At the end of October, the weather was slightly cool and the sun was covered with dark clouds.
Two armies faced each other from east to west in the northeast pasture of a small town called Bardonecchia between Kitzby and Aosta. A battle between the outposts of the Burgundian legions in the south and a rebel force in the east of Provence was about to break out.
The outposts of the Eastern Legion are neatly lined up on a gentle slope with higher terrain near the dense forest in the eastern part of the pasture.
The first row is the eight Lusignan sentries led by Angus himself. The nine people in the group are all wearing armor (a small amount of chain mail and iron scale armor, mostly mail armor, cotton armor and leather armor). Wearing an iron helmet with a nose guard and a barrel helmet on the head, a spear is held in the hand, and an armed sword or a battle axe, or a hammer is slung around the waist. There are also throwing spear and throwing ax pouches hung on the saddle of the war horse, and several strong war horses under him snort and kick their front legs.
Ateodo and the Sentinels stood side by side.
Behind the sentries are four squadrons of sixty soldiers serving as the main force of the battle. The 2nd and 4th squadrons stand in the middle of the formation. As the central army, they are the main force in attacking the formation. The weapons of the two squadrons are relatively unified. They are the standard weapons of the "four defenses and two offenses" (note) formation - short spears and round shields and halberds and chain hammers with short swords. Swords, axes, hammers and other personal weapons, the armor of soldiers is also relatively uniform. Ordinary soldiers mainly wear half-length mail armor lined with cotton armor and an iron helmet with a nose guard. Officers above the group leader wear full-body long-sleeved mail armor or deck chain mail; the newly formed 1st and 3rd Squadrons (employed Soldier squadrons) are located on the left and right wings respectively. Compared with the two squadrons in the middle, they have a wide variety of weapons and armors with different styles. Some richer mercenaries can wear full-body mail armor lined with armed uniforms and add nose-protecting iron helmets and throat-protecting necklaces. They wore exquisite armor such as Dun and shoulder armor and arm guards, and the weapons in their hands were broad swords, long axes, heavy hammers, or spears and shields; while those relatively poor mercenaries could only wear a worn-out cotton armor, and held a notched long-handled battle ax and a short spear wooden shield in their hands. (Note: Chapter 129: Halberd Army Formation.)
However, although the weapons and armor of the two mercenary squadrons are of varying quality, they are all battlefield veterans who have more than two years of mercenary experience or have participated in more than five battles and survived, so their combat power cannot be underestimated.
At the end of the battle sequence is the crossbow team led by Jason and Smith. Crossbowmen wear hoods (lined) on their hands, armed clothing (lined), cotton armor and a small amount of short-sleeved half-mail mail. Their weapons are walking bows and crossbows. They wear daggers and daggers around their waists. Each crossbowman also has two knives inserted in front of his body. A dozen thick woods with a sharp top formed a fence. This was a "city wall" to prevent the crossbowmen from being attacked by enemy cavalry or infantry breaking the formation. The crossbowmen stood behind the "city wall" and fired arrows.
About a hundred steps behind the battle force formation is the baggage train of the outpost. It is composed of six handymen led by the baggage officer Spencer and two full-time medical and civil servants. They are not combatants, but they are also equipped with several self-defense weapons such as short spears, daggers, and single-edged knives. The baggage train is surrounded by several four-wheeled carriages loaded with food supplies, weapons and armor. These carriages are special modified carriages. On weekdays, these carriages are used with hunting parties. Normally, they are the same, but when fighting in the field, these carriages will be connected end to end to form a carriage formation "castle". A special large wooden board is installed on the outside of the carriage to form a high side compartment. This modification greatly improves the defense capability of the carriage formation and can protect the safety of non-combatants such as baggage trains and baggage servants. In emergencies, a large number of such carriages can also quickly surround and form a formation, becoming a wall to defend against enemy troops, especially cavalry raids.
Between the outpost combat force and the baggage train, there was a group of more than thirty soldiers led by two local knights from Provence. Among these thirty soldiers, except for a dozen knight attendants and local guardsmen who could barely fight, most of the rest were just old and weak peasant soldiers recruited temporarily. This is not difficult to understand. After all, the country is constantly in war, and most of the young and strong have been recruited by the army to go to the battlefield. Art did not expect this local "army" to be able to exert much combat power. The main role of this group of people was to build momentum and to protect the outpost troops from possible enemy attacks from the rear.
More than 300 steps away from the Yate formation, the Provence army was also lined up and waiting.
With the naked eye, it can be seen that the number of rebels is about 120. Judging from the number of infantry, At is at a disadvantage, but At has sentries, crossbow squads and local lords' troops, so overall the two sides are equally powerful.
