Chapter 425
(Kyle Calendar Year 515: Age 22)
Liberation of the Royal Capital
Translator : PolterGlast
I was waiting for the report from the scout while lying in
ambush with the soldiers in the forest. Up to here, we had been guided by
soldiers from the Cain Kingdom and had marched inconspicuously while
hoisting the banners of the Holy Knights. Before reaching the current
point we had encountered the enemy's patrols more than once, but the fully
disguised unit led by Raphael
advancing ahead had annihilated them.
「The distance from this point to the
Royal Capital was about six km, right?
The infantry unit is lying in wait further ahead, right?」
I asked the soldier who had guided us once more just to
confirm. Partly because this waiting time was frustrating and I wanted to
distract myself even a little.
「Ha! It is exactly as you say. The
infantry unit is lying in ambush ahead of us, in a grove about three km from the Royal Capital.」
Though there might be some margin of error, assuming the
distance to the Royal Capital is 6 km,
it is merely a rough estimate, but if we, riding on horseback,
sprinted at full speed in a full gallop, it would likely be about five to six
minutes to the city gates of the Royal Capital. In that case, we must wait
until the tail end of the enemy soldiers exiting the city gates has advanced to
a distance where they cannot return within six minutes, and then we must begin
to move.
「Reporting! The enemy army will
shortly advance past the bridge! Total number approximately four thousand,
nearly the entire garrison force!」
Hearing this, I made a decision. According to the
information from the Cain Kingdom soldiers, it seems that if the enemy
soldiers cross the bridge, it is undoubtedly a distance where we can get ahead.
I drew my sword and declared to the generals from horseback.
「The entire army departs from here
on! Raise the flag signaling the assault to the infantry unit advancing ahead,
and simultaneously send out a messenger! Mars, Aral, Danke,
and Isaac, lead two thousand cavalry and advance ahead, chase the enemy
heading west and bite into their very rear!」
「「「「Yeah」」」」
「Five thousand cavalry will first
head for the city gates of the Royal Capital with me and close off their
retreat path! Afterwards we will turn around and shift to an offensive, but Haven
and Ayyar, continue to secure the city gates with a unit of one thousand
under your command! Once all infantry have entered the Royal Capital, turn left
and right respectively and deploy to suppress the outer perimeter of the Royal
Capital; annihilate all fleeing soldiers!」
「「Ha!」」
「The four thousand cavalry that
turned around will encircle the enemy army from both wings of the two thousand
cavalry advancing ahead, drive them west, and annihilate them! Now then,
depart!」
「「「「「Yeah!」」」」」
We dashed out of the forest all at once and entered
predetermined operational actions. This is exactly the second and third stages
of the defeat-in-detail tactic thought up by the Commander and others.
●
First Stage
The two thousand bow cavalry led by the Commander
will attack the one thousand Holy Knights heading west, attacking while
holding back to lure out enemy army reinforcements from the direction of the
Royal Capital. After the luring is complete, they will shift to a war of
annihilation using out-range tactics by the bowmen.
●
Second Stage
Of the main force I lead, six thousand cavalry will assault
the rear of the enemy army lured out of the Royal Capital. First, a unit of two
thousand will advance ahead and block the retreat path to the Royal Capital,
and while they hold them off, the units that turned around will lay an
encirclement formation from the left and right. The main force, now totaling
six thousand, will deliver a simultaneous volley with Estol Bows, and then
shift to an encirclement and annihilation battle while driving the reduced
enemy army.
●
Third Stage
The bow cavalry unit that had been driving them east from
the beginning will lie in wait for the driven enemy army and annihilate them.
Meanwhile, the two thousand infantry unit will assault the Royal Capital left
wide open due to the garrison soldiers being lured out. One thousand men from
the Cain Kingdom, who are thoroughly familiar with the structure of the
Royal Capital, will advance ahead and recapture the Royal Capital in
cooperation with the Vile Kingdom infantry. During this time, the one
thousand cavalry deployed on the outer perimeter of the Royal Capital will lay
a siege net and strike down enemy soldiers who exit the Royal Capital for reports
or to flee.
From the first stage to the third stage, it was a tactic
where everything was linked, but truthfully, all of these were merely an
opening act. Of course, it was an indispensable opening act, though.
※
Weiss, who had
semi-encircled the Holy Knights and was gradually driving them east
while holding back, caught sight of the dust clouds rising from the direction
of the Royal Capital and the figures of enemy cavalry running ahead in his
eyes.
「They're here; our chance of victory!
Raise the flag informing Captain Glenn of the start of the attack using
the 『Long
Spear』 tactic!
Change formation, from here on out we will annihilate the enemy army with all
our might!」
At this instruction, the Longbow cavalry led by Weiss
advanced one side from an oblique formation to form a crane-wing formation.
And... from the center part of that, two units consisting of Mages and
the most elite Longbow soldiers commenced Long Spear attacks. The
two thrust-out Long Spears pierced a distance that easily seemed to be
five hundred meters, mowing down men and horses in their line of fire.
Furthermore, regular Longbow soldiers also began to loose fierce arrows
ceaselessly from horseback. The Holy Knights, who had somehow endured
the 『loose』 attacks up until now, began to
crumble all at once here.
