Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 404: Chapter 46_2

His phalanx was too small, too thin; only a single row of spearmen surrounded it—a charge would scatter them.

It all came down to whether the Herders feared death, whether they dared to break through and create a breach.

Would the Herders lose their nerve first, or would the Paratu People collapse?

“Grip your spears tight! Hold your positions!” Winters desperately called forth the militia’s courage, “Running will get you killed just the same! Protect your brothers-in-arms!”

The charge of the Herder Cavalry felt like an unstoppable torrent of floodwater, about to kill at any moment.

“Lord forgive me,” a spearman facing the onslaught trembled and shut his eyes.

“Clang!”

“Clang!”

A series of urgent gong sounds came from the hillside.

The Herder Cavalry who were charging at Montaigne’s centurion unit immediately turned away—not just them, but other Herders in the valley disengaged from the melee and retreated toward the slope.

“We’ve won!” Xial shouted excitedly.

The Paratu People raised their arms and cheered.

On the hill, a rider from the Red Plumes asked angrily, “Why? Why are we retreating?”

“Let’s wait for Haug Koda to arrive,” Kota with the broad axe buckled his helmet, “We can’t win just by ourselves.”

“Who says we can’t win?” the Red Plume grew anxious.

“I say so. If you’re not blind, you’d see it too,” Kota replied.

The Red Plume, furiously said, “Retreating now, wouldn’t our warriors have died in vain? Hold on a little longer, maybe the bipeds will break.”

“Continuing the fight will just use up all of the warriors from the Erdet Tribe, and we still wouldn’t win,” Kota said with a glare in his eyes, “Thus, we should retreat even faster! What, you have an objection?”

The Red Plume withered, murmuring softly, “What could I possibly object to… What about Mangtai?”

“You go call him back.”

…@@novelbin@@

In the Allied Army, there is a tradition of “using the large to control the small”; when two centurion units fight together, the centurion with higher rank and experience takes command.

The Herders have a similar custom; when two Kotas from the same Haug work together, they choose the most commanding Kota to lead all their forces.

Two Herder centurion units were catching up to the Paratu People, led by Kota and Mangtai

Traditionally, Kota would be the supreme commander, but Mangtai from the Ula Department was not convinced.

Kota gave Mangtai a simple task: feign an attack on the convoy to draw away another unit of Paratu People on the hillside.

However, the bipeds on the hill didn’t follow; instead, they charged down into the valley to join the fray.

“Mangtai! What do we do?” the Decurion Shulji asked, “Should we go back?”

“Go back for what?” Mangtai gritted his teeth, “All of the two-legged folks’ soldiers are down there, and there’s no one guarding the wagons. If they don’t follow us, we turn the feint into a full attack!”

More than fifty Herder cavalrymen crossed the ridge and swooped down upon the unprotected convoy.

But things didn’t go as the Herders expected; the bipeds didn’t panic or scatter and run.

The unarmed porters and merchants all ran towards several four-wheeled wagons. It seemed they wanted to use the wagons as a fort to hold their ground.

In the process of forced march, Lieutenant Bard had improvised modifications to six four-wheeled wagons to cope with emergencies.

The goods in the modified wagons were cleared out to make room for more people to stand;

The wooden boards around the wagons were raised higher, creating shapes resembling battlements, for protection against arrows.

“What now?” a Herder cavalryman beside Mangtai panicked.

“What’s there to fear? You gutless wretch,” Mangtai couldn’t help but curse out, “Just because the two-legged cowards aren’t formed up, you’re scared by a few wagons?”

The modification of the large carts was minimal, and there was not enough time to adjust their positions, so they were not linked end to end in a circle.

Positioned like a plum blossom, the six large carts were surrounded not by other carts, but by the Paratu People who stood around the wagons, encompassing the large carts within a wall of people, creating an unusual “wagon formation.”

The Paratu People holding crossbows stood inside the carts, while those backed against the wagons were armed with a motley assortment of weapons, including just about anything.

The strangest of all was the middle cart: an old man with a white beard stood on top of it, holding up a golden brocade sutra streamer and shouting loudly.

Due to the language barrier, the Herders couldn’t understand what the old man was yelling.

“Look! Those bipeds over there all have matchlock guns!” Mangtai pointed out a weakness and pointed towards a large cart with his saber, “Crush them, and the rest of the bipeds will scatter.”

The Herders didn’t have many firearms, but that was due to trade embargoes. Even the Herders knew that matchlock guns were outdated junk discarded by the times.

“That’s the spot, follow me!”

The Herder Cavalry circled the wagon formation with odd yells, harassing the Paratu People with bows and javelins to apply pressure.

Suddenly, Mangtai charged at the matchlock gunners, with the other riders close behind their leader.

The thundering sound of hooves crushed the morale of the matchlock gunners, one of whom, trembling, ignited the match of the matchlock gun tucked under his arm.

A gunshot rang out, followed by the rest of the matchlock gunners firing their weapons; even the crossbowmen couldn’t help but pull their triggers.

However, the Herder Cavalry did not charge forward; they only approached within about forty meters before changing direction.

What seemed like a menacing charge was only a feint, designed to lure the gunners into firing.

The real attack came afterward, with the Herder Cavalry taking a detour before charging at the matchlock gunners once again.

“[Herde Language] Slaughter them!” Mangtai, raising his saber high, led the charge, roaring, “[Herde Language] A used matchlock gun is just scrap metal!”

However, the Paratu People did not seem panicked and showed no signs of breaking ranks and fleeing.

“Why aren’t they afraid?” Mangtai thought furiously, “Why aren’t they running?”

In the blink of an eye, just before impact, the last thing Mangtai saw was the bipeds stuffing something that resembled long daggers into the muzzles of their matchlock guns.

…

The pursuit by the Herders had been repelled.

By noon, all the personnel and horses of the baggage train had entered the riverside camp.

Later that day, three Herders came to the fore of the camp, spears carrying helmets.

“What does this mean?” Andre asked, puzzled.

“The Herders want to negotiate,” Colonel Jeska said coolly, squinting, “If they want to talk, let’s talk. Lieutenant Montaigne, come with me; let’s hear what they have to say.”

The Colonel and the Lieutenant, along with Bell as an interpreter, rode out of the camp gate.

The Herders dismounted first, laid down their weapons on the ground, seemingly signaling they meant no harm.

Winters, unfamiliar with the Herders’ negotiation customs, followed Colonel Jeska’s lead and did the same.

Nonetheless, the Lieutenant remained vigilant, keeping two iron nails hidden in his hand.

One Herder, who appeared to be a retainer, took out an entire bear skin and spread it on the grass between the two parties.

The leading Herder sat down on the bear skin first and gestured for Colonel Jeska to take a seat.

The Colonel snorted coldly and also sat down heroically.

Two grown men sat staring at each other on a bear skin.

Winters stood tense behind the Colonel, ready to spring into action at any moment.

The Herder spoke, and to their surprise, his Continental language was impeccably fluent, “Gentlemen, surrender your baggage, and I’ll allow you to leave with your weapons and flags. Don’t resist needlessly; General Yanosh is dead, and you have lost.”

[Note: The Continental language is what the Alliance calls it, also known as the Common Tongue. In the Empire, it is called Imperial Tongue. They share the same roots, with only minor differences in dialects and accents.]

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