Chapter 249.3 \nThis plan of using Felduk as a shield, while the cavalry was to be used as the sword was easy for the goblins to comprehend . The high-ranking goblins nodded .
After Pale finished explaining the gist of her plan, the iron-legged messenger dispatched by Gi Ga Rax finally reached her .
âAransain and Zailduk are fighting the Kushunora!â
The messengerâs voice resounded throughout the war council .
ââŚWeâve been had?â Pale muttered to herself anxiously .
âBut even then, our army couldnât possibly lose!â The Goblin King said .
Pale looked up to the king in surprise, but the king only glanced at her before turning to the goblins and humans gathered in the war council and addressing them .
âJust as Pale has planned, the enemy now matches our numbers . We have never before lost to an army of the same size . â
âWe will do as the king wills . The traitor Kushunoras also need to be bathed in blood . â
Gi Gu agreed, and the Goblin King nodded .
âFirst, let us break through the enemy before us . Everything else will come after that . â
The Goblin King turned to the messenger and gave him permission to rest, then he turned to Pale and told her to have Aransain go around the west .
âWeâll have Gi Jii and Zailduk wage the siege battle with the Kushunora, but Aransain is to rendezvous with the western army as quickly as they can . â
âThis order shall be passed on . â
Aransain would need at least four days to rendezvous with them regardless how fast they were .
In this sensitive situation where a battle could start at any moment, four days was too long .
âYour Majesty, when shall we start the battle?â
âWeâll have to start it whether we like it or not when the enemy makes their move, but until then, weâll wait for Aransain! Do not let your guard down!â
As the Goblin Kingâs retainers all bowed simultaneously, he dismissed them .
âDo you think we can hold for four days?â The Goblin King asked .
ââŚI donât think the enemy will wait that long,â Pale replied .
The Goblin King silently closed his eyes and felt admiration for the War Princessâ yet unfolding schemes . But at the same time, he felt the desire to fight burn within him .
The following day, on the morning of the first day of the Month of Drago, the holy army of the Holy Shushunu Kingdom made their move, and the War at Gilgimel Plains, one of the turning points in the War Princess Battle, commenced . \nâOjousama, your orders . â
At the sound of her feeble aideâs voice, a full-armored Blanche quietly lifted up one of her arms .
At the sound of the Assistant Officerâs voice, the lower commanders also passed the command .
The footmen making their slow advance were drafted from various countries . The main force that was the cavalry showed no signs of moving .
In response, the goblins too made their move . As Gi Gu led Felduk to advance into a half-circle formation, the Goblin King ordered him to advance .
âSend a messenger to Gi Gu Verbena . â
The messenger soldiers mostly made up of Paradua goblins shot forth like an arrow from Pale to wade through the battlefield and deliver a message to Gi Gu .
âI have received His Majestyâs orders!â
Gi Gu, who had drawn his sword and axe, turned to his subordinates and commanded them with a bellow .
âAdvance soldiers . We shall cut open a path for our king!â
Gu Naga (Long), Gu Tough, and Gu Big bellowed out along with the rest of the intermediate commanders to encourage their soldiers . Some of them used the war drums recommended by Gi Go to signal the advance of the army .
At the sound of the drums, the soldiers wielding shields and axes stepped forward . Behind them were the soldiers wielding stone slings . Further toward the back, were the druids of the south, already chanting .
If they attacked from outside the range of the enemy, they would naturally incur fewer casualties .
Gi Gu had searched for a way to allow the normal goblins to attack from a distance despite not being able to use bows . Even if they couldnât attack consecutively, as long as they could attack from outside the enemyâs range, the damage they could inflict on them mentally and physically would be great .
Inspired by the catapults of the humans, Gi Gu established a projectile-based platoon (Slow) and widened his tactics . Heâd originally wanted to use this platoon alongside the anti-cavalry palisade to fight off the enemy cavalry, but they were still plenty effective against the approaching footmen .
After all, stones flying at high speed were extremely lethal . Moreover, the druids of the south, though few in number, were not under Gi Za Zakuend and were under his command . Because of that he was able to gather the functions of multiple armies under his army .
This was a battle formation made possible because he was capable enough to conquer the southern lands and make the goblins living there obey him .
When Gi Gu had ascertained that the enemy footmen were near enough, he raised his voice and had the drums beat . As the rhythm of the war drums changed, the footmen stopped their advance and lined up their shields, then the stone throwers from behind used their slings to launch stones, flooding the ranks of the spear-wielding footmen of the enemy forces .
As the rhythm of the war drums changed once more, Gi Gu gave orders to the three sibling goblins in charge of the front lines .
âStop throwing stones! Take out your swords!â
At Gu Naga Ferunâs order, the projectile platoon (slow) changed their weapons in anticipation of a close-up battle . This was the same strategy once exhibited by the hero of Pena, Allen . Even if the frontmost forces could not do it, Gi Gu adopted the strategy as he believed it should be feasible for the second and third lines .
âRaise your shields!â
Gu Tough Duen and Gu Big Rueh raised their voice . The spears used by the goblins were all big, and were built with wood reinforced by iron .
The scariest part about long spears is their length .
That was also the case for Gi Jii Yubuâs regiol, and the way he had his soldiers gather together and advance with their spears lined up was just like a hedgehog running with its spines standing on end . Devoted to the concept of âattacking the enemy from a place they canât reachâ, he had a preference for even longer spears .
There was another way to use long spears other than thrusting with it . And that was to smash with it . Line up the spears, raise them up, and smash! With the centrifugal force bolstered by the length of the spear, the resulting power would be no different from a descending club .
As strong as goblin warriors may be, charging in without a plan would only result in their defeat . Moreover, the long spear soldiers of Gi Jii Yubu also had the anti-cavalry palisade, making them a versatile branch of the goblin forces .
The Goblin King had his four generals each adopt their personal color . Aransain was a cavalry army that focused on speed, Felduk was a monster army that focused on soldiers that could handle monster beasts, Fanzel was a mixed army, and Felduk was an army that revolved around the goblinsâ heightened physical abilities compared to the humans .
With the exception of the battle slaves, Felduk had a greater ratio of goblins in its ranks compared to the other three armies . It was because of that that Gi Gu Verbenaâs pursuit of the goblinsâ possibilities resulted in the strengthening of his army .
The footmen of the enemy wielding long spears simultaneously raised up their weapons . When Gu Tough Duen and Gu Big Rueh saw that, they called out once more .
An exceedingly simple order . The goblins at the frontmost lines positioned their shields high enough to touch their shoulder pads, preparing them to receive the spears descending from above .
As the goblins endured the impact of the spears, a commander cried out .
With a shout, the goblins passed through the spears that struck them earlier and they entered the fray . The southern goblins were shorter than normal goblins but had longer arms .
Having a smaller body meant that there were fewer places to be attacked . Because of that when confronting the long spearmen of the enemy, there was a high chance that they would choose to suppress them by overwhelming them .
Of course there were enemies that stabbed at them, but these long spearmen were from the coalition army; hence, their morale varied and they also werenât that well coordinated .
So long as the goblins were able to close the distance enough, the battle would greatly favor the goblins with their long swords, as intercepting an enemy right at your face with a long spear wasnât an easy task .
Aransain wouldnât arrive until a day later .
Like this the battle at Gilgimel Plains began during the attack of the goblins .