When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 803 - 754: Latis Can’t Smile

The sound of whistling came again, as the lead bullets once more flew over the shield wagon, landing on them.

With every few steps, you could feel a comrade beside you collapse to the ground, only for the comrade behind to step up to fill their place.

What lay beneath your feet were corpses in brutal death and wailing injured soldiers.

No need to think, the emotion of panic gradually spread.

Until the Divine Art's light sphere fell into the phalanx, the soldiers forced themselves to step over their comrades' gruesome corpse.

If the Holy Wind had been dense enough or given a bit more time, it's possible a phalanx might have collapsed before engaging.

Regrettably, at this time, the Gunners also entered the range of the arrows.

A dense rain of arrows fell from the sky, creating a crisp clattering as they struck the gunmen's armor.

Whether it was reloading or firing, every round of arrow rain brought gunmen falling from being shot.

Yet even when someone was hit beside them, it couldn't affect the gunmen's puppet-like shooting.

The biggest difference was that upon leaving, the gunmen would form pairs and lift the wounded soldiers from the ground, sending them to the back of the phalanx.

After six volleys, André was the first to order the Gunmen to retreat.

But it was still a step too late; a cavalry troop from the Duke of Wing Nest rushed over.

The Knight's Sword and lances pierced through long wind, colliding into the side of two gunmen's phalanxes.

Hooves crushed skulls, Knight's Sword swept wantonly across chests and heads.

In the officers' profane shouting, the two gunmen's phalanxes instantly scattered.

The gunmen began to flee in cries, while the large phalanx at the back began pressing forward, squeezing the knights' charging space.

Lannes likewise came over, starting to tangle with these knights.

In the mad approach of the Shattered Stone army, the Thousand River Valley army similarly drew nearer.

There were only 50 meters left.

The wind of the Fire Prison finally stopped.

After all, these Holy Gunmen's mana was too little, with only 3 to 4 shots using electric gold and sniff salts with Tom guns.

After firing two to three rounds, they must leave the last shot as backup.

Feeling the Holy Wind stop, the soldiers excitedly shouted, "The big hand of the Holy Father has closed the Fire Prison, victory, I see it!"

Isn't it just relying on the wind of the Fire Prison? Have the ability to fight in a face-to-face battle like men!

But at the moment they lifted their heads, their initial sneer froze on their faces.

"Stay close! Lower your long spears!"

The command sound and drumbeat changed, and the dense forest of long spears leaned down.

The gun shafts swayed, collided, and falling down, one could even hear the sound of breaking through the air.

Long spears were raised at the collarbone level, the cool wind blowing over the cold sweat on the back of the Broken Stone Primordial People's neck, and also over the red tassels atop the heads of the Thousand River Valley People.

"Prepare——" Captain Bai kept calling out, all the Long Spear Soldiers clenched their long spears in hand.

After countless rehearsals and training, they all knew, Captain Bai's next words would be——"Charge step!"

"Charge step!"

The earth trembled slightly.

"Victory!"

The stirring spear tips struggled, jostling forward, yet no one fell behind or charged ahead.

The spear shafts formed a dark sea, the spear tips formed snowy white waves, the tsunami came rolling in.

"Damn it, align the troops, align the troops!" Judging their speed, the phalanx command of the Shattered Stone had sweat streaming down his face. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The soldiers wove through the formation, pulling the troops into line, forcing them to press shoulder to shoulder, holding up their spears.

They were about to take their places, but between the gap in helmets and shoulders, those black-armored soldiers were suddenly right in front of them.

"Why are they so fast?" Holding his helmet being squeezed askew by other soldiers, one soldier shouted out.

The charge step was 80 steps a minute, equating to 60 meters.

In modern terms, it was the speed of an old lady taking a stroll.

But for a military formation wearing heavy armor, holding horizontal four-meter long spears, maintaining coordinated pace, and orderly formation, it was already charging speed.

"Kill——"

With the frenzied shouts of Captain Ten's veterans, a hundred long spears thrusted out simultaneously.

Iron gun heads aided by speed and thrust easily bypassed shield gaps, and impaled flesh.

Splashing blood scattered the ground, cries calling for mother erupted.

Within half a second of contact, three to five bodies on each side immediately fell, not to mention the wailing wounded.

After the spears penetrated bodies, the veterans in the first row did not attempt to pull them out.

Instead, they immediately dropped the long spears, drew the military saber from their waist, and with a fierce push forward rolled to the opponent's feet, using elbows and hands to strike out.

The sharp military saber sliced calves and toes, the Broken Stone soldiers in the front row twisted their faces in collapse.

They immediately realized it, discarding the long spears and began dueling beneath the gun shafts.

Above were pushing spears, below were wrestling fights within a narrow space.

However, they woke up too late, and the front and back rows did not coordinate well.

Those in the front crouched down, those in the back with long halberds and axes hadn't reacted, until spears poked their chest, then they dodged with red faces.

