ALL NOVEL
Chapter 86: Drowning the White Knight
Resplendent flags fluttered in the wind. Horse hooves clobbered on the ground, raising a cloud of dust in their wake.
Hunyadi felt light-headed.
The strength of cavalrymen truly shone when charging in a large group, and they would do well to avoid densely-packed footsoldier formations that compromised their momentum.
It might be exhilarating for you to charge right in, but do you know how much momentum we’ll be losing if you fail?
Hunyadi could only pray that the Eastern Romain army was just bravado with nothing to show, a white elephant that would instantaneously crumble before their cavalrymen’s charge.
The alliance army’s charging cavalrymen swiftly approached the Eastern Romain army formation.
They thought that those red-robed Romain spearmen were just a bunch of cowardly farmers who would scatter in a fluster in the face of their charge, and it would be a one-sided slaughter afterward.
They were so convinced that victory was theirs to claim that they failed to notice that the red-robed Romain spearmen firmly remained in their positions while tightening their grip on their sharp spears.
“Advance!” an Eastern Romain commander ordered.
Several Romain spearmen platoons raised their spears and started running forward while maintaining their formations. With unwavering eyes, they charged back against the alliance army’s cavalrymen!
Bam!
The charging cavalrymen rushed into a sea of spears like a ship crashing into a skerry.
A cloud of dust rose, obscuring the outcome of the clash. Commanders from both armies squinted their eyes, wanting to know which side had emerged victorious.
The dust slowly settled…
Broken spears, fallen steeds, and splattered blood were slowly unveiled.
The alliance army’s cavalrymen succeeded in diving deep into the Eastern Romain army’s spearmen formation, but they failed to pierce through it. Having lost their momentum, they found themselves surrounded by spearmen.
One by one, these trapped cavalrymen were picked off.
Only a small handful of people succeeded in turning around in a fluster and escaping.
“…”
With a darkened face, Hunyadi ordered his soldiers to open up a gap so that the surviving cavalrymen could return to the safety of their formation. He raised his head to look at the hill’s midway point, where Sophia stood…
“Lass from the Eastern Romain Empire, if you have orchestrated all that just to take hundreds of our cavalrymen… I’ll let you know that war isn’t that easy.”
Hunyadi issued his order. “Tell our footsoldiers to advance.”
An intense slaughter ensued.
The alliance army, comprising soldiers of many different uniforms, charged at Eastern Romain’s red army formation like furious waves crashing down one after another.
However, the Eastern Romain’s army formation was an unwavering skerry that wouldn’t be fazed no matter how strong the waves were. Anything crashing into it was reduced to bubbles in the end.
Hunyadi patiently awaited an opportunity.
He had to admit that the Eastern Romains surpassed his expectations, but it didn’t change the fact that they were a bunch of new soldiers. It was only a matter of time before they slipped up before his army of veterans.
A chance will present itself. I just have to wait.
Hours later, he noticed that the Eastern Romain’s army formation was loosening up. A huge hole had appeared in their previously dense formation.
“This is our chance!” Hunyadi exclaimed.
He climbed onto his horse and rallied his cavalrymen, who had been on standby thus far.
“Now’s the moment!” Hunyadi roared, “We’ll teach that naive lass a lesson she’ll never forget!”
Under his command, the remaining cavalrymen swiftly got into an offensive formation and raised their sharp, gleaming lances. This was a stark contrast to the earlier, disorganized charge.
“Charge!”
The cavalrymen pulled the reins and started galloping forth. They quickly built up speed, and before long, they had already built up devastating momentum. Their goal was to gorge through the weakest link in Eastern Romain’s army formation!
That would create a critical opening for their soldiers to exploit, allowing them to quickly tear down the Eastern Romain’s defense line as if it was a fragile egg shell.
“Basilinna!”
The commanders standing together with Sophia were alarmed.
“You need to flee!”
“Our soldiers won’t be able to hold on!”
Some of the more impatient commanders rushed forth in an attempt to carry Sophia to safety. But when Sophia turned to look at them, they immediately froze up.
What terrifying eyes!
Through those eyes, they seemed to see a dragon slowly awakening from its slumber.
Despite having intimidated all of the commanders, Sophia didn’t move from her spot at all. Instead, she turned her eyes back to the battlefield. With a tone that granted no room for doubt, she declared, “They will withstand it.”
…
Bam!
Hunyadi, who had been knocked off his horse, shook his groggy head as he hurriedly got up from the floor. One of his subordinates supported him to his feet.
The battle was still ongoing around him.
His plan worked.
He managed to crush Eastern Romain’s army formation with his charge, but to his bewilderment, the Eastern Romain soldiers’ morale remained unbelievably high. They obstinately held their ground, showing no signs of collapse.
Quite a few of his charging cavalrymen were bogged down by the Eastern Romain soldiers’ resistance before spears jabbed them down from their steeds.
Even Hunyadi suffered the same fate too. If not for his resilient army, he would have been lying in a pool of blood like the other victims by now.
“How did this happen?” Hunyadi murmured as he gasped for air.
Other than the initial unauthorized charge losing him hundreds of soldiers, he didn’t think that there was anything wrong with his deployments. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t take down the Eastern Romain army.
“Regent, what do we do?” the soldier who had supported him up asked.
Hunyadi took a quick look at his surroundings, and he realized that they had charged to almost the midway point of the hill. In fact, he even spotted Sophia watching the battlefield on her shire horse.
He still had a small platoon of twenty cavalrymen with him. If he pushed on, there was a chance he could capture Sophia alive.
Alternatively, he could also retreat to the safety of his camp. The Eastern Romain army didn’t have cavalrymen to pursue him.
Hunyadi was put in a spot.
Should I take a risk and push for a victory, or should I play it safe and return to my formation?
While Hunyadi was hesitating, the earth beneath them suddenly shook intensely. He and his platoon of cavalrymen almost lost their balance.
“Is it an earthquake?”
But no, it wasn’t an earthquake.
When Hunyadi turned his head around, he saw something reminiscent of a massive current gushing in his direction.
“Ah?! Why would it suddenly flood here? Did a nearby river overflow?”
“No!!” one of the cavalrymen suddenly cried, “Our barracks!”
Hunyadi and his cavalrymen stared in shock as gushing water tore down their tents, toppled their flags, and washed away their logistical soldiers. Even those who had survived struggled to move around in the muddied water.
“T-this…”
Hunyadi looked at his troops struggling with the water with eyes of disbelief, followed by the Eastern Romain barracks constructed at the midway point of the hill, and realization suddenly struck him.
They didn’t set up their barracks here to fend against us; they were fending against this flood!