Chapter 433: Great Goldonian War: Part 2 (1/2)
Aegir POV–
「We’ll attack from three points: the open field, trench encampment and two-level fence encampment.」
The points Leopolt indicated were places right beside the areas where our allies were fighting fiercely with the enemy.
We can effectively attack where the enemy is confused while staying out of the mess ourselves.
I look at Luna and point at the trench.
Without a trace of hesitation, she leads the bow cavalry there.
I look at Gildress next.
He already starts running with the Aless soldiers in the direction of the fence.
Well, that’s fine.
Lastly, I look at Irijina.
She shouts “leave it to me!!” in a loud voice and rushes off to the open field.
「W-what about me!?」
「Wait a little longer.」
When I pinched Celia’s nose, she had to breathe through her mouth and it sounded somewhat erotic.
「The strength of an independent battalion is the ability to act separately from the main army. There’s no point in them attacking together.」
Celia glared at Tristan when he chimed in with a know-it-all tone, which made him quickly duck his head in between his shoulders.
Soon enough, the true fight will begin.
Firstly, the speedy bow cavalry attacks the enemy camp protected by the trenches.
I would say the proportion of regular army and militia here are fifty-fifty.
「Cavalry are coming! Line up spears along the ditch, don’t let them jump over!」
Those soldiers who are more trained become the core of the defense, protecting the center where the crack – the weak point of the trench – is, meanwhile the less trained soldiers align themselves parallel with the ditch. There are also archers and infantry waiting in the rear.
Cavalry can obviously leap across a narrow ditch.
It’s not incorrect for the enemy to use a row of infantry to guard against that.
「Charge―― halt! Loose!」
「That won’t work against my bow cavalry though.」
They fire their arrows after committing to a charge.
「Guwa, bows on horseback!?」
「Crap! These guys are the mounted archers in the report!?」
「We’re lining up for them to shoot! Bring the shields to the front!」
Falling for the disguised charge, the enemy soldiers are nothing more than target practice for the bow cavalry.
The enemy spearmen fall over like toys in the face of the furious barrage, and the archers also have to retreat without putting up much of a fight.
Our opponent should have known about the existence of the bow cavalry, however, they must have had a lapse in memory after fighting the Royal army for such a long time.
Luna, confirming the enemy unit had been routed, picked up speed with a running start and jumped over the trench.
Since all of them were experts at riding, nobody failed to cross the gap.
「That’s one.」
I nod in response to Leopolt’s muttering, stroking the neck of the impatiently huffing Celia.
Next, the Aless soldiers are running as fast as horses toward the encampment protected by fences.
Judging by the enemy’s reaction, the relative density of regular army soldiers is high in this area.
「Here they come……deploy spearmen behind the fences. Use crossbows to eliminate anybody who tries to destroy the fence with an axe.」
A majority of the palisade is constructed with wood, although the height is twice that of a normal palisade and the central section is strengthened by the presence of crossbowmen and spearmen.
Such a defense is perfectly suited against infantry since standard practice is for soldiers to get up close and destroy the fence with axes or hammers.
Of course, the enemy is prepared to stop that.
「There are battles here and there! You are not a man if you aren’t fired up! Advance, men of Aless!」
「「「Ooooh!!」」」
Gildress, leading the way with his signature red cloak waving about, shouts so loudly that I can hear him clearly from where I am.
A cloud of dust is kicked up by the Aless squad comparable to an army of cavalry.
Is it my imagination or do I see clothes and underwear mixed with the scattering clumps of dirt?
「They’re foolishly charging at us head-on. Stop them with crossbows!」
As expected, they must surely be mostly regular army soldiers if they aren’t fazed by the intimidating pressure of the Aless unit.
Crossbowmen wait until close range to fire bolts at the incoming wave of muscle.
On reflex, the Aless soldiers raise their shields, but their entire bodies could not be covered and the powerful bolts pierce through even their honed physiques. The volley was accurate as well. Instantly, a dozen Aless soldiers fall over.
「That’s not enough to stop them.」
None of the Aless soldiers seem to slow down.
In fact, many of them smile, attributing the outcome as being part of war.
A crossbow’s range is at most 50 m.
Such a distance can be reduced in less than ten seconds by the leg speed of the Aless soldiers, so there is no time for the enemy to reload.
