Chapter 65 - 6-4
It was the night of the day the Kosa boy had arrived alone, toyed with the Attaik guards, and then withdrawn.
Yugis Necrat lay in the barracks of Master Broy's estate, staring at the ceiling and thinking about two men. One was Geraha Wolf, and the other was Prince Sitris, the commander of Attaik.
He could not make head or tail of Geraha Wolf.
For instance, what was the deal with the Kosa boy from earlier today? Had he come to scout Attaik alone? Or had he simply come to play, treating it as a test of courage? Was it possible that Geraha Wolf had sent that boy with some specific intention?
Prince Sitris's intentions, Yugis understood to some extent.
The Prince had ordered the cavalry he brought from Koroi to ravage the southern part of the Kandasyata Plateau, where the Kosa were entrenched. That expeditionary force had recently returned with not-so-bad results.
Prince Sitris intended to crush the Kosa army in a field battle.
He was trying to lure the enemy army to the site of the decisive battle he had envisioned.
—It had to be that way.
Why do people wage war? To win.
If they remained holed up in the fortified Attaik, they might not lose, but they would never win. Far from winning, if they were completely surrounded, the line to Koroi would be severed. If that happened, it would be as good as a defeat. Suppose a great army attacked the city walls of Attaik. Prince Sitris would certainly open the gates and strike out. Those moats, those ramparts for the wall-walk—they were all mechanisms designed for that purpose. He would not engage in a siege.
Go out and crush the Kosa army. That was the Prince's thinking.
But what was with Geraha Wolf's dullness in response?
Wasn't field warfare the area where the Kosa excelled most?
Far from responding to the war, the Great King had sent a single boy.
—Buying time.
That was all Yugis could think of.
Geraha was waiting for some opportunity.
Likely, it involved political issues within the Kosa Empire or the Tawaru tribe of the plains. Internal problems had not yet been settled. Geraha probably didn't want them to realize he was buying time.
"We might just play along with your scheme."
He would likely try to stretch out the time by making them think that.
If that were the case,
—Next, he'll send scouts.
The number will probably be two hundred. Yugis asserted this to himself.
That was a number capable of acting covertly, and even if spotted in Attaik, they could slip away and return. Two hundred Kosa scouts would come and circle Attaik. They would undoubtedly draw the eyes of many Attaik soldiers, as if to say "We've taken the bait," and then withdraw effortlessly. That fellow called Geraha would likely do exactly that. And soon, at that.
"The number will probably be between one hundred and five hundred. Or perhaps a thousand or more."
However, the next day, Yugis revised his prediction. He widened the range of the scout numbers as a precaution. This happened while he was telling Petu his thoughts during breakfast.
They ate breakfast at a nearby diner.
What lay on the table were bread and milk.
"Couldn't be ruled out," Petu said. "But the number's probably around two hundred."
"You think so too!"
Yugis was happy to have reached the same conclusion as the experienced Petu.
"More importantly, think of a good plan so we can actually stand on the battlefield. I told ya. We ain't friends."
"You did say that. But on the battlefield, we're in the same boat, right?"
"I'm tellin' ya we can't even get on that battlefield. Even if the enemy finally shows up, if we're just mucking about here, we won't be used."
A war was finally about to begin. A war where massive amounts of funds would be poured in. There would be no point if they couldn't participate.
"I've thought about that too."
Yugis shared his idea.
First, in Attaik, mercenaries could not become cavalry. This was because they didn't own horses.
They couldn't become heavy infantry either. The equipment of Attaik's mercenaries was whatever they brought themselves. They couldn't form ranks with mismatched gear. Their pace would be disrupted.
What was expected of Attaik's mercenaries were light infantry and archers.
Particularly skilled archers were highly valued. True snipers, like those who had been hunters, could pick off cavalry even from the wall-walk of the city walls. Skilled archers were prized wherever they went, and it was the same in the south.
However, most mercenaries did not possess that level of archery skill.
They were either people forced to earn their keep with nothing but their bodies, or crowds with violent personalities who couldn't integrate into society. The only troop type they could fit into was light infantry. Light infantry were specialists in melee combat who charged into enemy lines with thin armor.
It was a job with a high casualty rate.
Light infantry were weak against cavalry. If charged by heavy cavalry, they were helpless, and even if they drew light cavalry into close combat, the win rate wasn't high. To begin with, Kosa light cavalry meant horse archers. Since their weapons were bows, they fought from a distance. To Kosa light cavalry, light infantry were not enemies. They were targets.
The Kosa scout party of two hundred would likely all be light cavalry.
There was no role for the Broy Mercenary Group, which was full of light infantry. The opponent for light infantry was, strictly speaking, the enemy's infantry.
"Normally, there's no part for us. But I think there's one way."
"What is it?"
"Throwing."
"Throwing? Throwing stones? —Slinging!"