Looking at the weapons and equipment of the soldiers in the opposite formation, Art knew that this group of rebels was stronger than he thought. It may be that they have the secret support of the Lombards, or they may have taken advantage of the war to plunder enough money and weapons. The weapons and armor of these rebels are quite elite. Many rebels in the array wear mail and iron helmets, and a small number of rebel leaders and elites are even equipped with plate chain armor and iron scale armor; the rebel soldiers The weapons in the army are also quite sophisticated. Standard weapons such as long swords, short spears, bucklers and broad axes are almost the same for everyone. However, it may be because this group of rebels has been active in the mountains and hills for a long time. They have almost no specialized cavalry. The few horses they have are also straddled by a few boss-like guys to look majestic.
Odo stood on his horse and looked at the military formation opposite, and said with worry: "Sir, it seems that the enemy has taken the initiative to send us a letter to fight with us. You can see that their weapons and formations do not look like ordinary bandit deserters."
Angus spat out the chewed grass roots in his mouth and said to Odo sideways. Said: "If this group of rebels is put together by bandits and bandits, then we don't need to annihilate them. Although the local guards and lords' private soldiers are really average in combat power, if they really want to deal with it harshly, it is still possible to gather forces to deal with hundreds of bandits and bandits. Since we need to eliminate them, it will definitely be a hard nut to crack."
logleg in the horn and prepare to fight.》
Att wants to end this tough battle as soon as possible.
Three horns sounded to urge the charge. The soldiers behind Art stopped all movements, wearing armor and waiting for the order to charge.
On the left wing of the military formation, Tredok was wearing a set of long-sleeved full-body mail and an iron helmet with a nose guard on his head. He held a long-handled hammer in his right hand and an iron-inlaid buckler in his left hand. This was the weapon and armor specially issued to him after joining the Art army. His original half-length short-sleeved mail mail was returned to the arsenal, but the Viking sword he brought was still hanging on his waist.
Tredok turned his head and looked at the two squadrons of soldiers in the central army, who were all neatly arranged and silent. They were completely different from all the armies or mercenary regiments he had fought before. He thought to himself: "These guys~ make me a little nervous."
“Guys, three trumpets, get ready for battle! Cut open the enemy’s belly and chop off their heads in a moment!” Tridok raised his thumb hammer and shouted loudly.
The dozen mercenaries beside him also hit the shields in their hands with their weapons, shouting in agreement...
………
"Buzz~~Buzz~~~Buzz~~" The rebel camp first blew the charge horn. Several horse-riding leaders led about a hundred rebel soldiers and rushed towards the Yate army on the gentle slope in a wedge-shaped formation.
"The appearance does not match the reality~" Odo looked at the enemy troops who knew they were in a low position and actually charged directly into the battle. He instantly felt that the enemy was just a wild dog in wolf's clothing.
Seeing that the enemy's center forward had already advanced two hundred steps, Yat remained unmoved.
One hundred and eighty steps, without moving.
One hundred and sixty steps, without moving.
One hundred and fifty steps, Art nodded to Angus, then turned his head and shouted to the crossbow team at the rear of the military formation: "Crossbowmen, one hundred and forty steps in front of the formation, in the middle of the enemy's formation, fire five arrows quickly!!!" Art's order sounded.
Jason received the order and immediately shouted loudly: "Crossbow team, enemy center, five arrows rapid fire! Prepare to test fire."
"Let go!"
"Click rub rub rub~" A sound of bow strings vibrating.
"Swish, swish, swish~" Seven or eight light arrows passed over our own army formation and flew into the air towards the approaching enemy formation.
Smith, who was responsible for observing the impact point of the arrow, had already completed his prediction and shouted: "One hundred and twenty steps ahead of the formation, raise the shooting angle."
As he spoke, Smith took the lead in raising the elevation angle of the step bow by one inch. The crossbowmen beside him adjusted the shooting angle of the step bows and crossbows according to their own bow power.
"A volley, let go!"
A hail of arrows rose up and flew towards the enemy formation.
The first round of flying arrows flew into the air, and the second round began to prepare again.
"Two rounds of volley, let go!"
Another round of flying arrows rushed towards the enemy formation...
Howling and charging towards the gentle slope, the enemy troops at the front were shot down by several waves of arrows, knocking down five or six of them on the spot. The enemy troops were so painful that the charging speed suddenly slowed down a lot. The enemy soldiers without shields in their hands evaded or hid behind the nearby shield soldiers.
"Sentinel, charge with me!!!" Seeing that the enemy's troops were blocked, Angus decisively seized the opportunity, clamped his horse's belly tightly and rushed out of the formation, leading the eight cavalry of the Sentinel to charge towards the slowing enemy.
The nine spears were held forward, the long spear shafts were level with the horses' heads, and the sharp iron spearheads pierced the air, making a low sound.
Nine sturdy war horses rushed toward the enemy formation at high speed on the gentle slope with hoofs and hooves. The distance of a hundred steps was only a matter of seconds.
Just when everyone thought that a cavalry charge could crush the enemy's charge and frustrate the enemy's spirit, something unexpected happened.
The enemy's center force, which was about to be flattened by the Sentinels, suddenly squeezed toward the left and right wings, and in an instant opened up a road seven or eight paces wide. The momentum was so strong that the Sentinels had no time to adjust their direction, so they had to rush through the gap in the enemy's formation and get into the air.
