Chapter 187 - Episode 181: Winning by Persistence
"...Even after I threw so many tactics at them, they're still charging? Their judgment on dealing with the golems was fast, too. As expected of an elite enemy force."
"It is dangerous if we remain passive and are swept away by their momentum. I believe we should also order our infantry units to charge. The crossbow units should provide cover."
While Noein was slightly surprised by the boldness of the enemy soldiers and the decisiveness of the enemy general, Yuri offered his advice from the side.
"You're right... Dant, I'm counting on you!"
"Sir!"
Dant responded sharply to Noein's words and shouted orders to the infantry unit and the crossbow units on both flanks.
"Listen up, you lot! Kill every last one of them! Remember that if we are defeated, it's our families who will be attacked next!"
The infantry unit of fifty men, composed entirely of regular territorial soldiers, and the crossbowmen, who were common citizens but had volunteered for the fight, all wore expressions of determination.
"Infantry to the front. Crossbow units, pick off any enemy soldiers who break through. Charge!"
""Uoooooooooh!""
Letting out a roar so loud it felt as if the trees of the forest would shake, the infantry and crossbow units ran forward.
The Arqvist territorial army and the Lancel Kingdom's invasion force, charging at one another, collided head-on.
"Dieeee!"
"Not a chance!"
"Guaaaaah!"
"Damn it!"
The Lancel Kingdom's invasion force, filled with elites including both national army soldiers and mercenaries, faced the Arqvist territorial infantry, who had also undergone years of training as professional soldiers. However, in a melee fight without tricks, the Arqvist territorial army initially held a slight advantage.
The invasion force was exhausted from the walls of fire, the crossbow attacks, and the previous golem charge, and they were unable to maintain a proper formation. Even now, some of the golems were circling back, attacking the charging soldiers from behind and sapping their momentum.
On the other hand, the Arqvist territorial army's morale was abnormally high in order to protect their property and families. Furthermore, under Dant's command, they fought as a single mass, forming ranks, lining up shields, and leveling spears. They also had the cover of the crossbow units.
The battlefield was a road within a forest that wasn't very wide, making it difficult for the invasion force to utilize their numerical superiority to push through all at once. Overwhelmed by the spirit of the Arqvist territorial army, those who managed to break through the infantry were stabbed repeatedly from all sides by crossbows with attached daggers, dying one by one.
"Ah! My golem!"
However, the invasion force did not simply stand by and be slaughtered. A powerful fire magic spell cast by one of the royal mages hit directly, turning Alain's golem into a fireball. The magic paint covering the golem's surface melted, the mana circuits burned, and the dysfunctional golem collapsed.
In another location, a golem that took a coordinated attack from multiple mages had its limbs damaged and became combat-incapable. Seeing this, the golem user wore an expression of shock.
"Bring the spare golems! Do not slacken the attack!"
When Gustav shouted this, Alain, whose golem had just been destroyed, and another golem user ran to the rear of the formation to retrieve spare golems. Since Noein's golem had been heavily damaged in battle last year, they were now prepared for such situations.
Just then, a detachment led by Radley charged into the enemy from the side of the forest. It seemed they had managed to join the fray in time.
The Arqvist territorial army, whose morale was heightened to the limit, and the Lancel Kingdom army, superior in numbers and training. Their strengths reached a stalemate.
"A deadlock, huh... I guess it wasn't as simple as breaking the enemy army with just the division of their ranks and the Claymore charge."
"It seems so. The rest depends on Rick and the others."
While watching the battle, Noein had this conversation with Yuri.
...
"...Ewald, can we win?"
"...Even including the unit that crashed in from the flank, the enemy's melee strength is less than half of ours. Moreover, many of them appear to be peasants. If we continue to attack like this, I believe we can win by persistence."
Ewald answered Cadne, who asked while observing the combat situation from horseback.
"I see... To win by stubbornly continuing to attack is lacking in elegance for a king's army, but it cannot be helped."
The enemy army had fought with abnormal fervor at first, but there is a limit to what spirit alone can achieve. The invasion force was overwhelmingly superior in both training and numbers.
Fatigue gradually accumulated in the enemy soldiers, and the front line was slowly being pushed back by the invasion force. It would take time, but they would eventually reach the rear where the enemy's commander-in-chief was located.
The troublesome golems were being kept in check by the Guard's impressive training and coordination, and thanks to the activities of the mages, they had succeeded in destroying several. While they remained extremely dangerous entities, they would not reach the location of Cadne and Ewald for a while.
As Cadne said, it was a somewhat clumsy fight, and for the invasion force that had intended to annihilate the Arqvist territory as easily as twisting a baby's wrist, it had become a bitter way to win, but a victory was still a victory.
They had been surprised by the enemy's numerous odd tactics and had suffered painful losses, but—
Just as he thought that, Ewald felt a bad premonition. His intuition as a warrior warned him of danger.
Ewald suddenly looked toward the front right, upward into the forest.
In the chaos of battle, vigilance toward the forest had become lax, but looking closely, there was something unnatural in the trees...