「They are heavy cavalry, even if they
have preparation against arrows, the horses are a different story! Scrape the
distant enemies off their mounts!」
The Holy Knights were flustered and panicked by this
attack. They lost their mounts, fell and were injured, or were trampled by
allies. Even those who were lucky and unharmed had their heavy armor become a
disaster, making them unable to move properly and turning them into mere
targets. The armor that protected them in long-range attacks began to incur
fatal wounds at close range, and abandoning even the baggage train they had
stubbornly protected up until now, they began to route in one fell swoop. At
this point, the Holy Knights had lost nearly eighty percent, and the
rest had completely lost their will to fight and were in a state of panic.
Around the time they began routing backward, the cavalry unit that had advanced
forward as reinforcements crossed them from the front, creating a situation
that spurred on the confusion.
「Press the attack! Long Spears,
aim concentratedly at clustered points while advancing! The rest of you,
completely encircle and continue pressuring!」
While allies collided head-on, clustered together, and fell
into confusion, the Long Spears mercilessly mowed them down, and the
cavalry unit that came out of the Royal Capital as reinforcements was also
being annihilated.
※
When we, having turned around, deployed to the left and
right and reached the wings of Mars and the others who were driving the
enemy army from the center, the Orthodox Theocracy Army was in
confusion. It seems the cavalry unit had already advanced ahead and was
engaging the Commander's army, but the infantry were faltering as their
retreat path was suddenly blocked by us who appeared out of nowhere.
「Alright, ring the bell! Suppressive
fire from the entire army, followed by pressuring them and pushing them into
the death zone (in front of the Longbow soldiers)!」
In response to the sound of the bell, the left and right
wings readied their Estol Bows and entered preparations for suppressive
fire, while Mars, who was commanding the center, also began to take
distance from the enemy army.
「Commence three strikes! Ready...
fire!」
Along with my words, the amplified sound of the third bell
strike echoed across the battlefield. Simultaneously... six thousand arrows
assaulted the enemy army.
「Advance after switching to
crossbows, close the distance and fire another simultaneous volley! After that,
charge and push them in!」
On the second simultaneous volley fired after rapidly
closing the distance, the enemy army received a total of twelve thousand arrows
and fell into great disorder; when we began to charge where they crumbled, they
completely lost their will to fight, turned their backs, and began to route.
「Alright! Drive them all the way to
the Commander just like this! Extend both wings and stretch the
encirclement formation!」
※
Into the hole opened by consecutive Long Spear
attacks, infantry with changed complexions were running forward from further
behind. Of course, these were the ones driven by Takuhir's command.
Seeing that, Weiss smiled fearlessly.
「Fufufu, Takuhir-sama is also
skillfully driving them in front of us. Listen up! Archduke-heika himself has taken on the role of
beater. Do not let any escape your shots, everyone!」
After this reprimand from Weiss, the battle became
unilateral once again. The tips of the wings spread by Takuhir and the
wings spread by Weiss respectively joined, and amidst the unfolding of a
complete encirclement and annihilation battle, the one thousand cavalry of the Holy
Knights and the four thousand reinforcement troops that came out of the
Royal Capital were annihilated.
※
On the other hand, a unilateral battle was also unfolding
within the Royal Capital of the Cain Kingdom. This was because the one
thousand Cain Kingdom soldiers who had rushed into the Royal Capital
ahead of time spread the word of the arrival of the liberation army and the
victories thus far to the territory residents, and the territory residents of
the Royal Capital, who had been forced to submit to the brutal invaders up
until now, rose up all at once. In a sense, the five hundred or so soldiers who
remained in the Royal Capital until the very end might have met the most tragic
end. Because even if they tried to flee, they were captured by the territory
residents burning with the anger of revenge, and were beaten to a pulp in
various places... Other than that, the few who managed to escape the Royal
Capital were also caught by the unit led by Haven and Ayyar, and
were struck down one after another by them who were superior in numbers. In
this battle, the overwhelmingly numerically superior army of Takuhir and
the others won a complete victory, and partly because they dedicated themselves
to out-range fighting, they suffered negligible damages. And... having
fulfilled their entry into the castle, they were welcomed by the cheers of the
people of the Cain Kingdom.
In the battle that began with the annihilation of the Holy
Knights, the Istoria Orthodox Theocracy Army lost over eleven
thousand troops, yet a fighting strength exceeding thirteen thousand still
remained, and they were heading straight for the Royal Capital of the Vile
Kingdom. Exactly as Takuhir himself pointed out, the battles so far
were merely the opening acts. The battle against the Apostle of Darkness,
Lugner, who had continued to torment him for many years, was approaching
right before his eyes.
◇ Damages to the Istoria Orthodox
Theocracy Army
●
Holy
Knights (Main Force) ▼6,000 men (Including
500 prisoners)
●
Holy
Knights (Rearguard) ▼1,000 men (Including
200 prisoners)
●
Cain Royal Capital Garrison ▼4,500 men (Including 1,200
prisoners)
◇ Surviving Fighting Strength: 13,500
men
●
Longbow Soldiers: 2,000
●
Cavalry: 2,000
●
Infantry: 8,000
●
Reinforcement Units: 0
●
Turncoat Units: 1,500
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