An even stranger thing happened.
Originally it looked like the Chinese army was rushing forward, but the "Pig Rush" formation on both wings suddenly changed direction when they avoided the charge of the sentries and approached the front of the Yate army's formation more than 50 steps.
The enemy's center line was divided into two parts from the gap formed by the cavalry just now. The two groups led about fifty rebels on the left and right wings and ran towards the left and right flanks of Art's army, leaving more than twenty rebels with spears to hold back the pace of the sentries...
Odo saw the enemy's plot, "No! The enemy is pretending to attack our center. Their real intention is to attack our left and right wings!"
“Sir, would you like to have the two squadrons of the central army join the left and right wings to defend the enemy?” Otto came up with a regular and moderate response strategy.
Yate did not answer. From the beginning, he felt that the enemy would not choose to attack the Chinese army rashly against the threat of bows, arrows and cavalry when the terrain was at a disadvantage.
And when Angus led the sentry cavalry to charge from a high place, the enemy's center showed no intention of retreating or defending. Considering that Art had sent people to monitor and screen the battlefield in advance, the enemy might only do something during this period of charge, so Art expected that the enemy would not attack the center as he saw.
Considering the differences in weapons, armor, and soldier discipline between the two squadrons in the center and the two squadrons on the flanks, Art roughly deduced that the enemy would attack the left and right wings that seemed "weak", but Art did not expect that the enemy would cleverly avoid them by "splitting" the center. The cavalry charged, and divided into two groups to attack the flanks at the same time, making Ater's central army temporarily unable to respond to the reinforcement side...
"Avoiding the enemy's elite, taking them by surprise, and attacking weakly" - a very sophisticated tactic, the enemy commander has a certain talent for conspiracy.
But Art is not a good person.
He did not adopt Otto's suggestion of splitting up the middle army (the 2nd and 4th squadrons) to support the left and right wings respectively. Instead, he took advantage of the strategy and concentrated his efforts to surround an enemy army from the flanks, chewing one bone first and then tearing apart another piece of fat.
Yat's risky decision is based on the fact that the unsupported side can support the Chinese army to return reinforcements under the unfavorable situation of relatively weak troops. Otherwise, once the flank collapses, the remaining part will face the danger of a pincer attack.
Fortunately, the enemy's judgment was wrong. The left and right wings, which seemed to be disheveled and ill-equipped, were not as weak as they saw. On the contrary, these selected mercenaries not only had the advantages of rich combat experience and strong combat ability, but also possessed the rare tenacity and courage of mercenaries.
"Bas Rowan, lead your troops to follow me around and attack the enemy's rear on the right wing!"
Matt pulled the soldiers of the two squadrons out of the formation, bypassed the enemy's front that was already engaged with the right wing, and ran to the enemy's rear...
"The enemy's rear, all charge!!" Art pulled out his knight's sword and swung it at the enemy's trapped right wing.
"Come with me!!!" Odo led Basroon and their two squadrons with a long-handled heavy ax to charge towards the enemy on the right.
When the enemy commander on the right saw that Art's army did not divide the central army into supporting the two wings as he expected, he panicked a little. If they followed the planned plan, they would maintain an absolute advantage in strength on both the left and right wings.
But now Art has chosen to risk losing one wing and concentrate his efforts to annihilate the right wing first. The numerical advantage that the rebel army expected no longer exists on the right wing...
In less than a moment since the charge horn sounded, the fiercest battle broke out in this pasture.
On the left wing, the Provence rebel army attacked a dozen mercenaries with a team of more than fifty people. Although the crossbow squad in the rear saw that there was no support on the left wing, they kept firing arrows at the rear of the enemy on the left.
On the right side of the formation, the battle also fell into a stalemate. There are about fifty people in the Provence rebel army and more than forty people in the Burgundian army. There is not much difference in the strength of the two armies, but Art's soldiers are more powerful.
After a flurry of limbs and blood splattering, Art's side began to show signs of an advantage.
Att did not directly participate in the charge. He held the unsheathed knight's sword and stood on the horse to observe the battle situation.
Although the right wing is beginning to gain an advantage, the situation on the left wing is very critical and defeat is only a matter of time.
"Reserves support the left wing!!" Art Pegasus passed through the gap between the two wings of the battlefield and roared towards the army of local lords of Provence who had been watching the battle.
"Lord Art, the left wing can no longer hold on, and now the right wing needs us more. We will join the right wing battle group immediately." The knight in charge of commanding about thirty local soldiers (peasants) just answered Art and began to run towards the right wing, which had already determined its superior position.
“Asshole!” Art cursed fiercely in his heart.
"Crossbow squad, give up the shooting position, support the left wing with weapons!" After giving the order, Art turned his horse's head and rushed towards the retreating left wing. At the same time, the sentry team that had escaped the entanglement of the spear soldiers also made a large circle and rushed towards the weak left wing...