Petu crossed his arms with a grim expression.
Yugis hurriedly added, "Of course, we'll carry large shields and bring spears as well."
"Nah, round shields are plenty," Petu said. "And we don't need spears. If you equip yourself with things you don't need out of anxiety, it'll actually be more dangerous. The enemy is just a scout party. No, there's a problem."
"What kind?"
"Slinging is hard. Throwing stones is fine, but you won't hit the enemy unless you're lucky. But wait. Hold on a second."
Petu thought deeply for a while, then eventually spoke. "Alright, Yugis. I get it. I lose. I'll get promoted in your stead."
"What do you mean, promoted?"
"I'll make it seem like your plan was my idea and talk to Master Broy. Once I've risen in rank, I'll pull you up with me."
"Ah, I see. I'm counting on you."
Petu was a man who had been in a first-class mercenary group in Koroi. Even if no one would listen to Yugis, everyone would lend an ear to Petu.
"I'll go right now. You handle the bill here. And you, start practicing your slinging. Throwing things forward is harder than it looks. Later."
The thinning-haired mercenary stood up. With a smile on his lips, he left the shop and disappeared for about two days.
The method Yugis had devised for light infantry to participate in the battlefield was the sling.
In terms of shape, it was a string. A long, narrow band was attached near the center. A stone was wrapped in the band part, and the ends of the string were gripped and swung around. Once it gained rotational momentum, one end of the string was released. The stone wrapped in the band was liberated and flew away with a sound.
A released stone reached further than an arrow from a short bow. If it hit someone in the head, it had enough power to kill. Usually, it seemed infantry used it against enemy infantry.
The core of the plan was to fire those at the Kosa light cavalry.
The advantage of the sling was that it could be operated with one hand. That wasn't possible with a bow and arrow, but if the sling was the weapon, a shield could be held in the free hand. They could hide from the short bow arrows the enemy would likely fire.
Hold a shield, leap out directly in front of the enemy scout party, and pelt them with stones. The enemy would fall in an amusing fashion—Yugis had fantasized, but as Petu said, upon practicing, slinging was unexpectedly difficult.
There would likely be only one opportunity to throw, and hitting the target might be hard.
But that was fine. As long as the enemy's pace slowed, the archers on the wall-walk would do their job.
After throwing the stone, they would crouch on the spot, cover themselves with the shield, and let the enemy pass. The enemy would likely ignore them since they had become like turtles. If they lingered, they'd be prey for the archers on the wall.
—A great plan.
Yugis praised himself.
However, Petu, who reappeared after a long time, had devised a different method of operation than Yugis's idea.
"I went to meet Prince Sitris with the Master."
Petu spoke after waiting for all the mercenaries at the training ground to gather. His expression had changed from two days ago.
"He was a magnificent person. He praised the strategy I came up with very highly."
Yugis suppressed the urge to let a smile slip.
Petu continued. "Listen, we will intercept the enemy scout party that will eventually come, acting as slingers."
"Are scouts coming?"
At Cassisi's question, Petu wore a professional smile.
"My sixth sense says so. By the way, Prince Sitris thinks the same. Listen, we've agreed to coordinate with the regular army's wall-walk archers and the heavy cavalry. Since the enemy boy soldier came from the east last time, though the logic is thin, we'll assume they'll come from the east again. Our deployment is like this."
Petu explained by drawing lines on the ground with pebbles.
The Broy Mercenary Slingers would be deployed diagonally, like an oblique order. They would be in a position to shower the enemy with projectiles from both the front and the side. By deploying diagonally, they would guide the enemy cavalry toward the city walls. It was a mechanism where the path narrowed like a funnel, and heavy cavalry would be deployed at the end of that path.
It felt a bit too precise, but,
—If this works.
The total annihilation of the enemy cavalry wouldn't be a dream. Yugis felt tense.
Master Broy had publicly stated that his mercenary group's mobilization number was five hundred. This time, a little over three hundred responded to the call. This was apparently on the higher side.
Those three hundred were divided into two and deployed to the north and south. The captain of the northern front was the eldest of the Broy Mercenary Group, Sevak, and Petu took the position of captain for the southern front. Yugis was by Petu's side. The southern front was slightly disadvantaged compared to the northern front because there was no difference in elevation in the land, and the terrain didn't allow for hiding.
Both slinger units spent their days training outside the walls.
They hung cloths like laundry and fired lead bullets into them. The Attaik army had provided lead bullets for slinging. They were oval-shaped bullets made by pouring molten lead into the same mold. Unlike stones, with lead bullets of a constant shape, the trajectory of the sling was stable.
On the first day of full-group training, Yugis's gloves quickly became ragged. Once training ended, they could return to the city. Yugis walked around the city of Attaik toward dusk and finally found Bikira, the flower girl.
"Hi, Big Brother Yugis," Bikira said.
