"Your Highness, it's enough to watch from here." As the Captain of the Third Imperial Decree Company, Alfus Taylor stopped Prince Kongdai from stepping forward, "Their Devil's Wind can blow very far."
Beside him were guards cutting through the brush to widen the road, while trumpeters and flag-bearers waved flags on either side.
Standing on a hillock, Prince Kongdai wrapped in a fur cloak, squinted his eyes, gazing at the semicircular battle formation in the distance.
Nearly a hundred large carts ford a long wall on the riverbank, with thick door shields and sandbags wedged between them, behind which stood seven or eight Long Spearn and Long Spear Soldiers.
Each battle cart had seven or eight Holy Gunn standing, with flails and sabers strapped at their waists.
Standing in the carriage, the Holy Gunn propped their black gun barrels in the triangular openings on the sideboards, occasionally firing a shot to intimidate the Light Cavalry patrolling the edges.
Behind the long wall, barges slowly sailed downstream towards the opposite bank to transport a new batch of Salvation Army onto the riverbank.
Prince Kongdai wasn't slow; within less than half an hour, he arrived with four Imperial Decree Companies in tow.
But at this mont, compared to the near two thousand infantry reported by Alituge, the number had more than doubled.
Behind the long wall, there were at least over four thousand infantry, wearing unified knee-length black uniforms tied with gaiters, making their khaki military pants look like puffed trousers.
At this mont, the Long Spear Soldiers, grouped in units of 300, were arrayed behind semicircular cart forts, forming an irregular polygonal spear formation.
The densely packed spears glinted in the blazing sun, forcing Prince Kongdai to squint.
His gaze swept back and forth across the riverbank, then he turned his head and shook it at Lakunio.
"Alfus, Edmund, Galian, each of you lead an Imperial Decree Company and launch a charge in sequence, but don't get bogged down in battle; it's best not to have any casualties." Turning his head, Prince Kongdai ordered the three Imperial Decree company commanders beside him, "The Eagles Squadron has confronted them before, so there's no need for them this ti. Let Stenberg from the Death Squad lead a charge."
If asked what to fight and why to fight, His Highness the Prince might be confused, but when it ca to how to fight, he'd get excited.
Relying solely on rash charges wouldn't have earned him his current prominent status and prestige.
Moreover, this ti he regarded the Salvation Army as a formidable enemy, unlike before when he did things the easy way, not caring about anything but charging.
"Woo woo woo—"
Flag-bearers waved blue-black checkerboard flags, and at the sound of the horn, the Light Cavalry Squire Knights set off first, charging toward the cart formation.
"Here they co, here they co." Delawan tugged at the sleeve of the nearby Third Imperial Guard Army Secretary Bucken, unable to resist reminding him.
From the war in Kasha County, all those students from Saint chanism Court Flick Middle School who remained on the battlefield were promoted to so degree.
Since Delawan and McGowan could read and write, they beca scribes alongside the army secretaries.
As if he hadn't heard, Bucken continued directing the Service Soldiers to assemble small clockwork catapults.
Delawan could only anxiously instruct the placent of supplies while casting glances toward the front line.
The first thing he saw was a rain of arrows flying at an angle into the sky, tracing a parabolic arc toward the Holy Gunn on the cart forts.
The constant clinking of arrows striking armor was clear even to Delawan at the rear.
Arrows struck the cart boards and the standing black-clad soldiers, causing occasional grunts but almost no one fell.
The squire knights used cavalry bows, which were relatively soft in draw weight. Unless an arrow hit a weak spot in the armor, it was difficult to penetrate the Holy Gunn's defense.
Currently, about sixty percent of the Salvation Army's vest armor is worn, which is not a small number since it follows the expansion to six corps.
These vest armors were mostly donned by veterans, usually consisting of a kettle hat and a breastplate, with so Long Spearn also having arm and thigh armor.
They could generally ignore the shots from regular cavalry bows.
The arrows quivered on the cart's wooden boards while the comrades standing beside them nearly all remained standing.
Above the battlefield, amidst the whistle of arrows, ca the sound of clockwork winding and gears turning once more.
The dark muzzles protruded from the triangular openings, aid at the Squire Knights who had just shot their arrows and were preparing to retreat.
"Praise the Holy Wind!"
The shrill sound from the pressure balance holes hurt the eardrums of the soldiers, who shuddered in unison, as hundreds of lead bullets flew out in waves.
"Lie down!" scread the Squire Knights as they glimpsed the black trail charging toward them.
They imdiately lay flat against their horses, while around them ca the sound of bursting sacks and the clatter of chainmail falling to the ground.
The war horses scread in agony as one after another knight jerked forward on their mounts, falling off the horse.
When the Squire Knights raised their heads again, at least a dozen had fallen, with another dozen injured.
Several warhorses ran wildly on the riverbank in fear, the ground littered with wailing knights covered in blood, and the expressions of several company commanders tensed.
Forr Fifth Imperial Decree Company Commander Ailard was right; the power of the Devil Wind was greater than they imagined, not just a stronger crossbow.
"Can it really pierce chainmail?" Edmund and Alfus exchanged a glance, suddenly understanding why these Salvation Army troops were so invincible.
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