There was a large plateau, greenish by a little grass seen here and there but mostly having a desert-like terrain,making it appear a barren wasteland.
Although most would have been tricked by its barren appearance if seen from a far away distance, it was quite the opposite for what surrounded it.The plateau was littered by two manners and types of greenery . Green marshes and some forests were scattered about around the large rotund-like pasture of grass-green .
And the plateau was not quite high from the ground,as some trees were stuck around,peering into the plateau,as if invading the wide rounded patch of desert-like land,but stopping dead short because of the infertility of the plateau itself.
And It could be easily trekked up to by foot,although it would be quite difficult to do the same with a cart or some other type of animal-drawn transport.
The location omitted itself off a certain serenity to its sensations,assisted by the wild echoes of birds, crows and other more, smaller wildlife which seemed to have a preference to stay quiet but still rustled around in the not quite thick forests, disturbing the bushes.
But any serenity or beauty that could be felt or seen were immediately cut short by the sounds of several hundred footsteps heard in the distance,all walking along in a rhythmic manner,as if they were marching.
And they were. Some distance away from the plateau, on some low green hills, were the sight of men marching. They were marching towards the plateau, all in their respective formations with every formation having a ardent banner-man in the lead.
All of the men marching were adorned of different types of attire, only made similar by the colors they wore and the long pikes they carried over their heads,which were longer than the men holding it by of a huge differentiation of a plant and a young tree.
As seen obvious and clear as though crystalline , these men marching were soldiers or more specifically,pikemen.
These pikemen marching were in the number of more than two thousand. They were all adorned with different padded clothing but all of them wore the same dark brown leather caps, but none of the padded clothing they wore look worn,torn or weathered.
Aside from the rugged,tough looking and more heavily armored men that marched with the banner-men in front of the pike formation,the majority of these pikemen looked freshly recruited and lowly experienced, with most of their faces almost as young and as pasty as a choir boy.
And as they lacked experience, they were told to march ahead and be the first to be ready for battle, and these pikemen were all but eager to prove their worth. Although,some sported a look of nervousness, as they have heard but a passing whisper about the struggles and horror of battle, maybe from a sibling or grandparent that was thrusted into service.
But these pikemen were not the only ones marching, as they were also apart of a larger army. A few hundred men on horseback marched beside these newly recruited pikemen, watching the probable flanks of the square rows the recruit pikemen marched in.
And all of these horsemen were more heavily armored,and were armed with a long lance and a backup arming sword to their waists. And as they were all the more richer and more privileged men,as they were able to afford all of it,along with training.
A little distance way back behind the recruited pikemen and cavalry were more soldiers, but of a different breed.
They were crossbowmen numbering in the seven hundreds, all of them armored little to none but just their leather packed quivers of bolts on their waists,a metal kettle helmet and the padded dyed clothing on their backs signifying which army they were apart of.
And the more peculiar aspect of them is that they had large oblong shields called a "Pavisse" on their backs, which gave them cover and much protection when they turned away and loaded another bolt into their crossbows. And these crossbowmen needed not to march in a formation, as they would would be more use versatile and fast-moving.
And behind them looked to be the last row of this large army formation, as behind them were nothing more than horse drawn wooden carts carrying supplies.
And these men looked to be the "cream" of the crop of the army, judged by which their appearance was of being fully clad in plate armor from head to toe.They look to be numbered about in over three hundred men.
The weapons that these armored men held were of all manners of different types of weaponry,more specifically fitting of closer quarters than of the pikemen at the front of the march. Halberds,maces and shields,huge two handed long swords and the like.
Their chromatic plate armor gleamed and shined in the current weather, which was sunny with white cotton-like clouds barely careened near the sun,unable to shield the terrain.
There was a mild heat about, which was felt by the army that currently marched,but ignored due to their conditioning, training and such.
The last row of soldiers, although all were armored fully with plate, adorned different styles of it. The helmets of these men were colored in their army's colors, although with different crests and insignias.
Elegance and quite good craftsmanship could be seen on their armors. But the veterancy of these men looked questionable, as their armors were barely nicked or weathered.And also that they acted more aloof as they march. And they were marching with an air of nobility and regality, but without a cohesion that one would expect from such men at first sight.
And their horses marched behind them, signaling that these men were more adamant on fighting on foot rather than on horseback.
All these men marching towards the plateau belonged to the kingdom of Argotila, in which their colors were of a brilliant ocean blue and a jet black color. And their kingdom's flag and banner was of a white clenched fist in the middle, with two swords crossed behind it.
And this army, which numbered over three thousand and three hundred men, were a detachment of a much larger force, ordered to raid the territory of the duchy of Luthiri, which they were currently marching in. They were the proud 4th army.
