Chapter 82 - 7-8
On the outer perimeter of the "Dark Forest" in southeastern Siddim, a strange presence looms.
On a windless night, the field in front of the forest was now filled with scattered points of light. They were bonfires, spewing smoke and heat. The platforms where torches were lit stretched far into the distance, their brilliant flames casting a pale hue, like the glow of sunset, against the night sky.
Looking down from a high point of the fort, the sight of sparks swirling in the darkness was like looking into the depths of hell. The brightness of the field only served to further emphasize the darkness of the forest.
"Commander-in-Chief, the horses are ready."
Sedias's page arrived and spoke.
The enemy, the Kosa army, had finally emerged from the forest, and combat had already begun.
When he stepped out from the main tower of the fort, the staff officers were mounted and waiting for Sedias.
"The situation?"
"The enemy is focusing entirely on defense," answered Lubeck, the vice-commander.
"So they are establishing a bridgehead."
A bridgehead is a base established at the point where a river is crossed. Crossing a river on a battlefield is difficult, and crossing one with enemy soldiers right in front of you is an extreme hardship. First, the infantry begins to cross. The infantry who successfully cross then create a defensive line at the landing point to support the crossing of the following cavalry and archers.
For the enemy Kosa army, the "Dark Forest" was the same as a vast river. They would likely create a position at the forest exit and attempt to expand that position to protect their allies arriving one after another from behind. It would be ideal if they could be pushed back into the forest by an attack from this side.
The command post was located on a hill overlooking the edge of the forest.
Looking down at the front line, it appeared the enemy was indeed in the process of constructing a position at the edge of the forest. However, it was not clearly visible. The range illuminated by the torches was not wide.
It seemed the enemy was establishing bases in two locations.
The distance between those two was short.
In the process of expanding their positions, they might intend to merge the two bases.
In such a case, the attacker's objective is decided to a certain extent. First, one must never enter the middle of the two bases. Doing so would result in being showered with enemy arrows from both the left and right.
What the enemy creates is a semi-circular defensive line. If it is the left position, one concentrates forces at the left end of the semi-circle; if the right, at the root of the right end. That is the enemy's weakest point. One charges heavy cavalry here to pierce through the enemy lines, as if prying open the lid of a jar.
Against the enemy infantry located on the arc of the semi-circle, one pits their own infantry from the front. This is to keep the enemy's attention focused forward, restricting their movement and preventing them from supporting the root of the semi-circle.
The Royal Army's heavy infantry, forming a dense formation, headed toward the front of the enemy Kosa army's position on the left. They held shields above their heads to block arrows and advanced at a trot with spears held diagonally. At a position where they were about to touch the enemy's front, they dispersed and thrust their spears. It almost seemed as if these infantry alone could push the enemy back.
Or so it seemed, but the enemy infantry pushed back the heavy infantry.
The Royal Army retreated skillfully. If the enemy pushed them, that was fine. The more the enemy moved forward, the more distorted the defensive line became.
The allied heavy cavalry did not miss this opportunity. To launch a surprise attack on the left end, the root of the semi-circle, they rushed forward in a wedge formation. Then, their speed slackened. The lead rider was thrown and fell. Subsequently, two, then three riders began to lag, and as the entire unit gradually slowed to a near-stop, they began to turn their horses around.
Enemy cavalry had appeared from nowhere.
—What?
As Sedias strained his eyes against the dark battlefield, it seemed enemy cavalry were seeping out from the forest one after another. The Royal Army's heavy cavalry had been attacked on the flank, throwing their column formation into disorder. The enemy cavalry thrust their spears and began to hunt the Royal Army's cavalry.
There was movement at the enemy's defensive line as well.
As if to compensate for the left defensive line becoming distorted by taking the bait, the right defensive line began to expand. The two defensive lines were attempting to become one.
Just then, as if to prevent this, allied cavalry charged in.
Though not light cavalry, they were medium-armored cavalry, and they were not of the Royal Army.
The medium-armored cavalry smashed through the center of the enemy lines attempting to merge and entered the inside of the right position with a feat of strength that could only be described as forceful. They continued to scatter the Kosa army toward the right.
—Splendid.
