Chapter 181

I had often encountered scenes like this in novels I read before, where the perspective of the protagonist faced with a great army in various war dramas was depicted.

Before me was the enemy’s vast army, filling the ground from one end to the other, wide as if it were a sea made of men, moving like crashing waves.

I had witnessed such a scene in the last battle, and having faced the enemy’s great army numerous times in previous wars, yet I still couldn’t grow accustomed to the tension radiating from tens of thousands of enemies.

As I remained tense, conceptualizing our upcoming strategy in my mind, the enemy across began to raise their family’s flag and make their advance.

In response, the Croilet Marquess’s army sounded their trumpets and drums, raising various flags to signal the soldiers.

“Pikemen, form a phalanx in six ranks! Matchlock soldiers, take position on the left and right! Engage the enemy as much as possible!”

“In this battle, we only have to hold our ground! No, just hold!”

“When you feel scared, remember this: if you retreat, your families will suffer horrors so terrible they’d wish for death! But if you hold your ground, even if you die, His Excellency the Marquess will reward you! Don’t worry about your family’s future after you die!”

As the enemy approached, junior commanders and officers from our side scurried about their designated units and areas, issuing orders.

Following those commands, the soldiers formed tighter formations and prepared to meet the enemy.

“Adjutant, summon a messenger to withdraw the matchlock brigades 1 and 2 from our left flank to suppress those approaching from the Orleans Duke’s forces. Fire at your discretion, but ensure the first volley is a simultaneous shot. After inflicting damage, pursue and cover as needed, but instruct them to retreat if they cannot see our red eagle flag within their unit’s line of sight.”

When the red eagle flag rises, we should not stray more than a kilometer from it. Unless we completely push the enemy back, it’s unlikely they will be more than a kilometer away from the main force.

Maintaining this distance will allow our two matchlock battalions to defend against enemy assaults and send reinforcements effectively.

With these preparations in place, I had nearly completed all I could do at this stage.

“Order all commanders to prepare for battle. The matchlock soldiers should ignite their matchlocks, and the pike soldiers should thicken their formation. The knights should be instructed to stand by their horses and be ready to charge when commanded.”

As my final orders were conveyed to the entire Croilet Marquess’s army, I heard the sound of our soldiers clashing with the enemy in the distance.

The war had officially begun.

**

The first to engage were the troops of Count Iris of the Franche Empire and the army of Duke Orleans led by Elaline.

As soon as they faced off, they charged at each other fiercely.

It was as if the comrade beside me was resolved to survive, no matter what.

Not long after, both armies began hurling arrows at each other indiscriminately.

During the advance, a significant number of soldiers fell to arrows, but neither side seemed to care as they pressed forward.

Silver gleaming spears flashed toward the enemy, and several weapons struck arms, legs, and torsos, drawing blood.

“Die! You damned Orleans Duke’s lackeys!!”

“Deus will send the Orleans bastards to hell like the heathens they are!!”

“If you don’t want to die, blame your parents for being serfs under Duke Orleans!!”

Words of condemnation filled with the anger of those whose homes were taken by the soldiers of Duke Orleans.

The soldiers of Duke Orleans shouted back vehemently at Count Iris’s troops.

“You’re just weak, and that’s why you’ve lost your land! Pathetic trash! You’ll just rot here while your souls return home!”

“Your mothers and fathers will be glad to see parasites like you gone!”

“I’ll behead you to spoil my parents; hand over your necks first!”

As the soldiers of both armies became tangled in close combat, the armies of Marquess Simon, Laurent, and Count Louis began to charge toward Orleans and Croilet forces.

However, the untrained 40,000 Franche soldiers not only struggled to maintain their formation with each other but also advanced at different speeds.

One unit was slightly faster than the center unit, walking 20 meters ahead while another was trailing 15 meters behind.

Leading his 30,000 troops in a staggered rectangle, Marquess Simon advanced toward the enemy.

Observing their approach, the Duke and Croilet Marquess quickly signaled to stretch their formation sideways to avoid being encircled.

Then, aiming at the approaching enemy, Duke Orleans and Croilet Marquess fired their arrows and weapons in unison as the enemy came within effective range.

Thousands, perhaps even ten thousand arrows and bullets flew toward the enemy troops, who fell like leaves under the overwhelming firepower, screaming in terror.

“This is insane!!”

“I can’t die like this!!”

“Mom!! Dad!! No, Deus… why… why me…”

Even as the soldiers of Marquess Simon and the other counts fired arrows in retaliation, most casualties were among the unarmored noble soldiers of Franche and Duke Orleans’s forces.

After a few more rounds of attack against the enemy, close combat truly began.

Croilet Marquess faced part of Marquess Simon’s army and Count Laurent, while Duke Orleans contended with Marquess Simon, Count Louis, and Count Iris.

“Long live Marquess Simon! Let’s go take the head of the Orleans bastard!!”

“Though lesser in worth than Croilet Marquess’s head, just killing Duke Orleans can open up a life for me!”

“We have far more soldiers than them, so what’s there to fear? If they’re scared, let them be scared!”

Duke Orleans’s forces were slightly pushed back against the 45,000 Franche army they faced.

However, despite being outnumbered, Croilet Marquess’s troops were gradually pushing the enemy back by effectively using a combination of pikes and firearms.

“Pike soldiers! When the enemy approaches, thrust your pikes and clear their impudent spears! Matchlock soldiers, the pike soldiers will protect you; don’t worry—just aim at the visible enemy!”

“If aiming is too much trouble, just point your weapons between the two pike soldiers in front of you and shoot! That will solve your problem!”

“Do not be afraid of the enemy’s arrows or swords! If you block as trained, your armor will save you!”

Slowly but surely, Croilet Marquess’s army began to suppress the enemy’s momentum.

They killed or shoved back the approaching enemies with pikes, while those that were slightly pushed back or further away fell to gunfire.

Initially overwhelming with numbers and morale, Franche’s soldiers gradually slowed their advance toward the Marquess’s army.

In line with this, two matchlock battalions emerged from Croilet’s forces.

The soldiers, exiting the formation in an orderly manner, simultaneously turned 45 degrees to aim at the enemy.

Due to the fierce close combat between Franche and Elaline’s troops, most soldiers could not divert their attention.

Yet, upon seeing the matchlock soldiers of Croilet, a few from Marquess Simon’s army shouted loudly.

“Damn it!! Why are Croilet’s gunmen aiming at us!”

“You fools!! Get the ones on the left to rush over and stab those bastards with their spears!!”

However, even as they shouted, their commanders and soldiers were entirely unresponsive.

Moments later, accompanied by black smoke and a loud explosion, bullets flew toward the unfortunate Franche soldiers.

In the volley of several hundred, perhaps a thousand shots, the enemies in the line of fire fell, and Duke Orleans seized the opportunity to order his soldiers.

“Deploy as many troops as possible through the gap created by Croilet Marquess!! We must somehow push them into a counter-encirclement state!!”

In no time, Duke Orleans’s soldiers surged through that gap, raising their morale to eliminate the enemies.

As the battle began to escalate, both armies descended into chaos.

Typically, at such a time, the attacking side would have knights crash into the infantry to create a breach.

However, the alliance of Franche led by Marquess Simon had yet to deploy any knights.

Sensing this through the report from the messenger and his intuition, Croilet Marquess muttered.

“Seeing them not deploying knights even now… damn it, those Franche bastards, are they planning to attack when we completely let down our guard on the flanks or rear?”