Chapter 20：Battle on Open Plains (Part I)

Theodore Guiltfort rode alongside his men as they marched onwards. In light of recent events, the coalition decided that the best course of action was to attack the Paniards now, while they still had ample supplies and high moral.

After almost ten years of recovering from the last major battle that devastated both sides, this time, it would be the Drussians who would go on the offensive.

Especially now that the reinforcements has arrived.

Theodore glanced around the open grasslands of the Cunnal plains. On one side directly opposite his position, he could see a massive 'blob' that was a mix of silver and orange. That 'blob' was the enemy army. A ten thousand strong Panish army.

Dressed in the traditional Panish uniform and armed with Pikes, the Panish army formed a giant 'steel hedgehog' which contrasted the different shades of red and brown that made up the Drussian coalition.

The left flank of the coalition composed of the proud riders of the mighty Guzzlow family. Their primary colour was a dark maroon red while their banners composed of a blackbear paw with crossed swords embedded onto a bright red background.

Out of the five major families, the Guzzlows would be regarded as the most fearsome; putting raw strength and power over everything else. This was something that was ingrained into the family's culture since its inception and this culture was also deeply rooted into their vassal families.

This meant that Theodore had to keep a close eye on the Guzzlows, lest their bloodlust gets the better of them and they embark on a bloody rampage. While this may seem good, it would also mean that Theodore would lose control over the left flank, something very undesirable in battle.

The right flank composed of the astute knights of the noble Orburn family. Who were dressed in bright scarlet reds which ironically contradicted their opportunistic nature. Their banner had a white background with the insignia of a scarlet-red vulture which was spreading its wings out.

While the Orburn knights may not be as physically capable or ferocious as the Guzzlows, they make up for it with their quick wits.

More specifically their quick wits on wether or not to participate. This is due to their opportunistic nature, quickly jumping into the fray once they deemed that the odds are in their favour and just as quickly bailing out as soon as the tables begin to turn.

The reason why they are liability to the coalition is obvious. Unlike the Guzzlows who will savagely fight on to the very end, the Orburns are very likely to turn tail and run the moment things are no longer looking to be in their favour.

Of course, the middle was composed of Theodore's family, the prestigious Guiltforts. Whose banner waved the highest in the wind. The Guiltfort's banner was that of silver crossed halberds on a red-brown background. Behind the halberds was a black zweihander that was lined perfectly upright in-between the halberds to create perfect symmetry.

Out of the three armies, Theodore's army fielded the most knights and those commoners that it did field were better equiped and trained on average than the other families.

This was also the reason why the Guiltforts were entrusted the middle. Due to their steadfast discipline who would be better to handle the middle than a Guiltfort soldier? Theodore was confident that his frontlines will keep the middle pre-occupied.

What he did need to worry about was whether or not the cavalry of the Guzzlow and Orburn families will succeed in their flanking attempts. The Panish tercio's strength comes in its almost impenetrable 'wall' of pikes which defends it from virtually any cavalry charge.

However, pikes were slow and unwieldy and when many pikemen are condensed into a tercio, it would be very difficult for a tercio to manoeuvre with the least bit of convenience.

All the Drussians needed to do was take advantage of that fact.

The overall command of the coalition force has been given to Theodore but this was only symbolic. The respective heads of the Orburn and Guzzlow families still held the reins on their own army and they don't necessarily have to listen to Theodore despite supposdly ceding control to him.

Despite the coalitions inherent shortcomings, Theodore was still confident in his chances of victory.

With the arrival of reinforcements, the coalition's army now totals 18,500, only slightly larger than the combined total might of the Panish expeditionary force which was 17,000. However, he wasn't facing the Expeditionary force in it's entirety.

He was only facing the 10,000 strong vanguard army which was nearly half in size of the coalition. The vanguard force composed of roughly 3000 cavalrymen while the other 7000 were Panish foot-soldiers armed with either a pike or a firearm.

Although the Panish army wasn't really comparable to the coalition, there was still one thing that Theodore has to worry about.

And that was the Paniard's 18 cannons.

It was because of these 18 cannons that the coalition force decided to field more horsemen than footmen. Although the kill rate of the cannons may not be that high, the damage they could cause to their men's moral was tremendous.

Having an overwhelming cavalry force would mean that the Paniards would have a harder time defending their flanks and therefore it would be harder for them to defend their cannons. The quicker the Drussians eliminate the threat of the Panish cannons the better.

This was because the cannons were the symbol of Panish power, the cannons raise the Paniard's morale the same way it lowers the Drussian's morale.

