by Ryota Hori
So in that regard, pushing forward and trying to break through the enemy lines with brute force wasn’t a purely foolish move, but a high-risk, high-reward play. Except that turning the tables on an enemy trap and claiming the head of their commander was much easier said than done. It was as delicate and minute as trying to thread a needle.
But despite all that, the aides felt General Belares’s resolve and fell silent.
“I know... If we are to break through the enemy trap with sheer force, the enemy could very well wipe us out entirely. But this gives us the slightest of chances to save this country... If our entire army were to fall back and regroup now, O’ltormea would not be bothered by it whatsoever. They’d simply use their reserve forces to invade and form a base within the kingdom. Given their greater national power, if they were to form a frontline base within our territory, we would likely never be able to retake it.”
Xarooda was protected by steep mountains that formed natural fortresses. Their terrain stood in the way of an invasion from another country. But if the Empire were to form a frontline base within their territory, that very same terrain would go on to impede Xarooda’s attempts. And if said base would be stationed with a great number of guards, the kingdom would truly be unable to do anything about it.
It was often said that to lay siege to an enemy stronghold, one needed a force three times the size of the garrison. But with Xarooda being inferior to O’ltormea in so many ways, they likely would not be able to muster those numbers. And it would only be a matter of time before the entirety of Xarooda crumbled like a sand castle washed over by a crashing wave.
“A tactician’s ploy is a trap that’s awfully easy to wander into. So far, everything went according to their designs, and as wary as they might be, they should be confident they’ve won... And we must use that overconfidence of theirs to our advantage.”
The aides nodded at his explanation. They had no other choice but to cling to that single ray of hope.
“Sir... You’re already resolved to do this, aren’t you?”
“Aye. My apologies, friends. You may all have to die for this...” General Belares muttered coldly.
He’d just ordered them to take a strategy that had little to no chances of survival. And yet, none of them showed any fear at accepting his order. At first, his aides were overcome with despair. No one wished to gamble their life on a battle of guaranteed defeat. But General Belares managed to use their emotions wisely.
Nothing was more dangerous than a man fighting while prepared to die.
“Very well... We will now give chase to the enemy using all units in our disposal. No falling back! Am I clear?!”
“““Yes, sir!”””
Their bodies burned with tragic, heroic fighting spirit. It was the manifestation of the resolve of men who had come to know of their predicament, but chose to lay down their lives in the name of their country over dying in vain.
The Empire of O’ltormea and the Kingdom of Xarooda. The battle between these two countries was now approaching its climax...
“““Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarge!”””
The cavaliers raised their voices in a battle cry as they charged one after another into O’ltormea’s ranks with lances in hand. The foot knights followed in their wake, using their spears to widen the gap the cavalry created.
“What are you doing?! Hold up your lances! Surround and kill them! Don’t let them escape!” The O’ltormean commander in charge of the frontline forces raised his voice angrily.
He gave explicit orders to his confused soldiers, allowing them to think rationally even in the face of the enemy cavalry’s charge. His order was passed on to the frontline officers via runners.
“Surround them! Don’t allow them to disengage!”
Having realized the situation, the officers rebuked their subordinates, and the soldiers turned their spears to face the Xaroodian cavaliers.
“Those fools don’t even know the basics of battle!” One of the officers sneered upon cutting out the cavalry’s route of escape. “A cavalier’s true worth lies in their mobility and charge! A horse standing still is nothing but a large, conspicuous target!”
While cavaliers excelled in mobility and attack, they were lacking when it came to stamina. Having to ferry a knight clad in metal armor and wielding heavy weapons was strenuous enough to exhaust even a horse. Steeds were living beings, after all, and their stamina wasn’t bottomless.
Plus, not only did they plunge into enemy lines, they chose to stay where they were and stand their ground. That was by no means a wise choice. And indeed, as the cavaliers fought, they gradually tumbled off of their horses. Even those that still remained on horseback couldn’t get the distance necessary to fight at close range, and resorted to simply standing still and swinging their spears.
The cost for such a reckless charge would be a grave one. The foot knights following the cavaliers were overwhelmed by the enemy’s size and reduced to half their original numbers.
“Good! Keep it up and crush them! The merit of this victory is ours for the picking!” The O’ltormean commander smirked greedily.
As one might expect, only high-standing knights were allowed to ride on horseback. Claiming the heads of such distinguished enemy knights would likely factor in when the knights would be conferred honors after the war.
But his desire and aspiration would be nipped in the bud the following moment.
“Sir, another wave of enemies approaches!”
“What?!” The commander’s thoughts froze for a moment upon hearing his subordinate’s warning.
It was all too unexpected.
“What should we do, sir? At this rate, they’ll bear down on us from both sides!”
The commander didn’t need to be told that. He realized full well just how dangerous of a position they were in. To fight this new wave of enemies, they’d need to turn around and engage them. But if they do that, they’d be leaving themselves open to the Xaroodian knights they surrounded.
I’ve got no choice... I’ll have to split up our unit...
