To wait for your others is to give them time to prepare; and more than that, with how narrow that passage is, it would also be pointless. No, you must brave past the smoke and advance. You're no fan of charges into the unknown, but with your liege lord gone, these noblemen will not have the spirit to carry on through gunfire unless you are seen leading them yourself. You unsheathe your straight sword, pointing at the breach with its narrow end.

"Knights! At Gallop! Assault!"

With a spirited yell, you lead them upon the breach, acryd gunpowder smoke dissipating flying up into the air as youu gallop through the breach and enter the city proper...

Only to be met with a wall of guns.

The volley of fire that follows is not as nearly as loud as that of the barrel's explosion, but you can feel it all the more. Across your left shoulder, a sharp, yet blunt pain smashes into you as a bullet is luckily repelled by your thick plate. Your steed does not stop, charging even still as you and your men close the distance, but you can already hear the pained whines and panicked screams of men whose horses were hit; if they did not die from the fall, you can only hope they are able to get out f the way before they are crushed underneath the hooves of their fellows.

As for you, retribution arrives no later; you crash into the line of arquebusiers like a blacksmith's hammer upon metal, men being thrown backwards by the very impact of your horse. You waste no time to attack, sword flashing as you tear in half the face of a poor fellow, then run another one through to follow. The knights, slowly trickling into the gap, crash into them with their lances; even if they did not have the running start for a charge at full gallop, their effect is plenty enough to send the men into disarray.

In less than a minute, their men are running, routing as they flee deeper into the city! Their line is breaking apart; but that does not mean they might not gain a burst of resolve and decide to hole themselves up in some home or fortified position, or even fire at your backs while you dealt with the rest of them; it is not a risk you wish to take.

Before you resolve to chase them down, however, you hear the marching of hundreds of feet; to the left, a company of pikemen begin to rush down the field, and the reason is soon shown why; from the southgate, more arquebusiers pour out, no doubt intent on forming up and firing on your men as they pass through the narrow gap.

Only now have your skirmishers begun passing through; certainly, if they were to be caught, they would suffer heavy losses, but if the enemy pikemen were to catch up while you cut down the skirmishers, it would be you that would meet a grim fate. You must act quickly.

CHOOSE YOUR OPTION
>Give chase to the routing arquebusiers, hope the skirmishers pass throuugh before the enemy
>Charge the enemy arquebusiers before they form up, risk being caught by the pikemen
>Write-in