"Middle army, follow up!
Cavalry, flank attack! "
Stu rode on his tall, white horse and caressed the horsewhip in his hand. He watched as the army swiftly adjusted their formation under his command without any expression on his face.
Needless to say, Prince Stu was a very intelligent commander.
It had been three days since they entered the Khrim Forest. In these three days, the entire army had encountered a total of five ambushes. The scale and intensity of each ambush grew stronger and stronger. However, under Prince Stu's command, the entire army advanced and retreated accordingly. In the complicated forest terrain, they slaughtered all the undead with minimal casualties!
At this moment, the entire army had advanced to an open field. Facing the ferocious undead charging at them, the infantry phalanxes stood neatly at the front of the army like a solid boulder.
400 infantry stood in an orderly formation. The soldiers in the first row held their swords and shields tightly in front of them. The soldiers in the second row held their swords and stood in a standard and strict posture. This was the battle formation that had been followed for a long time by the Empire of Saint Reims.
In front of them was a river bank. The ground was flat and had a wide field of vision. This was the ideal terrain for the Cavalrymen who had been unable to display their prowess for the past few days.
After Prince Stu gave his order, the Cavalrymen who had long been equipped with their armors moved out from the side of the army. Due to the number of enemies and the terrain, only 200 Cavalrymen lined up neatly and arrived at the back of the army on a slightly higher slope.
Their armors glimmered with silver-white radiance, long lances pointed straight towards the sky, and swords hung beside the saddles of their heavily armored horses. When they moved, they were like a torrent of steel, and when these heavy cavalry stood still on the hillside, it was more like a metal wall!
"Archers!"
Behind the infantry phalanxes were archers with bows and arrows. Upon hearing their captain's order, they instantly raised their bows and pointed towards the sky.
There were close to a thousand zombies and skeletons pouncing on them from afar. Their dirty clothes and wounded bodies made them look like a group of refugees. However, the hunger in their eyes and the constant roars made everyone understand how cruel these guys were.
Compared to the regular army, these zombies were like a plate of loose sand. There was no order to their formation, and it could even be said that they were just a group of beasts moving forward based on their instincts.
"Fire!"
"Whoosh, whoosh —"
Countless arrows abruptly shot into the sky. A second later, these arrows with powerful penetrative power ruthlessly nailed the zombies in front of them to the ground!
Every arrow was nearly a meter long, and the metal arrowhead had a heavy shaft. Relying on the powerful kinetic energy it carried as it fell, it could completely penetrate a normal thickness of plate armor!
It could pierce through metal plate armor, not to mention those zombies wearing simple leather armor or linen clothes!
Like a diligent farmer swinging his sickle, the zombies charging towards the infantry phalanx were shot down neatly 200 meters away!
Stu slightly lowered his eyes and gently waved the horsewhip.
"Woo —"
That was the bugle that represented the charge!
"Kill!"
The entire infantry phalanx roared in unison at this moment. The sound shook the sky, and in an instant, all the soldiers' blood was ignited!
"Ka — Ka!"
The uniform footsteps and the sound of armor rubbing against each other became faster and faster. The infantry phalanx began to charge, and in ten seconds, they had reached their maximum speed!
The zombies were thrown into disarray by the two volleys of arrows. They completely lost the speed of their charge. They were like a beast that was supposed to be running but suddenly fell. Before the "beast" could get up, the morale of the infantry phalanx had already reached them!
"Dong!"
The zombies in the first row were instantly knocked away by the strong soldiers holding the door shields, as if they had encountered a car accident!
Just as they were about to jump up, they were ruthlessly slashed into pieces by the long swords that followed!
The undead counterattacked one after another, but they were forcefully stopped by the tower shields!
"Kill!"
"Clang!"
All the soldiers standing in the front row suddenly raised their shields. All the undead were pushed back a short distance in an instant. Before they could pounce on the zombies again, the soldiers at the back pierced their bodies with sharp spears. Then, the soldiers holding the tower shields swung their swords, and heads flew into the sky one after another, splashing a putrid stench of blood!
"Charge!"
The cavalry captain raised the lance in his hand, swung the reins, and clamped the belly of the horse tightly.
He pulled down the visor of his helmet, and the entire Cavalrymen began to move slowly. At first, these heavily armored Cavalrymen moved even slower than the Infantrymen. However, when they rushed down the hill, the speed of the horses suddenly increased, and the rumbling sound of hooves could be heard. The Cavalrymen had completely accelerated to an unstoppable speed!
The Seventh Cavalry Regiment was the number one cavalry regiment of Saint-Rames, the glory of the Empire.
