August 9, 358 year of the Pande calendar, cloudy.

Celestial Heath.

His Majesty Leon, King of the Kingdom of Neupande, made a big gamble with Marius Gaius, Emperor of the Bacchus Empire, on this day.

At first, we all thought it was a game of unskillful and pure luck, like a fair battle in ancient times......

It wasn't until halfway through the game that I realized that savvy gamblers never let people know all their chips.

Moreover, it is never the skill that determines the outcome of the gamble, but the mentality.

Ramon had spoken this to me, but I didn't understand what it meant until now.

—From The Battlefield Diary of New Pande, by Risardiran Aino.

——

The next morning, it was a bit overcast.

Clouds obscured the sky, but there was no breeze on the moor, and the hot summer days became more and more dreary.

Horns sounded from time to time in both lineups.

The French horn of the Bacchus Empire is low and long, and the trumpet of the Lion Realm is crisp and agitated.

The two armies faced each other a few hundred meters apart in the wasteland.

But neither side stood motionless in the array, and there were many cavalry on both sides.

Some are heralds, some are specially arranged roving rangers, and some are constantly changing their positions to confuse the enemy.

Although this kind of righteous and bright battle seems to be some kind of gentleman's battle, no matter how much a gentleman's battle is not brainless, and the situation of both sides standing motionless in a military posture will not occur - in fact, both sides will constantly test each other.

are all looking for flaws on the other side.

The Bacchus Empire's military formation looked extremely solid, with spears and shields combined into two hedgehog-like phalanxes, and crossbowmen surrounded in phalanxes.

Behind each of the two phalanxes was a sizable cavalry force, some of which were being deployed to the flanks.

And between the two phalanxes, there was the best-equipped and highest-trained Immortal Legion in the entire Bacchus Empire, and the broad-bladed spear was already in their hands.

In front of the Immortal Legion, the iconic battle flag of Emperor Marius himself was unfurled—instead of a golden eagle, the banner was surrounded by two beam-shaped symbols surrounded by cinnamon branches.

This symbol symbolizes Marius's reforms towards the Pende natives and the Bacchus, both of whom were the backbone of the empire.

But there are only battle flags, no canopies, and no guard of honor that an emperor should have.

"Is that really Emperor Marius? So simple? ”

Risadillan had the best eyesight, and he could see a commander standing in front of the Immortal Legion array, who was also wearing the Immortal Officer Armor, but the champion helmet on top of his head was a dark gold tassel.

The helmets of the Bacchus Empire have broom-like helmets, and the helmets will have different colors and order of arrangement, which is also the military rank of the Bacchus Empire, mainly to quickly distinguish between duties and responsibilities.

And the dark gold solid color helmet usually means the supreme commander.

But Risardillan wasn't sure if it was Emperor Marius - the man's guard of honor looked too plain to feel like an emperor.

"Simplicity is right......"

Leon looked back at his battle banner - he himself was also uncovered, dressed like the Noldor Ranger around him, and Alice riding under him also wore the same riding coat as the Noldor Guard, only the gold-rimmed hood lining under the helmet indicated his identity.

If it weren't for the fear that some soldiers might not know him, Leon would not even wear the black and gold-rimmed lining, which was really woven with gold thread, pierced flesh, and uncomfortable to wear.

"Your Majesty, they have begun to march ......"

Risa Dilan reminded.

Leon looked back and saw that the Bacchus Empire's military formation was already slowly moving forward.

"Boom! Click... Click... Click...... Boom! ”

Bacchus's array was slow, but steady, dropping his shield and halting his spear every ten steps forward, and then moving forward again.

The military formation of tens of thousands of people almost stepped on the same step point, and the movements were neat and orderly.

The large-scale military formation full of discipline brought a terrifying oppressive force, and the troops behind Li Ang also became silent at this time, and only the pacing of war horses could be heard.

Leon slowly drew his sword and glanced back at the troops behind him.

Morale doesn't seem to be very strong......

Leon stood at the forefront of the Chinese army, flanked by the Noldor Guards, on the left was the Noldor troops of Israndil, behind were the heavy cavalry of Lion Lake City led by the Griffin Knights and Forsette, and behind were the rangers of the Horn Summoning Ranger Regiment and the Lion Realm cavalry brought by the lords.

The Chinese army arranged by Li Ang today was all cavalry, with a total of nearly 4,000 cavalry.