There were only a few things one could do when surrounded from two sides, and the commander’s judgment here wasn’t wrong in and of itself. But he didn’t have the time or the strategy to overturn reality’s harshness.
The moment he was distracted by his subordinate’s words and tried to think of a way out, he’d committed a fatal mistake.
He felt something cold gouge into his stomach. The cacophony of battle in his ears went completely silent, and he could feel something warm flow down his skin from his flank. He didn’t feel any pain. Only surprise, and the sensation of all his strength abandoning him.
“You... bastard...”
The next moment, a spear was plunged into his stomach. As his consciousness cut off, the last thing he saw was the hate-filled eyes of a Xaroodian soldier, covered head to toe with blood splatter, as he was being attacked by the commander’s subordinates.
♱
A force of one thousand joined the battle against the O’ltormean forces. They joined forces with the first unit, and began charging against the confused O’ltormean soldiers. Contrary to Saitou’s expectations, they didn’t come to the first unit’s rescue.
“Kuh! Why aren’t they withdrawing their men?! What are they thinking?! Do they have a death wish?!”
Xarooda’s knights simply kept driving their lances forward single-heartedly, as if not holding any regard for what might come next. They kept charging forward blindly, like wild boars stricken with bloodlust. No matter how many of them were injured or killed, they remained relentless.
Under normal conditions, a unit that’s already charged in once would fall back and reorganize its forces. Of course, a scenario where this wasn’t feasible since they were surrounded was possible, but willingly choosing not to retreat wasn’t possible in most cases. And this held especially true when one mobilized mounted troops.
But of course, in war victory was all that mattered. The m
eans one had to resort to in order to claim that victory mattered little. But to Saitou’s eyes, this charge was nothing but an act of aberrant violence. It was as if Xarooda’s commander completely discarded the prospect of winning and instead elected to mindlessly slaughter O’ltormea’s soldiers.
“What’s going on here...? Why won’t the speed of their charge fall? At this rate, Princess Shardina’s plan will go awry!” Saitou bitterly glared forward.
His task was to draw Xarooda’s forces to the point where his forces lay in ambush. And while he simply needed to moderately engage the enemy while keeping them occupied, he still had to preserve his numbers as much as possible.
He had to strike at the enemy without drawing their suspicion, and bring them to the desired spot without bringing things to a melee standoff. And despite that, Xarooda’s army successfully drew Saitou into the quagmire of melee combat.
The O’ltormean army tried to withdraw, but the Xaroodian army locked its jaws on it and refused to let go.
And the most troubling problem was that Xarooda hadn’t mobilized their entire army yet. Xarooda’s army stood in a horizontal formation, but only roughly four thousand of their men from the center were attacking them repeatedly. The units on both sides of them didn’t step forward to engage the enemy, but rather kept it pinned down.
“Vice captain Saitou!” One of the Succubus Knights shouted toward Saitou, after having been relayed messages from runners approaching from the frontlines. “Both our left and right wings are being pressured! Not only did they say they can’t send reinforcements to the middle, they’ve actually asked us to send reinforcements instead! Xarooda’s forces aren’t moving forward, but whenever we try to fall back, they charge forward and refuse to let go. It’s like they’re trying to keep us here at all costs!”
“Ugh, what are they trying to pull here...?!” Saitou whispered.
This entire situation came across as utterly unnatural to Saitou. Xarooda’s central unit simply kept up their suicidal charge. They kept pressing down on the left and right wings of their army so as to not allow them to escape. The O’ltormean army was being forced into a V formation, while the Xarooda army was taking on a herringbone formation to counter it.
It can’t be... Are they...? Saitou came up with a hypothesis. Are they after Her Highness...?!
The idea made a shiver run through Saitou’s body. He realized just how desperate and firm Xarooda’s fighting spirit was.
Are they insane? Going after Her Highness... True, if they can kill Princess Shardina, this battle will end in a victory for Xarooda. But their chances of doing that are slim, and regardless of if they succeed or fail, these troops will be decimated... And they still took the gamble? Why? No... The reason doesn’t matter. I have to reorganize our frontlines first...
Saitou shook off his doubts and began thinking of a countermeasure. Regardless of the reasons behind it, the Xarooda army’s mad charge forced Saitou’s formation to bend from a straight line into the shape of a V. If he didn’t reorganize his forces quickly, the center of the line would be broken, and Shardina’s camp would be exposed to danger.
Having deduced this much, Saitou quickly made his decisions.
“I have a directive! We’re changing our plan. We intercept the Xarooda army right here. Runner, inform Princess Shardina of this situation at once! Understood?! Inform Princess Shardina that this army is after her life!”
Their regroup point with their allies was three kilometers away to the west, along a path that went around the southern and northern tips of these plains. There were small hills to the north, south and west of that region, making it a prime spot for an ambush. Saitou’s task was to draw the enemy army there, and should he have managed that, the enemy force would have been slaughtered.
But given the situation, Saitou discarded that plan. What should have been a false retreat where they pretended to be pressed by the enemy had evolved into a situation where they actually were forced to fall back. Shardina’s camp lay in the back of their forces, and if their formation was to crumble, the danger would extend to her. Of course, Shardina had elite soldiers guarding her, but there was no guarantee they wouldn’t be broken through, either.