They were invincible and one of the most terrifying forces on the battlefield!
The Seventh Cavalry Regiment had a total of less than 1,400 soldiers. Because they had to pass through the Khalim Forest and fight in the forest, only a group of elite cavalrymen were selected to be the high-end combat force of this regiment.
These cavalrymen were well-trained, and ordinary cavalrymen couldn't be compared to them at all. Don't think that all mounted cavalrymen are cavalrymen. These elite cavalrymen of the Empire formed a perfect cone-shaped formation in the process of charging. When there were obstacles in front of them, they did not panic at all. After evading the obstacles in an orderly manner, they would automatically regroup into their original formation!
This was something that ordinary cavalrymen couldn't do at all!
A torrent of steel suddenly appeared from the side of the battlefield. While the undead and the infantry were tangling with each other, the 200 cavalrymen of the Seventh Cavalry Regiment formed a sharp cone-shaped formation and suddenly plunged into the chaotic ranks of the undead!
Two hundred lances were leveled at the same time, and along with the similarly armored warhorses, the cavalry charged into the burning battlefield with the rumbling of iron hooves.
The leading cavalry captain's body glowed with white light, and in an instant, his Combat Aura exploded. With the strength of a grade 7 cavalry captain, he led these brave men into the battlefield!
"Boom!"
The cavalry captain who was charging at the forefront fiercely thrust his lance forward. Due to the unparalleled speed and unparalleled Combat Aura, the moment the lance touched the first undead, the undead was blasted into pieces by the momentum and Combat Aura!
Before the severed limbs could fall to the ground, the undead behind it were successively blasted away by the battering ram of the lance!
The entire cavalry unit was unstoppable as they crushed the battle formation!
That's right, crushed!
Even if the undead were not stabbed by the lance, they would be smashed into pieces by the hammer-like warhorses in the next instant, and then crushed into powder by the iron hooves!
In an instant, the cavalry unit broke through the battle formation, and in an instant, the battlefield was cleared out, and after the cavalry turned around and charged for the second time, the undead on the battlefield were almost instantly wiped out!
The battle went on for less than half an hour before it came to an end.
To deal with this motley crowd, Stu used the most effective tactic to avoid possible casualties. In fact, if he didn't send the heavy cavalry to guard the formation, and only relied on the infantry to fight, these undead that were not even worth his attention would still be no match for.
However, Prince Stu's intention was to let his army get used to the battle as soon as possible so that they could fight bravely in battle.
Although this was the famous 7th Cavalry Regiment and the famous Saint-Rames Infantry on the continent, as the commander, Stu knew that there was a very distinct characteristic of his troops. Even though they were small, they had all the essentials!
This army of less than 2,000 people included ground infantry, longbowmen, and the expensive Saint-Rames Cavalry. These carefully selected cavalrymen weren't just heavy cavalry. They were familiar with all the essentials of riding a horse, from scouts to light cavalry to heavy cavalry. They were the ace of the aces.
However, there were so many different types of soldiers, and there were hundreds of them in each of them. How could they quickly get used to each other when they were mixed into a single unit? This was a very important problem.
Stu was a man who had experienced war, and naturally, he understood the path that an army had to take to go from a rookie to an elite soldier.
Even though the cavalrymen of the 7th Cavalry Regiment were all veterans, the infantry regiment and archers that went out this time were all rookies with little battle experience. These soldiers who had only performed well on the training ground were far from Stu's standards.
Even though many of them had participated in the battle against the Trolls at the borders of Klimt's territory, a brand new army still needed continuous battles to quickly adapt to blood and slaughter.
From the commander's point of view, Stu did a perfect job.
The troops slowly retreated from the battlefield, and the cavalrymen also dismounted from their horses. The squires removed the heavy armor for them and their warhorses in an orderly manner. Everything was done in an orderly manner. In the battle just now, only a few dozen soldiers were injured, and no one died. Such an outstanding battle result was due to the heavy cavalry's role.
"Continue forward."
Stu glanced at the military map in his hand and ordered calmly.
The sky was gloomy. Prince Stu waved his whip, and the troops began to slowly move in the direction of Klimt.
※ ※ ※
Velun Kingdom.
A messenger-like man in a suit trimmed in pale yellow dismounted from his horse.
"May the Holy Light bless us."
He drew a cross in front of his chest and bowed to the two guards at the entrance of the town in front of him.
The two guards with crosses painted on their helmets respectfully returned the greeting. One of them walked forward to restrain the horse, while the other bowed deeply and led the messenger into the town.
This town was the most important town at the border of Velun Kingdom, Vekrul. However, it had already been occupied by the Crusaders of the Holy Church who had come to "redeem" them.
