Chapter 360: Battle of Black Mountain (First Battle)
Standing on a black rock hidden by trees, Horn held a telescope in his right hand, closed his left eye, and looked at the chaotic formation not far away.

On both sides of the country road, even the half-harvested wheat fields were shining golden.

The morning sunlight cast the shadows of the messy crowd and horses very long, extending from the soles of their feet to the edge of the raspberry bushes on the side of the road.

The night watch guards held the three-meter-long spears in their right palms and held the lower part in their left hands. The slender spear shafts stretched out from above their heads, as dense as a forest.

However, since the Saviors were some distance away, to ordinary war monks, these large square formations looked like a huge mixed-hair shoe brush moving forward.

Teams of knights with colorful flags were mixed in among them, like rags next to shoe brushes.

According to the process of engaging the regular army, the knights must first wait for the enemy's extraordinary forces to appear or for the infantry to hold the line before launching an attack from the side.

Unlike the Imperial Knights who were willing and able to charge into the enemy's formation head-on, these country knights did not have the ability or courage to do so.

The knights of Ibe said they were farmers, but when it came to the critical moment, their bodies honestly chose the regular army's tactics.

Even compared with the Saviors in regular training, this chaotic and rigid formation change is really an eyesore.

If the two sides were not too far apart, Horn would have the urge to let the Holy Gun Cavalry go in and kill first.

According to the reconnaissance results and calculations on the plain in front of the Black Mountain, the battle between the two sides will most likely take place on this battlefield which is 2,500 meters long and 1,000 meters wide.

Eight Salvation Army corps and 5400 cavalry troops were deployed along the ridge. Between the teams, engineers were running quickly, digging and setting up temporary fortifications.

The northwest side of the Black Mountains, where the terrain is the flattest, is the right wing of Horn's position.

Horn deployed two mortar low wall fortifications, 150 archers and two Black Cap Legions of 1000 people, all under the command of Jeshka.

The right wing of the army was flanked by reeds and groves on a tributary of the Ibe River, making it difficult for the cavalry to increase their speed.

As for the central army, Horn commanded it personally, with a total of four legions and 2000 people.

Two Guards Corps were deployed at a height of about 10 meters, and about 200 meters in front of the Guards, two Black Cap Corps were deployed at ground level.

The left flank was the steepest part of the ridge, where the Salvation Army deployed two Black Caps under the command of Hakuto.

On the right side of the two guards was the cavalry unit commanded by Jeanne.

The cavalry unit consists of two parts. The first part is 250 archers composed of Norse knights and some masked Kush knights, and the second part is 300 holy lance cavalry.

In front of the Central Army Guards, four wizards, with the help of engineers, were nervously assembling fireball crossbows.

The corps commanded by Hakuto and Jeshka were basically parallel, approximately 90 meters to the left and right of the front of the Guards.

According to the "Holy Code of War Monks", every two legions move in teams, and the battle width of each legion is about 100 meters, which means about 220 meters for two legions.

Although it is called the left, center and right armies, in fact it only refers to the command scope.

Unlike the Ibe knights who advanced separately in order not to interfere with each other, Horn's left, center and right armies were connected.

Looking down from the air, it looks like a diamond shape.

Horn, who was observing the battlefield through a telescope, suddenly wiped the lens in front of him with a handkerchief.

"What's wrong, Your Majesty?" Das asked, standing under a big rock and looking up.

Horn's facial muscles twitched, and he turned around and handed the telescope to Das: "See for yourself."

Just now he saw clearly that the scattered Hussars suddenly gathered together like duckweed.

The Ibe knights who were originally on both sides of the large infantry square formation in the center of the army suddenly cheered regardless of anything and rushed out behind the hussars.

You fell for this crude tactic of luring the enemy? You are not human!

"Ah?" At the same time, Das beside him made the sound that Horn expected.

"Get ready, and have the Holy Guns on both sides assist in defense."

…………

The hooves rumbled and the disc-shaped helmet in front kept shaking.

Although it was only the morning sun, Victor could still feel that his iron helmet was getting a little hot from the sun.

