In the end, they were hit head-on by two light infantry cannons that the enemy had obtained out of nowhere. Close to a hundred of them were killed in an instant, adding a third of the casualties to what could be considered a complete victory.
The cries and curses of the dying enemies could be heard in the distance, but that didn't change their fate.
The last batch of Canas soldiers who had put down their weapons and surrendered could only watch as their comrades and themselves were slaughtered by the enraged victors.
Apart from protesting, begging and cursing, there was nothing they could do to stop their deaths.
Claude ordered the last batch of surrendered soldiers to be executed on the spot.
This wasn't revenge for the heavy casualties of Thundercrash's men. It was to serve as a warning to the rest. If they weren't executed, they wouldn't be able to intimidate the five thousand Canasian ex-soldiers who had surrendered.
Claude was about to lead the main force to the east of the herd and attack the camp of the other two light cavalry regiments formed by retired soldiers from Canas. He couldn't leave too many people there to watch over the captives.
So, he had to kill the ones with the strongest will to ensure there wouldn't be any trouble after the main force left.
If Nasri was Aueras' number one enemy, then Canas was their number two.
That much could be seen from the battle. After losing the encampment wall that was the key to victory and losing the camp gate, the Shiksan soldiers would have surrendered obediently long ago to save their own lives.
However, the light cavalry line formed by Canasian soldiers was caught off guard by Thundercrash's grenades and suffered heavy casualties around the perimeter wall. But when Thundercrash charged into the camp, the Canasian soldiers still put up a resistance and caused more than two hundred casualties.
In particular, these resistance and casualties were caused by individuals or small groups camping in tents without orders from their superiors.
Of course, Claude had already ordered all resistance to be executed on the spot even if they surrendered.
As for the last batch of veterans who used the two light infantry cannons to heavily injure Moriad and Dyavid's troops, Claude ordered them to be slaughtered the moment they surrendered and laid down their weapons.
Of the twelve thousand men in the two lines, only about five thousand four hundred were taken captive. One could only imagine how fierce their resistance was.
Apart from the seven hundred that were slaughtered, there were also two thousand injured Canasian soldiers that Claude ordered to be sent on their way. Be it light injuries or heavy rewards, Thundercrash didn't have the time or energy to treat them.
As for the five thousand captives who were terrified by the slaughter, Claude planned to send them back to Lanu to be used as free labour.
"Lieutenant-Colonel Androok," Claude said softly.
"Here. Please give your orders, General!"
Standing behind Moriad and Dyavid was Line 1304's jarl, Androok, who hadn't received any orders, and he hurriedly took two steps forward and saluted.
In fact, Claude's order to slaughter didn't just scare the five thousand captives, even most of Thundercrash's soldiers were shocked by Claude's ruthlessness.
Gunshots were still ringing in the air and the last cries of the dead could still be heard.
However, Androok heard Claude's order clearly. "Take two battalions from your line and gather them with the logistics camp. Escort the captives and wounded back to Robisto and hand them over to Monolith's 1st Major-General Bolonik.
After that, take my warrant to Mister Weyblon and have him deliver all the catapults to you. Have them be delivered to the frontlines. Do you understand your mission? "
"Yes, I understand," Androok replied loudly.
Anders, the adjutant, immediately took out a pen and paper from his briefcase. Claude used the briefcase to write an order, signed it, stamped it with his official seal, and stamped it with his ring before handing it to Androok.
"Alright, I'll leave this place to you.
If anything happens to the captives during the transport, I'll give you the authority to act on the spot, "Claude said to Androok.
He turned to Moriad and Dyavid, who had their heads lowered, and gave them a kick each. "Go back and pack your men. I'll give you half an hour to set off to the camp on the east. Be careful this time!"
"Yes, General. We won't let you down this time."
Moriad and Dyavid were delighted that Claude had forgiven them. They saluted and ran off to gather their men.
