Moreover, the appearance of the old man made him feel somewhat familiar, and he was just about to ask.
But the old man spoke first, "Gowes, what are you waiting for! Quickly take the others and follow me to the safety of the rear! If we delay any longer, the long swords of the Segestica people will come slashing in!"
This voice... this face... it’s Emmerich! The revered Druid Emmerich! ... Gowes was greatly shaken and no longer hesitated. He shouted loudly, "Everyone, quickly follow Sage Emmerich!"
In fact, even as he was shouting, many people were desperately running forward. Indeed, many of them had been treated by the old man before, and even those who hadn’t seen him for decades remembered him as deep and rich as aged wine.
All the Skodisqi male slaves began to run desperately forward. To make themselves run faster, many threw away the wooden sticks in their hands. Meanwhile, their compatriots also turned and retreated. The Hamster Flags led these two merging groups as they quickly retreated to the rear through the staggered gaps of the thousand-man formations.
During this process, the rebel soldiers raised their square shields, building a shield wall around the formations, staying vigilant against the Skodisqi slaves passing through the array.
The Skodisqi male slaves were also worried about being attacked by the rebel soldiers as they passed through the formations. Still, their trust in their compatriots and the Druid, and their eagerness to escape the Segestica people, overrode this fear.
The Skodisqi male slaves did not charge into the rebel army’s formation, nor did the rebel soldiers stab them with short swords. However, the Segestica warriors supervising them noticed something was amiss. When shouting and cursing proved ineffective, they began slashing at the fleeing male slaves.
The constant screams from behind forced the male slaves at the front to flee desperately, inevitably causing some chaos.
"Brothers, hold the square shields steady! Without my order, don’t swing your swords!" Tini Bazus, like other team officers, braced his body against the shield to withstand the Skodisqi male slaves’ panicked impacts on the shield formation while loudly reminding his soldiers.
Just then, the long and deep sound of a horn came from the front...
As the Great Chief of the entire Segestica Tribe, Andres could no longer lead by personal example as he did when he was younger. He had retreated to the rear of the formation and, through layers of warriors, naturally couldn’t see the anomaly behind the Skodisqi male slaves at the front.
The entire Segestica formation was still following its usual routine, only slowly advancing after the Skodisqi slaves at the front had moved a certain distance. Even if the warriors at the front noticed something unusual, making a swift response in a loose formation of over 15,000 people was impossible.
In the end, a few warriors supervising the Skodisqi slaves rushed back to report the matter urgently to Andres.
Feeling deceived, Andres’ face turned ashen as he roared, "Those damn Skodisqi slaves actually surrendered to the enemy on the front line! It seems they don’t want to live! Sound the horn and charge, crush them!"
The command flag of the Segestica people was far less complex than that of the rebel army, having only one command—to sound the horn and attack.
Once the horn sounded, the attack commenced, with no further command from the commanders. So previously, the starting and stopping of the advance were led by Andres and the surrounding warriors leading by example, with the others following... But now, Andres could not stand by and watch over 2,000 Skodisqi slaves escape easily, then turn against them, so the attack orders were issued prematurely.
The horn sounded, and the frontline Segestica heavy warriors began running, with the light infantry closely following behind, their thunderous footsteps rolling like roaring sea tides toward the rebel army formation.
At this moment, most Skodisqi slaves had already fled to the rear of the rebel army formation, leaving only a few injured slaves struggling at the forefront, but the rebel army could no longer wait.
Fesaros, Torrelugo, and Camillus, the three Legion Commanders, almost simultaneously issued the order to "Merge Formation," with the rear thousand-man formations quickly advancing to fill the gaps between the frontline thousand-man formations.
In no time, a long iron wall rose between the two swamps.
The injured Skodisqi male slaves were dumbfounded by the seamless shield formation before them and let out hopeless wails... only to be trampled by countless feet in an instant, soon falling silent.
The Segestica heavy warriors charged to the front of the formation, swinging their longswords fiercely at the enemies.
The rebel soldiers did not hide behind the half-human-high square shields but instead tilted the shields upward, aiming to use the iron rams in the center of the shields to intercept the longswords. This was the lesson they learned from previous battles, to avoid having their shields damaged by sharp longswords, while the thick iron ram could easily injure the enemy’s sword-wielding wrist, preventing them from wielding full strength.
Similarly, many Segestica heavy warriors heeded the warnings of the few survivors from previous battles, avoiding direct collisions with the shield formation to prevent being stabbed by enemy short swords.
Full-scale battle erupted, with the sound of killing echoing to the sky...
Maximus gazed from above: under the enemy’s charge, the straight formation of the rebel army appeared to cave in one section after another, only to slowly restore its original shape...
Maximus breathed a sigh of relief, "Not bad, Emmerich successfully got his compatriots out, and we timely reinforced the formation to fend off the Segestica charge, so this first step of the plan was a success!"
"The battle has only just begun, and the plans ahead are the toughest!" Quintus reminded grimly.
Maximus nodded, asking, "When will we start changing the formation?"
"No hurry, let’s exhaust more of the enemy’s strength. Once their bodies are tired, their minds will stop thinking," Quintus pointed to his head, "and they will become blindly obedient!"
Gowes hadn’t even stood still at the back of the rebel army formation when the deafening sounds of fighting came from behind, held back by the solid iron wall behind him.
Are we safe now?!... Gowes felt as if he were in a dream.
Many Skodisqi male slaves recognized familiar faces among those who rescued them, eagerly wanting to reconnect. More people flocked to the Amway Group, expressing their gratitude and longing... The team of over two thousand squeezed together, creating quite a clamour.
Even Emmerich himself, seeing his long-lost compatriots, was so excited he could hardly contain himself.
At this moment, many outside were calling his name, "Emmerich!! Emmerich!!..."
He quickly pushed through the crowd to see Flanitnus standing with a team of soldiers, a serious expression on his face.
As soon as Emmerich approached, Flanitnus reprimanded, "Emmerich, have you forgotten the promise you made earlier?! Allowing so many people to gather here is a huge risk! Quickly get all your people together and take them where you need to go!"
"I’m really sorry, I got overly excited just now and failed to complete the task in time, it’s my fault!"
Emmerich’s earnest apology eased Flanitnus’s expression slightly. He said solemnly, "Looking at them right now, can they really go into battle in a bit? I’m afraid you’ll have to put in a lot of work to straighten them out!"
"Believe me, they definitely can!" Emmerich said confidently.