There were heavy breathing sounds beside me, and a prayer that was held back in my throat.

Although they had accumulated a lot of combat experience in the previous fortress advancement battles, fighting against knights in the wild was the first time for many of the recruits.

"Spearmen, move to the center!" Victor shouted out orders according to the Holy Scripture.

With tiny footsteps stomping on the ground, the spearmen began to move closer to the center under the orders of the division and brigade commanders, until they were almost shoulder to shoulder. This formation meant that hand-to-hand combat was about to begin.

"Pikemen in the front row, put down your rifles!" Victor could vaguely hear his old partner Coleman next door shouting commands.

He coughed and shouted the same command in a hoarse voice.

The spearmen in the first three rows on his right put down their upright spears one by one and pointed them diagonally forward.

The morning light fell on the gun blade, stinging his eyes and making them feel a little sore.

The people in the gun array swallowed their saliva, making gurgling sounds in their throats. Because they were too close, they could smell the stench of sweat coming from all directions.

"Holy Gunner..." Before Victor could finish his shout, several stray arrows flew over and hit his feet.

There were a few stray arrows that were so soft that they couldn't even pierce the war monks' clothes, and at most they only left a small spot of blood.

Zeranken was smart enough. Seeing that he could not stop the knights' reckless charge, he ordered the archers to shoot arrows to provide cover.

It’s a pity that the bows and arrows’ range was simply out of reach, which simply prevented the war monks from taking the initiative to attack.

After calming himself down from the stray arrows, Victor continued to shout, "Holy Gunslinger! Ten steps forward!"

"First Holy Gunner, take ten steps forward, go!"

"Second Holy Gunner, take ten steps forward, go!"

"third……"

In order of precedence, the captains of each division loudly issued orders.

The sound of orderly footsteps was heard, not only the sound of horse hooves in the front, but also the footsteps of the Holy Gunners on the left and right wings.

"Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!"

The mechanical and dull footsteps hit people's hearts, making everyone's heart beat violently.

Smoke and dust appeared at the end of the road, and hundreds of Ibe knights followed behind the Hussars.

They wore colorful wool leggings and painted their armor in various colors.

The bright feathers and the jeweled sword were completely different from the plain and practical black armor that the Imperial Order Company had worn.

The leading hussars held high the battle flag of the terrifying and fierce Third Brother Huo. On the tip of the flag, three beast-like gods opened their mouths wide as if roaring.

But no matter how you look at it, it looks like three heads were pierced by spears.

In the Beastman Empire, the Dreadhor Banner is equivalent to the Aiur Eagle Banner and must never be discarded.

"Holy Gunner, get ready!"

The command to prepare meant checking that the barrel was loaded and starting to wind the orichalcum spring.

For a moment, the battlefield was filled with the sound of creaking gears, which made many beastmen shudder and speed up.

On the contrary, the Ibe knights of Jinhe Township still held high the swallowtail flags or square flags with their family crests printed on them and issued chaotic war cries.

Their faces were red, and it seemed that they had drunk sweat potion or fire potion in advance. They were instinctively charging forward under the effect of the stimulant.

The sound of the gears on the battlefield stopped. The strange silence made many beastmen who were familiar with the holy gun anxious, and Leia spoke fluently: "Don't fire, we haven't run away yet!"

"Go around to both sides, go around to both sides!" Coleman, who could speak a few words of Orc language, shouted.

Grush had already shouted to those holding the Terrorglock's Head Eagle banners to turn around, and the rest of the orc hussars followed suit.

"Holy Gunner, kneel forward and stand back, aim!"

The holy musketeers in the first row half-knelt and placed the gun barrels on the shortened Y-shaped brackets.

The holy gunner in the second row straightened up, holding the tripod with his left hand, and placing his right index finger next to the trigger instead of on it.

"Lancers, get ready!"

When the knights rushed past the branch with the red cloth tied to it, Victor swung the lance in his hand heavily.

"emission!"

"Praise the Holy Wind!"

(End of this chapter)