Chapter 37: Turning the Tide! Cutting Through the Enemy Formation!

Dust filled the air.

The cavalry slowly accelerated, then broke into a wild gallop upon entering the battlefield. Deng Ken drew Oathkeeper, raised the small shield hanging from his horse's back, and led his squad of cavalry in a flanking maneuver from the enemy's rear left, charging directly toward the several hundred Saxon hunters ahead.

"It's Lord Deng Ken!"

"Reinforcements have arrived!"

A cheer erupted from the wooden walls of Exeter. The wavering morale was temporarily stabilized; the mere appearance of one man gave the demoralized soldiers the courage to continue fighting.

"Support Lord Deng Ken!"

A traditional Celtic warrior roared, "British Legion, follow me!"

This roar actually caused the surrounding British Legion to begin regrouping.

Kill!

By now, Deng Ken had struck straight into the heart of the enemy. The sixteen riders formed a simple wedge formation, charging directly at the caught-off-guard Saxon archers. It wasn't until they were right in front of them that the Saxon pirates reacted, and the enemy commander hurriedly led a squad of chieftain's guards to provide support.

But it was already a little too late.

*Squelch! *

Blood sprayed.

A head flew into the air!

Oathkeeper traced a cold, icy arc.

With a casual swing, Deng Ken's longsword sliced off the head of a Saxon elite forest hunter as if cutting through tofu, the spraying blood drenching the faces and heads of the surrounding enemies. The archer unit's equipment was relatively crude; many didn't even have leather armor, and their only sidearms were short swords.

Slash!

Stab!

The simplest of moves, each strike resulting in severed limbs. Deng Ken led the charge, breaking through the formation alone. The sixteen riders following him gradually expanded the results: Kulin killed a suspected Saxon hunter squad leader with a single blade strike, while Krigan charged with his lance, piercing straight through an enemy's body before instantly drawing his sword to slash left and right.

In an instant, these sixteen riders cut through the entire squad of Saxon hunters. For a time, heads rolled and the ground was littered with corpses, throwing the archer unit into chaos.

The first wave of the cavalry charge—death upon contact.

—Saxon Forest Hunters (Morale Wavering) (Encountered Strong Enemy) (Terrified) (Heavy Casualties)!

Deng Ken killed five or six men in succession along the way, moving as if through an empty land.

Behind him, the sixteen riders—Kulin killed three, Krigan killed two, and the others had their own kills. Combined, they had actually cut down over twenty men in one go, causing the Saxon hunters' morale to collapse; some had already begun to flee.

Once the cavalry reached the archers, it was truly a slaughter!

Before Deng Ken even needed to lead the group back for another charge, the Saxon hunters had already fled in panic. He broke through three defensive lines alone, turning the three hundred-plus Saxon hunters into a chaotic mess, chasing them all over the hillside. The chaos gradually spread across the battlefield, causing the troops in the front to look back frequently.

By the time they had completely pierced through the enemy formation, only thirteen of the sixteen riders remained behind Deng Ken.

Kulin had an arrow in his left arm, but he didn't even frown, simply snapping the shaft off. He was wearing scale armor, so the minor wound didn't hinder him.

Krigan's Sarmatian riders had followed the closest and hadn't suffered any injuries, though they had all discarded their lances and drawn their waist sabers and longswords.

A single fierce charge had cost three riders.

Deng Ken's heart bled slightly, but he didn't look back, leading the others to circle in from the side gate to the west. Because of his charge, the British Legion was able to catch its breath, morale had recovered significantly, the fallen city gate area had been retaken, and some were even organizing a counterattack to support his group.

The success of one general is built upon the bones of ten thousand.

Deng Ken didn't look at the three fallen men, instead staying behind alone to cover the rear. He took out the Bow of Noden, nocked an arrow, and drew the string. The arrow whistled, and a heavy-armored chieftain's guard approaching from afar fell from his horse instantly.

The arrow pierced through his chest, nearly punching through the armor!

This sight stunned the enemy.

