Translator: Cinder Translations
...
"Aldor expects everyone to do their duty!"
Paul's message stirred a small amount of discussion among the generals of Crystal Glare.
"I admit, the Earl's words are encouraging, but is it a bit presumptuous for him to say that?"
Some people felt a little sour. They were nobles from the royal capital of Crystal Glare, the true representatives of the kingdom.
And Paul Grayman was merely a lord from a corner of the northwest.
Many secretly glanced at the person they thought was most qualified to say such words, Princess Catherine.
The princess was blushing, her face showing an unusually intense excitement. Her red lips moved up and down, as if repeatedly savoring the words.
Ophina cleared her throat loudly to remind everyone: "Earl Grayman is the royal son-in-law, so his words are not wrong!"
The others felt slightly appeased.
At this moment, the orc cavalry began to approach. They increased their speed, and a thick cloud of dust covered the sky, sending a shiver of fear through the ranks.
Many who had experienced the battle at the Valley of the Sunset began to tremble.
At that very moment, the God of War let out a mighty roar!
Under the unified command of Artillery Commander Bryce, all the cannons fired almost simultaneously.
BOOOM!!
Dozens of shells shot towards the orc cavalry, unleashing human fury upon the enemy.
These cannons weren't facing the enemy head-on; each was angled at a certain degree to form a terrifying crossfire.
As the orc cavalry entered the charge phase, they were immediately struck by a heavy blow. Shells whistled through the air, bouncing on the ground. No matter how strong the horses or their riders, no flesh and blood could withstand these deadly metal projectiles.
Limbs and blood flew through the air, and the horses, terrified by the blasts, could not be controlled by their riders and began to run wildly.
Several sections of the orc army fell into disarray, with horses crashing into each other, some riders thrown from their mounts, only to be trampled into a bloody pulp by their companions' panicked steeds.
This large-scale artillery barrage had an effect that surprised both sides.
However, for the thousands of charging cavalry, it was still only a minor disturbance.
The orc cavalry continued to charge forward, unstoppable, and even the ground began to tremble under their onslaught.
Catherine anxiously watched the area where Paul was positioned, and the enemy's target was clear: to tear apart the infantry in the center. Could the northwest soldiers hold them off?
The central army of Alden began to rearrange their formation. Eight battalions, 4,000 men, quickly formed two hollow square formations. Their commanders were not surprised by this maneuver, as they had previously discussed the combat strategy. But the speed of the formation change was astonishing.
Meanwhile, the allied infantry from other territories had already formed squares before the orcs began their assault, their pikes raised like a forest, their archers surrounded in the center.
Schroder's only order to them was to hold their position and not move an inch.
Alden's artillery fired a second round, and the thick smoke almost completely obscured their front.
The swirling smoke and the deadly impact of the shells greatly intimidated the orc cavalry, as if some monstrous predator was hiding behind the smoke, waiting to pounce.
But they were now only a few hundred meters from the human infantry line. Soon, with their superior horsemanship, they could toy with these weaklings, no matter how powerful their weapons were.
The third round of fire began, and unlike before, the orc cavalry at the front seemed to hit an invisible, transparent wall, as if the entire army had been momentarily stalled.
Alden's artillery fired shotguns, and countless metal pellets poured into the enemy ranks, knocking orc cavalry off their horses. The effect was even more devastating than the previous solid shots.
This artillery strike caused chaos in the enemy ranks, momentarily halting their momentum.
Seeing the fate of their comrades, the orc cavalry behind slowed their pace, blocking the ones further back, creating a bottleneck as horses began to crowd together.
"Sound the horns!"
Orc Commander Calem roared, urging his troops to continue the attack.
"Quick! Another round!"
Bryce was overjoyed. Originally, he had estimated that the orc cavalry's speed would only allow for three rounds of fire, but their delayed reaction had given them another round of time.
As the artillery roared again, another round of shotgun shells rained down on the enemy, toppling more orc cavalry, but under the urging of the horns, the orcs resumed their charge.
Alden's artillery withdrew into the hollow square formations of the infantry, leaving the heavy cannons behind.
The orc cavalry was now within a hundred meters!
"Fire!"
At the command, the infantry in the two squares began to shoot. After the first row fired, they immediately crouched, using their rifle butts to brace themselves, their sharp bayonets pointing outward.
The first group of orc cavalry charging the front were either knocked down by the gunfire or had their horses shot, but they provided cover for the troops behind them.
The two sides clashed head-on!
Paul was drenched in cold sweat, trying to remain calm as he watched his soldiers face life-and-death tests.
Fortunately, the cavalry did not charge at them with reckless abandon as he had imagined, like the high-speed cavalry charges in the movies.
He remembered the shocking scenes from "The Lord of the Rings," where the Riders of Rohan charged at the orc lines, smashing through their defenses like a hot knife through butter, breaking them apart. The cavalry then continued to race through the dense enemy ranks.
TL/N: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lwJOxN_gXc Just watch this, because now I feel like watching the whole trilogy...
If the orc cavalry in this world were as fierce as the Riders of Rohan, their thin hollow squares would have been instantly pierced, turning into a bloody mess under the swords and hooves. Of course, the orcs would have suffered huge casualties as well.
But the scene before him resembled more the tactics used by the French cavalry at Waterloo. They didn't directly charge the square formations. Instead, they swiftly moved along the edges, some slowing their pace, exchanging blows with the Alden soldiers holding bayonets, and quickly breaking contact. Some merely faked attacks, while others shot arrows.
In cavalry versus infantry combat, the psychological game was key. Faced with a cavalry charge of such magnitude, infantry often broke before the cavalry even reached them, exposing their backs to the faster-moving cavalry, who would then slaughter them.
The orcs found the huge gaps between the square formations and immediately poured through, like water flowing into a channel. They aimed to perform their signature maneuver: attacking from the flanks or rear.
At once, the squares were surrounded, isolated, and seemingly defenseless.
(End of the Chapter)
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