That left Saitou with one choice — to rescind the order to retreat and stop the Xaroodian offensive.
If we inform Princess Shardina of this, she would definitely send the detachments to attack Xarooda... All she would really need to do is have them attack the enemy army from a different location... But that said, we took more losses than planned... Damn them and their futile resistance!
They didn’t need to just win this battle, but also minimize O’ltormea’s losses. If they could do that, the Empire would be prepared for when the time came to face their true enemy. Saitou was well aware of this, and cursed at the Xaroodian commander in his heart.
“Inform all the reserve units waiting in the center that we’ll be intercepting the Xarooda army here!” Saitou shouted, discarding his usual calm demeanor. “And have them send over reinforcements here! Until reinforcements arrive, we mustn’t let the enemy break through us! No matter what!”
The situation was simply that tense, and his tone made it clear to his men. They all stiffened nervously.
“We’re stopping them here! At all costs!” Saitou called out.
“““Yes, sir!””” His men all nodded and got into position.
And so the conflict between O’ltormea’s and Xarooda’s forces escalated to an all-out war.
♱
“They’re actually going for it...” Shardina clicked her tongue upon receiving the report from Saitou, and shouted as she glared at the map spread out before her. “I suppose I should have expected that out of General Belares. I’ll send a runner to the detachments. An hour... All right? Tell Saitou to hang on for that long!”
The moment she heard the runner’s message, Shardina immediately guessed at General Belares’s intent.
Like Saitou said, they’re after my life... No, it’s probably more than just that. What Belares is really trying to achieve here might be...
“At once, Your Highness!” The runner darted out of the tent like a startled rabbit, overwhelmed by Shardina’s anger.
“Someone! Send runners out to the detachments, and have them march to regroup with Saitou’s forces at once!” She called out.
“Have no fear, Your Highness. I’ve already sent the runners on their way.” A man’s calm voice echoed through the tent.
Just when did he arrive? Shardina turned her gaze to the tent’s entrance, her gaze falling on Sudou’s smirking face. With his plots in Rhoadseria mostly concluded, Sudou took part in this war as one of Shardina’s escorts. His talent in plotting and subterfuge allowed him to fill the role of tactician during a war.
Sudou and Saitou. The fact Shardina brought these two talented Japanese otherworlders with her to this war was proof of how desperate she was to win this time.
“Sudou... Hmm, did you now? Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it. I would do anything in my power to help you, Your Highness.” Sudou shrugged with the same jesting expression as ever.
He surely realized the severity of this situation, but his mannerisms hadn’t changed any.
“Hmph... Aren’t you a little too composed, Sudou?”
Shardina knew full well that what she was implying here was a false accusation, but she couldn’t help but let her sarcasm show. The more aware she was of how critical the situation was, the more it filled her with anxiety and a sense of urgency.
“Well, panicking would do nothing to help here... Though I perfectly understand your anxiety, Your Highness.”
Sudou remained rather unfazed in the face of Shardina’s sarcasm. In fact, his tone seemed even more leisurely than before.
“I suppose we can simply sum it up by saying that Xarooda’s army wasn’t foolish altogether... I believe it is being led by General Belares. Truly a seasoned hero. I took him for one who was overly influenced by
the king’s and the ministers’ stances, but in the end he chose this approach... Ahaha, I’ll admit I’m impressed.”
“I’ll remind you you’re being impressed by their decision to come for my head.” Shardina said, leveling a probing glance in Sudou’s direction.
Sudou simply curled his lips into a smile.
“It was said in jest, Your Highness... I was merely praising what comes next. After all, I doubt Belares ordered this charge out of the belief they’ll actually succeed in killing you.”
Sudou’s answer made Shardina confident that her suspicions were correct.
“It’s like I thought... So you think that’s their angle, too?”
“Yes... Judging from the way they fight, they’re hoping to take us down with them. I can’t see them trying to make this a battle of attrition. Xarooda should never elect to do that, since our national power is so much greater than theirs. The fact they chose to do so anyway on their own means...”
“A third country... They want the Kingdom of Helnesgoula to join the fold.”
“In all likelihood, yes...”
At this point, Sudou wasn’t smiling anymore. His gaze was like a cold, sharp blade, carrying an intensity only a man who’d survived countless battlefields could give off.
“They likely realized they will not be able to overcome their strategic inferiority, and decided to risk everything on this charge. So reckless...”
“It was probably General Belares’s one-sided decision,” Sudou concluded. “Xarooda’s ministers would never agree to take such a dangerous gamble.”
“I tend to agree, yes...” Shardina nodded bitterly. “No king would ever approve of such a reckless plan. It would mean drawing Helnesgoula into their territory just to have them engage us.”
“What comes next depends on how much we can minimize our losses... Should our numbers fall below half our original forces...”
“Yes, I know. Should we lose that many soldiers, our suppression of Xarooda will take that much longer.”
