On the next day, both sides are preparing for battle. The citizens of Bideford were ordered to stay in their homes and should not wander around on the streets.
Riz divided his forces into two groups.
4,000 men consist of 1,000 cavalry, 1,000 infantry, 500 arquebusiers, 1,500 archers and 8 cannons in the south.
In the west, he allocates 3,000 men consisting of 500 cavalry, 1,000 infantry, 500 arquebusiers, 1,000 archers and 7 cannons.
Riz ordered the soldiers to move outside the town. He didn't want to play defensive during the war. The town wall is not impenetrable. With trebuchets on the enemy's side, the archer on the wall is useless. Several shots of trebuchets are all it takes to cause a crack on the wall's surface.
Despite the danger, he chose to stand on top of the wall. It is convenient to see the entire battlefield from a high perspective. He can move from west to south easily.
The south side was left to Charlotte's command. She has experience leading a team of knights all this time. Now, he gives Charlotte a chance to hone her leadership skills.
Riz chose the west side. It is more appealing to his eyes. There is a valuable prize for him to claim, the beloved son of Nicholas I, the second prince Niel.
"As expected. They position themselves just enough for the trebuchets to hit the wall. Regrettably, they don't know the existence of field artillery. It has a longer range." Riz muttered in a low voice.
....
"Fool." The duke commented. "I guess the rumours aren't always true. He is not bright at all." To think that Riz would bring his soldiers out to face the enemy. The duke feels like the Ryntum is pleading with him to destroy them.
"Prepare to attack." said the duke. The soldiers handling the trebuchets aim for the wall.
"Prepare to attack," said Charlotte on the opposite side. The artillerist aims for the trebuchets. Their goal is to eliminate Bideford's biggest source of threats. Charlotte placed cavalry and infantry in front of cannons and arquebusiers. She wants to block the duke from catching a glimpse of it, at least before the war starts. Duke Baroks is a cautious man. If he sees cannons, he will take precautions despite not knowing its capabilities.
While trebuchets' range can go up to 400 metres, the cannons can go as far as 1,500 metres. Advantage on their side.
Nonetheless, they only have one chance to utilize the surprise element.
Soon, the bombardment from both sides began. After releasing just two or three shots, two of four trebuchets on the duke's side collapsed. It is not hard to pinpoint and aim at it because its height makes the trebuchets stand out in war.
"What the hell just happened?! How can they collapse after one shot?" Duke's first thought is due to their faulty and poor build.
"Milord, we have been hit!!"
"What?! How?" The duke asked. He couldn't believe the trebuchets were getting hit. Without waiting for any reply, he then answers his own question, "They must have a new weapon! If not, how could they be so confident in facing us."
"Milord, we need to get out of its range or the damage will be too big," Lino said.
"Retreat as far as you can." The duke's army begins to retreat.
"Keep shooting. They still haven't figured out the cannon's range yet." Charlotte knows the enemy can't advance unless they want to be riddled by holes from archers on the wall and arquebus on the ground. She still hasn't shown the arquebus to them yet. Though she wants to keep it secret from the duke, her lord might already use it on the second prince's army.
The artillery managed to destroy the duke's third trebuchet after showering them with shots for a while.
"We lost the third one, milord," reported Lino. "The trebuchets are just too slow to move."
"Damn it, don't mind it. Just keep retreating."
Once the enemy is out of range, the artillerist ceases the firing.
"They finally stop firing. I guess we are already out of their range." Duke sighed in relief. He inwardly says, 'What a horrible weapon. I must get my hands on it.'
"Move forward!" Charlotte gives an order. The line of field cannons moved forward, just enough so that they were still within range of the archers.
"They move forward, milord. We make a fast attack on them with cavalry." Lino suggests.
"No." The duke squints his eyes. "I believe they are still in archers' protection. Let's go retreat back a little bit further."
The cannons start firing again. This time they managed to take out the last trebuchets. The duke retreated even further. Having achieved her objective, Charlotte orders all of them to retreat inside the town. She ended the war on the south side while the day is still in early afternoon.
"Great!! Now, we lost all the trebuchets." the duke spoke angrily. His face was bright red. Never had he felt humiliated like this. Charlotte just decided to end the battle on her whim.
"Let's go to the west, milord. We only lost our trebuchets but we still have a sizable army. We can combine forces with the second prince."
"If we go to the west, so does that girl. Not only that, she can attack us from the side as well. We are the ones who will end up facing attack from two sides." The duke looks at the town wall. He knows that girl must put the archers on standby and report to her if he moves his army to the west.
Lino replies, "But if we stay here, we can't do anything. Both sides can only stare at each other."
The duke contemplates. He is the second prince's biggest supporter. Of course, he did not wish for Niel's life to be in danger or defeated in the battle.
The Duke of Baroks decided, "Let's go to the west side."
....
At the same time,
Riz follows the same strategy as Charlotte in the west. The trebuchets keep hitting the wall but Riz ignores it. He didn't plan to prioritize destroying the trebuchets like Charlotte or proceed with caution. When the second prince retreats, Riz moves forward. He does it until the artillery is outside the archers' range.
Niel sees it as an opportunity to escape his defensive state. Thus, he ordered his 3,000 infantry to attack which is countered by Riz's semi-heavily armoured infantry. They are equipped with a pike. Since the pike's range is longer, they manage to hold the advance of Niel's infantry. The arquebusiers take this chance to shoot down their enemy and retreat back to the nearby pikeman for reloading.
"What the hell is that? Are you a bunch of cowards? Fight like a warrior!!" Niel shouts from the rear.
"They have a new trick on their sleeve." commented his attendant.
Indeed, it's a kind of cowardly move in the eyes of people in the medieval era but it's not like Riz cares too much about honour or pride.
He wants to win the war and he will do whatever it takes to achieve it.
Later, he will beautify his achievement. As long as the majority of people believe it, a false can become truth.
Soon, the middle part of the enemy's infantry line is weakening due to continuous shooting by the arquebusiers. Something that Riz had told them to do beforehand. Suddenly, someone called him, "Young lord."
Riz asked, "You are?"
"I am a messenger sent by Lady Charlotte to give you a rundown on the situation in the south."
Riz nods. The messenger begins to report the war from the beginning to the end. After the messenger finished, he said, "Alright, thank you for the report. You can go now."
Riz frowned slightly. He said inwardly, 'I better hurry up. I have no time to waste.'
He issued an order to the soldiers below, "Make a way for the cavalry to move. Cannons will fill in the gap."
The pikeman and arquebusiers move to the side and the heavy armour cavalry rush in the middle. After the cavalry passes, several cannons move forward to fill the gap in the middle.
While the bombardment is ongoing, the cavalry went straight to the enemy's command centre as fast as they could. Their target is Prince Niel. Capturing him means putting the war on a halt and opening a room for negotiation.
Although he can win without resorting to this method, modern warfare costs a hefty amount of money.
It is a very risky plan since they can get entrapped in the sea of enemies. The duke might arrive at any moment and help Niel cut off a retreat path for Ryntum cavalry. Their horses run, run, run and run.
"Your Highness, they're coming this way!" His attendant is panicking.
Before they had time to act, Niel was grabbed by the knights. He tried to struggle but was smacked unconscious by the knight. The knight retreated without any obstacles despite his personal guards chasing them.
The enemy's soldiers on the other hand are busy fending off the attack from the front. They can't decide which one they should choose. Fight the enemy in front of them or save the prince.