Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Slash. Stab. Cut. Trample. Push.

There was a very limited set of actions that one could perform during combat. Given how Saulus was fighting from the back of his horse, this number was restricted even more. And this was also one of the main reasons why the cavalry was never supposed to just enter the fray and remain there, killing people around themselves.

A meter away from the unorganized ranks of the enemy was the distance at which Saulus’ instincts kicked in.

Crash.

Instead of going for the kill, Saulus simply struck the spear aimed at him aside and left the job of killing the soldier to the people behind him.

Outside of that single opponent that actually attempted to fight, the rest of the clash couldn’t even be called a fight in the first place. Simply riding forward with the chest of his horse pushing down the soldiers in front, enemies were then trampled by the horses that followed.

The enemy was completely trapped. Unable to use their numerical advantage in the staging ground that Saulus had prepared, the soldiers at the wall could watch how the battle developed into a ridiculously brutal disaster.

If anyone dared to peek outside the embankments, they would risk having their eye pierced by an arrow. That is, unless they themselves were disciplined enough to shoot without hitting their own ranks entangled in the brutal fight below.

Simply put, this was a disaster that Saulus had orchestrated and was executing. With his mobile force tearing through the thick mass of the enemy, it was only a matter of time before his horsemen would be trapped. Without their initial momentum, there was no point in even thinking about rushing through the open gate.

Even with the enemy being unable to properly close the gate with the defending soldiers still trapped both outside the walls and inside the gatehouse, there was simply no way for any of Saulus’ soldiers to grind through all those bodies to reach it. And even then, an iron grating with sharp blades on its bottom was still hanging above the entrance. If someone were to make it to the gate, they would have to actually take over the entire mechanism in order to stop the enemy from enclosing a huge chunk of Saulus’ forces inside.

Thankfully, winning the siege here was never the plan.

“Fuck!”

With the last slaying of a faceless enemy body, Saulus raised his eyes, ready for another engagement… Only to find out that his force had already managed to penetrate right through the entire enemy mass. With just a few deserters and stranded pitiful souls remaining in front of them, the skirmish could be declared won.

That is, if Saulus’ plan only aimed at thinning the enemy numbers!

“Advance!”

As if he was blind to the nearly complete lack of enemies in front, Saulus ordered for the herald beside him to sheathe his sword and pick up the trumpet again. With the notes of the familiar orders reaching the ears of the cavalrymen, the constant onslaught suddenly stopped.

And just like that, Saulus’ group retreated. Riding in the opposite direction than the one they initially took, there was no way to avoid casualties on their way out. While the initial charge didn’t seem to lower the unit’s headcount all that much, even with the sudden but prolonged clash with the enemy not causing that many casualties, it was their retreat from the battlefield that finally gave the enemy archers and crossbowmen an opportunity to show what they were there for.

By the time Saulus’ unit managed to dash away from the zone overwhelmed by enemy arrows, nearly a third of his horsemen were out of the game. Some lost their mounts, crashing dangerously to the ground. Others were rendered incapable of fighting with arrows protruding from various parts of their bodies. Many simply died on the spot or just bled out.

That was the one thing Saulus was worried about. In theory, putting the heavily armed group to the back of the formation could soften up the losses by a huge degree… Doing so would completely destroy the charge, and make the head of the charge to be far less imposing than it was… all while exposing the sides of the formation instead.

“Advance.”

A rookie commander would bend under the weight of all the lives that were lost or impaired right now. After all, every casualty was a father, brother or a son to someone else. Just by looking at the field that his force just left, Saulus could see many of those sons, fathers and brothers lying on the ground without moving.

But this commander of the rebels, as young as he might be, was already used to this reality. Not letting the death count get to his head and shroud his ability to think, he simply aimed the tip of his sword forward before kicking the sides of his horse. The mount suddenly jumped on its hind legs, a small accident only adding more glory to Saulus’ image. Something he didn’t really care about, but also something that definitely inspired a morale boost in his force!

From then on, the rest of the battle was pretty easy. While the footmen still fighting at the gates would dare to disagree with that kind of statement, after passing by the side of the city walls, Saulus couldn’t help but smile.

Because the gate that was the true aim of his entire plan from the very beginning was currently wide open. Not only that, a huge stream of recruits that had joined his army at Aldo was now pouring out of the thick woods nearby, clearly aiming at the gate.

The distance that separated them from the entry of the city was still vast. With only a handful of the new rebels making their way to the city before the hostilities started, it was just a matter of time before they were killed off and the gate shut by the garrison reinforcements. Given the distance, the recruits wouldn’t be able to make it.

Thankfully, the same couldn’t be said about Saulus’ fastly approaching horsemen!