Chapter 401: Battle of Buyulin
September 1, 358 of the Pandeli calendar, sunny.
Battle of Buyulin.
This was the toughest battle I have ever fought with His Majesty, even harder than the previous battles against demons like Aigrim - Your Majesty was ambushed by that bastard Agasson!
In fact, everyone, including me, knows that Agathon is extremely loyal to the Bacchus Empire, and his loyalty to Emperor Marius is unquestionable.
So I don’t quite understand why this person who was most loyal to the country and the emperor used the most violent way to disobey Emperor Marius’s will, and even destroyed the good situation that Emperor Marius had exchanged for his life.
Your Majesty said that everyone has a paradise in his heart, and the Bacchus of Emperor Marius is the Bacchus in Agasson's heart.
With Emperor Marius gone, Agathon no longer had a country or emperor to whom he wanted to serve.
Maybe that's true.
But I think this is an irresponsible escape...
People will die eventually. After Emperor Marius passed away, shouldn't the living inherit his legacy? Isn't it more appropriate to build the country step by step into what Emperor Marius wanted?
But His Majesty said that there are many kinds of loyalty.
Some are loyal to the king, some to the people, some to the class, some to the career, some to the reputation, some to the love, some to the gods, and some to themselves.
His Majesty said that Agathon was true to the ideals in his heart.
He could not accept the Bacchus Empire being in a weak position, so he attempted to perish with His Majesty, intending to use this method to weaken the New Pendor Kingdom, bring new opportunities to Bacchus, and awaken the courage of the Bacchus people.
His Majesty believed that Agathon was defending the honor of the Bacchus Empire on his side. He believed that he was sacrificing his life for the cause and that dying on the battlefield was the proper fate for a general.
Therefore, His Majesty engraved the words of praise such as "brave man" on Agathon's tombstone.
But I think that Agathon is actually a coward.
If it is really for the honor of the Bacchus Empire, then he should go to the continent of Amara and restore the original glory of the Bacchus Empire in the land occupied by the Snake Cult - just like His Majesty rebuilt the New Pendor, that is what a true hero is.
I told His Majesty my thoughts, and then His Majesty asked me what I was loyal to...
To be honest, I was stumped by this question at the time.
I spent a long time thinking about this question, and finally I came up with the answer - I am probably only loyal to the promises I make.
I felt a little ashamed at the time, because it seemed a little selfish. Keeping promises is just a basic morality, and this is all I can do, which doesn't seem to be in line with the moral character of a vassal.
But His Majesty was very satisfied. He said that being loyal to one's promise was the highest virtue a person could possess.
His Majesty said that if I wanted, he could give me the title of 'Promise Keeper', or 'The Noble One'.
I don't want these damn titles...
Because by this time I had realized that His Majesty had engraved "Brave" on Agasson's tombstone mainly to appease the Bacchus...
——Excerpt from "New Pendor Battle Diary", written by Lisadilan Aino.
…
"The empire will never be destroyed!"
When two thousand cavalrymen with lances rushed from the flank, Li Ang and his men were advancing step by step towards the Snake Worshipers in front.
In fact, Leon saw the Bacchus troops rushing from the side, and recognized that the ones rushing in the front were the Iron Ring Centurions under Agathon, but he thought these cavalrymen were here to cooperate with him in encircling and suppressing the Snake Cult - Agathon's cavalry cut into the battlefield from the side and dispersed a small number of Snake Cultists along the way. It seemed that they were definitely carrying out a flank attack.
This method of fighting, cutting off the flank of a large enemy force, is exactly what cavalry should do on a large-scale battlefield.
Li Ang even exclaimed in admiration, thinking that Agasson had entered the battlefield at just the right time, and this flank attack would surely plunge the Snake Cult army into complete chaos.
So Leon ordered Klose and Sigismund to lead the infantry to the front quickly, and let Risadilan lead the Noldor to disperse and advance quickly to cover with a rain of arrows.
This was all a natural move to coordinate with the cavalry's flanking attack. They pushed forward head-on and used large-scale arrows to cover the enemy's attack. This would prevent the Snake Cult army from quickly organizing manpower to deal with the cavalry on the side. If Agathon really wanted to flank the Snake Cult army...
But after these two orders were issued, only Wendy and the 200-man guards were left by Leon's side. These were the only 200 cavalry troops Leon had in this battle, and they were also the reserve troops. Leon had been letting his troops advance in formation with their bows and infantry. Except for his guards, the other Noldor warriors did not ride horses.
Just after his own army held off the Snake Cult army, Li Ang discovered that the cavalry did not break into the enemy camp, but made a small arc and rushed straight towards his flag!
This was a sneak attack that no one expected!