They must have been waiting somewhere, aiming for the exact moment the enemy lines attempted to merge. In the blink of an eye, one of the two enemy defensive lines collapsed.
"Which unit is that?" he asked Lubeck.
Lubeck didn't seem to know for sure either. He had been staring at the medium-armored cavalry for a long time. "They've raised their banner. It may be the Renne family."
"Renne?"
"This land belongs precisely to the Renne family. They are originally a branch of the Ganlord Anavis family, but they also hold a feudal bond with the Royal Family."
Sedias Thora stifled a laugh.
It was amusing that the people of the east were desperately trying to show off. The psychology of willingly serving a hateful conqueror is common among those in dominated regions. This ill-natured conqueror, Sedias Thora, was well-versed in such subtleties of human emotion.
"Udoh! Udoh!"
Cloden ran across the battlefield shouting, finally managing to find Udoh Renne's unit. Despite the torches here and there, the difference between the bright and dark areas was extreme, making it strangely difficult to see.
Cloden was still at the main camp.
Having rushed to the main camp in the Dark Forest to report the intrusion of the Kosa army, Cloden Danforth had been able to speak with Vice-Commander Lord Glash Lubeck through a connection. According to Lord Lubeck, Sedias Thora took Cloden's report seriously and would deal with the Kosa army at the rear.
No matter how fast the Kosa cavalry were, if they waited in the proper place, they should be able to defeat them in detail. Cloden felt relieved and, despite himself, expressed words of gratitude to Sedias Thora. However, he had no intention of returning to Dint just yet. He wanted to see the conclusion.
At this main camp, Cloden met a nostalgic face. That was Udoh Renne. A former comrade from the Fourth Army. It was their first reunion since being arrested by the Royal Army in Malfa City.
Their joy at each other's safety was brief, and Cloden had faced this enemy attack while relying on Udoh Renne's unit.
"Cloden, where the heck have you been?"
Udoh spoke with his usual accent, which screamed eastern country bumpkin. The Renne family governed only six villages in this region; even as a lord, he was like a boss of farmers. He was likely influenced by the way the farmers spoke.
"Nowhere in particular—"
"Things went well if we did as you said. Right now, my cavalry are pursuing the enemy infantry," Udoh said, stroking his eggplant-like, sagging face. "But man, these Kosa people sure are dark-skinned."
"No, these guys look like southerners. More importantly, Udoh, Kosa cavalry are seeping out one after another from the western edge of the forest. Right now, they're playing tag with the Royal Army over there."
"Heh."
"My guess is that cavalry are seeping out from the eastern edge too."
"Is that so? Then where are they goin'?"
"Idiot, don't you get it?"
Cloden maneuvered his horse closer to Udoh. His horsemanship had improved considerably over the last few days.
"The outer perimeter of this forest curves inward. It's indented like a bay. We're right around the middle of the bay. The enemy soldiers we're dealing with are the central army. But now, it's not just the central army. The left-wing army and right-wing army are seeping out from the forest!"
"That's a mighty big deployment, ain't it? The western edge of the forest is way over there, right? It's too big, ain't it?"
"Yeah, it's too big by our standards. But I think from the Kosa people's perspective, it's not that much."
"Hmm?" Stroking his bulging chin with a large hand attached to a long arm, Udoh Renne tilted his head. "Could it be, are we surrounded?"
"That's right. We'll be surrounded soon."
"I wonder if the Thora family knows."
"I think word has reached them," Cloden said. "Sedias Thora might retreat. If he lets the enemy pile up here, the enemy will have no choice but to rush the Twin Forts. That commander might be thinking of striking them down there."
"What should we do?"
"If we linger around here, we might be forced to act as the rearguard. How about we quietly pull back toward the fort?"
"Sounds good. Let's get goin' then."
"No, I'll scout the eastern side too. You gather your men and move without drawing attention. Like I said before—"
"Cloden—"
Udoh called out. Udoh was staring toward the forest. In the darkness where the torchlight did not reach, there were countless neighs. Shadows that looked like horses flickered. Like fish occasionally showing their white bellies at the edge of a swamp, horses grazed the range of light. The enemy cavalry emerging from the forest had doubled before they knew it.
