Chapter 1550: Chapter 72: Siege (42) (Part 2)
The only difference was there were fewer Long Spearmen and more Musketeers.
And the rebels of Iron Peak County — Colonel Bodana subconsciously bit the soft flesh inside his lips — the rebels of Iron Peak County had elevated to another level, entering a realm that even steadfast officers — at least Bodana — couldn’t directly comprehend.
The rebels of Iron Peak County abandoned the Sword and Shield Bearers and Halberdiers, retaining only the Long Spearmen and Musketeers, and even discarded the Square Formation.
They flattened and elongated the “Great Square Formation” into a Horizontal Formation.
Instead of bundling the Long Spear Soldiers tightly together, they positioned the Long Spearmen in the middle of the Horizontal Formation, placing the Musketeers at both ends.
It’s like… like… Colonel Bodana thought for a long time, finally coming up with a suitable metaphor: like the “sandwich steel technique” in sword-making.
Except the sandwich steel technique puts the hard steel outside and soft iron inside, while the Iron Peak County rebels placed the “hard” Long Spearmen in the middle and the “soft” Musketeers on the outside.
Each “Horizontal Formation” wasn’t simply arrayed in a straight line but was stacked sequentially like tiles, covering each other.
The result was that, although the Iron Peak County rebels were fewer in number and structure, due to their thinner formations, the unfolded “Big Horizontal Formation” was wider and more powerful in firepower than the “Big Square Formation” of Mont Blanc County and Thunder Group County rebels.
The Musketeers under Colonel Bodana were so suppressed they couldn’t lift their heads, with the depth of the two Hundred-Men Squad Musketeers’ smaller Square Formation being noticeably shorter. The Musketeers of the Seventh Battalion on the right wing also suffered heavy casualties.
The firepower battle was already lost, pushing further would just be slaughter.
Moreover, Colonel Bodana observed a peculiar phenomenon:
Whether it was his Musketeers or those of the nearby Seventh and Ninth Battalions, when first engaging with the rebels, their shooting frequency slightly surpassed that of the rebels;
At that time, Colonel Bodana was secretly shocked by the rebels’ training level;
As the battle went on, the loading speeds of the battalions’ Musketeers dropped significantly;
The reason wasn’t hard to guess — the pre-prepared “Twelve Disciples” ran out, retrieving gunpowder on the spot filled naturally;
Yet the rebels’ shooting rhythm never faltered.
Bodana initially thought it was due to the rebels preparing more “Disciples” specifically, but no matter how much you prepare, there’s a limit.
And the rebels’ Musketeers’ loading speed hadn’t fluctuated till now.
Jean van Breda, Colonel, couldn’t wait any longer, ordering the Long Spearmen of the Eighth Battalion to clear a path for him, riding out of the square formation to the outside of the Fifth Battalion formation situated in the inner circle of the “Big Square Formation,” still serving as reserve and not yet engaged in battle.
Bodana dismounted swiftly, squeezed into the Fifth Battalion formation, heading straight in front of Vansco Aldame’s horse.
Without waiting for the Commander to ask, the Colonel anxiously broke the news.
“Something’s off!” Bodana saluted quickly, speaking fast, “The Vineta Flag rebels!”
“What’s off?” Aldame’s gaze was cold.
“The Musketeers under that Vineta boy are peculiar, my men…”
“Your men couldn’t hold?” Aldame sat in saddle scrutinizing the Colonel, coldly asked.
Bodana bowed his head, “Yes.”
“The Musketeer team of the Fifth Battalion will reinforce you one,” Aldame took a medal from his chest and tossed it at Bodana’s feet, “Jean Horn hasn’t returned yet, just take this and go find their Centurion.”
Bodana picked up the medal from the ground with humiliation, raised his head, “One, two Musketeer teams probably won’t solve the problem,”
“What do you mean?” Aldame slightly frowned.
“The rebels’ Musketeers are clearly more numerous, although it’s unclear how they managed it, their loading speed is also faster than ours, continuing a firepower battle will surely lead to defeat,” Bodana articulated his point as succinctly as possible, “Conversely speaking, more Musketeers mean weaker close-quarters combat, especially the Iron Peak County rebels currently facing my unit, lacking Sword and Shield Bearers and Halberdiers.”
Bodana tightened his grip on the sword hilt, “Just press forward! Commander! Let the Long Spears decide the game! The rebels absolutely can’t beat us!”
Aldame remained silent; he had observed what the Battalion Commander noticed, but he had more aspects to consider than the Battalion Commander.
During the burning battleground as they conversed, outside on the hillside, the rebels’ volley continued to ring out, with Musketeers of the Eighth Battalion still falling amidst the barrage.
“Commander!” Bodana was almost pleading.
Upon careful thought, Aldame made a decision.
“Your battalion presses forward, the Seventh Battalion will support you,” Aldame said to Bodana, “The Fifth Battalion will fill in your battalion’s position, giving you all of the Fifth Battalion’s Sword and Shield Bearers.”
“Yes!” Bodana’s spirit soared, quickly saluted, turned to leave.
“Colonel,” Aldame halted his subordinate, eyebrows furrowed, solemnly warned, “Watch the movement of the rebel cavalry constantly. Though few in number, the rebel cavalry must not be taken lightly. Maintain formation, do not pursue fleeing enemies.”
“Yes!” Bodana saluted once more and departed.
—————–
Aldame’s orders were quickly relayed to the ends of the steadfast line, abruptly stopping Fan Shang who was adding gunpowder to the pool.
The Centurion of the Seventh Battalion, Fourth Hundred-Men Squad, counting his men — only twenty-one active Musketeers were left.
Fan Shang, carrying another comrade shot in the leg, followed the Centurion with difficulty, retreating towards the Big Square Formation.
As far as could be seen, other musket teams were also retreating; the situation was worse than Fan Shang’s Hundred-Men Squad.