The King of Scotland's political acumen was clearly much more mature than Joan of Arc's. Facing such an enemy, the King of Scotland still had a backup plan; the forces sent forward were merely the first echelon.
Facing the King of Scotland's army, Joan of Arc's side also began to move.
Although she lacked the King of Scotland's political foresight, Joan of Arc clearly had a better talent for warfare than the King of Scotland. She commanded the peasant army to press forward, squeezing the Scottish light cavalry's charging space. The Scottish command officer, noticing this, immediately advised the King of Scotland.
The King of Scotland nodded in agreement, but his heart was secretly filled with rage. If such a talent were used by him, with him managing the country's internal affairs and this person managing the war, how could the country be beaten to the point of having no power to retaliate? His talent was never in warfare!
Thinking of this, he again felt furious at the nobles in the country. These fools who didn't know their priorities, not only were they holding back even now, but these fools who were dragging their feet and mocking him, did they really think they could maintain their extravagant lifestyle under Camelot's rule?
If they had dispatched all the Knights from their homes, how could he be troubled by a group of commoners?
Unfortunately, Camelot had gathered all the Knights and ultimately, by the King's righteous authority, completely stripped them of control. The nobles here were not unaware of this; how could they hand over the last bit of their life-saving resources to the King again?
In their eyes, even without their troops, the King could eliminate the rebels, so why would he need their forces?
Was there any other explanation besides him targeting them?
No.
How could these fools know what kind of united country was coveting their territory?
Although the King of Scotland cursed inwardly, the war had already begun.
The spears in the hands of the vast peasant army might be toys against Camelot's heavily armored Knights, but for the Scottish light cavalry, who lacked steel, armor, and good warhorses, they were deadly thorns.
They would, due to their own charging force, instantly pierce through the thin light armor and then into the flesh. Although the common peasant soldiers would be torn apart by the Knights' lances like the fangs of a hellhound, the spear tips embedded in their bodies would cause them excruciating pain until their death.
Ultimately, the training cycle for a Knight as a type of soldier was too long, and their cost-effectiveness on the battlefield was not sufficient. Although the current trend in the world was such, Macedonian light infantry, Macedonian chariot units, Roman heavy infantry, and Roman spearmen units were all thoroughly trained, with cycles ranging from five to ten years. A qualified and mature Knight required ten to fifteen years of tempering (time calculated from being a Knight-in-training, which is from the age of ten). Despite being the world's trend, Kayal still felt that losing even one soldier in this type of warfare was as painful as losing a piece of flesh, let alone using these elite units to directly confront the enemy!
Without the strength of an entire nation, how could one withstand such attrition?
Therefore, Kayal began to form light infantry units. Not only that, but he also intended to diversify his forces in the future, separating them into archers, cavalry, infantry, and so on. He would make the army a source of honor, but reduce the training period for the units.
Although this would decrease the combat effectiveness of the units, Kayal believed that after a few years of immersion and study in a military academy, followed by practical experience, only a few months would be needed to achieve the results of several years for others. What was more reliable was that these individuals had ample tactical foundations and good innate abilities. After being tempered by war, not much was needed, just a few years, to qualify as a standard-bearer, or even a bugler (haven't forgotten, have you? Camelot's military ranks haven't been reformed; there is still one Decurion for every ten Knights, one standard-bearer for fifty men, one Centurion for one hundred men, and finally one bugler for one thousand men).
"They're here." Kayal, standing on the hillside, had piercing eyes. Watching the light cavalry below begin to accelerate, his heart couldn't help but pound. This battle was crucial to all his plans, and failure was absolutely not an option!
Those around him looked down with apparent interest. Although this battle was the war that would destroy Scotland, it did not prevent them from understanding the combat capabilities of their upcoming opponents.
Light cavalry should fulfill the duty of mobile warfare, just like Genghis Khan's invincible iron cavalry, drawing their carved bows like a full moon, looking northwest to fly kites! A Knight who can't fly kites isn't a good Knight; more precisely, not a good light Knight! However, in terms of penetration, light cavalry are not as good as heavy cavalry, and heavy cavalry's endurance is not as good as light cavalry. This is relativity, the relativity of war.
In other words, before light cavalry are deployed in large, grouped formations (see Genghis Khan's cavalry forces that spanned three continents), they are not qualified to charge infantry formations, even if it's a group of militiamen!
When over fifty thousand militiamen, without formation or order, just a chaotic, dark mass, pressed towards the light cavalry, the foolish Scottish commander still intended to use the usual beheading tactic to preserve strength and decide the battle in one go.
The first echelon had only five thousand Knights, the second echelon eight thousand, and the third echelon fifteen thousand.
However, the five thousand Knights of the first echelon merely created a ripple in the formation of fifty thousand peasants before disappearing.
Perhaps each of them killed more than two enemies, but in front of fifty thousand militiamen, this was futile.
So, the foolish commander began the second echelon's penetration tactic.
Kayal also took this opportunity to begin teaching loudly: "At this time, all cavalry units should be sent in, and the entire camp should retreat ten li."
"If there are horse archers, then the horse archers must shoot arrows while maintaining distance from the enemy. Look, their movement speed is twenty times slower than yours; as long as you maintain distance and don't get entangled, they will never catch up to well-trained warhorses!" Kayal's words caused the proud ones to scoff, while more people lowered their heads to ponder Kayal's tactics.
"And if there are no horse archers, then bypass the enemy's center and mainly harass their two flanks. Once the flanks collapse or are defeated, then directly encircle and annihilate them!" Kayal didn't care about the more than one hundred and fifty Knights of the Round Table; they were experienced and had their own set of war theories. If they wanted to learn, they would; if not, he was teaching Artoria and his more than twenty disciples.
"Look, the rebel army is starting to deploy the second echelon. This is an attrition tactic. What do you say? Is it better for the King of Scotland's second echelon to retreat now, or to charge in front of even more enemies? I bet the commander will deploy the third echelon!" Kayal confidently watched as the third echelon began to move as reinforcement before his words even fell, astonishing his students.