The power of the Bow of Noden far exceeded the previous Northern War Bow. Deng Ken wasn't entirely sure of the exact draw weight, but he estimated it to be around three hundred pounds, as the stamina bar consumed by drawing the bow fully had increased by a noticeable notch.

This time, Deng Ken had come prepared, bringing a quiver of armor-piercing arrows in advance.

—Parthian Shot!

Just as the enemy hesitated whether to continue the pursuit, Deng Ken had already nocked another arrow. The bow was like a full moon, the arrow breaking through the air to pierce the skull of an elite chieftain's guard. The arrow passed through the side of his face and skull, the armor-piercing tip nearly punching through his helmet.

The enemy fell into a panic, losing all courage to pursue!

Deng Ken rode forward several dozen paces, firing an arrow at a forty-five-degree angle, aiming at the enemy commander from a distance.

He didn't dare get too close, as the enemy still had hundreds of archers.

*Hum! *

The bowstring vibrated.

This arrow killed the barbarian commander's warhorse, startling the surrounding chieftain's guards into desperately escorting him back to the rear.

The siege of Exeter came to an abrupt halt!

Amidst the cheers of the British Legion, the main force of the Saxon pirates began to retreat, seemingly realizing that they could not take this town for the time being.

Because the enemy's chieftain guard had already withdrawn.

Once the barbarian commander retreated, the morale of the army besieging the front began to waver, and soon they followed suit.

Deng Ken, alone on his horse.

Wandered around the battlefield once, then swaggered directly into Exeter through the main gate that the Saxon pirates had been besieging.

No one dared to stop him, no one dared to block him!

Despite being only one man leading sixteen riders in a charge, he had frightened off nearly two thousand Saxon pirates.

If the cavalry around Deng Ken had been a bit more elite and greater in number, he would have dared to try and take the enemy commander's head from amidst the ten thousand-strong army.

Exeter.

A series of earth-shattering cheers erupted.

After entering the town, the first thing Deng Ken did was put on the lord's armor stripped from the Duke of Tintagel, then summoned the Duke's personal guards to form an elite cavalry unit of over thirty men.

Because, under his God's-eye view, he had already seen another great Saxon army on its way.

—Hosa 【Leader】 【Chieftain】 【Odin's Gaze】 【Legendary】 (Two-Star Gold)!

………………

Hosa was furious now.

He came from one of the Germanic branches, the Jutes, likely from the region around Denmark.

The Jutes were the first Germanic barbarians to migrate and invade the British Isles; later, the Saxons and Angles joined, forming the force that occupied the southern part of the British Isles.

Originally, he should have easily inherited his brother Hengist's throne, but due to the interference of the Anglo-Saxons, Hosa had to divide the land with his nephew. This group of troublemakers clearly wanted to split the Jutes, but Hosa had no way to stop them, leaving him grinding his teeth in anger.

Historically, after the decline of the Jutes, the Saxons led a campaign of ethnic cleansing, and the Jutes were among the victims.

"Completely annihilate the Duke of Tintagel, and with the momentum of a great victory, force them to bow!"

Hosa did not want a civil war.

In the current British Isles, the Celts still held a population advantage. If a barbarian civil war were truly fought, the hard work of him and his brother over the years would be completely destroyed. The Saxons were systematically carrying out the first step of ethnic cleansing on the British Isles; simply put, they were letting British women conceive their offspring, and slowly, the indigenous people would become history.

For the specific process, one could refer to the American extermination of the indigenous Indians.

In these decades of invasion, while there might still be many British indigenous people elsewhere, in the area around Kent, the cleansing and assimilation were almost complete.

"Enfes was defeated?"

Hosa, who was traveling surrounded by his chieftain's guards, changed his expression, his face filled with anger as he said, "Trash!"

"Didn't he guarantee me that he could take Exeter?"

Enfes had started as a Saxon pirate; the barbarians who invaded the British Isles in the early days were all pirates who plundered everywhere. Once they had people, money, and territory, they gradually evolved into British aristocratic warlords.

