Game of Thrones: From a deserter to a high-ranking official

Chapter 107 The Battle of the Golden Horse

But how could these panicked people possibly obey Tiberius's orders? They ignored Tiberius's commands and blindly pressed on, trying to cross the river.

"Release the arrows," Tippi coldly ordered those around him.

With a "bang," a crossbow bolt, accompanied by the sound of something cutting through the air, pierced straight through the neck of an unfortunate man, pinning him to the riverbank.

"One more step back and you're dead!" Tiberius threatened. "Get back to the other side of the river, hold out this attack, and I'll allow you to come back! Otherwise..." He brandished his crossbow threateningly.

"Otherwise, before the Valantis kill you, I'll shoot you all dead in this muddy ground first!"

Having heard Tiberius's words, the scum and mercenaries on the other side of the river were helpless. They could only slink back to their original encampment.

After all, circumstances are more powerful than people, and Tiberius truly possessed the "truth."

[Damn it, thank goodness they didn't riot... and they're still willing to go back to their posts.] Tiberius wiped the sweat from his brow inwardly, muttering to himself.

But when Tiberius looked through his telescope at the distant Valantis army, he suddenly frowned.

"Valantis... what are they doing?" Tiberius put down his binoculars and pointed with some confusion at the opposing army formation, at the flags of those who were clearly ragtag soldiers, and at the center of the formation, at the purple banner of the "Uncrowned Prince" fluttering in the wind.

"Why...why are they letting their cavalry retreat?" Tiberius muttered to himself, puzzled. "They're about to crush our scum stationed at the front into a bloody pulp!"

However, this is also a good thing.

With arrow support from the rear and the aura of Tiberius's "Domination," this attack, led by the "Uncrowned Prince," achieved little success. On the contrary, they were nearly swept away by the fleeing soldiers, making a fool of themselves in front of everyone.

This was extremely humiliating for the commander of Valantis. So he placed all the blame on the conscripts and mercenaries. He accused them of "disobeying orders" and then personally executed several of these "exemplary" cases with his saber.

However, when he saw the cannon fodder on the other side of the river begin to retreat, the company commander felt that he could do it again.

"This is the perfect opportunity! The enemy must be terrified by now!" he declared confidently. "With just one more assault, we can crush them. They're like a crumbling building; one good kick and they'll collapse!"

"Vito, tell our archers not to exchange fire with the enemy archers, but to keep their fire on the front ranks." Tiberius put down his binoculars and ordered Vito to command his archer unit to attack the pursuing stragglers.

"But kid, if we don't engage in a crossbow duel, the enemy archers might conserve more strength, which would be detrimental to our next move..."

"I am fully aware of this," Tiberius nodded.

"But war doesn't count, Vito. If the enemy can rout all those scum on the other side in one wave, their morale will be boosted, and I'll be grateful if the scum who return to our side don't cause us any trouble! Next, I might even need them to fill in the gaps and hinder the charge of the super-heavy cavalry!"

"Old Tom, Dmitri!"

"Yes!" the two replied.

"Tell the soldiers at the front to shout at those scum on the other side when they return, and tell them to move to the flanks, not to charge straight through the gaps in the center!" Tiberius pointed with his whip at the spearmen at the front, who were holding their spears and ready to engage the enemy at any moment.

"These routed soldiers could disrupt our lines, so we must not allow them to advance directly through the central command. If anyone dares to continue after being warned, Dmitry!"

"Here!" Dmitri immediately stopped and saluted Tiberius.

"Pierce them straight through, that's a death order. The death of a few scum is far more important than the collapse of the lines!" Tiberius warned.

"Habror! Your task is very simple. You and your best-equipped veterans wait here. Without my order, even if I'm about to be trampled into mincemeat by the Valantis heavy cavalry, you don't move. Understand?"

After giving the order, Tiberius brought the telescope back to his eyes.

"I'm going to make the Valantis suffer a crushing defeat here!"

"Sir, please forgive me, but I think it would be better to temporarily halt our infantry's attack," a soldier of the [Uncrowned Prince] cautiously advised his company commander.

"We don't have an overwhelming advantage in either the quantity or quality of our infantry. Rather than continuing to have our infantry engage in meaningless line-filling, it would be better to..."

"Hmm, what you say makes sense. Let's have our infantry withdraw first." Valantis's company commander agreed to the request.

But in reality, they had their own selfish motives behind this proposal.

The majority of soldiers under the command of the Uncrowned Prince are infantry, currently charging into the front lines of the Valantis army. The core of these soldiers are naturally the private troops of the Uncrowned Prince's own family.

If these people are seriously injured or killed, the Empire will not reimburse you, since you brought them out yourself and they are not part of the Empire's "official military organization".

"Well then, let's get our super-heavy cavalry and elephant cavalry ready!" the company commander ordered.

"They crave glory, don't they? Excellent! Let them claim the final glory! And those ambitious lads in our legion, let them and their squires don their armor, mount their horses, and utterly crush these mercenaries!"

The super-heavy cavalry of Valantis unfurled their banners and gave the order to advance!

During this process, some infantrymen who did not have time to retreat were trampled to death by the advancing cavalry, but most managed to bypass them. Under the command of Captain Valantis, his cavalry advanced rapidly, hoping to give Tiberius and his men no time to react.

However, they would soon find out what Tiberius had arranged for them.

First, there were streams and mud, which posed difficulties for the cavalry, and many fell off their horses. Meanwhile, the strong warhorses became stuck in the mud pits and the horse traps that Tiberius and his men had set up in advance. Many knights' horses had their legs broken by these "insidious" designs, and some were even thrown from their horses and broke their necks.

They were forced to march through the mud, some collapsing to their knees. Both men and horses were exhausted before reaching the position.

"All crossbowmen, switch to armor-piercing arrows!" Tiberius hid behind a large, upright shield, cocked his crossbow, and then placed a thick armor-piercing arrow into the groove.

"Free fire! Free fire! Light infantry and heavy shield bearers, throw out your spears and javelins!"

Meanwhile, Tiberius's archers and light infantry, protected by their large shields, were not overwhelmed by the enemy's crossbowmen. Therefore, when the Valantis knights were trapped in the mud, arrows, javelins, and spears rained down on them.

Therefore, in order to protect themselves from projectiles as much as possible, the Valantis had to lower their heads and bend their necks to avoid being shot in the face.

Because the eye holes and vents on the helmet are among the weakest parts of the armor. This head-down posture restricts their breathing and vision. They then had to wear heavy armor and trudge through the sticky, muddy clay towards the Lightning Regiment's position.

"Damn muddy ground!"

"Where are my servants? Pull me out of the mud!"

"My precious sword is gone! Damn it!"

Seeing the knights fall to the ground, Tiberius cunningly added a lightning effect to the javelin he threw.

This was incredibly effective; every armored Valantine soldier who was struck by a "lightning" javelin enjoyed a 24-hour immersive sleep.

"Damn it! Drop your horses and we'll go in on foot!" The company commander of the [Uncrowned Prince] was furious. The crossbow bolts and javelins couldn't completely pierce his heavy triple armor, but they were enough to make him feel humiliated.

He was quite brave, even reckless, as he dismounted from his horse, which was stuck in the mud, threw down his broken lance, drew his sword, and charged toward the Lightning Legion.

But what they would face next were the chevaux-de-frise and sharpened stakes that Tiberius and his men had set up in advance, and...