Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 494 84 Imagination_2

"[Herde Language] We won!" the eater of fine foods laughed heartily.

The Herde Allied Forces held the winning ticket, with the Suz Tribe cavalry sweeping the lines from south to north.

"We won," Sekler said, exhausted.

The Herde Allied Forces had pressed on all fronts, and Sekler finally played the ace he had patiently hidden up his sleeve.

The piercing charge of the bugle echoed through the valley.

Four squadrons of heavy cavalry burst out of the woodlands on the south side of the line and charged at the Suz Tribe cavalry from behind.

The often reliable tactic of attacking from behind shattered the Suz Tribe cavalry in an instant.

Inspired by this, Paratu infantrymen roared and pushed back against the Herde Allied Forces.

The rest of the forces along the line tried to change direction to counterattack but failed to organize effectively and were eventually swept back by the rout.

When one Herder started to flee, all the Herders began to flee.

Seeing the bad turn of events, the Herde Allied Forces on both flanks also started to retreat.

The Herders who had retreated outside the valley received the news that their main camp had been overrun by another group of Paratu Piaoqi cavalry.

In fact, there was no need for an assault; the vanguard "main camp" of the various tribes didn't even have a wagon fort; it was just an open space protected from the wind, used to store spare horses and a small amount of baggage.

[Note: Spare horses, that is, horses kept in reserve]

The remaining courage of the various tribes' cavalrymen dissipated, and they scattered in a panic, each rushing back to save their own main camps.

...

"This is yet another battle where the infantry bleeds and the cavalry is glorified," every officer in the valley can't help but think.

The crude gallows were erected, and the execution ground was prepared on the hilltop.

According to Paratu military law, after a battle, executions would begin... of their own people.

Twelve Centurions, stripped of their armor, were bound and made to kneel in a row—if soldiers didn't rout but officers fled the battle, hang them;

Soldiers with cinnabar stains on their backs were pulled out one by one—if there were stains of cinnabar on the back, behead them;

More soldiers began to draw lots for life and death—if officers didn't retreat but soldiers were defeated, draw and execute.

In the past twenty-odd years, never had Sekler been lenient, because military law was everything to the Paratu army.

But today, even the iron-hearted Sekler could not kill anymore.

"Forget it," Sekler said softly.

Laszlo asked expressionlessly, "What did you say?"

"I said, forget it," Sekler said in a strong voice, slapping his chest and coughing. "Shave their heads and send them to the Death Camp."

"Yes."

"Tell them if they can get back to Paratu, their lives will be given back to them. If they can't get back to Paratu, then they might as well take a Herder down with them."

"Yes."

Sekler asked again, "Has Alpad returned yet?"

"Not yet, he's probably still pursuing the remnants of the enemy."

"We don't need to wait for him. Take men and go, find the carts we abandoned along the road. I'll wait for you ahead, one day, just one day. Get back as much as you can."

"Yes," Colonel Laszlo turned and left.

Sekler struggled to his feet; he was seven years younger than Alpad but had aged more prematurely than the latter.

He looked at the valley littered with corpses: a dark red liquid flowed down the slopes, pooling at the bottom of the valley.

If one hadn't seen it with their own eyes, nobody would believe "blood" could actually "flow into a river."

A messenger on horseback with a green feather in his helmet rushed into the valley, heading recklessly toward the eagle standard.

The guards intercepted him with their halberds; the messenger rolled off his mount and stumbled, running towards the eagle standard while holding up a letter.

Of course, the guards around the eagle standard would not let him approach the general easily.

Two guards seized the messenger while another took the letter and handed it to Sekler.

Sekler took the letter, tore it open, and was silent for a long time.

The hand holding the letter was so tense that the knuckles had lost all color.

After thirty years, the iron hooves of the Herders had once again stepped on the land of Paratu.

The uncalled for invasion by "savage cavalry" had struck terror into the Paratu Assembly.

The Grand Assembly bypassed the Army Headquarters and issued five consecutive orders, demanding the Expeditionary Force to retreat for reinforcement.

But now, the Grand Assembly no longer needed to worry about Herde raiders.

Because they were back.

And they had destroyed the second Floating Bridge of the Paratu Expeditionary Force.

...

One day later.

The familiar tents, the familiar leaders of the tribes—fewer in number, but the atmosphere was vastly different from before.

"You carrion eater, you rotten hide! Wrapped in grass, even the oxen won't eat your putrid flesh!" the chief of the Blackwater Tribe could barely contain his anger; had he a weapon in hand, he might have already fought the eater of fine foods to the death.

Pointing straight at his nose, he rebuked: "You sacrificed the Blackwater Tribe to the bipeds while your Suz Tribe fled quickly! Do you even deserve to lead in war?"

Alpad had led the Piaoqi cavalry on a chase for a full fifty kilometers, targeting small and medium-sized tribes for attack.

As ally tribes were being hunted down, the Haidong Tribe and Suz Tribe turned a blind eye, each only concerned with their own escape.

In contrast, the Terdun-Red River Allied Forces took in quite a few stragglers.

"Short Bow! You tailless gelding! How dare you question me? I have questions for you too!" the eater of fine foods roared back in rage: "Seeing the centre in dire straits, why didn't you on the left flank come to support?"

"Go back and suckle from your mother's teat!" the Blackwater Tribe chief cursed: "You lost on your own, and you expect us to step up? I'll ask you, why did you assign the Haidong Tribe to your own centre and not let the man with grey eyes lead on the left flank?"

"I don't need to explain to you!"

"Can't come up with an answer? I'll tell you! You're full of selfish desires, fears that the man with grey eyes will make glory leading alone on one flank, so you put him in the center with you, but left us small tribes on the left flank! We small tribes never listen to each other, how do you expect us to fight?"