Furthermore, the fief of Southampton that the Duke of Tintagel had promised to Deng Ken was Enfes's territory.

He also controlled the Isle of Wight at the same time.

A barbarian commander on the side laughed mockingly, "Enfes probably wasted too much energy on virgins."

"Does he no longer have the strength to pick up a weapon and fight?"

The barbarian messenger's face flushed red with anger, and he gritted his teeth, "Deng Ken, the one who legend says shot and killed the King, has appeared."

"He led a dozen riders and crushed our archers."

"Causing a great chaos."

"Lord Enfes led the chieftain's guard in pursuit, but he also shot and killed two of them in succession, and even shot Lord Enfes's warhorse."

A deathly silence followed.

The people around looked at each other, then couldn't help but look at Hosa in the front. Deng Ken's reputation had become truly too great during this period.

Shooting and killing a founding monarch was already a major event, and Deng Ken had Avalon pushing things from the shadows. Even though Celtic mythology was currently on the decline, they still possessed a certain strength on the British Isles. Druid priests held widespread influence in indigenous tribes, and once word spread, his name would immediately resound throughout the entire British Isles.

"Deng Ken!!!"

Hosa's expression was full of hatred. No matter how he and his nephew fought for the throne, his feelings for his brother were real. The two brothers had invaded Britain together and built the foundation of the Kentish Kingdom; they were true brothers who had lived and died together.

His brother had possessed astonishing strength and was a top-tier fighter among the Germanic barbarians, yet he had died so indignantly.

A ballista bolt had pierced his chest, and he had stubbornly held on for half an hour before breathing his last.

"All troops, accelerate!"

"Immediately surround Exeter," Hosa ordered decisively.

Exeter was not a fortress in the Cornwall region; the city defenses here were not that solid. If he could trap the enemy inside, he might be able to kill that Deng Ken and avenge his brother.

This time, Hosa had assembled about three thousand men, and with Enfes's Saxon pirates, they had a total force of over five thousand.

Exeter.

After taking over the army here, Deng Ken immediately ordered the soldiers to tear down houses and repair the wooden walls on all four sides.

The Duke of Tintagel had conscripted an army of over two thousand men. After yesterday's minor defeat, there were probably about fifteen or sixteen hundred left. As long as they held out until tomorrow when Kevito led his troops over, the force in his hands would be over two thousand, barely enough to fight Hosa's great army head-on.

In fact, the indigenous people still made up the majority of the population on the British Isles, but in actual military confrontations, the British were always the weaker side.

"There are no ballistae this time; I'll have to find opportunities for battle myself."

Deng Ken was inspecting the city defenses. Exeter only had a circle of wooden walls over three meters high, which couldn't stop a great army at all, and there were no decent defensive facilities, just a few watchtowers that were better than nothing.

He promoted Kulin on the spot to commander of the British Legion, ordering him to reorganize the army and concentrate the main force.

Night fell.

Hosa had already led his great army to surround Exeter completely. Unlike the previous engagement, this time Deng Ken actually saw some special units.

—Germanic Screaming Warrior-Women (One-Star).

Hosa had brought out his true family assets this time, even including female warriors. Their equipment was slightly inferior, but they also looked quite fierce and brave.

The enemy's strength was nearly three times their own, so Deng Ken didn't dare act rashly.

At dawn.

The enemy began to make moves. Deng Ken relied on his God's-eye view to issue orders, mobilizing the army to defend the wooden walls. When a hundred-man squad showed 'Morale Wavering' or 'Cheng Lijie', he immediately had them withdraw and replaced them with other troops.

Hosa pressed his main force near the East Gate and sent another army to try and secretly break through the South Gate.

Under the God's-eye view, the enemy's plan was clear at a glance.

Deng Ken issued orders with an expressionless face, and Kulin led a hundred-man British Legion squad to successfully repel the enemy.

The entire defense of Exeter was like an iron bucket!

Flawless.

