FL - Chapter 51: Battle Formation

Time was tight. Louis needed to maximize the territory's combat strength within these few short days.

So he brought his white-haired secretary Sif to the training grounds to check on the soldiers' progress.

Sif watched the battle formation shift in flawless unison and her mouth fell slightly open.

This was her first time seeing Crimson Tide Territory's formation drills, and her heart was reeling.

Crimson Tide Territory's infantry tactics were nothing like the common battle doctrines of this world.

Most lords' tactics went no further than piling a mob of rabble into a human wall, hoping to brute-force their way through a cavalry charge with sheer numbers.

The result, more often than not, was their formation being shredded apart by knights and routed in a single blow.

Crimson Tide Territory was different. They used a formation Louis had designed: the "Layered Formation."

He had structured the battle line into three tiers, each representing a distinct phase of coordinated combat. Ranged suppression, close-quarters interdiction, and the fatal counterstrike.

The First Layer: Archers.

The archers stood at the front, divided into three rotating volley groups. A continuous fire pattern, akin to the three-line volley technique. This ensured the rain of arrows never stopped.

"Aim for the horses!" the drill instructor bellowed across the field.

The soldiers drew. Arrows fell like rain.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The shafts hammered into the targets in dense clusters. Most weren't particularly accurate, but quantity had a quality all its own. With enough arrows in the air, some would always find their mark.

The objective of the simulated fire wasn't the knights themselves. Against men shielded by Battle Aura, such attacks had limited effect.

Their true target was what the knights sat on. The horses.

Aside from magical warhorses, ordinary mounts typically had no armor and couldn't channel Battle Aura.

A well-placed shot at a horse's legs or belly could shatter an enemy cavalry charge, gutting the knights' momentum.

The Second Layer: Spearmen.

"Hold formation! Steady pace!"

Once the archers completed their first volley cycle, shield-bearing long-spearmen stepped forward in rapid lockstep and formed a dense spear wall.

Their spears stretched roughly thirteen to twenty feet in length, all leveled forward in perfect alignment.

Their role came into play once the enemy cavalry had been disorganized by the archers and their charge had lost momentum.

The spearmen would stride forward and drive their spear points toward the horses' bellies, forcing the knights to slow. Or, if the mounts lost control altogether, unhorsing them entirely.

The Third Layer: Blade-and-Axe Soldiers.

Once the cavalry was forced to a crawl, the stage belonged to the blade-and-axe soldiers.

They lurked behind the spearmen, waiting. When the spear wall successfully halted the enemy, they would burst forth, swinging heavy long-blades and battle-axes.

Their objective. Hack the horses' legs out from under them, then butcher the fallen knights.

"Strike!"

At the drill instructor's command, the blade-and-axe soldiers surged forward. The wooden posts simulating cavalry shattered on impact, splintering apart.

Even lower-ranked knights with Battle Aura shielding their bodies would have a hard time escaping the battlefield alive once several well-trained blade-and-axe soldiers closed to melee range.

And this formation could work in concert with knights to multiply the results.

Of course, this approach wasn't Louis's original creation. It was inspired by the Layered Formation used in the historic Battle of Immortal Pass, where the layered infantry tactic had successfully annihilated an elite heavy cavalry force.

"Can this actually kill Battle Aura warriors?" Sif couldn't hold the question in any longer.

"Formal Knights and above wouldn't go down that easily. But against lower-ranked knights, it's devastatingly effective," Louis said, a touch of pride in his voice.

The formation couldn't stop high-tier knights, of course. Those monsters could fight a hundred men at once.

But against Apprentice and Formal Knights, it was a lethal counter.

A single squad of these well-trained infantry soldiers, using the Layered Formation, could encircle and kill several knights.

Still, infantry could only serve as support on the battlefield. The true deciding factor in any engagement would always come down to the Battle Aura-wielding knights.

"Come on," Louis said, cutting through Sif's thoughts. He continued toward the far side of the training grounds.

There, the knights were running their own tactical drills.

Unlike the infantry's formation work, the cavalry drills centered on "Swarm Tactics."

This was the tactical core Louis had adapted specifically for the Northlands' environment.

Across the broad drill field, the knights had split into multiple squads, each composed of three to five Formal Knights leading ten to twenty Apprentice Knights.

They launched continuous attacks on the hypothetical enemy from different directions.

The tactic could be summarized in three stages: Harass, Feint, Concentrate!

One squad would close rapidly on the target, hurling javelins or loosing arrows to provoke and disrupt, then withdraw immediately.

Another squad would launch an assault from the flank, creating the illusion of a main-force charge to force the enemy to reposition their defensive line.

The two squads would cycle in continuous rotation, wearing the enemy down.

Finally, when the enemy's formation began to waver, a concealed cavalry squad would reveal itself and strike the key target with concentrated force, inflicting maximum destruction in minimum time.

Throughout the entire process, the knights maintained high mobility. They never engaged the enemy head-on in a direct clash. Instead, they drained them through attrition, probing for gaps.

The moment the enemy showed the slightest exhaustion, or their commander made a single mistake, the knights would seize the chance, converge their forces, and deliver the killing blow.

On the drill field, warhorses thundered, dust swirling skyward.

Lances punched through wooden posts. Arrows found their marks with unerring precision.

After months of training, Crimson Tide Territory's knights could now execute the Swarm Tactics flawlessly.

The veteran knights moved with practiced ease. The newcomers still made occasional mistakes, but through relentless drilling, they were steadily integrating into the system.

Louis nodded in satisfaction.

This approach maximized the protection of his own cavalry while continuously weakening the enemy.

Compared to the idiotic tactic of a mindless head-on charge that ended in encirclement and annihilation, this scattered harassment doctrine was the way elite cavalry was meant to fight.

Sif watched the knights, their movements locked in perfect unison, their obedience instant and absolute, and felt a tremor deep in her chest.

Every action was flawlessly precise. Every order was executed the moment it was given, with no hesitation, no wasted motion.

This was nothing like the warriors of the northern tribes she'd grown up with.

In the tribes, warriors were accustomed to charging in a single wild wave, relying on individual valor and raw physical prowess to win the day. Not this meticulous system of coordination and tactics.

If every knight in the Ironblood Empire fought like the knights of Crimson Tide Territory, then the northern tribes were in grave danger.

Her hands tightened. Her heart was a tangle of complex emotions.

As the former princess of the Cold Moon Tribe, she naturally wanted every last one of the traitors dead. Especially the ones who had poisoned her father, murdered her mother, and slaughtered her brothers and sisters.

She wanted them buried in unmarked graves.

But if the Empire truly swept through the Northlands with full force... what of the innocent tribespeople her father had protected?

"What are you thinking about? Let's go. To the alchemy workshop."

Louis's voice cut through Sif's spiraling thoughts.

She came back to herself, glanced at Louis, and in the end said nothing. She simply followed in silence.

Louis looked out over the training field, now teeming with an army that grew stronger by the day, and felt a swell of satisfaction.

The soldiers had mastered the Layered Formation. The knights' Swarm Tactics were fully realized. Their combat strength had multiplied several times over since the day they'd arrived at Crimson Tide Territory.

Good. Next, the Mana Flame Bombs.

If Hilko's team had succeeded in their research, Louis would be far more confident heading into the coming battle.

And if they hadn't...

Louis let out a soft hum. He already had his countermeasure ready.

Then Hilko would work through the nights until they were finished. *Hmph. Work him to death.*

He pulled the reins and spurred his warhorse forward.

Sif mounted and followed. The two of them, along with their knight escort, rode out toward the alchemy workshop.