Herald of Steel

The vehement denial by the nobles was not just out of their desire to win the battle or because they cared about their men, but more so because it this strategy they carried an unproportionate greater amount of risk than Faruq.

They had far more to lose from this than Faruq.

And until that simple equation was much more equalized, they would not sanction this move.

This line of thought was not alien to Faruq who had been with the nobles long enough to understand this mindset.

So after a bit of thought, he proposed a compromise, “Then let us retreat for an hour or two and give the men some time to rest. In the meantime, we can figure out a solution.”

But this idea sounded a bit weird to many because it seemed that Faruq was just ordering a retreat.

So the man in charge elucidated, “My lords, let me clarify. This is not the end of fighting for today. No, we will attack again. And we have to attack again today!”

Faruq repeated the last line to illustrate the importance as he went on to explain why, “Because the difference in power between us and Alexander will only shrink over time. So if we give him an entire day to rest all the losses we suffered today will mean nothing.”

This last sentence made many commanders change their countenance because they soon understood Faruq was right.

They reasonably correctly guessed that Alexander’s center had certainly taken a beating, even if it was not as much as theirs, it certainly had to be close.

And so letting them rest and recover a full day, and then attack with an even smaller force while expecting a better outcome would be foolish. .

And the same thought process went with those 10,000 crossbowmen, who surely would be exhausted from firing so many shots, and frightened from being shot back so many times.

All humans had a break point after all.

So letting them rest would be also a bad idea.

As the various military commanders face color changed due to the realization dawning on them, that fact was not missed by the talented military leader, Faruq who capitalized on it by saying, “Of course, the best would be to strike now and here. Give the enemy no respite. But it seems that is not possible.”

Faruq had a regretful tone voice to his voice, a fake one he created to bait the nobles into agreeing to the operations right now.

But these nobles were not verdant chickens to the art of politics, and many of them put up an equally regretful face to say, “*Sigh*, yes, if that was only possible. But these peasants are really unreliable. We can’t trust them.”

The nobles skillfully managed to pass the blame on the soldiers who had been literally fighting tooth and nail for them for the last 4 hours.

“So, how does my lord wish to order the retreat?” As any imminent attack was put on hold, and the retreat strategy adopted, the question arose of how to implement it.

Because while planning for a fight might be hard, fighting harder, it was running away from it that was the hardest.

Especially if one wanted to minimize his casualty while escaping.

“Easy. The second half of the infantry will act as the rear guard while the first half breaks contact and runs. And my Jahal mercenaries will stand by ready to provide backup in case of unforeseen circumstances.”

The ‘unforeseen circumstances’ could only really refer to one thing, Alexander’s infantry chasing the fleeing soldiers.

And in this case Faruq actually really hoped that happened, for there was nothing more delicious for a cavalry than infantry out of formation.

Because remember, it was not as if the Jahal mercenaries were only ranged units.

They also had the ability to charge.l with their spears.

Thus if they were lucky enough and Alexander’s men were particularly unruly enough, it might be the predator that could be turned into prey.

Perhaps that one blunder within Alexander’s leadership would enable Faruq to turn this undesirable position into an instant victory.

That was Faruq’s hope anyway.l

The nobles were a bit surprised by how Faruq made the retreat sound as if it was any other military maneuver.

But his confident demeanor and body language made them accept the plan without bickering and hence soon trumpets began to blare all around Faruq’s part of the army.

It of course signaled the order to retreat.

“Haha, running! They are running!”

“We won! Thank Gaia we won!”

“Lord Alexander! Glory to Lord Alexander!”

And just as the soldiers making up the noble coalition breathed a sigh of relief and felt a breath of exhaustion leave their bodies, the opposite mood permeated the other side, Alexander’s side.

Happiness, elation, joy, relief, and all such positive feelings washed over them as these men cheered and rejoiced seeing the opposing sides drop most of their spears and turn tail and run.

The reason why the men dropped their spears was because it was much easier to turn a 180 without the risk of skewering others if you did not carry a pointy object as tall as a one-story house.

And while the nobles’ soldiers tried to run as fast as they could without causing a stampede, some of Alexander’s men did try to get a last-second kill by chasing after them.

And many did get a lucky backstab, some even dealing critical damage killing some of the fleeing men.

But overall the number was pretty small, because the moment the rout was initiated, loud voices started to ring out from all across Alexander’s sides, with the officers urging his men the following, “Stop! Don’t chase! Don’t get out of formation!”

This coordinated response came about as pre-battle Alexander had repeatedly urged his officers to not give chase to the fleeing enemy, citing, ‘They have cavalry while we do not. Meaning at any moment they have the ability to turn around and charge, destroying us. Do not risk turning victory into defeat.’

And it seemed the officers had heeded that command, as being demonstrated now, much to Faruq’s disappointment.

‘A cautious commander abhorrent to risks.’ He judged Alexander’s fighting style as he noticed the soldiers being discouraged to give chase, thus allowing the levies to march in file while a part formed a solid line to guard against possible attacks.

But since that did not happen, the withdrawal was mostly smooth.

And seeing this, Faruq then decided to return to his camp to have a chat with the lords.

‘I hope these incels have shits for brains and are not totally empty,’ He thought as tried to come up with the exact way he was going to convince them to go along with the plan he had come up with.

And he knew it was likely not going to be easy.

While on the other side of the camp, there was a general feeling of ease and release of tension, which affected all parts of the army and along all its branches, ranging from the grass roots to all the way to the highest echelons.

“Haha, congratulations my lord. We have won!” Grahtos wanted to be the first to say these words to Alexander.

But that man was the only one who did not share similar sentiments as the rest of the army.

Because he felt it was still premature.

“The enemy’s retreat is too orderly. Meaning they still have some fight left in them.” Alexander crunched up his eyebrows as he said so, feeling Faruq gave up too easily, and further went on to dash Grahtos’s cheerful mood by predicting, “So they will likely again fight us tomorrow. Or even today if they are desperate enough,”

Though his last line was just a throwaway statement, meant to cover all the bases.

He seriously did not think they would attack again.

“Ahh..” Grahtos was a bit thrown back by Alexander’s lack of enthusiasm and doom forecast and quickly tried to brush it off, “Haha, my lord, it is good to be cautious. But the men at the front really have no strength. Both us and them. So launching an attack today is impossible, And tomorrow’s attack we will deal tomorrow.”

Grahtos like Alexander too shared the belief that the battle for today was over, but much vehemently, and though he could not say if there would be a battle tomorrow too, he was very confident in their chances.

Because the enemy would have far fewer resources to throw at them tomorrow than today.

So if they could survive today, why could they not do an easier task tomorrow?

And though Alexander would not openly admit it due to fear of the army growing complacent, he too shared those thoughts.

He was very confident about winning.

But it was a level of confidence that would have been seriously challenged if he could hear Faruq’s proposed plan to the nobles.

“My lords, here is what I suggest,” He said as aloud as he laid out his plan.

“The center will again attack the center pinning the enemy down.”

“At the same time, the 10,000 Jahal mercenaries will attack the enemy’s left flank and try to break through while the slinger and archers cover our right flank.”

“And lastly, we will have Ural’s cavalry swing around the enemy’s right flank in a double pincer attack.”

“So even if Alexander deploys his reserve to deal with one side, the other side will be able to break through.”

It was a deadly plan.