At this time, the cavalry was only more than 200 meters away from Li Ang's flag.
"Bastards... they're coming for us! Shoot arrows to stop them!"
Li Ang reacted quickly. After realizing something was wrong, he immediately ordered his guards to block the attack.
He had no intention of negotiating with the charging cavalry. At this time, anyone who disrupted the battlefield must be an enemy!
But Li Ang was somewhat confused - now was the best time to get rid of the Snake Cult army! What the hell was Agasson doing? !
The Noldor guards quickly turned to the side, dispersed and began to shoot arrows to block the attack.
These Noldor rangers were all first-rate in horse archery, but their numbers were too small, two hundred against two thousand, and the enemy was well-equipped heavy cavalry, so it was impossible to stop the enemy's large force from rushing in front of them.
"Leon, you have to leave here!"
Wendy rode her horse in front of Leon, trying to get him to leave the battlefield.
"I can't retreat... My banner is still here! If I retreat, the Snake Cult army will take advantage of the chaos to counterattack, and Agasson may also pursue us - most of the brothers are not riding horses in this battle, we will suffer heavy losses!"
Li Ang looked around and said while gritting his teeth.
Right in front of them, their own troops had already been fighting with the Snake Cult's army, and for the time being they still had a certain advantage in the situation.
This is probably because the Snake Cult's troops did not expect that the cavalry on the side were not heading towards them. They were originally shrinking their defense, so they are currently suppressed by Li Ang's troops.
But the Snake Cult army had a large number of people after all, and seeing that the Bacchus cavalry ignored them, the Snake Cult army had begun to counterattack with all their strength.
Li Ang's troops have already advanced, and they certainly cannot withdraw now, unless they can defeat the Snake Cult's troops. Otherwise, if the infantry formation becomes disorganized or has loopholes, it will lead to a major rout.
On the side, the soldiers of the Shadow Legion fell off their horses one after another under the arrows of the Noldor, but they still charged towards Leon's position.
Moreover, their charging array is gradually dispersing...
It was obvious that these Bacchus people had no intention of maintaining their formation, they were just fighting for their lives!
The cavalry in front was only a hundred meters away from Leon, and Leon could see their faces clearly.
The iron ring centurions rushed to the front, but they did not hold lances, but broad-bladed javelins in their hands.
Except for the Iron Ring Centurion, the other cavalrymen all held lances in their left hands and held shields in their right hands diagonally across their chests, looking very neat.
So many left-handed people?
Of course not. Leon has already realized that these are the Shadow Legion warriors whose right thumbs he had ordered to be chopped off.
They were unable to grasp with their right hands, so they could only hold the gun with their left hand and tie the shield to their right forearm.
If it was these people, then they would have a reason to attack me...
"Stop shooting! Everyone! Grenades ready!"
Li Ang felt a little nervous, but still forced himself to stay calm.
Wendy looked at Leon with some concern, quickly shot an arrow with the bow in her hand, and took out the grenade from her waist.
She recalled the scene when she fought against Aigraim...
At that time, Leon also ordered all the guards to throw grenades at the same time, creating a large number of explosion craters, which ultimately prevented Aigrim's cavalry from rushing to the front.
But at that time we were dealing with those Fallen Warhorses that had poor steering skills, and those Fallen ones didn't have much brains.
But now we are facing the elite troops of the Bacchus Empire...
Oh yeah!
The war horses of Li Ang's two hundred guards have all been trained in explosions.
Wendy thought of the explosion training she had personally conducted - the horses of the Bacchus people had definitely never seen the huge sound and light effects and the smell of gunpowder.
But the problem is that the throwing distance of the grenade is limited...
The Bacchus are very good at throwing spears, which can be thrown much farther than grenades!
Moreover, in order to ignite the grenade, their own troops cannot move and can only stand there and serve as targets.
Wendy has already seen the broad-bladed spears in the hands of the Iron Ring Centurions...
The collective throwing of spears by more than 300 iron ring centurions is very terrifying. It is impossible to dodge or block them, and we will inevitably suffer huge losses...
"Stick the grenade to the arrow and light it!"
When Agathon's cavalry was about a hundred meters away from the guards, Leon gave an inspiring order.
Wendy suddenly realized...
White smoke came out of the hands of the two hundred guards.
"volley!"
The ignited grenade was shot out along with the Noldor arrows. At this time, Agasson's cavalry was only sixty or seventy meters away from the guards.
The iron ring centurions have also raised their javelins and are ready to fire.
But they failed to make the move.
“BOOM BOOM BOOM…!!”
Before the enemy could throw their spears, a series of improvised "explosive arrows" were shot into the Bacchus cavalry!
