Chapter 279 Breaking the Formation

Krissen shook off the blood drops on his lance. Behind him, two hundred Western Cavalrymen, leaving more than seventy corpses, fell dead in the wilderness outside Harrenhal. The rest fled in all directions.

In just one charge, the 500 heavy cavalry led by Kerrison defeated the Western Border patrol cavalry that hastily responded to the battle from the front.

Kerrison's own lance was of excellent quality and had pierced the bodies of two Western soldiers. It was not until the end of the first round of charge that these two unlucky guys were thrown to the ground.

After sustaining one-third of the damage, theoretically speaking, an army was on the verge of collapse, but this was the reason why the Western Army skipped this step and collapsed immediately after the charge.

It's actually very simple.

Because of this northern cavalry, they suffered the bitter pill of losing one-third of their number and only used one charge.

As for themselves, only a handful of them fell off their horses.

This is an iron army with extremely strong combat effectiveness. It is simply not something that peripheral security forces like them can withstand.

Understanding this, after losing the leadership of the Sir Sawick family, the remaining Western Cavalry was completely scattered.

Looking at the direction in which they were escaping, Kerrison ordered the troops to restore their power on the spot but did not order a pursuit.

When they come here, their first priority is not to kill people. Using all their power to catch up with these more than a hundred people and then kill them one by one is actually insignificant to the overall situation.

They came to cheer up the defenders of Harrenhal and take the opportunity to disrupt the Western Army camp.

These two tasks are the top priority, and all actions must be based on these two tasks as the first purpose.

Now, after killing this patrol force, the Western Army's camp at the north gate is already within the range of his cavalry attack.

This time, I no longer have to fight a wave of scouts before every attack like before. After killing the opponent's eyes outside, I can take advantage of the opponent's unprepared situation to finish the job with a thunderous strike. It's over.

The purpose of this battle is to demonstrate and announce the existence of his army to the old lion, thereby reducing the pressure from the Lannister on Harrenhal.

Therefore, coming upright and trying to carve out a bloody path is what Krissen wants in this battle.

Therefore, he dared to be in such an isolated position, deliberately leaving those defeated troops behind and spreading the news of his arrival to the ears of Tywin Lannister, who was commanding the siege.

This is the case with the army. If one's side wins, the victor will tend to reduce the number of soldiers participating in the battle. This can show their strong combat effectiveness. After all, defeating more with less will always be praised.

On the other hand, if they are severely defeated by the enemy and escape in front of their commander in embarrassment, then the survivors tend to exaggerate the number of opponents and emphasize that they have been defeated by an enemy several times their own. This multiple is usually five times. Above, in order to cover up your own stupid failure.

It's just a simple psychological tactic that can be seen through by outsiders at a glance. However, people in the game are often confused by this kind of information and issue some orders that are actually very wrong.

Kerrison didn't understand this before. It wasn't until he stayed with Clay and followed the young master of the Mandalay family in all his wars that he slowly learned some of these battlefield tactics.

But now, he was commanding the troops alone, without the support of Clay's army, and the battle in front of him was his examination room.

…

Robb Stark knew that the East Gate could no longer bear it.

This was not based on his personal will. He now knew very well that whatever happened in the southeast, it must be a plan to coordinate the attack on the East Gate.

The two hundred defenders have persisted until now, which is the result of the sacrifice of their three armies.

The Western Army that fell under their rolling logs, stones, arrows, spears, and daggers was probably five times their size.

But even with such a huge disparity in the hand-to-hand combat ratio, people from the West were still coming in a steady stream.

There are still dozens of people left to defend the East City Gate, but Robb Stark saw with his own eyes that in other parts of the wall at the East City Gate, there were only the last few northern soldiers in the red sea of ​​people. Fight hard.

Two fists were no match for four hands, and soon, they fell into a pool of blood one by one.

Ice-cold snowflakes covered their uncooled faces, turning into droplets of water, like an unfinished funeral.

Their fall meant that this part of the city wall was completely lost. From here, the people from the West could take the nearby stairs and fight directly into the city, then go around to the back of the east gate and physically open the door.

Once the east gate is opened by the Western Army from the inside, then the Western Army from outside will rush in, and then Harrenhal will be completely finished.

When he thought of this, Robb Stark's already extremely painful body seemed to have squeezed out the last energy. His bloody left arm, holding a blood-stained long sword, was completely gone all the way to the west. In the direction of people's defense, he yelled:

"For the North! Kill!"

This sound was like the angry roar of a lone wolf in desperate situation, and the remaining northern soldiers were all attracted by this sound.

Only then did many people realize that the person who had been fighting with them was actually their king.

"His Majesty!"

"Your Majesty! It's dangerous here!"

"Your Majesty, leave quickly!"

