Chapter 386: Chapter 368 The Battle of Black Mountain (13)
The clear sound of hoofbeats echoed by the ear, but Mormon did not raise his head, he knew it was the Holy Gun Cavalry led by Saint Jeanne.
Or rather, Witch Jeanne leading the Wizard Cavalry.
The Ruo’an Faction once proposed researching a spell that could be cast quickly and then training wizards as cavalry to counter knights.
Unfortunately, they had neither spells nor horses.
As the border between subtropical and tropical climates, Black Snake Bay is truly unsuitable for horse breeding, filled with monsters, beasts, swamps, and forests.
Moreover, being descendants of fugitives, heretics, and wizards, the Black Snake Bay people are inherently resistant to becoming "knights."
For the wizards within Black Snake Bay’s Secret Faction, "not cooperating with the Empire or Church" is an ironclad rule.
The initial founders of the Secret Faction came to Black Snake Bay with endless hatred for the Empire and the Church and made this vow.
They deliberately set this oath to prevent future generations of the Secret Faction from collaborating with the Church.
The consequences of breaking the oath are equally severe; for the relatively mild Secret Faction, generally, the traitors are beheaded.
As for the more brutal but unnamed Ruo’an Faction, they offered choices such as dismemberment and becoming human swine, and even worse, their family members are exiled collectively.
Wizards born in Black Snake Bay are educated in hatred against the Empire and the Church from a young age.
Under this iron rule, for decades, the number of wizards betraying each year never exceeded thirty.
Even in the wizard slave camps, those wizards refuse to accept any remuneration for their work, as that would mean cooperating with the Empire or Church.
Even if no one knows, one day encountering a wizard or witch of the mind discipline could bring bad luck.
"Crack—" The fireball crossbow wagon in front was jolted by stones, but Mormon still did not look up.
Gritting his teeth, he pushed the fireball crossbow with all his might, stepping forward.
As all horses were used to pull Horn’s leather Spring Cannon, they could only choose this most primitive method to push the fireball crossbow to the designated crossbow position.
The wheels rolled over the ground, crushing the grass and releasing a pungent grassy smell.
Instead of soothing him, the cool grassy scent only intensified the heat in Mormon’s heart.
Before the battle, this combat plan was issued according to Horn’s instructions to numerous professionals for discussion.
Based on Horn’s past experience, plans not widely discussed by professionals are highly likely to have errors.
The Pope Country has previously made a fool of itself more than once.
After all, such plans, though ideally sound, may not always be feasible in practice.
The evaluation of the "wizard factor impact" in the combat plan was left to Patrick and Mormon.
According to the "non-cooperation" rule, the two judged the plan’s location as "extremely suitable."
Although Mormon didn’t know what Patrick’s face looked like now, he could roughly guess it would not be very good.
Until now, he still found it hard to believe that those comrades from the wizard slave camps would side with Nidesar.
Mormon knew almost every one of them!
Did they forget how Nidesar enslaved them? No betrayal for over a decade under threats and inducements, why suddenly betray today?
What’s happened has happened, and the only thing Mormon can do is try to make up for it.
"Stop when we reach the crossbow position!"
Raising a sweaty head from behind the crossbow wagon, Mormon did not pause for a moment as he firmly grasped the magic staff on the wagon lever, the scorching breath immediately spreading around.
"Astrologer, where’s your star chart? Quickly divine."
"Don’t rush me, don’t rush me, I’m calculating!"
......
"Another round?"
Horn put down the telescope in his hand, his astonished voice drowned by the orderly sound of footsteps beside him.
He was even more surprised than Nidesar: "How did these Hand Cannon Cultivators fire a second round? They can even stand!"
The Hand Cannon Cultivators who fired a second round last time are now drooling and urinating in the nursing home.
Yet these Hand Cannon Cultivators even managed to lift a crescent axe and charge with the Long Spearman?!
If it was just one person, it could be explained by a burst of adrenaline, but a whole brigade together seemed somewhat unusual.
If they could win this battle, after the victory, surely they must carefully ask the captain of that Hand Cannon Brigade how it was achieved.
However, whether the Hand Cannon Brigade played extraordinarily or not has little impact on the battlefield itself; when Nidesar led all Nikosak Knights and knight squires to charge at the Left Wing Army, his flaw was revealed.