Canas's light cavalry had deployed two lines to the east. They didn't know that the two lines to the west had already been wiped out by Thundercrash and were still busy hunting bulls.
When Myjack led the guerrilla battalion into their field of vision, the enemy thought it was a small scouting party from the Aueran colonies who had stumbled upon them by chance.
Although it was a little strange how the enemy's light cavalry had managed to get past their defensive line, they didn't recall their bison hunters. Instead, a large group of light cavalry charged out of the camp and charged viciously at Myjack's men in an attempt to drive away the scouts of Myjack's guerrilla battalion.
Myjack was very astute. He immediately led a dozen light cavalry scouts away, luring the Canasian light cavalry to follow.
When the Canasian light cavalry group charged up the slope in front of them, what they saw caused their bodies to stiffen.
At the bottom of the slope, more than a thousand men were lined up in a neat formation with their guns aimed at them. The distance between the two groups was less than 40 meters.
In the distance, there was another army coming their way. From the looks of it, there were at least 20 to 30 thousand of them.
"Enemy … enemy attack …" The leading Canasian officer on the slope roared. He thought his voice was loud, but only the soldiers beside him could hear it.
The light cavalrymen who were chasing after them had already rushed up the slope like a swarm of bees. However, what they saw made them almost as stunned as their comrades in front of them.
"Fire!" Myjack waved his hand.
Gunshots rang out incessantly. Flashes of fire and white smoke rose from the neatly lined formation.
The Canasian light cavalry that had been crowding the slope was almost completely wiped out. The slope was instantly filled with the corpses of men and horses, as well as the injured and their horses. Cries of pain and neighs of horses filled the air. Only a few lucky ones managed to react and turned their horses around to run back to where they came from.
"Chase them!" Myjack ordered.
The first, second and third rows of soldiers who had already fired their guns put them on their backs and unsheathed their sabers to give chase.
The fourth and fifth rows followed behind Myjack up the slope. The wounded on the ground were taken care of, but most of them were given a quick death.
The Canasian light cavalry unit only had around 200 men. More than a hundred of them had been taken down on the slope. The remaining 50 or 60 were running back to their camp as fast as they could, yelling, "Enemy attack!
Enemy attack! "
The commotion was so loud that even the light cavalrymen who were hunting the bison stopped hunting and turned to look at the soldiers who were running away. They finally understood something from their frantic movements. They did not even bother to take the bison carcasses on the ground and directly urged their horses to run back to the camp ….
By the time Claude arrived with the rest of the army, the two enemy lines were already holed up in their camp and ready to defend.
Fortunately, this volunteer light cavalry regiment did not bring a lot of cannons with them when they came to hunt the bison.
According to the spoils from the camp in the west that had been taken, the two lines only had 24 light infantry cannons, which was less than half of what they had with normal cannons.
"Let's attack according to the plan. We'll have half a day at most to take over the enemy camp," Claude said.
It was daytime and the enemy would definitely send an eagle to inform the main force that was rushing over if they saw that Thundercrash was going to attack them.
If they couldn't take the camp in half a day, they would have to get Berklin to try to delay or delay the main force from arriving.
The entire camp was surrounded and the cannons were in position. An hour of preparation was complete. Claude waved his hand to signal the start of the attack.
Thundercrash Division's light infantry field artillery opened fire. From eight hundred meters away, fist-sized solid iron pellets smashed into the walls of the enemy's camp.
Compared to the light infantry cannons of the enemy, the standard cannons produced by Aueras were the most powerful and had the longest range among all light infantry cannons.
For example, it could hit the walls of the enemy camp from 800 metres away, while the light infantry cannons of Canas only had a maximum range of 700 metres. They could only passively take a beating.
However, the four rounds of cannons didn't pose much of a threat to the walls of the enemy camp. The most they could do was knock some dirt off the walls.
However, the cannons were only there to provide cover for Thundercrash's approach.
