Blood tax

The army that set off from Kherson moved very quickly.

Facing Beyelan's army, Roland felt a little dizzy.

It was not long before sunset, but Beyeland's forward cavalry had no intention of stopping - a group of well-maintained hussars pursued the slowly retreating Confederate troops.

There was a slight commotion from the infantry.

"Send the young men of the Guards Cuirassiers and Dragoons." Roland pointed his command staff towards the river, and the already prepared command immediately sent a signal to the battalion behind.

"I will lead them." Harandil got on his horse and rushed to the rear troops.

Roland Star Fortress has been basically completed, and the troops deployed on the front line for cover can withdraw into the fortress for the night. However, if Beyelan is vigorously pursued during the retreat, what may have been an innocuous operation may turn into a collective panic and collapse.

On a wide battlefield, one or two infantry battalions cannot disperse the flexible cavalry. If more infantry are sent, the difficulty of organizing the retreat will double.

The heavy cavalry after the march did not have enough physical strength to launch a pursuit, but the light cavalry of the Beyeland Army was equally sharp. They wear light armor or no armor at all, and do not rush into formation. They cover the formation of the legion before the battle begins, and pursue and rear guard after the battle. Well-trained horsemen relied less on muskets and were more accustomed to using lances and sabers in their hands to launch harassment and surprise attacks.

Compared with them, the Confederate cavalry was less experienced. Both heavy cavalry and cavalry had only been trained for a few months, and even the most mature troops did not know how to use lances. Hussars, dragoons and cuirassiers all used sabers and carried one or two pistols or cavalry flintlocks.

The Confederate cavalry was a mass-produced unit that compromised cost and production capacity. Many of them even learned to ride horses after joining the army, and their quality was far inferior to that of the Senate's troops. What's more, during the process of building the army, some people provided wrong ideas and suggested that light cavalry units with weak combat capabilities rely on firearms.

From a distance, seeing the Beyelan cavalry rolling in, the Confederate cavalry pulled out the pistols they used for self-defense at their waists.

What's the use of cavalry who don't dare to fight hand-to-hand and can only fire guns thirty or forty steps away, and then be driven around... As soon as Harandil arrived at a dragoon unit, the situation was already very bad. He shouted to the cavalry:

"No pistols allowed!

"I repeat, no pistols are allowed. All sabers attack. Anyone who disobeys the order will be subject to military law!"

The orders never reached the troops on the front line.

The Beyeland cavalry accelerated with all their strength, maintained a smooth and dense formation, and launched a hand-to-hand attack on the Confederate cavalry.

A dense plume of lead shot across the battlefield. The Confederate cavalry launched intermittent volleys at a distance of 20-40 yards, knocking down several enemies. In the blink of an eye, Beyeland's hussars were rushing into the faces of the Confederate cavalry who were standing still.

Almost everyone saw Death's sickle volleying through the air in a trance. There was a chilling sound in the air. The blade cut through the air, tearing the flesh and blood vessels and making a weird sound.

The Confederate light cavalry under attack immediately collapsed and was chased from the battlefield. The cuirassiers still maintained their formation, but they were still beaten so hard by the deployed Beyeland hussars that they could not lift their heads.

"Dragoon, dismount!"

Harandil issued an order to the stunned cavalry around him. His order was immediately and resolutely implemented. A squadron of dragoons, although many of them had white lips, instinctively dismounted and formed a team with their rifles.

The infantry battalion cannot catch up, so I will take this squadron to rescue people!

Harandil raised his command sword and pointed in the direction of the cavalry melee. More than a hundred people wearing helmets rushed toward him, forming a column.

They approached the battlefield, spread out in formation at an astonishing speed, and fired a round of guns at the Beyelan light cavalry that was besieging the friendly forces. Beyeland's light cavalry was defeated in a large area, and they immediately gave up the siege and retreated outside the shooting range to reorganize their formation.

"They are gathering, and they are going to charge again!" Harandil even saw more Beyelan cavalry rolling in further away. He immediately drew out his command knife and shouted an order: "Fix bayonets! Hollow! phalanx!"

This was originally just a tentative harassment before sunset, but seeing that Beyelan's cavalry had already gained an overwhelming advantage, reinforcements from both sides were coming here one after another.

The beaten cuirassiers withdrew from the battlefield. The Confederate reinforcements had not yet arrived, but more Beyelan cavalry had already bitten Harandier and the dragoon squadron.

The military drums beat rapidly, and the dragoons changed from horizontal formation to hollow square formation.

This squadron was adapted from a well-trained infantry unit, and the soldiers were more familiar with infantry formations and tactics. According to the training, each team formed two horizontal lines in all directions. The first row knelt in front of them with one leg and pointed their rifles with bayonets upwards. The rear row had their rifles leveled, ready to fire.

Successive squads formed a phalanx with bayonets pointed outward.