Fortunately, the Noldor Guards had seen strong winds and waves before, and they were relatively calm. At least they all fired grenades, and no one let these deadly things fall into their own team.
The grenade is very heavy, and it is difficult to control it when it is stuck on the arrow. It cannot be shot too far and is not accurate.
However, an arrow with a grenade attached doesn't need to be accurate...
After a series of explosions, the momentum of Agasson's troops' charge was disrupted, and most of the horses began to run and jump around completely out of control.
The Iron Ring Centurions at the front were the hardest hit. Only a few of them could throw their javelins successfully, and most of them missed the target - of course they couldn't throw the javelins accurately while riding on frightened horses, and it was considered well-trained that they didn't hurt their own people.
Moreover, most of the cavalry was blocked.
Some cavalrymen in the back who were using left-handed pistols were unable to keep their lances and even poked the frightened horses in front - since they were not using their dominant hand, their ability to react immediately was indeed greatly reduced.
"Brothers, take your grenades and charge with me!"
Seeing that the Bacchus' formation was thrown into chaos by the frightened horses, Leon certainly wanted to seize this precious opportunity. He took two grenades from his waist, held a fire lighter in his mouth, and then rushed straight towards the chaotic enemy.
This time, he didn't plan to shoot grenades with arrows. He just wanted to avoid the iron ring centurions throwing spears collectively, so he had to strike first. Now the enemy was in chaos, and rushing over to mess them up even more was a better choice.
“Boom…boom…boom…boom…”
After another round of intermittent explosions, the battlefield became filled with smoke. After confirming that most of the enemy's horses were out of control, Li Ang began to retreat with his troops.
He had seen that most of the Bacchus people had jumped off their horses and were surrounding him - the enemy would not hesitate to suffer losses, they would rather kill him at any cost!
“Follow me!!”
He shouted , asking the guards to follow him.
But at this moment, a crossbow arrow was shot into the sky, carrying thick red smoke.
Moreover, the crossbow arrow shot obliquely at the top of Li Ang's head!
Command arrow... is this marking my location?!
Li Ang looked at the location where the crossbow arrow was shot from, and sure enough...
Agasson was there.
Li Ang happened to make eye contact with Agathon.
Agasson was no longer riding a horse and was holding a crossbow in his hand. When he saw Leon looking at him, he bowed slightly to Leon.
But then, he dropped the crossbow and drew out his sword, pointing the tip of the sword at Li Ang, and opened and closed his mouth to give some orders.
The battlefield was in chaos and Leon could not hear his voice, so he could only retreat and call on his guards to launch a volley at Agathon's position.
It was unknown whether the volley had any effect, and there was no time to check, because the war cry of the Bacchus was heard again.
"The empire will never be destroyed!"
Along with the war roar came the footsteps of thousands of people and hundreds of broad-bladed spears flying in arcs!
Agathon had ordered all his troops to abandon their horses and start charging on foot in a skirmish state!
There are no queues, no military formations, just a pure charge, throwing javelins or firing crossbow arrows as you charge!
The most troublesome thing is...
They are attacking indiscriminately!
They don't care at all whether there are any of their own people within the target range!
Casualties began to occur among the guards.
They could not hold on any longer. Although the enemy had no horses, they still had a huge advantage in numbers. More than a thousand people were closing in on Li Ang.
Although Leon's men were all cavalry, they had no space to fly a kite - the ground was full of Bacchus, who were surrounding them in a completely scattered state, and the crossbow range of the Bacchus was longer than that of the guards...
But Li Ang could not retreat for the time being. The battle between the large army and the Snake Cult was still going on. Li Ang did not dare to leave the front battlefield alone with his guards.
Otherwise, Agasson would certainly turn to attack his main force, which would be caught in a pincer attack and would most likely be defeated, or at least suffer irreparable losses!
Moreover, perhaps because of the explosion and chaos they saw on Leon's side, the Snake Cult army seemed to become more and more courageous!
This is probably what Agathon wants - he wants Leon to suffer huge losses, and he wants the Bacchus Empire to maintain a stronger military force than the New Pendor Kingdom!
Even if this would allow the Snake Cult to break through...
"Leon! Withdraw... You must leave here!"
Wendy was anxious. She no longer cared whether she would be defeated or not. If this continued, Leon would be in great danger!
"No... follow me! Let's move forward..."
Li Ang gritted his teeth and pulled up his battle flag.
"forward?!"
Wendy panicked.
"Yes...I'm going to charge into the Snake Cult army!"
Li Ang waved his battle flag and rushed towards the Snake Cult army on the front battlefield: "Agathon! Do you want to kill me? Come on! Come and kill me!!"
