On the road north of Tyniec County, taking advantage of Odo's order to repair on the spot, Kazak, the first flag captain of the first company, stopped running, took the water bag handed over by the guard, opened the cork, and poured it into his mouth. The cold water made his throat irritate, and Kazak choked.
He wiped the water stains from his mouth and asked the guard soldier beside him who was also out of breath: "Have the enemy caught up with him?"
The guard soldier took a few breaths, looked back at the north, and replied: "No, he didn't catch up with him, and he fled to the north again."
"Huh? No more chasing? Come on, let the brothers drink water and eat something to rest. We will catch up again later." From late last night to the setting of the sun, the two teams have performed this kind of drama several times, and Kazak also knew that Odo did this to delay the enemy and buy time for the large group of people behind to catch up.
The guards ran to deliver orders to several squadrons. Kazak also took out a small piece of the valley's special compressed bread from the small bag on his waist, then put it to his mouth and crooked his mouth to knock off a small piece with his teeth, and then chewed it.
This kind of pressed special bread has a harder texture than rye bread. It has gone through several processes such as drying, grinding, adding ingredients, and pressing on the basis of ordinary hard bread baked in a fire. It is smaller in size and harder in texture. However, the wheat flour of the bread is whole wheat flour, and It is also mixed with a small amount of minced meat, dried fruits, salt and spices, so it tastes better than rye bread. The most important thing is that this thing is very hungry. Just grind this fist-sized piece of bread and put it into a soup bowl to make two large bowls of wheat paste. An ordinary soldier can eat half of it in one meal.
"Water!" Kazak choked on the compressed bread.
Another guard soldier quickly handed the water bag in his hand to Kazzak, who took it and took two sips and beat his chest before feeling relieved.
As soon as Kazak finished drinking the water, the figure of Odo, who was at the rear of the formation, approached and said, "Kazak, can you guys still fight?"
Kazak glanced at the guards around him, then looked around at the flag soldiers who were desperately drinking water and chewing compressed bread, and replied firmly: "You can still fight." Fight! "
off out, the enemy would not turn around to pursue us again. This time we will rush directly into the enemy's camp and use our lives to hold the enemy back. Odo felt that this "conspiracy" of cruising and chasing would not have much effect, and this time we really had to trade lives for time.
Kazak is an officer and a veteran. He saw the determination in Odo's eyes. Without saying much, Kazak immediately forced the flag soldiers who had just stopped to take a drink of water to stand up and pursue the enemy again.
On the other side of the road, the Western Border Army turned back after their fifth pursuit without success.
They were teased repeatedly by the pursuers like fools. This time they said nothing and did not want to pay attention to the group of bastards who were chasing after them again.
But Sauron has regained his composure after the most furious madness. The army behind him has returned to a mile away, and the pursuers have begun to shed their burdens. Maybe this time they are really going to fight.
"Sir, the enemy will probably not play tricks on us again. Are you going to turn around and face the enemy again?" The adjutant of the Western Army dismounted and walked. After several times of tossing, the horse's energy was exhausted.
Sauron lowered his head and thought for a moment, "Leave fifty men to block the enemy, and the rest of the army quickly went north to meet the baggage train. After joining the baggage train, they immediately returned to rescue."
Two hundred, seventy-eight people fighting against more than 120 or thirty enemies have a good chance of winning, but fifty weak soldiers who have been hungry for a few days and have been running around for a day and night cannot be said to be able to withstand twice as many enemy soldiers.
"My lord, this is it"
"There is no such thing, here is an order to select fifty elite warriors from each flag team!" Sauron shouted angrily at his adjutant Arbon.
The adjutant had no choice but to order each flag team to select elite soldiers to go to the rear, but no flag captain was willing to put his most elite soldiers behind to die, so when the pursuers were about to launch a charge, each flag team only selected thirty or forty old and weak soldiers.
Sauron was furious. He mounted his horse and drew his sword, shouting loudly: "What time has it been? Military order: All officers above the squadron captain in the Western Border Army Corps will be retained, and the remaining vacancies will be selected by each flag team. I will personally lead the guard team to the rear to stop the enemy! If the rear team dares to flee, the guards will be killed. Kill them on the spot!"
"Even if I don't die today, I will settle the score later!"
