Chapter 123: The Tide and the Reef

This orderly artillery position, located to the left and right of the front of the coalition central phalanx, was arranged with seven three-pounder pit viper guns, two multi-barreled small storm cannons, and two six-pounder salamander guns. The black chamber of the cannon shone with the brilliance of death, echoing the solemn guns lined up behind. As soon as the enemy enters the gun position, the gunners will retreat to the interior of the phalanx for cover, while the two rows of musketeers and crossbowmen in front of the phalanx will baptize the enemy on the gun position with a dense rain of bullets. The warp guns are placed on a small dirt slope behind the phalanx, and their curved trajectory will cross the phalanx to attack the Chaos array.

At a distance of twenty meters behind the artillery emplacement, a wall of spears and halberds was unfurled, and three or four columns of cold guns were lined up. They were all heavily armored infantrymen, their helmets pressed down to their eyes, silently waiting to meet them. The soldiers in the first row knelt and plunged the hilt of their spears into the soil at 45 degrees, the second row stretched out the flat ends of their halberds, and the third and fourth rows stretched their spears diagonally from the shoulders of their comrades in the front row. The swordsmen stood on either side of the phalanx, shields and swords forming a scaly wall.

The musketeers stood in front of the spearmen and let the halberds pass them. They held the musket with a bracket, lit the arquebus, and made an aiming pose. The first row knelt, the second stood, waiting for a salvo to be launched after an order. The crossbowmen raised their shields and drew their bows, many broad-bladed arrows glowing silver in the sunlight. The archers were inside the phalanx, some standing on the carriages, some raising their bows to the sky, observing the movement of the Chaos army in the distance, and they could throw over the front row of troops, which was relatively safer.

Each brigade phalanx is about sixty to eighty meters apart, forming a triangular layout in the shape of an inverted character. This is the best distance to form a pinch fire, and any enemy that rushes between the two phalanxes will be flanked by the left and right flanks. On the four corners of the two outer phalanxes, small pit viper cannons firing two-pounder shells were arranged, and they were covered by carriages with guarded plates on both sides. Due to the small number of infantry in the Kislev army, their phalanx on the north side was made up of dozens of four-wheeled chariots chained together to form a mobile wall-like façade, which was quite different from the phalanx of the Imperial Army. Red-clad musketeers and grenadiers poked their heads out from behind the one-and-a-half-thick oak planks, the muzzles of crescent tomahawks and long-barreled guns glistening.

On either flank of the infantry were arrays of cavalry, the Ugours lined up in loose circles, and the Imperial knights and musketeers formed horizontal formations, many small triangular flags flying above their heads. After a brief encounter, they have retreated to their home line, waiting for the next wave of counter-attacks. As for the cavalry reserve, the headquarters was spread out in strict order on the earthen slope behind the phalanx with the curved artillery position, and the high Kislev red bear flag and the half-white, half-red military flag embroidered with black eagles of the Imperial Court danced side by side in the wind.

"Nine hundred, twenty speed, salamander and pit viper cannon salvo!"

With the shrill sound of the herald's horn and the wave of the flag, the first wave of artillery fire began. The shells were already loaded, and the gunners turned the handle of the roulette wheel, aligned the gun gauges, and then used the coiled arquebus to ignite the goose feather powder pipe on the fire door at the end of the gun. The shining red flame danced and disappeared between the bronze cannon tails, followed by a deafening thunder and flames!

A reddish fireball swooped down on the array of Kugan's cavalry in the distance, tearing through the bloody mist between the dark shadows of an ant colony and a jungle, and tossing heads and stumps into the sky. And the Kugan army immediately quickened its pace, and the sound of their countless horses' hooves stomping the earth shook the hearts of the people. Clouds of snow and purple fog rose as the cavalry galloped, covering almost the entire horizon and rushing towards the coalition positions like an unstoppable tide of rage!

The sound of arrows and whistles tore at people's eardrums, and the roar of bronze cannons was like rolling thunder, and white clouds of smoke and brimstone rose. In a matter of moments, three salvos had been fired from the central artillery position, each time tearing a long line of blood within the gathered Chaos Legions, spreading a roar of death and rage. The Kugan cavalry also hit a distance of about 100 meters, and the rain of arrows shot was like a splash of hail and a dark cloud that pressed down. The crossbowmen and archers in the phalanx also fired back violently, and the broad-bladed crossbow arrows tore bloody gaps in the leather armor of the Kugan cavalry, and the tremendous impact often disarmed the enemy entirely.