The series of maneuvers took less than three minutes. At the same time, Beyelan's light cavalry, which had received some reinforcements, had moved towards the phalanx. Seeing that the phalanx in front of them did not run away, but the line was just two thin rows, the cavalry raised their gleaming sabers high and charged at full speed. The raised iron hooves were thunderous. The soldiers who had been trained in countless infantry and cavalry confrontations felt that someone was holding a big weapon. Hammer, hit him on the head one after another.

Harandil's scalp was about to explode. The dragoon squadron leader next to him opened his mouth and couldn't even speak.

The troops were too few and the firepower was too weak... At the critical moment, Harandil estimated that the enemy was close to 20 yards away, and then slashed his command knife downwards: "Fire!" A white stream of water was sprayed out from the front row of the phalanx. In the smoke screen, the Beyeland cavalry rushing forward hit an invisible wall and fell on their backs under the rain of bullets. The remaining cavalry rushed to the front of the phalanx. The horses did not dare to hit the two rows of gleaming bayonets. They separated to the left and right, preparing to kill in a roundabout way.

The soldiers on both sides of the hollow phalanx immediately responded with regular shots, hitting the cavalry passing in front of the formation head-on.

These two rounds of shooting stunned the hussars. The disorganized cavalry began to circle blindly around the phalanx, and then suffered another round of volley.

Dozens of corpses of men and horses had been dropped around the phalanx. Most of the first wave of light cavalry were disrupted and scattered far away from the hollow phalanx, unable to be gathered together for a while.

"Hold on! Maintain formation!"

Harandil raised his command sword and kept shouting to restrain the soldiers' organization. As soon as he finished speaking, another wave of cavalry rushed out of the diagonal stab and almost broke through the hollow square formation.

The dragoons gritted their teeth and fought hard. They all knew that as long as the formation was slightly disrupted, the cavalry would overwhelm the square formation and no one would be able to escape.

The momentum of the cavalry charging at full speed was extremely frightening. However, long-term training has given the soldiers a conditioned reflex instinct to mechanically load and shoot in the melee.

Just after killing the enemy in front of them, another wave of cavalry appeared, preparing to charge again in the direction of the Confederate dragoons.

Harandil immediately ordered and shouted: "Distance 60, fire!"

The gathering light cavalry were covered by dense lead bullets from a long distance before they could launch a charge. They only had light armor, and several cavalrymen dismounted on the spot.

This shooting slightly delayed the arrival of the new wave of impact. Harandil looked back and saw two battalions of infantry running towards him, holding their battle flags high.

Suddenly the sound of gunfire rang out in the air.

A series of blazing red cannonballs passed over the heads of the infantry and hit the cavalry. The gathering cavalry was covered by artillery fire. Accurate shots penetrated fleshy paths among the men and horses, and screams and moans were mixed together.

Beyeland's cavalry had no artillery support and was running out of energy. They did not dare to fight anymore and turned back to the direction of the legion.

"Stop shooting!"

Seeing Harandil in danger, Roland personally came to the gun position to take command. After suffering an artillery attack, the Beyeland hussars finally gave up the idea of ​​eating the small force in front of them and slowly retreated to the main formation. Only then did Roland feel relieved.

Harandil was already covered in sweat. As the cavalry attacked one after another, he felt several times that he must confess here.

The people of the Dragoon Squadron were also severely frightened. Their horses could not be found, and everyone did not dare to change their formation. They moved little by little towards the army in a hollow square formation. They breathed a sigh of relief until they entered the middle of the two reinforcing battalions.

……

"Roland's soldiers are well trained," Count Charon, who was watching the battle from a distance, admired, and then chuckled, "Who came up with such a stupid idea for the pistol cavalry? Cavalry who dare not charge and are afraid of sacrifice are rubbish. "

In the short encounter, both sides suffered losses. But Xia Long was very confident. The Beyelan army that had come from afar had not yet shown its true strength.

Troops arriving in a steady stream occupied nearby open spaces and hills, set up barracks, placed gun mounts, and dug long trenches regardless of fatigue.

That night, Byerland's generals carefully inspected the Confederate bastion. There are many large sharp corners protruding from the irregular shape. Xia Long immediately understood the tactical significance and evil of such an arrangement.

Generals MacDonald and Modres, who were traveling with them, suggested that tomorrow's attack should strengthen the artillery and destroy the Confederate fortifications first.

"Don't place all your hopes on artillery bombardment," said Charon. "See those thick outer walls and bevels? Roland's fortress gave up height and fully strengthened its defense against artillery. Our advantage is not in firepower. superior."

He walked out of the tent and came to the open space of the military camp. There, engineers are working with the help of wizards. They carefully took out the huge crystal and assembled it with the base. These facilities are equipment used by the legion to empower soldiers with psychic abilities and need to be placed throughout the battlefield.

Xia Long looked at the crystal and said: "Our army has been upgraded in terms of tactics and equipment. What Roland did was to build a brand new army.

"Except for some officers and sergeants who have had small-scale combat experience, this army has never squarely set up a battle formation to fight a battle.

"Tomorrow, let's see what the Confederacy is like."