And through the rows of the marching formation,from the back behind the heavily armored men, rode a horseman, which looked all the more different from all the men that marched.
A horseman who was also clad with armor,along with his pale white horse. But he adorned a little crown on his helmet and a more grayer armor than all the rest, as if to be able to be recognized from a far distance better.
He also had a small red cape with gold trimmings along the edges on his right shoulder, covering the whole of his right arm.It also made it obvious of his rank.
His stylish but practical appearance showed his status of nobility,and it also showed that he was a cut above the rest of the nobility in this army, or more specifically,his army.
He then started to gallop along the marching formations, intent on getting to the front of his army. He swiftly passed to the right of the dismounted armored men at the back and to his ranged troops.
Then passing along his crossbowmen, he finally made it to the pike men in the front lead of his army, spotting the cavalry on the flanks, in which some of the cavalrymen were surprised to see their general suddenly arrive near them.
The royally clad knight finally slowed his galloping when he was greeted with the sight of the plateau. He stood on his horse in the very front on his army and raised a hand to them.
A square row of pikemen in the front that saw this gesture stopped their march, which was followed along with the other troops in the back.
The cavalrymen reeled their horses back to a stop and looked expectantly to their general. The pikemen propped their pikes up on the ground and waited for an order. The crossbowmen drew their crossbows.
The so called general then put his hand down and turned his eyes to the plateau, in which from his line of sight could be seen clearly along with the forests and marshes in the back and around it.
He then raised his visor with his right hand, wanting to get a clear view of the land. The raised visor gave vision to an aged but youthful face in his late twenties. His somber looking gray eyes, which matched his armor, peered into the deceiving plateau.
"Your royal highness Corintalè!" An old mature voice called out from behind to the now named general. He sighed with a shred of annoyance in him , as if he heard a nagging voice. He then turned to address the knight Sir Argin, who was assigned to protect him.
He was fully armored on horseback too and he had his helmet's visor raised to converse with the prince. The knight had a much older face, with tufts of hair sticking out from his visor, suggesting he had longer hair.
"Do keep in mind to wait up for your guards,your royal highness. We can't have your royal highness running off out of safety.", Sir Argin insisted as he galloped along to the side of his prince.
"I am 27 years old and leading an army, Argin. I am quite sure that I can take care of myself just fine.", Second Prince Corintalè replied, his voice annoyed but holding a certain vigor to him.
"But your majesty sai-", Argin chided but he was cut off.
"But nothing,Argin."The prince cut him off quickly ."Although you've not seen it for yourself yet, I've won many a battles before this. I'm not a fresh grown with no experience like some or maybe most in the nobility. I'm sure even father knows of this." He retorted concisely.
"I-if you say so, your royal highness."He reluctantly agreed.
"Alright, now on to the battle."Corintalè started as he turned to face the direction of the plateau, "Our scouting parties reported an over two thousand strong Luthirian army over by the plateau."
And as if on a queue, Prince Corintalè spotted fairly large rows and swathes of men marching up the plateau. He squinted his eyes and noticed that the bulk of the army consisted of pikemen.
"Yes."Argin cleared his throat, "but more reports states that it mostly consists of some veteran pikemen and levies from the local villages." he stated in a clear voice.
"Any horsemen?"Corintalè asked as he kept observing the opposing army.
"A few,"he replied but then put on a prideful voice, "but our own cavalry can easily smash them to pieces." He bragged. But he then narrowed his eyes in wariness.
"But be on alert, they're stationed on top of the plateau." he added as if it was a warning," and that means they have the high ground. And that can make all the difference here. "He finished.
"And this is the first time we're using pikes instead of swords,spears and shields,no?"Corintale asked, his voice laced with seriousness.
"Yes, and those men over there have been using it for decades."Argin answered, his eyes not even turning one moment away from the army on the plateau.
"Sire, look!"The prince and the knight heard a cavalryman shout out,"they're putting up stakes,around the plateau!"
The prince gritted his teeth a bit while his knight silently looked on. Over to the plateau were soldiers of Luthiri putting up stakes, rendering any cavalry practically useless if they ever charged up.
"I do not think our freshly recruited pikemen can stand up to much of those veterans."Argin admitted begrudgingly.
The prince sighed and then gave a chuckle."Don't let them hear you say that.These peasants can hold a grudge." He joked.
"I've no fear of peasants,your royal highness."Argin retorted, his voice firm.
"That's what they all say." The prince muttered nonchalantly. He then unsheathed his sword and pointed to the plateau. "Move the pikemen up! Along with crossbowmen on both flanks!"He ordered to a nearby cavalryman.