By noon, Hosa couldn't hold on anymore, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "I have never seen a general so skilled at defense!"

"Every move we make is anticipated by him in advance."

Under these circumstances, there was no way to use surprise tactics, so they could only fight a hard battle. Almost as soon as the Saxon elite troops made a move, Deng Ken would mobilize troops inside Exeter to respond in advance.

He even personally commanded the Welsh archer unit, seizing opportunities several times to focus fire, causing them significant casualties.

This is truly hellish!

How does he know where our army's commanders are positioned?

Just in the previous wave of the offensive, a barbarian warrior tried to lead elite pirates in a fierce assault. Before they could even attack, a rain of arrows descended, directly covering the commander's coordinates and shooting that two-star Saxon warrior dead on the spot.

Of course, Deng Ken wasn't sure which one was the commander.

But the Germanic barbarians valued strength above all else. As for the enemy targets rushing up, as long as there was an extra label or a star-level mark, they were the targets for focused fire.

Whether it was Saxon elite axemen or Saxon pirate warriors, picking them off one by one would always result in killing some enemy commanders.

The Saxon pirate unit of the Virgin-Possessor Enfes suffered heavy casualties!

Hosa didn't dare move his own elites, forcing Enfes to let his elite pirates take the lead. Pirates and soldiers were considered two different systems; one was considered land infantry, and the other was considered early naval forces.

These waves of fierce attacks had almost crippled the Saxon pirates' foundation.

"We can't keep attacking fiercely!"

A Saxon pirate warrior rushed to Enfes, his face ferocious as he said, "If we keep suffering casualties like this, we won't be able to control the English Channel."

These were naval forces!

Although early naval forces didn't have much use, if the Saxon pirates suffered heavy casualties, they wouldn't be able to blockade the coastline.

These Saxon pirates played an extremely important role in the process of invading Britain.

"If we can't take this place, Hosa will cut off our heads," Enfes also had a ferocious expression.

Now they were riding a tiger and couldn't get off.

Unless Enfes's Saxon pirate unit was fought to near-destruction, Hosa's main force would absolutely not take the field first. The truly easy battles never fell to them.

Pirates were like stepchildren.

They were not the core team of Hengist and Hosa and were often used to fight wars of attrition. Because the pirates' predecessors were all criminals, robbers, thieves, etc., who had no way to survive at home and went to sea to become sea bandits, the two brothers' true foundation consisted of the 'good families' of the Germanic barbarians.

These true Germanic 'good families' had higher morale and better equipment, and many were transformed from the aristocratic warrior class of clan society.

"Armor me!"

The Virgin-Possessor Enfes was tall and thin, not the traditional brawny warrior, but he was very strong and had been a tribal fighting champion in his early years. It could be understood as the Germanic people liking to drink and fight for fun, similar to underground black-market boxing; whoever won against the challengers of the entire tribe was the fighting champion.

In his early years, his nickname was 'The Fighter Among Fighters-Enfes', but later, because of his hobby of liking virgins, the nickname changed to 'Virgin-Possessor-Enfes'.

Ever since his nickname changed, Enfes's days had been getting worse and worse.

Some Saxon pirates didn't even want to join him!

What the hell.

The Fighter Among Fighters—that nickname sounded like a fierce man; following him was definitely the right choice! There's a future!

Virgin-Possessor?

Is this guy a weakling? True Germanic warriors all like mature young women! Only by conquering a thirsty young woman is one a true fierce warrior!

There are only names that are called wrong, no nicknames that are called wrong.

Ever since Enfes's nickname changed, many fierce pirates had defected to others.

If someone asked who your boss was, you wouldn't even have face if you blurted out Enfes's nickname!

A squad of elite pirate warriors began to assemble.

Enfes put on his armor, brought an iron pot helmet, and took a large shield, preparing to attack from the wooden wall on the southeast side. The defense there was relatively weak, consisting of militia and auxiliary legions. As long as they could attack, the elite pirate warriors could quickly open a gap.