Klose and Sigismund were on the left flank with the Silver Hand and the Freikorn, separated from the cavalry a few hundred meters, and the Silver Mist Ranger Regiment was also there, close to two thousand men.

On the right flank were the levies led by Leofric and other lords, almost two thousand men, standing under seven or eight different lords' banners.

This was Leon's lineup, with the cavalry in the middle and the infantry on the flanks - this was a complete deviance.

In general, the infantry is placed in the center and the cavalry is on the flanks, as the cavalry needs more space, and it is also necessary to avoid having the horses face the crossbows and spears directly.

But today it's different.

Because there are no other tactics planned today......

"Your Majesty...... How do we act? ”

Risadilan looked at the Bacchus army formation that was slowly approaching five or six hundred meters away, and seemed to be a little nervous.

"Don't panic...... Let Leofrick move forward, let Klose step back......"

Leon glared at Risadilan and turned his head to command.

The heralds on the left and right waved the command flag - this is all plains, the view is very good, just use the command flag to send a message.

The infantry on the right flank began to move forward slowly, while the left flank paused for a few seconds before gradually retreating.

"Why did Your Majesty let us retreat? I haven't engaged in the battle yet, so could it be that the herald made a mistake? ”

In the Silver Hand array, Sigismund said to Klose in confusion.

"Even if we are wrong, we have to obey orders......"

Klose held his sword and stepped back step by step - this is Klose's greatest strength, even if there are many doubts in his heart, he will resolutely obey the command.

Sigismund had no choice but to retreat step by step with Klose.

If you look at the battlefield from the air, Leon's lineup has been adjusted to a diagonal distribution.

The infantry on the right flank hung lone in front, while the left flank retreated two hundred meters behind.

This kind of adjustment looks like child's play, but the strange thing is that the military formation of the Bacchus Empire suddenly did not move.

Instead of moving forward, they stopped and began to retract laterally.

The two hedgehog-like phalanxes moved closer together, the Immortal Legion in the middle also became denser, and the cavalry behind began to spread out to the sides.

This is a defensive gesture.

"They stopped? Why? ”

Risadillan looked dazed, he didn't understand why Leon had let Klose back off, nor why the Bacchus had stopped.

"Hahaha...... Because they have no faith...... They don't have the confidence to win at all!! ”

Leon laughed and answered Sadilan's question, then raised his sword and turned back and shouted, "Brethren! See?! They stopped! They're scared!! ”

"Those cowards are no match for us!"

"We only need to face one enemy! It's Emperor Marius under the banner opposite!! Just an enemy!! ”

"Everyone! Charge with me!! ”

"Hah!!"

The teams let out a battle cry in unison, and the horn of the charge sounded behind Leon at the same time.

"Woo...... Woo...... Woohoo......"

The charge of the Lion Realm was urgent and loud, and Li Ang stopped saying other nonsense, and directly rushed towards Emperor Marius who was directly opposite.

The distance between the two sides was about 400 meters, which was the most suitable distance for cavalry charges.

Alice accelerated to a wild run after thirty meters, her golden ponytail fluttering at high speed.

Leon glanced back, and the soldiers behind him were bright-eyed, either looking at himself or at the battle flag of Emperor Marius opposite.

Very good...... Morale is up!

The infantry on both flanks also began to move forward quickly, they were too far away to hear Leon's morale-boosting words, but they certainly knew what to do when the trumpet sounded - hold off the flanks and not let the Bacchus cut off the cavalry's charge.

Leon didn't look back and lifted the rifle in his hand.

Of course, the Bacchus people stopped because they were afraid, Leon just said it deliberately to boost morale.

The Bacchus would stop, in fact, because Leon's blind operation made Emperor Marius a little confused - fighting in battle, facing a neat military formation approaching him, as a result, the two wings reacted completely differently, and everyone felt confused.

It is understandable that the cavalry army is the central army, and Marius also knew that Li Ang would definitely not want to fight against him, and he had expected that Li Ang might concentrate a large number of cavalry and force him to charge into battle.

Therefore, he asked all the Bacchus army formations to move forward in order, which was both a temptation and a persecution, and he wanted to force Leon to move his troops, and use Leon's response to determine the specific tactics that Leon was going to implement.