"Hey, I've brought some good news."
Yugis called Bikira to the side of the road. There, he told her that outside the city, there were one hundred and fifty men suffering from hunger and thirst. Bikira's eyes sparkled.
"Yugis, you really are resourceful. Besides water and food, what else will sell?"
"Gloves. Just trust me and try bringing some."
When he showed her the blood-stained gloves with holes in them, Bikira took a handkerchief from the stringed basket on her shoulder. She dampened it with water from the tub where the flowers were placed and took Yugis's hand. She wiped away the bleeding from the peeled skin on his palm, covered the wound by wrapping the handkerchief around it, and tied it tight.
"Thanks, Yugis."
"Ah, sorry."
Perhaps because Yugis was blushing, Bikira also looked down shyly.
After walking a fair distance, he looked back to see Bikira still watching him.
"Thank you!"
To the girl waving her hand, Yugis responded by raising his hand wrapped in the handkerchief.
At noon the next day, Bikira arrived with a donkey pulling a cart. Her young younger brother and younger sister were with her. The cargo consisted of water and milk, fruit and bread, and gloves.
When Petu, who now had the look of a full-fledged captain, announced a break, the mercenaries surrounded Bikira's cart. The goods, right down to the gloves, sold like hotcakes.
Two or three days later, the number of carts increased to four. Perhaps they were neighborhood children, but the number of helpers also increased.
Yugis didn't want to act flighty while on duty. Bikira surely felt the same. Even when they exchanged a few words, they both ended up acting curt with each other. However, Bikira's smile felt dazzling to Yugis.
It couldn't be that he had fallen for her.
After all, inside Yugis's chest, the image of a certain woman stood thick as a giant tree, sinking twisted roots. That woman occasionally appeared even in his dreams, showing him a seductive expression that didn't suit her, leaving Yugis feeling miserable the next morning.
—Isn't falling for a woman and being drawn to a woman similar, yet different?
He even tried to justify his own infidelity this way. He didn't necessarily think it was faulty logic.
As a sensation, what Yugis felt for Bikira was a fluttering of the heart, a lightness of spirit. It would be fine to add sexual desire to that. Even adding sexual desire, his feelings toward Bikira were pure. There was only straightforward desire.
On the other hand, the emotion toward that woman standing in his chest had dissolved into a muddy, elusive thing. He no longer knew if it was love or hatred. This emotion might be similar to nostalgia for Siddim or a longing for family. It had become inseparable from Yugis himself. It felt as if it were squatting inside Yugis, assimilating with filthy things like blood and bodily fluids, pulsating in his chest cloaked in a sin-like blackness.
—The Princess, by now.
Yugis sometimes thought.
—She is spending every day with Laicanel Thora, as if gathering all the essence of happiness.
He had even tried to forget the Princess by fueling his own jealousy.
But it was impossible.
If a woman he loved opened her legs for another man, he could still come to terms with it.
The Princess had accepted Yugis's loyalty. Because of that, Yugis could not escape from Princess Lucy. Though he was a mercenary now, Yugis intended to be a knight serving Siddim. If he betrayed the Princess, Yugis would be betraying himself.
The Princess was inside Yugis. She remained, having taken root in Yugis's memories, prospects, and emotions.
Accompanied by a strange heat, wearing a mysterious smile, she was still there.
It was about two weeks after the slinger unit began training outside that the scouts sent by Prince Sitris returned, having confirmed a group that appeared to be a Kosa reconnaissance party.
They had already pressed deep into Attaik territory and were expected to arrive within a day.
The mercenary slinger unit immediately cleared away the training equipment and took their positions.
Yugis's position was at the very end of the diagonally extending line. The squad leader was Cassisi.
If the enemy scouts came from the east and turned left, the squad Yugis was in would be the first to throw. If they turned right, they would be the last to attack.
He didn't know how the Kosa scouts would move upon arriving at Attaik. Since it was reconnaissance, Yugis thought they would circle the city to see the walls. In reality, it was possible they would just glance at the city from afar and leave quickly.
Still, considering the boldness of that Kosa boy back then, he felt they would approach to see the state of the moats.
The slinger unit covered themselves with shields and waited for the scouts' arrival, keeping their posture low.
Around the height of the afternoon sun, Petu finally appeared on horseback. The horse was Master Broy's personal property.
Straining his eyes to the east, a cloud of dust could be confirmed beyond the wall. They had finally come.
Petu signaled with hand flags, riding past them toward the west. The signal meant arrival at the East Gate, clockwise rotation.
The southern slinger unit immediately began running as a line to shift their entire position to the east.
"Don't rush it, Yugis," Cassisi looked back with a smile.
"Yes."
Soon, the order to "Stop" was relayed from the squad behind.
Cassisi's squad stopped and immediately lowered their posture.
Here, they waited for the enemy cavalry.
