Herald of Steel

Chapter 717 Melodias Vs Lord Theony (Part-2)

The fight between the phalangites and legionaries raged for several hours until finally, one side seemed to be able to eke out an advantage.

And as it was expected, it was the phalanx formation, who had held both the advantage in range and terrain.

Melodias's legionnaires were finally exhausted after being pushed back on all fronts by several hundred meters by the wall of the bristling spears wielded by Lord Theony's men and being unable to counter them as well as facing mounting casualties, the legionaries seemed right on the very edge of their limit.

It was apparent they would not be able to hold on for long.

"Go! Reinforce them! Quick!"

And it was then that Alxx at last deployed his reserves, composed of the 3,000 infantry and 2,000 dismounted cavalry.

Dismounted cavalry meant that the cavalrymen got off their horses and fought on foot like regular infantry.

And the reason why Alxx did so as opposed to using them in the traditional way was because the threat of the elephants was still present and he feared the horses might break and smash into his own formation just like before.

So, leaving only 1,000 riders with him as an emergency reserve, Alxx ordered the other 2,000 to pick up their spears and go fight like infantry.

The arrival of the reserves naturally caused a cheer to break out in the Zanzan camps, and with this nutritious injection into the army, the battlefield was again restored to its former state, as the legionaries were able to push back and reclaim the grounds lost.

Something that caused Lord Theony to curse, "Dammit! After coming so far!"

He knew that his soldiers were getting tired and would not be able to fight for much longer.

And though the same could be said for Alxx's men too, but a draw here would mean defeat for Lord Theony and a win for Alxx.

For Alxx then would be able to launch his attack on the walls using the siege engines, and Lord Theony would be powerless to stop that.

And even if Lord Theony managed to attack once again before that could happen, Alxx surely would be able to reorganize his forces and add the two currently dissipated legions before that, whereas Lord Theony would be stuck with the men he had.

The nobleman saw little hope in being able to win against those odds.

Hence he no longer held back and released his trump card, turning to Lapitus to order, 

"The elephants! Have the elephants attack their wings! Destroy them!" 

Thus under his signal, the trainers above the beasts did exactly what they were told, urging the beasts to charge towards Alxx's wings, hoping to smash through them, or if they were lucky break them even before making contact.

But contrary to everyone's expectation in the Tibian camp, the latter did not happen, for the officers stationed with the legionaries in the wings followed the strategy taught to them by Alxx to the tee.

It was the method the city lord had come up with to deal with elephants, in the likely event that they came across these beasts.

Which it seemed they did.

"Hold your ground! Do not panic! Just do what you practiced!" 

Hence the officers in a steady, reassured voice urged their men to not buckle, while the infantry quickly switched from their swords to their javelins, gripping them tightly in their hands, and got into their throwing posture. 

"Wait! Do not throw them yet! Let them close in!" 

The officers then strictly told the man, cautioning some of the ones with more twitchy hands from wasting their shots.

So then for a few brief but seemingly very long moments, they waited.

And it was a terrifying few seconds, as the charge of these heavy beasts made the men feel the earth literally tremble beneath their feet, *trumpet*, *trumpet*, *trumpet*, their enraged roars sending shivers to their hearts, and the rapidly approaching huge, black bodies seemed to swallow even the scant moonlight of the battlefield, making the men on the frontlines feel like they were not facing a mortal foe, but a storm, a force of nature!

The sight of this wall of beast caused many men to feel weak in their knees, and some even contemplated running.

The fear was being trampled to death or being speared through the tasks was a very vivid thought.

But desertion in the army had only one outcome- death, and since the officers stood by them, enforcing strict discipline, the men too stood their ground and the lines ultimately held. 

"Now! Shoot! Quick Shoot!"

And once the beasts were finally in range, the soldiers immediately released their projectiles, be it their javelins, pillas, and even crossbows, with all they had, the action being as much an attack as a way to release all their pent up stress and fear.

And once they were done with their first volley, they quickly reequipped for the second one, arching their bodies and using their strong arm muscles to shoot the weapons again with as much as force as possible.

And given the size of their target and the proximity, almost every one of these shots made contact, peppering the 17 beasts with almost a thousand of these sharp, deadly missiles, as many of them bore deep into their flesh.

  *Trumpet*, *Trmupet*, *Trumpet*

This naturally caused the charging beasts to let out enraged cries, for the deadly spears drew huge amounts of blood from all over their bodies, even dying much of their black skin a crimson red. 

Then, noticing where this hail of deadly projectiles was coming from, these intelligent beasts naturally attempted to get out of the way, though much to the chagrin of their trainers.

"Darm beasts! Where are you going? There! Go forward!" 

"No! Stop! Don't turn there!" 

These men cried out from atop the elephants, attempting to make the elephants either bear through the wall of missiles or at least make them stop and retreat in an orderly manner.

And they tried this by using a very sharp hook to dig into the animal as a way to make it comply.

But that tactic, which would have worked under normal times this time backfired.

These beasts were already grievously hurt by the numerous two to three meter spears sticking out of them, making them bleed profusely and making them very angry.

And now facing this wound from their riders too, finally proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back, pushing them over the edge and letting their rage completely take over.

  *Trumpet!!*, *Trmupeeet!!!*, *Trumpeeeeet!!!!*

At first, it was only one elephant that let out his dreadful cry.

But elephants were social animals.

So hearing the hurtful cries of one of them, others too let out their own cries, rallying together, and suddenly, the trainers found they had even lost the small control they previously had.

At least until now, they had been able to stop the elephant from crushing into their own lines.

But then these beasts went completely unresponsive to their trainers no matter how much they poked them, and doing whatever they wished, the elephants started to veer wildly to the sides to avoid the deadly missiles.

Which of course led to many of these beasts on the wings crashing into Lord Theony's center, trampling countless men and completely shattering many of the formations there within the blink of an eye.

The men there never even saw this coming.

It was almost poetic how history seemed to be repeating itself, as Lord Theony suffered the exact kind of losses suffered by Menes against Perseus.

Except it was a lot worse for him given it was night and he had no strategic reserve of 1,000 crossbowmen like Menes did who could act as the rear guard while they retreated.

So when about 10 elephants bulldozed through his men, crying and trumpeting their hearts out for the pain from their wounds drove them mad, Lord Theony's tightly packed lines immediately broke down.

Though few could blame them.

Facing the threat of these beasts' wildly swinging tasks and their powerful swipes of the trunks, never mind the simple but brutal power behind their huge bodies, even the best-trained soldiers would have stood no chance, 

So the phalangites abandoned everything and instead screamed and ran in terror, pushing and shoving others as hard as they could to try and get out of the way of these rampaging huge beasts, causing many to trip and fall.

All this of course caused even more casualties than it would have if only the elephants were left to riot on their own.

For with all the soldiers attempting to run away at the same time, it inevitably created a giant stampede, where far, far more men died simply being trampled to death by their fellow comrades than under the hooves of those 6 ton beasts.

And as a witness to all this, the two commanders inevitably had their own thoughts.

Lord Theony's face looked like a deflated balloon, with even his mustache somehow looking as if it had lost all its luster.

Or perhaps it was all the dust hitting it as the man had not worn his helmet fearing his visibility would be even more compromised.

While Alxx's face was more pensive than pleased, even as he laid witness to the complete destruction of his enemy's army right in front of him, only saying to himself, 

"That's why I do not like elephants. They are too temperamental. And too hard to control."