We took our healthy squad of bow cavalry and cavalry eastward.
"Baronet Hesse is still doing his best. We have to save him quickly."
When I mentioned the word "Hesse", Reina who rode beside me showed a weird expression.
Irijina and Leonhardt Strauch instructed the several hundred soldiers under our command to spread out to the left and right.
Being composed of all cavalry, it wasn’t a problem if our units are somewhat separated.
The important thing was to cover as wide an area as possible.
"Normally in these kinds of situations it would be me in the center with Leonhardt and Irijina deploying the soldiers. Right?"
When I looked at Mirai, she flicked her head to the side in a huff.
When I looked at Sekrit, she grinned back at me.
Hmm, this didn’t feel right.
Day broke during our march and we were greeted with the rise of the sun as the city where Baron Jimi’s demesne was in finally comes into view.
Our advance squad was sent ahead to the top of the elevated ground to find that the town was surrounded by multiple soldiers and various spots in the walls had been broken with smoke rising into the sky.
On the other hand, the enemy was crowding around the outside of the walls, not yet finished with the battle. Which means the defending side was still putting up resistance.
"We made it in time. The name of the town…… what was it again?"
"It's Rus. it is a city where traders frequently pass, making it a relatively prosperous place." Reina suddenly spoke.
Everyone looked at Reina as she seemed very familiar with the area.
"The enemy amounts to roughly 1,000, and as expected isn’t a number a baron and baronet family can arrange for."
"Upon further inspection, the movements of the groups over here and over there are different. Even though they’re using the same flag, those guys are mercenaries."
Meanwhile, it’s hard to accurately determine how many Jimi, Hesse and others still had since they were confined within the city, so maybe they barely had 200.
It’s impressive how they were still hanging on.
"Anyways, shall we charge in?"
Reina looked very worried.
Irijina was about to raise her weapon and Leonhardt cut in again.
"Wait a moment. The enemy hasn’t realized us yet. I have a better plan."
If we don’t hurry, the city would fall.
"They’re probably waiting for the arrival of the squad we just defeated. They haven’t begun their attack yet. We should wait another three hours."
"So sunset……?"
The enemy had a lot of archers since they’re sieging and we had bow cavalry.
If we’re going to have a shootout, we would have the overwhelming advantage being on the hill on the west side with the sun behind our backs.
"The enemy seems to be a mishmash of different soldiers, but they still have close to double our forces. We’ll suffer many casualties if we fight them head on. Besides, the bow cavalry will arrive in the east if we wait a bit."
A pincer attack to wipe them out all at once sound good.
Fewer sacrifices was also a good thing.
Eventually the sun started turning red, and that was when I gave the order to the bow cavalry on the hill to release their arrows together.
Firing from a high place and using their powerful composite bows resulted in the sieging soldiers falling over like toys.
"Enemy attack!? From the west!"
"At least 500 of them! A black flag, Doucy’s soldiers!?"
"What’s that? Archers…… riding horses?"
"Archers fire back! Shit, the sun is so bright!"
When the enemy started to counterattack, the setting sun disrupted their aim.
Furthermore aiming up a slope shortened their shots and reduced their power on hit.
The lightweight leather armor of the bow cavalry was enough to protect against that.
"At this rate, they’ll take us out. Close the distance! Bring the fight to close combat!"
"There’s a mere 500 of them. We just have to drag them down the hill!"
Abandoning their bows, the enemy props shields in front of their bodies and run forward instead.
It was a totally predictable move.
Leonhardt signaled to me that this was the right time to act.
It seemed a little different than usual, but now wasn’t the time to worry about it.
"Charge. Follow me."
The simple order prompted the 20 bow cavalry to fall back while my escort group of 600 cavalry and heavy cavalry waiting at the base of the hill rushed out along with Irijina, running down the enemies looking to climb the hill.
"Dowah!"
"They’re coming straight at us!"
No time was given to the enemy who intended to engage us with their shieldbearers in front.
The spears thrusted by the spear cavalry skewer the enemy soldiers and the heavy cavalry barreled right through them.
Irijina ran past enemies on horse, taking out enemies on her right with her spear along the way.
The first one got split in half, and then another collapsed after getting half his stomach torn.
Twisting her body, she focus her attention to the left.
One of the shieldbearers reacted well and swiftly positioned his shield before her spear reached him.
She turn her spear and used the side of the blade to slam into the shield.
The shieldbearer got sent flying along with his shield into three others and they all fell down together.
With the enemy starting to fall apart, those surrounding the castle undid their encirclement and regrouped.
Seeing that our army was mainly composed of cavalry, they opposed us with spears and archers. However they’re too late.
Most likely acting on Leonheardt’s instructions, the 20 bow cavalry split to the left and right to enclose the enemy.
