When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 594 - 567: The Advantage Is Mine!
A few black swallows swooped down from the blue sky into the dirt, picking through the grass to find yellow clay mixed with weeds, then flying back to their nests.
Their long wings stirred the air, nearly colliding with the red and blue butterflies flitting around flowers.
The warm and blazing sunlight overhead made it a perfect day to lie in one's own yard and soak up the sun.
But at this moment, the soldiers dressed in heavy armor felt unbearably hot around their heads.
Under the sun, more than seven thousand elite mercenary infantry moved forward in the noontime light.
Every so often, they glanced up to see skirmishes taking place between light cavalry in the fields and woods nearby.
The high-crowned ship-shaped helmets, characteristic of Windmill Land, glistened with silver light, absorbing the sun's heat, turning the infantrymen's heads into pressure cookers.
Even while marching, these silvered helmets made the elite mercenaries from Windmill Land sweat rivers, leaving clear marks on their sallow faces.
Unlike the round-brimmed helmets commonly used by Horn, these ship-shaped helmets curved upwards at both ends, resembling small paper boats folded from paper.
To differentiate friend from foe, mercenaries with some money would purchase feathers of different colors to insert into their helmets.
Looking out from horseback, the earth of alternating tan and green hues was like an ocean of colorful feathers rising and falling with the soldiers' steps.
These feathers were collectively referred to as plumes by the Empire.
However, the infantry's plumes bore only two or three feathers, about a hand-length long.
The plumes and tassels on the knights' helmets were sometimes long enough to trail down their backs.
Prince Kongdai's plume today was relatively simple, only about 30 centimeters long.
But the armor he wore was ornate with engraved gold decorations — neck armor, shoulder armor, arm armor, body armor, skirt armor — and even gloves on his hands. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
This set of armor was already thick, further adorned with gold and brass decor.
Its weight could be felt from the warhorse's hopeless eyes and drooling mouth beneath him.
In the sky, the blistering fireball emitted immense heat, yet the Prince seemed unfazed, casually asking Ailard beside him, "Is the position of the Short Hairs reconfirmed?"
"Five miles away, Your Highness, you were right, these farmers actually left their car formations, ready to face us directly." Ailard looked serious, "I checked, they have about twelve to sixteen battalions, over a thousand cavalry, including wild men troops and wizards from Black Snake Bay, roughly over ten thousand total."
"Black Snake Bay has been quite active lately." A flash of ferocity crossed Prince Kongdai's face.
Ailard nodded along. "The Church can't spare any attention right now. In two years, when they launch a major purge, they'll behave."
Almost every few decades, the Empire would gather forces to conduct a purge against Black Snake Bay, preventing the Secret Faction from growing too strong.
But they couldn't completely eradicate the Secret Faction, nor could they fully destroy it, only treat the symptoms instead of the root cause.
Urgent hoofbeats carried dust as Lakunio returned from reconnaissance, frowning as he approached Prince Kongdai, "Charles, the terrain where the Short Hairs are forming ranks doesn't look good."
"Bad or not, we have to fight. The ford and bridge are burnt, and once Moliat arrives, it'll be even harder than before." Prince Kongdai soothed his steed's mane with his iron gauntlet.
Lakunio pondered for a moment but could only helplessly concede that Prince Kongdai was right.
With Damp Dock, a critical river transport hub, occupied by the enemy, they could transfer their forces faster than us regardless of how we fight.
If we don't attempt to cross the river and opt to detour, they will definitely unite Horn with Moliat the longer we delay.
The terrain of the Ham River area is generally the same, so fighting sooner is better than later.
Therefore, even knowing the terrain is disadvantageous, we cannot avoid battle.
"You all, scout the surroundings again and check for ambushes." Prince Kongdai shouted to his attendants, "Pass down orders; once at the village ahead, infantry rest quickly to relieve themselves, drink or eat. We move out in half an hour."
Upon hearing they could rest before the impending battle, the army grew visibly more disciplined.
They sped their march towards the village, then under the guidance of officers at all levels, they began handling miscellaneous tasks and preparing weapons for the upcoming battle.
Sitting under the shade, Prince Kongdai drank beer and ate rations, carefully calculating his assets.
Two elite mercenary corps of over six thousand men, guards and soldiers numbering slightly over a thousand, four decree companies totaling 1300, and over 500 recruited knights and hired knights.
Unlike the attendant knights Enrico brought before, Prince Kongdai's men are all elite extraordinary knights of rank.
Even the duties meant for attendant knights were passed on to the more senior squire knights.
In terms of sheer numbers, Prince Kongdai was weaker than the Salvation Army.
But in terms of individual soldier combat prowess, excluding the impact of weapons and equipment, the demons were vastly inferior.
