Thousands of Gu soldiers flooded into the city, like water bursting through a damn. They were senseless and did not take any time to stop running and think. Prince Yichen was watching from afar, outside of the city. He was not going to lead his troops into this bloody battle. That honour was given to Stetson Fontaine, the true ruler of this city.
Stetson was in the middle of the pack when the Gu soldiers breached the city. He was not able to rally the thousands of men who had surged ahead. It was nearly impossible to recall them and regroup. Instead, Stetson tried to use momentum and speed to his advantage, allowing all his men to continue their enthusiastic charge.
There were 2 streets that led away from the western gatehouse. The middle street would take you straight into the heart of the city, while the street veering to the left would take you to the harbour. Most of the charging Gu soldiers prioritised following the middle street, with only 20,000 soldiers following the left street.
All the houses along that street were boarded up shut, and the alleyways were blocked. This was feeling slightly familiar to Stetson. The Luxenberg defenders were making use of a funnelling tactic that limited the number of fronts they would have to guard in the city's interior.
As the Gu soldiers progressed further into the city, the nagging feeling of unease constantly poked at Stetson's gut. He knew something was slightly amiss, but doubts were not something that could distract him from his mission. One thing Stetson was conscious of was the fact that there were no enemy corpses along the street. It was more surprising that he had not heard any musket fire yet.
However, the quiet was soon disturbed by the thunderous roar of cannons. Musket fire could now be heard in full effect. When Stetson heard the cannons, his heart dropped into his stomach. He was beginning to realise why he had been feeling uneasy.
During the war against the Maldenbergs, Stetson was most curious about how the Luxenberg Army managed to successfully defend the city of Archenshien against Grand Duke Maldenberg's forces. There was no mention of what tactics were used, but citizens of the city recounted how hundreds of Maldenberg bodies were piled up due to a deadly barrage.
Stetson was now slowly piecing together what had actually happened. They used this funnelling tactic to cluster all the enemy soldiers together and eviscerate them with musket fire and grapeshot. Stetson's blood began to run cold with this realisation. Over 20,000 men had poured into the city before him, and many more were following him. There was no way that he, as an individual, could stop the tide of crazed Gu soldiers rushing forward.
"Fuck! It's a trap! Retreat! Pull back now!" Stetson ordered. Unfortunately, his orders fell upon deaf ears. The Gu soldiers were not as disciplined as his former soldiers were. They lacked restraint and were too prideful to retreat. They thought of gaining honour and glory was all they could think about.
While Stetson was desperately trying to halt the charge of his crazed soldiers, Field Marshal Wellesley had a front row seat to the slaughter. His preparations during the day had proven to be invaluable. Without them, the Luxenberg defenders would be overwhelmed and butchered.
Wellesley's cannons roared, and a bloody mist rained down on the cobble street. Mangled bodies and dismembered limbs were scattered. Only a few dozen Luxenberg soldiers had perished, while their enemy had already lost at least a thousand soldiers. Small piles of corpses were beginning to form.
A similar situation was happening at the defences prepared on the left street, as General Hill oversaw the defence. Although it was not the same scale of attackers, the Luxenberg soldiers still buried their ammunition into them. Wails screeched throughout the city as the mutilated and wounded Gu soldiers cried out.
'Fuck, fuck, fuck," Stetson thought as he was stuck in his dilemma. As he was internally panicking, he noticed that more and more soldiers were running against the flow of soldiers. More and more men were making haste back to the gatehouse. Stetson thought maybe he was succeeding in pulling back his forces; however, he was quick to see that was not the case.
Some of the men fleeing were covered in the blood of their comrades. A few were missing some limbs, while others had blood dripping from under their uniforms. Curious to see his failure, Stetson meandered through the oncoming traffic of Gu soldiers. His face was drained of all colour when he saw what his oversight had cost him.
Thousands of bodies were scattered and piled up. Blood was flooding the street, with little to no cobblestone left to see. The overzealous soldiers of the Gu Army had received their consequences for thoughtlessly surging ahead. Stetson could only stand there mortified at what he was seeing, but that did not deter the stream of soldiers flooding in from behind.
As they drew closer and closer to the defensive position, grapeshot was launched into them, scattering their insides and turning them into mush. Flesh and bones stood no chance in the face of rushing iron balls.
"Stop you fools! You will only be slaughtered," Stetson whimpered as he watched the continued slaughter of his men. Some of the nearby officers were quick to dismiss Stetson, thinking of him as a coward.
"Victory is ahead! Slaughter these bastards from Bulgar! Eternal glory awaits us!" Screamed an officer of the Gu Army. One thing that Field Marshal Wellesley respected about the Gu Army was their bravery. It was admirable, but a folly. To senselessly charge into a maelstrom of bullets and grapeshot was not that brave, but stupid.
The battle had been going on for over an hour now, and Field Marshal Wellesley was starting to grow irritated by the stupidity of the Gu Army. So he turned to one of his adjutants and asked him a question, "Is the cavalry ready? If so, send the signal flare. Let the cavalry slaughter those who try to escape. They shall know the price for insolence."
At the command of Field Marshal Wellesley, his adjutant shot a signal flare (it was similar to a firework). In the dark night sky, a yellow explosion signalled 10,000 cavalrymen to charge from the eastern gatehouse and cut off their retreat.