While they were captivated by the sight, the Royal Army's heavy cavalry charged in.
The enemy cavalry scattered, leaping like splashes of water in the shape of horses.
Cloden felt a presence and looked back.
Royal Army infantry, hiding behind rectangular shields, were forming a horizontal line. They were heading this way. Cloden felt suspicious. It was a thick line. An attack formation. They were plotting to encircle the enemy.
—This is no time to be fighting.
The Royal Army could only see what was in front of them.
They should retreat. Because cavalry would come from the left and right and envelop them.
"Renne unit!" When Udoh gave the order, the knights of the Renne family gathered one by one, from wherever they had been.
"Udoh, you..."
Cloden whispered and looked up at Udoh's long face.
"We're gonna go for a bit too. Don't worry, Cloden. When it's time to run, I'll run."
Despite the Renne unit not yet being fully assembled, with Udoh in the lead, they leveled their spears and dove into the midst of the enemy cavalry.
"Were you not listening to me!"
—Damn it, the enemy is coming from the left and right.
Had the report not reached them, that the enemy left and right wings were forming?
What is Sedias Thora doing?
Cloden looked up toward the hill where the Commander-in-Chief was.
"The front line is becoming chaotic. Your Excellency, let us withdraw to the fort."
Waving his hand at Lubeck's suggestion, Sedias Thora looked down at the battlefield.
The enemy numbers were great.
At this point, they already seemed to cover the edge of the forest. Especially the number of cavalry was high. They were overflowing from the forest. They might continue to increase beyond expectations.
However, for now, the enemy cavalry were not functioning organically. They were fragmented. The enemy infantry were doing a better job. Their lines were expanding.
"Pull back the Renne cavalry. How long will we let them take the credit? Matius, to the rear. Jerg and—Lubeck, I will take command. You stay here and keep watch."
"What are you saying!"
"I'm going!"
"You must not, Your Excellency. Please wait a moment." Lubeck's finger dug into Sedias's upper arm. "Look, see, they've reorganized their formation. Ostra is doing well!"
Ostra was the field commander.
Regarding this operation, military councils had been held many times, and the policy had been decided down to the details.
If Sedias brazenly went to the field, he might end up overturning that decision.
Lubeck was right. Sedias's role was overall supervision. He only needed to judge the timing of the withdrawal.
What made Sedias Thora impatient was not the fear of suspecting defeat. It was the expectation that he might be able to win. That was what made Sedias tremble. Victory and defeat are two sides of the same coin. This isn't limited to the battlefield, but if you don't win, you lose.
—Damn it! I hate this.
In the end, Sedias gave up on participating in the battle.
This was not just any war; it was a war to strike down the Kosa people. He could put a period right here and now to the history that was the tragedy of Siddim, its scars, and the origin of its grudges and hatred.
—I cannot afford to lose because of my own over-eagerness.
Sedias was irritated.
The enemy cavalry were like a herd of deer spotted by a hunter. They were leaping lightly. They were running around. The essence of the operation was to surround them with a wall of infantry. Since gaps were provided in the infantry formation, the enemy cavalry should flee into those gaps.
The trick was that the allied heavy cavalry were waiting beyond those gaps.
That posture should be established more briskly.
"No, Ostra is doing it."
Lubeck said this, seeing through Sedias's thoughts.
"Our cavalry are gathering the enemy in one place."
The Commander-in-Chief strained his eyes to see the movement of the battlefield.
Rather than the allied cavalry driving the enemy, it felt as if the enemy cavalry were maneuvering lightly and entering the shadow of the defense of the enemy infantry, who had further expanded their position.
If that's the case, then that's fine.
If the allied infantry launched an offensive against the enemy position, the enemy's movement might become stagnant, allowing time to create an encircling formation.
Sedias relaxed. He finally realized that he was more panicked than Ostra on the field.
"Lubeck."
"Yes."
"Sorry, but is there something to drink?"
"Right away."
Lubeck, who had quietly left the spot, returned with a flushed face.
"Your Excellency! This way, immediately!"
"What is it, so noisy."
Standing up from the chair prepared on the hill, Sedias Thora walked toward the west where the vice-commander called.
