Chapter 183

As I commanded, the heralds of the Ilerias Legion signaled to establish battle readiness with flags and trumpets.

As soon as the signal went up, the commanders of the knights and infantry began to reprimand their subordinates, who were showing laxity on the battlefield.

“It is the order of Your Excellency Count Ilerias! You lowly peasant! Are you dozing off on the battlefield? Get up at once and hold your lance properly!”

“The knights are coming soon! If you want to return alive even a little, follow my orders! Gather in groups of ten and align your lances! You ten-man captain!! Standard!”

“Check the horses, knights! Tighten the stirrup straps on your saddles, and make sure your lances and secondary weapons are ready to use! If you don’t do it properly, you’ll see your weapons snap like twigs on the battlefield!”

With the fiery commands of the superiors, the knights checked their horses and weapons, as well as their flags and armor that would elevate their honor. The soldiers put on thick cotton clothing over their arms and legs to increase their chances of survival.

With the help of the seed, I donned the armor I had set aside for a moment, then took my lance and shield and mounted my horse.

I had ridden many times in my life on the horse I was currently on, and although I had mounted before in preparations for war numerous times…

However, the moment I stand at a crossroads in a war that holds the fate of my life, no, the fate of my family, I feel a shiver run through me with excitement, a nervous tension about the possibility of failure, causing my hair to stand on end as my body trembles.

Especially this time, I might directly confront the knights of Architel, who remain a symbol of terror.

Naturally, I feel anxious and have the desire to run away…

Nevertheless, as the head of the Ilerias family, I have the obligation to show a brave front to assure the knights and vassals who have pledged their loyalty that I will share wealth and honor.

And just as it has been before, the Ilerias family will seize glory, and I will remain a noble and general who fought honorably and victoriously on the battlefield, where one misstep could cost me everything.

No, I must remain.

“Baron Shepherd, I will lead our army at the forefront in this war. So you will guard the headquarters of the legion.”

Saying this, I urged my horse forward to the front of our formation.

Most of the soldiers there, thinking of the horrific war they were about to experience, looked pale and muttered.

“Am I going to die like this?”

“Shut up. If Your Excellency the Count hears you say that… ‘Only death awaits cowards who lower the morale of the army.’ you’ll lose your head.”

“Sigh… If I had known this would happen… I would have confessed to Ellie…”

Some of the professional soldiers or mercenaries were comforting the frightened soldiers.

“Don’t be scared; just hold your lance straight, and you won’t die. You rookies.”

“We’re in the rear, so we’ll get the easy job. There’s nothing to worry about. We won’t die. We won’t get hurt.”

“If you just don’t think about running away, you’ll come back alive.”

In times like this, ruthless nobles would mobilize execution units to kill the most visibly weak and terrified-looking peasants among the group.

When they eliminate a weak peasant as if cutting away a rotten part, other peasants are gripped by a greater fear of dying at the hands of their own comrades.

Then, to avoid being killed by their own, they are forced to charge at the enemies in front of them.

All nobles treat peasants like expendable materials in war, tossing them away after use…

Now we must endure the knights’ charges using the peasants, just as Marquess Croilet had done before.

And the greatest support I can provide without giving them good weapons or armor is to show that I am fighting alongside the soldiers.

So I spurred my horse and advanced to the front of the formation of knights on the left side of the peasants, then spoke.

“We will march ahead of the infantry until the enemy knights arrive. Inform the commander among the soldiers that I will place my life on the line at the forefront as well. Also, when we march, I will hold the flag bearing my emblem.”

“Your Excellency… why would a Count of the Eraline Empire want to be at the forefront of the knights’ charge? You could die.”

“Baron Shepherd, dying as a knight is an honorable thing. Moreover, if we lose this war… there will be no future for our family. Therefore, to raise the morale of the peasants and knights, I must be at the forefront. Do you not understand?”

“We are in debt close to 100,000 gold coins, and if we lose here… the enormous collections from the Hamburg merchants will…”

Before Baron Shepherd could finish his lament, the knights fixed the flag onto my lance, and I raised it high, letting it flutter as I urged my horse forward.

Slowly moving just two paces ahead of the infantry.

As I passed before them, at first, the soldiers watched in silence, dumbfounded.

But as I traveled through the middle of the infantry, they all erupted in cheers, and as the march finished…

“Long live Your Excellency Count Ilerias!!”

