The Mechanical Era

Danial, after marching 60 miles (97 km) south, still had managed to keep 16,000 peasant infantry, and 1,152 knights by his side. These men, following their victories, were fully confident in their ability to fight and take down their opponents, like they did last time.

Danial had separated his armies into 8 groups, surrounding the northern half of the hill, while placing 144 of his knights in front of the 8 groups, forming an arrow. The plan was to charge up the hill and take advantage of their lack of knights present.

Danial wanted to exploit their lack of knights, by launching his knights first to quickly approach and cause chaos, while the peasant infantry marched behind. As the knights approached, he had a good sense that would their archers take down the knights before they could get close to them, so he had the knights with the more defensive runic armor as the tips of each arrowhead.

Danial looked onward with his spyglass, counting the soldiers that came into view. A few minutes later, after a lot of sweat dropped and 3,000 heads counted, a smile emerged on his face as he was now sure that he had the numerical advantage, which he did.

Danial grabbed a blowhorn and started to blow it with air. The horn produced an ominous sound that echoed throughout the battlefield. The soldiers, after hearing the horn stop, started charging the hill with him.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, the musketeer soldiers enter battle for the first time in their lives, all scared, yet eager for what is to come. Their musket fuses were lit, while their cannons were ready to be fired. Commander Leroy, using his spyglass, counted the number of soldiers on the enemy side.

He was sweating a little less than Danial but was a lot more nervous seeing the enemy army. Sure, they may have superior firepower, coming from their guns and cannons, but they were severely outnumbered by the enemy.

Just then, in the distance, the sound of Danial's horn reached their eyes, sending a little shiver down every new commoner soldier present. Their armies started to march forward, with the cavalry running at a fast paste.

"On my mark artillery men! Fire when I order to!" he said. The men holding the lit torches and fuses were now on standby, waiting for Leroy's orders. All of them put in the fuse but held out on the torch. Leroy held back till they were in the line of the cannon's firing range.

"FIRE!" he screamed. The soldiers lit the fuse and covered their ears. As the fuse ignited the gunpowder, the cannon made a large explosion sound that nearly deafened them all. Huge amounts of smoke covered their faces, prompting many to cough. The round cannonball went flying out at high speeds and eventually hit the ground with a large thud.

Huge amounts of dirt flow everywhere on the enemy grounds, killing a few knights. However, due to the cannon's inaccuracy, most of them missed their shot.

"RELOAD!" he said. Many started to clean the barrel using a sponge attached to a stick. They had to make sure that the residue left inside the barrel had to be cleaned before taking another shot. Then, large amounts of gunpowder were poured in, followed by another cannonball.

"ADJUST, 10° DOWN!" STEADY!"

"FIRE!" the fuse was lit again. Another cannon ball fired at the enemy's face. This time, it took out a few dozen of em thanks to a lucky shot.

"MUSKETEERS! READY YOUR WEAPONS!" Leroy shouted at the musketeers. They, who were mostly watching, now had their chance to shine. They pulled back the hammer into full-cock position, waiting for their commander to issue the order.

"FIRE!" The soldiers simultaneously pulled the trigger, causing a loud cracking sound to form. A volley of metal bullets was launched at the incoming knights, who were at that point weakened a little by the earlier cannon ball struck.

"LINE A, SWITCH WITH LINE B!" Hearing his orders, Carson withdrew from his position and was replaced by Herrold, who was just behind him. As Carson took the time to reload his musket, Herrold waited till Leroy's instructions.

"LINE B! READY YOUR MUSKETS! STEADY!" they all pulled back the hammer.

"FIRE!" another volley dissented down on the knights. Some of their shields broke, causing the projectile to hit their horses. The animals lose their balance, causing them to fall along with their masters. If the bullets didn't get to them, the sudden stopping surely would.

"LINE B, SWITCH WITH LINE A!" Carson walked forward, with a reloaded gun, and aimed it at the rest of the incoming knights.

"FIRE!"

...

Danial sees the huge smoke clouds at the enemy lines, followed by echoes of an explosion covering the entire battlefield. Some knights appeared to be taken down by some large projective that their shield couldn't defend against, while others got dropped off from their horses. His heart started to beat a little faster, seeing his troops fall. Some landed on his shield as well, with his only saving grace being his immense magical power, boosted by the runic armor he was wearing.

However, despite the circumstances, they managed to stand strong, avoid the barricades, and get closer to the enemy. It was when that Danial saw, they place those long pikes, down, swaying the knights away from going in for the kill, including himself.

Some knights try to go through the pikes using an enlarged shield but were quickly killed due to the pikes penetrating it rather easily. What is worse, the ones who retreated, got more metal projectiles coming their way, weakening and killing them.

They try to go around, where there would be fewer soldiers g uarding their position. Yet, their efforts were in vain' as they just ended up getting shot down. Seeing the futility of their attacks, the knights decided to retreat.

This left the peasant soldiers at a disadvantage. Clustered very close to each other, the cannon balls rained down on them, blowing up many soldiers into a pile of corpses with broken bones. Even closer, and they might have to face the terror of their smaller firearms.

The bowman, who managed to get close enough, stopped and aimed with their bow. On the count of 3, they fired a volley of arrows at the sky, en route to hitting the enemy. Moments before any of the arrows hit, a protective blue shield appeared on their heads, stopping the arrows in their tracks.

Another 3 volleys of arrows were fired before there were shot at with their cannons. This time, some managed to crack through the shields and hit their opponents. Once the cannons did start firing, they all collectively retreated as well.

Danial, seeing the futility of his offense, decided to blow his horn. His soldiers heard his call and actively ran back to his side, to get out of range of the cannons. As they were doing so, more projectiles started firing down.

One projectile managed to break through his magical shield and hit him in the head. However, thanks to his helmet, and the bullet slowing down, all it did was hit him in the head hard. Other than that, he managed to leave unscathed. His soldiers weren't as lucky.

...

Seeing that the enemy retreat back, Leroy ordered them to fire as many bullets as they can. There were technically in lethal range and would stand to benefit from more kills. The soldiers, who were disciplined to do what they were told, fired upon them. Although it was technically a war crime to commit such actions, Rose Valine gave her commanders, especially Leroy, that they should do whatever it takes to win.

The soldiers were all breathing heavily as their adrenaline shot forced them to focus on survival above all else. The knights, with a few exceptions, were just sitting back and watching what was going on.

ραпdα nᴏνa| сom Soon, the enemy disappeared out of sight, allowing them to lay their guns down and stand up. Leroy, seeing the battle is over, ordered the medics to get over there and heal up their soldiers. The medics, who wore white cloth, and rode on top of some caravans, came over with a basket filled with potions.

They had previously washed their hands with soap, as per their instructions by Rose Valine. They had washed their wounds, getting rid of any dirt or debris, before casting a spell to heal them up. For the ones who clearly couldn't make it, they simply counted them as death and left them there, telling them they did a good job.

Carson stands up and looks onward at the battlefield. The once green land space that was a beauty to the eye, was now littered with dirt, blood, and the corpses of men. Herrold and the rest of the musketeers looked onward at the sight, reacting with a stoic face at first, but then a reaction of disgust and guilt.