Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 155 - 150 Cavalry Charge

Chapter 155: Chapter 150 Cavalry Charge

Many players then realized that Dark Sand was right.

The previous victories indeed had made quite a few players a bit delirious, breeding the idea of taking the initiative to sortie from the city for battle.

But now, thinking about it, if they had really sortied and expended their limited manpower at that time, what would they do facing the unexpectedly breached West City Gate and the incoming Barbarian heavy cavalry?

At least now, with the support of the reserve forces, it was highly likely that the players could hold the line.

The leading soldier player raised a hand, "Immediately form the array as we discussed!

"Use long spears against the enemy at the front, gunners, bird gunners, and archers to fire from the back based on the situation!

"Scholar players, pay attention to protecting yourselves."

The players quickly sprang into action, forming the array as commanded.

Rows of soldier players, armed with long spears, formed a dense formation, planting the butt ends of their spears into the ground at an angle with the spear points aimed forward.

From a distance, the players looked like a giant hedgehog, with spear points glinting coldly.

However, the players holding muskets, bird guns, bows, and the scholars, seemed a bit confused about where exactly they should stand.

Some players were even considering whether they should stand within the long spear array, after all, it would allow them to attack the enemy better or buff other players, but as soon as they thought of moving forward, they were sternly stopped.

"We don’t have enough long spears! We need more players joining in! Gunners, archers, and scholar players stand on the flanks, on the high ground; do not mix with the long spearmen, or once the cavalry breaks through, you’ll just be sacrifices!"

Everyone turned to look and saw Dark Sand and Zhao Haiping hurriedly running down from the city wall to the interior of the West City Gate.

"Is this still not enough?" The leading soldier was a bit surprised.

By now, the soldier players had begun to form an array at the entrance of the West City Gate, stretching more than ten meters in a dense formation. The forest of long spears shimmered menacingly with cold light. In the eyes of this Chiliarch responsible for command, this should be enough to handle the cavalry.

By common sense, a square array of spearmen was absolutely a great weapon against cavalry.

In the field, infantry had no chance against cavalry, even if they were to form a spear array, it was no use; this was because cavalry were exceedingly flexible and could choose any time, place, and manner they preferred to fight.

During a field battle, cavalry could constantly harass and attack, waiting for the infantry to exhaust before easily targeting the weak points of the spear array for an attack.

But this was a city defense battle, and the quality of the players definitely could not be compared to those low-quality soldiers of old times.

Since the only breach in the Order Restoration Fortress was currently the West City Gate, and since players would not suffer from hunger or fatigue, to capture the fortress, the demon-controlled cavalry would have to charge directly through the spear array.

Under these special circumstances, it seemed the player side was more likely to have the advantage.

Dark Sand shook his head, "You’re definitely too optimistic.

"The cavalry charging into a spear array only works under several premises.

"The first is that the cavalry’s horses would be terrified, becoming panicked while running into the spear points, which would affect the cavalry’s formation; the second is that the infantry’s long spears must be long enough to hit the cavalry from a distance, minimizing casualties on our side.

"Plus, the loud noise of muskets could potentially scare the horses, that’s how you can gain an advantage against a cavalry charge.

"But right now, we actually don’t have any of these advantages.

"First, these cavalry are controlled by demons, they are fearless, and their horses know nothing of fear, so relying on the horses being skittish is out of the question; second, our soldier players’ long spears are simply not long enough.

"If this were ancient times, these would barely qualify as short spears; even if they could stab the enemy cavalry, our own casualties would be substantial.

"Li Weiyi has already led a group of players to the craftsmen to expedite the production of caltrops. Until those caltrops arrive, we must be prepared to block the West City Gate with our lives!"

The soldier player was taken aback, although he didn’t fully understand some of the details mentioned by Dark Sand, he could sense that Dark Sand’s words made a lot of sense, so he continued to direct more soldier players into the array.

At the same time, he made sure all soldier players understood to immediately fill in any gaps that might appear in the front, and under no circumstances to retreat, no matter what happened.

The shaking grew more intense, and the front-row soldier players could now see the Northern Barbarian heavy cavalry charging at the forefront.

Some players were even trembling as they gripped their long spears, unsure if it was due to nervousness or the tremors from the ground traveling up their arms.

The players in the front now understood why Dark Sand said their long spears weren’t long enough.

What the players were holding were the standard long spears of ordinary soldiers, with lengths of just over two meters, not quite reaching three.

Such long spears were actually somewhat cumbersome to use in regular combat.

"As the saying goes, an inch longer, an inch stronger", the long spear was recognized as the king of cold weapons in ancient times simply because of its far-reaching attack range, allowing even soldiers without much professional training to get lucky and unseat a general from his horse.

