13 (38)

Gregory came outside. The sound of rain filled his ears. The sounds of people, not merely dizzying but chaotic. Wasn’t a bridge being constructed at the front? Dozens of boats were heading this way in real time while carrying troops, and above all, on the right……. His sleep vanished immediately.

No, sleep was not the problem; the god of death had pressed a blade to his neck. He muttered countless times to himself to stay calm. He had to decide things one by one. Officers with faces more urgent than his own stood before Gregory. It was not merely that fire had fallen on his feet, but that it had enough force to burn his whole body, yet he coldly searched for the best next move.

“Stop the cavalry!”

By the time Boarne Gregory decided the allocation of troops, Louis had already reached his side rear. It was truly a lightning-fast strike. Even if this attack was blocked, it was a position sufficient to make the continuation of the war impossible. Louis lowered his posture while riding his horse.

The horse sped up even more. The rainwater struck his face not merely as if pouring down, but enough to sting. In front of Louis, hundreds of wagons loaded with various supplies and covered with cloth appeared. In front of them, infantrymen awkwardly raised spears. It was laughable. The cavalry Louis was using for the attack numbered roughly close to two thousand, but the number of infantry blocking this place did not even reach that.

Louis, who had charged right up to their noses, drew the sword at his waist and swung it together with his horse’s leap. Two or three infantrymen’s necks cut through the air. Crunch. One man was trampled by the horse Louis was driving. Louis skillfully deflected the spear shaft coming in from the left. After sending a neck flying, Louis drove his horse even deeper inside.

After cutting down about two more men, when the horse could no longer advance through the wall of humans, Louis was in the middle of the enemy formation. Infantry filled every direction. Those gripping spear shafts in armor slowly aimed them toward Louis. That was the end. The mana bursting from Louis’s body was overwhelming them. Some trembled with the spears they held. Every time white steam burst out, their heart rates were rising. Even in the pouring rain, some soldiers seemed to recognize Louis somehow and shouted.

“D-Duke Louis…!”

“I’ve seen him.”

“The lion…….”

But that was the end. Though they had numerical superiority, they could not move rashly, as if they had met a beast. If they attacked, it was certain that the lion’s teeth and murderous intent would attack them. They let out groans and muttered, “A-attack….” but there was still no one who moved.

Only a few seconds had passed, yet it gave the illusion that time had stretched by several dozen minutes. And when about one more second passed, the left and right sides shook. Louis’s cavalry was collapsing the surroundings like a tidal wave striking the shore. Only then did the infantry, realizing they could no longer delay, run toward Louis all at once. Louis pulled the reins. The horse turned to the right. Three spear shafts were sucked toward Louis.

Louis turned his body and avoided two of the spear shafts. Louis, who caught the one that had come in straight, twisted it just like that. With a cry of “Agh!” the spear shaft was dragged toward Louis. The man holding the spear had his right arm broken. The way it broke was extremely grotesque. Before long, Louis swung the spear shaft widely. The spear shaft that made a whoosh as it cut through the rainwater struck the side of an infantryman’s head.

His helmet crumpled, and without even letting out a groan, he tangled with the man beside him and was crushed. Since Louis had no hobby of using spearmanship, he threw the spear in a straight line at an archer aiming a bow from behind. When the archer whose head was smashed rolled across the ground with his limbs bent, groans burst out. Well, more than that, the cavalry Louis had brought was the bigger problem. A one-sided exchange of offense and defense continued, and in only a few minutes, corpses were scattered all around.

Louis slowly drove his horse, then picked up a spear shaft stuck vertically beside him and smashed a wagon wheel. When the wheel broke, what was loaded on it tilted and spilled down to the ground in a rush. What Louis had touched was food. Wheat and dried jerky were being hit by the rain, their color turning yellowish. Louis smiled.

The immediate destruction of wagons. Louis knew that wagons were enormously important in conducting war. Two thousand cavalry was an impressive number, but with only this, it would be difficult to collapse Gregory’s solid forces. But he could lure them here. The next move Louis was aiming for was the enemy cavalry.

