Chapter 420: Preparations before the Final Charge

"Uuuuuu——"

The sound of the horn was still floating in the dark clouds, and a few crows came following the scent, circling greedily over the corpse.

Across the hills and streams, horses’ hooves kept chasing each other, and the knights of Kush and the knights of the church kept performing scenes of interception, pursuit and entanglement.

Those who were blocked by the Kush Knights and the North Knights were the country knights of Lower River.

The densely packed spears vibrated with their footsteps. The steel forest formed by the spear tips merged with the forest on the hills behind them, almost blocking out the dark clouds in the sky.

The fireball left a long tail of black smoke and flames, and landed in the square formation where the soldiers were standing shoulder to shoulder.

Balls of fire exploded one after another, and the guards, who were howling and covered in flames, danced briskly on the grass.

"How to do how to do?"

Guarded by a group of knights, Mizam had completely lost his previous gloomy and cunning look, and he grabbed Alman's sleeve with sweat all over his body.

At this point, Arman lost his previous good temper and said coldly: "What else can we do? Fight."

"Fight!" Mizam's voice instantly soared to more than E6. Seeing that the people around him were looking at him, he lowered his voice and said, "Lord, please be merciful. I can't bear to see the killing and have to avoid the battlefield. Can you send a few square-flag knights to escort me?"

"I'm afraid I can't."

"why?"

"We just can't do it. We can't leave."

Mizam became furious. He raised his voice and returned to his usual vicious appearance: "Could it be that the church army can't fight without me?"

"It's hard to say." Arman finally gave Mizam some face, "Let me put it this way, once you leave, the infantry phalanx will collapse.

The road was filled with fleeing soldiers, and the enemy's cavalry and the devil-gun infantry were coming to kill us. We were all lambs to be slaughtered."

"What should we do?" Mizam asked with the last glimmer of hope, "Can't we just go around it?"

Alman wiped the blood off his armor with animal skin, his eyebrows almost pressed down on his eyes. "Go around? If I could go around, would I still wait here?"

The Salvation Army had such a long battle line, and there were cavalry guarding on both sides. It would take at least a minute for the Imperial Order Company to get around it.

Taking into account the enemy's marching speed, our own assembly speed, the interference of the enemy's Holy Gun Cavalry and Infantry, as well as the divination of the Hussars and wizards, it is absolutely too late.

Even if the range is 300 meters or even 200 meters, Alman has the confidence to lead the main force of the knights to escape. After all, if the infantry is lost, it is lost.

But now, due to Horn's actions, they were blocked by the defeated soldiers of Xiaochi City and their own infantry phalanx, and had no time to escape.

Looking around the battlefield, the guards were trying to turn back under the shouts of the guard captains and sergeants.

The shafts of their spears clashed with each other, and on one side some men were being pushed down and complaining, while on the other side they were pushing the deserters.

The original three-in-one formations were mixed together, turning into a mess.

Judging from the current progress, it is estimated that the six phalanxes at the back will definitely not be able to be saved. Even if the six phalanxes at the front change their formation in time, they will definitely not be able to withstand an attack from the Saviors.

In summary, it's all over.

When Mizam led his entire army past Horn, the battle was over, the only difference was whether it was a crushing defeat, a major defeat, or a minor defeat.

The overall battle situation is doomed, but it is not necessarily the case for Alman. As long as the strength of the main knights can be preserved, it can only be considered a minor defeat.

Guards are like potato roots in the ground, they grow every time you dig them up. All you have to wait is two years at most.

Alman glanced at Mizam, and remembering his identity, he said helplessly: "When we charge, you will follow behind and break through the enemy's horizontal formation. This is our only chance."

Mizam's pale face finally showed some color. Despite this crushing defeat, as long as he was given a pen and a piece of paper, he could turn defeat into victory, but he could turn danger into safety.

"Squires, move out!" Arman jumped on his horse and shouted to several knights, "Try your best to slow down the enemy and give the phalanx enough time to change its formation!"

"As you command, Your Excellency!"

…………

Smoke drifted past them, and the wind that blew up the smoke formed light black clouds. The battle formation consisting of ten legions moved forward at full speed.

Holding lances and wearing breastplates, the division captains ran back and forth with big strides, blowing whistles and shouting loudly with hoarse throats to adjust their formation and speed amid the sound of footsteps.

The rapid march just now and the vanguard battle with Countess Marika had somewhat disrupted the ranks of the Saviors.

Standing at the front of the battle formation, Horn stared at the chaotic formation of the church army from afar. No expression could be seen on his pale face. People who didn't know him would think he was distracted.

