Chapter 628 Crisis
In the blink of an eye, the two armies were less than a hundred steps apart.
Perhaps it was because they had been stationed in the city for the past few days and listened to the insults of the mercenaries outside the city all day long, which made this group of soldiers who rarely suffered from cowardice feel very humiliated. As soon as Odo gave the order, the remaining hundred or so cavalry in the city kicked the horses' belly hard, waved their weapons, and roared loudly as they rushed towards the enemy's formation.
The heavy armored infantry commander Klaus who followed closely took a mouthful of thick phlegm from the dust wolf rolled up by the cavalry, and leaned forward. As soon as Odo finished speaking, this group of guys wearing heavy armor and holding axes, hammers and broadswords followed Klaus's instigation. The wooden bridge across the moat creaked under the continuous trampling of this group of strong guys.
Although their bodies were covered in heavy armor, these brave guys had excellent foot power and could keep up with the cavalry more than 40 steps behind them.
In addition, considering that there are still about 500 light and heavy cavalry in this group of mercenaries, and their combat power is not bad. The spear phalanx, which had not been formed separately by the Welsh Army before, was also temporarily sent to the battlefield as a cover to cooperate with the heavy armored infantry to resist the opponent's cavalry.
Jason led a direct crossbow team of nearly 200 people as an assist to cooperate with the remaining light armored infantry.
In this way, the Sandia City defenders of the Wells Legion entered the battlefield in a hierarchical configuration and a multi-arms joint operation.
A melee between thousands of people began outside the city of Santia. Seeing the Welsh Legion soldiers rushing towards them like a tide, this group of mercenaries, who were usually only suitable for fighting with the wind, panicked and quickly changed their formations amidst the roars of the commander.
A few of the frightened guys even lost their weapons in a panic. Seeing the opponent getting closer and closer, many mercenaries couldn't stop running to the back of the position.
Seeing the enemy attack, the mercenary leader responsible for commanding the battlefield gritted his teeth and had a hint of murderous intent in his eyes. Immediately shouted: "Avoid the battle, kill!"
He then drew his sword and struck the horse and rushed towards the mercenaries who were about to escape. When he raised the sword and dropped it, five or six heads rolled to the ground.
"You bastards, listen up. If anyone takes a step back, you will end up like them! Don't blame me for not warning you!"
The commander spat on a corpse and yelled loudly.
Shocked by the leader's cruel methods, looking at his companions whose heads were missing, none of the mercenaries dared to take a step back. They all picked up the scattered weapons and returned to their own teams in groups, preparing to defend themselves against the enemy.
Looking at the Santia City cavalry that was about to charge, the mercenary leader gave an order, and the messenger next to him blew the horn twice.
This group of more than 500 light and heavy cavalry is the most important support for the mercenary leader, and it is also the most powerful army.
But the speed at which the enemy cavalry attacked was far beyond the mercenary leader's expectation. In the blink of an eye, the opponent had already arrived in front of the formation.
After receiving the order, the mercenaries in the front row of the Chinese army who had barely completed their formation quickly inserted the giant shields in their hands into the soil at their feet. They leaned sideways and put their shoulders on the shield, taking a defensive posture, forming a shield wall about two hundred paces wide.
"Bastards, play this trick with me, let me teach you how to fight!"
Santia City's cavalry, under the command of a squadron leader of the leading cavalry company directly under the Chinese Army, quickly divided their troops and charged towards the left and right of the shield wall.
Behind the shield wall, the mercenaries who were breathing heavily and sweating heavily on their foreheads did not see the enemy cavalry attacking for a long time, so the brave ones stuck their heads out and looked outside. However, except for the dust raised by the horses' hooves, there was no trace of the enemy.
Just when these guys were confused, a huge force suddenly came from behind the shield, knocking the soldiers holding the shield to the ground on the spot. Before these guys could recover, their heads had been smashed with heavy hammers.
"Quick! Open the gap and chop up these bastards!"
Klaus, who was protected by heavy armor, pulled out the hammer stuck on the mercenary's head, turned around and shouted to the soldiers behind him.
While he was speaking, there was another continuous cracking sound of the hammer and giant ax hitting the shield.
For a moment, the mercenaries in the front row who had not yet reacted had their brains splattered all over their heads, their faces flattened and their noses sunken, and the cries of mourning and mourning could not be heard.
The terrifying combat power of the heavy armored infantry of the Welsh Legion made this group of mercenaries unable to parry for a while. Soon, these powerful guys opened a huge gap. Immediately afterwards, the crossbow companies and light armored infantry that followed also joined the battle one after another. Under the leadership of their respective commanders, they continued to charge towards the mercenaries.
The war in Xantia City began.
Looking back at the Lombard mercenaries. The fighting for many days has already made this group of disorganized soldiers miserable. Now that the army is pressing down on the situation, and the strength of the enemy and ourselves is hugely disparity, these guys who are used to fighting with favorable winds naturally avoid the battle passively and retreat even if they fight. If it weren't for the fact that they had to stand behind the formation to supervise the fierce group of Lombard regular troops, this group of opportunists would have fled long ago.
In the past few days, the mercenaries, lured by high bounties, attacked Santia City many times, but were undoubtedly blocked every time, resulting in heavy casualties. Most people didn't make any money from the reward, but they risked their own lives in it.
Every night after that, there were always some people who cherished their lives and fled the camp in groups of three or five under the cover of darkness. Or he might find an excuse to have diarrhea and run away while out patrolling or collecting food and grass during the day. After several days, there were no fewer than two hundred mercenaries leaving the camp.
In view of this situation, the mercenary leader took the opportunity to increase his army as an inducement, and then took the opportunity to chop off the heads of a few mercenaries who were unlucky enough to be captured, so that they could stop the soldiers from escaping.
But there are always people who value life more than money, and some guys still take the opportunity to escape. The mercenary leader had no choice but to turn a blind eye. If all the fleeing soldiers were beheaded, there would be no one left to fight for them.
Seeing the fierce frontal offensive from the defenders of Santia City, the mercenary leader looked sad. This group of barbarians from the north showed impressive fighting prowess, causing the battlefield situation to soon become one-sided. Once you can't withstand the opponent's attack, you won't be able to escape death.
At the critical moment, the more than 300 cavalrymen in the west withstood the decline, broke through the spear array of the defenders of Santia City, and were trying to get behind their opponents.
The mercenary leader who saw this scene was so excited that he raised his arms and shouted: "Guys, they are about to die, rush forward and surround these bastards. Cut off a head and get a bounty coin! Kill!"
Hearing the leader's "call", the mercenaries who had been beaten back steadily by the Santia City defenders suddenly aroused a surge of blood and pounced on their opponents desperately, wildly harvesting their heads. For a time, the two sides fell into a white-hot killing. In less than a meal, the three hundred young peasant soldiers belonging to Count Balian on the west side were quickly surrounded by Lombard cavalry and infantry.
Seeing this situation, Odo, the deputy commander of the army who was commanding the overall situation in the rear, was very worried. Seeing that there was hope for a frontal breakthrough, I never thought about it but ignored the flanks.
Seeing that the surrounded three hundred peasant soldiers were in a critical situation, and the breakthrough on the frontal battlefield was blocked, the Welsh Army fell into a passive situation...