Giles waited anxiously at Phantom Wing Fortress for several days, constantly sending out scouts north to investigate the Kingdom Army's movements.
Based on the various pieces of information received, it seemed that the Kingdom Army was resting in the Firewood, which gave Giles a temporary sense of relief.
Those vassals who received his warning led their troops, arriving intermittently at Phantom Wing Fortress to join Giles.
They arrived in haste and brought a less than ideal number of soldiers, but Giles managed to gather an army of over 20,000, which gave him the confidence to fight.
At this moment, the scouts returned and reported that the Kingdom Army had continued its southward advance.
Giles immediately led his troops to meet the Royal Army head-on at the Phantom Wing Fortress. He was determined to crush the Royal Army in open battle and achieve a decisive victory to completely turn the tide of the war.
The reason Giles did not hold out in the Phantom Wing Fortress was that it was not the only route to the south, and his own 20,000 troops would not be able to maneuver effectively if they were stationed inside the fortress. Giles hoped to defeat his opponent quickly rather than slowly wear him down.
The two armies, which were heading towards each other, finally met in an open field, and immediately set up their battle formation and began to fight!
Giles devised a strategy: first, use regular troops to probe and weaken the enemy, then have the elite Undead Army deliver a heavy blow.
Under his orders, a large number of soldiers began to charge the Royal Army's front in a chaotic manner. These soldiers were mostly brought by vassals from various regions, with a wide variety of equipment and varying combat capabilities.
The Kingdom's positions were bombarded with cannon fire, first solid shot from a distance, then shotgun shells at close range. The morale of the rebel soldiers, bombarded by the shells, plummeted, and they quickly retreated.
Giles was furious and ordered his detachments to drive the soldiers back into the fray. After several assaults, the Royal Army artillery was firing until the barrels were hot, with only a few guns still firing. The rebels finally closed in on the Royal Army, and hand-to-hand combat ensued.
The Kingdom Army that participated in the war consisted of six infantry regiments, each composed of a firearms battalion and two pike battalions. While the pikemen fought fiercely with the rebels, the firearms provided support from the vicinity. They prioritized attacking valuable targets, such as knights in armor, and often served both combat and command functions.
Under the barrage of fire, one rebel knight after another fell to the ground, at which point the rebel soldiers who had fought alongside them would scatter in all directions.
Giles noticed the Royal Army's firearms and immediately sent longbowmen to suppress them.
Longbowmen are the second most elite unit in Giles's camp after the Undead Army. Especially after Giles witnessed the power of Northwest Bay firearms, he placed even greater emphasis on this ranged unit under his command, and the Grand Duke hoped that they could fight against the firearms on the battlefield.
These warriors wore chains over their shoulders, leather straps and leather patches to protect their wrists, protective leather sheaths at their knuckles, short swords and leather pouches hanging from their belts, and armor.
They undergo year-round training and possess exceptional archery skills, capable of firing three to six arrows per minute and accurately hitting distant enemies.
Their longbows were meticulously crafted from yew wood over three years, and when paired with specially designed arrows, the arrows could penetrate chainmail. If the arrows were made more solidly, they could even penetrate armor, causing even greater casualties to the enemy.
Through the telescope, Harrison had already seen the rebel longbowmen gathering, so he ordered the firearms to assemble and intercept the approaching rebel longbowmen.
The ranged units of both sides engaged in fierce combat.
The leaden-gray clouds hung low, seemingly within reach. Martin, a firearmsman from the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment, sniffed the air, noticing the gunpowder and damp, grassy smell. He instinctively touched the powder flask clipped to his belt to make sure it was still there.
To his left, Tom, also from the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment, was using trembling fingers to clamp the match cord onto the snake pole; the hemp rope, soaked in saltpeter, emitted a pungent odor.
"Three hundred yards!" The company commander's shout came from not far away.
Martin saw on the distant gentle slope that the rebel longbowmen were drawing their terrifying arrows from their quivers, the sunlight occasionally piercing through the clouds and reflecting a cold glint on the arrowheads.
The first volley of arrows came faster than expected, and Martin heard a chilling whistling sound overhead, like Death sharpening his scythe.
He instinctively crouched down, and an arrow flew past his iron helmet, embedding itself in the soil behind him, its fletching still trembling violently.
"Load!" The company commander's voice had become hoarse from constantly issuing orders.
Martin quickly poured gunpowder into the barrel, followed by lead bullets and tamping material. His fingers were clumsy with tension—this was, after all, the new army's first tough battle. Some gunpowder spilled onto the damp ground. To his right, another young soldier had finished loading and was aiming with trembling hands.
A second volley of arrows from the longbowmen followed. This time Martin heard a scream—an arrow pierced Tom's shoulder blade, and he staggered to the ground, his arquebus falling to the floor.
Martin saw Tom's blood soaking the grass beneath him, and the unlit fuse was still emitting wisps of smoke.
"Fire!" the company commander shouted.
Ignoring Tom's worries, Martin took a deep breath, pulled the trigger, and brought the match close to the potion pool. With a deafening roar, the recoil slammed into his shoulder, and the choking white smoke obscured his vision, like white flowers blooming in the air. Martin could vaguely see several bloodstains blooming in the longbowmen's ranks in the distance, and their figures falling backward.
"Load!"
"Fire!"
...
After several volleys, the Royal Army The firearms also endured several volleys of arrows, resulting in heavy casualties.
Harrison immediately ordered men to be drawn from the reserves to fill the gaps in the firearm ranks, picking up the weapons and ammunition of the wounded and resupplying to continue firing. Although the Royal Army infantry consisted of firearms and pikemen, the pikemen had also received firearms training. They were familiar with every step, and operating a firearm was not as complicated as operating a cannon, making the training cost very low.
The two sides continued firing at each other, and the situation seemed to have taken a turn for the better.
The well-trained longbowmen clearly underestimated the rate of fire and power of the firearm, and what shocked them even more was that no matter how many enemies they killed, someone could always come in to replace them.
Giles was both shocked and frightened. Could anyone operate a weapon that sprays flames and smoke?
Every longbowman they lost was a loss, because archery requires long-term training, and their ordinary infantry could not simply pick up a longbow from the ground and replace the original archer like the enemy could.
The rebel longbowmen's formation began to crumble, and the rain of arrows became sparse.
"Free fire!"
New orders were given, and Martin heard a series of explosions, white smoke almost forming a cloud above the position. The enemy longbowman commander was shouting something at the top of his lungs, but was quickly interrupted by a gunshot, and Martin saw the figure in magnificent armor fall from his horse.
As the last longbowman turned to flee, Martin realized his matchlock had burned to the end. The battlefield reeked of gunpowder and blood, littered with the corpses of soldiers from both sides.
Martin trembled as he removed his helmet, revealing a deep arrow wound on it. He was incredibly lucky to be alive.
He looked up at the fleeing enemy longbowmen in the distance and couldn't help but cheer with his comrades.