Thirty-two Verses of Battle

As for the final battle of the Misty Meadows, both sides have left enough records for future generations to carefully ponder the battle that decided Paro's fate. Of course, from an objective point of view, the attitude of the Paro people in such a decisive battle is extremely unwise. The real crux of this war lies in the defense of Drake City. By the time Thomas won the final victory in the siege of the city, the course of the war had actually been decided, and the eight subsequent pursuits that annihilated the main force of the Paro people were sentenced to death. Paro's dream of annexing Cassilos has been shattered, and the outcome of the Battle of the Misty Meadows will not change the outcome.

However, apart from the strategic situation, in terms of specific battles, there are still many commendable points in this most difficult battle. It's not just Thomas, it's the Paro people as well.

The commander of the Paro people was Prince Nicholas. According to detailed records that have been handed down, the prince laid down a central assault of the geese marching array. In order to strengthen the central assault force, the prince placed the elite half-griffin cavalry in the front line of the center, hoping to use the smell of the half-griffin to scare the enemy's war horses and crush the coalition army. After the half-griffin cavalry, there is a musketeer who is armed with a repeating musket and can shoot ten bullets in an instant. The Musketeers were followed by the elite Knights of the Paro. After the Knights, there was also a considerable amount of infantry. All of these troops were victorious divisions from Wolf's Mouth Castle, with high morale and excellent equipment. It can be said that Prince Nicholas concentrated all the elite in the center, intending to "chisel through" the coalition forces from the front.

The prince placed the remainder, less combat-ready troops on the two flanks. Although there were quite a few of them, most of the armies on both flanks were formed after being reorganized in a short period of time after the defeat had been defeated from various places. Whether it is morale or equipment, they are a little worse than the central government, and their combat effectiveness is weaker. With the exception of musketeers and crossbowers, almost all of them were mixed teams of sword and shield soldiers and halberd soldiers. In addition, because both sides were lightly armed and the roads were muddy, neither the artillery nor the catapults joined the battle.

If we put aside all the prejudices against Prince Nicholas and talk about the formation itself, this formation is by no means a whim of the prince, but the product of careful consideration. First of all, the Paro army had a certain numerical advantage, but the superiority in numbers was large enough to outflank the enemy, so a central assault became the most logical option. Secondly, the Paros possess elite half-griffin cavalry, the smell of which can scare war horses, and is likely to have a surprise effect. In addition, the battlefield is a flat grassland, the battlefield is open, very suitable for the deployment of large armies, and any ambush, detour and other treacherous strategies that require terrain cooperation cannot be implemented, and the two sides can only rely on the formation of troops to fight head-on.

It should be said that Nikolai did not make any mistakes, everything about him was thoughtful and reasonable. If there was a different opponent, maybe the prince would have won the victory. Unfortunately, his opponent was Thomas – the undisputed greatest general of our time.

Thomas's formation in this battle was recognized as a work of genius by later generations. He didn't set up a half-moon formation specifically to fight against the geese. Instead, the elite knights were all placed on the flanks, and the archers and militiamen – those who were often considered cannon fodder and meat shields – were placed in the center. In terms of the arrangement of the battle line, it presents a strange formation with two wings protruding and the center retracting - the exact opposite of the geese marching formation. This is completely contrary to the normal principle of using troops, and the purpose of strengthening the flanks is to outflank the enemy, but the problem is that Thomas, who is inferior in strength, has no capital to outflank him.

In order to prevent the militia from being crushed by the enemy's assault, Thomas ordered some of the knights to dismount and mix with the militia (many accounts detail how much resistance this measure would face, and the knights were reluctant to do so, and no one was willing to fight with the lowly militiamen, but they were forced to obey the commander's orders).

In addition, as a customary measure, archers inserted horse-repellent stakes on the first line (this is a traditional and effective practice in the Stygia region, where archers carry iron-tipped stakes and stick them in front of them during battle). This method is very good at protecting the archers from retreating when they are charged by cavalry. Paro abandoned this practice because he accepted the military traditions of the Central Seven). However, under the cover of flags and military columns, Thomas secretly ordered a second row of horses to be planted in the rear of the army.

The formation of the two armies was completed almost simultaneously, and then, as is customary, the commanders of the two armies galloped back and forth in front of their own troops, making speeches to boost morale and remind the soldiers to fight for their lives, for honor, for the motherland, for hatred......

—Excerpt from "History of the Styghian Wars"

“...... Look at these Paro, they have invaded your homeland! It is they who have burned your cities and your dwellings, taken your property, killed your wives and children! Now they are in front of you! Knights, hold on to your weapons and harness your horses! Today, we will wash away all our shame! We will be compensated adequately if we rely on our bravery to recover the land that the enemy has taken from us, and to regain the property of our ancestors. Today, with vengeful fury burning in our breasts, I see warriors with high fighting spirit and high spirits, and we will rush to the enemy, and we will be victorious!"

"For the Paros before you are a group of enemies who are nothing but numbers. How can they be compared with our valiant knights? They have turned their backs on the true gods and have turned their back on the false gods who are maintained by money and idols! Their knights have long forgotten their bravery, and dare only to shoot from a safe position with muskets. As soon as their infantry saw the charge of their horses, they immediately turned around and fled. Their generals will only secretly engage in some intrigues and tricks, and as long as the situation is unfavorable, they will immediately abandon their troops and flee alone!"

"Knights, I want you to be like thunder and lightning! Now, draw your sword and raise your spear! With your spear and sword, I will crush the cowardly enemy!