Looking down at the field, there was darkness there. It was unnervingly dark. The bonfires were out. No, they had been put out. In fact, right now, one light vanished. The darkness was coming toward them, expanding. One by one, the points of light were extinguished, and the darkness was increasing its territory.
"What... what happened?"
"Commander-in-Chief, an enemy attack!"
Looking closely, a man with a messenger flag tied to his back was kneeling.
"Enemy cavalry units have overflowed in large numbers from the western part of the forest. Although it was initially a scale that could be driven off with just reconnaissance, by the time we noticed, their numbers had increased—"
Suddenly, enemy cavalry leaping out from the forest toyed with the right-wing army through maneuver. The right-wing army seemed unable to capture the enemy. That meant the enemy left-wing cavalry would reach the center. The enemy scale was unknown, but it appeared to exceed five thousand.
"Messenger! Can you run!" Sedias shouted.
"Yes!"
"Hurry back to your post and have the right-wing army withdraw! Hurry, do not be left behind!"
Sedias ran across the hill. Looking from the northeast direction, as he thought, the eastern bonfires were also largely extinguished.
—Curse them!
He was so frustrated he wanted to stamp his feet.
What bridgehead? The enemy was moving freely within the forest.
Suddenly, the faces of the clan chiefs of the Ten Clans came to mind, and he felt bleak. However, now was not the time to worry about the inside of the forest.
Sedias Thora tried to take the horn he wore at his waist, but dropped it.
Having no choice, he bent his waist and crawled, feeling the dark ground to find the horn. Sedias struggled to stand up and blew the signal for retreat into the night sky.
The horn-blowers stationed in various places received it and sounded the signal.
The movement of the battlefield seemed to stop for a moment, tossed by a wave of confusion. Only the flames danced.
The retreat proceeded without much chaos.
Although Ostra served as the rearguard by moving the troops fiercely, the Kosa army's pursuit was weak to begin with. They likely hadn't established their posture yet.
—Did I rush it?
Sedias wondered. Even if the enemy numbers increased, if they were a disorganized rabble lacking leadership, he shouldn't have fled.
The retreat destination was the north side of the Twin Forts.
Dawn broke, and the battlefield that had been submerged in darkness was exposed starkly by the twilight. Sedias looked down from the upper floor of the fort at the ground where morning mist drifted. He realized then that ordering the immediate retreat had not been a mistake.
Infantry with horses were emerging from the forest one after another.
They must have been waiting for the opportunity inside the forest.
If he had deployed the left and right wings in response, his soldiers might have been devoured.
The harvest from last night's battle was knowing that the enemy cavalry's armor was thin. Indeed, their maneuver was skillful. However, that kind of running was only possible because there was no weight from the mount. Lightweight cavalry would lack breakthrough power.
Light cavalry are, after all, light cavalry. They lack the striking power to decide a decisive battle.
According to Yugis Necrat's records, it's not that the enemy never deploys heavy cavalry. However, using heavy cavalry is the same for this side, and the conditions are equal. In the end, the reading of the tactical opportunity—where to move the cavalry—decides victory or defeat.
Called by his page, Sedias left the East Fort.
Since the front line had receded, the command post would also be moved back.
The Twin Forts were located at a break in a chain of hills. The hills in this area rose steeply, making them difficult to cross on horseback. Furthermore, defensive fences with sharpened log tips pointed toward the enemy had been installed. While he wouldn't say an attack by infantry was impossible, it would be a death struggle.
The unevenness of this terrain was likely the wrinkles of the earth caused by the aftershocks of the giant force that formed the Dwarf Mountains and the Takanosu Mountains.
The Twin Forts were built spanning a place where those wrinkles were relatively gentle.
It would have been good if the gap between the forts could be narrowed and a castle gate built, but the terrain was not suited for it.
However, the curtain walls were extended as far as possible, and in places where they were insufficient, logs sharpened like needles were embedded diagonally toward the south. Defensive fences were also laid thick. The enemy must cross those to attack. While being showered by a rain of arrows fired from the Twin Forts by strong bows.
—What I'm worried about is the matter of the Attaik.
This was also knowledge obtained from Yugis Necrat's records.
