“Is it starting…”
Phoenix straightened herself. Monster stood beside her as he held onto the shield covering Phoenix. At the same time, he also held onto a mace in his other hand.
Phoenix kept staring at the plains below the hill where the Norman army was charging courageously through.
Charging forward in the vanguard position were the Norman mounted soldiers. The warhorses roared as they galloped up the hill.
Riding at the very front of them was a Knight wearing armour. He held a lance in his hand as he rode forward! The tens of mounted riders behind him spread out and formed a wedge formation as they rushed the enemy position atop the hill.
Phoenix stared at the mounted soldiers. She softly exhaled and uttered a sigh; then, she took one step back and pulled her bow…
…
Xiu!
Robert was valiantly riding his warhorse forward when he suddenly caught the whistling sound coming from before him. His instinct, formed from the many years spent in battle campaigns, subconsciously made him throw his body down! In the next instant, he heard a miserable cry coming from his back.
Glancing backward, he saw one of his squires crying out in misery as he fell off his warhorse! A shaft could be seen piercing through the cracks between his armour.
“Glory to the Normans!” Robert roared out, his eyes bloodshot.
He abruptly flung forward the lance in his hand, sending it flying toward the shield wall atop the hill.
The lance became like a meteor and slammed into the shield wall with a resounding crash. The shield that received the lance was broken apart and the soldier behind the shield cried out and was forced to retreat. However, another soldier quickly stepped in with another shield to take his place!
Robert pulled out his sword and brandished it as he howled. He kicked and urged his warhorse forward!
…
“Something is not right! Something is not right!”
Chen Xiaolian, Lun Tai and Bei Tai led their 100-man team as they charged forward, together with the vanguard of the Norman armies.
However, when they began to ascend the hill, Chen Xiaolian suddenly felt something odd.
This hill should not be that high!
Chen Xiaolian clearly recalled that they had taken at least 20 steps forward since they began their ascent up the hill.
However, when he raised his head to look at the top of the hill, he could see that the shield wall was still far away!
Just now, the eyes of the soldiers on his side had seemingly turned red; they raised their weapons up high, howled madly and swarmed forward violently…
However… after they began their ascent, their forward speed seemed to have slowed down!
It seemed as though reaching the shield wall would take… an indeterminable amount of time.
Twenty steps!
They continued charging rapidly up the hill!
Thirty steps!
Yet, they continued to remain under the hill.
When they took their 50th step…
Chen Xiaolian simply stopped moving!
He bent his waist and raised his head to carefully inspect the hill.
The height of this hill was not that high. Accurately speaking, it was just a mound.
From what he could see, the hill should only have a height of around 30 m.
To run up the slope of this hill, 100 steps should be enough for them to reach the top.
However, after having already taken 50 steps up… not even one third… no, not even one fifth! They had yet to cover one fifth of the distance!
Chen Xiaolian was quick to think of one of the spells available in the [Exchange List]!
This was without doubt a very useful spell to use on the battlefield.
Simply put, it would reduce the speed of an enemy that was charging forward. Their charging speed would be decreased up to 5 times!
You thought that you were running with all our life. However, you were in fact making almost no progress.
This spell was extremely useful for Harold’s armies because they were occupying a hill!
In order for the Norman army to engage in close combat with them, they would have to struggle to climb up the hill – an uphill attack.
As their charging speed became slower, the duration required to ascend the hill became longer.
First, Harold’s archers atop the hill would have more time to shoot their arrows and kill more enemies.
Second… climbing up the hill would consume their stamina! For the Norman army, this meant that they would have to expend 5 times more stamina to run up the hill!
5 times! When they were done climbing up the hill, they would already become exhausted!
…
Having realized what was wrong, Chen Xiaolian did not hesitate to signal to Lun Tai and Bei Tai to slow down. They also gave the orders for their 100-man team to slow down.
At that moment, a peculiar scene occurred. They were clearly just walking slowly while the other teams beside them were running quickly. However, everyone there seemed to be moving at the same pace side by side. No matter how much the teams around them ran, they were unable to create a distance between them.
Within the armies positioned above the hill, the archers were passionately shooting their arrows out! Despite the sparse number of archers within Harold’s armies, with the 5 times amount of time available for them to shoot their arrows, the archers now possessed the advantage as they stood above the hill overlooking the soldiers climbing up…
Despite the sparseness of each volley of arrows, they were still capable of taking the lives of the Norman soldiers!
The slope of the hill was filled with the Norman soldiers. They let out wretched cries one after another as the arrows felled them. The volleys of arrows seemed infinite in number.
The soldiers charging uphill raised their shields and ran forward. To their despair, the length of the slope had exceeded their estimate – the length was such that they were falling into absolute despair!
