The Swabian army completed the formation to face the enemy at an extremely fast speed, but the anxious battle was not imminent. After the light cavalry raid, the Burgundian army suddenly stopped attacking. They stopped three hundred steps away from the right wing of the Swabian army and began to pull those weird-shaped carriages to the front, back and left and right sides of the formation.
Chariots are a powerful weapon against enemy cavalry charges, but their offensive capabilities are almost zero. Art knew this very well, so when he sent out cavalry to harass the enemy and force them to stop and fight, he ordered the formation of a chariot formation on the spot.
Forty-five chariots were personally operated by several combat troops of the First Infantry Regiment under Angus. The marching formation of chariots is a training component of the Welsh Legion that has only started in recent years. The soldiers have one afternoon every week to train chariots, so their movements are quite agile.
The Fifth Standard Group (formerly the First Standard Group of the Second Company of the Welsh Army) led by Touba had eight chariots, and each squadron was responsible for one on average. Next to the eight tanks of the Fifth Standard Group were the eight tanks of Tredoch's Standard Group, and the sixteen carriages of the two flag groups were the front.
Sixteen carriages from Andrew's Banner and Pat's Banner were arranged in the rear formation.
In addition, there are thirteen tanks controlled by two flag troops from Weize and Bangeda, arranged vertically on the left and right sides with the front and rear rows of tanks as flank protection.
The soldiers, under the command of their respective squad leaders, pulled the chariot to the front of the army, led the horses and turned diagonally to the rear, so that the carriage was pointed sideways at a slightly inclined angle towards the enemy array. Then they took off the yoke, harness and reins and led the horses to the horse posts in the open space of the chariot formation.
The soldiers took down the wooden ladder on the inner compartment of the chariot, climbed onto the chariot, opened and lowered the roof compartment, forming an oblique defensive shield with the front side compartments. This time, the roof compartment was placed a little low, almost flush with the side compartments.
After being prepared, four soldiers entered the carriage. One person picked up a heavy crossbow and began to prepare crossbow arrows. Three soldiers stood in the carriage holding short spears and long-handled hammers. Since the top carriage was placed low enough, the four soldiers were exposed at chest level and above. Outside the carriage, this is conducive to killing the enemy, but of course the risk of being killed also increases; if the war situation requires, soldiers in the giant rear formation can also enter the chariot carriage to fight. A chariot in formation can accommodate up to five soldiers fighting side by side.
There is a gap as wide as a horse between each chariot, and the squad leader and another melee soldier holding a large shield guard the gap.
Behind the chariot formation is the cavalry and infantry array. Their sight is blocked by the tall chariots and they cannot see the front of the chariot formation. This gives the soldiers a greater sense of security.
In order to facilitate the command of the battle, there is a special carriage in the middle of the entire chariot formation, and this carriage becomes the command vehicle.
The command vehicle is small and light in weight, and can be pulled by a pack horse to run quickly. However, its underbody is much higher than other chariots, and its roof compartment can be easily opened, which allows this carriage to observe the enemy's situation from a high position across the chariot formation.
The carriage can accommodate four people and has a platform for flag officers or messengers to wave flags and blow bugles.
Everything was ready, but the battlefield fell into an eerie silence. Art was unable to charge, and Randy didn't want to charge.
For Count Landy, this was the second time he encountered such a carriage. The last time he was put off by this weird formation of carriages under the wall of Wallonburg, he had no intention of touching this poisonous snake this time.
This makes Art a little embarrassed.
"Sergeant major, lead the light cavalry to provoke and harass the enemy again." Art decided to send people to arouse the Swabians' desire to fight.
Angus waved the flag and ordered the light cavalry of the mixed cavalry to come out. Eighty light cavalry instigated their horses to slowly walk out of the gaps in the chariot formation. They gathered ten steps in front of the chariot formation to form two wedge-shaped pig formations and rushed towards the Swabian army formation.
The Swabian army reacted quickly and sent out a hundred heavy cavalry to attack from left to right.
The four cavalry teams did not meet head-on. To be precise, the two light cavalry belonging to Burgundy turned their horses' heads to avoid the sharp attack of the Swabian heavy cavalry at the moment of contact. They threw some spears and axes at the passing Swabian heavy cavalry and then circled around and retreated to the direction of the car formation.
This time the spear-throwing axes of the Burgundian light cavalry did not cause casualties to the Swabian heavy cavalry. The Swabian heavy cavalry and cavalry horses all had thick armor and would not be damaged easily.
Both sides suffered no losses in battle, and the Swabians had no intention of fighting. After driving away the Burgundian light cavalry, they turned their horses and returned in separate directions.
"When did the Swabians become so timid? Why do you have to rush over and take a look?" Guard officer Ron stood on the command car and said to Art, who was standing and watching.
Matt put his hands on the side panels, looked at the Swabian heavy cavalry who had returned to the formation, and said with a smile: "The Swabians were fooled by me, they thought I was planning another trick."
"Sir, look at it like this, the Swabians don't want to fight us here, right?" Matthew, the personal guard and messenger standing next to Ron, glanced at the Swabian military formation from the tent, without any sign of movement.
"Don't fight us here? Do they still want to avoid us and go to Geneborg? There are 1,200 of our frontiers there. When the Swabians face the 1,200 Burgundian frontiers, they turn around and charge, and we attack from behind? Old guy Randy's head should not have water yet." Ron corrected the young guard's mistake.
“But they have no intention of moving at all~”
“The Swabians are looking for the weakness of our car formation.” Art regained his serious expression because he knew that Count Randy on the opposite side had already seen the fatal weakness of his car formation.
Randy accurately found the weakness of the Yate chariot formation.
