Chapter 458: The Laughable Battlefield
The huge fire could be seen clearly even from the Stone Pa.s.s. The flames soared into the sky and the entire night sky had been dyed by the red flames. Even if they did not understand what had happened, they knew that they were definitely in danger.
“Attack.”
Firentis made his decision on the city wall.
He waved his hand forward and gave the orders to the messengers behind him, “Let the desert bandits go over and scout. The heavy cavalry troops will leave the city and wait for orders. The rest of the footmen will stay in the city. If there are any unusual situations, they do not need to report and deal with it on their own.”
“Yes!” the messengers quickly left the city walls. The troops in the stone pa.s.s also started to move out.
Soon, the heavy door of the Stone Pa.s.s was opened.
Along with the sound of friction coming from the door shaft, groups of cavalries quickly rushed out from the door. All of them were wearing chain armor and barrel helmets. They held heavy spears that were as thick as a child’s arm and rushed out with a rumble.
Five hundred Swadian Knights walked at the front, and behind them were a thousand Swadian Heavy Cavalries as well as Firentis and ten Swadian Royal Knights.
This was his main force.
It was strong enough.
Just based on combat strength alone, it was enough to block 10,000 light footmen.
However, their actual combat strength and the effect of the attack on the enemy were so strong that even a formation of 10,000 light footmen could not be able to compare to them.
Looked at those oversized mercenary groups who had ulterior motives and were fighting on their own, they were lacked leaders.h.i.+p or even ineffective leaders.h.i.+p, causing them to fall into internal strife and panic. Compared to them, this group of heavy cavalries that was made up of the Swadian people was undoubtedly powerful, they were the force that could completely destroy everything!
Just as this group of heavy cavalries appeared on the plains outside the Stone Pa.s.s, the mercenary groups that were supposed to attack the Stone Pa.s.s actually started to waver. In fact, they even scattered!
That’s right, they dispersed in a hubbub!
Originally, they could still form a dense formation to resist.
However, when they saw that the village had completely burned by the red flames, their morale was heavily crushed.
Even their own headquarters had been burned down by the fire, and they still didn’t know what kind of attack the troops there had received. But just thinking about it, if they could defend, then would these fires still appear?
They definitely could not appear!
In the end, there was only one result — they lost the defense!
The n.o.ble alliance army could not resist the enemy’s attack, and their defenses were completely broken through.
Just in the evening, after eating dinner and marching for a day, when they planned to have a good rest, their defenses were broken through by the enemy camp, completely destroying their ability to resist and turning their headquarters into a sea of fire.
Now that they saw the almost orderly heavy cavalry troops walking out from the Stone Pa.s.s, how could they not be afraid?
Their hearts were already filled with fear.
Now, it directly turned into fear!
Just like a frightened bird, the hearts of the mercenaries were completely replaced by fear.
Morale? What was that? Now, they only thought how to save themselves. When they ran, they even threw away all their miscellaneous items, just so that they could run faster, afraid that they would be caught and killed by the cavalries.
The pursuit of the footmen by the cavalry was very easy.
However, Firentis did not have the mood to do so.
He led the Swadian Heavy Cavalries forward. He ignored the scattered mercenaries.
In the surroundings, the desert bandits, who acted as scouts, were eager to chase after them. To these light cavalries who were poorly equipped, chasing after the collapsed enemy was like riding a big dog to chase a little lamb when they were young.
This was a pleasant game.
“Spread out and scout!” However, Firentis gave an order, “The target is the village, report back immediately if you encounter a large group of troops!”
“Yes!” the desert bandits stopped thinking of rus.h.i.+ng out to chase after the enemy. They could only quickly ride their horses forward and run towards the burning village. In the battle plan, completing the tactical goal was the most correct choice.
Otherwise, with the harsh military law, even the elite cavalry would be whipped to death!
Disobeying the will of the general was a grave mistake.
The troops moved forward slowly.
The heavy cavalries looked ahead coldly.
In the fire, the entire village had been completely burned, and countless cries could be faintly heard.
These were the cries of the villagers. In this fire, they had suffered great losses, and even their relatives had been violated. The losses were immeasurable, and it was basically equivalent to bankruptcy.
The subordinates of the n.o.ble were not good people, or in other words, the military discipline in the Middle Ages was very poor, not to mention the even more despicable mercenaries.
Stealing and robbing were considered were not the worst thing they done, what was even more terrifying was s.n.a.t.c.hing the door out of the tent, as well as the door-breaking extortion.
This village originally belonged to the Stone Pa.s.s, and it had made a fortune in the table salt trade. However, because of these n.o.ble alliance armies and mercenaries, they had colluded with the enemy to extort money. Now, they were all burned by the fire. If they were not bankrupt, then what?
The landlord became a commoner who had nothing, and the poor commoner became a bankrupt commoner.
No one could escape from the disaster of the war.
Or rather, it was fortunate that they could survive.
Moreover, because they met those mercenaries who were killing red-eyed, they were directly killed.
Even if they resisted, they couldn’t. A group of commoners picked up kitchen knives, sickles, and pitchforks. Facing the extremely vicious mercenaries who were used to seeing death, the final outcome was very miserable, and the n.o.ble didn’t care about these commoners at all.
Finally, when Firentis and his heavy cavalries arrived, the chaotic scene was brought to an end.
The Red Flag of the Golden Lion fluttered in the wind.
The light of the fire shone.
The civilians who had lost their homes wept and complained about their suffering.
And on the faces of the mercenaries who had yet to disperse, there was fear on their faces. Some kneeled on the ground and simply surrendered, while others fled towards the plain and felt that they could escape.
“Kill them.” Firentis waved his hand forward.
His expression was calm. “Robbing the villagers and burning the villages. These bandits deserve to die for their sins.”
“Yes!” the Swadian Heavy Knights rushed out first. They stabbed the mercenaries who were kneeling on the ground to death with their spears. Then, they chased after the fleeing mercenaries.
Although they were heavy cavalry, their chasing ability was not weak either.
After all, they were cavalry.
There was also heavy cavalry who jumped off their warhorses, wore chain armor, and rushed into the burning village with their warrior swords.
Many mercenaries were still hiding inside. They needed to find them and stab them to death with their swords. They needed to send these people who were considered bandits by Sir Firentis to meet the Grim Reaper of this world.
No survivors, no captives, left no problems.
This was what Firentis meant.
“Ridiculous.”
Firentis raised his head and swept his gaze across the southern wilderness.
Countless figures were still fleeing in the dark. Those were mercenaries who had escaped from this place. They were being chased by the Swadian Heavy Cavalries and ma.s.sacred as easily as hunting sheep.
He turned his head and instructed, “Get all the heavy cavalries to come back and look for Rolf. He knows what to do with the rest.”
“Yes!” the messenger nodded.
Then, he took out the horn on his waist, blew out a “woo” sound and gave the order.