The one charging up front was none other than Robert.
The mounted soldiers led by King William’s brother had suffered a huge loss!
Tens of mounted soldiers were shot down their mounts while charging up.
Those mounted soldiers were wearing full body armour. Once the arrow knocked them off their mounts, the weight of their armour made it so it was impossible for them to get up! Normally speaking, even walking on flat lands would have been a difficult feat when wearing such a kind of armour. In their case, they had just been shot down from their horses!
One after another, the mounted soldiers were struck down and they were left struggling on the ground. The injured warhorses turned about and rolled down the slope, knocking aside the rest of the Norman infantry soldiers.
The casualties through the slope was getting worse!
…
After suffering a terribly heavy price, the first wave of the soldiers finally reached the top of the hills.
Robert was already knocked off his horse by the arrows earlier. However, due to his lofty status as an aristocrat, the soldiers behind him quickly helped him up and brought him down.
When the first mounted soldier slammed into the shield wall, the fatigued warhorse was so exhausted it was incapable of making even a gap within the shield wall. Then, two spears shot out from behind the shield wall into the belly of the horse! As the blood sprayed out, the warhorse fell down and the Knight riding on the warhorse fell. His heavy body fell onto the shield wall and several shields were knocked down by the impact. However, several axes quickly cleaved down and the Knight was diced!
The same scene repeated itself in various locations across the hilltop. The exhausted Norman soldiers finally made it up the hill. However, they were sporting arrow wounds and gasping for breath as their knees trembled weakly. Some even exhausted all their strength by just climbing up the hill. They feel a burning fire coursing through their whole body; despite the weak state of their body, they maintained their bravery and slammed straight onto the shield wall…
…
William who was seated on a horse before his main army watched what was happening at the hilltop with a heavy expression.
The time it took his forward army to charge up the hill had gone way beyond his estimate. He saw how that army had to struggle to climb up the slope.
He saw how his soldiers rushed up the hill and all of them slammed into the shield wall. The strength behind the soldiers’ spears, axes, swords became extremely weak. They struck fruitlessly at the shield wall. Yet, their attacks appeared to have no force behind it. Spears then shot out from behind the shield walls to stab the soldiers, killing them off!
“No, this is not right!” William cursed.
At that moment, he made a resolute decision!
“Blow the horn! Retreat! Get them to retreat!”
Many of the officers who were still struggling to climb up the hill heard the sound of the horn. Some of them coolly gave the order for their subordinates to retreat and descend down the slope.
However, many of them did not hear the sound of the horn. They continued charging up the hill and were shot to death by the archers of the London armies. Even if they were to make it up the hill, they were still killed in front of the shield wall.
The slope before the shield wall were littered with corpses! The corpses were spread around everywhere; there were bloody stumps and warhorses that were killed by arrows.
“Let’s move! Retreat! Retreat!”
Chen Xiaolian shouted loudly as he led his team to quickly retreat.
As they descended, it was clear that the speed at which they descended from the hill was not affected.
The soldiers under him did their best to raise their shields and protect themselves from the sparse volley of arrows. Even so, 7 to 8 members of Chen Xiaolian’s 100-man team were felled down on the slope.
However, that was not the end of it!
Retreating was no easy matter!
In order for the Norman attack force to retreat back to their main force, they will need to cover a stretch of open plains.
That area was still within the range of the archers from London!
King William was simmering with rage. At that moment however, this outstanding medieval commander displayed his excellent commanding skills.
“Have the left and right wings start their assault! Divert their attention so that our soldiers can retreat!”
…
The Brittany army on the left side began their attack. This allied force of William’s sent out two 100-man teams forward to assault the hill from the left.
The two 100-man teams managed to divert the attention of the London soldiers up the hill. Their archers were sparse in number to begin with. After dispersing the archers’ firepower, their effectiveness declined.
The two 100-man teams were actually able to rush up all the way to the slope. In one breath’s time, they managed to make it halfway up the hill!
Chen Xiaolian who was leading his men back saw the movements by the Brittany soldiers on the left. He saw how they managed to make it halfway up the hill.
“The left side is not covered by the spell! That slope is normal!” Chen Xiaolian’s eyes lit up.
He turned around and observed the retreating Norman soldiers…
“Lun Tai, Bei Tai, Conan!”
Tian Lie had been moving together with the team without showing much abilities. When he heard Chen Xiaolian’s shout, he raised his head and turned to look at the left side of the slope. He also saw how the Brittany force was able to make it halfway up the hill.
“This is an opportunity!” Chen Xiaolian shouted loudly.
Bei Tai cried back, “Do we go there!”
“Go!” Chen Xiaolian clenched his teeth. “You go back and tell King William to immediately launch the assault! Do not hesitate! The duration of their spell is about to end!”
