NOVEL NEXT Chapter 492: Turmoil 2
Two "porcupines," back to back, approached each other. Eventually, the spikes on their "backs" touched and then stabbed toward the opponent.
The soldiers in the front row were the most unfortunate. Those unlucky ones, unable to dodge in time, were impaled by the spears' tips in their chests, throats, shoulders, or legs.
Almost simultaneously, cries of pain rose from both sides, with some soldiers collapsing silently on the ground.
After the casualties, the soldiers in the front two rows instinctively stopped or retreated, twisting their bodies to dodge the opposing spears.
The two battling formations almost immediately halted their advance, with only the soldiers in the first few rows gesturing with their long spears towards the enemy's face while dodging the wildly swinging spear tips.
The long spears of both sides clashed and parried in the middle, creating a cacophony of noise.
The commanders of both sides repeatedly ordered their troops to advance, shouting and whipping them to take the risk of injury or death and thrust their spears into the enemy.
But each command only advanced their troops slightly, and after casualties, the soldiers would instinctively retreat.
Contact, disengage, contact, disengage… The two armies repeated this process, causing Liszt's heart to grow anxious.
This cavalry, evidently a cut above the infantry engaged in battle, was clad in armor, each man armed with a lance.
Someone in the Jeb army noticed the cavalry approaching rapidly from their flank. Almost instantly, their formation began to disarray.
Some turned their spears toward the charging cavalry, others planted their spears on the ground, standing bewildered. The most unfortunate were the front-line soldiers who, distracted, were pierced by spears.
The cavalry formed a wedge shape as they approached, accelerating suddenly when about forty to fifty meters away from the Jeb army, charging at great speed.
The leading horseman's mount neighed and leaped high, halting at the last moment, but this did not hinder the rider from thrusting his lance accurately and forcefully. He was so well-trained it was as if he and his horse shared one body.
The Jeb soldier facing him watched in terror as the lance pierced his chest, collapsing with unfulfilled fear and reluctance.
After a successful strike, the horseman withdrew his weapon and immediately turned to gallop away.
His comrades followed suit, repeating his actions. The final charge was so swift that it left only a few breaths behind.
Not all cavalry were as fortunate as the leader; some missed their targets, others found none, but all swiftly turned away without lingering.
The cavalry's initial charge caused few casualties, and the fallen were quickly replaced, but the Jeb army's formation was already loosening. The timid soldiers stood their ground, while the braver or more eager ones ran out of the formation as the cavalry retreated, hoping to score victories before the enemy's horses could accelerate, but their hopes were in vain. The commanders loudly ordered these fools back to their positions.
The cavalry, having regrouped swiftly, repeated their attack method, swooping down like a deadly wind upon the Jeb formation, each pass causing more casualties.
With each cavalry assault, the Jeb formation grew increasingly disordered, a primal fear urging soldiers to distance themselves from crowded areas, which were prime targets for the cavalry.
In the end, only a few rows of soldiers, who had originally faced the enemy's spearmen, barely maintained their formation, their protection and discipline notably superior to the others.
Witnessing a cavalry battle for the first time, Liszt clenched his teeth tightly, filled with immense fear. He tried to put himself in the shoes of the Jeb soldiers, imagining how he would react to the swiftly attacking enemy cavalry.
"Jeb is finished!" A sorrowful, slightly sobbing sigh resounded from nearby.
It was the coachman who spoke.
At his pointing, Liszt looked in the direction they had come from. He saw black smoke rising in columns from Jeb city in the distance.
It seemed the battle was not just happening here; had the city already been breached?
"Sir, let's be thankful we managed to escape in time."
Liszt didn't know how to console the coachman, who had just lost his homeland.
Refocusing on the nearby battle, Liszt noticed the Church Army's cavalry charging again.
But this appeared to be their final charge. The cavalry didn't restrain their galloping horses; instead, they let them charge into the Jeb soldiers. The gaps in the enemy lines were now so large that they could easily avoid them. After impaling an enemy with their lances and discarding them, the cavalry unsheathed their swords and began indiscriminately slaughtering the Jeb soldiers.
Even the disciplined front rows couldn't withstand this onslaught. The Jeb army quickly descended into chaos and collapsed entirely.
Many soldiers, dropping their weapons, fled in panic, trying to escape the battlefield.
However, they were often quickly overtaken by the cavalry and met their end under the sword.
Those remaining on the battlefield, already devoid of any hope of victory, also dropped their weapons, placing their hands behind their heads and kneeling or squatting on the ground, awaiting the enemy's judgement.
"Alas!"
Liszt sighed deeply and said to the coachman, "Let's hide here for a while and wait for them to leave before we go out."
As soon as he finished speaking, a woman's scream was heard from behind.
Shocked, both men realized it was the coachman's wife.
The coachman, in a frenzy, immediately rushed to where they had hidden the carriage. Liszt hesitated for a moment, then followed.
A heart-thumping scene unfolded before him: three soldiers, armed with longswords, surrounded the carriage. The coachman's wife and child were huddled together inside, crying loudly.
"Esteemed sirs!"
The coachman knelt down with a thud.
Tears streaming down his face, he pleaded, "We… we are just ordinary people. Please, let us go."