When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 603 - 571: Holy Gun Cavalry

The Imperial Company truly lives up to its name.

They formed three 90-person triangular formations, connected by over twenty knights roaming the periphery, creating a large assault formation.

In their eyes, the scattered bow cavalry looked like little children with their bare bottoms exposed.

Mira led the bow cavalry in continuous circling shots, but just as they were halfway through, a resounding roar shook the ground: "Imperial Company! Charge with me!"

In the blink of an eye, spears and knight's swords cleaved the bow cavalry led by Mira into two halves.

"Run quickly, retreat!" Mira was engulfed in the crowded bow cavalry, her voice passed between attendants and cavalry squad leaders.

"Hmph, want to escape? That's exactly what I want." Edmund sneered coldly while chasing behind these bow cavalry.

This tactic is quite common, mainly using scattered light cavalry to assault enemy cavalry positions, and then killing them amidst the ensuing chaos.

Arrows flew overhead, occasionally striking the weak spots or vital areas of armor, indeed bringing down a few unlucky knights, while the remaining knights didn't mind their backs being riddled with arrows.

Four hundred meters, three hundred fifty meters, three hundred meters... The bow cavalry slowed down, the enemy cavalry position was right in front of them.

"Quick step, charge!" Edmund positioned his lance under his arm and shouted loudly, while Galian on the other side was ready, prepared to charge at the Salvation Army infantry on the hill.

The hooves came urgently, the leaves shook, three hundred meters distance, there were bow cavalry ahead, surely they couldn't speed up faster than them.

Edmund looked at the shaking helmets ahead, the pleasure in his heart was indescribable.

Just when he was feeling pleased, his vision suddenly blurred, and the bow cavalry orderly scattered to the sides amidst their chaos.

Obviously, the feigned retreat just now was enacted for Edmund to see, but under Mira's ingenious command and training, these bow cavalry acted so convincingly.

These North bow cavalry were also from mercenary backgrounds; no one understood "retreat" better than them.

Despite being inexperienced and eager for victory, Edmund failed to react to this feigned retreat tactic often used by Norn, inadvertently falling into their trap.

After clearing the path, Jeanne led the Holy Gun Cavalry charging towards them.

As the creator of the Holy Gun Cavalry, Jeanne's primary simulated adversary was the Imperial Knights, so her tactics were evolved specifically to counter the Imperial Knights.

Following Horn's idea of "don't treat the spring-gun as merely a crossbow arrow, but as a ten-meter-long invisible lance," Jeanne restructured and detailed the tactics of the Holy Gun Cavalry.

The first requirement was to form an organized horizontal formation of three to five lines during the charge based on terrain, allowing the spring-gun to exert maximum wind force.

Secondly, the use of bow cavalry type rotational shooting was prohibited, favoring direct charging into enemy formations for close combat like a gun cavalry.

The first two ranks were only allowed to fire upon seeing the whites of the enemies' eyes or their feathered crests, then draw their spiked maces or thrusting swords for the charge.

The third rank was not allowed to fire, but during close combat, occasionally pulled out for point-blank shooting.

Edmund was the first fortunate soul to taste this brand-new tactic.

"Volley! Praise the Holy Wind!"

Pulling out the spring-gun from their boots, the front line Holy Gun cavalry triggered consecutively.

The pressure balancing holes emitted a screeching sound, absorbing all the dust stirred up by the approaching horse hooves.

The firing rod propelled the lead bullet frantically forward inside the gun barrel.

Then it pierced through the air, pierced through armor, burrowing into the knights' flesh like a poisonous bug.

Blood was compressed, expelled sideways from its round body, shooting out a bloody arrow across the knights.

More than ten Square Banner Knights charging at the forefront fell in response, causing the Imperial Company's formation to instantly become chaotic.

Before they could react, an echoing feminine cry rang out.

Blazing lightning unfolded like wings at Jeanne's sides, swiftly sweeping over the knights' horses.

Muscles of four or five warhorses on both sides spasmed simultaneously, flipping over and tossing the mounted knights to the ground.

The rear Holy Gun cavalry immediately exploited the breach, heavy spiked maces crashing onto the heads of dismounted knights, explosive blood even spurting from eye gaps and armor seams.

Slender horse hooves trampled chaotically in this small area, smoke and dust rose, interspersed with the sharp sounds of thrusting swords piercing knight armor and lance collisions flinging Holy Gun cavalry.

Screams, the neighs of horses, and the thudding of human bodies hitting the ground emerged in an unending commotion.

In the rising smoke and dust, gaps frequently appeared—those were the trajectories of bullets piercing through the haze.

This was followed by the painful cries of certain knights.

Even at close combat distances, even though Jeanne's group used lightweight 1.2-meter spring-guns, they were capable of piercing the Imperial Knights' armor.

The Imperial Knights couldn't afford to replace their White Crystal Steel armor, only upgrading the inner plates in front of their hearts.

Jeanne and the Holy Gun cavalry first circled them, then turned back, firing back-saddle shots at them from four or five meters away.

What was most unacceptable to them was that, due to the horses from Thousand River Valley being relatively shorter compared to the Imperial Company horses, these Holy Gun cavalry prioritized targeting the warhorses.

At least five or six warhorses were brought down, their necks pierced by thrusting swords.

