Herald of Steel

872 A Self Reflective Analysis

Chapter 872

"Send the reinforcements into the center and break through! We will be able to destroy the enemy if the flanks can hold on just a bit long!"

Breaking out of his usual stoicism, Hemicus loudly shouted so to Alexander, his face ruddy and excited.

The man still believed they could win.

"......."

And turning to look at the current state of the battlefield, Alexander could indeed see the two legions in the second echelons putting up quite a fight, not letting Perseus through.

They appeared solid for the time being and if Alexander engaged his 2,000 reserves in the center, there indeed was the possibility that he would be able to break Perseus's middle since it seemed to be on its last legs.

And for a few moments, Alexander did truly consider it- to throw the result in this one last roll of the dice and try to win it once and for all.

But then he stopped!

For thinking like this was not him!

Alexander by his nature was a prudent man, and these types of risky, sucidical play did not suit him.

How many times was it that he had thought the center was about to break and yet the phalangites had held?

What if they held even after the additional 2,000?

After all, what was so different about facing 32,000 men when you were already fighting against 30,000?

And that would be the risk reward equation here?

If Alexander won, he would indeed be able to end this year long campaign right here and now.

However, although that might sound very lucrative, was it truly, absolutely necessary to finish Perseus right now?

What would happen if Perseus were really to win here?

Unless it was by a devastatingly large margin, nothing much really.

At best the man would then be able to negotiate a better peace treaty for himself.

Which although not ideal for Alexander was far better than the alternative of what would happen if he lost.

And by lost, he meant lost his entire or a large part of his army.

Even ignoring Alexander's labor shortages, these 30,000 troops were not simple levies, but due to the time they had been with him and participated in the nearly 10 life and death battles, had managed to pick up quite a bit of experience in their pocket.

Losing them like this in a single gamble would be a terrible loss for Alexander.

Not when the rewards were so comparatively small.

So the prudent man determined using them in a desperate gamble was simply not worth it.

Thus turning to Hemicus, Alexander declared, "No! I cannot gamble my army here. Not when the chances of what you are saying happening are so unlikely."

"The enemy's morale is too high and every time we think he is going to break any second, he doesn't. He stands and fights. That's the only reason they have been able to hold on for so long."

Alexander at this point a bit ruefully shook his head, before continuing with a bit of a self- depreciating smile,

"Our strategy in this battle was not wrong, Any regular army's center should have broken twice by now. It's just that this time they are fighting for their land and king. Their morale is much higher than ours."

It had been a long, long time since Alexander had once again got to witness the effect of the level of 'morale' in an army.

Fighting under the king, these Tibians appeared determined to fight to the very last and had lasted far longer than Alexander had anticipated, while his own weaker wings had crumbled.

It was a contest of willpower and Alexander's forces had lost.

And the current instance perhaps best mirrored the events of the Battle of Badr, which was the first battle the then infantile Muslims had fought against the pagan Arabs.

Outnumbered almost 3 to 1, with around 300 infantry Muslims facing 1,000 pagan Arabs, the Muslims had foregone almost any strategy and chose to meet their opponents in open battle, where they repelled charge after charge for hours, taking the blows head on without budging an inch.

This was in much contrast to the Arab customs of the time, where wars were usually low casualty affairs and no sides fought to the last man.

So seeing that all those 300 men were willing to die, the Arab pagan's morale broke, and they fled, taking 140 casualties, while the Muslims only suffered 14 dead.

Thus in that battle, the Muslims had repelled the enemy through sheer grit alone, while it was later said that if pagans could have held on a bit longer, they could have indeed won.

And this was of course not the only type of example where a small force defeated a much larger force through zeal alone.

There was the famous battle of Thermopylae, where King Leonydas's force used the mountain pass and around 7,000 men to hold off Persian King Xerxeys's force of 120,000 to 300,000 for a week.

And there were the famous Swiss mercenaries who rose to fame due to the fact these men fought to the end, which was the main reason they were quite feared.

It was said that when charging, these mercenaries would lower their pikes and charge straight into the enemy without any thought, and would not stop even if the other side lowered their pikes to try and stop them.

Which was not at all like how the pike or phalanx typically fought.

The typical way such opposing units interacted was that they first lowered their pike and advanced, before slowly raising their weapons again as they approached, ultimately stopping a few meters away from each other, where they would start to skirmish-, poking, jabbing, thrusting to break the other side.

This was the norm because if both sides collided with their pikes or spears down, it would have been a bloodbath on either side, with the 3 to 5 meter spears decimating the front rows and turning the men into shashliks.

No ruler would be able to find such a suicidal group to fight for him.

But the Swiss mercenaries would do exactly that, the crazy bastards.

They would be willing to impale their own first few echelons with the enemy's pikes, turning the entire front into shredded paper, just to do the same to the enemy.

Of course, usually, such a thing did not happen.

For though those mercenaries might have been willing to commit this type of mass suicide just to kill their enemies and earn their paycheck, most of the time, their opponents were not.

So when a Swiss mercenary charged, typically the other side ran, because they knew these men would not stop even if they lowered their pikes.

But in the rare case it did, where the other side was also just as well trained, and perhaps not quite right in the head, the mercenaries did indeed follow through on their threat, for their reputation and livelihood would be on the line, and the result would be a massacre of both the enemy and themselves.

All these examples went to show that if an enemy did not break and stood his ground, it was very, very hard to win, even for a transmigration with 3,000 years of advanced knowledge.

After all, the people of 3,000 years ago were not dumb, just less knowledgeable.

And reminding himself of that, Alexander could only chalk up this defeat to the other side having fought better.

Although he was not entirely blameless for their defeat, the result certainly had more to do with Perseus fighting tooth and nail rather than deficiencies in Alexander's planning and execution.

Thus turning to Hemicus, Alexander ordered, "Split the reserves into two and have them ride towards the flanks."

"You take the left and I will go right! They will act as rear guards while I blow the trumpet signaling the retreat."

"......" To this the usual taciturn Hemicus did not say anything in protest.

But he also did not accept the order with a quick military salute.

Instead, he only stood there with a sullen face, saying to himself regarding Alexander, 'If you had not wasted so much time talking endlessly, but charged into the reserves, we could have won already!'

And Alexander seemed to have detected such a thought, as putting a light smile, he turned to look at his bodyguard captain and let him in on some classified information,

" If we retreat, we will be able to fight another here. But if we lose, not only will it invigorate Perseus, it will also make my other enemies around Zanzan have thoughts."

"Camius has already informed me that many rats and cockroaches are scuttling around the various noble houses of Zanzan, trying to rally an army against me."

"My success in Tibias must have surely gotten many feathers riled up. The fact that Amenheraft's right hand man Manuk was here is a clear testament to that."

"No one has acted yet because they are fearful of my army. But if I were to lose it….." Alexander shook his head as he trailed off, not wanting to think of the consequences.

But then quickly picked up his head and ended the segment on a cheerier note,

"Don't feel sad, my friend. In one year we have managed to conquer more lands from Tibias than multiple generations of Adhanian kings had managed to do over a thousand years."

"Hahaha! What is this but only a minor setback?"