As a result, Leon did respond, but this should be dealt with by Emperor Marius really did not understand - the troops on both flanks of Leon are infantry, and it is not cavalry that needs to open the charge distance, what does it mean for the right wing to advance and the left wing to retreat? Could it be that there are ambushes somewhere?

But this is the plains......

However, after all, it was Leon on the other side, and Marius didn't believe that Leon was messing around, so he stopped and planned to observe again.

But in fact, Leon is really fooling around......

Li Ang was not good at commanding large-scale battle formations - he had no experience in commanding nearly 10,000 people before, and a battle of a few hundred people was completely different from a battle of 10,000 people.

Yesterday against Agathon, he had plenty of time and space to set up an ambush and try to outflank his opponent with woodpecker tactics.

But today was different, he had neither time nor certainty, so he didn't plan to lay out any complicated tactics last night.

It's important to see yourself clearly, and most people don't know enough about themselves.

But Leon knows himself well.

He knew his weakness, a modern man, a man who had never led a large army of 10,000 men before, could not outperform Emperor Marius, who had decades of experience, in commanding large-scale battle formations.

There are many people talking about war on paper, but when it comes to a war on the scale of 10,000 people, most people will only feel helpless.

Leon also knows what he's good at.

Every clever gambler is good at testing psychology and using psychology.

Leon asked Klose to back off, but it didn't really mean anything, he was just testing the mentality of the Bacchus people in this way.

If the Bacchus Empire continues to move forward unwaveringly, it means that Emperor Marius has absolute confidence in defeating him.

But if Bacchus's army stopped......

If the time and place are right for both sides, then Leon naturally wants to seek harmony.

On the battlefield, the morale and faith of the troops are the greatest people.

Since Emperor Marius did not have the confidence to win, the other Bacchus naturally did not have ......

In this way, Leon had confidence—and he knew how to bring it to his subordinates.

In the eyes of outsiders, the Bacchus are just a normal march and station, but on the battlefield, every movement will bring a different mentality to the soldiers - the two states of forward and stop are the difference between attack and defense, spear and shield for the soldiers.

In different states, the courage and morale of soldiers are different.

Following the manager's charge, compared to the formation defense, the mentality and fighting spirit are also different - the former means that the manager is sure of winning, and the latter means that everything is uncertain.

Of course, in fact, Leon was not sure of victory.

But the soldiers did not know that they only saw their own king rushing to the front, as if they were afraid that the enemy would run away......

This is the tactic that Leon is pursuing—if this psychological use is also a tactic.

In front of the Immortal Legion array, Marius saw the oncoming cavalry.

He couldn't see that far clearly, but he could guess that the person who rushed to the front must be Leon.

Emperor Marius was stunned, then shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I knew you would charge...... But I really didn't expect you to charge now......"

Then, he raised his sword: "Let Agathon strike!" Spear array! ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, please be determined to die on the battlefield...... Our cavalry will not reinforce us, I can only ask you to fight to the end! I will always stand among you! ”

"Honor is immortal! The Empire is not extinguished!! ”

Emperor Marius, of course, was aware of the demoralization of the other, and he made the final mobilization in the short time before Leon's cavalry rushed over, and then stood under his own banner with his sword and shield.

"Immortal!!"

The Legions of the Immortals also responded to their Emperor with a neat battle cry.

Subsequently, the two armies officially took over.

Of course, Leon would not charge the spear formation with his cavalry, and he did not pay attention to the Bacchus infantry phalanx on both sides, but directly rushed towards the Immortal Legion in the middle.

But this is actually a very dangerous move - Marius would arrange it this way, which was originally to lure Li Ang to rush his Chinese army.

The phalanx of spears on either side will limit Leon's line, the crossbowmen will be able to deal damage on the flanks, and the Bacchus cavalry in the back will protect the flanks and move towards the sides of Leon's cavalry.

In other words, the cavalry led by Leon could not bypass the two phalanxes and break through the array of the Immortal Legion head-on.

The width of the frontal array was only two hundred meters, and the two infantry phalanxes would continue to fire crossbow arrows.

If they can't quickly break through the Immortals or force the rest of Bacchus' troops to move, Leon's cavalry will most likely be forced to stop and then be stopped by the Bacchus cavalry on both flanks - this is also a woodpecker tactic.

Of course, the Bacchus cavalry also had to break through the infantry on Leon's side that followed from both flanks.

This is a contest of spears and shields, but also a contest of determination and confidence.

(End of chapter)