On the battlefield, the attacking force was retreating in a chaotic manner. However, Chen Xiaolian’s team, Manchester United was forcing their way to the left.
As the entire force had become a chaotic mess, the movement of Chen Xiaolian’s 100-man team did not catch anyone’s attention in the beginning.
However, once they made it out of the retreating soldiers…
The London forces and King William who was with the main Norman army saw a team rushing rapidly to the left side of the battlefield.
Checking their flag, King William was able to identify that team. It was the team led by the three young Knights of Manchester; the Knights that he had personally knighted.
“Did those fellows lost their minds? Or did they lose their sense of direction in the battlefield?” King William gaped as he watched team Manchester United rush to the left.
…
The Brittany forces were very trustworthy and reliable allies.
After charging up the hill, the two 100-man teams valiantly launched an assault at the shield wall erected by the London soldiers. As there was no spell cast on the left side, the charge up the hill did not deplete too much of their strength.
However, the strength of the shield wall was much higher than what the French soldiers had estimated.
The French infantry soldiers held onto swords and they hacked wildly down upon the surface of the shield wall, attempting to open a path among them. At the same time, they also have to face the spear attacks coming out from the gaps of the shield wall.
Brave warriors with no regard to their own lives threw themselves onto the shields, using the momentum behind their charge to open up a path within the shield wall. They used their own lives to open up a gap for their companions to go on the offensive.
However, the two 100-man teams atop the hill soon fell into a bitter struggle.
The commander of the Brittany army regretted – he came to realize that he did not send enough men.
Although he had immediately ordered several 100-man teams to reinforce them, the two 100-man teams atop the hill seemed to have a difficult time holding on.
The soldiers from London forced their way forward and the wall of shields brutally suppressed the soldiers from Brittany. In but moments, more than half of the Brittany soldiers who made it up the hill had fallen.
Finally, the rest of the soldiers too lost the will to go on.
In this era where the soldiers fought with cold weapons, it was impossible to expect them to keep fighting after enduring such a huge amount of casualties.
Some Brittany soldiers simply tossed away the weapons they were holding; they turned around and ran down the hill.
Once the act of retreating began, it quickly spread through the rest of the soldiers. Corpses were littered before the shield wall and the Brittany soldiers in the area hastily made their retreat down the hill.
At that point in time, Chen Xiaolian’s 100-man team finally reached the slope on the left side.
Chen Xiaolian looked at the Brittany soldiers who were dispersing and running down from the hilltop. He shouted.
Team Manchester United formed a line as the soldiers raised their shield to barely form a long formation.
“Come here! Come over here!”
The middle portion of Chen Xiaolian’s team opened up to create a path for the Brittany soldiers to enter his team. At the same time, the soldiers raised their shields to block off the arrows coming from above the hill.
More and more of the Brittany soldiers from the collapsed assault joined in with Chen Xiaolian’s 100-man team.
“Square formation!”
Chen Xiaolian roared loudly as he held up his shield and he calmly organized his team.
At that moment, his 100-man team had doubled in number. Nearly 100 Brittany soldiers had been added into the mix. The Manchester United soldiers who were taking the peripheral position raised their shields up and the square formation came to resemble a turtle shell.
…
“Your Majesty!”
King William was directing his defeated forces back into his armies. He was shouting furiously when he suddenly heard someone shouting from the side.
William lowered his head and recognized the person as the one-armed warrior by Chen Xiaolian’s side.
“Knight of Manchester! Answer me! Why did your team run over to the left?” King William asked with suppressed fury.
Bei Tai exhaled. He ran until he was standing beside King William. Then, he said loudly, “… Garen told me to inform you that he is taking his men to the left to seize the best opportunity to launch an attack for Your Majesty!”
“What? Seize the best opportunity to launch an attack?”
King William was stunned.
In the earlier charge, he had lost over 300 men! Meanwhile, the enemy side had a negligible number of losses!
Such a loss pained King William deeply.
At a time like this, the young Knight of Manchester sent his men to tell me that he wants to help me seize the best opportunity to launch an attack?
…
Chen Xiaolian had already made an exchange.
The spell he exchanged out was the one to increase courage!
Thanks to the spell which blessed them with an aura of courage, his 100-man team was able to raise those shields and take in the defeated Brittany soldiers. At the same time, they were also able to endure the volley of arrows sent out by the archers from the London armies.
Otherwise, considering the standard of soldiers in the medieval period, even with the legendary name of Manchester United on them… these 100 men would have long since fallen apart.
With the aura of courage at work, Chen Xiaolian was somehow able to maintain his team’s formation.
The soldiers bravely held their shields up high in a shield formation to take on the arrow attacks sent out by the London archers.
