Chapter 390: Battle of Salem

August 8, 358 Pendor.

Salem Wasteland.

This day is Leon’s birthday - it is also the birthday of Leon Griffin.

But this special day can only be spent on the battlefield, because Agathon's troops have appeared in Leon's sight.

Of course, Leon deliberately provoked Agasson to take the initiative.

Just as Emperor Marius said, Leon didn't want to take the initiative to attack Castel de Luna. He had more cavalry under his command and was more suitable for field battles.

Moreover, Li Ang's usual idea is to choose the battlefield by himself and choose an environment that his people are more familiar with or more adapted to.

Our ancestors taught us that we should always have one more of the following factors: time, place, and people than our enemies.

However, Leon wanted Agasson to leave Karen Deer Keep, but not to let him enter the Fierce Lion Territory - Agasson was a dangerous man. His ability was shown by the fact that he was able to capture the Qicha Fortress with a solitary army. If he was allowed to enter the heart of the Fierce Lion Territory, it would be really troublesome.

Therefore, the wasteland in the south of Serenmis and the north of Seren Village was the battlefield chosen by Leon.

This place is called the Salem Wasteland. It is an uninhabited area between the Seren Territory and the Bacchus Empire, and the overall terrain is a wasteland with hills.

Most of the area is relatively flat grassland, suitable for cavalry operations; there are also some small hills and woods, suitable for ambushes by the Noldor elves.

This is also the place where General Osa of Bacchus finally decided to withdraw his troops.

Leon's central army was composed of the regular troops of the Sarleon Territory led by Leofric, that is, the troops of various lords. The troops of Hereward, Fothert, Charles and others were also among them, with a total size of about 3,000 people.

The central army was flying Leon's new flag as King Pende, but Leon himself was not here - this was the teaching of our ancestors.

"Agathon has indeed taken the initiative to attack... Lisadiran, send a message to Sigismund and tell him to act according to the plan..."

Leon rode Alice and gave orders from an inconspicuous hilltop.

Lisadilan did not leave Leon's side, but directly lit a red feather arrow and shot it towards the sky in the south direction.

When the feather arrow shot into the sky, it brought up a string of orange-red smoke.

This is Lingjian, a product of the Nodo Factory.

But this kind of command arrow is not a new invention. It has been used decades ago. All you need to do is soak the hemp rope in saltpeter water for two days, then rub a lot of salt into it after drying, and finally wrap it around the arrow shaft together with some leather and sawdust.

Sigismund led a group of infantry and was at the forefront of all Leon's troops.

This unit was once the 'Free Corps', now the New Pendor Second Corps.

In front of them, there was a simple low wall, which was a temporary fortification used to protect against crossbow arrows.

After seeing the command arrow in the sky, Sigismund sighed regretfully: "I am always asked to lure the enemy. I must have been nicknamed the 'Lord of Failure' by now..."

But despite his complaints, he still began to call on his men to prepare for battle.

"Crossbowmen, get ready! No need to attack, just let the enemy charge over! Once they break through this low wall, we will retreat... Do you understand?"

Looking at the Bacchus approaching a few hundred meters away, Sigismund confirmed the order to his men again.

"ha!"

His men answered in unison. This was not the first time they had fought a similar battle. This army had lured the Fallen, Lord Crow Boris, and during the time when Leon was missing, they had also lured Brennus's army in order to counterattack Haringosburg. They had always been 'collapsed at the first touch', but there had never been any major losses.

Since Sigismund led the army alone, he has never won a battle, but he is always ranked first in terms of merit - he was always defeated by orders...

"The Empire Lives Forever!"

The vanguard of the Bacchus Empire had already issued a war cry, and the lightly armed regiment at the front quickened its pace and slightly dispersed its formation.

They were a group of gladiators, and Sigismund was familiar with them—he and his men had also been gladiators in Bacchus.

"Crossbowmen, fire freely! Spears, march out..."

Sigismund also took off his sword and began to give formal orders.

“Wuwu… Wuwu…”

The long French trumpet sounds of the Bacchus heralded the official start of the war.

After the gladiator group approached to two hundred meters in front of Sigismund's formation, they began to run rapidly in a scattered line.

These agile and skilled gladiators were often used by the Bacchus Empire as the first batch of stormtroopers in field battles. Most of them were once criminals, and after fighting a certain number of matches in the arena, they were promoted to regular legions, which meant they had redeemed their sins.

But in the Bacchus army, the status of the gladiator soldiers was relatively low - even though their individual combat effectiveness far exceeded that of ordinary soldiers.

