Chapter 138

As I raised my sword toward the enemy knight, he looked at me with a shocked expression and said,

“Please spare me! Your Excellency Count!!”

I ignored his plea and swung my sword, stabbing through the gap in his helmet, splattering blood on the horse I was riding and on my arm.

The soldiers behind me seemed to be slaughtering the enemy knights to a near execution level, as I could hear the screams of the enemy knights around me.

“Surrender!!”

“Ugh!!”

“Please spare me!!!”

Leaving behind their cries, I urged my horse deeper into the enemy formation, leading my knights.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t take such a rash approach risking my life, but the enemy soldiers, both horse and man, were already paralyzed by the power of the guns, unable to do anything.

No matter how great the duke may be, I judged that in such a state, it was impossible for them to mount any offensive counterattack that would pose a threat to me and my knights.

So we charged at the enemy’s horses, using our tremendous weight and speed, and when we encountered knights, we either trampled them with our horses or attacked them with swords or maces.

Most of the horses that collided with us fell sideways from the shock and were immediately trampled by the following knights, turning into a bloody mess.

The trampled knights might have looked somewhat intact on the outside due to their armor, but on the inside, they would be nothing more than minced meat.

As we scattered the enemy formation over a span of about two minutes, the speed of the horses began to slowly decrease.

Knights unable to maintain speed were no different than immobile scarecrows, so we should pull back here.

“Brave knights of Croilet, retreat as quickly as possible for the next charge! You do not need to maintain formation!”

With those words, a few red flags signifying retreat were raised among the knights.

Soon, we began to break away from the enemy lines at our maximum speed.

The enemy seemed to regain their senses and swung maces or stabbed at us as we fled.

I blocked the maces with my shield as much as possible and avoided the swords from hitting the gaps in my armor.

After successfully withdrawing, I looked around to check on the knights’ conditions.

The horses were trembling with fatigue from the strain, and several knights were slumped over their horses’ necks.

No matter how much damage I needed to inflict on the enemy in this war, I could not let my knights enter the infantry formation in such a depleted state.

According to my plan, the knights would charge into the infantry formation one more time to completely end the war, but…

“Attention everyone!!”

At that command, despite being on the brink of exhaustion, the knights stood at attention and looked at me with disciplined posture.

Then, Beerman, standing at the forefront of the knights, urgently rode over to me and said,

“Your Excellency, the knights have reached their limits… We don’t even have the capacity to capture the enemy knights as prisoners. Please order a retreat.”

For knights of this era, capturing prisoners was an essential duty to ensure their survival.

This was because the taxes earned from managing their territories were not enough for them to maintain their dignity.

In other words, what Beerman was saying could be interpreted like this:

“They have even given up earning money to maintain their dignity, which is as important as their lives, to follow you, Your Excellency. Please do not command them to make a reckless charge.”

Hearing those words, two emotions surged up in my heart.

One was self-reproach for charging too recklessly toward our goal, and the other was gratitude for the knights who followed me, even giving up their opportunity to earn money.

“Thank you for your advice, Beerman.”

“It is nothing, Your Excellency.”

Then, I turned my horse towards where they were and spoke loudly.

“I, SIEL von Croilet, have already won this war. And the true heroes of this war are none other than you! I will not forget the blood and sweat you shed for me today and will raid my treasury to reward you.”

At those words, the knights erupted in cheers even before I finished speaking.

“Now, you will return to the main camp and rest. Also, I will reward you separately for the lack of earning your ransom by not capturing prisoners, so hurry back and rest comfortably. All knights, return to the main camp under Beerman’s command.”

At my words, Beerman spoke in disbelief.

“Your Excellency, your condition is not good! Luckily it seems you have no injuries, but you have stood in the forefront twice, in the most arduous positions!”

As he said, I was completely exhausted for standing in the forefront twice.

My vision was spinning, and I felt weak in my arms and legs, wanting to sit down.

However, with other infantry still risking their lives in a prolonged battle, their unharmed commander could not afford to sit down.

So I forced myself to insist.

“Beerman, my soldiers are still fighting. I cannot leave while I am unharmed. Just let me take one horse in good condition; I will join the infantry over there.”

“… Understood.”

At that, Beerman got on the horse and shouted loudly.

“His Excellency has endured two fronts and held on until the end in this dire situation. For the warmth of that heart towards his troops, do not hold discontent for not capturing any prisoners! We will all withdraw!”

“Yes, Your Excellency!!”

“Long live Count!!”

Thus, I moved with my weary body toward where the infantry was located for a moment.

There, a horrifying scene unfolded, close to a massacre.

Four to five infantrymen were tying up the knights to hunt them, with two wielding pikes preventing the knights from moving recklessly.

The remaining two struck the knights’ heads endlessly with the maces at their waists whenever the knights tried to sweep away the pikes.

When a knight fell or showed a gap, the infantrymen wielding maces switched to daggers and stabbed at the gaps in the knights’ armor.