There was no way Gregory would know how many cavalry Louis had brought. He would quickly send the cavalry he possessed here, and Louis would annihilate that cavalry. The assault and the following defeat in detail. And the core of it lay in the safe crossing of the Rhine River by the entire army.

Louis stirred through the rain and looked around. The cavalry was smashing the wagons as Louis had ordered. The ground was not merely scattered with fresh corpses whose limbs were bent; it overflowed with them. Some of the cavalry were focusing on ending the lives of the survivors. Some infantrymen pretending to be corpses wriggled and crawled.

From time to time, cavalrymen with holes punched through them by spear shafts could be seen. He had lost some of his troops. Any commander who knew the dignity of an ordinary cavalry force would know that such things did not occur. Cavalry was made up of one-man-army knights born through grueling long-term training. But the method Louis created was, in a way, a case of weakening quality and increasing quantity.

So, aside from this sort of thing, there were often cases where he lost troops for all kinds of minor reasons. However, overwhelming numbers, enough that such weaknesses did not stand out much, were always important in war. That was especially true of mobility. If he did not have this mobility, Louis would not even be able to dream of tactics like this.

“The cavalry is rushing in.”

“Everyone, take formation!”

Louis’s voice carrying mana spread through the rain. More than a thousand cavalry formed ranks with a single word. At the same time, the troops on both sides left the area. It was to make it look as if Louis was here with only a small number of cavalry. After confirming that the troops on both sides had disappeared, Louis narrowed his eyes toward the front. Just then, Boarne’s cavalry was charging toward Louis while creating a muddy whirlpool.

Louis smiled faintly and turned his horse back. When Louis changed direction, the five hundred cavalry around him ran after Louis, leaving trails behind them like chicks chasing their mother bird. Before long, as if unwilling to fall behind and miss the empty space, Boarne’s cavalry recklessly chased after them.

Louis leisurely turned his troops around without moving even a few kilometers. Not knowing that it was a trap, the enemy cavalry fiercely charged toward Louis. Louis took in one breath with a hup and shouted.

“Cavalry, charge!!”

A tremendously forceful shout rang out, and in reverse, they took the posture of a lance charge. When Louis kicked the horse’s side, the horse neighed and dashed forward. That was the signal. Louis’s cavalry shot forward like arrows.

The warriors of House Boarne coming from the front were smiling. The cavalry of House Boarne was the strongest cavalry force in the Duchy of Eron, made up of eight Sword Experts alone. The aura they emitted at the front was so tremendous that even the rain seemed to bend, but one among them had eyes that trembled violently.

Because of the single man charging from the front. Louis. The influence given by Louis’s mana aura had military charisma mixed with transformation, so in terms of majesty alone, it was outstanding enough to make one click one’s tongue. Moreover, at this moment, when he had resolved to kill the enemy and was filled with murderous intent, it was natural that his force had been maximized. By the time they were overwhelmed by the sight, which could not be seen as the martial might a mere ruler could possess, thunder struck as well, and Louis looked almost like a demigod. Louis gradually increased his speed.

A lance charge had to go through two or three stages of acceleration in total. It was to smash the square formation on the first collision. When cavalry and cavalry collided, it created a tremendous situation where chunks of flesh flew. The brave general Anok raised his horse’s speed even more in this situation. Then he stood at the very front. It was a position that could not be held with ordinary courage.

Louis was precisely in the second line. It was obvious that half the troops in the first line would be smashed in the first collision. Standing in the first line was that terrifying, but Louis knew their morale would not fall. It was because Louis was right beside them. Blind faith was granting them courage that transcended death.

By the time his eyelids stung because of the rain, the first line collided. The five hundred men Louis had chosen were selected from among the two thousand cavalry as those with truly outstanding skill. But at the moment of collision, thunderous shouts burst out from both sides. It was the cavalry Louis had hidden on both sides. If there was a problem, that was the problem.

The enemy’s lance charge, which demanded not even an inch of disorder, was thrown into confusion by Louis’s cavalry rushing in from both flanks and the rear. In a lance charge where, under extreme circumstances, they exchanged strikes aiming for one another’s heads and torsos, Louis’s cavalry pierced through the nearly eight hundred cavalry of House Boarne.