Chapter 68: Attack [4]
At Carl's words, Bordeaux, along with Hilfin's three knights, retreated to the center and stood at an appropriate distance.
It goes without saying, but with the knight who put out the urgent fire missing, the conscripts maintaining the ranks began to collapse faster than at first.
"Ugh!"
"Drop the shield!"
"Shit! Get it out!"
"Let go! Let's let you go!"
Kkkkkkkk! Wooow!
Soldiers lashed out with spears and swung axes to save their comrades who were captured and dragged by gnolls. However, they were unable to stop it, and in the end, one soldier was swept away by the waves of gnolls and disappeared.
"Stop dazing and block it!"
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!"
The soldier waiting behind needed to get in quickly, but seeing his comrade being dragged by the gnoll right in front of him was so scary that he couldn't move forward.
"Get that bastard out!"
In the end, the soldier was dragged out from behind, and another soldier hurriedly ran in to take his place, swearing.
Of course, dying is scary, but shouldn't someone fight?
Because one person did not get in time, three more were dragged away in that short period.
The gnolls squeezed themselves into the collapsed ranks, not even giving the soldiers space to swing their spears and axes, but instead grabbed their limbs with their large hands and pulled them down.
Awww...
A long, loud cry was heard from somewhere.
Everyone, including Carl, felt the hair on their bodies standing up.
"Make your ranks tighter!"
Even though Carl didn't know what would come next, he could clearly feel that it wouldn't be smooth.
Burbubbuk!
"Ahh!"
"Put your shield up! Put up your shield!"
Immediately after the cries ended, the gnolls suddenly backed away and threw axes at once!
The axes were so flimsy, there was no way they had learned difficult skills like axe throwing. There were very few axes that hit properly.
However, there were countless soldiers who were killed because they could not react to the unexpected and sudden axe throwing.
Those who were hit on the shoulder, hand, or leg were better off. Soldiers who were unlucky enough to be hit on the head by an axe could not fight right away, even if they were hit with a sack.
Humans are weak, and unlike gnolls, they cannot continue to fight even if their snouts are torn off by spears and axes.
"Be more careful of gnolls than the injured!"
When Carl saw the soldiers trying to pull out the wounded, he quickly gave an order.
And immediately he shouted.
"First row, roll down the windows!"
...What?
When he unconsciously questioned that sudden and incomprehensible command, surprisingly, the soldiers in the first row had already lowered the tips of their spears to the floor, following Carl's command.
Since they had been fighting according to that voice, they thought it was natural to do so.
"Lower your posture!"
And when they heard Carl's command once more, they all lowered their posture as if they were one body.
People instinctively want to take a stable stance in crisis situations.
Everyone crouched down and covered themselves, holding their shields tightly.
Wow!
After throwing the axes, the bare-handed gnolls leaped with all their might, waving their hands in the air as they tried to snatch the spears.
The gnolls tried to hold on to the shields. However, even that failed because the soldiers lowered their posture while clutching their shields with all their might.
There was one gnoll that barely managed to hold on to the shield. However, it was not able to drag the soldier who had lowered his posture and held on tightly.
"Stab!"
"Aaaah!"
Immediately afterward, the soldiers in the second and third rows, who were still holding their spears, let out a shout and launched their spears.
Burbubbuk!
Spears stuck out above the soldiers who were sitting with their bodies covered with shields and the soldiers who had fallen after being hit by axes, turning the landing gnolls into minced meat.
The gnolls hit by the spears were pushed away, spouting blood, and for a brief moment, a small space was created.
"Row 1! Stab!"
"Ugh!"
The gnolls who tried to run down flat to avoid the spears of the second and third rows were hit by the spears fired by the soldiers of the first row, who had lowered their posture, and started bleeding.
The fallen soldiers also stabbed their spears together to survive. Soldiers who missed their spears or injured their hands covered themselves with shields, and other soldiers crushed the gnolls that attacked them and killed them.
In a situation where the first line collapsed due to a surprise axe throwing, Carl created a somewhat irregular square with low-level soldiers who had not even been properly trained.
It was not a very long spear, but a single spear about 2 meters long, so it was somewhat unstable.
However, for conscripts with minimal training, the short spear was better because it was easier to handle.
A triple dustproof system with upright spears is much more difficult to make than it looks. Everyone must move in unison and at the same time, and the spacing must be set accurately to create a solid dustproof system.
Thanks to Carl's bold instructions, an incredibly strong formation consisting of a three-layer single spear square of conscripts was completed.
The gnolls retreated hesitantly.
'This is crazy! This works!'
Surprisingly, the person who was most surprised by this situation was none other than Carl himself.
Of course, he thought it wouldn't work, but he ordered it because he thought it would somehow reduce the damage.
However, they formed a square just like the picture, killing or incapacitating dozens of gnolls that were recklessly charging at them with their bare hands.
Life is a series of 'Is this okay?' and 'Is this not okay?' Carl gained new insight.
"Duren is watching us!"
Carl suddenly came to his senses and shouted loudly.
The fact that he stuttered a bit didn't really matter.
"Waaah!"
The soldiers let out a loud roar at Carl's shout.
They really felt like God was leading them at this moment.
After hearing the command, they moved in a complete trance.
And when they came to their senses, they turned this desperate crisis situation around as easily as flipping the palm of their hand and slaughtered the gnolls.
As the soldiers stood firm with their spears pointed, the gnolls could not easily enter and hesitated.
The battle entered a lull, which gave the exhausted soldiers time to catch their breath and drag the wounded inside.
Milton, who had been quietly waiting in the center among the soldiers of Hilfin Castle, slipped his hand out between the shields to treat the wounded, and then put his hand back in.
Catherine, who was circling around the formation and killing gnolls, was also able to catch her breath for a moment.
Awwwwww-!
At that moment, a long crying sound was heard again.
However, there was one thing that was clearly different from before.
They were getting closer!
"Lady Catherine!"
Carl called Catherine.
However, even with her incredibly accurate intuition, Carl could not directly point out the direction Catherine should follow..