Riding and Slashing

Chapter 392 The Battle of Salem
358th July 8 of the Pandeli calendar.

Salem Moors.

This day was Li Ang's birthday—it was also the birthday of that Leon Griffin.

But this special day can only be spent on the battlefield, because Agathon's troops have already appeared in Li Ang's sight.

Of course, Li Ang deliberately provoked Agathon to take the initiative.

Just like what Emperor Marius said - Li Ang didn't want to take the initiative to attack Karen Deer Castle at all. He had more cavalry troops and was more suitable for field battles.

Moreover, it is Li Ang's consistent thinking to choose a battlefield by himself, and to choose a battlefield that is more familiar or more suitable to his own environment.

The right time, place, people and these elements should always be more than the enemy. This is the teaching of our ancestors.

However, Li Ang wanted to let Agathon leave Karen Deer Castle, but he couldn't let him enter the Sarleon Land-Agathon is a dangerous element, as can be seen from the fact that he was able to conquer Qicha Fortress with a lone army of patchwork. With his ability, if he is allowed to enter the hinterland of the Sarleon Realm, it will be really troublesome.

Therefore, the wilderness in the south of Seren Meath and north of Seren Village is the battlefield chosen by Li Ang.

This place is known as the Salem Wasteland. It is an uninhabited land between the Sarleon Land and the Bacchus Empire. The overall terrain is wasteland and hills.

Most of the places are relatively gentle grasslands, suitable for cavalry operations; at the same time, there are some small hills and woods, suitable for the Noldor elves to ambush.

This is where General Osa of Bacchus finally decided to retreat.

Li Ang's central army is the regular army of Sarleon led by Leofric, that is, the troops of various lords, and the teams of Hereward, Fawcett, Charles and others are also among them, with a total size of about 3000 people .

The Chinese army is flying Li Ang's new Pandor King banner, but Li Ang himself is not here—it's not true, this is also the teaching of our ancestors.

"As expected, Agathon took the initiative to attack... Lisa Dilan, send an order to Sigismund to act according to the plan..."

Li Ang rode Alice and gave the order on an inconspicuous hill.

Li Sadilan did not leave Li Ang's side, but directly ignited a red feather arrow, and shot it towards the sky due south.

After the feather arrow shot into the sky, it brought up a string of orange-red smoke.

This is Lingjian, a product of Noldo Workshop.

But this kind of arrow is not a new invention, it has been used decades ago. You only need to soak the hemp rope in saltpeter water for two days, dry it, then knead a lot of salt, and finally mix it with some leather and sawdust. Just on the shaft.

Sigismund led a group of infantry and was at the forefront of all Leon's troops.

This force was once the 'Freedom Legion' and is now the Second Legion of New Pendor.

In front of them, there is a simple low wall, which is a temporary fortification, used to defend against crossbow arrows.

After seeing the command arrow in the sky, Sigismund sighed regretfully: "Every time I am asked to lure the enemy, I must have the nickname of 'Lord of Frequent Defeat' now..."

But the complaints belonged to the complaints, and he still began to call his subordinates to prepare for the battle.

"Crossbowmen get ready! No need to attack, let the enemy rush over! We will retreat after they rush through this low wall... Do you understand?"

Seeing the Bacchus who were gradually approaching a few hundred meters away, Sigismund confirmed the order to his subordinates again.

"what!"

His men answered neatly, and it wasn't the first time they had fought a similar battle—this army had lured the Fallen, Sir Boris the Raven, and they had fought back against Harlingos during the days when Leon disappeared. The Fort also lured Brennus' troops, always 'one-touch', but never with much loss.

Since Sigismund led the army alone, it can be said that he has never won a battle, but every time he is in the first place in the merits-all are ordered to retreat...

"The empire lives forever!"

The vanguard of the Bacchus Empire had already let out a battle cry, and a lightly armed regiment walking in the forefront quickened its pace and spread out slightly.

It was a gladiatorial regiment, and Sigismund knew it well—he and his men had also been gladiators in Bacchus.

"Crossbowmen free fire! Spears out..."

Sigismund also took off the great sword and began to give orders formally.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..."

The long French horn of the Bacchus indicated that the battle had officially begun.

After approaching 200 meters in front of Sigismund's array, the gladiator troop began to run rapidly in a skirmish line.

These nimble and martial arts gladiators were often used by the Bacchus Empire as the first batch of stormtroopers in field battles—most of them were criminals who were promoted to regular legions after playing a certain number of games in the arena. atoned for sin.

But in the Bacchus army, the status of gladiator soldiers is relatively low—even if their personal combat effectiveness far exceeds that of ordinary soldiers.