After a while, the Swabian army's hundred heavily armored cavalry began to assemble. Instead of charging towards Art's chariot formation, they left the formation and ran towards Geneborg, one man and two horses (Note).
Angus, who was sitting on the front and flank of the vehicle formation and was preparing to go out to harass the enemy's formation again, noticed the movement of the Swabian heavy cavalry. He immediately pulled the reins and crossed the gap between the vehicle formations to come to Ater's side. "Sir, the enemy's heavy cavalry is heading towards Geneborg. What should I do? Do you want me to lead the light cavalry to stop the attack?"
Att hesitated, the battle situation suddenly became complicated, and various possible or upcoming battle situations flashed in Att's mind.
There are three possibilities for the sudden departure of the Swabian heavy cavalry.
The first possibility is that the Swabians knew that Art planned to block the reinforcements outside the siege battlefield of Geneborg so that the siege army could attack the city with peace of mind. While they used infantry to hold Art back, they sent heavy cavalry to quickly attack the Burgundian siege army outside Geneborg. At this moment, more than 1,200 Burgundian border troops have just pushed the siege equipment to the gate of Geneborg. A sudden charge by the Swabian heavy cavalry can kill a large area. Even if the Burgundian army attacking the city reacts quickly and withdraws from the camp to avoid it, the siege equipment that has been built day and night will be destroyed.
This way, the defensive pressure on the Swabian garrison stationed in Geneborg was reduced and they could last longer.
The second possibility is that Count Landi is preparing to leave the army with heavy cavalry. The Burgundian army's cavalry advantage attracted Art to abandon the car formation and attack the Swabian army.
After all, Art also has more than 900 soldiers, including 130 light and heavy cavalry. With the Swabian heavy cavalry leaving the team, this is an excellent opportunity to attack - with 130 light and heavy cavalry as the sword edge, 480 elite infantry as the backbone, and more than 300 light infantry as the backbone, this combination has no disadvantage against the infantry of over a thousand years old.
However, the disappearing heavy cavalry will suddenly return to the battlefield from somewhere, intercepting the Burgundian troops who stepped out of the car formation to attack Swabia, and then there will be a tragic scene under the iron hoof of the heavy armored cavalry. This is the most likely outcome.
The third possibility is that Randy tried to use heavy cavalry to cut off the baggage line of At's army. Compared with the Burgundian army that hurriedly assembled to fight, Randy's Swabian army carried sufficient food and supplies. The Swabian's food and grass baggage could last for ten and a half days, but At's food could only last a week when it reached the sky. As long as the Swabians could use infantry to pin At's hands and feet, and then let the heavy cavalry cut off the supply, Randy could make At' starve to death.
No matter what the possible battle situation is, it shows that Randy has seen the two fatal weaknesses of the Yate chariot formation-the tactical movement is slow and the infantry cannot easily go into battle.
A thin layer of sweat formed on Art's forehead, because his countermeasures could not keep up with the infinite possibilities of the battle situation.
If he immediately sends light cavalry to chase the Swabian heavy cavalry, it doesn’t matter whether he can catch up (see note). Even if he catches up, the effect will not be too great. If the light cavalry cannot overtake the heavy cavalry, it will not cause much damage to the heavy cavalry. The result can only be to buy some time for the siege army under Geneborg to return to camp and garrison, and most of the siege equipment will have to be abandoned.
And once his mixed cavalry left, Art was still at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength. He still had to rely on the vehicle formation for defense. If the enemy did not attack, he would not dare to attack the enemy formation without the cavalry as the sword edge.
If Art sat back and watched the Swabian heavy cavalry leave to attack Geneborg, he would seize the favorable opportunity and immediately use mixed cavalry as the vanguard, elite infantry as the backbone, and light infantry as the backing force to attack the Swabians. Once successful, the Swabian infantry would suffer heavy losses and their rescue would be greatly reduced.
However, once his army leaves the car formation and the heavy cavalry encircles the back road at this time, more than half of Nayat's 900 soldiers will also die...
As for how to deal with cutting off the baggage, it is not important, because Yat Turtle has no intention of fighting a war of attrition with the Swabians. He must regain the border before the battlefield on the Western Front is finalized. He does not have that much time, let alone that much money and military support...
It is difficult to make a decision. It is really difficult to make a decision.
"Sir? Do you want to send light cavalry to pursue and interfere?" Angus has been waiting anxiously for a while, seeing the shadow of the Swabian heavy cavalry getting farther and farther away, and he will not be able to catch up if he waits any longer.
Matt was pulled back from his meditation by Angus. He turned to look at the dusty Swabian heavy cavalry team, and then looked back at the Swabian infantry formation that was still in full formation. He gave a loud order: "Ron, immediately send two guards, one on light cavalry and one on two horses, to take a shortcut and run back to Geneborg to report the possible attack of the Swabian heavy cavalry to Odo and Viscount Jorn, and ask them to gather all the spearmen and prepare for the enemy."
"Matthew, order Lusignan to send a few cavalrymen with the best riding skills to catch up with the Swabian heavy cavalry to see if they are really heading towards Geneborg, and ask them to bring wolf dung to follow them. If the Swabian heavy cavalry suddenly turns back, let them immediately light up the smoke to warn!"
"Sergeant major, immediately assemble the light and heavy cavalry, the 1st and 2nd infantry regiments and the Dead Guards. You personally lead them to prepare to attack the enemy."
"Ron, let each military standard team leave a driver to stay behind the car formation, hitch all the horses on the carriages, and if there is an abnormality, it will immediately turn into a mobile car formation to respond to the attacking army."
"In addition, the guards, military law team, task force and one hundred recruits (slaves rescued from Bufan County) will stay with me in the car formation as the rear team to support the frontal battlefield at any time."
Art decided to take a big risk.