Chapter 103

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on March 1, 2025

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“Reversal!! Turn back!”

“Halberd forward! Pike men, step back five paces and lower your spears!!”

“Damn it!! A reversal here! In this situation, you want us to turn back!!”

The soldiers, while grumbling, quickly turned and formed a defensive formation following my command.

As the formation was established, the enemy soldiers began to panic.

“Huh? Huh!! Aren’t those guys retreating? Why the sudden turn over there?”

“Hey, don’t we have to turn back now?”

“It’s too late!!”

Toward the panicked soldiers, the armor-clad enemy sub-commanders started shouting.

“Stop! Halt and form ranks!!”

“If you don’t form ranks, you will all die here!”

“Form ranks! Create a defensive formation!!!”

It was good that we responded immediately after forming the ranks, but those who were currently charging at the front began to be slaughtered by our soldiers in the first and second rows of the formation.

The highly skilled elite soldiers tried to respond in this situation, but they were pushed back by the surging peasants and were either stabbed with pikes or crushed. The mixed troops made up of peasants shattered against the wall our soldiers had formed, like eggs thrown against a wall.

And I, seizing this momentum, gave the order to annihilate the enemy.

“All forces advance! Move forward slowly while maintaining the defensive formation! Align with the soldiers next to you!”

As soon as that command was issued, the soldiers quietly and slowly advanced like a mountain toward the enemy.

As a result, the mercenary corps and elite battalions held their formation and counter-attacked, but a gap began to form in the ranks made up of inexperienced peasants.

“Now’s the time, penetrate the enemy’s gaps!!”

“Get into the gaps and kill the commanders! If we kill the commander, promotion and rewards await!”

“All forces, run for your advancement!!”

I thought that just by pushing like this, I could secure victory in the battle assigned to me on the left flank.

However, if that happened, the enemy would reorganize and retreat to another place using any means necessary.

Then we might have to endure a tiresome siege to capture the castles of the nobles, counts, and dukes.

In the worst-case scenario, reinforcements could come to save the Maxburg family.

Of course, the Imperial Diet would oppose it, so the disaster of the Emperor personally leading an army of a hundred thousand would not occur, but nearby Prince Rantz could come with thousands of soldiers.

If that happened, no matter how high our individual combat ability might be compared to the enemy, there’s a saying that there’s no match for being overwhelmed.

So we must end the war before the enemy sends reinforcements.

“Messenger!! Is there a messenger?”

At that, a messenger with the rank of second lieutenant appeared before me.

“Extract one battalion, and have the soldiers of that battalion relay to all my battalion commanders. Even if the enemy’s formation collapses, do not advance more than 400 meters from your current position. Go run and deliver this immediately!”

Upon hearing those words, the second lieutenant repeated my command and sprinted quickly to the battalion commander of the adjacent reserve battalion.

“Commander, I bring a message from Count Your Excellency. He commands us to mobilize all members of this battalion to relay orders! The order is to not advance more than 400 meters from our current position, even if the formation collapses!!”

“Understood, Captain Falken! Captain Salut, Captain Galeas! Captain Jack! Relay the same to the company’s soldiers and mobilize them by squad! Hurry!!!”

“Yes, understood. Gather the fastest runners and deliver the message to both the left and right wings of the main army!!”

About thirty minutes later, our soldiers also stopped the fierce pursuit.

At the same time, the enemy forces had regained their order, and unlike before, they started to respond firmly to our attacks.

“Argh, die!!”

“What are you doing, sucking your mommy’s milk!?”

“Stand still, you bastard!!”

“If you’re a mercenary, go home like one!”

As I ordered the troops to halt, fierce combat began.

In a situation where neither side could advance even a step while pushing against each other, I deliberately maintained this situation to preserve as many reserves as possible.

Thanks to that, it seemed that the enemy had used almost all of their reserves, while our side had hardly used one-fifth of ours.

In other words, the exhaustion of the front-line soldiers was extreme…

It was time to swap the front-line units with others.

“Relay this to the entire army, the front-line units should fall back to the rear, and the units behind them will take the lead!! Leave the dead and recover the wounded as much as possible.”

“Recover the wounded and swap out the vanguard unit with the following units!!”

With that command, the vanguard unit began to swap with the unit behind them.

I worried that the enemy might attack us during this, but it seemed they were trying to reorganize their disordered ranks while chasing us.

Thanks to this, even though we rotated the front-line units, we managed to finish without significant losses.

The swapped units quickly lowered their spears, while the enemy also lowered their weapons to form a defensive formation accordingly.

Our soldiers and enemy soldiers began to fire their weapons at each other, and roughly four enemy soldiers fell for each one of ours that died.

Gradually, the war intensified, and as the movements of the polearms became chaotic, the commanders of each unit began to issue commands.

“Assault troops forward!”

“Assault troops prepare to charge, those wielding two-handed swords cut the enemy’s spear ranks while those with halberds provide support!”

“Those with daggers first, crawl forward!”

As those words were spoken, those wearing hardened leather armor began to crawl toward the enemy, holding daggers in one hand.

They slithered like snakes, targeting the enemies’ ankles and knees.

After crawling for about ten minutes, they cautiously lifted their daggers to stab at the ankles.

The soldiers who had their ankles stabbed began to bleed profusely and started wailing.

“Mom!!!!”

“My ankle… I can’t put strength into my ankle anymore… Argh…”

Once the vanguard units of the enemy laid down their pikes, the fully armored halberd soldiers and two-handed sword troops rushed in.

