"*Sigh*," Faruq at first let out a visible sigh at this question, as he still found it hard to believe had seen.


    But since Ural had asked, he saw no point in hiding it, and so recounted what happened in a simple, short manner, "Alexander faked his army''s copse, and let the chariots run through. Then used the cavalry he had hidden in the back to attack them head-on. Lord Nibraz is currently trapped behind the enemy."


    Though Faruq had tried to keep his calm as he said this, he still failed to hide theced trepidation.


    ''Trapped behind the enemy'' usually meant dead and this meant that not only did both the cavalry and chariot charge fail, but also most of the unit involved had basically disappeared, leaving Faruq with far fewer options to attack with.


    Not to mention the back-to-back deception that Alexander managed to pull weighed heavy on the young man.


    The innovative way Alexander had dealt with their cavalry, and then how he hid his own cavalry to lure the enemy in made Faruq understand he was facing no greenmander.


    Faruq himself was a highly decorated militarymander, having won quite a few battles both against Adhanian nobles and other rebel tribes who lived inside Kuleef but had their loyalties constantly shifting between Adhnaia and their own chieftains.


    So felt qualified to say judge that Alexander was a goodmander.


    ''What more has he got?'' He wondered.


    "Tha…that…how…arggh," Ural too was feeling a simr sensation.


    It was supposed to be an easy victory, something they would use as a stepping stone to gain political and military des, but now, within the few minutes they had started the battle, they had lost about 6,500 horses and 6,5000 men.


    It was a horrendous loss.


    And it made Ural shiver at the thought of what else Alexander had hidden under his sleeve.


    While Faruq, who was a far more mentally resilientmander squashed these simr to Ural thoughts after only a split second, reassuring himself by saying, ''These bumpkins were useless to begin with. Me and my men will be enough."


    "And if Alexander thinks his pathetic archers will be able to stop my camels, I will teach that fool why roses are dyed red."


    The saying ''why roses are dyed red'' was a phrase unique to Adhania


    Adhania was famous for its beautiful flowers and the origin of the saying came from the fact that these roses would be seen growing over battlefields, particrly battlefields in vast swaths, almost dyeing the green field red.


    This was due to all the fertilepost that would be added to it in the form of dead humans and horses.


    But the people of Adhania saw the flowers as the crystallization of their blood spilled to defend theirnd.


    And Faruq was determined to bleed Alexander dry.


    "My lord, the soldiers are awaiting yourmand. Please give the order," While the two men were exchanging reports, a scout suddenly intruded on them to let them know that the infantry in the center was ready to charge.


    "Yes, yes, let''s start." And since time was wasting Faruq gave themand hurriedly, before turning to Ural and finishing their talk, "You go rest. We will take talkter."


    Faruq after all had an army to conduct and perhaps if he hurried, we could rescue a part of Lord Nibraz''s force, or at least he held a tiny bit of that hope against hope.


    Thus he quickly left for the frontline, but not before reassuring this step-brother-inw of his by raising is arms into the air and saying, "And don''t worry. Remember we have the Jahal mercenaries. Victory will be ours."


    Faruq''s confident smile and the fearsome reputation of the mercenaries did alleviate most of Ural''s concerns as he knew only simple archers would not be enough to stop these lethal warriors.


    They moved too fast, and were adept at dodging arrow fire, while the on-foot archers were much more vulnerable to their counterfire.


    "Mmmn, be careful," Ural thus nodded, though he just could not help but worry.


    ''*Sigh*, I hope these two tricks are the only tricks under Alexander''s belt,'' Ural said to himself, as he dragged himself to his tent to get some rest.


    He doubted he would be able to participate in today''s battle or any battle for that sake in the near future, and thus decided to get his wounds checked out by the doctors his father had sent with him.


    While he had ordered one of his deputies to try and gather the scattered men, treat the wounded, and if possible restore the cavalry unit for onest charge.


    Though Ural held little hope for thestmand.