The enemy Kosa army apparently used abnormally large siege engines. If siege engines appeared, the Twin Forts might instead become a weakness for this side.
Even if they assembled siege engines using the timber of the Dark Forest, which belonged to His Majesty the King of Siddim, it wouldn't be done immediately. It should take a reasonable amount of time.
Sedias should have started the next battle without delay.
If he dawdled, the enemy reserves in the forest would begin to replenish their provisions.
Rain began to fall in the afternoon and continued the next day.
Hearing that the Kosa army had pitched tents, Sedias climbed the hill for the sake of study to see the enemy camp. The shape was circular, with the roof part being a cone. They looked surprisingly large and solidly built.
The Royal Army also pitched tents to shelter from the rain, as there were no private houses nearby.
They were not as splendid as those of the Kosa army, being crude things with canvas draped over pillars at the four corners or boards lined up as roofs. However, the command post tent was, as expected, of a reasonable size and did not leak rainwater.
Returning to the command post, Sedias Thora met a messenger from Dico Thora, who had come from the post town of Famana in Ganlord.
—Enemy who intruded into the rear, approximately five to six thousand riders.
The messenger reported.
They were apparently lurking around Famana, attacking villages unpredictably to steal food.
"Is the number accurate?"
At Sedias's question, Dico Thora's soldier nodded. "Approximately three thousand riders appeared in Tosha and then vanished. Another unit of two thousand riders is thought to have passed through Bist."
"Tosha and Bist are on the same highway, right?" Lubeck asked. "Are you not counting them redundantly?"
"The general had the same concern and confirmed it many times. It is certain that the Kosa army split into two groups: a unit remaining in Tosha and a unit descending toward Bist."
I see, even if it's a highway, it's a single road inside the forest.
It's possible to cautiously divide the troops in half and send some ahead.
"What do you mean the soldiers remaining in Tosha vanished?" Sedias pressed with a stern face.
"The people of Tosha town were locked in their houses, and by the time they noticed, every single enemy soldier had vanished. It is an estimate, but perhaps they entered the forest. There are said to be forest roads used by the locals."
"Five to six thousand, huh..."
"Or, they might be a bit more. Village attacks are occurring simultaneously over a wide area. Considering the amount of food stolen, they must be moving in a considerable scale."
"Tosha is blocked, right?"
"Due to the emergency, the soldiers of Belgau—"
"What is the status of the search for enemy soldiers?"
"We are searching Belgau, Ganlord, and Kraff by horseback."
—They're not very reliable.
Sedias thought. However, he did not act in a way that showed his distrust. Intelligence on a battlefield is like this. No matter how logically consistent a story sounds, it feels suspicious. Thinking commonly,
—Five thousand is probably impossible.
However, the mountain crossing through Tosha is said to be easier compared to other places.
—First, maybe around three thousand.
The Commander-in-Chief thanked the messenger. For the messenger returning to Dico Thora, he appointed another person who was not tired.
The prediction Sedias made by intuition was soon denied by Sedias himself.
As expected, three thousand was too few.
—Probably ten thousand, or fifteen thousand.
Information that forced him to think so flew in during his meal.
A rider hoisting a messenger flag is given priority over all else, and it is said that even a bishop yields the way. Naturally, even if Sedias was in the middle of a meal, the messenger entered the tent drenched in muddy water. The messenger even interrupted the conversation with the staff officers without hesitation.
"Commander! Enemy appearance in the Royal Capital!"
Both Sedias and the staff officers involuntarily spat out what was in their mouths.
The messenger explained in detail. "Enemy appearance in the Royal Capital" was an exaggeration, but it was certain that the enemy had appeared around Malfa City.
Watchtowers and forts throughout the east had sighted Kosa units. Some forts had even engaged in combat. The enemy were light cavalry, about a thousand riders, thought to be enemy reconnaissance. They appeared abruptly near central Siddim. Upon investigation, villages were also being attacked.
"One of the attacked villages is within the Midheim territory."
This meant they had intruded to the point where Malfa Castle could be seen in the distance.
"The damage?"
"Twenty-some dead, twice as many wounded. The damage to the farming villages is unclear, but human casualties are minor. A large amount of food and supplies, including fodder, have been stolen."