The cavalry did not show themselves for a while. Just as he began to think the northern attack might have succeeded, dust was seen to the west.
As expected, the enemy cavalry, hating the archers on the wall-walk, were keeping their distance from the wall. Admirably, they were heading this way. They intended to complete a full circuit of Attaik.
The thunder of hooves was already reaching Yugis's ears. The figures of the riders were now visible. The number of horses was excessively high. They seemed to be leading spare horses.
"Not yet, stay calm."
Cassisi called out.
Then, the westernmost squad of the southern slinger unit began their attack. When a sling releases a stone bullet, it makes a pleasant sound like a whip cracking. That snap sound could be heard.
The enemy cavalry, this time avoiding the lead bullets, moved closer to the wall.
The slingers in the middle section entered the attack. The middle section had the most people, and the density of the fired lead bullets was thick. The enemy cavalry moved boldly. They drew close to the wall, almost as if they were skimming the moat.
"Advance!"
Cassisi gave the order. Cassisi's squad ran frantically toward the wall. As he had known, the speed of the enemy cavalry was abnormal.
"Stop. Ready!"
Yugis reached into the leather pouch at his waist, took out a lead bullet, and wrapped it in the band part of the sling.
The enemy cavalry were coming. They weren't coming directly from the front. Cassisi's squad's position was diagonally in front of the enemy's direction of travel. They maintained a distance where faces could not be distinguished.
"Aim."
Just as in training. Yugis swung the sling around.
"Fire!"
Snap.
The lead bullet flew, cutting through the wind.
—It hit!
Simultaneously with the impact, about two enemy cavalrymen recoiled on their horses.
"Ready! ...Aim."
Fire!
The lead bullets flew all at once with a howl. And again, they hit. At least one was a direct hit. The cavalry were now about to pass right in front of Cassisi's squad. Everyone had lowered their bodies as if hugging the horses' necks.
Following Cassisi's order, one more lead bullet was released.
At the same time, the sound of a horn echoed.
Prince Sitris's heavy cavalry, who had been hiding on the eastern front, suddenly appeared and charged into the enemy light cavalry.
After slowing down slightly, the enemy cavalry's cohesion broke like a bursting cluster. They scattered. They stopped being a single mass, and each fled in whatever direction they pleased.
Two light cavalrymen fleeing toward Cassisi's squad approached.
Yugis unconsciously took out a lead bullet.
"You idiot."
Cassisi grabbed him by the collar and pushed him down to the ground. Against the ear pressed to the earth, the thunder of hooves approached and then receded.
Yugis stood up after waiting for the surroundings to quiet down. There were no Kosa cavalry in sight, and several streaks of dust were being scattered by the wind.
"I am sorry."
Looking up at Cassisi, he saw Cassisi knitting his brows suspiciously.
"Hm? Ah. It's over. You can go back to your usual, damn arrogant way of speaking."
It wasn't just Cassisi. Everyone was looking around with puzzled expressions.
"Is something wrong?"
"Yugis, look closely," Cassisi said. "Look closely."
In the place that had been a battlefield until a moment ago, countless arrows were stuck.
Three horses were running around in excitement. The Kosa spare horses must have been stranded.
That was all. That was the only thing.
"There are no corpses."
"That's right," the squad leader nodded.
"No, it's strange. I saw our bullets hit."
"I saw it too. Those guys took the corpses back with them."
"...Why would they do such a thing?"
"Why? Well, obviously—because they're comrades."
Yugis instinctively searched Cassisi's eyes. Cassisi was also looking at Yugis.
On Cassisi's face was an expression of indescribable wonder.
The corpses Yugis had sought were lined up on the Kandasyata Plateau.
Having heard about the slinging from his nephew Tulsi, Geraha inspected the corpses with his own eyes.
Several days had passed since the deaths in battle, and the scent of decay hung heavy in the air.
"Please look, Great King."
Hazab, a Southern man of the Tawaru currently staying in Kandasyata, volunteered as the explainer.
What Hazab pointed out was a corpse with a hole in its chest.
"It punched through? A human body?"
The Southern man nodded.
There were also corpses with severed arms, and corpses where lead bullets were embedded in the head.
It wasn't that he didn't know about slinging. However, he hadn't thought it possessed this much power.
Geraha took a lead bullet in his hand. It looked small in Geraha's hand, but it was probably about the size of a child's fist. It wasn't spherical but oval, with a rounded point.
There was an indescribable feeling of discomfort. War was about taking each other's lives. However, from the dull feel of this lead, its weight and hardness, he could not feel the beauty found in sharp weapons.
"Hazab," Geraha said.
"Yes."
"There is something I want you to tell the King of Tawaru. If they accept our conditions, I might consider ruling Koroi together."
"...Lend your strength to the conquest of Attaik, is it?"
Geraha nodded in silence.