Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 703: Temporary Retreat

TL: Rui88

Kalem’s brow was tightly furrowed as he stared intently at the smoke-filled battlefield.

The orc commander himself might not have realized that his hands were trembling slightly.

The current situation on the battlefield was the scene he least wanted to see—the enemy’s infantry had not been broken, and his own cavalry had lost their momentum.

The orc generals surrounding Colum remained silent.

Many were hoping for a miracle—perhaps if the fight continued for a little longer, the human squares would suddenly collapse?

Others wanted to speak but did not dare. The army had been invincible on its westward march, and the orc cavalry had been unstoppable when charging the weak human infantry squares. If they said something disheartening at this moment, would it displease Kalem?

Time passed, second by second. Finally, someone could no longer hold back, breaking the silence and shattering everyone’s illusions.

“There’s no point in continuing like this. What’s the difference between this and being stuck in the mud? We need to pull them back, regroup, and prepare for a second charge!”

Seeing someone take the lead, the orc generals all breathed a sigh of relief and looked questioningly at their commander.

Colum looked at the speaker, his eyes seeming to blaze with fire.

Just as everyone thought he was about to fly into a rage, the orc commander gritted his teeth and said, “You’re right, Grotar.”

Kalem commanded sternly, “Have them retreat and regroup. We will draw our bows tight again and shoot our arrows forth!”

In truth, Grotar’s so-called “stuck in the mud” was already a very tactful way of putting it, because no matter how you looked at it, the orcs were the ones suffering the greater casualties. The circle of bodies around the human squares made the orc generals both angry and shocked.

The sky-shaking sound of horns blew.

The experienced Schroeder judged the orcs’ intentions from it. “They’re going to retreat!”

He immediately gave an order: “Have the artillerymen prepare. As soon as a safe distance is established, return to the gun positions immediately and open fire on the retreating enemy.”

During the previous attack, the artillerymen had quickly hidden in the nearest square when the enemy approached, leaving the cannons where they were.

Many orc soldiers had tried to destroy these terrifying fire-spitting weapons, but whether it was the barrels made of bronze and iron or the carriages made of solid wood, they could not be destroyed in a short time, especially since the only tools they had were sabres, swords, and spears. So they could only give up helplessly, and thus the cannons left behind were still intact.

Of course, some powder kegs had not been taken away in time, and only a small flame was needed to destroy them, but the orc soldiers clearly lacked knowledge in this area.

To cover the retreat of the central cavalry, the orcs’ left and right wings began to move. They advanced at high speed towards the Ordo army’s left and right wings—also cavalry—to prevent the central cavalry from being cut down by the enemy cavalry during their retreat.

In the previous battle, the cavalry on the Ordo army’s left and right wings had remained stationary, watching as the infantry in the centre were furiously attacked by the orc cavalry. Now the orc generals understood that this must have been due to the humans’ confidence in their infantry squares.

But as the battle continued, Kalem became somewhat puzzled by the human commander’s caution. If he were the human commander, faced with a situation where the enemy cavalry had lost speed and was entangled with his own infantry, he would definitely order the cavalry on the left and right wings to envelop them, cooperating with the innermost infantry for a pincer attack from within and without. Not a single one of the enemy cavalry that had lost their momentum would have escaped.

Seeing the dust rising to the sky on the opposite side, Catherine realized it was her turn and her subordinates’ turn to take the field.

And Schroeder’s flag signals also arrived at this time—block the orc cavalry on the left and right wings.

Zing! Catherine drew her sword.

“Warriors! Remember Sunset Valley, remember the retreat all this way! Today, we will return the humiliation of defeat to the orcs a hundredfold!”

The Ordo princess’s voice added fuel to the fire already raging in everyone’s hearts.

“Kill the orcs!” “A hundredfold return!”

All sorts of angry shouts were heard incessantly.

The Ordo cavalry spurred their warhorses, moving towards the direction of the approaching orc cavalry.

Compared to the orcs from the Great Plains, the Ordo cavalry’s formation was more orderly and compact. They could even generally maintain a line-by-line formation while galloping.

The Ordo army’s left wing faced the orcs’ right wing, and the Ordo army’s right wing faced the orcs’ left wing. The four terrifying forces soon collided.

Paul held his telescope, nervously watching Catherine’s direction, but the rolling dust and smoke severely obscured his vision.

“She should be staying in a safe place, just like me!”

He was somewhat annoyed, worried about Catherine in his heart.

“Her Highness the Princess is probably too eager for revenge!” Mariana explained for her. “The sense of accomplishment from killing the enemy with one’s own hands is indescribable!”

The red-haired witch’s mind was in a state of turmoil at this moment.

Before the battle began, she had already prepared herself to use her power to quickly get Paul out of the battlefield if things went wrong.

At that time, Mariana did not think the Ordo army could withstand the orcs’ attack, even if her son’s army looked a bit more novel.

But the progress of the battle exceeded her expectations. The army from Alda not only withstood the impact of the orc cavalry but also inflicted a large number of casualties on the enemy.

Mariana discovered that she had still underestimated her eldest son. The boy already held a powerful force in his hands, one sufficient to give him a seat at the chessboard.

Wielding such a military force would be coveted. If he was seen by others as a pawn to be used, wouldn’t that be terrible? Mariana was very worried.

At this time on the battlefield, the left and right cavalry wings of both sides had begun to clash.

The orc cavalry that had been attacking the Ordo army’s central squares began to retreat. Because the human cavalry was tied down, their retreat was not disturbed.

“Quick! Load!”

The Alda artillerymen all ran out of the squares and returned to their gun positions.

After a flurry of intense activity, the cannons, large and small, finally began to fire again.

The artillerymen first bombarded with canister shot, and after the enemy had retreated further away, they switched to solid shot.

Undoubtedly, this once again inflicted heavy losses on the retreating orc cavalry.

“Quick! Reassemble into charging formation!”

The cavalry of the central force finally returned to their starting point. Kalem couldn’t wait to give the order, and the cavalrymen executed his command.

But…

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A large number of projectiles whistled over and landed in the cavalry assembly area. In an instant, mud and flesh flew, and many warhorses were knocked to the ground.

“Form up for the charge!” Kalem roared.

But after several attempts, he could only give up on having his warriors gather together in one spot.

AN: My apologies, I’ve been quite busy the last two weeks, and the updates have been delayed for too long.