Capítulo 7: First Battle
Within a moment, the whole square plunged into chaos. With every spark, people continued to appear. Armed with leaf-shaped gladius and small round shield, they were slashing at anyone close to them.
Not just human, animals also started to appear one after another. Whether it was a bear or tiger shaped animal, all of them were wearing small armour protecting its vital spots. Soon the ground turned red but the black flashing didn't stop.
'I have to leave the place as soon as possible.' That was the only thought running through Kinoya's mind. He turned around only to be surprised again. The army, that was moving around the perimeter of the square, was not moving at all. Rather it seemed to Kinoya, that they were taking a formation just to stop others from leaving.
'Is it some kind of trial?' Kinoya cancelled the thought just the moment it appeared. 'It is too real. If they are expecting resistance from children and their parents, then that will be impossible.'
To begin with, Kinoya had no idea about the origin of these people. These people could be rebel or terrorist. On top of that, they continued to appear out of thin air.
'It should be a teleportation circle.' The black coloured magic circle screamed for one last lime, after giving birth to a giant beast.
The reptilian beast was over 5 meters tall and its body was full of metal plate-like scales. Each of the scales had the size of a human head, stacked over each other without leaving a place of weakness. And the long scaled tail was a good weapon of attack with a boney club at the end.
'No matter what I can't start over again.' His sense was screaming. As he turned around he found that the army was moving in. He bypassed the army and ran out of the square. Just he was about to step outside the square, he hit an invisible barrier, only to fall on his butt with his nose bleeding.
There were oddly dressed people standing just outside of the barrier. By the look, it was not wrong to say they directly came from a fancy dress competition.
One with the fanciest dress of every shiny colour of the planet wore a peacock blue colour hat on his head. He was holding the spine of an unknown small animal with skull still attached to it.
With contrast to him, the other one was grey except for the weirdly shaped branch he was holding. Many weirdly dressed pairs were standing around the square too.
'Could they be mages? They must be the one that erected the barrier. Using innocent bystanders as bait, what type of soldiers are they?' Kinoya put criticism aside and scrutinize the situation with care.
The black magic circle was already dried out leaving a burnt mark on the paved square.
The intruders had assembled themselves into formation, with the scaled beast at the centre.
Four 8X8 formations formed on each side of the beast, with smaller beasts scattered everywhere. One thing was clear to Kinoya, that they were not intruders or terrorists, rather they were hard and trained soldiers.
"I have never thought that even at the edge of the empire you people will prepare such a welcoming party. No one can match the grandness of the Krounen Empire."
"We never said you are welcomed here." A voice thundered, "Well, since you have come there is no need for you to go back."
Kinoya knew the owner of the second voice but what surprised him most was the leader of the enemy was sitting on the back of the giant beast.
The army of the intruders was not more than 300, on the other hand, the empire army had more than 500 people inside the barrier. In the comparison of pure number, the army of the empire had an advantage but with the centre of the square taken, the empire's army couldn't get into formation.
Right at the moment, the earth quacked again. Four walls appeared around the beast as it glowed in grey. That was the signal, the intruders had started to move. The four formations of the army moved towards the four regions.
Kinoya couldn't see all of this, all he could see the 8x8 intruder formation came in the cone-shaped area as the smaller beasts were closing the mouth.
It was utter chaos. The leftover civilian started to struggle. Those who were closer to the barrier was lucky but most of them were at closer to the centre. The army reacted fast and opened up a path to retreat but it was hard for those frightened people to maintain order.
No matter how many books one has read about war and tactics it will be almost impossible for one to apply on the battlefield. Kinoya's thought was along the way.
With the height of just 4 feet, it will be hard for him to manoeuvre a sword of the same height. With the strength of just 16, he didn't even try to use it without any prior experience. Rather with his agility, he was more confident of running away than fighting.
No matter what, the chaos wasn't calming down. The unlucky civilians were cut down without any resistance. The intruder army didn't differentiate between soldiers or civilians. They were closing in without breaking a formation.
15 shield-bearers, 29 spearmen, 42 swordsmen, 32 archers, on the other hand, there were 64 swordsmen. With 8 cat-like beasts and their tamers. The swordsmen of the intruders were using gladius with a round shield but the army only had the scimitar…
With the chaos created by the civilians, the empire's soldiers had started to panic too. Some tried to fight against the intruder. Whether it was swordsman or spearman they all fall one after another, even two bearing tower shield wasn't a match for the soldiers in a unique formation.
That was a pure formation made off swordsmen, with perfect coordinate and training they might have slight advantages but that shouldn't be an overwhelming one.
'They may be well-trained soldiers but never had they played an RPG.' Kinoya could only sigh. 'No that couldn't be it. Either it is because they lack a good officer or their tactical understanding isn't strong enough.'
8x8 army formation, it was nothing like an army of more than 100 couldn't beat. From the looks of it, they are not accustomed to each other tactics along with the fall of their few soldiers, their moral was an all-time low. The only one who was doing their work was the archers. It was because of their periodic barrage of arrows the intruders didn't charge in.
