Riding and Slashing

Chapter 395 The Price of Loyalty

Li Ang, who was leading the charge with a lance in hand, had approached about 100 meters from the Immortal Legion array.

This has already entered the range of Bacchus Empire crossbowmen.

The two infantry phalanxes built by the Second Legion of the Bacchus Empire fired crossbow bolts from the left and right sides of the Immortal Legion to the center of the battlefield.

The distance between these two battle formations is very particular, 200 meters apart, allowing crossbowmen to form crossfire.

This is the traditional battle formation of the Bacchus Empire. The large shield and spear of the Bacchus Empire are never placed in the middle of the army, but are used to cover the crossbowmen.

Just like the 'ear forts' protruding from both sides of the bastion, the phalanx on both sides shoot at oblique angles, and the Immortal Legion in the middle acts as a city wall to intercept.

Charge towards the Immortal Legion in the middle, and you will face all the firepower.

But if there are two long contradictory formations on both sides of the attack... it will have to be dismantled by heavy infantry like the Silver Hand, and there will be no good end to using cavalry to gnaw on this kind of hedgehog.

It is very difficult to defend against crossbow arrows fired obliquely, especially in large-scale battles, when facing a rain of arrows like locusts, one must either rely on equipment to carry them hard, or pray for the blessing of the goddess of luck...

Fortunately, Li Ang brought a shield in this battle - this is not to deal with the fallen. Facing the heavy crossbow of the Bacchus Empire, if he didn't wear a shield, he would really be looking for death.

The Noldor Cavalry and the Horn Called Rangers dispatched together with Li Ang. After charging half the distance, they spread out left and right to make way for the middle position, and then drew their bows to throw at the Bacchus on the opposite side.

This is not a conventional confrontation. It is not worthwhile for the cavalry to shoot at the crossbowmen in the shield formation. This is just to suppress the opponent's long-range output as much as possible so that more heavy cavalry can rush into the Bacchus formation.

The Griffon Knights, the Lion Lake City Heavy Cavalry, and the Sarleon Cavalry rushed out from the space left by the cavalry archers—they accelerated behind the Noldor and formed a row of 60 people. Then he overtook the Noldo elves and followed closely behind Li Ang.

These heavy cavalry are the main force of the charge.

There was a distance of nearly two meters between each cavalry, and the cavalry in the back row did not follow the comrades in the front row, but faced the gap.

There is also a distance of about 20 meters between each row.

This lineup is actually a fish-scale formation, all the space is reserved for the reaction distance of the horses, if the cavalry in the front row is forced to stop or is shot over, the back row can continue to charge forward directly from the gap, and will not be blocked by comrades in arms .

Heavy armor, riding a spear, charging in a formation of fish scales - this is also the tradition of Sarleon...or, this is the tradition of the Kingdom of Pendor.

The sound of horseshoes became the main theme of the entire battlefield, and Li Ang could no longer hear other sounds.

In his eyes, there was no other picture, only the battle flag of the Bacchus Empire that was getting closer and closer.

He bent down, hid his head behind Alice's neck, and shrank his body under the protection of the shield as much as possible.

The crossbow bolts flew past him continuously, piercing his shield and armor from time to time, causing slight shocks.

When they rushed in front of the Immortal Legion, Li Ang's shield and Alice's horse armor had already inserted more than a dozen crossbow bolts, and two more had been inserted into the shoulder and crotch armor.

There was some blood on the side of Alice's neck, and Li Ang's shoulder and thigh also had some skin trauma, but fortunately, they were all minor injuries.

As a king, both men and horses were of course wearing the best quality Noldor enchanted armor. Most of the crossbow bolts could not penetrate this equipment, after all, they were all shot from a distance of 200 meters.

But the cavalry behind Li Ang didn't have such good equipment. Just rushing through the 100-meter range in front of the immortal array, dozens of cavalry were shot down.

Especially the first column of cavalry, only half of them could follow closely behind Li Ang.

Li Ang knew that if he fought head-on like this, the losses would of course be huge.

But Li Ang also knew that as long as he could successfully rush to Mario's side, rushing to the central army would be the way with the least loss in the end.

Now Li Ang had seen Emperor Marius, right in front of him, holding a banner and looking at him.