The wind that blew away the smoke hit Horn's face. It was different from the hot air around him, and it actually brought a slight cool feeling. This inevitably made Horn wonder about the principle of this wind blowing spell. Could it be that they were generating air instead of pushing it?
Riding on the back of the horse Grape and moving slowly forward with the battle formation, Horn gently stroked its mane. The heavy iron gloves covered the back of his hands, but it did not affect the gentleness of his movements at all.

Horn had mastered the second stage of breathing technique, so wearing such a pair of heavy iron gloves was not a big problem for him.

"Your Majesty, let's go back." Du Valon, holding a shield and sweating profusely, stood beside Horn and raised the shield high.

Surrounding Horn's battle formation, the squire knights were desperately moving around, arrows were flying in the sky, hitting helmets and armor with a clanging sound.

From time to time, a burst of chaotic gunfire could be heard, and the next second several knights who got too close fell off their horses.

Even though the squires were quite far away, it would be terrible if Horn was hit by a stray arrow.

"What are you afraid of? You have to do it yourself and not let others do it." Horn put down the telescope and said lightly.

However, looking at the nervous eyes of the people around him, he sighed lightly, pulled the reins, and the legions around him passed by on both sides like flowing water.

"Have the two legions behind caught up?" Reining his horse, Horn turned and asked Du Valon beside him.

Since the legion was rotating to the right as a whole, the two outermost new guard legions still fell behind.

In order to prevent the Imperial Company from launching a flank attack on this weak point, Horn temporarily adjusted the formation.

Among the ten legions of more than 5,000 people currently marching on the grassland, the two legions in the front are the Guards Legions that have always served as the reserve.

"We've caught up. We're currently staying at the end as the reserve." Du Valon confirmed with the messenger before continuing.

"Is the formation ready?"

"Everything is ready." Jeshka showed his big black and yellow teeth, "We are just waiting for your order."

As the church army became increasingly clear in his field of vision, Horn could no longer hold back a smile on his face.

He never expected that the opponent would actually break away from his position and attack from the side. Although this was the result of him passively leaving behind a bait, the effect was surprisingly good.

Horn started from his main formation and seemed to have run three or four hundred meters, but if the entire battle formation was considered as a whole, he did not move far.

When a Galar formation is fully deployed and leaves enough room for the gunners to maneuver, the battle width is about 90 to 100 meters.

Horn's diamond formation has four Galar horizontal formations in the first line, and there are Galar horizontal formations on both sides of the second line.

Therefore, taking into account the maneuvering space between each horizontal formation, the battle width when the battle formation is deployed is 500 to 600 meters. After being converted into a marching formation, the battle width is still more than 400 meters.

Horn seemed to have run a long distance, but horizontally he only moved one body length and turned half a circle.

The number of infantry square formations of the opposing church army far exceeded Horn's, so even a large square formation had a width of only 50 to 60 meters.

In addition, they were arranged in a V-shaped, interlaced formation, so with twice the number of troops as Horn, the battle width of the 12 large square formations was only 300 to 400 meters.

This means that it is difficult for the infantry of the Church Army to outflank Horn's Galar Formation, but after ensuring the mobility speed, the Galar Formation can easily outflank others.

It was precisely because of this characteristic of Galar's horizontal formation that Horn decided to attack from the side and used the clockwork leather cannon to forcibly defeat Baroness Marika and her personal guards.

After leaving Knight Ibe to fight the remaining remnants of the Lower Rife Knights, Horn began to march eastward at a rapid pace.

When he learned the enemy's whereabouts from the Hussars, he was ready for a flank attack.

But what he didn't expect was that the other party seemed to have not noticed it, and without any defense, he walked straight past Horn's face.

Even Horn saw them, yet they still moved forward stiffly.

From the moment he thought about it until now, Horn couldn't figure out what tricks Mizam was playing.

But he quickly realized that this was a great opportunity.

If we launch a flank attack in the smoke, we will be too far away from the main camp, and the Imperial Order Company will surely detect it in advance and flee the battlefield.

If we attack from the side and rear, it will not only have a greater tactical effect, but there is even a chance to block the Imperial Order Company.

This impromptu decision paid rich dividends for Horn.

Opposite the moving steel forest, the church army's vulnerable back and panicked flanks were exposed to Horn's eyes.

"Your Majesty, we have entered the enemy's range of 100 meters."

A distance of one hundred meters can be covered in two minutes at a brisk pace.

"The four legions on both sides of the second line will turn to normal pace and prepare to meet the attack of the enemy knights. The central army will continue to move forward quickly and prepare to charge."

(End of this chapter)