Chapter 67： meet the enemy

At dawn on September 3, when the first ray of sunlight hit the earth, the Arda army, which had gathered near the border for two days, began to march towards Butuya, the capital of Berdin.

According to the intelligence, the four traitors gathered all their troops in Butuya. They planned to spend 3 to 4 days preparing the ordnance and supplies for combat before attacking Arda. This kind of logistical efficiency made Paul complain a lot, no need for you I've traveled all the way, I'll go there by myself.

Since this is the first collision between the new military system established by Paul and the more "regular" military forces in this world, he attaches great importance to it, leading some officers of the staff department to personally command, and the chief of staff, Schroeder, to lead the rest of the staff Sitting in Huxin Town, command the militia forces to deal with emergencies.

There was Bairdin's sentry on the border, and the news that Arda's army had crossed the border was sent back to Butuya by fast horses. He was shocked by the speed of the opponent, and at the same time, Abt wanted to lead the troops to intercept Paul immediately, but the scheming Angelo persuaded them to wait for work in the city of Butuya, and finally everyone agreed with Angelo's plan.

At around 4 p.m., the small city of Butuya appeared in Paul's sight. Through the telescope, he found that Angelo and others had already formed a formation in front of the city gate.

When they got close enough, the opponent's deployment gradually became clear in the telescope: the main composition of the rebel army was four infantry phalanxes lined up, each with about 500 people, each of which was composed of a group of soldiers standing in front. Commanded by a knight, more than half of the people in each phalanx held uniform spears, and the weapons of the others were all in disorder, and some even held pitchforks, hoes and other agricultural tools. Behind the four phalanxes, about 30 archers formed a horizontal team.

In the middle of the four phalanxes, there are four people wearing very gorgeous armor and riding on horses. They are probably the four traitors of the Gardner family. About 30 people. The high mobility of these 30 people is what worries Paul the most. The knights are all wearing armor. Although they are not as gorgeous as their lord's armor, they are also well-made, and they protect every vital part of their bodies tightly. In comparison, the equipment of the subordinates was much simpler. Some were wearing chain armor, while others had no protection at all.

As Arda's army got closer and closer to Butuya, they finally appeared in the sight of the rebels.

Angelo revealed a contemptuous look, and said disdainfully, "Hehe, what a fool! After all, he is still too young, but he is so arrogant after exterminating a few third-rate pirate groups."

Baron Amos next to him asked curiously, "Why does your lord say that?"

Angelo explained: "They set off at dawn, and they have already traveled for nearly a day. Paul Greiman may think it's okay to ride a horse, but his soldiers are probably exhausted. How much energy is left for fighting?"

Although he knew nothing about military affairs, Baron Amos still felt hot on his face, and he didn't realize such a simple reason.

When the distance between the two sides was 300 meters, the Arda army stopped advancing. Paul ordered the artillery company to build a firing position on a nearby high ground, and sent a platoon of spearmen to assist the artillery and provide protection. At this time, a knight holding a white flag ran over from the rebel army. The battle had not yet started, and holding the white flag naturally meant to come to negotiate.

Sure enough, the knight came to the front of Arda's army and shouted loudly: "Count Greyman, Lord Angelo asked me to send you a message. If you release Earl Ganard and give ten thousand silver coins, Bairdin will No longer will you be held accountable for the crimes you committed. If you continue to persist in your obsession, we will defeat your army, occupy your territory, and bring you to the Northwest Duke for trial."

"Hey!" Paul was amused by what the knight shouted. He pointed at the knight with a whip and said loudly, "Go back and tell those traitors, wash your necks and wait to be slaughtered! I will use them head for a chamber pot."

The knight estimated the size of Arda's army, and there were probably more than a thousand people. The queues are quite neatly lined up, wearing clothes of the same color and uniform style, it has a feeling of eye-catching, but what's the use of this? They faced twice as many enemies as themselves. And even more deadly, except for a few officers on horseback, there was no other cavalry force in Arda's army, and the outcome of this battle was already determined.

"Stupid!" After hearing Paul's reply, the knight sighed in his heart, then turned his horse's head and ran towards his own people. Soon he came to Angelo and the others, and relayed Paul's reply to them. And described the general situation of Arda's army.

"Hahaha!" Angelo and the others couldn't help laughing after hearing the knight's description. There was no suspense about the outcome.

An Qiluo looked around the crowd and said, "Everyone! We have the advantage in numbers, we have the advantage in physical strength, and we also have the advantage in terms of location. If we stand still here and wait for the poor army on the opposite side to attack us, it will be reported that It will be ridiculed. I suggest - we will attack."

…

Just when Paul was hesitating whether to continue forward and take the initiative to attack, or to stimulate the opponent to attack himself, he found that the phalanx of the rebels began to move towards him so he immediately ordered to prepare to meet the enemy.

As the order was issued, the spearmen of the two battalions and the musketeers of one company quickly changed from a marching column to a linear battle formation, while the mortar platoons directly under the two battalions were deployed in the gaps between the teams .

In order to test the actual combat effect of the large-scale equipment of muskets, Paul ordered the artillery not to fire when they received clear instructions. He instructed the musket company commander Dempsey to direct the musketeers to shoot.

"Check equipment...light the matchlock..."

With the loud order of the company commander Dempsey, the soldiers of the musket company took off the matchlocks on their bodies one after another, took out the torches and lit them.

"Load ammo!"

Thanks to the rigorous training and fixed ammunition in paper shells on weekdays, it took the soldiers less than a minute from removing the muskets to loading the ammunition.

While the musketeers were loading ammunition, the mortar platoons deployed in the gaps between the teams also fixed the gun bodies, loaded with shotguns, and were ready to fire at any time.

On the rebel side, with the movement of the four phalanxes, the originally neat formation began to become chaotic. After walking for more than 100 meters, the phalanx was no longer visible, just like Paul’s first review at the Huxin Town Square The scene in the army.

Seeing the enemy getting closer and closer, Company Commander Demps once again emphasized to his soldiers not to fire before receiving the order. In order to get a better hit rate, they must wait until they are close enough to the enemy before firing.

It wasn't until the rebels were only more than 100 meters away from the Arda army that Captain Dempsey gave the order: "Get ready to shoot!" The soldiers fixed the matchlock on the serpentine pole, the **** of the gun rested on the shoulder, the muzzle was flat, and aimed at the moving gun. in the enemy.

"First row, fire!"

Finally, the long-awaited moment for Paul arrived.