After the previous quick march, Horn should have arrived long ago, but instead of appearing behind Jeska to support him, he moved to the front of the right-wing car fort.
Contrary to most people’s belief that the battle between Jeska and Nidesar was the critical point, Horn believed his position was the key to victory or defeat on the battlefield.
The telescope slowly turned, and the Night Guard and Leather Armor Soldier phalanx in a 30X60 column were quickly advancing towards Horn’s right wing army.
At the center, Victor, after repelling an assault by Zelaken’s henchman knights, smoothly received support from the two legions led by Hakuto from the left wing army.
In Hakuto’s original position, archers were left behind, exchanging passionate shots with the Kush Knights who were still idling.
The eight legions transformed from a diamond formation to a right-slanted crescent formation, with all forces beginning to tilt to the northwest flank.
Those two Imperial Guard regiments stood firm in front of the car fort just before Horn raised his telescope.
A sea of armor and chain mail leaped up before his eyes, with upright spears and pikes glistening under the midday sun.
"Is the fireball crossbow in position?" Horn drew the Blood Covering Cloud from his belt.
"The fireball crossbow is in position."
"What about the cuirassiers?"
"Still a bit off."
"And Jeanne and the Holy Gun Cavalry?"
"They are about to engage the Nikosak, oh no, they are already fighting with the Nikosak Knights."
......
"It’s okay, I’m fine."
After pushing aside other Nikosak who helped him up, Nidesar let out an unintelligible roar of anger.
Seeing their commander safe and sound, the Nikosak immediately let out high-spirited war cries.
Mounting his horse again, he spat a mouthful of bloody foam onto the ground, forcibly suppressing the lingering fear in his heart.
Just as he engaged the Holy Gun Cavalry, a lead bullet narrowly grazed past his octagonal conical helmet.
Although it didn’t cause him much harm, the intense sound when the bullet grazed past made black blood flow from his ear holes.
Even now, all sounds seemed to pass through a membrane to his ears.
I shouldn’t have hesitated just now, Nidesar thought bitterly, wiping the blood off his lance with a cloth strip.
His nature of suspicion and his mindset of preparing thoroughly before battle trapped him, as just a few seconds of hesitation allowed the Holy Gun Cavalry to catch up.
The front line of Nikosak had just been blown through by the Holy Wind, naturally pierced through in a wave, causing the henchman knights to flee for their lives.
Nidesar had to lead the remaining Nikosak and henchman knights to charge upward, with both sides fighting back and forth before regrouping their formations.
Nevertheless, the Holy Gun Cavalry didn’t get away unharmed; the Nikosak were knights of at least six-level breathing techniques, averaging as Square Banner Knights.
Most of the Holy Gun Cavalry only had breathing techniques of two to four levels, the only fearsome thing being their indestructible Holy Wind.
At a distance of ten meters, even a Square Banner Knight hit by a shot would be knocked off their horse.
However, in the previous exchange, the Nikosak only suffered more than twenty casualties, while the Holy Gun Cavalry neared fifty in deaths and injuries.
Should we retreat? Nidesar hesitated once again.
In just a few seconds, he heard the war cries of the infantry launching their full assault, which resolidified his decision—not the time to retreat yet.
"Prepare to charge... wait!" Nidesar squinted at the Salvation Army soldiers who occasionally raised their heads.
It seemed like he remembered something and lifted his head, scanning the sky.
In the sky, a giant sand-colored eagle was circling repeatedly, issuing urgent cries.
Just now, he was too engrossed in the battle and distracted by the lead bullet, only now did Nidesar notice it.
Understanding the situation, he looked towards the left-rear, directly below the circling center of the sand eagle.
There was a cavalry unit of about a hundred men, moving silently without wearing any armor, hidden amid the thunderous war cries.
At some point, a group of about a hundred cuirassiers appeared at the edge of the battlefield, hidden beneath the shade of trees.
Hidden beneath the tree shade, the swiftly moving cuirassiers had appeared on the edge of the battlefield...
Putting these three key points together made Nidesar feel his face go numb, his hands and feet trembling slightly, a premonition of blood rushing to his face.
The target of these cuirassiers was not himself, but the traitor wizards in the distance!
A surge of blood rushed to his head, and in a dizzy spell, he immediately issued the order: "Forget it, quick, quickly turn and intercept those cuirassiers."