85_85536 Eighty meters away from the Circassian army, the straggler shooters on both sides of the mercenary's super-long spear phalanx stopped. The Starlight Legion Shooter Skirmisher with a longbow adjusted the bowstring and measured the distance visually, then opened his longbow and fired at the new Circassian army.

The total number of stragglers of the Starlight Corps is only a hundred, and the pressure and damage brought to the new army is not very great.

There were not enough of them, and the power of the bow and arrow throw was not good. At the same time, the new Circassian army was equipped with iron helmets and cuirasses to protect the head. Again, there was a breastwork in front of them for protection.

In this way, these skirmishers, like the long-range shooting units in many battles in history, only played the role of a supporting role of auxiliary and harassment. In fact, before the invention of breech-loading rifles, even though the war seemed to have entered the era of hot weapon warfare in full swing. But in fact, it is still the trend to charge with bayonets, or cavalry charges, and to decide the outcome by hand-to-hand combat with cold weapons, and it can even be said to be the mainstream.

Facing a rain of tinkling arrows shooting at your own position. William didn't care. He shouted to his soldiers, "Leave him alone, there's nothing to fear!" as he continued to patrol his army.

Yes, if it were only a bow and arrow shot, this kind of unpleasant harassment would not have caused much trouble for the new Circassian army.

The problem is, they can go with those spearmen of the Starlight Corps. The combination of these two pressures makes it even more difficult for the new army to bear.

When the enemy soldiers were less than forty meters away from the position of the new Circassian army. William finally let out a long sigh of relief - in fact, the shot would have been better if they had been brought closer.

It's just that it's almost impossible to keep these soldiers from shooting.

In this case, even William felt nervous. It was as if his heart had been grabbed and locked. The feeling almost suffocated him.

The pressure from the enemy was just as great. He was also a little overwhelmed.

Thankfully, though, the distance is sufficient. At this distance, even if you can't get the best damage, you can already use most of the musket's lethality.

"Shoot!"

As a result, William almost hoarsely gave the first attack order since the start of the war today. After this order, William only felt relieved, and a hanging heart was finally put down.

After receiving the order, the musketeers, who had already been impatient, immediately pulled the trigger. Then quickly crouched, cleaned the chamber of the gun, and loaded the gunpowder. At the same time the musketeers of the second row pulled the trigger, followed by the third, and then the fourth.

After William's order, the four musketeers fired a round, and the five hundred musket pellets were fired at the mercenaries of the Starlight Corps in four successions. There was a loud "crackling" sound like fried beans, and the thick smoke of gunpowder immediately covered the sky above the position, making William almost unable to see the situation on the other side.

"That's all there is to the musket. William thought to himself. Soon, however, the smoke rose into the air, and his vision barely recovered. William also saw the tragic situation of the mercenaries on the other side-

These mercenaries were knocked to the ground by the projectiles of the new Circassian army, as if they had been cut wheat. The breastplate armor on their bodies was completely incapable of resisting the power of musket projectiles. After the volley of four rows of muskets, the formation of the mercenaries suddenly thinned out a lot.

A large number of soldiers fell to the ground, some of them dead. Some are still moaning. At a cursory glance, at least eighty or ninety mercenaries fell to the ground.

When the projectile hits the sturdy plate armor, it deforms so much that it deals more damage to the enemy when it enters the body. Some soldiers had their skulls pryed open by muskets, and their brains were white and gray-white, and they fell to the ground like a lump of mud.

The scene was very shocking. A force of 300 men lost nearly a third of it in an instant. This casualty rate is somewhat unbearable even for the modernized troops. The momentum of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Starlight Corps charging forward was suddenly frustrated.

But there was no crash.

Yes, counting the casualties caused by the previous artillery bombardment, the mercenaries of the Starlight Corps have been killed or wounded by more than a third. The formation has become extremely chaotic. And there were also many casualties among officers at all levels. The organization is almost completely broken.

But in this case, the mercenaries were still trying their best to move forward, and at the same time trying their best to form a whole team - which William thought was a little strange - if they laid down their weapons and fled, they would soon be able to run eighty meters away. Then a good part of them will survive. But they chose the opposite path.

"What a bunch of crazy people. William thought about it, but in the end he didn't say it.

"Or maybe they feel that our muskets can't be fired. They rushed over again, and they still had the upper hand. William then thought of another possibility. After that, I couldn't help but admire: "These mercenaries are really not afraid of death"

After saying this, he changed his face again:

"Then let them die - grenadiers, bombs!"