"Your Royal Highness, the enemy is approaching, it is very dangerous here, you should stand back a little first!"

The young artillery officer, Trius, hurried closer to Catherine, who was standing behind the gun emplacement. He had several arrows stuck in his thick leather armor, and he had a bruise on the left side of his face, and he was covered in gunpowder smoke.

"Tellius, how can the enemy's bow and arrow hurt me!

The red-haired princess did not hesitate to reject Trius's suggestion. Her beautiful eyes shone with excitement, almost in a state of intoxication. Her hair was already scattered, draped diagonally over her shoulders, and her hands spread out in front of her to form a two-meter-high glittering golden shield, brilliant magical runes and flowing lines swirling on the surface of the golden shield. It was her defensive magic array, and all arrows that approached the metallic shield of the invisible shield were flicked away from afar, emitting a loud wail of gold and iron.

The Kugan cavalry, in hundreds, swirled and fired a rain of arrows with a screeching roar, rolling towards the coalition array like a spinning wheel. Possessed by the fanatical magic of Slaanesh, they were not afraid of the rain of fire dropped by the boiling phalanxes and cannons that erupted like volcanoes, and the speed of their arrows was as fast as lightning, and bursts of blood erupted between the phalanxes, and musketeers and gunners continued to fall.

Dust and smoke obscured their figures, skeletal banners howled terribly in the wind, and waves of arrows rained down from their compound bows, making these Kugans as terrifying as demons from hell. Some of the new recruits in the coalition army began to weaken their legs, their mouths became very dry, and their hands began to tremble, but no one dared to retreat, and no matter how they trembled, they tried to hold on to the shaft of their spear or musket. This is not only because of military law, but also because everyone knows that the result of escaping is to give the head to Chaos as a sad souvenir.

The musketeers stood in the midst of a dense forest of guns, they waited for the order to shoot. Many had already been hit by several arrows in their bodies, their hats had been pierced by arrows, some had collapsed with serious injuries, and some had lost their breath, and the ground was covered with blood. But they still stood quietly, their muskets neatly propped up in two rows with brackets, coiled arquebuses burning slowly on their shoulders. All musketeers were not allowed to open fire until they were at the best range, an iron law laid out in the field of military law, and no one dared to violate it.

"Aren't the musketeers of our army still shooting? What's wrong?"

Hyde couldn't help but speak, the young god who was standing at the back of the phalanx could barely bear it. His war horse also seemed to feel the boredom of his master, and kept digging the ground and snorting.

"One neat thunder is better than ten scattered thunderbolts, and he will show it when the thunderbolt wants to show its power. ”

Old Loren calmly waved his hand at the boiling battlefield in front of him, and his voice was immediately answered a hundredfold----- it was the sound of a volley of muskets bursting like a storm of thunder!

This fierce volley was sudden, and when the cavalry advanced to a distance of fifty meters, with the fierce force of the Phalanx Order Banner and the scream of the flare guns, the entire front of the phalanx suddenly erupted into countless clouds of smoke and flames, and all the musketeers ignited the medicine pool at the same time.

The thunderous sound of gunfire shook the earth, the whistling lead bullets were like a rain of death, the close-range guns at a distance of thirty or forty meters were deadly, the Kugan cavalry archers fell with screams, and the horses frightened by the smell of sulfur and thunder ran around, dragging the dead or wounded bodies of their masters. The whirling wheel queue was torn open several huge gaps in an instant, and the perfect roundabout ended.

But this was not all, but only the beginning, because the Chinese artillery position let out her most violent roar! Two six-barreled storm cannons swung and blasted the rain of shotguns into the array of chaos troops, and the pit viper and lizard cannons also responded in unison with double shotgun packs, breaking the cavalry group that had already poured to the side of the horse rejection wood into bloody minced flesh, and throwing it into the air along with a triangular flag of 100 men, and threw broken fingers and bloodstained horses' hooves everywhere.

"Musketeers, get home! Swordsmen!

With the waving of the banner and the shouts of the officers, the musketeers quickly turned and retreated behind the spearmen to reload, while the swordsmen and fanatical pilgrims roared out from the flanks of the phalanx, and pounced on the Kugan light horsemen in disarray, led by two Sigma battle priests, and cut down a lot in an instant. Their swords, axes, and flails swung like wheels, and the Kugan cavalry retreated in disarray, disappearing as fast as they attacked.

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