    ''Oh Ramuh! I hope my ribs are not too badly banged,'' He thus decided to concentrate on that.


    While Ural basically retired from the battlefield, Faruq was busy giving out battle orders,manding,


    "The center will attack the enemy''s center." <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Lord Liakit have your archers attack the right nk along with Azab."


    "Lord Nyantim have your slingers attack the left nk along with Jabad."


    Faruqunched these directives in rapid session, intending to overwhelm Alexander''s nks using sheer numbers before outnking the infantry.


    Because even after losing 3,500bat units, Faruq still had the number advantage.


    And it was by quite a lot.


    For instance, Alexander''s left nk of 5,000 would be attacked with 10,000 troops, double their numbers.


    While Alexander''s right nk would be attacked by an almost simr number of 9,000 troops,


    And only time would tell whether these green recruits, peasant levies would be able to hold on against the professional soldiers sent their way,  at least until Alexander''s infantry had managed to weaken the center enough to execute their n.


    The center of Faruq''s army, consisting ofpact phnx units slowly but steadily crossed the kilometer of open field, their synchronized marching footsteps producing the fateful music of imminent bloodshed, their long spears pointing pitilessly at their enemies until finally they made contact.


    "Shoot!" The front legionmanders shouted the moment the enemy had gotten in pilum range of about 20 meters, raining a hail of impending death of short spears on them.


    *Thud*, *Thud*, *Arggh*, *Grgghh*


    And Faruq''s phnx reacted to this attack the only way they knew they could,  by raising their shields to take cover.


    Theirmanders had taught them of this novel attack, who themselves had gotten it from Amenheraft.


    But the pilum was not a simple javelin that was designed to only kill the enemy.


    Its primary role was far more insidious, which was destroying the enemy shield by impaling itself into it.


    And a phnx unit without its shield was no phnx unit.


    So for these peasant levies, this realization had a huge psychological effect, as many stopped their march literally meters away from their enemy to try to yank out the pilum, only to find that the shaft it was attached to snapped when they tried, leaving the metal still embedded in the shield.


    While others literally had the pilum pierce their shield and arm together, making just holding the shield hurt like hell, much less fight with it.


    Just from the way these soldiers reacted, the quality between these levies, and Amenhearft''s battle-hardened troops could be seen, who had reacted much more calmly when faced with this new weapon, and the injured simply retreated to the back and let their fresh, uninjuredrades take their ce.


    And that was done by troops who had no idea about the weapons, but simple battlefield experience had allowed them toe up with the solution on the spot, whereas these ''trained'' soldiers, who knew it wasing were seen fumbling.


    It went to just show the real level of training these men had received.


    "Charge!"


    And these conscripts were offered no respite from their enemies, who immediately afterunching their two volleys of the pilum, the front three legions charged.


    The soldiers ducked their heads behind their shields and run towards the iing wall of spears, using it to push away the spiked stick to the side or up, and getting in between the spear and the spear holder.


    And then the brutal melee began, as individual groups of three to four attacked their opposing part, trying to strike them down.


    The legionaries used their shields to stave off the spear thrusts stilling from the 2nd and 3rd rows of the phnx while using their short, much more maneuverable in close quarters melee swords to thrust and stab at the phngites.


    And it was not only the humans they targeted, sometimes they would intentionally strike the opposing shields themselves, trying to make the hand holding them too numb to properly react to subsequent attacks.


    While the really skilled ones would try to do a parry, swinging their shield away from them the moment a spear struck it, defecting the blow, and creating an opening for them to get a stab in.


    Or if that was too hard for you, there was always the good old shield bash, where soldiers would just use their shield to hit the opponent.


    And the phngites were no slouches either.


    They would retaliate against these attacks by using their spear''s greater range to keep the legionaries at bay and then try and slip through the cracks in their defenses to get in a hit by employing various feints and fakes.


    The entire fight in the middle was a brutal, primal sh, where none gave an inch to the others, and tried their level best to kill one another.


    [Note- Troop Formation inment]