As Sauron spoke, the six mounted guards around him all drew their weapons from their waists, as if they were ready to kill someone at any time.
Hence, the military orders were hard to disobey. When the officers of the Western Army heard that they had to stay behind, and seeing that Viscount Sauron's posture was not negotiable, they could only kick the old and weak soldiers back into the team, and selected their most elite soldiers one after another.
Seeing that the officers were eager to keep all his men to save their lives, Sauron shouted coldly again: "Each flag team can only have ten people at most!"
The officers had no choice but to select the strongest among the selected soldiers.
The rear blocking team of fifty people was quickly assembled. The officers stripped off all the better armor from the lucky ones who were not left behind and put them on the rear soldiers. At this time, the lives of the soldiers around them were the most precious.
Saurenxi Army pulled over the adjutant Albon and ordered: "Alban, you take the remaining people and immediately go north to join the baggage train, and then lead the baggage train south quickly for rescue. Our side may not be able to hold out for long, not to mention that the team behind them must also come up, otherwise they will not really fight hard."
Alban is a real person. He knew that this was not a hypocrite. "My lord, you must bear it. I will immediately take the guys to join the baggage team to come to the rescue." After saying that, he jumped on his horse and led the remaining two hundred lucky soldiers to the north. Running...
The front line of the Welsh Army faced the rear guard of the Western Frontier Army. The battle began with the low and rapid sound of horns from both sides.
Line formation, square formation, shield formation, wedge formation, break through the middle to encircle the two wings, cavalry rush forward and infantry attack...
These unpredictable tactics and tactics are all gone at this time.
Both sides are soldiers who have run out of breath. At this time, it is not easy to wear armor, raise weapons and roar towards the opposite side. There is still energy and physical strength to think about troublesome things such as how to arrange troops.
Defeating the enemy or being knocked down by the enemy is the simplest and most direct way of fighting.
But after all, everyone is a professional soldier in the legion. The only way to support their families every day is training and fighting, so there is still a certain order to the seemingly chaotic charge.
Especially the pursuit of the soldiers of the Welsh Legion. They have been well fed, clothed and warm recently, and they are not exposed to wind and rain, so their physical strength and morale have the upper hand. In addition, all the officers are elites who have survived the battle and have received short-term tactical training. Therefore, under the leadership of key officers, the seemingly chaotic charge formation of the Welsh Legion is actually composed of many formations based on small teams that look out for each other.
Looking at the Western Border Army, they also know the formations, but at this time, personal bravery is far better than the coordination of the battle formations for them.
The battle has been fought like this, and both sides just want to end it as soon as possible.
Five hundred paces, walking forward, looking for shadows;
Four hundred paces, approaching quickly, drums and trumpets sounding;
Three hundred steps, jogging to gain momentum, the cavalry is dispatched;
Two hundred steps, raise the spear and draw the sword, draw the arrow and nock the bow;
One hundred steps, speed up the charge, arrows flying;
Thirty steps, open your eyes and roar, attack each other on foot and horse;
The two pieces of steel instantly struck with bright red sparks, blood and limbs flying in the air, the brains smashed out by the heavy hammer and the intestines cut open by the broadsword were scattered all over the ground...
Five miles north of the Purgatory battlefield, the task force captain Stanley jumped off his horse and ran towards the commander of the North Blockade, Angus, before he could dismount and stop, "Lord Angus, the enemy is less than two miles away from here!"
“Odo and the others failed in landing?” Angus did not expect that the two enemy teams were still approaching.
Angus quickly moved his head, thinking about countermeasures.
"Stanley, order the task force, cavalry and bandit suppression team from the north to assemble here immediately. We will go south to block the enemy's road for as long as we can."
"Yes. It's the north~"
"It will take some time to clear the trap roadblocks in the north. It is impossible for their large army to cross. As for whether the soldiers escorting the food supplies will bypass the roadblocks and go south to support~~ we will wait until they come."
Angus collected all the blocking teams in the shortest possible time. The twenty cavalry of the Welsh Army, the twelve contingents (originally fifteen) of the contingent who survived the sneak attack and harassment, plus Redoan's thirty or forty warriors, a total of seventy people on foot and cavalry abandoned the northern blocking position and turned to the Western Army coming from the south...