With William's order, the soldiers of the 1st Company, who were busy loading musket ammunition, immediately stopped moving. He then removed a cast-iron grenade from his waist, lit the fuse, and threw it at the mercenaries of the Starlight Legion.

At a range of twenty meters, the power of throwing a grenade is enough to exert it all. And this tactic, which rarely appears in regular combat, caught the mercenaries of the Starlight Corps off guard.

In the smoke of explosions. Of the remaining more than 100 mercenaries of the Starlight Corps, more than half of them died without suspense.

At this point, an infantry battalion of mercenaries was close to total annihilation. The remaining dozens of mercenaries were stunned for a moment. After that, the courage to continue the offensive was completely lost. He didn't dare to move forward, turned around, and ran back to his camp with a cry. As he ran, he said that the breastplate armor on his body had also taken off. Throwing away the armor and removing the armor, that's what they look like.

Seeing these enemies who had brought them a lot of tremendous pressure before, they were as frightened as a flock of quails at this moment. The soldiers of the new Circassian army were stunned for a moment, and then burst into irrepressible laughter and cheers. Some even got carried away and took off their helmets and threw them into the sky. Or maybe you want to climb over the breastwork to chase down the enemy.

However, these guys who got carried away were all taught a lesson by William and officers at all levels. The mercenaries of the Starlight Corps lost only one infantry battalion, less than three hundred men. The main force is still there. And the enemy levies are also there, although those levies are very poor in combat. But the quantity is there. Our new army did repel an enemy attack. But it's not enough to win.

"But isn't there a saying that a good start is half the battle? William thought to himself. At the same time, the confidence of victory is even greater - the new army has fought a battle, seen blood, and not against the dregs of the outcasts, but against the elite mercenaries, face to face and win. In this way, the fear of the enemy is gone, and the morale is high. If you fight again, you will naturally get twice the result with half the effort.

On the other hand, the mercenaries of the Starlight Corps lost the first battle, and they lost so badly. Naturally, morale will drop a lot. At the same time, although mercenaries can fight, they are also good at fighting tough battles. But there is a great rejection of battles where there is no hope of victory. That is, they are very crisp in admitting defeat in the face of headwinds.

This war will not be like some people imagine, the other side will die a battalion and then send another battalion over. Both sides play in table tennis. Hit it hard to the end. Until one of the troops is dead and pulled down. Not really. This is not logical. Because the mercenaries of the Starlight Corps are not of the same mind as the two counts of Sandomitz and Vitra.

It's simple.

If they can win, they will be able to capture all kinds of loot from the enemy. And even if it's a tie, they can continue to receive commissions from their employers. But if you lose, then naturally there is no loot to plunder. At the same time, most of the employers after the defeat could not afford to pay the commission.

Mercenaries fight for money. If you have money, you can negotiate it, but if you don't have money, you have to rebel. So naturally they don't like to lose.

But just because you don't like it doesn't mean you won't encounter it. There are wins and losses in wars. So the mercenaries already had a comprehensive plan for what to do after they lost.

The first thing to look at is your employer. The employer is the most important thing. If the employer is a big nobleman, a rich and powerful big nobleman, then there is no problem. You can put it together. Because such a big aristocrat has a thick foundation. You won't lose your entire fortune just because you lose a battle. It's easy to make a comeback.

In this case, the casualties of the mercenaries are valuable.

On the contrary, if the employer is not a big nobleman, but a small nobleman in general, then a discount is required.

Later, it was determined that the employer had no chance of reversing the situation after losing the war. Then there are several other options.

The more generous mercenaries will discuss with their employers. If the employer can temporarily come up with a sum of money and invest more, then the mercenaries will continue to cooperate with them for the sake of money, even if they know that they will be defeated, they will fight hard.

But if the employer can't come up with the money, then the mercenaries will retreat. Get out of the war as soon as possible to reduce your own losses.

This kind of thing is usually more common in large mercenary groups. People, troops, and weapons are the capital, and reputation is also the capital.

And if it's a smaller, unfamous, unkind mercenary, then they will be even more ruthless. Some will squeeze a temporary additional investment and leave without doing any work. Some will simply turn against the water, kill all the employers and join the new masters, and at the same time plunder the employer's money. Anyway, their mercenary group is not very famous, and after the incident, they will change their skin and banner, who says they are not clean?.