483: Chapter 226 First Encounter 483: Chapter 226 First Encounter Before the twilight descended, the scent of at wafted through the Orland Camp surrounding the Green Creek Village.
On the eve of battle, Eriv did not stint on the warriors’ supplies.
Besides ample food and drinks, there were salted ats and hams, dry fish special to the Ustato Territory, and even freshly slaughtered sheep, allowing the warriors to feast to their fill.
Six hundred elite infantry, four hundred crossbown, four hundred cavalry.
The fourteen hundred soldiers that ca to Green Creek Village to act as bait and cover the flanking troops were all soldiers of the Thorny Flower Family.
Leon understood that this was not his Sealing Lord’s selflessness, willing to sacrifice his own forces for the kingdom’s loyalty.
It’s just that on the battlefield, any tactics a military carries out bear risks.
Wanting to lure those two thousand Urian cavalry into their trap yet not truly letting the bait army be consud, Eriv naturally dared not entrust such an important mission to the alliance composed of the Lords from River Valley County.
In the tactic of luring the enemy, once the forces tasked with delaying and drawing attention are truly crushed by the Urians, the battle plan turns into lifting a stone only to drop it on one’s own foot.
Only an army under one banner, able to advance and retreat together, can truly stall the enemy’s offensive.
“…
Tomorrow, line up on the hill east of the village.
Once the Urians initiate the attack, Leon, you imdiately go to the west bank to report to Lord Eriv.
I will have the army feign defeat and retreat in an orderly manner to delay ti…” Baron Balfe reiterated tomorrow’s duties to everyone again.
…
The sun sank further west.
A few Scorpion-tailed Lions flew over the riverside village swarming with Urian cavalry, carrying on their backs Knight Kantadar.
Further south, the supply convoy burdened with provisions was slowly arriving at this forward camp.
The shadows of several beasts startled many grassland people’s warhorses and livestock, causing these fierce cavalry soldiers to mutter curses at those Lion Scorpion Knights.
Whether the Griffin or the Scorpion-tailed Lion, the sky beasts that fed on flock livestock have always been the most detested by the Urians.
When the Lion Scorpions landed at the place where the Urian tribal leader’s flag was, the Sky Knights under Ablo’s command finally reported the military situation to the leading tribal war chief.
“…
A force of about fifteen hundred Orland soldiers has taken position in a village on the south bank of the great river, likely here to block you.
There must be fordable mudflats up front,” said the knight, bowing his head to the leader of the Urian cavalry.
The heavily armored war chief, Archer, raised his head, quite dissatisfied with the arrogant attitude of Knight Kantadar, who didn’t even dismount from his saddle, yet he didn’t disregard the intelligence they conveyed.
“Are you sure it’s only fifteen hundred?
How many infantry?
How many cavalry?” Archer asked.
“About a thousand infantry and no more than five hundred cavalry, but I’m unaware if there are more troops on the north shore.
You must reach the main south bank of the river soon.”
The Lion Scorpion Knight urged, glancing upward at the sky, then asked, “It’s getting late; I have to go.”
Seeing the Lion Scorpion flap its wings, Archer hurriedly instructed, “Wait, when you return, on my behalf, please request another thousand reinforcents from Alliance Leader Alkin.
And now that the Northern people have spotted us, there’s no need for them to hide any longer; they must arrive quickly!”
The Lion Scorpion Knight agreed and took off with his squad.
Archer turned back, returning to the temporary wooden lodge where he studied the crude map laid across the table.
He was leading two thousand cavalry of the tribe, commanded to traverse the rural roads through the forest, heading east to reach the tributary of the Ustato River before continuing north to seek the upper reaches depicted on the map.
No surprise, every village found on the route was deserted, leaving nothing to plunder and causing supply issues that greatly slowed the march of his cavalry.
n need food, and horses, in long-term use, consu five to eight tis, if not ten tis, more than soldiers.
Now unable to live off the land for sustenance, the forrly fast cavalry’s long-distance marching speed beca nearly as slow as infantry.
“About fifteen hundred…” Archer pondered and considered…
Night passed quickly.
By the next morning, several teams of lightly equipped fast horses were whizzing along the edges of the eastern hills, probing northward.
Nearing noon, the scout riders returned to Archer’s camp, reporting the Orland Army near Green Creek Village was indeed only around a thousand few hundred.
The Urian light cavalry sent for reconnaissance even advanced northward to the riverbanks but found no more enemy ambushes.
Archer felt a bit relieved, but to be cautious, he still hadn’t acted rashly.
He patiently waited until the arrival of the Lion Scorpion Knights of the Kantadar people, confirming that the rear main camp across the western forest agreed to send another thousand cavalry reinforcents, finally igniting his battle intent.
And entrusted the Sky Knights under Ablo to spend two quarter-hours flying back and forth to the north, waiting to see a Lion Scorpion Knight return; Archer hurried up and asked, “Are there Orland people on the west bank of the tributary?”
“A small number of cavalry camped north of the west bank forest, numbering around four hundred or so,” answered the Lion Scorpion Knight.
Archer’s heart was set at ease; a re four hundred cavalry, even if the enemy ventures from the west bank to raid and flank from behind, they are insignificant.
Moreover, Alkin Khan’s assistance no longer needed to stealthily maneuver under the cover of night but could reach the temporary camp quickly.
He could completely take the fifteen hundred ahead.
Without further hesitation, he imdiately called his subordinates, left a few light cavalry to guard the camp, and led the whole army to armor up and mount their horses.
The grassland people dispatched squads of scout riders forward to clear the way, their two thousand elite cavalry of the tribe advancing in four formations of five hundred each, sweeping grandly through the countryside onto the outskirts of Green Creek Village.
Already inford by the returning Thorny Flower scouts, Balfe had also led Farolis’s subject armies out to the field, setting up a battle array against the enemy.
Amidst the undulating grassy hills, the two armies faced off from afar.
The noble banner of Orland and the fla-edged flags of the Urians flapped in the breeze across the land under Kantadar’s Ustato Territory.
In the southern army array, countless warhorses snorted and iron hooves clopped slowly; nomadic warriors clad in plate armor and scale armor with long swords and battle bows, moved with confidence as they adjusted their cavalry formations under orders.
In the northern battle lines, long spears and large shields stood like a forest; in front of six one-hundred-man infantry phalanxes, four hundred crossbown stretched out in a long shooting line, drawing their bows and nocking arrows behind tower shields set in the ground.
At the rear flank of the army, four hundred cavalry composed of knights and attendants awaited quietly for battle to comnce.
Azeryan in full plate armor, sat on a noble warhorse clad in horse armor, stationed within the ranks of the Thorny Flower Knights.
The son of a noble from Holy Land City absentmindedly gazed from afar at the flying banners of the imnse cavalry formation, his eyes slightly sunk in thought.
It was not the first ti he’d seen such distinctively styled nomadic army flags…
Feeling sothing, Azeryan turned his head to glance at the tall partner beside him.
Lokhak’s iron fingers tightly gripped the hefty all-steel long spear, his tense face filled with eyes seemingly burning with fierce flas of anger.
The son of a sergeant from Holy Land City, who once stood atop the grim city walls, also rembered those Urian flags, new grievances, and old hatreds rushing simultaneously to his mind.
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