The explosive power of a person under extreme hunger and fear is amazing, especially knowing that there is everything to survive not far ahead.
The more than 200 Western troops already know that they can survive if they break through the last obstacle in front of them, so at this time, there is no need for any encouragement and stimulation. The two hundred Western troops have turned into two hundred hungry wild wolves.
The blocking battlefield chosen in a hurry was not suitable for cavalry roundabout operations, so the seventy or so infantry and cavalry led by Angus were not able to block all the crazy Western Army. After killing more than 20 enemies, in order to preserve his strength, Angus had to order his men to open a gap and let most of the Western Army continue to move north. Angus rationally chose to rush south quickly to attack the rear of the Western Army.
His eyes turned to the bloody battlefield.
A black-robed soldier's body was covered in the blood of the enemy. In fact, he didn't bring down many people, but he was so murderous that he chopped the corpse on the ground into a puddle of flesh.
Seeing that the black-robed soldier who had been trained by him was still chopping up the corpse, Corondo kicked him up with a bloody sword and cursed: "Are you chopping minced meat? Are you using up all your energy and waiting to be killed? Military merit is calculated on a per-person basis, so you can count him Cutting it into ashes can only be regarded as the first kill of the enemy. "
The black-robed soldier was kicked and staggered. He was about to turn back and look at the ax in a somewhat excited and crazy way. When he looked back, he saw that it was his instructor, and he immediately stopped.
Seeing that the soldier was still in a daze, Corondo kicked him over again, "Why the hell are you looking at me? Keep killing the enemy!"
The black-robed soldier responded blankly and ran towards the place where the fierce battle was involved. Corondo also ran towards the Western Army officer who was surrounded and killed by two black-robed soldiers...
The Western Army is a professional legionnaire, and the Western Army who stayed in the rear is even more elite among the elite. In this critical moment of life and death, their combat power is maximized.
Although the two first standard regiments of the Wells Legion were composed of capable veterans, they also had a large proportion of new recruits. The battle at Wincheston Manor was not fierce or cruel, so it seemed a bit weak when facing half of the elite enemies.
In just a short moment of charging into battle, the Western Army suffered more than 20 casualties, and the Welsh Army also paid a price of more than 30 people. This battle loss was already too great given the superior numbers, superior morale, and slightly superior physical strength.
"Lord Odo, this group of Western troops is not easy to deal with. Our soldiers can't hold it any longer!" The half-helmet on Kazak's head sank into a shallow pit, and the dark red hair on his forehead was dripping with blood beads. It was hit by a hammer when he surrounded and killed a small officer of the Western Army. If it weren't for the half-helmet, he would probably be here.
Odo looked around and saw that there was no brain matter dripping from Kazak's head, at least he would not die immediately. "Where is Tuba?" Odo looked around and saw no shadow of Tuba.
"Tuba led people to resist the cavalry on the right wing. Several enemy cavalry kept eating away at the soldiers on both wings."
"Damn it, we hit a hard rock, the enemy actually left an elite rear." The knight's sword in Odo's hand already had a curled edge, and the few guards around him were resisting the rushing Western army.
“Brother Otto, should we retreat first and then form a formation to meet the enemy?” Kazak felt that his men had suffered too many casualties and was very distressed.
"It's too late, they have been mixed together and cannot be extracted." By this time, the battle had turned into a dogfight. Both sides had already embedded themselves in the enemy's formation. Even if they were ordered to retreat, they would not be able to escape and might even lead to a rout.
"Give me a fight, even if we are all dead at this time, I have to suppress the enemy's arrogance." After Odo said this, he raised his knight's sword and slashed at the two Western soldiers who were resisting the guard...
Both sides were fighting to the death and no one dared to show the slightest intention to retreat. At this point in the battle, the outcome was a matter of one breath. Whoever couldn't hold it in anymore would be defeated.
But at this time, Angus, who had let go of most of the Western Army, led sixty or seventy infantry and cavalry to raid the Western Army's rear line... Several flag detachments were divided into more than thirty four-wheel carriages and they were speeding through the muddy road. The horses pulling the carriages north were already foaming at the mouth. Several horses had fallen to death in the last section of the road. The soldiers on the carriages immediately jumped off the carriages and continued to run northward on foot under the leadership of the squad leader...