Road to the Crown 244 Enemy charge

"Charge!"

With this shout coming from the side of the battlefield, I was barely capable of hearing it from all the shooting, falling, thumping and the new, distinctive sound that just entered the chaotic universe of the battle.

The sound of a huge number of horses galloping, made it seem like everything that happened in this place so far, was just a child's play, when compared to what was about to happen now.

"TO THE WALLS!"

As much as I would love to count on my reaper gunners to stop the charge before this thin and lethal blade could reach the underbelly of my troops, I didn't dare to believe in their complete capabilities either. As the history of my nation in its early twentieth-century war with the bolsheviks proved, with enough numbers and determination, even a real machine gun wouldn't be able to destroy the enemy, cavalry charge, not to speak about its wannabe version that I came up with myself!

"Fiiiix Bayoneetes…"

Hearing the new shout coming from the behind, I realised that we were now locked between two major forces, hoping to squash my men between them and the walls of the city that were supposed to be our help yet would turn into the device of our doom.

"CHARGE!!!"

"HURRA! SLAWA!"

Just from this single warcry I finally realised just where the heck did Ostros managed to find such a huge number of veteran warriors. Because, in the entire commonwealth, only a single group was using Slawa as their warcry!

"Don't stop! Keep running; we will return fire back… CITY GUNS, FIRE!"

Using the fact that we were already near enough the city for the troops hidden inside to hear my orders properly, I still went for a little trick, hoping that the initial part of my order would put enemy troops into even more confident spot, only to break this fake illusion the very next moment!

"YES, SIR!"

With a powerful soundwave of my troops orderly responding to my orders, I couldn't help myself but turn around. 

And just like in this one, world war two movie, I realised that all my actions so far finally managed to lead the situation to exactly what I hoped to see!

TRAAAAAAA!

With the sound of my several reaper guns firing all at once, I couldn't turn my eyes away from the sight of countless men dying as if a deathly reaper swung its scythe over their heads. Rather than falling to the ground like they would do in the classic example of the modern-day warfare, with some people dying or getting injured, falling down on the ground and getting replaced by another soldier from the row behind, here, entire lines of people were just collapsing!

"Men! Do not get distracted! Get back to the safety of the walls!"

Only after staring at the situation for long enough did I realise I wasn't the only one unable to pull my eyes away from this both terrifying and magnificent sight. Yet just a quick glance to the side made my body tremble in agitation.

The cavalry was coming!

"First army! Against the horses… FIRE!"

With the last four reaper guns suddenly covering the gap between my lines and the walls of the marketplace with fire, they managed to tempter the enemy charge a bit, slowing their advance by creating a barricade of the dead horses and soldiers, pilling up against each other. 

And I wasn't willing to let this kind of chance just go away like that!

TRATATATA!

With the voices of my personal rifles joining the choir, I could see the entire horsemen unit getting devastated in the manner of seconds. This was the reason why I never bothered to invest in the creation of my own cavalry. As great and useful as it was, even in terms of modern warfare, putting it to a reckless charge like this one, was simply stupid!

There was no way for a tightly formed unit of cavalrymen to handle themselves against a concentrated fire like the one I was serving them right now. As great as the horsemen were in terms of both logistic, communication and strategic flanking, using the horses to carry them to the battlefield, was the greatest flaw of the current-day cavalry when one pitted it against the modern firearms of mine!

"Hold your fire and continue the retreat!"

Seeing how this biggest threat to the integrity of my troops was finally pacified, with four of the reaper guns tracking their shoots towards the escaping leftovers of the Ostros horsemen, I realised that I allowed my attention to be focused on a single spot for way too long.

And this was exactly the reason why the enemy forces allowed itself to enter right into my trap, yet this momentary lapse of my concentration was what allowed them to regain their footing, even if only for a bit!

"Take aim!"

Hearing the command coming from the nearby enemy troops, I realised that my order to retreat was too late. While my men were busy dealing with the threat to our flank, the main, foot force of Ostros managed to scale over the earthworks and reach the lethal range of their weapons.

"Everyone! HUG THE FUCKING GROUND!"

Shouting from the bottom of my lungs, I didn't dare to stay upright myself. As much as my dignity of the officer would be hurt by this movement, I wasn't stupid enough to put such hollow aspects before my own damned safety!

"FIRE!"

As much as I hated to admit it, at this point, the enemy troops proved the superiority of their discipline. Despite the process of taking aim and properly firing was far longer than what one would take to just drop like dead to the ground, as soon as the enemy order came into action, I had to powerlessly watch as countless men of mine fell to the ground, just a few steps away from the safety of fortifications of the marketplace.

"SUPPRESSING FIRE!"

Unable to do anything for the men that already fallen, I had to swallow the grief that appeared when I saw so many people that I personally knew go and meet their death, in order to do my best for the sake of those who remained alive!

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Chapter end