Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World

TL: Etude

“Father in heaven!”

Angelo and the others who stayed behind were dumbfounded. In less than half an hour after the battle began, two out of their four detachments had already scattered in disarray. Shocked, they forgot to send out archers for reinforcement.

From their distance, they couldn’t clearly see what kind of weapon the enemy was using. According to the descriptions of those who came back for help, the Alda people were using a powerful “fire crossbow.” Just a flash of fire would send countless bullets flying towards them with tremendous force. Those militiamen who wore no armor were killed upon impact, and even a slight touch caused injuries.

Just as the soldier finished speaking, the lords saw another group at the forefront fall, and the soldiers started fleeing in all directions. Then, the third square formation was ‘opened’ with several large gaps, and they watched helplessly as the entire detachment collapsed instantly.

The most miserable at this moment was Baylding’s second square formation. The units in front and behind had already dispersed, leaving them isolated in the middle. Continuing to advance could lead to the same fate, yet they had not received orders to retreat from their lord. This left everyone, from the knights in command to the soldiers below, in a state of dilemma.

The knight commanding the fourth square formation saw the hesitation in front and also stopped advancing, standing and observing from his position.

According to Paul’s original plan, a volley from the musketeers followed by a charge from the pikemen was supposed to completely rout the first square formation. But now, before they could even charge, most of the enemies had already fled. The cautious Paul instructed Bryce not to pursue the fleeing soldiers, as he did not want the units to be too far apart in case they were flanked by enemy cavalry.

Thus, Paul ordered all units to advance collectively. The marching drum was sounded, and two regiments and one company marched forward slowly to the rhythm of the drum.

…

Aibut’s face turned pale: “We can’t go on like this!”

Angelo anxiously said, “Let’s gather all the knights and militiamen for a charge to break them!”

The two barons were terrified and pleaded earnestly.

“My lord, please consider carefully! Nearly all the labor force from our territories is here.”

“If they all die here, there will be no one to work our lands, and our women, children, and elderly will starve!”

The Alda’s terrifying weapon had already frightened them. In their minds, only the evil magic of legends could wield such cruel power.

These small lords had relatively few people in their territories. They had brought almost all the able-bodied men they could muster, both to please the two viscounts and to hope for more loot and a larger share of the spoils when they reached Alda territory.

Seeing the previous confidence of the two viscounts, they had thought it was going to be a grand armed parade that would be over in a few days, without affecting the farm work. They never expected to encounter such a significant setback before even starting.

Angelo furiously exclaimed, “To hell with the territories! To hell with the women, children, and elderly! Don’t forget what we did to old Ganard. This is not just an ordinary dispute between lords! If Grayman wins, do you think paying him off will settle it? Do you think you can continue to be lords peacefully? We’ll all be thrown in jail, we’ll all be hanged, and all our properties will be confiscated!”

He menaced the two barons with a fearsome face: “Your families will be reduced to slaves, your wives and daughters will be at Grayman’s mercy, but by that time, you’ll already be hanging on the gallows.”

The two barons were petrified by Angelo’s description of the horrific scenario and fell silent.

Aibut, however, was somewhat calm: “Seeing the effect of the enemy’s weapon, a direct charge will likely lead to another disastrous defeat!”

Angelo, frantic, demanded, “Then what do you suggest we do?”

He was adept at politics but had only a rudimentary understanding of military matters. Despite his intimidating threats to the barons, he was actually at his wits’ end.

Before the battle, he was full of confidence, but after it began, he realized that the enemy was not what they seemed. The feeling of falling from the clouds was far from pleasant.

Aibut instructed the soldier who came for help, “Ride a horse and tell the remaining two detachments to spread out as much as possible, don’t cluster so tightly.”

He regretted deeply in his heart. The enemy’s weapon was similar to bows and arrows. If they hadn’t advanced in such tight formations earlier, they wouldn’t have suffered so many casualties in an instant.

The infantry, to defend against cavalry charges and to create a greater density of weapon attacks within the same frontal width, stood very close to each other, front, back, and sides. This ironically enhanced the lethality of the Alda army’s firearms.

He was furious with the knight who had commanded the troops earlier: “Grayman has no cavalry, and we outnumber them. Why did we form such tight ranks?”

But regret was useless now. He said to the other three lords, “Send the archers to follow and suppress their long-range weapons. Let the front men disperse and entangle the Alda, draw their attention, and I will lead all the knights to flank them from the right and charge their rear!”

Everyone agreed, and orders were given to assemble all the knights to follow Aibut in the charge. Messengers also ran forward to convey the new orders.

The knights assembled quickly, forming an attack formation in no time and charging forward.

In peacetime, knights from neighboring territories would occasionally gather for martial contests or group hunting. Contests were for honing individual martial skills, while hunting was to improve the knights’ teamwork.

Although this form of training could not match the group combat capabilities of regular knight orders that trained together year-round, in a rural area like the northwest, once they assembled, they were an unbeatable force.

With the remaining infantry on the battlefield as cover, Aibut led the knights in a wide arc, charging towards the rear of the Alda army from the right flank.

…contemporary romance

There was a change in the formation of the Baylding people. The commanding knight shouted, “Spread out, everyone, spread out! Once you disperse, their weapons won’t hit you.”

The soldiers clumsily pulled away from each other, and the two square formations gradually merged into a shapeless mass, looking from afar like a loosely scattered group of people.

This also brought difficulties in command. When the knight ordered to advance, many did not hear and stood bewildered in place.

On the Alda side, the musketeer and artillery squads fired again, but the effect was not ideal. Firstly, the distance was too great, and secondly, the enemy’s formation had become loose, drastically reducing the hit rate. However, it still caused another wave of panic among the enemy.

Paul commanded, “It’s time for our pikemen to take the field. Tell the artillery to fire a couple of rounds of grapeshot, and then both regiments will charge together to break them.”

Since the solid shot from the cannon was ineffective against the enemy’s loose formation, they switched to grapeshot to increase the area of damage.

At this moment, a soldier noticed the enemy’s knights attempting a flank attack from the rear and quickly sounded the alarm.

A staff officer shouted in slight panic, “Count, the enemy’s knights have circled to our rear!”

Paul was alarmed, preoccupied with the infantry in front and hadn’t expected the enemy’s knights to sneak up from behind.

“Back two rows, turn around! Prepare to resist the charge!”

Fortunately, they discovered it in time. With a large number of enemy infantry still in front, he decided not to form a hollow square.

Another command was issued to the artillery: “Quick! Turn the cannons around and bombard the approaching enemy knights!”

As the artillery received Paul’s new orders, they had just finished loading the grapeshot…

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