mesbooks #277 - The Battle of Pavia!
#277 - The Battle of Pavia!
Pulling a severed finger from under his fingernail, Beauregard spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm onto the ground.
It was the blood of the unclean, and he wiped his mouth with a handkerchief in disgust.
This was the second charge, and these black-clad soldiers were finally on the verge of collapse.
“What are the casualties?”
While waiting for the other knights to reform their ranks, Beauregard took a moment to ask the Knight-Commander of the Temple.
The Knight-Commander lifted his visor, revealing a sweat-drenched face: “Of the standard banner knights, there are just over 60 left. Of the squire knights, there are just over 150. Together, we’ve lost nearly a hundred, though many are, cough, missing…”
“As for the Edict Knights, we have 39 left on our side, with 4 losses. The other side has 35 Edict Knights, with 7 losses, so there are 74 Edict Knights in total.”
“Eleven Edict Knights? That many?” Beauregard had been focused on charging and hadn’t realized the Edict Knights had suffered so many casualties.
The Knight-Commander’s ‘losses’ didn’t mean deaths in battle, but rather severe injuries or being unable to return to the battlefield (armor broken, horse dead, limbs injured).
The number of Edict Knights who actually died in battle could probably be counted on one hand.
This was another disgusting aspect of the Edict Knights: they were very difficult to kill if they wanted to preserve their lives.
Their bravery came from confidence in their extraordinary abilities, not from a genuine willingness to die.
Before the invention of the Dunghill Phalanx, the Edict Knights would dismount and fight alongside other knights on foot.
After the invention of the Dunghill Phalanx, their first goal after falling from their horses was to break out, not to stay and trade their lives with those cheap, low-level transcendents. That would be a terrible loss.
Transcendence was overwhelming against ordinary people, but the upper and lower limits within transcendence weren’t that great.
Without high mobility, if a group of low-level transcendent infantry really swarmed you, there was a very high chance they could trade deaths with an Edict Knight.
Especially since the Salvation Army had the heaven-defying Saint Gunners. Although most Saint Gunners had exhausted their holy power, at least a quarter of the Saint Gunners in each legion could still fire.
It was just a pity that Beauregard had charged too quickly. They didn’t have time to rotate, and the Saint Gunners on the weak flanks were overrun.
When they hid behind the spearmen and fired at close range, they were accurate and fast within seven steps, and even Edict Knights couldn’t handle it.
Most of those eleven lost Edict Knights fell victim to this tactic.
“What’s going on with the right flank? Why are there so many losses?” Beauregard asked, panting, as the transcendent knights around him continued to gather.
He had thought he could keep the losses to single digits.
Including the 15 lancer squads sent out earlier, the actual number of Edict Knights killed was approaching twenty.
It would be one thing to fight a regular army, but losing twenty Edict Knights fighting these farmers was a real loss for him.
While feeling the pain, Beauregard was also secretly rejoicing.
If the weapons mentioned by the returning knights had hit them, more than 15 Edict Knights would have died.
The instant death of 15 Edict Knights was a huge blow to morale.
“Sir, normally only low-level transcendents can harm us, but their lightning rod soldiers are each equivalent to low-level transcendents.” The Knight-Commander of the Temple explained to Beauregard, “These farmers have very firm wills. Logically, they should have collapsed after our first charge, but we’ve charged twice now and they still haven’t broken.”
“Enough with the excuses.” After pondering for a few seconds, Beauregard put his helmet back on. “Have all the Edict Knights on the right flank gather here. I estimate that we can break through the line with the next charge.
“Later, I’ll directly attack the warlock Hohn at the very back. Be careful, it’s okay if the other farmers run away, but he absolutely can’t be allowed to escape.
“While waiting to gather, don’t be idle. Have those third-rate country knights charge over to entangle them, and don’t let them rotate or reorganize their formation.”
“Yes, sir.” The Knight-Commander paused slightly. “The fifty squire knights left to hold back Knight Wang Xian in the rear, should they charge as well?”
“Forget it.” Beauregard quickly made a decision. “Continue to monitor them and don’t let them cause trouble.”
With an order, 74 Edict Knights began to slowly gather towards the left flank.
Of the original 550 transcendent knights who set out, excluding those who fled, were seriously injured, or unable to return to the battlefield, there were still more than 350 left.
Excluding the 50 who were holding back Knight Wang Xian, Beauregard could only really use just over 300.
That was enough.
“Warriors, charge!”
Led by their knight leader, nearly a hundred country knights formed a triangular charge formation and charged towards the Black Hat Fifth Legion on the left flank.
Just as they began to charge, Brune, panting heavily, pulled the bloodied spear tip from the throat of a Night Watch guard.
Three months ago, such a Night Watch guard would have been a great figure to him, a vagrant.
But now, he had killed no fewer than eight or ten of these Night Watch guards.
As for the transcendent knights who were once so high above him, his men had killed two.
His company was scattered by the Edict Knights because they were too far forward and couldn’t rotate in time, so he was still on the most brutal front line.
“Put me down!” Jonal’s voice came from his back. Both of his legs had been broken by the hooves of a transcendent knight and were dangling helplessly in the air.
“No, I promised Old Jonal that I would take care of you on the battlefield.”
