Apart from the low whinny of warhorses, there was no other sound on the entire battlefield; the whole space was filled with a chilling silence and the howl of the autumn wind.
Facing this tense situation, many new soldiers secretly swallowed, while the veterans were grim—only true new recruits, like those in novels, would joke and try to relax each other before a major battle.
The distinction between new recruits and veterans was very clear here!
Kailar meticulously observed.
The new infantrymen's breathing was slightly rapid, their fingers gripping their spear shafts were pale, showing their extreme tension, and they occasionally glanced at the veterans beside them.
The veterans, on the other hand, were very calm; their fingers gripping their bows and spear shafts were relaxed—they wouldn't conserve strength when it was needed. With serious or fanatical expressions, the veterans stood silently in place, examining the soil beneath their feet.
Despite having fought only one battle, they had already learned how to properly utilize terrain under Kailar's brutal elimination process—just like the veterans in the first row were doing now.
Fist-sized holes were dug densely in front of their feet, in every row.
These holes served two purposes: when facing cavalry, they could either insert the bottom of the spear shaft or their heel into the hole to brace themselves or leverage power. The other purpose was to cause the cavalry's horses to step into them. Given their size, a horse stepping in would usually have two outcomes: the horse would stumble, or it would be impaled and killed instantly after a sudden stop!
Many veterans were doing this, and even though they didn't know why, the new recruits still used their spear butts or the iron heels of their boots to dig into the soil.
Kailar felt a little relieved; no matter what, as long as these warriors could learn and summarize their combat experience, they would eventually become invincible.
On the opposite side, the desolate sound of a bullhorn echoed, mixed with the mournful wail of Scottish bagpipes and the tragic bugle call of a charge. The knights roared in unison, their thick, long lances tucked under their armpits, their tips pointing towards the Phalanx.
Kailar, who had retreated from the front lines to a secondary role, raised his sword and shouted, "Form ranks!"
The formation of the entire Macedonian Phalanx instantly became even more compact.
The archers' gazes were sharp, like eagles. They had already locked onto their targets—if they didn't hit the face, other parts of a knight's body wouldn't sustain much damage. Unless it was an arrow formation of tens of thousands, archers posed a truly limited threat to heavy infantry and heavy cavalry. Kailar's original intention was to select archers to deal with the warriors of Gaul, Macedonia, and Uruk, but they gave Kailar the greatest feedback: archery skills that could hit a willow leaf at a hundred paces, like the elves of legend!
It could be said that in the first battle, every knight who fell on the charge path seemed insignificant, but not a single knight who died by archery was riddled with countless arrows like a hedgehog.
A headshot for a one-hit kill!
This was the ultimate skill, honed over ten years, a gift from heaven to their tireless efforts.
Having pre-aimed and locked on, they all raised their longbows, focusing on their targets.
With their spear shafts inserted into the holes dug in the row behind, even the new recruits seemed much calmer with the support of their spears. The veterans, meanwhile, watched intently as the opposing bullhorn fell silent, leaving only the wailing Scottish bagpipes.
The formation was now orderly. The leading knight stood on the highest hill, raising his longsword high.
"Charge!" his loud roar could be heard even on this side.
Kailar also shouted, "Prepare to withstand the first impact! Prepare to withstand the first impact!"
"Bang!" The warriors in the first row uniformly stepped back half a pace.
The warriors behind extended their long spears, using their bodies as shields, and rested their Macedonian spears on their shoulders.
The Romans, with their shields and flesh, had shown the world that shields were unreliable against heavy cavalry charges.
So, could this Macedonian light infantry Phalanx, like a hedgehog, withstand the heavy cavalry charge today with its offense-against-offense strategy?
The original version certainly could not! But this modified version in Kailar's hands was a different story!
"Raise bows!!!" Kailar shouted from behind them.
The archers measured the speed of their arrows and raised them high, clearly intending to unleash a volley of high-angle shots before the enemy entered their accurate attack range!
Such a thing relied entirely on luck, but for them, the chance of a high-angle shot hitting an enemy's face was quite high (for those who say high-angle shots lack precision, refer to—'Ten Weapons, Part Four: Bows and Arrows'). So, it was worth trying.
Swish, swish... Stray arrows fell like rain from the sky. Knights around him constantly fell directly to the ground from arrow hits—whether he or his horse was hit, in such a dense formation, death was certain. A headshot meant a quicker death; if thrown from a horse, it meant being trampled to death.
Five thousand men! Five thousand horses! Twenty thousand legs! If they fell, it would truly be a forest! In such a dense formation, you still expect to come back alive! What are you thinking?!
A sharp arrow grazed his cheek and he caught it in his hand. If he had been a few seconds slower, it would have pierced his jaw directly through his cheek.
Because it was a high-angle shot!
He grimly dropped the arrow and looked back to find that over five hundred cavalry had already fallen on the path they had just covered.
Perhaps you might ask why, when facing so few enemies before, they couldn't win in one battle, but now they are easily eliminating so many of the enemy?
There was a distinction: first, before this, no matter how long Kailar's infantry had trained or how excellent their equipment, they were still just rookies.
But now, these warriors who had seen blood were no longer rookies!
More importantly, five hundred people running, even if they spread out, was only a small distance, but if five thousand people ran, you could probably hit someone by just throwing a stone, right?
Not to mention archers who hit their mark every time!
"Free fire!" After two volleys of arrows, the knights had already reached within two hundred meters of accurate shooting range, and Kailar gave the command.
"Raise spears!!!" Issuing the command again, Kailar's disciples nervously watched this Phalanx of five thousand men face a charge of five thousand knights. They deeply believed in Kailar's teachings in their daily lives, but these five thousand men were almost like the seeds and future middle-class officers. If they couldn't hold them off, although it wouldn't mean total annihilation, the so-called "soul" of this army, as Kailar called it, would be destroyed, and it would remain depressed for a long time.
But Kailar had full confidence in them... "Kill!!" Because the greatest advantage of the Macedonian Phalanx was its charge!