This means that the Drussians must eliminate the threat of the cannons as soon as possible.

The best way to do this was with their flanking cavalry.

As such the Coalition forces decided to form the long snake formation, using their larger numbers to their advantage to increase the span of their army without much affecting the thickness of their army columns.

Both of the Coalition's flanks had a similar setup, the more expendable cavalrymen made up the ranks closer to the middle while the outer ranks composed of the elite cavalry.

The reason for this was obvious. The chances for the units on the outer ranks to flank are far greater than those in the inner ranks. In other words, inner-ranks were supposed to act as cannon fodder to keep the Panish tercios preoccupied while the elite forces handle the flanking.

The Guzzlow's on the left flank composed of 800 knights, 1200 'berserker riders,' 1000 'rough-riders' and 1500 pillagers for a 4500 strong cavalry force, with the remaining 1500 composing of crazed footmen armed with either a pike, sabre or musket. Although, the footmen were just as bloodthirsty as their horse-riding counterparts.

On the other hand the Orburns on the right composed of 1000 knights, 2000 knight's guards and 1000 mercenary horse riders which bring their cavalry numbers up to 4000. For their infantry, they fielded around 2000 mercenaries.

While the Guiltfort cavalry composes of 500 kaiser knights, 100 grand kaiser knights, 1000 knights and then 2400 cavalrymen. This gives the Guiltforts a 4000 strong cavalry force as well. The remaining 2500 men compose entirely of men-at-arms who were all trained for battle and armed to the teeth.

This was the army of the Drussian Coalition Force; an army formed by the combined might of three out of the five major Drussian families. And on this day, the coalition will be facing the Paniard's expeditionary force.

This battle would decide whether the Paniards will succeed in their conquest of Drussia or if Drussian independence will be preserved. Once the coalition falls, there would be no standing army left to resist the Panish takeover.

Although Theodore was very willing to push his luck today.

"Ahhhh, the skies are clear and plains are peaceful. It's a good day to die."

Rasmond Ponch Guzzlow the head of the Guzzlow family was riding alongside Theodore just before the battle starts. He was a large middle-aged man with a scruffy beard. His fur coat made it seem that he was half human, half bear and worked well to exaggerate his size. Under his fur coat, one can see slight glimpses of Rasmond's armour, a mix of hardened leather overalls with chain mail armour underneath.

"I'd rather not. How are you supposed to enjoy your spoils if you're dead?"

The one who responded to Rasmond was Zlesin Banker Orburn, the head of the Orburn family. He was taller than even Rasmond but he wasn't nearly as burly. His scarlet cape flowed in the wind as it revealed Zlesin's bright silver armour which contrasted Rasmond's raggedy mix of leather and mail. The most eye-catching thing about Zlesin's armour was his breastplate where the Orburn Vulture was engraved.

Rasmond responded to Zlesin in a cold, unfriendly tone.

"I'd expect nothing more from a cowardly Orburn."

Rasmond spat on the ground when he said this.

"You and your family are full of nothing more than spineless cowards. The fact that I need to ally with you in order to defeat the Paniards brings me great shame."

Zlesin snorted when he heard Rasmond's reply.

"And I expect nothing more from a bird-brained Guzzlow."

Zlesin didn't even bother to look at Rasmond when responding.

"What did you say! I'll chop your head off!"

Rasmond shouted back in furry as he grabbed his broadsword.

"Chop my head off? I'll like to see you try."

Zlesin replied in a similarly disdainful tone as he gently placed his hand on the hilt of his rapier.

However, just before either of them could do anything.

"Cease your useless bickering!"

Theodore's loud booming voice startled both of them. Taking advantage of this, Theodore continued in a quieter tone.

"We are at the point of no return. We are either victorious this day and bring victory to all of Drussia..."

Theodore paused for a moment to let everything he said sink in before he continued.

"Or we will fail and disgrace our Drussian heritage."

The two family heads exchanged looks for a moment before they both turned their attention back at the enemy army in front of them. Theodore decided that it was best to seperate them now before things take a turn for the worst.

"Return to your positions immediately, the enemy is nearly within charging range."

The two nobles only nodded silently before they galloped to their positions.

Soon the sounds of explosions rocked Theodores ears as large chunks of dirt ejected itself into the air around the Drussian army.

The battle has officially begun.

Ten years ago, a battle between the Panish and the Drussians ended with in a bloody stalemate in these same fields.

Now it was Theodore's turn.

This first thing that Theodore did was crack his neck.

With a slight bit of excitement, Theodore muttered quietly to himself.

"Let's get this show on the road"