The damage was small. This was likely evidence that the enemy was moving covertly.
"The reconnaissance carries out looting to collect food, and the main body is hiding somewhere. Is that it?"
"Probably."
"Have you notified Malfa?"
The messenger nodded. "Already. Lord Hilboro is strengthening the defenses and tracking the enemy's footsteps. Lord Hilboro estimates the enemy cavalry to be around twenty thousand."
Hilboro was a vassal of the Thora family, a man of martial fame. He had been entrusted with the defense in Sedias's absence.
—Twenty thousand.
Sedias remembered the number reported by Danforth's son.
The story was that there were fifteen to twenty thousand of the Kosa army's reserves beyond the mountains.
If so, a number of twenty thousand was possible.
It was not uncommon to move a vanguard with numbers matching the reserve troops.
"Where is the enemy now?"
"Somewhere between the central and eastern regions."
"Do you think the enemy intends to attack Malfa City?"
"The possibility that twenty thousand riders are the advance force may be high."
—This is bad.
Sedias turned away, hiding the anxiety that must have appeared on his expression.
He wondered if things could get any worse. If the Kosa cavalry ravaged the surroundings of Malfa.
The civil officials and court counts of Malfa Castle would panic. They were frail people. If things went poorly, they would surround His Majesty and whisper all sorts of things, fueling anxiety. If it became known that surrounding cities and villages were being attacked by the Kosa, His Majesty might lend them an ear.
—If only Gilma were here.
Sedias now regretted his decision not to involve the Chancellor, Gilma Rigardie, in this war. Gilma would have the fortitude to persuade the continuation of the war.
"No, they might pose a threat to Malfa City, but they likely won't attack it."
The one who said this was Lubeck. Taking a sip of wine, Lubeck continued.
"For the enemy as well as for us, the focus is undoubtedly here. The enemy cavalry who went to the rear should come here. Since Tosha is blocked, the enemy's line of communication is cut. There are no reinforcements, let alone supplies. If so, the rear Kosa cavalry should consider returning to the forward Kosa army."
Sedias struck the table with enough force to make the plates jump.
"Well said!"
It was certainly as Lubeck said. As per the initial assumption, he should consider their objective to be the support of the forward Kosa army. Sedias realized he had been swayed by the word "Malfa."
Regarding this number—that twenty thousand cavalry were aiming for his back—Sedias tried to think about it calmly.
—Impossible. Too many.
Those who suffer damage tend to use exaggerated expressions to make others understand the impact of their shock. Numbers can be used as a medium for that. Just wanting their feelings to be understood, they tend to say large numbers.
How many were the enemy?
For example, if it were three thousand riders, what would he do with that amount of cavalry?
That question also existed when he thought about it carefully. Moreover, they were light cavalry. It was not a number that could overturn the war situation.
What if there were ten thousand riders?
Divided into four groups of two thousand five hundred each, they could toy with this side from four directions.
While twenty thousand was excessive, ten thousand riders was understandable.
If he tried to completely block ten thousand enemies, he would end up having to seal the rear of the battlefield with a large army. If it became a blockade, would it be enough to just place troops on the main roads? He might also need to deploy infantry inside the forests scattered throughout the east.
—No. I cannot decide immediately.
Sedias wiped the sweat from his face. It was humid inside the tent.
"Whatever. Just capture the intruding enemy. We'll talk after that. Messenger, if there's nothing else, you may leave."
—Where did I fall behind? Why am I on the defensive?
Losing his appetite, Sedias shook his head.
Sweat continued to flow.
The next day, although the rain stopped, the overcast sky was dark.
It was early morning. Sedias stood still on the battlefield. Several streaks of bloodshed stained the ground like a mesh. Arrows were stuck all over the place, like a mountain of needles. All the tents had been knocked down. There were countless corpses showered in arrows. They lay face down in the mud. It was no exaggeration to say that as far as he could see, it was full of corpses. In an unexpectedly distant place, he could see the figure of a fallen human. Likely a soldier who tried to flee but could not make it. It was as if some disaster beyond human knowledge had occurred.
Soldiers searching for survivors walked between the corpses.
This place was the quarters for infantry waiting to deploy, and the place where soldiers received supplies.
