Chapter 196: Chapter 195 Battle (3)
Although the left wing gained a local advantage, it was not substantial. The Bartow infantry had only defeated a group of lesser horned beasts, and the Duke of Casson, riding on his flying steed, could see it clearly. The line behind the lesser horned beasts remained solid, and there were still several groups of mount and beast troops behind them.
The beastmen had also gathered almost all their mobile troops together to confront the Bartow knights head-on.
While the Duke of Casson had confidence in the Bartow knights in terms of cavalry, otherwise he wouldn’t have chosen to engage the beastmen in the open field, the infantry line of the beastmen had not yet collapsed. If they struck now, the large Bartow knights would be bogged down by the enemy’s mobile forces, and then massive groups of horned beasts would come crushing in, squeezing the cavalry’s movement space.
By the time the Bartow knights won the left wing battle and broke through the line, the right wing would likely have already been hacked through three or four times, and the Cyclops might have gotten tired of throwing stones.
The Duke of Casson, riding his flying horse, dove down and shouted urgently, “Knights, stop!”
His voice was loud, but it could not compete with the sound of the hooves of the valiant knights’ steeds, their fighting spirit in their chests, and the shouts of battling with the beastmen.
He could only watch helplessly as over a thousand valiant knights on the left flank defeated the few horse and beast troops that came to impede them, then rode in a semicircle, aiming their horse heads at the lesser horned beasts that were focused on fighting the Bartow infantry.
The cavalry began to accelerate, from a slow trot to a fast canter to a full gallop. Once they could see the fur on the lesser horned beasts, the valiant knights surged forward at full speed, lowering their lances and shouting:
“For the Goddess!”
The lesser horned beasts beside them were almost scared to death, trembling as they raised their spears, and many of them simply dropped their longspears and turned to flee.
From the sky, the valiant knights crashing into the flank was like a steel ball shot into a brittle cookie; they encountered no resistance at all. The lesser horned beasts immediately fled in panic, scattering in all directions, even running directly into the spears of the Bartow infantry, effectively killing themselves.
The Bartow infantry regiments were overjoyed and charged forward, slaughtering the beastmen.
But the valiant knights, deep behind enemy lines, quickly ran into a brick wall. They discovered that the horned beasts, stronger than the lesser horned beasts, were as solid as a mountain.
They still didn’t realize that they had exposed a huge flaw. The lesser horned beasts had dispersed too quickly, and the valiant knights had become too deeply entangled.
The Duke of Casson watched as the beastmen finally gathered their mobile forces.
The Dread Crow Beast King himself swung his axe and shouted, “Block that group of monkeys!”
Thousands of horse and beast troops galloped across the ground, with bloodthirsty battle hounds running among them. Their numbers were filling up the open space on the left, and they were marching with determination to block the remaining escape route for the valiant knights.
The Duke of Casson felt exhausted. How could he watch two thousand valiant knights become trapped in the enemy’s formation and be completely devoured? Cavalry without mobility was useless on the battlefield.
“Goddess bless,” the Duke of Casson decided to take a gamble. If the left wing could break through quickly and kill the Cyclops, then victory would surely be within reach.
He rode his flying horse past the kingdom knights who were already prepared on the left wing, along with the accompanying Holy Grail maidens and paladins—this was the elite of the troops. He was putting all his bets on the left wing—except for the reserve troops.
Although the left wing was backed by dense forests and the open area was not large, even if the Bartow knights had a numerical advantage, it was hard to leverage.
“For the Goddess! Children of Bartow, charge towards that group of beastmen!”
The sound of hooves thundered as the Bartow knights marched forward under the falling giant stones. Even though giant stones crushed knights beside them, they did not hesitate for a moment, maneuvering around the stones to continue advancing.
The Duke of Casson raised his magical sword over the knights’ heads.
However, he underestimated the impact of this action.
The Bartow knights were already boiling with excitement. Seeing this scene, their blood was almost boiling over.
The black knight, who had been staring at the left wing forest, immediately spurred his horse ahead, without considering that he was part of the reserves, even though the Duke of Casson had specifically told him to watch the left wing.
While he was leaving, he glanced at George sitting on his horse. George was still fulfilling his duty, having not charged indiscriminately but instead speaking with the reserve troops next to him:
“Our task is to keep an eye on the beastmen who might emerge from the forest.”
“This is as honorable as battling on the front lines.”
“On the battlefield, military orders are paramount.”
The knights in the reserve were already restless but were held back by George’s reputation and didn’t dare to act, given that he was personally standing in front.
The black knight noticed and coldly sneered, “Cowards.”
Then he raised his sword and shouted to the reserve troops, “Do you want to be cowardly and watch heroes fight from the back? Or do you want to charge forward like heroes?”
With that, the black knight turned and galloped toward the front line with more than a dozen knights.
His leading role had a great effect. The reserve troops beside George immediately spurred their horses, disregarding George’s advice, and charged ahead.
George shouted, “You’re defying orders!”
But aside from Knight Sam and those who had fought alongside him, nearly all the other knights left him to join the fray on the left wing.
“Just let it go,” Jima said, “reasoning doesn’t compare to his incitement.”
George slapped his thigh hard, “It’s truly undisciplined and disorganized. The Duke of Casson should not have called for a charge.”