“Long live the Eraline Empire! Long live Your Excellency Count Ilerias!!”

The soldiers’ cheers echoed.

Of course, their shouting was largely due to the atmosphere created by a few instigators…

Still, at the very least, they must have felt that I stood alongside them in this perilous war, so the desire to run away would have lessened considerably.

Not long after I returned to the vanguard of the knights, I could see the outline of knights in silver armor emerging with a cloud of dust rising from beyond.

Soon, the sound of hooves from the enemy knights, estimated to be around two thousand… no, it looked like about three thousand, began to ring painfully in my ears.

Additionally, I could feel a slight tremor, as if the ground were shaking during an earthquake…

The enemy knights would be coming to attack soon.

“Your Excellency, enemy knights are approaching. Shouldn’t you head out soon?”

“Indeed, we shall. However, we are planning to strike at their sides as they start their full charge towards the infantry. So our knights will break the wedge formation and speed up their horses while getting as close as possible. And as we approach the enemy, we will gradually arrange our formation.”

Having said this, I urged my horse into a quicker pace.

As a result, the formation of my knights naturally began to widen, and the surrounding knights started shouting accordingly.

“Pay attention to the flag of Your Excellency at the front! When the flag goes down, you too must gradually reduce your speed and form the wedge formation!”

“Don’t miss the chance to gnaw at the sides of the delicious enemy knights!”

“This is much easier tactical maneuvering than when we attacked the command post last time! Surely there are no fools who can’t handle this, right?”

In response to the urging words of the senior knights, the knights began to align their movements according to mine.

Leading the scattered knights, I maneuvered widely to strike at the enemy’s flank.

Whether the enemies did not notice us coming around or if they saw us but found it impossible to change their formation…

They continued charging forward without loosening their wedge formation, attempting to break through our infantry.

“Turn left! Prepare the whole army to charge!”

Soon, I lowered the flag and prepared to charge, and the knights began to gradually reduce their speed in response.

At that moment, the enemy knights tried to pull their rear forces to contain us…

But we had already placed ourselves firmly on their flank, and if we pushed in like this, we could inflict tremendous damage on the enemy.

“Entire army, prepare for impact!”

Having said this, I lowered the face guard of my helmet and charged towards the enemy knights.

As my lance shattered with a crack, throwing an enemy off his horse, the knights behind me began to unseat the remaining enemies and stab them to death.

Caught off guard by our unexpected charge, they could not react and began to be swept away like sand washed away by a wave.

Knights falling from their horses and their steeds screamed as if they didn’t want to die, and we continued to expand our success.

As we were about to halt our charge, a knight who appeared to be the enemy commander lowered his lance and shouted orders.

“Damn it, those cursed Ilerias bastards! We’re retreating!! We’ll fall back and regroup!!”

We had already broken the spearhead of three thousand knights, and there were no other knights from their side approaching our vicinity.

If we led the enemy into the vicinity of Count Izza and attacked from both sides, we could inflict near annihilation.

Moreover, assuming we would leave a few behind to contain the knights of the Croilet Legion and the Orleans Legion… they would not be able to recklessly attack us.

“Send a messenger immediately to Count Izza, telling him to pursue the knights here! We shall first chase them down!”

So, taking advantage of this opportunity, we must quickly crush the three thousand enemy knights and return, just as we did when we ambushed the command of Marquess Simon.

**

“Your Excellency Marquess Croilet, we have received information from the spies monitoring the Ilerias knights and Count Izza’s knights.”

Normally, communication between legions is done through messengers, but I wonder what foolishness those idiots have committed?

“Speak.”

“It seems that the knights of Count Ilerias and Count Izza strayed from the main force while pursuing the knights of Franche.”

… I instilled confidence in those guys, giving them beautiful women and various bribes, but did I really think they would make such foolish choices after achieving a single significant feat in this war?

Well, right now this is the limit I can maintain with my own power, so it’s not entirely bad. In fact, it should be considered a favorable situation as it aligns with what I planned and prepared.

If we gain independence from the Eraline Empire, reducing the number of potential enemy nobles will greatly ease the progress of future plans if we just escape this crisis…

Regardless, I spoke with a face filled with anguish.

“Well then, it’s time for me to leave. The situation does not look good.”