But long weapons had their problems, too; once the enemy closed in, they became cumbersome to wield.

Therefore, most foot soldier players who wielded long spears couldn’t also manage to use vine shields because handling a long spear with just one hand is really difficult.

Except for a few fierce fighters like Fan Cun.

And for the players, long spears over two meters in length were already somewhat unwieldy.

"Dark Sand", the game, placed a significant emphasis on players’ individual combat abilities, so all foot soldier players were equipped with standardized long spears for the best versatility.

But in reality, whether it was the long spears in General Deng’s Arrays or those specifically designed for countering cavalry in square formations, they were truly "long" spears, measuring over 5 meters in length.

In other words, the long spears in the players’ hands were only half the size of the real anti-cavalry spears.

Not long enough; when the heavy cavalry charged, even if hit by a long spear, they could continue with their inertia and crash into the players’ Array.

If the players weren’t psychologically prepared beforehand and failed to withstand the first wave of attack, and the players in the back rows didn’t immediately fill the gaps, then tragedy could indeed occur.

It was precisely this concern that sent Chu Song to lead the ground forces, since with Li Hongyun responsible for the defense atop the walls, there was no longer a pressing danger there. The focus now was to ensure that the West Gate would not be breached.

The trembling of the ground grew more and more intense, and soon, the Northern Barbarians’ heavy Cavalry had charged past the West City Gate!

The West City Gate was the largest in the Reclaimer’s fortress, and previously, a Chiliarch of the Northern Barbarians empowered with demonic forces had smashed a huge breach, so in reality, four or five heavy cavalrymen could charge into the foot soldiers’ spear Array simultaneously.

The front row of foot soldier players, following commands, planted the tails of their spears into the ground, angling them upward to face the Northern Barbarian Cavalry, but it was only upon impact that they realized the gap between reality and their idealized expectations!

The Northern Barbarian heavy cavalry, both riders and horses, were fully armored; the horses were fed the finest feeds, were tall, muscular beasts, and the combined weight was like an iron-clad colossus of half a ton.

Such a behemoth only began its charge upon nearing the players’ Array, but by the time it reached them, it was unstoppable!

A foot soldier in the first row could clearly see the moment of hesitation in the horses’ eyes upon facing the spear tips, but soon, the demonically empowered riders spurring their mounts fiercely made that hesitation vanish in an instant, and they barreled toward the dense spear Array!

"Bang!"

"Bang! Bang bang!"

The gunners and Fusiliers fired their weapons while the archers loosed arrows.

The scholars also unleashed their Righteous Qi, either directly attacking the demonically controlled Northern Barbarian heavy cavalry or adding buffs to the foot soldiers and sharing the damage.

The Righteous Qi truly had its effect, temporarily dispelling the Demonic Qi from some of the front ranks of the heavy cavalry, and when the gunfire struck the riders, the tremendous noise and actual impact of the bullets terrified the horses.

The few leading Barbarians heavy cavalry, who hadn’t even reached the spear Array, were already brought down by a hail of gunfire.

But the players hardly had time to cheer before more cavalrymen charged in!

The players needed time to reload, and the following wave of cavalry slammed into the spear tips of the front row players.

One foot soldier felt an overwhelming force transmitted through the spear pole he was gripping; next, he watched as the spearhead hit the warhorse’s breastplate, and then the spear bent, forming an exaggerated arc.

With a "crack", the spear shaft actually snapped!

The charging warhorse, like a speeding tank, crashed directly into him, sending him flying backward and even affecting the players behind him.

Before that player could even process what had happened, he was already counting down to respawn.

Meanwhile, the long spears of the players around him stabbed into the horse’s body from all angles; some were unlucky, hitting armor with little damage, but others found luck, piercing the soft flesh.

However, even if the horse was turned into a pincushion in an instant, its momentum remained, and the fallen beast skidded three or five meters before coming to a stop.

Then, even more heavy Cavalry charged in!

The commanding foot soldier immediately yelled, "Back row players, step up! There can’t be any gaps!"

He now understood that Chu Song was right; the heavy cavalry blindly charging the spear Array was an irrational act, but did irrationality matter to the demons? As long as they could break through the West Gate’s defenses, it didn’t matter if they sacrificed all their heavy Cavalry.

Demons, like the Reclaimers, could totally disregard reality to some extent. After all, the powers of the Reclaimers and the Demonic Qi could both elevate a soldier’s combat will, discipline, and individual fighting capabilities to their peak, without the need to consider combat losses.

Thanks to the advantageous terrain of the city defense, the players faced the impact of only a rank of four or five heavy cavalrymen, which significantly reduced their pressure.

In an open field battle, facing a rank of heavy cavalry charging simultaneously, there would be little to do but wait for death.

Even so, the situation at the West Gate was still perilously unstable!