In the pre-dawn hours, they had been hit by a surprise attack from the Kosa cavalry who had entered the rear.
Four thousand infantry had vanished entirely.
"Your Excellency, this way."
Lubeck approached his side and spoke in a low voice.
At the place Lubeck led him to, about thirty soldiers were sitting tied with ropes.
They were those who had been hiding nearby. Most of the soldiers had scattered after the Kosa cavalry's surprise attack. They had fled. By Sedias's order, the deserters who had been hiding were captured.
"State your unit and name."
Looking down at one man who seemed to be a unit leader, Sedias spoke in a void of emotion.
The man gave his name. He was covered in mud, but the parts of his skin that weren't dirty were stark white.
"Speak. What happened?"
"I cannot."
"Just speak. There must be things you should say."
—This morning, the enemy came from the west.
The man said.
"I think there were probably about three hundred riders." Perhaps feeling shame, the man looked down. "They approached as a pitch-black mass, and then suddenly they made the horses walk. We didn't know what was happening and had no time to prepare. They had arrows packed tightly into quivers as thick as logs. They pulled them out and, while making the horses walk, they fired arrows. In an instant, people were falling one after another."
"Did you not resist?"
"It was a surprise attack, wasn't it? We were in chaos from the first move. They kept their order. First, they killed the soldiers with bows and arrows. Even if they were far away or hiding, they shot them dead accurately. Next, they killed the soldiers with spears; even those who reached for their swords were killed. They killed the soldiers who turned their backs. The soldiers who started running too. They just walked slowly. They advanced with the horse gear jingling. It was as if they weren't afraid at all. They brought many horses without riders. Those horses stepped on the soldiers who were still alive, writhing on the ground after being hit by arrows."
—One enemy soldier.
The man continued while still looking down.
"He got off his horse. Since he ran out of arrows, he started collecting the arrows stuck in the ground. He bent his waist, showing us his backside, completely defenseless. Even so, no one could approach him."
"What is that? You fled because the enemy showed you his backside?"
"It couldn't be helped. He held about three arrows between his fingers and plucked them like a bowstring. And they hit. They were silent. Not a single word. Their faces were expressionless. I think they looked at us as if we were beasts. Everyone got scared, one fled, two fled, and after that, I don't know. We all fled. Many sounds of cutting wind passed by our ears. Every time that sound occurred, someone running beside us sprayed blood and fell. They were hitting."
After that, allied cavalry who heard the commotion rushed over in a state where they couldn't even properly prepare for battle. What was there were corpses filling the field. Although they saw allied infantry fleeing, not a single enemy cavalryman was to be found.
The man raised his face. Streaks of tears were on the mud stains on his cheeks.
"That night battle from the other day, those weren't Kosa people. Those were fakes. Those reapers we saw this morning, those were the real Kosa people."
—Reapers?
Indeed, the killing capacity of the Kosa cavalry far exceeded Sedias's imagination.
Sedias realized the folly of obsessing over whether the enemy numbers were ten thousand or three thousand.
Numbers didn't matter. The trouble with the Kosa light cavalry was not their number. It was speed. The fact that these high-lethality mounts moved at an abnormal speed.
What was this gruesome scene? A battlefield is a place of crushing and striking lives. It is an intense friction carried out by staking one's existence. Corpses are a given on a battlefield.
However, the wars carried out in Siddim always had the purpose of proving the correctness of their own claims. Everyone fought for justice.
What were the corpses before his eyes? They were not an expression of a claim. There was only the pursuit of efficiency and productivity. It was nothing but a more overwhelming, emotionless, and alien violence.
"Cavalry," the Commander-in-Chief said to the vice-commander. "Line up the heavy cavalry at the rear and have them engage the enemy cavalry."
He had ended up using cavalry, the decisive troop type, for defense—and for rear defense at that.
It couldn't be helped. If he used infantry, they might be driven by fear and rout again. In the first place, only cavalry could defeat the Kosa cavalry.
The fact that they had been stabbed in the rear by suddenly appearing enemy cavalry spread through the entire army instantly. The agitation caused by this likely reached the enemy camp in the front as well. At noon that day, the forward Kosa army's attack began.