Episode 159

In this battle, the fight on the first day could be said to be the most important.

If we achieve a good result in the battle of the first day, it could be said that we have essentially won half the battle.

The reason being, although I stepped up to the front lines to boost our troops’ morale, this was merely akin to taking a stimulant and temporarily burning fighting spirit intensely.

However, if the temporarily elevated combat would result in a victory, it was because people who had experienced success once tended to create victories more easily the next time.

Because the army engaged in battle becomes stronger due to the confidence derived from the experience of success, even in more challenging situations next time, leading to another victory.

Therefore, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that surviving this first day or not would determine the success or failure of this retreat battle.

Since the dukes of the Swiss Confederation, among other commanders, also know this fact, today’s battle would likely be particularly fierce.

“Kill them! Kill them! Don’t let a single one survive! We must at least save the Lieutenant General who risked his life for us lowlifes!”

“Shoot the arrows! Fire! Pour them out generously! If we run out, we can always pull them out of the enemy corpses tomorrow and use them again!”

“Those who are not crossbowmen, throw stones! One hit will crack the enemy’s skull!”

So, the soldiers wildly launched a tremendous number of arrows, magic, and even stones at the vile enemies, but the Swiss bandits couldn’t withstand the barrage of long-range attacks from atop the hill.

Of course, in the midst of this, the enemy also attacked us on the hill with arrows and magic, but being in a higher position, their attacks hardly reached us.

So, with a bit of exaggeration, it was almost like a one-sided battle in terms of long-range shooting.

Thus, we could fight with a relatively joyful and light heart, but for the Swiss soldiers, it’d be so agonizing that a minute would feel like a year.

Of course, we in the imperial army, including myself, were very humanitarian, so we would liberate them from their suffering as quickly as possible with the prescription of death.

“Shit, why the hell are those Reich invaders entrenched on Richten Hill?!”

“We can’t get up there! Hey, Mark, snap out of it! Don’t die!”

“Come down and fight us fairly, you bastards!”

The Swiss soldiers coming up from the bottom of the hill were dying miserably, but unless we were shooting with machine guns in our hands, they would soon make a wall of corpses to climb up to where we were, so we should start preparing for close combat.

“Mage units, crossbowmen, and archers retreat behind the spearmen to attack the bottom of the hill in a curved trajectory. Knights, prepare to face the enemy at the very front of the hill, and infantrymen, switch to a supporting formation behind them.”

This way, even if the enemy approached our forces, we could continue to strike them using long-range weapons.

Knights, who were strongest on horseback but also possessed the highest combat power in melee combat, would stand at the front, making it difficult for enemy soldiers to easily kill them.

The formation’s defensive and offensive capabilities were enhanced, and with the infantry supporting from behind, it could only become stronger.

Therefore, this new formation was the best to face the Swiss army approaching like a swarm of cockroaches.

By the time those bandits climbed over the dead and made it halfway up the hill, we had already perfectly formed the formation I had ordered.

The knights in steel armor tapped their chests and laughed heartily, standing at the very front.

“Move aside! Move!! The most dangerous battleground will be taken by the knights of our Reich Empire!”

“You, jab and beat those prancing in front of us!”

“Hahaha! Truly a day to fight honorably!”

The soldiers sent looks of respect and envy to those who bravely took the most dangerous positions.

The knights joyfully accepted those gazes, swinging their massive infantry polearms around.

Even from my nearby vantage point, they looked very formidable and strong; to the Swiss soldiers climbing up the hill, they must seem more terrifying than ghosts.

After about five minutes, the hill that the enemy had climbed was filled with countless Swiss soldier corpses.

The remaining enemy soldiers, grinding their teeth, had almost reached our vicinity.

“Why do you not leave us alone even when we live quietly tucked away in the mountains, opting instead to invade?!”

“Such worse than dogs! Heathens!”

“I will kill every single one of you without exception! And then grind you up and eat you!”

Certainly, it was true that we struck the Swiss first, but the ones who incited us to attack them were none other than Count Bern and the Duke of Swiss.

The person who provided the basis for His Highness the Crown Prince to decide on the war was Count Bern, who pretended to betray his homeland for years and disseminated false information.

But now, there’s no time to worry about such things.

What mattered was killing even one more enemy in front of us and sending even one more soldier of the Reich Empire back home.

“These Swiss bandit bastards are so cowardly! Will you succeed by whining over climbing just one hill? Unacceptable! Brave soldiers of the Reich Empire, those girly cowards seem to be struggling to live, so let’s kill them and free them from their misery! Everyone, throw stones all at once!”

At the same time, I lifted a stone about the length of my arm with both hands and threw it at them as they struggled to come up.

Other soldiers of the empire also threw quite large stones.

Most of the stones hit the Swiss soldiers coming up the hill, and those hit by the heavy stones either died on the spot or suffered severe injuries.

“A death fit for those Swiss backwater bandits! Now, we will enter into a proper battle! Everyone, keep up your strength and endure to the end!”

Right after I finished speaking, the Swiss soldiers attempted to climb over or break through the makeshift barricades we had erected.

I aimed my sword at the chest of a guy trying to break the barricade with a hammer in front of me and stabbed him, and in this manner, I killed the guys around me one by one.

In a typical battle situation, if I, a person of my rank, were to kill an enemy directly, the surrounding soldiers would all shout so that everyone could know.

But now, there was no one in their right mind anywhere to be seen.

“Didn’t your mother teach you that hitting steel armor is meaningless? Die, you ignorant fool!”

“Die and go to your parents’ side!”

“Your head breaks so beautifully! Hurry up and stick out your head, you country bumpkin bastards!”

Looking around, everyone was busy fending off the Swiss army pouring in like a flood, and the soldiers did their best to fight in order to meet my expectations of risking my life for them.

As someone who had been studying to become a soldier, even an officer, before being possessed by Peter Yaeger, the current scene felt beautiful to me.

But to end this unfolding story beautifully and perfectly, more lives must be saved…

“Die, you damned Swiss bandit bastards!”

Believing that my high-quality armor worth 400 gold would block any moderate attack, I swung my sword aggressively.

My swordsmanship, which even succeeded in killing a Khan, did not disappoint, cutting down all the Swiss soldiers in the path of my blade.

The Swiss in front of me suddenly spoke with a terrified expression, trembling violently.

“M-monster. It’s a monster.”

“Damn, I get everything else, but why is a general noble from your country blustering and messing around here!”

“Surrender… We will surrender, so please spare our lives.”

Despite the battle situation being much in their favor, the fact that someone was trembling in fear of my sword showed that my leading the vanguard not only boosted the morale of our troops but also utterly destroyed the enemy’s morale.

Thinking that, I immediately signaled with my eyes to the soldiers following and supporting me from behind.

Then, after cutting down the enemy filled with fear in front of me with my sword, those who received my signal shouted out loud.

“Lieutenant General Yaeger is slaughtering the Swiss bandit bastards!”

“The Swiss soldiers are no match for us!”

“Long live Lieutenant General Yaeger! Long live the Reich Empire! Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”

With those cries, the already high morale of the Reich Empire’s army boiled over like boiling water.

At the same time, I felt a strong cohesion forming around me as our focal point, and the knights and soldiers around me began to fight with a readiness to die.

“The Lieutenant General has kept his promise! Then let us also risk our lives to live!”

“If we’re going to die anyway, let’s die fighting gloriously!”

“I will definitely return alive, and you bandit bastards will surely die here! If you value your life, don’t stand before me!”

Watching this scene, I thought,

‘Just the fact that a high-ranking person is fighting at the front line boosts morale this much. Is this why Captain Patton always wanted to be at the forefront?’