The Crusaders could be seen walking around with their chests held high. Their weapons and equipment were much more advanced compared to the "barbarians" of Velun Kingdom. From chainmail that could effectively block arrows to the sharp two-handed Crusader swords, the hunters of Vekrul put up a strong resistance, but in the end, they were defeated by the well-equipped and well-trained Crusaders.
The messenger followed the guards to a circular stone house in the center of the town. This was a traditional building of Velun Kingdom. In order to resist the bitter cold, the walls were extremely thick, and half of it was underground. This also caused the lighting in the room to be poor.
After taking out his messenger's letter and verifying his identity, he walked into the large stone house.
Unlike traditional stone houses, this stone house was more spacious and had a higher roof. Thick grass and animal hides wrapped the walls, causing the temperature inside the house to be very different from the outside.
Upon entering the room, the messenger immediately bowed and bowed deeply to the figure with his back facing him.
"Lord Adjudicator!
A letter from the Holy Land, Ciaran. "
Adjudicator. This title sounded a little ridiculous. In Saint-Rames or the Elven Empire, it sounded like some god or priest in children's stories.
However, the title "Adjudicator" in Lembas meant iron blood and fanaticism!
They were the blades in the hands of the God of Light, the sharp blades that cut through all darkness and evil!
If there were any doubts about the identity of the Adjudicator, then the entire continent knew about the huge organization behind the Adjudicator that was enough to make all heretics tremble in fear — the "Inquisition"!
Ever since the followers of the God of Light appeared on the continent, the "Inquisition" had always been carrying out its duty — to eradicate heretics!
This war had received the strong support of the Pope, and the Inquisition was finally able to rebound after being suppressed by the previous Pope. With a thunderous momentum, they attacked Velun Kingdom, which was known as the gathering place of heretics.
The Adjudicator, Merkel Anderson, was the commander and person in charge of this operation. There were three Adjudicators in the Inquisition, and Merkel was the one who was the most proficient in military warfare.
At this moment, Merkel was bending over a piece of parchment filled with information under the candlelight in the house. He heard the messenger's words with his back facing the door, but he did not immediately get up. Instead, he stared at the parchment in his hand for a long time before slowly standing up and turning to the messenger at the door.
His brownish-yellow hair was mixed with a few streaks of white. The shape of Merkel's face could be said to be full of heroic spirit, and he had a mature charisma. He was the typical "old and handsome" man.
His chin was slightly raised, and one could see that he had the kind of strength that would never lower his head to others. Merkel had a sturdy and well-proportioned figure, and his red and black robes made him look solemn and dignified. His brows seemed to be constantly furrowed, giving off a feeling of power without being angry.
"Letter?
Bring it over. "
His voice was deep and magnetic, which seemed to be a characteristic of the clergy.
The messenger solemnly took out the encrypted letter tube that he carried with him and raised both his hands flat on one knee before Merkel. The messenger had to personally deliver the letter to the recipient. This was a very strict rule of the Lambas Inquisition.
Merkel took out his Adjudicator's Insignia, which was the size of a ring, and then gently buckled it into a groove on the letter tube.
A beam of light flashed, and the letter tube opened. Merkel took out the letter inside and placed the letter tube back on the hands of the messenger, who was still raised high. He turned around and walked to the side of the candle, using the candlelight to read the letter.
The messenger respectfully kept the letter tube, bowed his head, and stood to the side, not daring to breathe loudly.
"Oh?"
Merkel's brows furrowed even more. He put down the letter, but immediately picked it up and read it carefully. No one knew what he was thinking about. He then sighed and looked up to see the messenger standing in the house. He waved his hand, indicating that he could leave, and the messenger immediately left the house.
Merkel held the parchment in his hand with two fingers and began to look at the map. He pulled the map up slightly, and his gaze followed the border of Lambas and Velen all the way to the west. After crossing the Azura Forest, he stopped at the border of the Empire of Saint Reims marked "Klimt".
"This time, it seems to be a real expedition."
Merkel narrowed his eyes and gently put the letter into his pocket. He gently rolled up his wide sleeves, picked up a quill by the side, and wrote some words in his military record book. After that, he simply stacked the documents together and gave the order to retreat to the messenger waiting outside the house.
In less than three days, all the crusaders from Lambas had retreated from Vekrul. Even the defenders were not left behind. Merkel gave the order for the entire army to return to Lambas within five days. After resting, they would immediately rush to the Empire of Saint Reims.
The Inquisition pointed their sword at the target that they hated even more than the pagans.
The Undead!