Although we previously lost 5 Imperial Decree Companies, thanks to the ability of the Imperial Knights, those who escaped or recovered from serious injuries far outnumbered ordinary knights.
So although Prince Kongdai has only 4 Imperial Decree Companies, he commands 437 Imperial Knights.
With so many Imperial Knights, even against some Ogre Warlords on the Kush River front, they could hold their own, not to mention having him as a Half-Step Great Knight.
In terms of deploying troops, he doesn't fear Horn, and in single combat, he is stronger than that Demon.
In short, the advantage is mine!
Fiercely stuffing several half-cooked pieces of roasted magical beast meat into his mouth, Prince Kongdai chewed vigorously, oil-mixed blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, yet he was entirely unaware.
The nearby attendants instinctively moved away; His Highness the Prince's eating habits had recently become worse, his blood-red teeth resembling those of a beast.
After half an hour's rest, the entire army set out again.
Beside the empty houses were fields forced into fallow in the spring.
Rows of scattered helmets bobbed about, and the cloth shoes and straw sandals trampled the weeds in the fields into fragments.
The rural fences were pushed down, the leftover pigs and sheep taken away, and the berry bushes in the shade trampled crooked.
Hundreds of swallowtail flags snaked along like a dragon, the bodies of Full Armor Knights, armed from head to foot, bounced along with their horses, sunlight unable to reach an inch of their skin.
The mix of floral scents and the stench of wolf smoke stimulated the noses of the monks, who sat on horse-drawn carts, carefully shielding the Holy Oil Jars swaying in the straw with their bodies.
At about one o'clock in the afternoon, at the hottest time of the day, Prince Kongdai finally led his army of nearly ten thousand to the battlefield — a riverside land named Cheese Bay.
Prince Kongdai initially did not understand why this place was called Cheese Bay, was it because it produced cheese?
But after seeing it with his own eyes, he had to admit, the name was indeed apt.
Behind the bushes and sparse woods, streams and ditches crisscrossed the riverside land.
The entire riverside land stretched north to south, gradually elevating from west to east, with the westernmost riverside full of gravel, and the easternmost highland flat and open.
But the problem is in the transitional area from the riverside to the plain, which is not a gentle slope, but rather more than a dozen 10-meter-high mounds from low to high.
The mounds have both interconnected and separate undulating parts, resembling dense intersecting holes in cheese.
The smooth mounds are covered with fluffy fine grass and irises, along with the hollow corridors of the hollows, indeed resembling a piece of moldy cheese.
"I told you the terrain wasn't great, right?" Lakunio, riding beside Prince Kongdai, frowned, looking out at the helmets sparkling with the river.
Nearly a hundred black and red banners fluttered, black-clad soldiers stood in an impeccably neat horizontal formation on the mounds.
The twelve corps of the Salvation Army, grouped in pairs parallel to the Ham River, spread out in two interleaved lines, preoccupying the mounds' highlands.
The front and back rows were only thirty to forty meters apart, quite a short distance, as the journey from the rear mounds to the front mounds was far more than thirty to forty meters.
On one of the steepest mounds, trebuchets and fireball crossbows were being assembled, and in the hollows, the figures of Black Snake Bay's wild tribal sword and shield wielders could be seen.
"Should we attack?" Third Imperial Decree Company Commander Alfus looked at the mound terrain ahead, lowered his head, and softly asked.
Prince Kongdai's eyelids twitched: "Why wouldn't we attack? Are you afraid?"
"Not afraid," Alfus immediately replied, "it's just that this terrain is troublesome, I don't know..."
The prince turned his horse, observed the battlefield for a moment, sneered, and drew his Knight's Sword:
"Alfus, take the knights to the left-wing highlands to form a defensive line, don't charge yet."
"As you command, Your Highness!" Kissing the blade's tip, Alfus immediately led the Imperial Decree Company towards the left-wing highlands, where the Holy Gun Cavalry was arrayed.
"Priest Agata, lead the monks and follow Alfus."
"Yes, Your Highness." With Holy Water Grenades and Holy Oil Jars hung from their waists with netting, dozens of monks jogged towards the left-wing highlands.
Prince Kongdai's gaze turned to Griffin and Stenberg: "You two, listen carefully to what I say next, whoever performs best in this battle, I will grant Stone Wall Town and the surrounding estates."
Griffin and Stenberg's breaths became rapid.
"For this battle, you'll be the vanguard, leading the Death Squad and the Eagle Squadron, flank them, force them to turn, deplete their stamina and magic power.
Remember, you must shorten their battle line, reduce the wind for their clockwork guns, so our knights have an opportunity, understood?"
"Understood, Your Eminence!"
The two infantry leaders immediately half-knelt, hand to chest, to receive the order.