However, battlefield spear pushing combat always pressed shoulder to shoulder, where was there space for random dodging?

With several sounds of thrusting, soldiers in the second row fell consecutively to the ground.

To make matters worse, the gunners on both sides suddenly appeared and extended their formation to launch an oblique shot at their flank.

The front two rows "collapsed at a touch", the terrifying prior bombardment, the lead shots flying from both wings, the enemy phalanx crazily advancing forward...

Under immense pressure, the "fall" of the soldiers in the front row triggered a chain reaction.

Less than three minutes after both battlelines made contact, deserters began to appear, and the phalanx showed signs of a hidden collapse.

Due to superior numbers, their plan was to encircle and flank.

That is, for six Shattered Stone Plain phalanxes to pin down four Thousand River Valley phalanxes, with the remaining two Shattered Stone Plain phalanxes attacking the flanks.

But just as the phalanxes designated for encirclement were halfway there, seeing the situation, they had to turn to support.

Compared to the weekly or even quintuple weekly drilled Thousand River Valley infantry, these Shattered Stone Plain infantry, drilled weekly or even monthly, were like new recruits.

Here, drilling didn't mean honing martial skills, but drilling military formations and cooperation.

It's important to know that the Thousand River Valley Army was a semi-standing army.

During thrust and march, everyone around was familiar with each other, having coordinated countless times.

On the Shattered Stone Plain side, martial skills far exceeded those of Thousand River Valley soldiers, but unfortunately, some of them were meeting for the first time today, with no cooperation or trust.

What's more, there were quite a few iron-blooded veterans among them who had participated in the Thousand River Valley war.

They were the veterans who dared to stand firm against a decree!

The Shattered Stone Plain Guard standing in front of the Thousand River Valley soldier was just like a Thousand River Valley soldier standing in front of a veteran.

Before even a single supporting phalanx arrived, the enemy phalanx had already collapsed.

"Did it collapse too quickly?"

Watching the fleeing Shattered Stone Plain troops, many veterans who had just been dispatched from the rear were stunned.

How did it come to this? Back then, weren't they fighting the Imperial Infantry, and weren't there several rounds of back-and-forth exchanges there as well?

In the first push of the spear, when only a few small gaps appeared in the formation.

With overlapping rotation, they should have been able to fill in, so how did it collapse?

Could it be a tactic to lure the enemy?

Suspicious thoughts arose among the veterans, causing their pace to slow, even slowing the steps of other soldiers with them.

"What are you doing dawdling?" Seeing the phalanx stalling, Captain Bai rushed to the front with a whip in anger, "Pursue! Chase!"

"Captain Bai, this may be to lure the enemy..."

"I'll lure your uncle, pursue them!"

......

"Abots' phalanx collapsed!"

"Bomodes' phalanx collapsed!"

"Lalalev's phalanx collapsed..."

"..."

Messenger soldiers kept arriving one after another, but none brought good news to Count Latis.

Initially, he had focused his efforts on the infantry, thinking that sheer numbers would bring victory, but who would have thought it would collapse at the first encounter?

Now he put his efforts into the cavalry, hoping a cavalry victory could reverse the situation.

But the continuous cavalry confrontations on the hillside failed to bring a smile to his face.

Normally, cavalry battles would be characterized by continuous intersecting skirmishes between both sides.

In simpler terms, it's a matter of you chasing me, I chasing you, with a bout of skirmishing before breaking apart.

If someone falls behind, they will be pursued, needing to rely on agility and riding skills to increase horse speed and maneuver.

During this, some would fall behind, becoming the pursuers' spoils of war.

At the beginning, Moliat's Cavalry Corps still adhered to the ancient rules of engagement.

But when the Shattered Stone Plain knights chased the defeated Thousand River Valley cavalry, they suddenly realized they were running toward the artillery positions.

Chase them, and the lead shots came flying.

Don't chase them, and watch them regroup and attack again.

The battlefield unexpectedly turned into cycles of Thousand River Valley cavalry attacking and harassing, then retreating.

The pursuit by Shattered Stone Plain knights didn't last long and was met with cannonballs and lead shots right in their faces.

Moliat this witch didn't play fair, covering the retreat of her cavalry with cannons and gunners during the pursuit.

She only allowed her side to attack others, but not the other way around.

Now the infantry battlefield was lost.

Even though the cavalry battlefield was intense, one could still see the decline of their cavalry.

The infantry lost, and the cavalry lost, everything was lost...

So, they unexpectedly lost again, this was supposed to be their last effort.

If this battle were lost, then Shattered Stone Plain would have to return the power they fought for generations to the Leia Royal Family.

Latis didn't dislike the fertile land of Dawn Island, but although Shattered Stone Plain was barren, it was still his homeland.

Looking at the chaotic greenery, Count Latis was silent for a while before suddenly uttering, "Holy Father, it's not that I didn't try hard, please forgive me."

"What did you say?"

"I said… sound the horn, have the Red Feather Arrow Knights cover the retreat."

"Woooooo—"