The two-handed sword soldiers began slicing through the gaps in the enemy’s formations, while the halberd soldiers began creating openings in the heads of the soldiers who were stunned.

The pike men, still maintaining their pike defensive formation, began to encircle the enemy in a crescent shape, starting to eliminate them.

At this point, one would think they should retreat, but they still held their ground as if they didn’t believe the time had come yet.

And it was then that I had a realization, certain that the main force of the enemy, the knights, would circle around behind the infantry units.

Just then, a scout appeared beside me, confirming my thoughts.

“I report to Count Your Excellency. The knights and cavalry of the Duke of Maxburg are making a large detour to come into our rear!”

“How many are there!!”

“There are 4,000! And it seems Count Wilhelmheim of the Maxburg family is at the forefront!”

“How long before the enemy arrives?”

“I estimate we will see their forces in about 20 minutes.”

“Understood, proceed.”

The scout then returned to continue their mission.

Let’s see, if the Maxburg’s mobilized forces number around 40,000 to 50,000…

If they are sending 4,000 knights, it means they are using all available knight resources solely to kill me.

In normal circumstances, I would have already issued a retreat order and acknowledged defeat by this point, but for this operation, it was necessary to turn my back to the enemy.

Everything is going smoothly as I intended. I ordered the messenger.

“Tell Colonel Beerman, who is commanding the knights in the rear. The reserves should raise their flags and weapons. Go quell the confused knights.”

**

“Colonel Beerman, when will it be our turn? No matter how much we’re in the rear, almost the war is settled now, isn’t it?”

I, Beerman, think the same, but the order from the Count is not to act under any circumstance until a specific directive is given.

Thus, even if I want to move now, I cannot.

“Colonel Beerman! Our soldiers are dying up front, and there is no attack from behind. Please let us take 1/3, no, 1/4 of us to go support them!”

“Captain Miller! Calm down! The Count commanded that as long as we are not in a situation where our forces are being overwhelmed, we must not send soldiers out to support! To disobey this would be an act against martial law.”

“Colonel!!”

“Just wait a little longer! Just a bit more… Even if you cannot trust me, trust the Count who has continuously achieved victory in this war.”

Upon hearing that, Captain Miller, seemingly without a choice, bit his lip in frustration and replied.

“Yes, understood.”

As Captain Miller returned to his original position, I began to stroke the firebombs filled with oil given by the Count.

The Count had handed these to the knights, saying:

“O honorable knights of Croilet, trust me. And while maintaining your positions until the decisive moment, pour all your strength into the fight.”

Yet from their perspective, it will be agonizing.

Because even their children are fighting alongside the infantry, bleeding together.

Especially for those like Miller, who has sent out not just his legitimate son but also the sons of his concubines, insisting that non-knights would have better prospects in the military.

After waiting for about thirty minutes, the long-awaited messenger finally arrived.

“Colonel Beerman! It is a command from Count Your Excellency!!!”

… Is it finally time for the reserves to move?

“Count Your Excellency commands you to raise your flags and weapons and quell the confused knights approaching from behind!”

The Count’s predictions were indeed correct; the Maxburg must have sent the knights to turn the tide of the infantry battle.

Finally, it is our turn to step out.

I raised my hand to stop the messenger, gave him a gold coin, and said.

“This is for delivering the message that we can achieve merit. And relay that to Count Your Excellency too.”

“Yes, understood.”

I donned my helmet, which I had removed, grasped my sword, and declared.

“It is a command from the Count. Soon, the enemy’s knights will be targeting our army from behind. It is time to show those filthy bastards the flames of the Count! All forces, gear up and move to the designated positions!!”

“Hooray!!!”

“Long live Deus! Long live the Eraline Empire! Long live Count Croilet!!”

“I want to get the Colonel rank too!!”

“Let’s go in!!”

As we arrived at the designated positions, someone who had their ear to the ground said.

“The enemy knights are coming. I can’t tell the exact numbers from afar, but it seems there are thousands charging at us.”

Hearing that, two contrasting feelings crossed my mind.

One was anxiety and fear about having to face those on horseback, and the other was gratitude toward the Count for trusting me with such a tough job.

It’s rare to experience both gratitude and fear at the same time in my 50 years of life; I guess life truly is full of strange experiences.

Maybe I should pass down my title to my eldest son and retire to serve under Count as a Baron…

If I end up serving under the Baron, I won’t have to participate in battles like I do now, but occasionally, I could still accompany the Count on fishing or hunting trips.

After a moment of such thoughts, I directed the knights.

“All forces, the knights in the front line set up your pavises in front of you! The soldiers in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ranks prepare to throw firebombs simultaneously!”

At my command, the knights planted their shields in the ground and prepared to throw the firebombs.

Moments later, the enemy knights finally appeared with a thunderous sound of hooves.

Upon counting, there seemed to be 4,000; a scale that we could not possibly handle while they were on horseback.

Perhaps because of this, they began to whistle and chatter.

“Those bastards dismounted despite being knights!”

“Each one of those is worth 30 to 40 gold coins! We hit the jackpot!”

“All forces, speed up!!!”

With those words, the enemy knights began to increase their speed as they approached us.

About 300 meters, 250 meters, 200 meters… 170…

When the front line of the enemy arrived roughly within 150 meters, the banner knights gave commands to their knights.

“Attach firebombs to the javelins! Now load the javelins into the launcher!!”

At those words, the soldiers combined the firebombs with the javelins that had ignited fuses.