Chapter 144
Eastern
Border War ⑧ - The
Grand Play
Translator : PolterGlast
※※※ Third Day of the War
"Move the troops
forward in response to the units deploying from the left and right forests!
They won't be able to keep up with our movements. Unilaterally slaughter them
from outside their bow range! We'll pay them back in full for this!"
Cardinal Castro,
having retreated to safety, finally regained his composure, now trembling with
rage. Kyle Kingdom's cowardly surprise attack had inflicted immense damage
around his central position in the fortifications. Several skilled archers who
had demonstrated miraculous long-range shots were lost, and even the crucial
Wind Mage had collapsed from a stone projectile hit.
The Cardinal
prioritized crushing that audacious small castle over tending to other
casualties, ordering the invaluable Wind Mage, who must not be lost, to be
transported to the fort. To crush the small castle and the soldiers around it
and gain satisfaction. This would naturally restore morale. And, of course, his
honor, which had been made a fool of.
The Istoria Imperial
Kingdom army, which had been in utter chaos from the unexpected surprise
attack, finally regained its chain of command and began to launch an organized
counter-attack.
"Push the troops
forward to the front of the enemy fortifications and counter-attack! We'll rain
arrows down on them from long range!"
Indeed, even the
commander who ordered the counterattack was unsure of how many catapult attacks
they had already endured. Their camp had been in such disarray initially.
The battles they had
experienced so far had always involved unilaterally slaughtering enemy forces
from a safe distance, leveraging the superiority of range or the advantages of
formation. They had never experienced being on the receiving end. As a result,
many soldiers were disoriented and showed the shameful sight of fleeing in
chaos. During this, many forgot themselves and threw down their bows, and the
bows scattered on the ground were trampled by countless feet. Consequently,
many of these bows were damaged in some way, losing their value as weapons.
Thus, nearly 1,000
soldiers lost their crucial weapon, the longbow. Furthermore, the number of
dead and wounded exceeded 1,000. As a result, the number of troops that could
be deployed on the front line dropped below 4,000.
"The enemy forces
deployed around the small castle are less than 10,000; finish them off at
once!"
Nevertheless, the
Istoria Imperial Kingdom's army commanders and the soldiers who obeyed their
orders had a chance of victory. Combined with the 3,000 troops hidden in each
of the flanking forests, their total strength would be 10,000. If these troops
attacked from outside the enemy's range, they should achieve a unilateral
victory.
Indeed, even now, the
Istoria Imperial Kingdom's soldiers were successively appearing from the
forests on both flanks and beginning to deploy on the main road. In this way,
the road, flanked by forests, was filled with Imperial Kingdom army soldiers.
Their target was the audacious small castle with the catapults and the
crossbowmen deployed on its flanks. They advanced to about 300 m in front of
the Kyle Kingdom's front line, then halted their advance, maintaining the
distance.
※
There were two
individuals watching the Imperial Kingdom army's movements calmly, no, as if
they had been eagerly awaiting them.
"Now's the time,
prepare for feint firing! Wave the flag! Bell, stand by!"
I silently nodded in
response to Commander Weiss's words. The Commander stared at the enemy army,
timing his move.
"With the signal,
three quick strikes of the bell, ready... Now!"
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
Under Commander
Weiss's command, a slow, continuous ringing of the bell echoed across the
battlefield.
Half of the 7,000
crossbowmen deployed around the small castle, aimed at their maximum elevation,
timed their shot with the third strike of the bell, and loosed their arrows
simultaneously. The arrows, fired at maximum elevation, drew a large arc and
landed far in front of the Istoria Imperial Kingdom army. Indeed, due to range
limitations, not a single arrow reached the position they had deployed to.
※
As if mocking them,
the Imperial Kingdom army calmly prepared for firing.
"Hahaha! Their
arrows can't reach us! Avenge our comrades, aim calmly. Ready... Fire!"
At the Imperial
Kingdom army commander's command, a massive 10,000 arrows loosed by the
longbowmen flew in a shallow arc, raining down as an arrow storm upon the Kyle
Kingdom army.
The Kyle Kingdom army
soldiers seemed unable to move, facing a dense rain of arrows that blackened
their vision. They fell one after another, hit by the massive number of arrows
raining down from diagonally above. However, the proportion was considerably
smaller than the Imperial Kingdom army had expected.
"Tch! Heavy
infantry, huh? Horizontal firing isn't getting the desired effect..."
The Royal Capital
Knights' Third Army, deployed around the small castle with crossbows, were the
elite of Kyle Kingdom, all clad in heavy armor. They had dismounted their horses
and taken on the role of archers, but effectively, they were no different from
heavy infantry.
After firing from long
range three times, the Imperial Kingdom army commander decided to ensure more
decisive results. He wanted to finish them off before the Kyle Kingdom's
cavalry arrived.
"All forces!
Advance to the very edge of the enemy's range! Get a little closer and shoot
through their armor!"
The fact that they
knew the enemy's maximum range after the previous attack also pushed the
commander's decision. If he didn't achieve results exceeding the damage taken,
he himself would be held accountable. This, too, undoubtedly pushed his
decision.
"Clang! Clang!
Clang!"
