Section 332 Observation

The Bloodfang Lord endured for a while longer than Marven expected.

Just outside the range of the muskets, within the range of the cannons, the coalition fighters stopped. A suffocating silence temporarily enveloped the battlefield. This was the last moment before the two armies fought, and the commanders of both sides took this last opportunity to carefully examine the formation and strength of the other side.

The mist still hadn't faded, and the fog obscured the back half of the arrays on both sides, making it difficult for each side to distinguish the other's second-line troop configuration, even if someone like Marven flew high on the magic disk. But at least the front line can still be seen clearly.

The situation in front of him made him chuckle involuntarily.

Ashrufat's right flank—the one facing the left flank of the Chaos Legion, in front of the elite troops led by the Bloodfang Lord himself—was just a phalanx of ordinary spearmen. Of course, even ordinary spearmen are enough in number, the problem is that the array of this army is not thick and dense.

Although there was no battle yet, Marven could know even with his toes that this kind of Cheng Dù's troops would not be much better than a piece of paper in front of the Bloodtooth Lord. With a single charge, the Chaos Elite can tear apart and even shred the enemies in front of them.

So, is the troops on the first line of Ashrufat just a decoy? The elite troops are all placed on the second line, lurking with the help of the fog and preparing to attack?

Neither does it look right. Because the array in front of Marven (, is the elite of the southerners' infantry: the giant swordsmen. At a glance, it can be seen that they may not be particularly numerous, but they are in a well-organized formation, and they are obviously much stronger than the spearmen on the side. In their midst, a large number of musketeers and crossbowmen were mixed.

The most elite units of the army, the heavily armored knights, who were armoured even men and horses, were placed on the left flank, facing the weakest forces of Chaos. As a Chaos Lord who has lived long enough, Marven is well aware of the power of these heavily armed knights on the battlefield. It can be said that these knights are the real forces that can make the fierce Chaos warriors feel threatened. When the knights formed a phalanx, like a wall of steel, launched an overwhelming attack, even the elite Chaos Legion could not cope with it.

This situation made Marven a little confused. In fact, war is similar to gambling in a sense, if you can clearly see the opponent's hole cards, then in fact, it means that you will basically not lose - unless the size of the cards between the two sides is really different.

However, Marven is very clear that the strength of the two sides in this battle is roughly equal. In fact, in a sense, the southerners still have some advantages, mainly because the cavalry of the Chaos Legion does not account for a large proportion, and they are mainly light cavalry, while the southerners' army has a considerable number of heavy knights. This meant that the Chaos Legion lacked the ability to restrain the hoplite knights, and could only carry it with infantry - of course, for the Chaos Elite troops, this was not something incredible.

A bad thought suddenly occurred to him, perhaps Ashruphat didn't trust him. No, Ashrufat had no reason to distrust him...... Wait a minute...... Possibly. Yes, although Ashruphat was seriously ill, he probably knew - perhaps from the mouth of some church priest, or from the mouth of some Chaos cultist who was captured but not killed - that Crimson was incorrigible. In doing so, he would question all the information Marvin had told him......

Worst...... Too bad...... Marven suddenly realized that he was thinking carelessly. That Ashrufat was already quite unruly, and he also relied on Luo Jin's affairs to force him to compromise in the first place......

When a person who is not afraid of death (because he is about to die anyway) is plotting revenge, things may go in an uncontrollable direction. In fact, any world, any civilization, any race, this type of person is the most terrifying. In most civilizations, there is a proverb that has the meaning of "the horizontal is afraid of death". For example, the Shenwu elves, although they have a lot of wealth, but humans never dare to provoke the elves (those who are really not long-sighted are basically looking for their own death). The key to this lies in the ruthless nature of the Divine Warrior Elves on the battlefield, and an elven army often does not need additional incentives to do even if all members are killed without taking half a step back, this kind of tenacity and tenacity are enough to make any enemy fearful.

Because Marven was riding the magic disk, the change in his face was not noticed by anyone. No one noticed that the Tzeentch wizard was grim-faced and gritted his teeth.

In fact, no one paid attention to Tzeentch's situation. At this moment, the cold and oppressive aura that had existed before the battle had enveloped everyone. The two armies faced each other, but the entire battlefield was silent.

A herald arrives with an order from the Bloodfang Lord: the Bloodfang Lord asks the wizards to use magic immediately.

"Tell me back," Marven replied to the herald. "The flow of the winds of magic is extremely chaotic right now, and it is very difficult to cast spells in this situation. ”

Normally, this sentence would be enough for most situations, but the herald was clearly instructed by the Bloodfang Lord. He looked at Marven coldly and asked, "So when can it start?"