With all this said, Ashrufat galloped back to his commanding position. I don't know what kind of speech Thomas will give. He thought to himself. Now that the main force of the army is the Casilos, if you want to improve morale, you must repeatedly stimulate the revenge of the Casilos knights.

Now the commanders are in their respective places. This land, destined to become a bloody slaughterhouse, is already rife with bloodthirsty passion. Even the wind seemed to sense this, and a whirlwind blew across the steppe, rolling up a small amount of debris and hovering above the two armies.

The winds of magic began to flow, and Ashruphat knew that it was the enemy's mage preparing to cast a spell. This is also an added advantage for the Paro people. In order to treat the wounded, Phil was unable to play. But Ashrufat had already been prepared, and he did not hesitate to pick up the Demon Breaking Scroll that had been prepared for a long time, and directly released the power of the scroll.

These scrolls are all trophies from the past, and are actually high-quality items given to the Paro people by the Church of the True God. The Demon Breaker Scroll worked immediately, and the wind of magic suddenly thinned out in the place. Regardless of what magic the magicians in the Paro army wanted to use before, it was all in vain now. Because they simply can't channel energy from the winds of magic that have become thin. At least they won't be able to do anything until the Demon Breaker Scroll's effectiveness is gone.

The drums of war sounded, the trumpets sounded, and the battle began. Nearly 60,000 troops on both sides began to advance on each other. The sun didn't know when it was hidden, and the spears and blades shone with a dim cold light. Because of the morning dew, the sound of the horn was particularly low and desperate. The heavens and the earth were filled with a murderous aura of human muscles and bones.

While the half-griffin cavalry of the Paro army began to advance from the center, the knights of the coalition began to speed up their horses. Eshurufat placed all the elite on both flanks, especially on the left. The valiant knights instigated their loyal mounts forward, rushing through the fields to destroy their enemies. The flying hooves of the horses smashed the remnants of snow, and the loud sound of the horses' hooves seemed to come from the roar of the sky.

The knights lined up in a spear formation, and it would be the most powerful knightly charge the land had ever witnessed. The knights braved a barrage of bullets and bows to deliver an unbeatable assault on the enemy. Ferociously rushed into the long-range units of the Paro Army who wanted to retreat but did not have time to retreat. In an instant, countless human bodies were hit by the war horse and flew up, screaming and falling backwards to the ground, and then being trampled by the merciless hooves of the horse. More people didn't even have a chance to shout, and were directly impaled by the riding gun and died.

This horrific attack frightened the Paro infantry in the rear, who had not yet entered the battle, and they did not even take advantage of the opportunity for their horses to stop and rush up to the dogfight. By the time their officers came to their senses and tried to make amends for the mistake, it was already too late. The ranged forces had all crumbled under the ferocious onslaught, and the remaining musketeers and crossbowmen had dropped their weapons and fled backwards, while the knights had begun to regroup behind them.

Paro's officers made the right choice at this time. Instead of ordering the rout of his own troops to pass through, he ordered his soldiers to cut down all those who dared to rush to the position. This move temporarily saved the right flank of the Paro from immediately crumbling due to the onslaught of the defeated army. However, the knights had an overwhelming advantage in tactics and techniques, as well as equipment, and although the Paros resisted vigorously, their battle line was precarious under the overwhelming attacks of the knights.

On the right wing, something similar happened. Under the charge of the red-eyed coalition knights, the ranged troops were also quickly routed. However, there were not as many knights here as there were on the left flank, and the knights were entangled with Paro's infantry, and the killing was inseparable.

At the centre, however, the situation is completely reversed. In the face of the terrible charge of the half-griffin cavalry, the archers hurried back after only two rounds of arrows, despite the presence of foot knights. If it weren't for the fact that the horse temporarily blocked the half-griffin, I am afraid that the archers would have to repeat the mistakes of the enemy's ranged troops. The half-griffin was forced to stop and pull out the stakes, which allowed the archers to retreat from the middle of the militia ranks to the rear of the entire position.

Now, it was the turn of the militia to face the main force of the Paro army.

Although the half-griffin cavalry did not achieve the goal of frightening the enemy's horses, these cavalry still possessed strong combat effectiveness. The half-griffons also lived far longer than the horses, and one by one they were covered with arrows, but they still did not fall, but continued to roar and rush towards the militia phalanx.

Often, such horrific scenes are enough to make the militia, whose morale is low, flee without a fight. But this time, they didn't collapse. For their commanders stood on the front line, with their greatswords in hand, standing side by side with them.

"Raise your spear!" shouted Ashrufat, all the militiamen clenching their spears, leaning on the ground and stepping on them with their feet, the tips of their spears aimed diagonally at the half-griffons that pounced.

In a distant enemy position, a young general in gorgeous armor and purple robes is watching the battle in the distance. He was the commander of the Paro army and the prince of Paro. But he couldn't help but smile as he watched his half-griffin cavalry rush into the enemy line and make a fuss in all directions. But his smile didn't last long. The half-griffons were too few after all, but the enemy did not flee in terror. In such a continuous melee, numerical superiority is decisive. No matter how brave and tenacious the half-griffin cavalry was, they were still defeated one by one under the attack of spears and swords from all sides.

Speaking of which, in fact, there was not much time between the fall of the first half-griffon and the killing of the last half-griffon.

Without even having time to breathe a sigh of relief, Paro's musketeers had already rushed to the front of the militia phalanx, flattening the repeating muskets in their hands.