OOC: You might have mixed the directions up there. I think you intended to go for the longsword wielders, right? Since the spears would be advantageous against them? I went forward with that in mind, which means the Denaster front line attacking the Mutiny right wing
While some nervousness comes about at Leander's words, he already has more respect from his fellow trainees than their commander does... However, many still seem hesitant to directly disobey the commander, perhaps fearing later reprisal.
Regardless, the battle initiates, and Leander's instructions have been spread quietly, from one man's shoulder to the next, with a whisper in one ear, and to the other... Hopefully things didn't get too distorted.
Unaware of being undermined, Freck is flop sweating as he nervously tries to think of a battle plan to begin with...
"
... f-Forward!" Freck only stutters a little. How brave.
As the army marches forward at his command, he seems very pleased, then as the two near, he gives his first command - whcih is arguably good, arguably bad. Either way, it's probably not his own.
Gaining confidence, Freck shouts "
Split down the middle into two groups! Each of you take on a half" as he waves his hand over the people, smiling brightly - clearly entertained as if he is playing a war game. Well, he probably is from his perspective. He definitely doesn't take his men's lives seriously. He won't make it far.
Mutters move along the people at Freck's call, but they - and this is rather surprising - actually drag their feet and continue on with Leander's plan. Jasper Cerus sees this with a sharp glint in his eye, and gives a smirk. He knows something is up, but he's not saying anything.
Astagorius just seems confused at why the enemy army isn't listening to their commander. He might be a bit too straight-laced to understand it right away.
As they get in closer, Mutiny even widens the opening for them, as if preparing to swallow them.
Eventually, once they get in close, someone shouts "
Now!" whoever it was, their working in Leander's favor. With the unnamed man's words, the front line quickly turn on a heel and move towards the Mutiny's right wing, who are carrying longswords. It's not a perfect surge, nor is it highly coordinated. But, it's not bad all things considered.
Right away, Astagorius responds, even before Jasper needs to speak and say "
Right wing, pincer them!" as the noble spearman gives quick hand signals to certain members of his own group, giving unknown further instructions.
The enemy left wing thus goes in to protect the right wing as expected, however a problem quickly emerges. Denaster's second line is still largely trapped behind the front line. This sorts itself out somewhat, as the men instinctively crowd together to face Astagorius and his group, however it takes more than a few moments for that.
With that time it takes for Denaster's lines to sort themselves from a front-back pair to more of a left-right pair (though less perfect than the enemy who had proper time to make formation), the commands from Astagorius have come through. Now, the left wing who have shields and hand-axes have specifically organized themselves so that those exposed to the back line (now left line), while the other half have used their shields to protect Astagorius from all sides, without restricting his forward movement. A few men are left in the back of that unit with their hand-axes out, ready to rout any stragglers who break through with force or try to curve around.
Right away, Astagorius proves that he is truly unparalleled with the spear. His movements are deadly, and he easily disarms and pushes past one Denaster spearman every few seconds. He is also supported heavily, so even those who try to surround him are blocked relentlessly.
However, one man himself cannot change a war. The Denaster spearmen are still at a major advantage against the Mutiny swordsmen.
Leander himself was a part of the backline (since he has a shield and sabre), and so he is now part of the group trying to prey on (a part of) the Mutiny left wing. As he also shouts numerous commands at those around him, he saved a lot of time in changing the formation.
However, shouts and clangs of metal ring out all over the battlefield. Who knows if blood has been spilled yet. All Leander can smell is stale sweat that has been sitting under this sun for hours, and the kicked up dust, dirt and debris all around them.
The Denaster spearman who have continued to pressure the Mutiny swordsmen are trying to use their range advantage to land cheap shots. However, they are not aggressively pushing forward, since they are perhaps hesitant to separate too far from the back line (now right line) which is defending them from the side.
They weren't given any instructions on how to attack, so maybe this more methodical approach is what they default too. None of them are berserkers after all, and their training was focused on cohesion and classical movements and tactics. They don't have the experience needed to know now would be a good time to push their advantage.
Even with this though, the Mutiny right wing takes a step back, since they are trying to keep distance.
However, Jasper Cerus is displeased by this.
"
Left wing! Don't you dare fall back! Deflect their spears, stand your ground!"
While none of the enemy are as good with a sabre as Leander, they are capable of holding out for a short time...
at least most of them.
A scream rings out. One man's arm has been torn by a spearpoint that he failed to block. Blood is leaking heavily and his face is twisted in pain. He's a young one, maybe 17.
Two others around him tell him to fall back and push him behind them, even though it will mean the two of them are taking on an additional weapon.
Astagorius lets out a curse, clearly weary of the swordsmen being overwhelmed. At this point, he's already disarmed four spear users by himself, and some of his shield men have been left behind, with a foot on the chest of those fallen men, keeping them out of the fight. Even then, their shields are up and hand-axes at the ready, not failing to act as a defensive wall even as they hold down the fallen.
The Denaster front line (now formed as a right wing) are a great advantage, but are also being targeted.
The Denaster back line (now formed as a left wing) is preventing everyone except Astagorius from invading the right wing. He moved too swiftly to be stopped, since the Denaster troops had to change formation in order to actually pincer.
This back line / left wing are also not particulary able to break through the Mutiny shield bearers, as the Denaster troops also have shields. Their sabres are perhaps slightly favored to the hand-axes wielded by the enemy, but as both have their shields up, it's a defensive stalemate.
Everyone is indecisive. Freck is too confused right now to make sense of things, even as Vadrian grits his teeth in frustration, clearly having his blood boil for battle as he wants to call out commands.
Leander, however, is in the midst of things. He still has the chance to shout commands, though he may not be heard over the raucus din of the clash. Leander is also a skilled saber user, but the shields of the enemy are large and tightly packed, they have few openings...
Leander has many options, he could try ramming with his own shield, he could try to command the spearmen to push forward and keep distance from Astagorius, or perhaps he would rather they split their attention and try to stop him... though that might be hard to do.
The smaller Denaster squadrons are already down four men (though they are uninjured, seemingly), while only one Mutiny soldier has been injured enough to retreat. He has left the battle fully, if anyone is still paying attention to him.
Hesitation lingers in the air. What will happen next?
OOC: Feel free to continue from here the same way as you were before. Here are some crude images of the battle so far (for visualization):
https://imgur.com/a/2bATrNp