"Why are they charging?" Kailar, who had expected an opponent of similar strength, watched in disbelief as his enemy blew the charge horn.
"But that's fine. The honor of the Knights... I will wash away the blood of my warriors with you." Kailar's current formation was different from before; he had completely placed the archers and crossbowmen deep within the phalanx, surrounded on all four sides by spears. Now, he wasn't afraid of the enemy's charge.
It was clear that annihilating five hundred cavalry in the first encounter had given Kailar's infantry not just honor and contribution points, but also courage. They were furious at the Knights who had ambushed them earlier.
They had simply been stunned and disoriented before; with their formation broken, they found it difficult even to locate their squad leaders, let alone regroup and block the enemy.
But now their phalanx was intact. Were three thousand of them afraid of a mere three hundred?
So Kailar immediately issued an attack order.
"First, second, and third phalanxes, charge!" Kailar's voice was full of masculine power as he gave this command. Hearing Kailar's order, the ox horns blared, and everyone shouted loudly in response, singing a battle song.
"Me!" This entire song was sung with hums and shouts, making it extremely suitable for an army. (Originally, I planned to use "Me" for the military song, but its tune was too slow, so I chose the more rousing "Me!")
Singing "Me" and stepping in rhythm with the lyrics, a thousand light infantry advanced with unified steps, like ten thousand heavy infantry. Their morale solidified with each line they sang.
The infantry's charge was different from the cavalry's. Knights only needed to pull the reins to make their mounts charge at top speed, but if infantry ran wildly, not to mention their stamina, they would have no strength left to wield their spears and kill enemies by the time they reached them.
The three phalanxes stuck together like a thick wall. The pressure from three rows of long spears was unparalleled, especially when moving forward—a mobile city wall?
Not to mention the Knights, even excellent warhorses became anxious and uneasy watching a spiked wall approach them, their accelerating hooves slowing.
The Knights hadn't expected Kailar's army to dare counter-charge. This made them look at each other, somewhat bewildered. Most of their opponents were other Knights performing counter-charges; they had never faced an infantry counter-charge before—the disorganized attacks of the Gauls could certainly not be described as a counter-charge; it was merely a chaotic rush.
In the end, they still decided to attack!
When it came to attacking, what Knight had ever been afraid?
But the moment they made contact, they knew where they had erred.
The greatest advantage of cavalry over infantry, besides mobility and horsepower, was weapon length: a Knight's lance was one point eight to two point two meters long, and the longest, most valiant Knights could even wield a three-meter-long lance.
However, all of this instantly lost its advantage when facing Macedonian spears, which ranged from eight to ten meters in length. Many Knights, charging wildly, were instantly impaled by the spears due to their own momentum: ordinary spears rarely pierced through a Knight's heavy plate armor combined with the chainmail underneath!
When the first layer of Macedonian spears and infantry were either struck down or pulled off the ground by the Knights' momentum, the second rank suddenly roared and thrust out with all their might.
In an instant, quite a few Knights were struck by these suddenly thrusting spears. At least a hundred Knights were impaled; only two or three highly skilled and quick-reacting ones managed to dodge. As for the others, all were struck in the body, and even if caught by the chainmail underneath, they were immediately knocked off their horses by dozens of spears.
"Kill!" Jack, one of Kailar's disciples ranked in the three hundreds and also a military talent serving as a squad leader, shouted. He and Fulin had the best relationship among everyone; they both knew each other's secret: they were both children of the Gauls, but even so, they received equal opportunities for education. They had once promised to fight together, serve their teacher together, earn the title of Knight together, and marry and have children together. If their children were sons, they would forever be brothers; if daughters, they would forever be connected like twin lotus flowers.
But Fulin died in the first battle!
Upon hearing this news, Jack felt as if his chest was burning. His face was covered in blood, and coupled with his ferocious expression, he was like a demon crawled out of hell, killing enemies like a madman.
Hearing his words, his squad all shouted in unison and thrust their spears. "Kill!"
After a brief pause, the entire main force roared and then stomped, like an earth-shattering blow: "Kill!"
Facing a simultaneous thrust of spears from all directions—up, down, left, and right—the mere three hundred Knight squad... was completely annihilated!
Facing the enemy with only a few scattered riders left, Kailar finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Finally... it's over."
The war was over, but his work was far from done.
"Send out scouting cavalry! Scout a thousand-meter radius! If there's an enemy attack, immediately fire a warning arrow!" Kailar would not make the same mistake twice. Warning arrows were ancient, with an arrowhead shaped like a whistle and three feathers at the tail. Simply shooting one into the sky would produce a mournful roar audible within a kilometer.
"Immediately notify Belle to bring the medical team to rendezvous with me! Immediately order the archers and crossbowmen to begin assisting the wounded, and order two main forces of spearmen to separate the phalanx and set up camp on the spot, while one main force of spearmen begins clearing the battlefield!" Kailar's orders were issued methodically and clearly, not missing any detailed points. Kailar's orders taught Artoria another trick.
"Let's go," Kailar spurred his horse towards the scattered position, where at least several hundred of his soldiers lay seriously wounded and unable to move.
"Lie still! You'll be fine!" Almost leaping off his Unicorn, Kailar knelt before a wounded soldier. His chest had been completely pierced by a Knight's lance. Perhaps because the Macedonian spear was too long, the Knight's lance had only opened a large hole in his chest, puncturing his lung. He was now struggling to breathe, even spitting blood from his mouth and nose with each breath.
Laying him flat on the ground, Kailar looked at his hopeful eyes and soothed his spirit: "You'll be fine, I'm here! You'll be fine!" A faint white light emanated from his hand. After only healing his lung, he moved on to the next one: it wasn't that he didn't want to completely heal him, but there were still over a thousand seriously wounded people. If he ran out of magic power in the end, every bit of magic power he used now might mean one less person he could save later.
Kailar was very clear on this point.