Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 427: Chapter 58 Square Formation

How many soldiers are needed to form a square formation?

The more, the better, of course.

Because numbers are courage.

Fifty-seven years ago, at the Battle of Spurs, the army supporting Richard’s accession to the throne formed only two square formations but used thirteen thousand musketeers and halberdiers.

Each square formation had more than six thousand men, cumbersome and slow-moving like turtles, but they still won.@@novelbin@@

Richard’s uncle, the Earl of Northumberland Philip, who contested the crown with a large contingent of noble cavalry, suffered a crushing defeat.

After the battle, Philip the Aspirant was beheaded, and the two-year-long war of succession came to an end.

In that battle, Ned of Tormes had just turned nineteen and was an inconspicuous attendant, laughed at by his companions for trembling legs when going into battle, and ran off to the river to cry in secret.

Emperor Richard was a skinny little eleven-year-old called “Little Pea” by his mother.

At that time, Richard was still a child innocent of the world, only wanting to ride horses and play all day, with no one foreseeing the future nickname “The Madman” that he would earn.

As the greatest hero of this battle, Francois of Milborg was appointed the Duke of Arlyon, and for his merciless tactics of leaving no survivors, he was feared and referred to as “The Butcher” by both great and small nobles.

With the impregnable square formation of musketeers and halberdiers, the Butcher Duke henceforth had few defeats in his wars to the south and north.

The long pikes of the square formation were not afraid of the cavalry’s charge, making infantry become the main force of the army once again.

While everyone was rushing to imitate the Butcher Duke, a few perceptive military men had already noticed a flaw: the square formation tactic was a serious waste of manpower, and the larger the square, the more severe the waste.

After every battle, it was common to find that only the soldiers on the outer layer of the square had seen combat.

As for those inside the square… they were just there to bolster the courage of those outside, serving no other purpose apart from shouting and cheering.

If the side outside won, those inside would rush out to chase down the fleeing enemy; if the outside was defeated, those inside could only flee as well.

Thirty years ago, when Ned Smith undertook the reform of square formation tactics, he kept the number of a single square formation to under three thousand. He also reduced the proportion of close-combat soldiers in favor of musketeers and crossbowmen.

The new composite square formation triumphed over the old musketeer and halberdier square. After this tactical innovation, mathematics became a required course for officers.

Because in order to arrange a square formation, one must understand geometry and be skilled at mental multiplication, division, and square root calculations.

And when mathematics became widespread, another new theory was proposed – “Small Square Tactics”: when the number of troops is fixed, the smaller each individual square formation, the more soldiers that can engage the enemy.

But small square formations come with a cost; the smaller the formation, the easier it is to be broken, and the higher the morale requirements for the army.

At this very moment, the Paratu troops facing the Herders are using small square formations.

Ambushed on their way, the commanding officers had only a few seconds to make their decisions.

Colonel Laszlo, the deputy to the brigadier, rode up quickly, speaking rapidly, “I’ll take men to block them! To buy you time!”

“No time!” Sekler commanded calmly, “Use small square formations! Buglers!”

Using shrill bugle calls, army drums, flags, and Spellcasters, the Paratu army relied on these four means of command.

The piercing sound of bugles cut through the roar of horses’ hooves; each battalion responded with the beat of their drums, as the six infantry battalions, marching in columns, swiftly changed formation.

The soldiers immediately discarded their knapsacks, gear, tents, and other miscellaneous items, holding only their weapons and ammunition.

In the rapid rhythm of drumbeats, four close-combat centurions gathered under the battalion flag, forming a solid square formation with the spacing of left to right elbows and six steps front to back.

Long pikes wrapped around halberdiers and sword and shield men, with the battalion flag protected at the very center, while two musketeer centurions were stationed at the four corners of the formation.

Testy sergeants ran between the rows, cursing at disoriented soldiers; if they saw anyone in the wrong position, they would kick them into place, and that’s how quickly the square formations took shape.

Right under the noses of the Herders, the six Paratu infantry battalions formed up back to the water, with the small square formations lined up from east to west along the riverbank.

The enemy cavalry would be upon them in the blink of an eye, and the Paratu musketeers hadn’t even lit their matches.

Seeing this, Sekler made a snap decision, “Have each battalion bring the musketeers in!”

Upon receiving the order, the bugler blew another tune with all the strength he could muster.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert, commander of the Second Battalion of the Sixth Legion, couldn’t hear clearly at first; he closed his eyes to listen carefully, then suddenly shouted, “Roy! Varga! Take your men into the square!”

The two centurions—Lieutenant Roy and Ensign Varga—acted immediately.

Under the leadership of the centurions, the musketeer Pinter retreated into the square formation.

He stopped between two pikemen, holding the flint and tinder close together, striking hard with his fire steel.

Usually, sparking a fire was easy, but not now—it was extremely difficult.

“Dammit!” The thunder of horse hooves was ringing in his ears. Pinter was trembling so badly he couldn’t strike a spark, cursing with every unsuccessful strike, “Dammit! Dammit!”

“Shut up!” Centurion Roy heard him and bellowed angrily, “Silence in the face of the enemy, or be beheaded!”

Pinter shuddered all over, his lips sealing as if glued shut. After a dozen more strikes, the end of the match finally caught a spark.

Relieved as if he had found a treasure, Pinter hurriedly cupped his hands around the tinder, carefully blew on it, and the faint spark grew stronger, with wisps of blue smoke emerging.

Seeing Pinter with a lit match, the neighboring musketeers rushed over to borrow fire.

The vanguard of the Herder cavalry was less than two hundred meters away, closing in with every second that passed.

The Paratu People could already hear the Herd Barbarians’ war cries and see the fluttering red and white feathers atop their heads.

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