As the bell rang
emptily across the battlefield, arrows from Kyle Kingdom flew, but they all
fell to the ground before reaching them. As if mocking them, the Istoria
Imperial Kingdom army soldiers advanced to the very edge of the enemy's maximum
range.
"Hmph, battle is
a fickle thing. Can't you even understand the difference in weapons? Go lament
your foolishness in the underworld! All forces, finish them all off with the
next volley! Prepare for firing!"
※
From the observation
post surrounded by defensive walls, Commander Weiss and I timed our actions
while observing the surroundings.
"Commander,
everyone's quite the actors. Their acting of falling from arrows is
impressive."
Indeed, the members of
the Knight Order's Third Army, with the support of the Wind Mages, had not
taken a single direct hit from an arrow. The dense rain of arrows loosed by the
Istoria Imperial Kingdom army was blocked by a wall of wind just before hitting
them, greatly slowing them down. Even if they did hit, they had lost so much
power that they only caused minor scratches.
"Right. It's
admirable. Takuhir-sama... It's about time."
"Understood. Ring
the bell! Signal the Mages too!"
※
It was just before the
Istoria Imperial Kingdom army soldiers were about to fire their longbows for a
finishing blow.
"Clang, clang,
clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!"
A rapid succession of
bell rings, completely different from before, echoed through the air.
Simultaneously, a fierce gust of wind blew, and to shield their eyes from the
swirling dust caused by the strong headwind, the Imperial Kingdom army soldiers
paused their firing for a moment, covering their eyes with their hands.
"Clang! Clang!
Clang!"
"What?! The
bell's back to normal... Ugh!"
In the fleeting moment
their vision was obscured by the swirling dust, the Istoria Imperial Kingdom
army commander felt a shock run through his body.
"No way?
Why...?"
Saying those brief,
final words, he fell backward, an arrow deeply embedded in his chest.
※
"Continuous
firing without delay! Second volley, third volley ready! Ring the bell
again!"
In Kyle Kingdom's camp,
Commander Weiss's orders rang out. After a brief pause, with the third bell
ring, the second and third volleys were fired simultaneously.
In fact, both the
soldiers hidden in the trenches and those deployed on the road had been waiting
in a three-person team-based division. Crossbows are inferior to longbows in
rate of fire. There's a limit to the number of arrows Mages can support with
Wind Magic. And there's a limit to the number of soldiers that can be deployed
on the front due to the trench width. To solve these challenges, all archers
had adopted this system.
Especially for the
first three volleys, three crossbows were prepared in advance for three people,
with the most skilled person serving as the archer. This allowed for
continuous, more accurate firing supported by Mages.
※
The Istoria Imperial
Kingdom army soldiers fell into utter chaos.
"Why?!"
In the first place,
they were supposed to slaughter the enemy from outside their effective range
unilaterally. But now, they were being unilaterally slaughtered instead.
Immediately after the dust blocked their vision, they were subjected to three
successive volleys within effective range in a short time—a rain of over 10,000
arrows.
The enemy's arrows...
They shouldn't have been able to reach them. Yet, those arrows that should not
have reached were now flying towards them, piercing them. Even after the three
successive volleys, arrows continued to fly at incredibly short intervals,
accompanied by the bell's signal. The sound of the bell signaling the volley,
for them, sounded like the bell of death, the bell mourning for the deceased at
a church.
"The Kingdom's
army has longbows too—gaff!"
"God! Save
us—gurk!"
"Get out of the
way! Let the rear lines retreat—gott!"
Trapped in a dense formation
to annihilate the enemy, they had no escape. Conversely, the arrows loosed by
the Kyle Kingdom army were terrifyingly effective, efficiently reducing the
enemy forces.
※
"Commander, is it
about time?"
"Yes, let's raise
the flag. The bell will change to two strikes as soon as the signal is
given!"
Even within the
forest, there were those who had set up watchtowers and were observing the
progression of the battle on the road. They were responsible for relaying
operational orders from the main force to their allies.
"The Royal
Capital Knights' Second Army's flag has been raised at the central observation
post!"
"We've been
waiting! All forces, move to the edge of the forest, mount up, and stand by!
It's our turn!"
Upon receiving the
report from the watchtower, Commander Hoffman and his men simultaneously
mounted their horses and began to move. Indeed, immediately after the catapult
attack began, 2,000 elite cavalry from the Second Army had moved into the
forests on both flanks. The Istoria Imperial Kingdom army was not incompetent.
They had not neglected to monitor the movements of Kyle Kingdom's cavalry, who
could overrun their longbowmen.
They had confirmed
that over 20,000 cavalry from Kyle Kingdom's main camp were lined up, helpless,
far in the distance. However, in reality, 10,000 of the Third Army's cavalry,
4,000 cavalry from the eastern nobles defending the forest's defensive line,
and 1,000 cavalry led by Takuhir were all mere facades, with only horses and no
riders.
"Confirmed two
bell strikes!"
"The grand play
is over. The honor of bringing down the curtain falls to us. All forces,
charge!"
At Commander Hoffman's
command, the elite Knights of the Royal Capital Knights galloped out of the
forest and onto the battlefield. Thus, the Eastern Border War entered a new
phase.
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