"Yes,your royal highness!" Said cavalryman hurriedly replied and then galloped away to dispatch the orders.
"Even if they're not very well-trained,"Corintalè started. "if they can hold the front lines long enough for our cavalry to go on the flanks to dismount and surround them, then it's fine."
"Argin. I want you to lead the right flank and deal with the light cavalry."He ordered sternly.
"Yes,Sire.As you command."Argin nodded and acknowledged.He then put the visor on his helmet down on his face, and started galloping towards his intended position.
As Argin left, the prince heard the sounds of marching again.Recognizing that the pikemen were going to start moving towards the plateau,he too closed his visor down and went to back to his personal unit of guards.
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The pikemen all marched in formation,ready at a moment's notice to lower their pikes and point them towards the enemy.The so called "Sergeant" commanded each of these formations, along with his banner men.
The sergeant needed not any pike,as he was needed to give extensive orders and be more flexible than anyone in his formation.
He was also the most armored, as the formation could not afford to lose their sergeant, not if they wanted complete chaos and the very loss of any type of organization in their formations.
And now the 4th Argotillian army's pikemen were slowly marching upwards to the plateau,the ground getting steeper with every step they took.
And the middle of this big front line that was slowly marching towards the plateau was the 13th pike regiment, one of the many regiments of pikes around.
It was commanded by a sergeant called Atri Druzhina,who was currently marching with a conflicted look on his face.
He had a ragged but young face, full of scars from countless battles. He could say that he had his fair share of battles. But this time, he was a little conflicted.
He would say that he missed the time when battle would be much more brutal and exhilarating, but he knew that it also brought more unneeded casualties and more, unfair wages. But that's not to say he can't find excitement in these battles, albeit it's a little harder.
He turned his head up a little to see the Luthiri army in the distance,on the plateau. The sounds of marching and the natural smell of green grass barraged his senses,but he still kept a calm head.And he could because he felt safe with something else.
His armor. He was adorned with a blue and black brigandine,combined with plated gauntlets,padded armor for the legs and basinet in which he put the visor down.He also had a thrusting sword unsheathed alongside a metal buckler.
His helmet gave him a quite limited vision of the battlefield.But as he would always stuck with his regiment, he would not need much vision.
As he marched along with his regiment,with all other regiments,he suddenly raised a hand,stopping the regiment dead along with the other regiments.
He turned his head to the flanks.Atri couldn't see very far,but he could spot the crossbowmen on the flanks getting ready to fire their bolts.
And fired they did. Loud whizzing sounds resounded inside his ears, even through the small crevices in his helmet. He looked up and saw hundreds of bolts flying towards the enemy formations in high speeds.
The enemy pikemen lowered their pikes and pointed them downwards, towards to Atri's side.He grinned inside his metal helm, as if a challenge had came in front of him.
Bolts pelted the front side of the enemy pike formation. Atri narrowed his eyes and spotted a few pikes on the enemy formations suddenly falling limp. Then he spotted some few bodies full of bolts, either sliding or rolling down the steep terrain towards the plateau.
After a few minutes of firing, the bolts stopped. The crossbowmen drew back behind the pikemen and backed away.
It was time for the pikes to get closer.
"Forward,March!"Atri roared out. He started marching closer and upwards, towards the Luthirians that was unfortunate enough to be an enemy.
The ground was getting a little steeper as they marched. All the pikes were now lowered, slowly making its way forward.
But then at the very next moment, Atri noticed from his little field of vision that someone from his regiment was walking out of his formation. He found himself suddenly turning his eyes to him in surprise.
"Hey!" Atri shouted out in anger and irritation. "What the hell are you doing?!"he roared.
Said soldier turned to him, and Atri narrowed his eyes from what he saw.He saw a young dark-haired man starry eyed, whilst looking detached and unfocused on what he's doing.
Atri quickly walked up to him and pulled him back into formation quickly, as he did not want to deal with this.
"What the hell is wrong with you, soldier?! Do you want to get lashings after this?!"He yelled as he handed the soldier's pike to him. He couldn't get a response, as the soldier just muttered something incoherent to Atri. But the soldier at least held his pike firm.
"I-I-I wa-was jus-"the soldier mumbled to Atri. But he didn't really have it . He shoved him back into formation, with the soldier getting stares from all the other pikemen in the regiment.
"Stay. In.Formation."He uttered and glared."Understand?"
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He didn't understand. He didn't understand anything. He was just riding a bike near his house when he suddenly crashed face first into the pavement.
He then suddenly found himself holding a pike while being yelled at by an armored man.He didn't understand. It was so sudden and quick. He couldn't find his words.
What was going on?
He looked up and saw a hail of arrows and bolts coming down towards him, as if to give him some divine answer.