Herald of Steel

Chapter 810 Battle of Sissilpond Ridge (Part-7)

Chapter 810

Upon learning of the ‘enemy’s defeat’, Perseus’s men felt their morale surge and the pressure on Menes subsequently increased, threatening to destroy his already fragile lines soon.

Thus in a twisted way, Melodias’s victory actually hurt Menes.

And seeing this, Menes truly did not know how to react.

When he had first seen that huge army, like Melodias he too had panicked.

And then seeing how the man’s quick thinking was able to destroy an army twice his size and so effortlessly at that, he should have been cheering like crazy.

It was a result that should have been a dream come true.

But somehow, that great result in a twisted way caused great pain for Menes.

What misfortune!

And ultimately the fatigued general could do little but hold on, telling his men that Melodias was on his way.

And some of the legionaries could indeed peek at some brief flashes of blue in front of them, and so rallied, feeling that help was just on the way.

Their morale strengthened, they locked shields and held on for dear life with clenched teeth.

However as time went on, that feeling of optimism on their part began to wane, for that ocean of blue never materialized.

For Melodias’s unruly levies, thinking the battle was over, began to chase after loot and booty in Perseus’s camp.

“Haha, kill!”

“Shoot! Do not let them escape.”

“They are ours. Capture them.”

“The camp! The camp doors are open! Come, brothers!”

“Women! There are beautiful women there.”

“Hahaha, Daddy is gonna teach these girls what a real man feels like.”

Groups of cavalry chased after the running phalangites- slashing, stabbing, and jabbing them at every opportunity.

Though surprisingly this proved to be not so easy, as the men who had shed their shields and threw their heavy sarissas proved to be quite hard to catch, especially since the uneven grounds were hard to traverse for the heavy Zanzan cavalry.

So many were limited to chasing them at speeds that only netted them a few kills, only able to claim the unlucky few right in the vicinity.

Or for the lucky one, surrounding a small group of Petricuno’s men and barking such,

“Lay down. Throw away any weapons.”

“Hands above your head! Hands above your head and you will be spared.”

“Tie them! Quickly tie them!”

It was this way that many of the fleeing Thesians and Adhanians were captured.

But due to the terrain, and limited number of cavalry, a majority of the 16,000 to 17,000 men escaped into the woods or the camp.

Though the latter, which would have at any other time been a fierce stronghold, now proved to be a death trap.

Because the now bulkier legionaries, after finding out they really could not chase after their nimble foes in this rough terrain, decided to change target.

They chose Perseus’s camp!

This camp was actually structurally not bad, with two meter high fenced walls, constructed of wooden logs with spiky points at the top, supplemented by a few watchtowers and even a nearby ditch.

It was pretty defensible, able to ward off even large scale attacks if properly defended.

But the pickle was that- if defended.

For even such good defenses were of no use if there was no one to guard it.

Even a formidable star fortress was just as good at defending itself as an open fishing hamlet if left abandoned.

And since Perseus had taken almost everyone out to fight, the doors to his riches lay wide open.

So the soldiers were easily able to grab the wood and climb up it like they were climbing a tree, the spikes at the top simply hacked away by the swords and axes the legionaries carried with them.

Thus soon around a legion’s worth of men- 6,000 of them were inside the camp- looting, killing, burning and taking women as they pleased.

Perseus did not bring a lot of gold cold with him, because he did not have much, but that did not stop the soldiers from taking whatever there was.

For instance, in Tibias, both men and women liked to wear ornaments, and thus many tents had numerous such trinkets- rings, bracelets, bangles, etc.

Of course, given these belonged to poor peasants, these were nothing precious nor were their quantity voluminous, but for those peasant levies of Melodias, even a simple silver ring was worth fighting for.

Aside from the easiest loot, there were also plenty of food stocks in the camp, and though the soldiers could not take the granary for themselves, they did take control of it, knowing parts of it would be given to them as booty.

There were also precious items like smoked meat and fish, or eggs, which they tried to pocket or eat right there.

Yes- the eggs too.

Of course no one took the time to cook that delicate thing, but simply cracked it open and drowned the yellow and white mixture raw.

For these battle crazed men, it tasted heavenly.

And lastly in the food section, for those that were lucky enough to raid the tents of the officers and nobles, they got to taste the fine wines many of them had brought with them, drinking themselves silly.

Alongside the food, there were various draft animals like mules, oxen, and donkeys in the camp that the soldiers took ownership of, killing many of the handlers who tried to resist.

Lastly, and perhaps the most alluring of all to the legionaries, there were the women and for some, even the male servants and slaves there to be enjoyed, as well as the pleasure women hired for the soldiers.

And most tragically were the family members that many of the mercenaries had brought with them on this long journey, maybe not the entirety, but a beautiful concubine to warm the bed during the tedious journey, or a loving wife or a cherished daughter to help with the camp chores or even a son who come to learn the ropes of warfare with his father but was too young to join the battle for himself.

Many such innocents were forcibly taken, and if anyone tried to stop them, killed, as the related mercenaries seeing their women’s fate howled in pain and anguish.

It was a vicious cycle, where if the side to lose were the Zanzanians, it would be they who would be crying in pain, while the mercenaries would be cackling in delight like the legionaries were now.

Thus the red uniformed men who came to take refuge in the camp were killed and their spoils taken.

Now one might ask about the one thousand 1,000 men and the 12 war elephants that Perseus had left behind with Manuk as reserves as well as to guard the camp.

Where were they?

Did they simply die?

But that would have at least produced some sound.

Did they not defend the camp?

Because if they had used the camp’s defenses, the 6,000 legionaries would not have found the place so easy to breach.

So given the current development, it was not unreasonable to think they had most likely fled.

But no!

Manuk would not flee.

At least not without Perseus, for he knew the king’s importance.

Thus currently the man was actually charging up the hill, shouting,

“Quick! His Majesty needs our rescue. Hurry! Move those feet faster.”

The bald man had seen the apparent disintegration of Petricuno’s force with a kind of schadenfreude look, both feeling good at having his prediction come true, but also sighing in dismay at the defeat of his forces.

Their outnumbering force should have been easily able to win this battle, but impatience and hubris had squandered that. .𝒎

Now, the best that they would be able to reasonably achieve was a tie.

It was with that thought that Manuk raced up the now clear slopes, the elephants leading the charge, hoping to snap Menes finally in two, but even that beautiful scenery produced little comfort for the archpriest.

Perhaps he would be able to deal a devastating blow to Alexander and cripple him, preventing the ambitious lord from launching any more offensive attacks and taking more grounds.

But holding onto much of the gains he made should still be quite possible.

After all, Perseus himself had almost no men left to conscript, and it was unknown how much the foreign powers would be willing to aid him, especially given the destruction on Petricuno’s side meant many of the soldiers these powers sent were either lost, killed or would need significant time to return to their base.

Many might even refuse to fight and ask for their coin and leave.

And then, after all, perhaps Perseus and Alexander would sign a peace deal.

Manuk did know the Tibian court had already sent out peace feelers.

And a peace treaty between the two powers was definitely not beneficial for his cause, as it would free Alexander to pursue fighting on other fronts.

But what could he do?

Things had developed into such a quagmire state and he could only will his tiny force to go to the royal’s aid as soon as possible.

But unfortunately for Perseus, help was not only due for him, for soon Manuk spotted a small contingent of blue beelining for the exact position he was heading!

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