—Virgin-Possessor-Enfes (Two-Star Silver-Gray) (Fighting Champion) (Pirate Leader)!

Here he comes.

Deng Ken immediately sensed that the enemy's elite unit had moved.

He thought for a moment and decided to let them come up first.

Because those guys had such good equipment—full heavy armor and large shields—Deng Ken wasn't confident in a one-hit kill, so he let them get close first and then used heavy javelins directly.

Deng Ken's figure began to move.

He casually picked up a heavy javelin and approached the enemy's direction. While accelerating his run, his God's-eye view had already locked onto and marked the target.

"They've attacked!"

"Charge with me!"

Enfes cleaved a British militiaman to death with an axe and immediately led his men to tear open a gap.

But just at this moment.

A javelin streaked through the air, *squelch*, and plunged directly into his body. The massive impact caused him to fall off the wooden wall on the spot.

*Thump! *

Enfes's figure hit the ground, his vision gradually blurring. He couldn't speak at all; a 1.2-meter-long javelin was stuck in his body, and when he fell, it had nearly pierced through his chest.

One hit, one kill!

The surrounding elite pirate warriors instantly scattered, and Deng Ken's Fran-throwing axe whistled through the air, directly splitting open an enemy's skull.

The merit of being the first to scale the wall is not so easy to take!

Once Enfes died, the enemy's pirate unit immediately fell into chaos, and at this moment, Hosa finally moved. He quickly dispatched Saxon aristocratic riders to gather the nearby remnants and swallowed Enfes's family assets in one go.

By now, they had fought to near-destruction.

In the previous waves of attacks, it was Enfes's pirate unit that had died. Only until this moment did his elite heavy infantry begin to press forward to hold the line.

At the same time.

On the edge of the strategic map, an army marked in green was also gradually approaching the battlefield.

—Exile Private Legion (High Morale) (Slightly Fatigued).

—British Coastal Militia (High Morale) (Long Journey).

—Celtic Gao Lu Warriors (High Morale) (Restless) (May Charge Without Orders).

Most of the reinforcements arriving were a bit fatigued.

But there were exceptions: the traditional Gao Lu warriors, who had better physical fitness and higher military literacy. Not only were they not fatigued, but they also appeared restless, and their legion marker had a very conspicuous 'May Charge Without Orders'.

Fortunately, their numbers were small, otherwise, they might have truly charged directly.

Kevito led this six-hundred-man legion to circle into the battlefield from the right and then ambushed them in the nearby woods, seemingly waiting for the right moment to attack.

This was a fresh force!

If they could cut off the enemy's rear at a critical moment and form a local pincer attack, it was entirely possible to crush the enemy army head-on.

On the real battlefield.

Without Deng Ken's God's-eye view, one wouldn't know exactly how many enemies there were. If a fierce attack triggered chaos, the enemy would only think they were surrounded.

"Assemble the cavalry unit!"

Deng Ken ordered decisively, concentrating the units that did not have the 'Morale Wavering', 'Cheng Lijie', or 'Panting' labels. This main force was concentrated near the crumbling gate, commanded by the Gao Lu Oath-Warrior Kulin, to block Hosa's Saxon personal guard unit head-on.

"Krigan!"

"Once the cavalry leaves the city in a moment, you immediately circle toward the woods in the southwest and have Kevito prepare to attack."

"Once the cavalry moves, they will immediately join the battlefield!"

Deng Ken personally led over thirty elite riders, actively opened the gate in another direction, and then the cavalry galloped, appearing directly on the side of the battlefield, circling around to head straight for the enemy's chieftain guard.

This wave must be a great victory!

His family assets couldn't be finished off here.

Once the battlefield fell into chaotic slaughter in a moment, he was prepared to lead this elite cavalry to behead the general and seize the flag, taking the enemy commander's head from amidst the ten thousand-strong army!

The Bow of Noden was in hand.

Now, he was Huang Zhong possessed; as long as he was given a chance, he could kill that Hosa!

………………