Chapter 241 Hollow Square Array 1
"Bayonets!" "Bayonets!"
With a clattering sound, the Alda soldiers drew out their bayonets and put them on the muzzles of their guns.
"Officers, move forward!"
Bryce roared, and the deputy commander Joyce immediately repeated his order: "Officers, move forward!"
No one moved, because the officers of each company, platoon, and squad stood in the front row of their own team at the beginning.
The cavalry of the Kent family was getting closer and closer, and they were less than 500 meters away from the square.
"Ready!" "Ready!"
The outermost row of soldiers on both sides of the square facing the cavalry immediately knelt on one knee, the second and third rows of soldiers still stood, and the third row of soldiers passed the muskets through the gaps between the soldiers in front, and the muskets in the hands of the three rows of soldiers were pointed forward.
"Hold steady, hold steady!"
"Don't shoot without orders!"
Makarov whispered to the people around him that many people would not be able to help but shoot in advance when facing a high-speed enemy, regardless of whether the enemy was in range, especially those recruits who had never been on the battlefield.
Jos nervously wiped his sweaty left palm on his body, and then pulled the trigger again. This guy was left-handed when he first used the musket. Others held the gun with their left hand and pulled the trigger with their right hand, but he held the gun with his right hand and pulled the trigger with his left hand. After a period of training, this habit was forcibly corrected by Sergeant Makarov, who strictly abided by the "1991 Infantry Training Regulations" (compiled and issued by the General Staff). However, in this tense moment with a powerful enemy, he unconsciously returned to his original habit.
He was arranged to stand in the third row, which was a "care" for their group of new recruits, but the corresponding protection on his body was not as good as the soldiers in the first two rows. Jos only wore a leather armor on his upper body, while the soldiers in the first two rows basically wore armor made of metal in important parts. After all, this was an era when cold weapons were prevalent, and Paul could produce a lot of iron himself, so he was not reluctant to increase the armor rate of his army to cope with the hand-to-hand combat that might occur at any time.
...
Jais's mouth curled up and he sneered contemptuously.
He recognized the flag of the army blocking the road ahead. It was the Graman family, the small lord family that almost fought with the Kent family last year.
"Paul Graman! I spared you last year, which was a great favor. I didn't expect you to be so ungrateful and try to continue to oppose us!"
"Greman, look at your army! Just over a thousand recruited peasants, holding ridiculous weapons that are neither sticks nor guns, and those horses are just nags used to pull carts and carry goods. Oh! The formation is quite neat, but what's the use of it?"
He ordered his deputy to wave the flag and send a signal to the other cavalry - one left and one right to break up the square. Including knights and entourages, the cavalry team he led had a total of nearly 300 people. Although the number was far less than that of the Arda army, Jais was confident that it would be effortless to break up the square.
Knights and peasants, the combat effectiveness is very different.
The leading knight picked up the javelin hanging on the horse - unlike on Earth, the knights here did not think that using long-range weapons was despicable and shameful - according to his previous understanding, as long as he and his companions behind threw the guns in their hands, the farmers who had just put down their hoes would hold their heads and lie on the ground with their buttocks sticking out, or simply scatter. Once the opponent's formation was disrupted, they could rush in and trample on them wantonly.
And seeing that there were no archers in the opposite square formation, it was even more reassuring, and they could "tease" the opponent unscrupulously. However, even if there were archers, it would be difficult to cause effective damage with the inferior crossbows that ordinary soldiers could equip and the thick armor on their bodies.
...
Closer! Closer and closer! Bryce raised his command knife high.
In the Arda army, the four sides of the hollow square formation were called front, back, left, and right. Now the four battalion commanders, the chief and deputy commanders, were responsible for one side each, and Bryce was responsible for commanding the front troops.
Finally, the first enemy rushed to a place about 50 meters away from the square, holding a javelin in his hand and ready to go.
"Fire in the first row in front!"
The command knife fell quickly, and Bryce's order resounded throughout the square.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
The continuous roar of muskets sounded, and thick smoke immediately enveloped the front of the square.
The knights running in the front immediately fell off their horses, kept holding their guns and turned backwards, and fell off their horses.
...
"Not good!" The knight who fell to the ground instinctively wanted to roll to the side, he didn't want to be trampled into meat by his companions who couldn't control their horses' hooves behind him.
But what made him feel bad was that the strength in his body seemed to be taken away all of a sudden, and it was difficult to turn over.
Wait, what happened just now? The knight's brain realized that something was wrong.
Just now, I only heard a sound, and then I seemed to be hit hard by something, and then I fell off the horse.
What on earth was it, I didn't see the trajectory of the attack at all.
The knight suddenly felt a burning sensation rising on the right side of his abdomen, and subconsciously touched it with his hand.
A big hole - the touch of his hand shocked him, that thing actually penetrated his thick armor!
Even more terrifying things followed.
Pain... the feeling of increasing pain... replaced the previous burning sensation and began to spread radially throughout the body.
No mistakes in one post, one content, one book, one forum, 6, 9, and one post!
"Damn! It hurts!"
The knight grabbed a handful of grass from his side and threw it into the air as if to vent his anger.
What came into view was a terrible scene - the dry grass leaves that should have been yellow were dyed red by something.
...
"Fire in the second row in front!"
The Kent family cavalry that followed suffered the fate of their companions in front.
The two battalions that went out to the expedition had been equipped with flintlocks. Without the matchlock, the soldiers could be arranged almost shoulder to shoulder. One of the major effects achieved was the great improvement of the density of firepower output during volleys.
Some of the cavalrymen who rushed over were shot, some were shot by horses, and some were shot by both horses and men. However, thanks to the accuracy of the smoothbore muskets, many people survived. Some of the horses under their crotches were frightened by the sound of the gunfire and ran around without control.
But there were still lucky ones who rushed into the throwing distance of the javelin and threw the javelin into the square with all their strength.
Under the attack of these few knights, the Arda army suffered casualties.
The wounded were immediately dragged to the central open space of the square, and some newly trained medical soldiers who had mastered basic disinfection knowledge and bandaging techniques immediately treated them.
"Fire in the third row in front!"
Bryce gave the order angrily. Seeing the soldiers he had trained so hard get injured, he suddenly felt a little distressed.
The third row of gunfire sounded, and the Kent family cavalry who had thrown their javelins and turned their horses to try to break away were swept away.
The first round of firing caused nearly 50 enemy cavalry to lose their combat effectiveness.