The first wave of soldiers spread out and crept closer to the camp to avoid being hit by the cannons and muskets from the camp.
They stopped about a hundred metres away, took out a small shovel from their waist and dug a hole in the grass. They hid in the hole and set up their muskets to fire at the enemy guards on the walls. The enemy suffered casualties in an instant and didn't dare to show their heads on the walls.
The army of Canas was equipped with guns that could aim accurately. The only difference between them and the aubass mark 3 muskets used by the Aueran army was the effective range of their shots.
The aubass mark 3 muskets had a range of a hundred metres, but their effective range was only eighty metres.
So, the first wave of Thundercrash's main mission was to suppress the fire from the guards on the walls and avoid being hit by the enemy cannons within a hundred metres.
When the first batch of soldiers began to suppress the enemy's firepower on top of the wall, the second batch of attacking soldiers also set off. They also crawled to the pit where the first batch of soldiers were hiding, then took out small shovels and continued to dig forward …
Soon, the second wave of soldiers had already dug a shallow tunnel in the grass and stopped about seventy meters away from the enemy's encampment.
They stopped digging forward and instead dug downwards and to the side. The soil they dug was piled up on the side facing the camp.
The enemies on the walls noticed the second wave of soldiers. Even though they found it strange that they were digging a hole, they didn't pay much attention to it.
Perhaps they thought the second wave of soldiers would be the same as the first wave, trying to suppress the soldiers on the walls. They were just a little closer to the walls.
The second wave of soldiers were already within the effective range of the enemy's accurate fire and were fired upon by the hidden enemy guards.
But most of their shots were in vain and landed in the soil in front of them.
The third wave of soldiers set off as well. They were all veterans of the guerrilla battalion and were split into groups of three. One of them carried a grenade while the other two carried a large backpack with four grenades.
Their target was the large hole dug by the second wave of soldiers.
Most of the hundred third wave of soldiers successfully entered the large hole, but a dozen soldiers were hit by the enemy's fire and fell to the ground.
But the soldiers that entered the hole also started to dig at the first moment, expanding the hole to the point where people could crouch or stand up without being hit by the enemy's fire.
The enemy in the camp seemed to have sensed that the 70-metre hole in front of the wall posed a great threat to them, so they fired two rounds of grenades from the infantry cannons.
But thanks to the soil piled up in front of the hole, the two rounds of grenades only caused single digit casualties.
Instead, the cannons were sniped by the first wave of Thundercrash's soldiers and suffered dozens of casualties …
When the second batch of attacking soldiers began to fire at the enemies above the wall with their muskets, it meant that the grenade thrower team in the same pit was ready to throw the grenades.
Following the shrill sound of a copper whistle coming from behind, the projectiles in the craters flew towards the walls of the enemy's campsite like rain …
This was almost a replica of the camp that was captured on the west side. Round after round of grenades exploded above and within the perimeter wall, even triggering the explosion of several barrels of gunpowder used for firing cannons. After an exceptionally violent explosion and a tremor that shook the earth, a large portion of the perimeter wall collapsed. A light infantry artillery with a twisted barrel was tossed high into the air, landing more than forty meters away.
A sharp brass whistle sounded from the rear, and groups of soldiers rushed up with ladders. They smoothly straddled the ladders over the trench in front of the wall, rushed over the trench, and then leaned the ladders against the wall. They climbed up and put their guns on the top of the wall, and fired at the enemies who could still move in the encampment …
When the walls were filled with the muskets of the Thundercrash regiment, the enemy's defeat was inevitable.
Claude looked at the time and saw that it took them three and a half hours.
They saved a lot of time, but they used more grenades than when they attacked the camp on the west side.
Almost a hundred groups of grenade throwing teams used up eight grenades each. When they extended their range into the camp, they received another five or six grenades from the rear.
Of the 3,000 grenades they brought with them before they set off, there were less than 800 left.
The only thing Claude needed to consider now was whether he should face the rest of the enemy's main force.