In the Bacchus army, which emphasizes formation and coordination, personal strength does not allow them to obtain any special treatment. On the contrary, their former criminal status will attract a lot of discrimination and prejudice.

Simply put, these gladiators are actually cannon fodder. In field battles, they will be sent as stormtroopers. In sieges, they will serve as assault troops to seize key points on the city walls - these are the most difficult tasks.

At a charge distance , Sigismund's Second Legion fired three rounds of crossbow arrows, and nearly 100 of the gladiator soldiers, totaling about 700 people, were shot down on the way to the charge.

The quality of their armor is not very good...

This was also a common practice in Bacchus' army. The gladiator corps had the worst equipment, and many gladiators could not even get armor. They could only make some leather armor themselves to protect their vital parts.

And now is the hottest time of the summer, and some people even go shirtless.

When they reached the low wall, dozens of them were stabbed down by spears.

"Brothers! Retreat!"

As the gladiators began to climb over the low wall, Sigismund began to retreat.

Leon was on the top of the hill, watching Bacchus's gladiator soldiers pour into Sigismund's formation.

Sigismund's troops collapsed again, and then began to retreat in sections in a seemingly chaotic but actually quite orderly manner.

At this moment, something strange happened.

The gladiator soldiers were still advancing, but the rest of the Bacchus troops stopped three hundred meters behind them.

"Something is not right... Your Majesty, the enemy's center has stopped. They are not following those gladiators!"

Risa Dillan reminded.

"I saw it... It's fine if we can eat up the Gladiator Regiment. Accumulating small victories into a big one is the norm on the battlefield... Let Klose attack, and the other troops don't move."

Li Ang nodded and continued to convey instructions.

Lisadiran shot another command arrow into the sky.

The gladiator group was still advancing forward. Klose rushed out from behind a mound on the side with the Silver Hand and threw a large number of javelins at the gladiators.

Afterwards, Sigismund's troops turned around and fought back, and the two armies surrounded the gladiator regiment with three times the strength.

But the strange thing is that even though the gladiator corps was facing destruction, the central army of the Bacchus Empire remained motionless.

The central army of the Bacchus Empire seemed to have at least 6,000 people, but they were still lined up a few hundred meters away and did not provide any support to the gladiator soldiers.

"What is Agathon doing? He seems to be giving up on those gladiators?! Whether he's advancing or retreating, there should be some movement, right? Have you seen those iron ring centurions under Agathon?"

Li Ang frowned and thought for a while, then turned around and asked.

"No, the cavalry in their center are all light cavalry. Also, I don't see Agasson anywhere, but his flags are everywhere."

Risa Dillan replied.

"It seems that he is hiding on an inconspicuous hill like me... Lisadilan, give me the command arrow, and you go to the right wing and try to find Agasson."

Le Ang was also a little uneasy - he had a feeling that Agathon had deliberately thrown the gladiator soldiers out to die!

But why?

Although the gladiators have a relatively low status, their fighting power is really not low. Wouldn't Agasson feel sad for such a loss?

And...what is he trying to achieve?

Is it to lure out his own ambush?

But this cannot be lured out - I only need two troops to deal with the gladiator soldiers, and the other troops should still ambush!

Leon began to consider various other possibilities.

And Lisadilan rode his horse quickly to the west.

"hohohoooo..."

The sound of a night owl was heard.

"Your Majesty, there are unusual movements in the Bacchus army... There are more enemies than we thought!"

Owl Knight Ors ran to Leon and said, "There is another troop behind their central army. It is a cavalry of more than 3,000 people! They probably started from Boshi City and did not move with the troops from Karen Deer Castle! Currently, this cavalry is advancing rapidly towards our left wing and looks like they are going to go around behind us!"

"There are still three thousand cavalrymen? Where did Agathon get so many cavalrymen?!"

Li Ang was shocked.

According to the information previously obtained, Emperor Marius transferred two legions to the Castel del Castello, namely the Second Legion of Bacchus under Agathon and the Immortal Legion, Marius's own guards.

The Second Legion has a total of 5,000 people, which are the people Le Ang can see now. The Gladiator Corps also belongs to the Second Legion.

The Second Legion of Bacchus originally had only more than 3,000 people, but after returning from Desha, Agasson brought back more than 2,000 war horses, so the Second Legion was expanded by 2,000 cavalry. It is currently a combination of 3,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, making it the largest legion in the entire Bacchus Empire.

A portion of the Immortal Legion could also be seen, arrayed behind the Second Legion.

The two legions together have nearly 8,000 men, which is already a very strong force.