The two looked at each other on the dangerous battlefield.

There seems to be no one else in each other's eyes.

The soldiers of the Immortal Legion had rushed forward dozens of meters—they didn't foolishly wait for the cavalry to charge, but stepped forward and threw their broad-bladed spears at Li Ang's cavalry.

This is the correct way to deal with it. The shield wall alone cannot stop the heavy cavalry. Only by causing more damage to the cavalry in the front row and making it an obstacle to the cavalry in the rear row can the impact of large-scale cavalry be truly slowed down.

Li Ang didn't dodge the incoming spear - this kind of dodging on the battlefield is actually useless, he just put the shield in his left hand in front of him, leveled the spear and continued to move forward at high speed.

"Boom!" "Crack..."

The lance shattered, and the brittle wooden pole in front of the handle was almost blown to pieces. An immortal was pierced by the tip of the gun and flew back several meters.

Afterwards, there was a sound of the lance cracking, and blood splashed everywhere like a big wave hitting a rock.

Li Ang's shield was also pierced by the spear, and the spear tip pierced Li Ang's arm.

"Hiss...uh hiss..."

Alice under her neighed quickly, and another spear pierced its chest, shaking it as it ran.

But Alice still didn't slow down, it was still charging forward.

Li Ang threw away the handle of the lance casually, leaned over and pulled out the throwing spear on Alice's chest, held the throwing spear as a short spearman, and stabbed the throat of an immortal who was holding a sword in front of him.

Then, a violent shock came.

Alice had crashed into the Immortal Legion's shield wall.

A sword blade rubbed dazzling sparks on Alice's horse armor, and Li Ang's leg also felt the discomfort of metal rubbing against the leggings.

But Li Ang ignored it.

Now, as long as it is not from the front, he will ignore it.

The enemies on the side and behind will naturally have other comrades in arms to deal with them.

He just needs to move forward.

draw sword.

forward.

After breaking through the three-layer shield wall and knocking more than a dozen people into the air, Alice's speed slowed down, but she was still not forced to stop.

Because Alice has always voluntarily rammed towards the shield—in fact, this is the least vulnerable way for war horses to break through the shield wall, but ordinary war horses are prone to instinctively when they see a huge shield. Avoid or deflect direction.

Alice wasn't blindfolded, but it ignored all interference, Li Ang let it move forward, and it kept moving forward.

Probably horses are the same as people, they often rely not on strength, but on wisdom and determination.

In the eyes of ordinary people, Alice's golden-maned horse is not the best charge horse, because it is not the strongest in all aspects - its explosive power is not as good as that of a thoroughbred horse, its stamina is not as good as that of a Jatum horse, and its impact power is not as good as that of a Changhe town gelding. Less dexterous and quicker than Nodoma...

But Li Ang always felt that Alice was the best.

Because Alice's horse is much smarter than the average horse, and also much tougher than the average horse.

It can perceive what Li Ang wants to do, has complete trust in Li Ang, can avoid the greatest danger by itself, and can endure the pain to complete what Li Ang wants to do. After being hit by the spear, it doesn't even deviate a bit.

What could be better for a war horse?

Li Ang had already broken through the shield wall of the Immortal Legion.

The cavalry behind them had also rushed into the Bacchus formation.

The sound of the cracking of the lance resounded through the sky and the earth, and then the sound of the sword and shield being exchanged overwhelmed the sound of the roaring horseshoes.

It was approaching, and the flag of Emperor Marius was just 30 meters away, and Marius himself was still standing under the flag without taking a step back.

But at this time, Alice did not continue to charge, but suddenly jumped high.

Li Ang also saw that two rows of extremely long spears appeared in front of him.

It was a refusal gun—the five-meter kind.

These carbine-rejecting guns should have been arranged urgently after Li Ang launched the charge. There were only two rows, dozens of them in total, and they were all in front of the battle flag of Emperor Marius.

These two rows of horse-rejecting guns are mounted on the large shield, pointing obliquely at a small angle, and the height of the gun tips is about 1.2 meters—this is the height of the chest and belly of a war horse.

If the horse rushed over, the point of the spear would be lifted obliquely due to the impact after poking into the chest of the horse, and the people on the horseback would also be strung together.

