Chapter 415 If you can't walk fast, just walk faster

After Horn's order was issued, the children's soldiers and messengers rode away on horseback. With the smoke and dust left by the horses' hooves, the army formation that was originally as solid as iron began to waver.

There was a burst of whistles on the quiet battlefield. The division captains held their muskets in their hands, ran back and forth in the crowd with red faces, and whipped the soldiers who were standing in the wrong position with their muskets.

Marching in unison, the division captains held their spears horizontally against the soldiers' chests, looking left and right, guiding them to turn into the correct position and formation.

The original horizontal formation turned into a vertical formation in less than five minutes, and during these five minutes, many people began to cough.

The firewood and straw that Mizam had asked people to light upwind finally took effect.

I don’t know how much firewood and straw they burned, but turbid gray smoke rose from afar, covering the entire battlefield.

Although it was not impossible to completely determine the opponent's position, visibility was significantly reduced, as if a layer of translucent gauze was covering the eyes.

Since they were downwind and unable to use gas bottles to fight back, Horn could only ask Pasrick to bring a few wizards to try to blow away the smoke from the upwind side.

Picking up the telescope, Horn looked towards the opposite phalanx again.

In the gray fog, groups of black silhouettes let out strange war cries, and the only light came from the flames and balls of light that rose into the sky when divine spells were cast.

These silhouettes swayed their bodies, row after row, and one could only see their shapes but not their faces.

But what Horn was certain of was that after the initial chaos, the Church's formation was also changing, and they discovered that Horn was trying to outflank them.

We have to speed up!
"go ahead!"

Pointing the Blood Cloud in his hand forward, Horn shouted to the commanders around him.

As the order was given, the earth shook a little, and fine sand jumped up from the ground and fell on the grass leaves with a rustling sound.

With their lances resting on their shoulders and their hands supporting the lower ends of their lances, the soldiers marched at a peculiar pace.

The rows of spears cut through the smoke, creating holes in the gray chaos, and the ammunition bags on the dark red belts hit the moving bodies.

All the people walked on the ground in leather short boots. No one cared about shoes and wore straw sandals anymore. Even those who valued money over their lives were scolded by the division captain and forced to wear short boots.

The grass swayed and began to move left and right with the Saviors' steps.

"Left left, left left, left left!"

"Follow me, don't run!"

"Those who have fallen should follow behind their respective divisions and do not force their way in."

The command came from the division captain's mouth, and the war monks followed forward grunting, with fatigue and tension on their faces.

However, the war monks on Horn's side fought at least in Black Mountain Castle and at most in all the battles from Pavia to here. Although they were tense, they rarely panicked.

Compared with these war monks dressed in simple black attire, the snack city militiamen wearing bright blue and purple short cloaks shouted loudly and looked fearless.

But anyone who has been to the battlefield knows that it is just bluffing, and they just use roaring to relieve their inner fear.

Grape sat down and pawed his hooves while Horn rode his horse past the marching line of infantry.

The scenes of the march on the battlefield flashed before his eyes like a kaleidoscope. He frowned, not very satisfied.

Most of the time, only the pace of his division was in step, and even only the pace near the division commander's body was in step.

They had to be adjusted back and forth by the legion commander to ensure consistency with the entire fast marching column.

It seems that we need a drummer and a flag bearer.

At least in Horn's opinion, judging from the completeness of the current formation, the war monks can still speed up.

Horn continued to look into the fog. The sound of gunfire and screams coming from there proved that the Holy Gun Cavalry and Kush Knights had already engaged in battle with the Church's cavalry.

The opponent's reaction was also very fast. Horn thought for a moment and gave this order in a hoarse voice: "Change the quick step to the charge step!"

The charge is an enhanced version of the quick step, with 120 steps per minute and a travel distance of 80 meters, which is a rather dangerous pace.

Fast march is the normal battlefield marching speed, 50 meters per minute. This is a fairly reasonable speed if you want to advance while maintaining formation.

But for the Xiaochi City militiamen who followed the army, even walking fast seemed a bit unreasonable.

Looking at the silver breastplate vest of the Guards soldier in front of him, Baron Colen, the captain of the Xiaochi City militia, once again quickened his pace.

But when he turned around, he almost fainted from anger.

Compared to the neat and tidy infantry of the Salvation Army, the militiamen from Xiaochi City behind him were dressed in bright and beautiful clothes, but they moved like skeletons.

The tail end of the spear dragged on the ground, and they stood with their feet turned outward. It seemed that one could hear the sound of bones colliding with every step they took.

If someone who didn't know what was happening saw this, they would be afraid that they would fall apart in the next second.

Kelun immediately yelled at the militiamen behind him who were not doing their best: "Stupid pigs, we are eating the same food, why are you so slow?"

"I can't walk anymore. My feet hurt."

"Why are you walking so fast?"

"They were all wearing leather boots, so of course we couldn't get through."

The citizen militiamen shouted in a sarcastic tone. After all, even if they were not thugs in their past, they had all been tainted with some slick habits by the mercenaries.

"Okay, stop complaining." The noisy shouting of the militia and mercenaries made Colen dizzy. "After the fight, I'll buy each of you a pair of good shoes."

"I want leather boots!"

"I advise you not to go too far!" The tips of Colen's ears turned red.

"Okay." Although they didn't get anything more, the militiamen were like a new soul after being encouraged. They raised their spears, straightened their chests and began to march quickly.

It must be said that this marching posture is quite formal. Colen nodded with satisfaction: "Catch up... My Lord, are we so far behind?"

