of luck; he too was struck by an arrow. But as a tribal leader, clad in Iron Helmet and Armor, riding the best warhorse, the arrow striking his breastplate nearly winded him. The continuous falling of cavalry around him wrenched his heart, yet he endured the severe pain, his bloodshot eyes glaring fiercely at the enemy ahead, his left hand shaking the reins vigorously...

Closer... closer... He could clearly see the faces of the enemies ahead; their expressions were also of panic, even turning around...

No escape! I will slaughter you all as a bloody offering for my fallen men! ... Terles clenched his longsword tightly, roaring again in fury.

Just then, he saw the enemies ahead turn back, three or four arrows shooting toward him simultaneously. In a split second, his warhorse neighed mournfully, suddenly stumbling forward. Before he could react, a powerful inertia threw him out, and he heard a "crack" as his head hit the ground first, immediately losing consciousness...

The Nix Crossbow Soldier Team fired three volleys of arrows, taking down nearly half of the charging Desitia cavalry. Even their commander, the esteemed and brave Terles, was down, shocking the remaining cavalry into hesitation...

Seeing this, Valerius ordered immediately: "Crossbow Soldiers, advance in formation, free to shoot!"

The Crossbow Soldiers advanced on their own, closing the distance with the cavalry. After loosing more arrows and felling a few cavalrymen, the now leaderless Desitia cavalry retreated in fear, leaving their wounded and fallen comrades and downed warhorses behind...

The Crossbow Soldiers quickly turned towards the enemy infantry besieging Oluus Square Formation’s flank.

Valerius dispatched a hundred to guard against the distant watching enemy cavalry, splitting the remaining 500 Crossbow Soldiers into two teams. They advanced within 80 meters of the enemy infantry formation and began firing arrows.

Some warriors at the rear of the Desitia Long Spear formations noticed the approaching enemy. Their loud shouts failed to affect the entire formation, which was engaged in fierce combat, and they couldn’t leave formation, so they turned to face and raise shields against the advancing enemy.

The battle on the East Bank of the Kolana River had already proven that these simple Wooden Shields couldn’t withstand the powerful crossbow arrows. After one volley, over a hundred warriors fell, and another volley took down more...

The dense formation made the Desitia Light Infantry the perfect live targets, almost every arrow claiming a vict](im).

After three volleys, the casualties of over 400 Desitia warriors severely crippled the attacking flank’s infantry formation.

Some warriors, unwilling to passively take hits, charged at the Nix Crossbow Soldiers, and their comrades followed suit, causing the Long Spear formations to collapse. Naturally, the threat to Oluus Square Formation’s flank was eliminated...