Though Hosa is dead, the battle did not immediately end.
He still had several elite units under his command. Even with their chieftain beheaded, they fought desperately and even tried to organize a retreat.
At this moment, the gap between elite units and other forces became painfully obvious!
The second and third-rate Saxon spearmen, Saxon pirates, and Saxon light infantry almost instantly collapsed in morale, then started fleeing the battlefield in droves. Yet, the Saxon Personal Guard Battle Group, originally being massacred at the city gate, managed to organize a resisting group, leaving a squad behind to cover the retreat while the others withdrew bit by bit.
They even gathered the remaining cavalry to retrieve Hosa’s headless corpse!
To remember to retrieve their commander’s body at such a time is a group of people truly unafraid of death, forcing Duncan to lead the General’s Guard to avoid confrontation temporarily.
Duncan let them succeed.
He allowed the General’s Guard to retreat and regroup, while he alone on horseback switched rides, wielded the Nord Bow, and shot down five or six elite chieftain guards in succession. The enemy, after paying the penalty of more than a dozen elite casualties, finally managed to load Hosa’s headless body onto a horse, and the group of remaining forces retreated in haste with the chieftain’s body.
You want Hosa’s corpse?
Exchange your lives for it!
Duncan’s intent was clear from the start, and these Personal Guard Battle Group members and chieftain’s guards truly dared to trade their lives, earning a bit of respect from Duncan.
The enemy was in large-scale collapse.
Nearly all targets raised white flags, and negative states like ’frightened,’ ’ghost god,’ and ’encountered strong foe’ appeared over troop labels.
However, one unit of the enemy was still fighting.
——Saxon Elite Axemen!
This unit, perhaps running out of war cries, entered a frenzy state. Despite suffering nearly a third in casualties, they fought desperately, inflicting significant losses on Kvito’s British Legion.
The Nord Bow in his hand drew like a full moon, an arrow cutting through the air directly hitting the most prominent enemy unit.
——Beheader-Isold (Two-Star Silver-Grey) (Giant’s Blood) (Champion Fighter) [Sol Warriors]!
This was the second enemy Duncan encountered who seemingly had special bloodline powers; the previous was the Hermitage Holy Hall, marked with ’Holy Grail Blood’ at the time.
This guy was simply a humanoid killing machine; a casual strike could severely wound an enemy, even cutting down the British Legion infantry along with their shields!
His strength was shocking!
Duncan shot an arrow into his chest, and Beheader-Isold grunted heavily, breaking the arrow, then let out a roar, wielding a heavy beheading axe, repelling more than a dozen men, and charged wildly towards Duncan.
Brave he may be, but not quite smart enough!
How could Duncan, on horseback, be caught by him? He calmly nocked another arrow, sending it whistling through the air, an armor-piercing arrow piercing through his armor, directly penetrating his lungs, causing the Barbarian Warrior to stagger slightly and soon find it hard to run any further.
Duncan continually drew his bow, shooting five arrows to finally fell him, with arrows filling the opponent’s chest, issuing a defiant roar as if his last breath, before collapsing to his knees and falling forward.
Duncan stepped forward, picking up the beheading axe, severed Beheader-Isold’s head, and held it high, charging towards the Saxon elite axemen.
At last, the final elite battalion of Hosa also completely collapsed.
Soldiers in the town swarmed out to pursue the enemy, and Kvito breathlessly led the others in chasing, though defeating fleeing troops is best done by cavalry, as chasing on foot leaves everyone too exhausted, easily risking counterattack.
Unfortunately, Duncan’s forces had few cavalry, and the Duke of Dingtiger was a poor man, with their cavalry reserves nearly depleted.
Among Britain’s many forces, only Great Dragon Head-Uther had a Dragon Banner Cavalry under his command.
This battle’s results were exceptionally glorious!
If there was any regret, it was the lack of a decent light cavalry to chase down the fleeing forces, allowing many Saxon elites to escape.
Half of the General’s Guard was slain, and Duncan did not allow them to continue the pursuit. Chapters first released on novel•fire.net
This young British Knight’s Squire was knocked from his horse by a Saxon chieftain guard, found only when gathering bodies, already trampled beyond recognition by horses.
"Bury him honorably!"
Duncan glanced, then turned his attention to surveying the entire battlefield.
Though victorious, the cost was not small.
Kulin took three stab wounds yet fiercely continued fighting, slaying five members of the Saxon Personal Guard Battle Group alone, holding the city gate’s defense at great personal cost, until the British Legion rescued him, gravely wounded, using his sword to prop himself, kneeling under the city gate, blood soaking his entire armor.
Had Duncan not slain Hosa, he might have died under the Saxon Personal Guard Battle Group’s siege.
After Clegane informed Kvito to join the battle, he chased Duncan and others alone on horseback, left and right guarded by three Sarmatia riders, charging into battle, sustaining a stab to the abdomen, bleeding profusely, tearing his cloak for a simple bandage, and returned to combat, until when Duncan slew Hosa, only he and one other Sarmatia rider remained.