"Your Majesty!"
Ewald instinctively spurred his horse forward and leaned over, knocking Cadne off his horse.
In the next instant, several arrows pierced the position where Cadne had been—the position where Ewald now was.
...
"...Good grief. How could he notice a sniper in that situation?"
Inside the forest, away from the invasion route that had become the battlefield. While aiming a sniping crossbow from the treetops, Rick muttered to himself.
The sniping crossbow was, as the name implied, a crossbow specialized for picking off enemies. The bow was large, the string was stiff, and the arrows were heavy and thick. Furthermore, it was equipped with a long, tubular barrel. It was a device that sacrificed rapid-fire capability and maneuverability to increase range and accuracy.
Rick and a total of ten selected soldiers, chosen for their crossbow skill and keen eyesight, were attempting to shoot King Cadne dead using these sniping crossbows.
Wearing inconspicuous black cloth clothes with leaves attached to make their hiding positions difficult to discern at a glance (a method Noein had learned from foreign military chronicles), they aimed at Cadne from the top of a large tree slightly removed from the battlefield.
However, the arrows fired simultaneously by the selected soldiers were blocked by the enemy general, who had sensed the sniping with phenomenal intuition.
The enemy general, and the escort soldiers who had been surrounding Cadne, were hit by arrows and fell one after another. The arrows, which had a faster initial velocity and more power than ordinary crossbows, pierced through the soldiers along with their shields.
However, once it was known that they were attempting to snipe Cadne, surprise attacks were no longer possible. The escort soldiers gathered to further protect Cadne, who had fallen from his horse after being shielded by the enemy general, creating a wall using themselves and even the corpses of dead soldiers as shields to protect Cadne.
The remaining dozen or so Guard soldiers desperately tried to block the arrows flying one after another from the forest in the front right from Cadne's perspective.
"...That's why I'm here."
Rick's lips curled—and from the forest in the front left from the enemy's perspective, he aimed his crossbow at Cadne.
By firing arrows one after another from the front right, the enemy would be convinced that the sniping unit was located there, directing Cadne's thin escort forces in that direction. Naturally, vigilance in other directions would become thin.
It wasn't that the enemy was incompetent. Since they had to deal with the golems rampaging within the ranks, it was inevitable that they would shift Cadne's escort this way.
This was simply another one of the Arqvist territorial army's—a series of odd tactics that stunned the enemy and caused them to malfunction as an army, a victory won by the persistence of our Lord.
"This is the end...!"
Staring at the defenseless Cadne, who seemed to be checking the safety of the fallen general, Rick pulled the trigger of the crossbow.
...
"...Ludo! O... Ewald! Hey, Ewald! Pull yourself together!"
Ewald regained consciousness and opened his eyes. He understood the situation: Cadne was looking down at him as he lay fallen and calling out to him.
Lowering his gaze, Ewald saw several thick, long arrows protruding from his chest. The arrows had pierced through his plate armor and had likely gouged deep into his body. Moreover, it seemed some kind of poison had been applied to the arrows, as a numbness was slowly spreading through his entire body.
There was no saving him now. Ewald realized his own death.
"Ewald, do not die! If you die, what am I supposed to do! Who else but you can command this expedition!"
"...H-hey..."
Trying to answer Cadne's question, Ewald could only produce a raspy voice. His lungs were likely damaged. Furthermore, the numbness had reached his face.
However, Ewald moved his mouth with sheer tenacity and exhaled. Thinking this was the last action he could perform in his life, he tried to leave advice for Cadne.
"Hey... the absolute... once, the absolute. In the second... reorganize the army, and the... the formation..."
As long as Cadne remained healthy, chances would still remain for the current royal family and the military nobility.
Even if the invasion of the Lordberg Kingdom could not be achieved, they only needed to prevent the enemy's pursuit and continue to secure this invasion route. While it was incomparable to the great results originally envisioned, they could still claim the achievement of opening an invasion route through the Bezel Great Forest. With that, the power of the military faction could somehow be maintained.
Then, they could create a stalemate both domestically and abroad, spend years reorganizing their military strength, and re-invade the Lordberg Kingdom. If they did that, the ambitions of the military nobility would be fulfilled. Even if Ewald himself could not live to see it.
"Protect... the invasion route... If you do that..."
Please live, grow, and become a great king who further expands the influence of the Lancel Kingdom.
As Ewald looked up at Cadne with that thought—an arrow flying from another direction pierced Cadne's shoulder.
"Guaah! An arrow! Someone! Someoneeee!"
"Y-Your Majesty!"
"Hey, His Majesty is seriously injured! And Lord Rotfeld has fallen in battle!"
"A-ah, my hands are numb, my legs too, aaaah..."
"Your Majesty, please pull yourself together! Maintain consciousness! You lot, pick up His Majesty! We're escaping!"
"It's no use! Fall back for now! Retreat! All forces, retreat—!"
Ah, perhaps it really is no use after all.
Wrapped in such resignation, Ewald's consciousness was lost forever.