His square formation did not retreat. Instead, they moved up through the left side of the hill slope!
Behind him, another two 100-man teams sent by the allies Brittany army rushed up to meet up with them.
“Now, we’ll see how the right side acts!” Chen Xiaolian gritted his teeth and directed his square formation to slowly move upward. At the same time, he kept his gaze directed at the right side…
The Flanders army did not disappoint Chen Xiaolian.
They sent out two 100-man teams to charge up the hill. However, it was clear that they were somewhat lacking in morale. The charging speed of the Flanders soldiers revealed that they were not resolute in their attack. Seeing the shield wall and volley of arrows sent out from the hill, the ally army of the right was clearly exhibiting traces of fear.
“Let’s charge!” Chen Xiaolian roared out!
He chose to ignore the chances of the Flanders soldiers attacking up the hill.
Left, middle, right. There were three sides on the slope.
Chen Xiaolian made his bet!
Each use would consume 100 marks!
Back when the Norman forces were attacking up the middle path, the enemy had already used 100 marks to use that spell once.
Chen Xiaolian refused to believe that… the other side would be willing to cast the Flatlands Mire spell on all three ramps!
Doing that would require 300 marks!
Chen Xiaolian’s team had made fairly smooth progress back in the London instance dungeon. They achieved fairly good results. Yet, they only managed to get 300 marks!
The other side… how many points could they have?
The Flanders soldiers had reached the foot of the hill and the soldiers were advancing slowly – however, it was clear that the reason they were so slow was due to fear and low morale as opposed to the effect of a spell!
After making his judgement, Chen Xiaolian acted!
“We’ll charge up!”
Below the hill, the square formation under Chen Xiaolian’s command began moving forward at a rapid pace. Surprisingly, they were moving in the direction of the hill.
They were going to fight their way up!
Behind them, the two 100-man teams sent by their ally, the Brittany army followed them as they charged and moved in a position parallel to theirs.
At the same time, Chen Xiaolian used the guild channel to send a message to Bei Tai.
…
“Your Majesty! Now is the time! Launch an all-out attack if you wish to win this war!”
Bei Tai turned to King William and said with a serious expression.
…
On the left side of the area under the hill, the square formation under Chen Xiaolian’s lead charged up.
As they were halfway up the slope, Chen Xiaolian could feel that his steps were smooth and devoid of that feeling of sluggishness and inability to advance that he felt earlier.
He did not hesitate to once again exchange out another blessing for the aura of courage!
Having used it twice now, the total marks used went up to 100 marks.
…
‘Your Majesty!”
Bei Tai stared at the hesitant King William and shouted furiously, “Do you not wish to win this war anymore?”
King William gasped.
His mind was telling him that this would be an act of madness!
What trick the young Knight of Manchester had was something he could not understand.
At a time like this, he should go crazy together with his crazy subordinate?
Order an all-out attack right now?
After having just lost one confrontation, follow it up with an all-in?
Be a crazy gambler?
Is this… madness?
Logically speaking, he should have his personal guards drag this one-armed madman down and have him brutally whipped!
However… within his heart, a strange voice was screaming madly at him!
Listen to him! Listen to him!
“Tell me! Can we trust you?!”
A voice rang out from behind Bei Tai.
Hearing the voice, King William’s expression relaxed. His eyes swept toward the voice and he saw the face of the one he trusted the most.
Merlin was fiercely staring at Bei Tai!
Bei Tai shouted loudly, “My brother wants me to tell you this! Merlin, do you not believe in the power of the oath?!”
Merlin was startled!
His eyes turned to gaze at the scene unfolding far away.
On the left side of the slope, the square formation under Chen Xiaolian had spread out. Together with the two 100-man follow up teams sent by the Brittany army, they struggled to charge up the hill…
That was meant to be a feint. They used a flanking attack to cover the retreat of the attacking force.
But now… that Xiaolian fellow was enticing King William to initiate an all-out assault?
Should he trust Xiaolian… or not?!
…
“I am willing to bet that our opponents are among that group of soldiers.”
The middle-aged man stood on the hill and cast a cold gaze down at the soldiers charging rapidly up through the left side.
“Do we start our attack now?” Beside her, the blonde woman released an arrow before turning to look coldly at him. She said, “We still have quite some marks left.”
“No hurry! As long as we can protect King Harold in this battle, victory would be ours.” The middle-aged man sneered and said, “Let our friends go first. Tell that young woman known as Phoenix… it’s time for her to show her sincerity in this cooperation. I hope she can bring back the heads of those game participants to me.”
A sharp light flickered off the middle-aged man’s eyes and he continued, “If she cannot accomplish that… then, she will be our enemy! I believe that she would not wish to become an enemy of Thorned Flower.”
…