And standing under the banner, beside Mario, stood a large number of two-handed swordsmen waiting to strike—they were also immortals, but they didn't hold shields, but all of them were holding two-handed swords on standby.

Of course, the formation of the Bacchus Empire is not so easy to break through.

Just this ability to quickly deploy multi-level interceptions has already shown their super discipline.

The spear formations and crossbows on both sides came from the tacit cooperation of Bacchus Second Army.

And the spear-throwing team rushing forward, the three-layer shield wall, the two rows of carbine-repelling guns covered by the shield wall, and the two-handed swordsmen who were preparing to attack under the banner of the battle-all these were the result of the Immortal Legion after Li Ang launched the charge. Set up in 1 minute!

The battlefield efficiency of the Immortal Legion is even higher than Li Ang imagined.

Moreover, the two rows of carbine-rejecting guns were insidious, because they were blocked by the shield wall. The Bacchus deliberately moved the three shield walls forward by 20 meters, so that Li Ang's cavalry could not see the position of these carbine-repelling guns.

I'm afraid most of the cavalry will be hit here...

But Alice didn't get hit - it leaped over the first row of carbine-rejecting guns cleverly, then landed heavily, and came to a sudden stop.

The clever little mare was forced to stop after all, and this jump was likely to twist the horse's hooves due to stepping on the gun shaft, but at least, it prevented itself and its owner from being pierced by the spear.

And Li Ang didn't waste Alice's spiritual leap.

Before Alice landed, Li Ang leaped out of the horse, and with the last inertia Alice gave him, he flew towards the final goal.

Emperor Marius was just behind the two rows of refusal guns.

Alice jumped over the first row, and Li Ang took advantage of the momentum to fly over the second row.

They are truly like-minded partners.

"Lee Ang!"

Emperor Marius raised his head in surprise, looked at Li Ang who flew out from the horse, and clenched the sword in his hand: "Everyone, attack!"

The position where Li Ang landed was less than ten meters away from Mario.

Mario didn't panic, he still stood calmly and let the two-handed swordsman beside him attack.

But then, his face changed drastically.

Because the two-handed swordsmen did not obey orders...

"Retreat, Your Majesty!" "Protect Your Majesty!"

The immortals around Marius swarmed, but instead of attacking forward, they stood in front of Emperor Marius.

"Don't be chaotic! Maintain the army formation!! Cough cough... Cough!! The big swords line up! Push forward!!"

Mario yelled loudly.

But the Immortals didn't do what he said...

Most of them didn't hear Mario's voice, they just focused on protecting His Majesty the Emperor...

The immortals crowded in front of Emperor Marius, even completely blocking Marius' sight.

In fact, Li Ang can't hurt Emperor Marius now - the enchanted armor on his body is very light, and he didn't get thrown when he flew out, but he was surrounded by several immortals and imperial guards just after he fell to the ground, so he could only roll and crawl Slash left and right.

Basically relying on the strength of the armor and sword to resist, it is not easy to stand firm.

And the cavalry behind him were stopped by carbine-rejecting guns one after another, many soldiers and horses were penetrated, and the cavalry behind him were blocked as a result, and no one could support him for the time being.

But Li Ang is so close to Marius...

Marius himself was not afraid, he didn't move at all, because he knew he would be in no danger.

If the Immortal Legion can maintain the formation at this time, taking advantage of the timing when Li Ang's first few rows of cavalry are stopped, they will form a large sword array and continue to deploy carbine-repelling guns, it is very likely to stop Li Ang's side step by step. The charge of most of the cavalry!
Facing the charge of the cavalry, the infantry can't actually retreat, let alone mess up.

As long as you stop the opponent's front row of cavalry, and then continue to push forward steadily, cut down the horses of the cavalry in front, so that the wounded horses will pile up and cannot be dispersed, then the opponent's subsequent cavalry can only turn to avoid.

Even if the cavalry is determined to move forward, the horse will turn by itself-unless the horse's eyes are blindfolded.

Once the cavalry turns to avoid, it will cause a chain reaction and the lineup will be disrupted. Even the fish-scale array is not easy to use in this situation.

But now, the army formation of the immortals is in chaos first.

Just because Li Ang rushed to a place less than ten meters away from Mario...

