Chapter 1211: Chapter 29 Great Alliance Moves Forward (14)

Colonel Bod Gates frowned as he scrutinized the battlefield.

The smoke screen released by the enemy before the battle had long been blown away by the wind. From the top floor of the church bell tower, he overlooked the bridge, village, roads, fields, the billowing smoke, flickering flames, spears adorned with chunks of flesh and blood, warhorses dragging the corpses of riders in a frenzied run… every detail of the battlefield was laid bare.

The sounds of gunfire and cannons filled the air, and the messengers waiting on the stairs, unable to resist their curiosity, tiptoed to the window ledge to peer outside.

Through the smoke, he saw thousands of humans placed in a fold of the vast earth, fighting desperately, a spectacular, bizarre, and astounding sight–yet that was all.

But in Colonel Bod Gates’ eyes, the battlefield was an open book.

By identifying banners, observing uniform colors, and even distinguishing the differences between cavalry hats and plumes, he traced lines along the spear tips and hoofprints, separating the intermingled armies. He abstracted the bloody struggle of tens of thousands of soldiers into the offense and defense among a few square formations.

The Colonel cautiously assessed the strength and morale of each square formation, calmly projecting the course of battle and enemy tactics.

Looking north from the top floor of the bell tower, five light brown square formations were advancing across the golden fields with great momentum.

The alliance’s left wing, which had previously retreated to avoid the cannons, now actively engaged in battle. The five square formations of Thunder Group County and Riverside County were similarly arrayed in a single line, advancing quickly under the guidance of Skur Meklen’s silver-edged military flag.

On the northern flank, where the two armies faced off directly, the battle unfolded in a traditional manner:

The square formations, resembling hedgehogs, kept pressuring each other, and as the distance between them shortened, plumes of white smoke emerged from within the spikes–musketeers inside the formations were shooting;

The cavalry of both armies, in similar uniforms, circled and fought fiercely like serpents around the “hedgehogs,” each side making every effort to drive the other from the battlefield while trying to lure their opponents close to their own “hedgehog.”

Due to injuries, being driven away, or losing their way in panic, cavalrymen continually fell into the narrow gaps between the “hedgehogs,” where they and their horses were mercilessly shot to death.

Colonel Bod Gates shifted his gaze to the hills across the northern flank, where cannons had already been redirected to target the alliance’s left wing.

Amidst the bare-chested artillerymen, Colonel Bod easily identified the enemy artillery commander. The artillery officer, dressed in an officer’s uniform, seemed to sense the Colonel’s gaze. He turned and looked toward the church bell tower, taking off his hat in salute from a distance.

Colonel Bod quickly went through all artillery officers within the old Parlatu Army system with a rank above Major but was unable to recognize the opponent.

With the intelligence report delivered by Winters Montagne that morning, the Colonel had already formed a judgment–if the person wasn’t a Captain promoted after the Great Wilderness campaign, then he definitely came from the “Eighteen Provinces United Republic focused on their friendly states.”

Bod felt a pang of pain. Regardless of sophistries or excuses, from the moment United Provinces soldiers appeared on the battlefield, this civil war was no longer confined to within Parlatu but had essentially become an internal conflict of the Alliance.

The Colonel saw the flag of the Hundred-Men Squad, featuring a galloping horse pattern, waving in front of the artillery positions, indicating that the enemy right-wing commander held an infantry battalion that had not yet been deployed into battle.

But even with those six Hundred-Men Squads guarding the artillery positions, the “Reorganized New Reclamation Legion” still had an infantry battalion unexposed.

Colonel Bod gazed intently at the hills where the enemy artillery positions were located, as if trying to penetrate the grass-covered earth to uncover the truth on the other side of the ridge.

If his guess was correct, a fully equipped infantry battalion remained concealed behind the reverse slope of that low ridge.

In this way, all eight infantry battalions deployed by the “Reorganized New Reclamation Legion” appeared on the enemy’s right wing.

Then what about the center and the enemy’s left wing?

Colonel Bod’s gaze followed the hillside down towards the center of the battlefield:

On the river dike on the opposite side of the village, four white diagonal cross-marked battalion flags flapped in the wind;

Supply wagons rumbled along the provincial road straight to the front line, where auxiliary troops and civilians unloaded small-caliber revolving cannons and full boxes of ammunition from the wagons, loading the wounded and sending them to the rear;

The two infantry battalions previously repelled were reorganizing, while the two battalions in place seemed ready to launch a new round of attack.

Sanel Caroy’s New Reclamation Expeditionary Army–the most battle-ready four battalions of the Grand Council Army–were all present in front of the village, in the center of the battlefield.

Sanel’s personal flag stood on a low ridge at the end of the wheat field, behind the battle line, facing Colonel Bod Gates’ flag from afar.

For the chits exchanged by his battered body, Colonel Bod considered it well worthwhile.

Although the enemy hadn’t heavily assaulted River Valley Village, as long as he could temporarily pin down the most elite of the opponent’s troops, there was a chance his plan might succeed.

However, the battlefield Colonel Bod Gates was most concerned about was not in the front, nor was the enemy he cared about most the New Reclamation Expeditionary Army.

The Colonel turned south, and half of the “Sixth Legion” came into his view.

Unlike the River Valley Village and northern flanks, already in close combat, the southern flank was unusually calm.

On the east bank of the nameless creek, five infantry battalions flying the “Seven First Kings” flag didn’t occupy as much battlefield width as possible; instead, they adopted a bizarre double-line formation:

Two battalions were at the front, controlling the riverbank; three battalions were at the back, standing at the ready;