“You goat-humping bastard.” Bound to Brune’s back with ropes, Jonal’s face was pale, and he elbowed Brune’s back armor. “Put me down… those transcendent knights are charging over!”
Brune didn’t answer him, but supported himself with his spear and stumbled towards the nearest battle formation behind him.
In front of him, the muddy ground was covered with countless messy footprints.
Blood was trampled into the soil by footprints, mixing with the grass juice to form a strange brown color.
Almost every few steps, Brune had to step over a corpse, both enemies and his own men.
Everywhere were swaying figures, shaking spears and armed swords, and blood constantly drew arcs in the air.
At the shoulder and neck positions, the knights who seemed to be riding on everyone’s heads charged back and forth, and after a few occasional gunshots, they fell to the ground with a crash.
On the current battlefield, the central army had retreated about 20 meters, suffering the least losses.
The right flank was second, and the left flank was the furthest forward, with only a thin layer of the battle line remaining, and the state was the worst.
So the closest to Brune was the Black Hat Fifth Legion next to him.
At this moment, the country knights of the Ibe Plain were killing towards the left flank, and Brune happened to be walking on the road ahead of their charge.
In the continuous gunshots, Brune heard the sound of horses’ hooves, and Jonal wiped the rain off his face: “Put me down, I’ll run myself!”
“Your legs are broken, you can’t run.” Brune replied in a hoarse voice, he didn’t know what he was doing.
“The knights are charging over, you’re carrying me, there’s no time to return to the battle formation.”
“There is time.”
“I beg you, I really, I beg you.” Turning his head, Jonal gritted his teeth, “Brune, at least one of us has to live, right!”
“We’ll both live.”
“…No, buddy, are you even listening to me!”
With Brune, this stubborn mule, on his back, Jonal looked forward in despair.
Behind Brune, hundreds of transcendent knights were charging.
In the hazy rain, he could even see the white steam exhaled by the warhorses, and in front of the warhorses, there was a hedge composed of broken swords and bones.
Rain and arrows fell together, and mud and blood splattered on everyone.
Pulling out the half-length armed sword from his waist, Jonal pointed at the silver-armored knight who was becoming clearer in the rain.
Their wool tights were soaked, and the dark red blood stains on their armor were dissolved by the rain, forming spider web-like traces.
“The knights are coming, put me down, run away quickly—” Jonal elbowed Brune frantically.
But Brune’s mind was blank, he only knew to stride forward and run wildly, without feeling the strong wind behind him.
“You goat-humping bastard! Brune, I never thought in my life that I would die with you, you ditch-dweller.”
Seeing the knight’s sword getting closer and closer, Jonal shouted as if to vent, and desperately threw the broken sword in his hand at the knights.
The broken sword hit the knight’s leg armor and fell to the ground with a clang.
Adding insult to injury, Brune, who was running, didn’t pay attention to the dead body under his feet, and the two of them fell together in the mud.
The back of his head hit the wet and bloody soil, and Jonal lay on the ground in a daze, watching the raindrops fall from the sky.
Has it finally come to this?
He had long been aware of death, which was a preparation made before the expedition.
At least he killed a knight!
At least he didn’t desert!
At least, at least…
Jonal’s heart was burning with pain, he should be able to die peacefully, but the anger in his chest just couldn’t be suppressed.
He was not reconciled!
He was not reconciled to losing like this, not reconciled to letting the knights win like this, not reconciled to letting the children of Thousand River Valley still live under shackles in the future.
“Kill!”
“Go to hell, lackeys of the nobles!”
Jonal heard the unwilling and miserable roar of the Black Hat Fifth Legion on the left flank.
How much hardship have they suffered, just to save Thousand River Valley, but are they going to be defeated at the beginning?
Are the knights so invincible? Then what is the meaning of everything they have done?
What’s the meaning?!
I knew I should have had some meat in Mayo Town, and I’m going to die without even tasting the taste of a girl.
Watching the horse’s hooves step on him, Jonal closed his eyes with the last strange thought.
“Buzz—”
“Whinny—”
After waiting for a while, the expected iron hooves did not fall on his head, but he heard the dying neigh of the warhorse.
The battlefield seemed to be quiet, and the war cries suddenly stopped.
The sound of rain, which had been drowned out by the earth-shattering shouts, became clear again.
What’s going on? Jonal barely opened his eyes and looked at the front blankly.
A blood hole appeared in the chest of the charging transcendent knight, and he fell to the side of the warhorse’s hooves with wide eyes of disbelief.
Running over in a scramble, Brune shook Jonal’s shoulders, and the problem of speaking slowly in the past happened again.
He was trembling all over, and half a sentence remained on his lips, but he couldn’t say it.
“Look, look, you look!”
Changing from lying down to lying on his stomach, Jonal tried to support his upper body and squinted his eyes to look.
In the slanted, fine rain, tall flags stood, and on the flags was a sun set in a gear.
Under the flag, a fully armored war monk was slowly putting down the large blunderbuss in his hand.
It’s the Pope’s flag, that’s the Pope.
Tears finally flowed from Jonal’s eyes, and he slammed his fist hard on the ground, splashing a circle of mud.
“Look, look—”
Jonal’s sobbing voice broke the original silence, and he kept crying:
“The Pope, the Pope is charging!”
“The Pope is charging!”