During this delay, the Salvation Army infantryman who was as big as a door frame in front of him was reduced to the size of a water cup.

Even though he had switched to normal speed, he still couldn't catch up with the Savior Army infantrymen.

The shaking silver and black of the Savior Army was getting farther and farther away, and under the smoke of straw, it was even harder to see clearly. Did it move so fast just now? How come I didn't notice it before?
"Hey, man, walk slower, we can't keep up!"

A militiaman shouted at the back of the division captain in front of him, but the other party did not move at all.

The sweaty Koike City militiamen felt something was wrong. They looked at the Savior Army, who were far behind them in both physical and rhetorical senses, with a puzzled look on their faces.

"Is it necessary to walk so fast? Will you still have the energy to fight later?"

"This baggage cart is still with us. Aren't you afraid it might be stolen?"

"Stop being so talkative."

"Lord Baron Colen, please send someone to the front to ask questions."

There was no way out. Although Baron Colen didn't want to admit that he could not defeat the Savior Army, this was a matter of life and death on the battlefield, so he had no choice but to give in.

After a while, the militia of Xiaochi City received Horn's reply.

"Your Majesty said, hurry up!"

"No more?" Colen asked with his eyes wide open, full of hope.

"No more." The messenger nodded, and without waiting for Colen to ask any more questions, he turned his horse around and rushed out from the side of the road, leaving Colen standing there in a daze.

If we could walk faster, wouldn't we walk faster? We just can't keep up with you, so we asked you to walk slower to meet me, right?
If I could walk faster, why would I need someone to pass on the message?
As the noble commander who was defeated in the last battle, Baron Colen is considered a veteran who often fights in wars (referring to being a mercenary agent).

Since he was a defeated general, he handed over all the command power to the young man who was less than 20 years old.

Although Baron Colen felt that he had made the right choice based on his previous actions, he now had some doubts.

With Horn's order, Colen returned to the marching Xiaochi City militia, who were first shocked and then cursed in disbelief.

"What the hell is this Saint Grandson? Isn't he just a liar?"

"I want to walk faster."

"Isn't this nonsense? The messenger has forgotten it, you ask him to come back, messenger, come back!"

Colen's eyes turned and he saw his fellow sufferer, Brune, who was also a Savior Army infantryman.

For some reason, the corps of recruits led by Brune did not walk very fast and could barely keep up with their speed.

Thinking of what he had heard about Brune's past, Colen ran over and subconsciously tried to hug Brune's neck, but ended up hugging his waist instead.

"Brother Brune..."

"Mr. Coren, I don't like men."

Looking at Brune, who was so honest and simple that he looked like he had just crawled out of a field, Cologne cursed in his heart, wondering why this old fool was chosen to be an officer?
"I don't like it either...Brother Brune, you are a veteran of the Salvation Army. What does His Majesty mean by asking us to leave quickly?" Colen asked with a sullen face.

"The enemy's infantry is in a large square formation and moves slowly. If we want to outflank them from the flank, we have to be fast." Brune explained seriously to Cologne.

Kelun was about to collapse: "Don't I know? I told you not to walk fast!"

"Then walk faster."

"I can't walk fast enough!" Kelun was sobbing. "I asked you to fly, but can you? You can't!"

"Your words don't count. Your Majesty said it, so we can do it." Brune said seriously, "We just need to execute it. Your Majesty has a lot to consider. Why think about these things?"

Furious, Colen returned to his own line. Looking forward, he found that the Savior Army infantrymen in front of him were about to disappear from his sight.

He turned around and glared at the group of civilian soldiers who were walking lazily and complaining about the blisters on their feet. He gritted his teeth and said:

"Catch up, don't worry about the formation, follow me, those who fall behind will have their salary deducted, and I will give part of it to those who can keep up! Charge!"

"Good!"

Amid the cheers of the militiamen, Colen felt his heart bleeding.

"Mr. Coren, please don't leave anymore."

In front of him was Brune, who calmly stopped him. Colen touched his wallet and asked with a stern look, "What are you doing?"

"Stop moving forward and form a battle array!"

"Formation? What formation?" Kelun couldn't stand it anymore. "You told us to hurry up, but now you want us to stop and form a formation. I've spent all my money, and you tell me to stop. Are you kidding me..."

Facing Brune's numb face, Colen's voice gradually became quieter because he heard a regular thumping sound.

There was wind blowing through the smoke, and along with it came the sound of metal colliding between armors.

Even the laziest militiamen from Xiaochi City had their hair standing on end.

"Please don't let it be the Imperial Order Company, please don't let it be the Imperial Order Company..." With his head held high and his eyes closed, Colen placed his middle finger on his index finger and prayed devoutly as he had never prayed before.

The militiamen of Xiaochi City began to form a battle array spontaneously without receiving any orders from Colen, with layers of spears raised and heavy oak round shields erected on their chests.

Their efficiency has never been higher.

In this chaotic formation, a militiaman from Xiaochi City raised his head and he seemed to see something flash out of the corner of his eye.

"bass!"

The giant beast's dark shadow swept past the militia with a cold light, and the long sword splashed blood. A wound deep enough to see the bone appeared on the chest of the unfortunate militia.

He opened his eyes wide, his body swayed, and he fell softly to the ground. His internal organs mixed with blood flowed out of the wound and all over the ground.

"woo woo woo woo--"

The sound of the horn suppressed the noise of all the militiamen.

The fluttering flags rolled up the rippling smoke, and the heavy black armor looked like a devil charging out of hellfire. All the blood in Colen's body flowed to his head.

"Imperial Command Company!"

(End of this chapter)