In the Bacchus army, which pays attention to formation and coordination, personal force does not allow them to get any special treatment. On the contrary, their former criminal status will attract a lot of discrimination and prejudice.

To put it simply, these gladiators are actually cannon fodder. They will be sent as stormtroopers in field battles, and they will be used as attacking troops to seize the key points of the city when they are attacking the city-the most difficult tasks.

With a charge distance of 200 meters, Sigismund's Second Army Corps fired three rounds of crossbow arrows, and the gladiator soldiers with a total of about 700 people were shot down by nearly a hundred people on the charge road.

The quality of their armor is not very good...

This is also the practice in the Bacchus army. The equipment of the gladiator soldiers is the worst. Many gladiators can't even get armor, so they can only make some leather armor to protect their vital points.

And now is the hottest time in summer, and there are even shirtless people going into battle.

When they reached the low wall, they were stabbed by spears and turned over dozens of others.

"Brothers! Retreat!"

As the gladiatorial regiment began to climb over the low wall, Sigismund began to retreat.

Li Ang was on the top of the hill, watching Bacchus' gladiator troop pour into Sigismund's formation.

Sigismund's team once again 'collapsed at the touch of a button', and then began to retreat piece by piece in a way that looked chaotic but actually quite orderly.

At this time, a strange thing happened.

The gladiator regiment was still advancing, but the rest of the Bacchus stopped 300 meters behind them.

"That's not right...Your Majesty, the enemy's central army has stopped. They didn't follow those gladiators!"

Risa Dilan reminded.

"I saw it... It's okay to eat the gladiator soldiers. Accumulating small victories into big victories is the normal state of the battlefield... Let Klose attack, and the other troops don't move."

Li Ang nodded and continued to convey instructions.

Lisa Dilan once again shot a command arrow into the sky.

The gladiator troop was still advancing. Klose rushed out from behind a mound on the side with the Silver Hand, and threw a large group of spears at the gladiators.

Then Sigismund's troops turned and fought back again, the gladiatorial regiments surrounded by two troops tripled in strength.

But the strange thing is that even though the gladiatorial regiment was facing destruction, the central army of the Bacchus Empire remained silent.

The central army of the Bacchus Empire seems to have at least 6000 people, but they are still arrayed a few hundred meters away, without any support for the gladiator soldiers.

"What is Agason doing? He seems to be giving up on those gladiators?! No matter whether he is advancing or retreating, there must be some movement? Have you seen those iron ring centurions under Agason?"

Li Ang frowned and thought for a while, then turned around and asked.

"I didn't see that the cavalry in their central army were all light cavalry. Also, I didn't see where Agathon was, his flag was everywhere."

Risa Diran replied.

"It looks like he is hiding on an inconspicuous hill like me... Lisa Dilan, give me the command arrow, you go to the right wing and find a way to find Agathon."

Li Ang was also a little uneasy - he had a feeling that Agathon deliberately threw out the gladiator soldiers to die!
But why?

Although the status of a gladiator is relatively low, his fighting power is really not low. Doesn't Agathon feel sorry for such a loss?
And... what is he trying to figure out?

Is it to lure out his ambush?

But this can't be lured - I only need to let the two troops deal with the gladiator soldiers, and the other troops should ambush or ambush!
Li Ang began to consider various other possibilities.

And Lisa Dilan quickly drove the horse to the west.

"hohohooooo..."

A night owl's voice sounded.

"Your Majesty, there is a change in the Bacchus army... There are more enemies than we thought!"

The owl knight Ols ran to Li Ang's side: "There is another troop behind their central army, which is more than 3000 cavalry! It is estimated that they set off from Boshi City, and they did not act together with Karen Lubao's troop! The current troop The cavalry is advancing rapidly towards our left flank, and looks as if it is going to circle behind us!"

"There are three thousand cavalry? Where did Agathon get so many cavalry?!"

Li Ang was startled.

According to the information obtained before, the army transferred by Emperor Marius to Karen Lulu Castle had two legions, namely the Bacchus Second Legion under Agathon and the Immortal Legion of Mario's own guards.

The Second Legion has 5000 members, that is, those people that Li Ang can see at present, and the gladiatorial soldiers are also part of the Second Legion.

The Bacchus Second Army originally only had more than 3000 people, but after returning from Desia, Agathon brought back more than 2000 horses. As a result, the Second Army expanded to [-] cavalry, and now it is [-] infantry plus [-] horsemen. The combination of cavalry is the most powerful legion in the entire Bacchus Empire.

Part of the Immortal Legion could also be seen, and they lined up behind the Second Legion.

These two legions add up to nearly 8000 people, which is already a strong force.