'If the lips fall, the teeth will bear the cold.' It was hard to reason with oneself. 'I have already done that twice. I am not going to repeat my fate.' He could hide till the general had won but…
Not sure about what to do, Kinoya climbed the rough surface of the wall. He tried to compare the pros and cons but with his hesitation, as the casualty increased.
"10 Tower shield bearers at the front, anchor the shield on the ground, don't give space. 3 on standby. 11 spearman on the second row one each wing of the shield bearers, 6 on standby. Swordsman at the outer wing 20 on each side. At the rear, 10 on each row of archers, form 3 row."
That was the first order of the young general who will terrorise the battlefield of the future, but...
"Is my words are confusing?" He wasn't sure about it but the first expression he had received was surprising. The soldiers had never imagined that a child will climb up the wall only to shout nonsense.
"Boy quickly come down." One of the swordsmen shouted. Other followed suit. "Go to the rear. It will be safe there."
'Six years old!?' Even Kinoya couldn't help but smile at the scene where a child with the smell of milk, ordering hundreds of well-trained soldiers. Still never had he imagined that rather than mocking remarks he will be greeted by the caring ones.
He hadn't been in the army before, so little did he knew that just by not running away from the enemies he got the recognition of the army. But it wasn't enough to make them follow the orders.
*Sigh*
Forgetting that he was hanging from the wall made his hand slip. He bumped on the wall to stabilize him again. The bump caused pain in his chest as something uneven was pressed against his chest.
'At least it's worth a try.' He was quick to take out the badge and shouted. "In the name of Moon legion obey my command."
For a moment all the soldiers were surprised. In the recruitment trial, the children were generally given a recruitment badge, that thing has very little or no use. People can join the army even without it. Above it was the specially recruited children who have great potential. But this child was holding a legion recruitment badge, something which can only be given a two-star general.
For a moment few of them turned to the man fighting with the giant beast on the other side of the square, before another archer cried out, "That is the general's badge, not a recruitment badge." Nobody was going to question the archer's eyesight, on the top of it, he was actually from the Moon legion. Even Kinoya himself took a quick look at the badge.
'I think I had underestimated my value too much.' Kinoya sighed as he repeated the previous command. But the result was different. The execution was so smooth that even Kinoya himself was surprised. There was no argument between them about who is going to be vanguard who is going to be backup. For the second time, he got goosebumps.
'Being in an army wouldn't be so bad.' With such thoughts at the back of mind, he gave his second order. "Move as a single body, shield-bearer hold your ground. Spearman attack the enemy vanguard from the back of the shield line. Archer concentrate your arrow at the wing of the first 3 rows. Rotate continuously so that the rain won't stop."
The shield wall didn't have a single gap between them, even moved as a single line. Whether the enemy charged or pounced on the shield wall, there wasn't a single movement in the wall. Hacking, stabbing, slashing nothing seems to be effective against the wall.
The spears of the weren't as long as 6 meters like Philip's great phalanx formation but it was around 4 meters and long enough to attack the enemy vanguard while staying out of reach.
Undoubtedly, the archers were the most effective ones. If it was some other formation then the enemy would have jumped in but the constant barrage of arrows stopped them from doing so.
Kinoya didn't know much about the other weapons but the bow was something he used for more than 10 years in this world. So he knew perfectly well how hard it was to aim light arrows in such a close distance without hitting a friend who was in the 1-meter range of the target.
Just after the 8th round the first one fall on the left flank. Within 2 round 2 more fell. But their experience showed their effect soon enough. Whenever one fall the one back took its position. They weren't having any problem in rotating. By 15th round, with only 8 casualties the situation reached stalemate again.
Just as Kinoya was thinking about the next step his danger sense was tingling. He quickly moved along the wall. Just as he moved 8 arrows hit the spot he was hanging from. Someone from the ground shouted in surprise.
"Concentrate," Kinoya shouted back. At first, he was happy that the enemy didn't bring any archer, but… 'I have underestimated the enemies too much.' Though the beast tamers weren't as accurate as of the archer of his side but were doing their work.
On the other hand, problem after problem continued to appear.
'Alas! I don't know any sign language or any flag sign.' Without the element of surprise, each of his orders was losing its effectiveness.
'The officer of the enemy isn't just for show'. The enemy soldiers were constantly rotating themselves. The empire army was strong but he could feel that the longer it will be dragged harder it will be for them to win.
On top of that, he can't mobilise the swordsmen carelessly. That might trigger an attack from the beasts. Without the shield, it will be hard to face the beasts. Even if they don't do that, with a longer scimitar the empire's man will be at a disadvantage against the short gladius holders, at such proximity.
'It isn't a game after all. Life is on the line. There is no second chance.' Kinoya could only sigh. 'The fiction couldn't be stranger than reality!?'
He had read many books of history or those novels but no matter how strong his imagination was he could never think of such a hopeless situation.
'No, I can't give up. Till I have single breath I will fight for everything. I will.' The thought faded in his mind as he concentrated on the situation down below.
"Create a path in the shield wall...
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