Chapter 316: Battle of the Andalusian Plains (1/2)

Since the victory and seizure of the province known as Murcia, the Granadans have been busy defending their borders from the Iberian Union's attacks. They were not as well prepared for a full-scale invasion of Iberia as they thought they were.

The first few battles they fought showed a severe lack of discipline in their ranks compared to Berengar's troops. The reason for this was simple, the Austrian military attache had not drilled the Granadans as hard as they would their own troops, nor did they put them through specialized training.

As such, after Hasan had returned to Granada to engage in hedonistic activity, the Royal Granadan Army was left in the hands of General Ziyad Ibn Ya'is, who was far more competent on military matters than the young Sultan.

This General was a middle-aged man and was currently engaged in a conversation with General Arnulf of the Royal Austrian Army. It had been roughly a year since he last saw his home in Kufstein, and despite this, he was not weary in the slightest.

At the moment, the two Generals were conversing with each other as they rode their horses next to each other in the middle of the formation, under the protection of thousands of Granadan troops.

”So Hasan abandons his army so that he can go engorge himself in women and wine? Leaving us to look after his army, that has got to sting a little, does it not? My dear friend.”

In response to this, General Ziyad merely laughed before responding to Arnulf's jest.

”Certainly not; I am actually glad that the Sultan has left the war effort in my hands. Don't get me wrong, he is a decent administrator, but a wet blanket would make a better commander in terms of strategy and warfare.

The Sultan is liable to get himself killed out here; it is better for him to be the face of the recruitment efforts back home than to be the man leading the charge.”

Before Arnulf could respond to this statement, he noticed a rider in the distance; this man wore the standard mirror pattern and mail armor that most of the Granadan troops were equipped with. As such, he was allowed to pass into the army, where he immediately strode up to the command.

”Permission to speak, sir!”

Judging by the frantic expression on the soldier's face, Ziyad knew the news must be urgent; as such, he nodded his head in silence, bracing himself for the information he suspected would ruin his mood.

”There's an enemy army numbering roughly 20,000 heading in this direction. They are approximately ten miles out!”

As soon as he heard this, Ziyad began to give his orders to the troops in his army.

”Get in formation, and prepare for battle. Load your weapons; I do not want you firing your weapons until you see the whites in their eyes!”

This phrase was how the Austrians had drilled the Granadan troops to utilize their primitive arkebuse firearms in the most efficient manner. Whether or not they were capable of maintaining such a high degree of discipline was another story entirely.

As such, the Granadan troops, whether they were infantry, artillery, or cavalry quickly began to load their weapons with the means available to them; after doing so, they began to form ranks and wait for the enemy to arrive.

After a few hours, the enemy forces arrived, and when they did, they were shocked to see the Granadan Army waiting for them. The Iberian Army was comprised mostly of the Crusader Order known as the Order of Calatrava, but there were also a few Iberian Union units among their ranks from Castille.

These soldiers had become increasingly aware of the advantages and limitations of the Granadan weapons. As such, they instantly began to charge the arkebusiers suicidally, hoping to clash with them before they could reload their guns.

While the Iberian troops began to recklessly charge at the Granadan forces, the Granadan artillery began to fire their grapeshot at the enemy lines via their Falconet cannons. Numerous projectiles filled the air and blasted into the enemy ranks causing massive casualties on the Iberian forces.

Whether it was faith in God or fearlessness in death, the Iberians were not deterred. Instead, they madly charged into the line of fire without any regard for their safety. When Arnulf saw this, he became quite concerned, the Iberians vastly outnumbered the Granadan troops, and the Granadan weapons required a far longer duration of time to reload than the weapons of the Royal Austrian Army.

As the enemy line began closing in, several Grenadan arkebusiers started to fire their weapons in trepidation, which caused a chain reaction from the soldiers as others instantly opened fire despite not hearing an order to do so.

Though some of these shots found their marks, piercing through the enemy's armor and into their flesh, most of them utterly failed to do so. This action forced Ziyad to shout his orders at his troops which were relayed across the army by the other officers and NCOs.

”Hold your fire! Hold your fucking fire!”