Edmund swept with his cavalry spear, knocking a Holy Gun Cavalryman off his horse. Turning his head, he saw two other Holy Gun Cavalrymen in the distance taking aim at him.

He instinctively ducked his head, and a burst of sparks erupted from his helmet.

A lead bullet ricocheted off the curved helmet, the tremendous impact causing Edmund's head to jerk back violently.

Desperately clutching the reins, Edmund quickly spurred his horse to escape from the Holy Gun Cavalrymen. Furious, he pointed his cavalry spear at Jeanne, who was surrounded by lightning in the distance: "Witch! You're too despicable!"

However, cavalry battles are always brief. They rarely pause to engage in close combat like infantry might.

After a charge, following Jeanne's Holy Grail Battle Banner, the remaining 200 or so Holy Gun Cavalrymen disengaged and dashed out from behind Edmund's Imperial company.

According to traditional cavalry battle rules, this was the time for continuous figure-eight charges, where knights would repeatedly charge along the path of an "8," colliding at the intersection.

The time when they were farthest apart was generally when they moved the slowest, a reality Jeanne was well aware of.

Waving the Golden Finch Battle Banner representing Prince Kongdai, Edmund reached a position ready to charge again.

He fixed his hawk-like gaze on Jeanne, who was shifting direction in the distance; these despicable ones were a tough challenge.

They could even manage a nearly one-for-one exchange with the Imperial company,

Riding rhythmically with his horse, he instructed his attendants on both sides: "Assemble, triangle formation, get down when approaching..."

A scream interrupted Edmund's order. Surprised, he looked up to see a dense black line flying in from the distance.

Damn, it's the Spring Gunners firing in unison!

Where did they come from?!

"Get down!" Edmund screamed hoarsely, then was pressed onto the horse's back by a Squire Knight. At a distance of sixty or seventy meters, bullets collided with the living bodies.

Amidst the shattered armor and flesh, at least twenty knights fell from their horses.

Jeanne had anticipated Edmund would prepare for a figure-eight charge like a traditional knight. How could she let that happen? 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Before the battle began, she had already deployed two fifty-man teams of Holy Gunners, disguised in the Defensive Army's robes over their armor, specifically waiting for the Imperial company to take the bait.

At this moment, Edmund didn't even have the time to be angry. He pushed away the knight who was pressing him down, stepped into the stirrups, and stood up: "Assemble, assemble, the Devil Wind has passed, the Witch is coming."

But the knights who had just been hit by the bullets were in no position to recover quickly. The Imperial Knights could regroup swiftly, but some Square Banner Knights and Squire Knights were still hugging their horses' necks and running.

"For freedom! Long live the Thousand River Valley!"

The disorderly Imperial company collided head-on with Jeanne's Holy Gun Cavalry, met with another en masse volley.

A thunderous shout resounded, and intense white light once again illuminated the frontline. Both sides swept past each other, and from time to time, a knight fell backward off his horse.

"Retreat, retreat quickly, let Galian cover us!"

Ducking to dodge the bullets, Edmund retreated while rushing toward Galian on the side.

The North Bow Cavalry and Kush Knights on both sides immediately engaged, and the Holy Gun Cavalry, just about to pursue, were halted by Jeanne's angry shout.

Their Spring Guns were almost exhausted, needing rewinding and reloading, leaving the task of finishing off the remnants to the Kush Knights and North Bow Cavalry.

Hooves stepped past the sprawling moaning knights, and only then did the Holy Gun Cavalry seem to wake from a dream, unable to believe what had happened.

They had actually directly defeated the Imperial company in a cavalry battle, inflicting nearly a hundred casualties on Edmund's Imperial company with an almost one-for-one exchange ratio.

Although they utilized the Spring Gunners of a nearby infantry regiment to their advantage, it still counted as a victory!

With Galian's cover, the Kush Knights slowly withdrew, using melee weapons along the way to deal with the prince's fallen Square Banner Knights on the battlefield.

Removing his dented helmet, Edmund stood shamefully with his head down before Lakunio.

Lakunio's face was as somber as ever, having realized a crucial issue—they seemed to be no match for the Salvation Army in both cavalry and infantry.

In other words, with the current situation and terrain, it should be the prince's side fighting defensively.

"Vine, it's a wonder you haven't been torn to pieces, truly... truly... sigh—" Lakunio burned with anger halfway through, only to give up in weary resignation, "Tell the soldiers to inform Charles, we've lost this round, retreat ten miles, regroup and continue the fight."

What else could be done? Vine had given the opportunity, and Demon Horn seized it tightly, leaving no one else to blame.

"Yes, sir."

A Squire Knight responded and rushed out from the ranks, sprinting towards the riverbank area as Lakunio turned once more, preparing to comfort Edmund.

Yet he saw the attendant, who had just run off, come back with a face full of terror.

"Why have you returned?" Lakunio's heart filled with foreboding.

The knight babbled incoherently, "The prince sends word, His Highness requires five high-tier cultivators and summons Ailard, with Ailard temporarily taking over Alfus's third Imperial company!"

"What happened to Alfus?" Edmund's voice trembled slightly.

"The company commander Alfus charged too far ahead, entangled by blood-sucking vines and the savage warriors' shield-men. A short-hair with an eagle's big gun fired a tethered bullet, hitting Commander Alfus in the neck. Though he's been retrieved, the commander is critically wounded and near death!"