After all, Emperor Marius overlooked a small matter.

He ignored that he had personally given Li Ang the reputation of a demon king a few years ago...

At that time, Leon was still a little baron, but Emperor Marius and Justus portrayed Leon as an extremely terrifying monster—an invincible hero, a three-headed and six-armed swordsman, a monster who ate five children at a meal... …

If other people flew over like this, the Immortals might not take it too seriously, and send a few people to swarm up and it's over.

But Emperor Marius looked at the people flying over and called out 'Li Ang'...

Moreover, seeing this guy's bravery and fearless determination when he took the lead, every immortal felt that this guy might indeed be an invincible sword master!

Otherwise, who has ever seen a king rushing to the forefront?

This is so different—a sword master who can kill anyone he wants is less than ten meters away from Emperor Marius?

Of course the immortals are panicking!

"Ahahaha! Your Majesty Marius! I'm here! Are you still not going back?!"

Li Ang shouted with the loudest voice, and the volume of one person almost overwhelmed hundreds of people - there were already hundreds of immortals piled up in front of Emperor Marius.

They all held two-handed swords, so they used their bodies as shields to block Marius.

This is the result that Li Ang wants to cause by forcing the battle!
——Marius is a good and beloved emperor, and his guards will subconsciously protect him, especially now that Emperor Marius is weak and has no combat power, the Immortal Legion will subconsciously protect him!
It is true that Mario himself can remain calm, but his Immortals cannot - these loyal guards are driven by their subconscious...

Protecting the weak is the instinct of all animals, including humans, and protecting the emperor is the duty of the Immortal Legion.

They messed up when they shouldn't.

In fact, Li Ang is now struggling to resist, and a large group of Immortals and Imperial Fanguards have already surrounded him - they didn't rush up directly, but in fact, it was because of his reputation as a 'sword master'...

Li Ang was just relying on good equipment to carry it hard, and he already had several wounds on his body.

But this doesn't stop him from continuing to scare the immortals...

"You can't stop me!!"

There was another wound on Li Ang's body, and the Noldor-enchanted armor couldn't block the sword of the immortal, but he was still slashing and killing, and he seemed to be getting more and more energetic.

Several Immortals have fallen to his sword.

"Keep the army formation! Leave me alone! He can't hurt me... cough cough cough cough cough!!"

Emperor Marius yelled hoarsely, and then coughed hard.

You can't stop coughing on the battlefield...

The immortals guarding Emperor Marius began to retreat slowly, and the flag of Emperor Marius also began to retreat-the immortals supported Emperor Marius and retreated a little, hoping to make Marius, who is currently powerless, stand back. Stay away from Leon.

It was an instinctive reaction to protect the seriously ill emperor and retreat, and it certainly could not be regarded as a mistake.

But once they retreated, the situation became serious...

"Ha!! Huh!! Charge!!"

The troops on Li Ang's side suddenly let out an astonishing roar. At this moment, the troops that were continuing to charge brought unimaginable oppression to the Bacchus, and the soaring morale was almost visible to the naked eye.

—— According to Li Ang's order, they have been looking at the battle flag of Emperor Marius, but now, that battle flag has retreated!
what does this mean?
It means victory is at hand! !
No wonder His Majesty Li Ang wanted to take the lead in the charge, the enemy was vulnerable!
With such an idea, everyone's morale will skyrocket, and most people probably think that they can fight at least ten!

They don't actually know that Li Ang is the one who is in danger... They can't see Li Ang who has fallen.

But most of the Bacchus didn't know either... They also only saw the battle flag of Emperor Marius retreating!
Li Ang finally got what he wanted - the morale that ebbed and flowed.

This is the price of loyalty.

The immortals who were loyal to Emperor Marius personally turned the balance of this battle in favor of Li Ang.

The immortals in the front row were quickly forced back, and several cavalrymen finally rushed to Li Ang's side - they were lucky not to be poked by the refusal carbine.

Seeing that there was a new force around Li Ang, the Immortals started to retreat faster with Emperor Marius and his flag.

"Keep running! Leave me alone!!"

Scarlet wounds appeared on Li Ang's chest and abdomen, but he still waved his sword and shield and shouted loudly: "Do you remember my order? Go forward!!"

(End of this chapter)