Chapter 42: First Battle [3]
The imperial soldiers drove the carriages and formed a circular formation, and immediately got off the carriages and blocked the gap between the carriages with their spears and shields in hand.
"Hurry and run! hurry!"
The cry of Bilford running with the conscripts.
Carl frantically turned his head from the horse and looked around.
"Lord Carl! Stay here!"
Catherine, who had grasped the situation before Carl, shouted that, broke out of the formation, and ran towards the conscripts led by Bilford.
"This…Get ready!"
There was nothing Carl could say to the soldiers other than telling them to prepare, which was useless.
But that was enough.
Even as the imperial soldiers saw the group of gnolls undulating like waves, they also saw the back of Carl, who was running at the front and pointing the way.
"Attack!"
chuck! chuck!
The soldiers responded, lowering their posture and aiming their spears over their shields. The sounds made by the armor merge into one, and resonate clearly even with the sounds made by countless gnolls.
\'There are too many gnomes and they are spread out too widely to use the punitive force formation as a stronghold.\'
\'I had no idea there would be this many gnolls. In order to use the punitive force formation as a stronghold, you had to get close to the fence, but the entire flat area around the village was filled with gnomes.\'
A thought passes through Carl\'s head that they could all die right now before they can receive reinforcements through Harman.
But such weak thoughts are of no help.
Carl gritted his teeth and glared at the gnoll that had noticed them and was running towards him.
"Bilford!"
"yes!"
Meanwhile, Catherine, who went to protect the conscript who had been attacked in the side, loudly calls out to Bilford. Bilford quietly escaped the conscripts and moved to the right, in the direction gnoll was running.
Instead of a sword, Bilford pulls out a spear hanging from his horse, blocks the gnoll\'s path, and swings around to sweep around.
Wooow! Wooow!
Although gnolls are intelligent, they are more beast-like monsters whose instincts take precedence over reason. So, rather than seeing them as monster, Bilford, recognized them as one huge figure, and even turned the long spear around, so he couldn\'t approach it easily and just kept them in distence.
While the gnolls stopped, Catherine raised her spear and struck the side of the stopped gnoll.
Whoosh!
Burbubbuk!
Instead of making the mistake of stabbing the spear, Catherine swung her long spear gracefully, avoiding the ax aimed at the horse, and split the gnoll\'s head.
And in a split second, using mana, she used her spear like a beam of light to block all the attacks coming from the gnolls blocking her way at the same time, and slaughtered them.
Boom!
"Attack!"
Gnoll falls defenseless from Catherine\'s spear. Her war horse, trusting her barding, slams the gnoll with her breasts, knocking it down, trampling it to pieces.
Catherine let go of the reins and grabbed hold of the horse\'s waist with both legs. In that state, she swung her spear to her left and right, stirring her gnolls in all directions, then broke through and ran, guarding the rear of the conscripts.
The gnolls are intimidated by the fearsome majesty of the imperial knight and come to a halt. Thanks to this, the conscripts were able to safely join the formation of the punitive force.
Bilford held on, killing gnolls with his spear and pushing them away, until Catherine came in. As Catherine came closer, he entered the formation before her.
Among the conscripts who had joined, Carl selected those with long spears and had them block the gnolls that tried to jump over the carriage.
Then, people with axes or clubs were deployed at any given time to attack the gnolls that came across the carriage.
The crudely but efficiently deployed troops are tense with their spears upright like hedgehogs.
"Focus only on the gnolls that come over the carriage! The soldiers of the Hardion Empire will protect you! Not a single gnoll will dare cross the imperial shield!"
"under!"
The imperial soldiers respond to Carl\'s cries. The conscripts shake off their anxiety and take a deep breath due to the fierce force.
Catherine and Bilford took up their positions with spears in the direction of the village, where the gnolls\' attacks would be concentrated, and Milton, with a slightly pale face, got off his horse and stood in the center where Carl was.
It was meaningless to say that he would entrust the command to Catherine in the event of a battle, but Carl did an excellent job of comforting the soldiers, establishing their formation, and raising their fighting spirit..
"Reinforcements have arrived!"
"Waaah!"
Not only did the arrival of reinforcements increase morale, but in fact, the gnolls surrounded by enemies on both sides could not stand it and rushed towards the punitive force, noticeably reducing the burden on the village of Ax Sound.
Although it did not function perfectly as an fortress, Carl was able to strike at the right time and take the right position to create a formation in a position to put pressure on the gnolls without causing damage.
Seeing the gnoll charging at him on horseback, Carl grasped the hilt of his sword with trembling hands and pulled it out with force.
Wow!
Unlike the hands trembling with fear and tension, the sound of the sword being drawn sharply tore through the air.
Carl bites his lip. Blood flows freely and drips from the tip of my chin.
Carl confidently shouted in a voice that suppressed trembling.
"Fight! For the Empire!"
With a voice clearly audible even in the noise of the battlefield, the punitive force hurled their spears at the charging gnolls.
Carl\'s first battle has began.