“Please, spare me!!!!”

“If you take us captive, you can get ransom, right?!!”

“Please, infantrymen, spare us!!”

For those who usually wouldn’t even regard the walking infantry as equals to themselves, to address them with honorifics meant… a veritable hell was unfolding.

The infantry, seeming to relish the knights’ pleas, mocked them with taunting voices.

“Knights, we are sorry for sending such lowly folk to you! Please go and appeal to Deus about your grievances!”

“Hurry up and die, noble knight!!”

“Do not worry; it will only sting a little!!”

From the side, gunshots could be heard at regular intervals, and as matched with those sounds, the knights were falling.

“Ahh!”

“Ugh… Emily…”

“Damn!!!”

“Save me…”

I quietly observed this scene before heading towards the place where the officer directing them was located.

The officer smiled at me the moment he saw me and said,

“Your Excellency! Look!! If we continue fighting like this, we will be able to capture the Architel Duke from our regiment!! This is all thanks to the excellent command of Count!! Long live Count Croilet!”

A gentleman who must have thought he would not have the opportunity to achieve merit as he was stationed in the rear suddenly found himself slaying fleeing knights…

From his perspective, it must feel like an unexpected opportunity had fallen right into his lap, but it was rather burdensome.

“You have also done excellently to follow my command. By the way, I intend to send 20 soldiers to Colonel Frost’s matchlock regiment.”

“Yes, understood.”

“And now you shall start capturing prisoners. We can’t let the knights squeeze any more and kill the duke.”

“Yes, understood! Regimental standard-bearer! Raise the flag immediately to capture prisoners!!! If we let that duke die, we are all finished!! Don’t you want your rewards?!!”

**

After arriving at the matchlock regiment, I immediately rode over to where Colonel Frost was and said,

“Colonel Frost! Immediately cease fire and perform a rapid march to flank the enemy from behind. The target area is about 500 meters from here, where caltrops are spread out!”

“Yes, understood!! All troops, cease fire!! Move to the enemy rear at a distance of 500 meters!!”

As that command was issued, the matchlock soldiers halted their firing and began to march quickly.

“Make sure to keep the matchlocks, no matter what happens!”

“We must secure the matchlocks before the corpse of a fallen comrade! If they leak out, it’s all over!!”

“Run!! Run!!”

In the meantime, I caught a passing messenger and ordered,

“Messenger! Inform all infantry troops. The enemy knights have suffered a total defeat! It is said that the Architel Duke’s life is uncertain!”

“Yes, understood.”

From what I saw moments ago, the knights pleading for their lives had been willing to fight somehow, indicating a high chance that the duke was still alive.

However, faced with an opponent that had already exhausted themselves to the point of defeat…

They would lack the capacity to discern such facts and would surely begin to believe it and flee.

After marching brutally for about an hour, I spotted the enemy infantry fleeing about 120 to 150 meters away.

They were all running like mad to save their lives, and those who collapsed in exhaustion were trampled under our feet.

When they saw us, they shouted,

“Those bastards with thunder-shooting clubs!!!”

“What we see over there is the emblem of Count Croilet!! We’re all done for!!”

“We have to… have to stop!!”

They could not stop, and before long, they stepped onto the caltrops laid by Short Lieutenant’s reconnaissance unit.

Those who stepped on them clutched their feet and screamed or just rolled over.

As their advance slowed, Colonel Frost issued the command.

“Raise the blue flag! Form a line for firing! Then immediately raise the white flag!”

As that command was given, the matchlock soldiers fired at the same time.

Soon, with thick gray smoke, flames erupted from the gun muzzles, and the bullets flew toward the weak peasant soldiers, who could barely hold their armor and weapons.

And as if those armors could not defend against bullets at all, the armor pierced through, and blood gushed from the holes.

“Ahhh!!!”

“Save me!!!!!!”

“….. It’s a monster!! A monster…”

At the same time, our infantry seemed to have seized the opportunity provided by the enemy’s slowed movement, with those who had not been shot beginning to shout.

“The infantry behind is catching up to us!!”

“Damn, we’re all going to die!!”

“… If I had known this would happen, I would have just defected… only Brenton got home safely…”

A little later, as the white flag was raised, frightened enemy soldiers were met with bullets flying towards them.

Again, numerous enemy soldiers fell, to the point where it became difficult to even count them.

I stopped Frost and addressed the enemies.

“I am SIEL von Croilet, the honorable lord of the Croilet territory! I will not kill anyone who surrenders even now. Everyone, lay down your weapons. If you do not lower them…”

Then, I received a gun that had not been loaded from one of the soldiers, shot it towards them, and continued.

“We can fire this dozens more times. And by the time we finish firing them, you will all be dead. Furthermore, the Architel Duke is already in a situation where his life or death is uncertain. Think wisely!”

However, saying that, we were left with merely about three bullets per soldier.

That alone could not completely deter them, but the now fear-stricken soldiers would surely believe my words.

This war had already ended here.

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