In other words, they will only receive a single volley and will not suffer any significant damage unless they stop moving.
「I-it’s not working! Even though they’re pretty much naked, they’re not going down!」
「Reload the crossbows. Form a wall of spears, don’t let them near the fence!」
The enemy obviously thinks the Aless soldiers are going to take out axes to try and destroy the fences……
「Get ‘em!!」
Contrary to common sense, the Aless soldiers brush away the spears with their shields and use the momentum of their charge to crash into the fence.
Somehow, the fence was strong enough to withstand the force capable of demolishing a normal wooden barricade.
Unfortunately, that’s not the end.
Those in the vanguard who were stopped, moved to the side, making way for the rearguard to charge into the fence with the same momentum.
This repeated itself until the third round, when the fence was finally torn apart. All of this happened in less than 30 seconds.
What comes after is where they are unrivaled.
The enemy tried everything from shooting arrows and forming spear walls to challenging them in close combat with skirmishers.
「Arrows are easily blocked. They can ram into the spears with their shields. And close combat……」
「It’s one-sided. Each of them are taking on five―― no, ten people.」
After crushing the enemy camp, the Aless soldiers move on.
「Two.」
Leopolt doesn’t let a smile show on his face.
I pat Celia on the head as she looks at me with puppy dog eyes.
Lastly, we shift to Irijina, who is leading my personal army and the 105th army corps to the open field.
There isn’t anything sturdy constructed in this area, instead there are countless inverted stakes dotting the ground.
Although it can’t be considered a solid defense, the multiple obstacles prevent a large group of cavalry from attacking and a massive army from forming neat rows.
It’s simple yet annoying to deal with.
I saw the soldiers in this part are mostly lesser trained militia, however, there are easily over 20 000 of them.
Their general strategy is probably to stack pure numbers against us.
「Let’s go!!」
Irijina, leading the infantry unit, quickly gets surrounded after jumping into the middle of the enemy.
When an opponent tries to thrust at Irijina, she plants a foot firmly into the ground and spins around with her spear.
Blood sprayed out from the one soldier who got too close and was sliced, and that was enough to ward off the others.
My personal army flooded in and a melee unfolded.
Because large formations can’t be used, several smaller units were utilized instead, which inevitably delayed the development of the attack.
The enemy couldn’t be brought down in one blow.
Our side has the overall advantage in training, however, the other side is superior in troop strength.
As the battle prolongs, our soldiers will tire and lose their edge.
「I guess it’s about time. Haa…… I’ll go now.」
Tristan stands up with an attitude opposite to heroic.
「Don’t slack off.」
「How would I do that on the frontlines?」
Tristan smiles wryly.
「Even Tristan is going before me!」
I scratch the underside of the protesting Celia’s chin.
20 chariots came rolling out from headquarters, changing the movements of the squads in front.
Until that point, the enemy was retreating while somehow keeping our constant pushing at bay, but suddenly the vanguard stopped attacking and pulled back.
A dubious voice leaked out from the enemy side.
「We’re being overwhelmed! We have to counter―― hm? Wait…… they retreated?」
「They had the upper hand, so why…… no, this is our chance! We’ll go forward and push them back!」
Naturally, the enemy tried to give chase, but the difference in training showed and there was already a large gap opened up between them and our ally forces.
「Alright, shoot.」
I could swear I heard Tristan’s unmotivated voice.
Then, there was an explosion and later, I saw a cloud of dirt rising from near the enemy.
「Field artillery, huh?」
The chariots dispatched from the headquarters must have been carrying those cannons.
They are smaller than normal cannons and relatively easier to move as well as simpler to set up…… those cannons were fired in the brief moment granted by the distance gained.
Before the dust settled, our ally forces resumed their attack, and the enemy collapsed in an instant.
Compared to other cannons, the field artillery aren’t that powerful.
That’s to be expected, since they sacrificed size and force for mobility.
However, the cannons were fired at surprising timings to deal a greater blow to the enemy’s morale than a large army would.
The effect was more pronounced against the less experienced militia.
It was a complete rout of the enemy vanguard.
Seeing how bad things were getting, reinforcements poured out from the enemy side.
「Celia.」
「Right!」