“The Duke of Casson has actually lost control of the army,” Jima said. “What he is doing is, in fact, correct.”
Even the most disciplined army becomes hard to control once engaged, as soldiers cannot see the flag and find it difficult to execute commands.
“That’s only how humans behave.” Eve Frostleaf, who had rarely spoken, suddenly chimed in. “Elven infantry can fight against demon forces while rotating frontline soldiers.”
Jima exclaimed with delight:
“Wow, our ice mountain beauty finally spoke! If it weren’t for your beauty, I might have forgotten you were here. It seems Frostleaf has military insights too—shall we discuss?”
Eve Frostleaf gave no regard to Jima and remained silent.
“Ah… back to being the ice mountain beauty,” Jima said. “George, what do you plan to do now?”
“Continue to hold the flank,” George said. “That is the order.”
Jima pointed at the Cyclops six hundred meters away, “If I were you, I would join the attack to ensure victory and take down the Cyclops.”
Just then, several brave flying horse knights charged over, immediately cursing, and a shower of ash fell on them, slowing their movements. The Cyclops, with both hands holding a giant stone, hurled it down, causing the flying horse knights to plunge into the beastmen’s ranks and perish.
The beastmen also understood that the Cyclops were one of the decisive points in this battle, heavily guarded.
George asked, “What’s the reason beyond victory?”
Jima didn’t answer directly, saying, “As the strongest in the army, you should be taking out the hardest positions.”
“Jima,” George said, “could you please speak honestly as a wife for a moment?”
The air beside them grew colder, and Eve Frostleaf suddenly yearned to rush to the frontlines and stab the beastmen with her twin blades.
Jima’s face turned slightly red, “We’re not married yet. How shameless.”
“Close enough,” George said, “is that okay?”
“Seeing you so pitiful, what can I do?” Jima scratched her arm covered in goosebumps, “That’s really cringy. Fine, I admit I have selfish intentions.”
“How so?”
“The Cyclops is tall and big; everyone can see it. Once killed, your reputation will skyrocket. Even if this battle is lost, no one will blame you. Instead, people will talk about your actions as the highlight of the defeat.”
Jima paused for a moment before continuing:
“On the contrary, staying here as reserves—if twenty or so knights really count as reserves—winning will bring you no benefit, and losing will have others blaming you for being the strongest in the army yet standing back and watching.”
George asked, “Jima, do you think if I charge at the Cyclops now, it is more likely to result in victory than remaining as reserves?”
Jima hesitated.
Not far away, a large group of lightning balls rolled over the beastmen’s position on the left wing, illuminating Jima’s profile.
“No,” Jima said, “though military strategies are not without risks, to achieve victory, there must be some assurance.”
“Then alright,” George became more resolute, “I’ll just stay put as reserves.”
“I knew it. Logically, I should ask why you’re so foolish? But after experiencing the battle of Shalin City alongside you, I know what you’re thinking.” Jima scanned the immediate area.
The Bartow farmers, although their equipment was far from that of the knights and they were not as powerful, still fought valiantly to defend their homeland against the beastmen.
The right wing, being the weakest, had no support. The only thing the soldiers could do was to delay their deaths as long as possible. The harbingers of death fell from the sky, and the strong horned beasts wielded dual axes, cleaving human bodies.
Yet they managed to barely hold on; although it had been chaotic before, they now formed a battle line, holding long axes and spears, standing like a wall, cleaving and stabbing at the horned beasts.
Even when slaughtered, they took not a step back, their bodies lying in neat rows on the ground.
The large horned beasts were disorganized, going into a frenzy after tasting blood, but under the effects of curses, their strength diminished significantly, causing them to deliver many heads to the enemy.
Meanwhile, the archers among the lesser horned beasts were frightened off by the knights, and the remaining ones were shot away by the Bartow farmers’ arrows. The remaining Bartow farmers continued to rain arrows into the beastmen ranks.
The situation even reached a stalemate for a time. The Cyclopes had to throw giant stones at the right wing, crushing the flesh of resisting Bartow soldiers to break the deadlock as the large horned beasts continuously hacked through the lines.
Jima continued, “…You are reluctant to part with the lives of those farmers.”
“Yeah, it’s great that you understand.”
“How foolish.” Jima shook her head. “But, what can I do? I can only play the part of a motherly figure helping you make foolish choices.”
At that moment, a rain of arrows suddenly shot out from the dense forest on the right, landing on the farmers who were struggling to resist.
The shield-bearing spear unit lowered their shields, now peppered with arrows, looking in terror towards the forest, where a minotaur bellowed as it charged, followed by a large group of lesser horned beasts with dark eye sockets screaming.
Only a few minutes into the battle, over a hundred spearmen turned and fled, showing signs of collapse in their lines.
George finally arrived on horseback, raising his lance high, sparkling brightly, and shouted, “Support has arrived! Support has arrived!”
The Bartow farmers turned to look, seeing George alone; those who should run still ran, as a minotaur sliced down on hundreds.
Heavenly steeds charged towards the minotaur. Rout troops continually passed by George, who put down his lance—the one granted to him by the Duke of Casson—and it plunged deep into the minotaur’s body.
He jumped off his horse, swinging his great sword to carve out a space, then struck down the minotaur, raising it high and waving it, trying to inspire morale.
“I am the support.”