On Li Ang's side, there are about 2000 regular soldiers, nearly 500 people from the Silver Hand Knights and Freedom Legion, and more than 500 knights from the Griffin Knights, Horn Call Rangers, and Silver Mist Rangers. The Noldor Guard of Shanglyon and the Noldor Army under Islandil had a total strength of [-] men.

The troops on both sides are evenly matched, the Bacchus are stronger in battle, and Li Ang has more cavalry, and several troops can mount and shoot.

Li Ang also made a targeted deployment for this. He was going to lure the enemy deep, lengthen the battlefield, and then implement side attacks, that is, implement the "woodpecker tactics" in sections.

Sigismund's former army is the bait, and the central army led by Leofrik is actually the bait-in the first stage, let Sigismund lure the enemy, and if the enemy's central army follows up, let Leofrik Ke also "defeated" to lure the enemy, lengthen or disrupt the enemy's array, and then implement side attacks.

After all, the cavalry ratio on his side is larger, and Li Ang doesn't want to fight a regular positional battle with the Bacchus - he probably won't be able to.

But now three thousand cavalry suddenly appeared—these cavalry were not expected, and Li Ang did not make any advance arrangements.

Moreover, the sudden appearance of cavalry will inevitably lead to the complete cancellation of the previously designed plan.

"Those cavalry are not the Phoenix Knights, are they? Who is leading the army? Do they have a banner?"

Li Ang asked anxiously.

"No, the Phoenix Knights didn't participate in the battle, they are still in Karen Lulu Castle... and they don't have so many people."

Ols shook his head: "Those cavalry are lightly armed troops, and the weapons they use are all the standard equipment of the Bacchus Empire. They look like newly reorganized troops. The flag used is the national flag of Bacchus—we don't know if it is Who's leading the charge."

"...Couldn't it be Emperor Mario himself who came... Isn't he in bed with a serious illness..."

Li Ang looked at the battlefield and muttered a few words, then pointed to the east: "Ors, you go to the left and take a look, if the cavalry is just going to go around behind us, then don't be nervous... But I'm worried they will Rush to Long River City! Agathon sent the gladiator soldiers to death, maybe he is deliberately dragging my large army!"

On the battlefield, Bacchus' central army was still moving forward slowly, the speed was very slow, and the formation was well maintained.

As for the gladiator soldiers, the entire army was almost wiped out, but no one surrendered.

Few people surrendered, which was expected. Not long ago, Li Ang ordered to cut off the right thumb of the members of the Shadow Legion. A general like Agathon would definitely make a big fuss about it.

But compared with how easy it is for the enemy to surrender, keeping the [-] elite fighters of the Shadow Legion from going to the battlefield is definitely more beneficial. There is no need to consider the opponent's view of surrender before deciding the winner.

"Teacher... I think you should retreat immediately."

Alina's voice sounded behind Li Ang.

"Actually, I think so too... But if I withdraw my troops first, I will have to retreat at least [-] miles, and I will lose my original advantage on the battlefield, and I may be surprised by Agathon..."

Li Ang stared at the battlefield and replied.

"That cavalry is not Agathon's army! It should be His Majesty Marius himself! It is His Majesty Marius who is using the gladiator soldiers as a bait, and he wants to attract your large army in place... If it is Agathon , he dare not completely abandon the gladiatorial regiment, otherwise it will affect the morale of the Second Legion!"

Alina said to Li Ang seriously.

"...You're right! Blow the retreat!"

Li Ang was shocked, indeed!

Agathon was only the leading general, and he would not completely ignore the gladiator soldiers who had already engaged in battle with the Silver Hand. This should indeed be Marius' handwriting!
Put a corps into your ambush circle, and then use Agathon's troops to suppress the formation, so that your large troops can't move, and the cavalry on the periphery...

Not sure what his cavalry were going to do.

But no matter what Emperor Marius intends to do, he cannot follow his opponent's intentions!

Li Ang quickly shot a command arrow emitting white smoke into the sky, and then immediately retreated with Alina.

"woo woo woo woo……"

The call for withdrawal sounded.

On this day, Li Ang's troops killed more than 500 gladiators from Bacchus, but lost their original battlefield advantage.

It's hard to say whether it's a win or a loss.

Probably in the eyes of others, this is a small victory for Li Ang.

But in Li Ang's eyes, he was actually defeated for a while.

Li Ang's army retreated twenty li in the direction of Seren Meath, and all the ambushes were withdrawn, and they re-camped on a flat ground.

But Bacchus' army still moved forward slowly, and set up camp at Li Ang's original camp of the Chinese army.

The cavalry of 3000 men also returned to Bacchus' camp after half a circle on the flank.

The person who came with those cavalry was indeed Emperor Marius himself.

(End of this chapter)