"Five minutes!" Marven weighed, he knew that the lie wouldn't last long. Because the casters in the Chaos Legion are not just them, there are others. In addition, the priests of those churches in the opposite camp will also expose his lies with practical actions. "It's only five or six minutes at most. ”

Of course, on the other hand, he is not lying, at least not outright lying. It's true that the winds of magic are relatively chaotic at this time, spell casting is quite difficult, and the risk of error is far greater than normal - with the exception of true Chaos wizards. Tzeentch's lies are always mixed with truth.

The herald left, and just as Marven pondered what he should do next, a loud bang broke the silence of the battlefield.

The southerners fired.

The sound of the cannon seemed to be like a signal. In the next moment, the soldiers of the two armies let out the roar of battle in unison. Then, both armies began to move forward at the same time.

More cannonballs roared, and huge solid cannonballs rolled and jumped through the crowd, opening up passages of flesh and blood. However, these casualties were insignificant for such a large number of Chaos Legions. If it did anything, it only further fueled the Chaos Warriors' bloodthirsty desire to fight.

Marven breathed a sigh of relief for the time being. He knew that the Bloodfang Lord had led the team to the front line. At this moment, he had no spare time to care about the situation of the magicians in the rear. Many people look down on this kind of command method of rushing to the front line, thinking that this method is crude and worthless, and some people even call this method "brainless pig burst". Anyone can tell that this is a term full of contempt and insult.

But in fact, the title "brainless pig" may be more contemptuous than contempt. Numerous victories and defeats in actual combat show that this tactic is not without merit. It is precisely with the personal command of the general that the combat effectiveness of the front-line troops has been greatly enhanced. When the abusive lord himself went to war, he always played a huge role on the front lines. The effect of the brainless pig is so amazing that it often happens that in the face of such absolute explosiveness, all kinds of traps and tricks become worthless little tricks.

The one in front of him was just like the one that the Blood Fang Lord had arranged before. Although the commander of the Chaos Legion attacked in the midst of the battle cry, he was able to act according to the arrangement of the Blood Fang Lord as a whole. The left flank, led by the Lord of the Blood Fang himself, advanced the fastest, while the center was slower, and the right flank was only a symbolic slow advance. Soon, the front of the Chaos Legion formed a diagonal line. It was Marven's group of magicians who really stayed where they were.

The same is true for the other side. After the outbreak of war cries, the coalition forces also began to attack. Their tactics are, in a sense, a copy of the Chaos Legion. The spearmen on the right flank of the coalition barely advanced, but tightened their positions on the spot, raised their spears, and prepared to meet the enemy's ferocious charge. The Greatswordsmen in the center of the coalition army advanced slowly, assuming a posture that was mainly for the protection of ranged troops, rather than actively seeking battle. The knights on the left flank of the coalition began to advance slowly. The knight's charge always went from slow to fast, and then from fast to galloping, ideally when they were rushing in front of the enemy at the fastest speed. In this case, the combined impact of a man and a horse on a mounted lance creates a terrifying lethality, and no armor or shield can withstand a frontal assassination of a mounted lance in this state. Even the Chaos Warriors often crumble in the face of such terrible torrents of steel.

Throughout the battlefield, a diagonal to diagonal layout has been formed. The elites of both sides were aimed at the weak wing of the enemy. The original idea of the Bloodfang Lord no longer makes any sense. There is no doubt that the outcome of the battle now depends on whose elite troops can first defeat the enemy head-on and then reinforce the friendly forces in time. If the Bloodfang Lord is able to crush the spearmen first, he can slam the enemy's uncovered musketeers and crossbowmen from the flanks with a sweeping momentum to seal the victory. Conversely, if Ashrufat's phalanx of knights can crush the enemy in front of him first, then he will be able to use his cavalry charge to detour the enemy's flank, leaving the Chaos Legion with no chance to turn over.

Marven in the rear calmed down instead. Although things are unfavorable, for him, Yiqiē has not despaired. Both Eshuruphat and the Bloodfang Lord are abominable, and it is a good thing to die either - of course it would be better if both died together. He still has a chance, and this battle may be a matter for others, but for him, it is not the last step.

This calmness made him aware of some strange clues. He had long known the strength of both sides, but at this moment, the troops listed by Ashrufat ...... It seems that the number is not as large as expected?

The number of troops can be judged in a very simple way: the width of the formation. Without terrain restrictions, the more armies you have, the greater the width. Marven knew that Ashrufat's strength was probably more than one-third of that of the Bloodfang Lord. This usually means that his front is much wider than that of the Bloodfang Lord - even if he keeps a reserve just in case, the formation is also wider than that of the Chaos Legion.

But now the fronts of both sides are almost equal. This meant that either the formation under Ashrufat's cloth was particularly thick, or the army he had left in his hands at this time and had not yet been put into battle was far more than the normal reserves. The former is easily observable, so Marvin thinks the reason is the latter.

Well...... Maybe it's not that bad?