Chapter 320: Beachhead Landing (Part 1)
With the sound of horns, the Nilfgaardians lowered their skiffs. Each skiff carried more than a dozen soldiers. Over half of them grabbed oars while the rest raised their shields, rowing desperately toward the shore.
Seeing the Nilfgaardian assault begin, the Clan an Craite forces arrayed on the beachhead also began to move. Forty archers stood in two rows. Under the command of the young elder, Crach an Craite, they nocked their arrows.
"Fire!"
In the next moment, the air was filled with the sound of whizzing arrows. Forty arrows shot into the sky before falling back down. Although the number of arrows was small, they still managed to take down several Nilfgaardian soldiers from the skiffs. Hearing the cries of their comrades, every Nilfgaardian instinctively flinched. The sergeants yelled and cursed at the rowers, but even without their prodding, the Nilfgaardians on the oars moved faster, driven by a concern for their own lives. The remaining soldiers tried their best to raise their shields for defense.
But the skiff was small and the men were packed together. There was no way to protect everyone with a shield. Even so, more Nilfgaardians were hit by the relentless arrows. Some Nilfgaardians tried to return fire, but shooting a bow on the undulating waves was much harder than doing it on flat ground. Their scattered shots were almost all off the mark, either falling short or landing in the water or sand.
However, after taking down more than twenty Nilfgaardian soldiers, the good times for Clan an Craite's archers finally came to an end. As the skiffs drew closer, the archers could clearly see the Southerners' faces. It would be unwise to remain on the beach.
Crach drew the longsword from his waist and shouted, "Archers, fall back to the fence! Heavy infantry and spearmen, prepare to face the enemy!"
The archers put away their bows and retreated. They didn't fall back behind the infantry formation but instead ran to the rear of the beachhead, crossing the planks over the trench to get behind the fence. The Clan Drummond soldiers guarding the fence quickly made a path for them.
At the same time, sixty spearmen arranged themselves in three ranks, their spears pointed forward. The second and third ranks pushed their weapons through the gaps between the men in front of them. In an instant, the formation became a hedgehog. Fifty heavy infantrymen formed up on the left and right of the spearmen, protecting their flanks.
Linn was also in the ranks of the heavy infantry. He had changed into a standard Clan an Craite infantryman's armor, and on his head was a full-face helmet to hide his witcher's eyes.
"Kill!"
When a skiff reached the beach, the Nilfgaardians on board dropped their oars and waded through the knee-deep water to the shore. However, their disorderly formation posed no threat and was easily picked apart by the well-trained spearmen.
"Thrust!"
The first rank of spearmen thrust their weapons, piercing the Nilfgaardians who had just charged ashore. The first rank pulled back their spears, and the second rank thrusted forward. With the three ranks thrusting in a cycle, the enemy soldiers fell in droves. Some of the more intelligent Nilfgaardians tried to flank them, but the waiting heavy infantry didn't give them a chance. Their longswords and battle-axes made the Nilfgaardians bleed.
Watching from behind the fence, Count Torgier saw the bravery of the Clan an Craite warriors. In just a few minutes of contact, they had added at least dozens of enemy corpses to the beach. But Clan an Craite's forces were too few, or rather, the forces of the Isles were too few.
The beachhead was more than just the piece of land under the feet of the an Craite forces. While they were fighting the Nilfgaardians on their side of the beach, other Nilfgaardian forces were approaching from other directions. If they let them land, the Clan an Craite warriors would be at risk of being surrounded.
"That's enough. Have Crach fall back. And send word to Lugos the Mad to have Clan Drummond go support them."
"Yes."
The sound of a horn, distinctly different from the Nilfgaardian one, echoed through the air—a signal to retreat. At the same time, the Clan Drummond forces who had been guarding the fence removed the obstacles and surged through the gap, crossing the wooden planks over the trench to approach the Clan an Craite forces. Count Torgier's Tuirseach forces then took the place of the Clan Drummond forces, guarding the fence.
The Clan an Craite forces, upon hearing the horn, also began to retreat toward the fence behind them. In the wars of the cold weapon era, advancing was easy, but retreating often turned into a rout.
A battle that was on the verge of victory could instantly turn into a crushing defeat. However, because Crach had brought only professional soldiers, and Crach himself was on the front line with the an Craite banner, his forces could see him clearly. Their morale had not dropped much, and the soldiers were able to retreat in an orderly fashion.
From a distance, on the flagship's deck, Count Tullius sneered. "They want to run after a fight? It won't be that easy. Have the Brandenburg Dragoons charge their rear."
"But, my lord, there are only twenty Dragoons ashore. Such a small number..."
"I don't expect them to wipe out the enemy. They only need to break their formation. The other forces can then charge in and finish them off."
"Yes."
On another part of the beach.
"My lord, the flagship has sent an order: our cavalry is to charge the enemy's Clan an Craite infantry from the rear."
The cavalry captain nodded, indicating he understood. "All men, mount up!" After all the cavalrymen were on their horses, the captain raised his lance and pointed it into the distance.
"Charge!"
Even with only twenty riders, the Nilfgaardian cavalry charge couldn't be ignored. Soon, a Clan an Craite soldier spotted them.
"Lord Crach, look! It's the enemy's cavalry!"
Crach turned and saw the enemy cavalry, still some distance away but closing fast. "They want to cut us off from joining up with Clan Drummond."
They weren't ordinary cavalry; they were fully armored lancers. Everyone knew there were only three ways to counter a cavalry charge:
The first was with obstacles like tripwires, trenches, and chevaux de frise.
The second was to counter-charge with a stronger cavalry force.
The third was to use a dense formation of spearmen to absorb the impact.
The first and second options were out of the question. As for the third...
..........
AN: Check out my P@treon For +120 extra chapters.
Thank You For your Support!!
👉 Join now: patreon.com/Chaos_God