Normal archers lacked the mobility and wouldn’t be able to do it.
Not to mention the bow cavalry were incomparably more precise than average archers.
"They’ve covered our flanks! Get the shields ready for arrows…… or should it be spears since they’re cavalry?"
The enemy seemed confused about which front to deal with.
One more thing was added to the mix.
"Open the gate! We’re going to defeat them!!"
"Now’s our chance! Slaughter them!"
gates swing open and the guards rush out.
Despite being a measly 200 strong, the addition of yet another front compounded their dilemma.
Leading the charge was Baronet Hesse…… who for some reason had a regular glove on his left hand instead of an armored one.
"Uwah, they’re coming from that side too!!"
"Calm down! We still have more soldiers than all of them combined!"
"But we can’t fight if we’re surrounded!"
The volley from the bow cavalry accelerated the enemy’s descent into chaos.
"The enemy is distancing themselves from the city. Are they retreating?"
"Look again silly girl, they’re just trying to avoid being surrounded."
Mirai continued even though she scowled at Sekrit’s interruption.
"Then we should give chase. We’ll settle the battle right away!"
A small group led by Suzy called had finally arrived.
With their presence on the battlefield, the enemy has lost their numerical advantage and we can continue our pincer maneuver.
At the same time, a smoke signal shot up from headquarters on top of the hill.
Leonhardt had ordered an all-out attack.
"Hey, isn’t it supposed to be me, the supreme commander, who normally gives the attack order?"
"Don’t sweat the details!! Skewer the baddies, skewer!!" Irijina yelled.
The enemy was visibly flustered…… rather, they actually seemed to act in a hurry.
"Spearmen, it doesn’t matter which way, just set yourselves up!"
"Archers position yourselves in the back! Not there, the west side isn’t the back, it’s the front!"
"Hesse is charging? Eeei, figure something out on your own! Doucy’s cavalry are coming!"
Accompanying the sound of galloping hooves was the sound of wheels rattling.
"What is that? A carriage? Why bring a carriage to the battlefield?"
"Is it made of metal?"
These special carriages―――― these chariots launched their ballistae and changed the enemy’s doubtful mumblings into surprised shouts.
"What happened!?"
"A ballista! A ballista just fired from that carriage!"
The great shield intended to block the rain of arrows from the bow cavalry gets torn up by the giant bolt.
In addition, the densely packed formation geared towards dealing with cavalry worked against them as a single bolt took out multiple soldiers.
Regular ballistae and cannons could not be taken with us in this fight which required speed.
However not only can the horse-driven chariots match the marching speed of the cavalry, they can also freely move around on the battlefield.
"Crush that carriage! Return fire!」
The enemy concentrates their attention on eliminating the chariots, but the metal covering the carriage and horses prevent them from going down easily.
Unable to deal with either threat, the enemy archers were defenseless against the return fire of our bow cavalry.
"Crush that carriage! Return fire!"
The enemy concentrated their attention on eliminating the chariots, but the metal covering the carriage and horses prevented them from going down easily.
Unable to deal with either threat, the enemy archers were defenseless against the return fire of our bow cavalry.
Chariots were technology created by Cass Brankovic.
The row of thirty chariots ran rampant in the enemy lines, punching holes in their formation and allowing the bow cavalry to shoot arrows in the gaps created.
Any anti-cavalry formation starting to take shape instantly gets demolished, bringing the fight closer and closer to the end.
"Bow cavalry, draw your swords, everyone charge!"
I said it this time.
My allied forces ran into the disassembled anti-cavalry lines and massacred the helpless enemy soldiers as they please.
The chariots also followed closely after, the steel blades attached to the wheels shredding enemies along the way.
It didn’t take long for the victor to be decided.
A large number of enemies were shot down while others dispersed in random directions.
When we entered the city to stock up and reorganize our troops, Baron Jimi came running to me tearfully.
I got right to the point without exchanging a friendly handshake.
"We can catch up later, for now I want you to gather all the soldiers who can still move."
If this was really a fight between him and Baron Joelo, it would be over after he lost his army, however that unfortunately didn’t seem to be the case.
In order to stop Joelo’s invasion, we need to destroy both his soldiers and the logistics base which should be within his territory. That’s what Leonhardt said.
"We’re taking the army into Joelo’s domain. Distribute food and water to the soldiers. …… and also, good job for holding out."
Hesse and Goki happily puffed out their chests with pride.
"We are of military background! We will not be defeated so easily!"
Hesse, the middle aged man with a moustache suddenly looked at my direction in disbelief.
"Reina. Is that you?"
Hesse said.
I turned to my side.
Reina seemed in a mixed emotion.
"Father " Reina replied.
What? Reina seemed to know this guy.