Although their tragic situation today was theoretically due to Robb Stark, none of the soldiers resented him. Their first reaction was to protect the young king who was fighting with them.

I don’t know who shouted:

"Protect Your Majesty, Northerners, fight to the death!"

The vast majority of people in the North have this kind of two-pronged personality. What they fear most is that the earliest King of the North, the former Duke of Winterfell, and the current king abandon them.

But since the king himself is surrounded by these damned Westerners like them, there is nothing to say.

Since ancient times, northerners have endured hard battles, and the harsh natural environment has honed their strong fighting will.

Dozens of remaining Northern troops roared in unison. No one needed any command. They looked in the direction of Robb Stark's sword and began to attack the Western troops who had climbed up the wall and had just gained a foothold. Countercharge.

Originally, the battle with the remnants of the Northern Territory here had consumed most of the physical strength of the Western Territory soldiers here, plus the fear caused by the corpses here.

On the east side, they saw a group of people covered in blood, like evil ghosts in hell, roaring and rushing towards them.

Although he knew that the other party was a human being, his courage was lacking at first.

Then, there was another round of brutal hand-to-hand combat.

…

"My lord, my cavalry has finished resting. Please give me your orders."

This time, Kerrison led the army alone, so no one had any objections to being called an adult.

He nodded slightly, indicating that the person reporting to him could leave.

The more than 400 of them stepped on the corpses of dozens of Western Cavalry, silently recovering their strength, and exerting not even the slightest amount of pressure on their opponents.

Krissen could keenly feel that during this period, many Western troops were mobilized in front of them.

The Western Army camp in front of them also sent out a group of Lannister infantry wearing gold and red armor, forming a slightly thin line in front of the gate of the camp.

Since they were arrayed in front of Kristen, Kristen could see their formation clearly.

The first layer of sword and shield soldiers was on the outermost side, with red drop-shaped shields engraved with the golden lion emblem tightly arranged together.

The second scene is a row of spearmen. Their armor is relatively light, so that they can better swing their spears for thrusting.

And finally, there are two rows of Lannister longbowmen with lighter armor and only the right arm guard.

Kerrison understood that this was the most common infantry formation in Lannister. Logically speaking, when facing cavalry, at least three lines of defense consisting of sword, shield and spearmen must be established in front to effectively block the cavalry attack. .

The time was hasty, and Krissen defeated the two hundred patrolling Western Cavalry at a frightening speed.

If Lannister dares to assemble such a complicated formation in front of Cresson at this time, countless flaws will definitely be exposed.

As long as Krissen is not a fool, he can lead these heavy armored cavalry, which are murderous in the eyes of the Lannisters, and beat the entire infantry team before they can gain a foothold, and find an opening where the formation has not yet been formed and rush in.

Like cutting butter in half with a hot knife, it can send an entire infantry camp into total collapse.

The Lannister commander was obviously experienced in the battlefield, so he didn't dare to take this risk. Therefore, he could only pull out such a thin defensive line under Cresson's nose.

"My lord, on both sides of us, we found Lannister cavalry, which seems to want to outflank our retreat."

The guy who had just been responsible for reporting battlefield information once rode his horse to Kerrison's side and told his commander the news.

Chrissen understood what the other party was trying to do, and placed an infantry formation in front of him to block the offensive energy of his own cavalry.

Once the cavalry on Cresson's side is caught in a fight with the Lannister infantry and cannot break through the line immediately, then the Lannister cavalry on both sides will rush out and make a big dumpling for themselves.

"Tsk...that's it?"

Chrissen sneered. He thought it was such a clever tactic. Did they have any misunderstanding about the cavalry they brought out?

If you want to make dumplings, at least your dumpling wrapper must be thick enough, otherwise, the dumpling filling will tear open the dumpling wrapper and run away before it is even put into the pot.

"It's okay, tell our soldiers not to worry about the Lannister idiots on both sides. They think they can outflank us, but they are not awake and are dreaming!"

"Remember, go forward with all your strength. Can this sparse infantry formation stop the heavy cavalry charge of our Mandalay family?"

Kerrison has decided to use the power that belongs to the demon hunter. As for the source of this power, it doesn't matter. Just leave it to Lord Clay and he will help him deal with the aftermath.

As long as you can win, everything is right.

If this wasn't enough to pierce through the other side in one go and burn him alive as a heretic, Kristen wouldn't even feel that he was wronged.

"Order, the entire army forms a wedge-shaped offensive array, and I will be the spearhead of the attack."

Under normal circumstances, heavy cavalry is only responsible for impact. After the gap is opened, other arms will follow. By continuously expanding the bleeding gap, the enemy will eventually collapse.

But this time, Kerrison had no follow-up request.

His only combat goal.

That is,

Break the formation!