Implementation of the plan of attack in the southern direction.

So, in the morning of the next day, preparations began for the march of the entire eborvairian army.

The warriors were allowed to rest a little before the battle.

Then began the gathering of the military camp, packing of supplies into the baggage train, organizing the marching columns and other routine matters.

By mid-day, the army of Kingdom Eborvair approached the site of the upcoming battle.

Forests were already visible on the horizon.

The spires of the towers of the monastery of Saint Lothar could be seen in the north.

Thicket’s Road and the crowds of plebs-refugees moving along it were visible in the south.

It was in the southern direction that the mass of heavily armored knightly cavalry began to move.

At the same time, infantry units of militia-warriors began to move in the central and northern directions to block possible directions of counterattacks of the enemy orcish army.

The knights' cavalry moved much faster than the infantry...

Therefore, the knights quickly moved forward and moved away from the main mass of the eborvairian troops.

Prince Jason (despite the urgent requests of Captain-Commander Richard Einkirsh) together with a cavalry detachment of his elite bodyguards - followed the knights' cavalry, which galloped rapidly in the direction of the southern orc detachments.

These orc detachments managed to kill with arrows only a small number of peasant refugees, crowds of whom scattered in all directions upon seeing the approaching knights' cavalry.

The presence of the plebs-refugees partly hindered the knights' attack...

Some of the plebs were simply trampled to **** by the hooves of horses...

However, most managed to escape along the road further to the east.

The steel "avalanche" of the knights' cavalry powerfully struck the battle formations of the orc detachments, crushing everything in its path. The knights' long spears mercilessly pierced at the orcish flesh...

The sight of "mountains" of corpses and stinking bloody flesh was simply disgusting...

The orcs tried to fight back using long-shafted spears and two-handed axes.

However, the strong knights' armor did not allow the enemy to cause significant damage to the knights.

However. there were still some losses: the orcs began to try to kill horses, and because of this, some knights began to fall to the ground (the outcome of such falls is usually fatal)...

Soon, most of the southern orc detachments were destroyed.

The remnants of these detachments retreated under the protection of the forest and began to shoot at the knights from there with bows.

However, it quickly became clear that the commander of the orcish army had brought reinforcements to the southern sector of the battle, taking advantage of the camouflage of the forest.

The knightly cavalry could not strike the orc troops that had settled in the forest.

After all, the horses in this area became easy prey for the enemy: the horses' hooves caught on tree roots and the enemy could hide behind the tree trunks from the powerful cavalry charge.

Therefore, the knights could only endure the archery fire. Waiting for their own infantry to come to the rescue.

However, at the same time, other events were taking place in other sectors of the battle...

In the northern sector, the militia-warriors encountered unexpectedly strong enemy resistance.

Probably, due to some delay by the eborvairian troops, the orcs were able to completely occupy the fortifications of the monastery of Saint Lothar,

Therefore, several ballistas from the towers of the monastery began shooting at the advancing eborvairian troops.

These orcs, indeed. turned out to be smarter than usual...

From the high stone walls of the monastery, orcish archers, taking advantage of their advantageous positions, shot accurately at the enemy.

The militia-warriors' return fire from bows and crossbows was much less effective.

After a while, the orc infantry units went on the offensive...

Two waves of advancing infantry clashed in a bloody battle...

And the ranks of the eborvairian infantry clearly had no advantage in this situation.

The frenetic orc berserkers furiously swung their terrifying two-handed axes, two-handed spiked maces and other weapons...

Of course, the orc warriors had less armor - but the quality of the militia-warriors' chain mail was also questionable.

The losses of the eborvairian infantry in the northern sector of the battle were simply enormous...

As a result, the remnants of the militia-warriors simply... gave in to panic!

What was happening in the central sector of the battle at this time?

Here the situation was more like a long and bloody positional clash of large masses of infantry.

Alas, the orcish commander had several units in reserve to strengthen the positions of his troops and to send support to the southern flank (to distract the knightly cavalry - so that it would be tied down in battle and would not have time to carry out an attack in the northern direction).

And also the orcish units acted more mobile than the units of eborvairian infantry...

So something terrible happened...

While the central units of militia-warriors were distracted by the bloody battle, these human troops were attacked in the rear by groups of orcish-warriors, who were rapidly moving from the north (from the direction of the monastery of Saint Lothar).

This provoked a chaotic massacre...

Corpses...

A lot of corpses...

Bloody pieces of bodies...

Screams of hellish pain and fear...

The central units of militia-warriors were surrounded and subjected to merciless destruction.

The knightly cavalry tried to come to the aid of their infantry.

However, the synchronized strikes of the orcish reserves and the increased shelling from the forest - these factors prevented the knights from carrying out an effective maneuver.

The knightly cavalry found itself sandwiched between the forest and several units of orcs, who attacked with furious rage, without regard for losses.

One by one, the knights fell, struck down to ****...

Knightly cavalry is effective in a swift charge, but in the current state there is simply no room for such a maneuver...

With each passing minute, the situation on the battlefield is getting worse for the humans...

The prince sees all this, having settled on one of the hills, surrounded by his mounted squad of elite bodyguards.

"The battle is lost... I order all units to be notified of retreat..." - Prince Jason says in a dull voice, barely holding back curses.

The results of the battle are simply stunning...

Almost all of the eborvairian infantry died or fled, becoming deserters.

Perhaps some were captured by the orcs.

Two thousand foot soldiers...

Of these, only about three hundred remained relatively combat-ready after the retreat...

Of the two hundred heavily armored mounted knights, about one hundred and fifty survived and were able to retreat.

The remnants of the defeated eborvairian army are retreating to the capital…

This means that the orcish troops from the western forest region will “pour” into the central plain region of the kingdom.

Many plain villages will be plundered and burned…

Many local inhabitants will either be killed or enslaved by the orcs.

“Is this really… a collapse?!” Prince Jason thinks, approaching the walls of the capital surrounded by a detachment of his elite mounted bodyguards.

The remnants of the defeated army are moving after him.

The majestic walls and towers of Segh-Teinarel Castle…

Not long ago, Prince Jason left this castle, foreseeing, deep down, a triumphant return and coronation…