Leon's side included about 3,000 regular soldiers, the Knights of the Silver Hand and the Free Legion totaling nearly 2,000 people, the Knights of the Griffin, the Rangers of the Horncaller, the Rangers of the Silver Mist and other knights with more than 1,500 people, plus Leon's Noldor Guard and the Noldor troops under Islandil, the total strength was 7,500 people.

The forces on both sides were evenly matched. The Bacchus were better at battle formations, while Leon had more cavalry, and several of his troops were capable of archery on horseback.

Li Ang also made targeted deployments for this. He planned to lure the enemy deep into the territory first, stretch out the battlefield, and then launch a flank attack, that is, to implement the "Woodpecker Tactics" in sections.

Sigismund's vanguard was a bait, and the center army led by Leofric was also a bait - in the first stage, Sigismund would lure the enemy, and if the enemy's center army followed up, Leofric would also be "defeated" to lure the enemy, stretching or disrupting the enemy's formation, and then launching a flank attack.

After all, the proportion of cavalry on his side is larger, and Leon does not want to fight a conventional positional battle with the Bacchus - he may very likely lose.

But now three thousand cavalry suddenly appeared - these cavalry were not expected, and Li Ang did not make any prior arrangements.

Moreover, the sudden appearance of the cavalry would inevitably render all previously designed plans invalid.

"Are those cavalrymen the Phoenix Knights? Who is leading them? Are there any flags?"

Leon asked anxiously.

"No, the Phoenix Knights did not participate in the war. They are still in Karen Deer Castle... and they don't have that many people."

Ors shook his head. "Those cavalry are all lightly armed troops, and the weapons they use are all standard equipment of the Bacchus Empire. They look like newly reorganized troops. The flag they use is the flag of Bacchus - we don't know who is leading the army."

"... Could it be that Emperor Marius himself has come... Isn't he seriously ill in bed..."

Li Ang looked at the battlefield and muttered a few words, then pointed to the east: "Ors, go to the left wing and take a look. If that cavalry is just planning to go around behind us, then there is no need to be nervous... But I am worried that they will attack Changhe City! Agasson sent the gladiator soldiers to die, maybe he wanted to deliberately delay my large army!"

On the battlefield, Bacchus's central army was still moving forward slowly, at a very slow speed, and the formation was maintained very well.

The gladiator soldiers were almost wiped out, but few people surrendered.

It was expected that few people surrendered. Leon had recently ordered the cutting off of the right thumbs of the Shadow Legion members. A general like Agathon would definitely make a big fuss about this.

But compared with whether it would be easy for the enemy to surrender, preventing the 1,600 elite warriors of the Shadow Legion from going to the battlefield would definitely be more beneficial - it was not certain whether they could defeat the Bacchus Empire, and there was no need to consider the opponent's opinion on surrender before deciding the outcome.

"Teacher... I think you should withdraw your troops immediately."

Alina's voice sounded behind Leon.

"I think so, actually... But if I withdraw my troops first, I will have to retreat at least 20 miles, which will make me lose my original battlefield advantage, and I may also be ambushed by Agasson..."

Leon answered while staring at the battlefield.

"That cavalry is not Agathon's troop! It should be His Majesty Marius himself! His Majesty Marius is using the Gladiator Regiment as bait to lure your large army to where it is... If it was Agathon, he would not dare to completely abandon the Gladiator Regiment, otherwise it would affect the morale of the Second Legion!"

Alina said to Li Ang very seriously.

"…You're right! Blow the retreat bugle!"

Li Ang shuddered, it was indeed true!

Agathon was only a general, he would not completely ignore the gladiator soldiers who were already fighting against the Silver Hand. This was indeed the work of Marius!

Put a corps into his ambush circle, and then use Agathon's troops to hold the line, so that his main force can't move, and the cavalry on the periphery...

Not sure what his cavalry was going to do.

But no matter what Emperor Marius intends to do, he cannot follow his opponent's intentions!

Li Ang quickly shot a command arrow emitting white smoke into the sky, and then immediately retreated to the rear with Alina.

“Woo… woo… woo…”

The clarion call for retreat sounded.

On this day, Leon's troops killed more than 500 gladiators of Bacchus, but lost their original battlefield advantage.

It's hard to say whether this is a win or a lose.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, Li Ang had won a small victory.

But in Li Ang's eyes, he was actually defeated.

Leon's army retreated twenty miles towards Serenmis, and all the ambush troops were withdrawn, and they set up camp again on a flat ground.

But Bacchus's army continued to move forward slowly and set up camp in Leon's original central camp.

The 3,000-man cavalry, after making half a circle on the flank, also returned to Bacchus' camp.