Chapter 24
Chapter 24
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Like a Butterfly, Like a Bee (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Around the half-destroyed carriage with its wheels shattered lay dozens of corpses.
The Redcoats who had dismounted were desperately resisting, but there were only four of them left.
In contrast, the number of assailants who had formed multiple layers of encirclement was easily over a company-sized force. Some of them had already wheeled around, preparing defenses against this side.
Heavy infantry?
The moment he saw the heavy infantry spread out wide, gripping their naginatas short and waiting for the friendly forces to charge, his heart, which had been burning hot, cooled in an instant.
Countless thoughts raced through his mind.
- The current friendly forces were equipped with 3-meter lances, shortened for portability rather than the 4.5-meter charge lances.
- With the couched lance technique of tucking the lance under the arm, accurately striking enemies spread out that wide would be difficult.
- Even if they succeeded by some miracle, against enemies that heavily armored, the lances would likely shatter before the impact could transfer properly.
After that, they'd fall victim to the naginata wielders' specialty: dragging riders down from their horses.
Charging in lightly would lead to disaster.
Normally, he was confident he could neutralize them given enough time. If not, wheeling around and breaking through elsewhere was always an option.
No, there wasn't time for that.
He erased all the options that flashed through his head.
The Redcoats' official name was the Trakieri Royal Guard Cavalry. Whoever they were escorting was obvious.
While lost in thought, another Redcoat fell.
Now only three remained.
Not even enough to guard all four directions.
The survivors had arrows lodged in various parts of their bodies, and it was anyone's guess when they'd collapse.
Time was short.
They had to break in right now.
"Release the couched lances!"
Having reached a decision in an instant, he barked out orders.
"Wide wedge formation!"
"Push straight through! Prepare for what comes after the impact!"
"Check saddle knife positions!"
The distance to the enemy narrowed.
Their figures, clutching lances with both hands, resembled hunters laying traps and awaiting their prey.
Elites. And ones with ample experience against cavalry.
Just seeing them calmly prepare for battle despite twenty fully armored heavy cavalry bearing down on them made it clear.
These weren't amateurs.
And that meant there was a real chance that Bluecoats would suffer casualties here today.
To make matters worse, archers in the rear ranks of the naginata troops were readying their shots.
In their current state without horse armor, even that was a threat.
Damn it!
He couldn't afford to lose Bluecoats to the rear, not the front.
"Pick up the pace!"
He poured every bit of acceleration from the downhill run and all remaining momentum into it.
In his mind, he repeated it endlessly.
From the tough bastards who survived the hellish barrage of magic fire, he had handpicked only those exceptional in horsemanship and lance work for 1st Platoon.
He was certain: they were Thracia's finest.
Believe in them. Bluecoats.
He urged them on faster.
This was where it got truly dangerous.
One misstep, and the royal gift horses could buckle the moment the downhill ended.
But hesitating out of fear would just make them fodder for the archers.
Thud thud thud thud thud.
All sounds vanished except the hoofbeats.
No more screams, no shouts.
And soon, even the hoofbeats faded.
Huff, huff.
Through the gap in his helmet, he glared at the enemy.
Ping, piiing.
In the silent world, the twang of bowstrings rang out.
Followed by the sharp whistle of arrows slicing the air.
Did they all dodge?
No one unhorsed?
Wait, the downhill first?
His chain of thoughts snapped one by one.
His vision narrowed further.
Now, only the enemies ahead mattered.
Deep breath in, lance raised over his shoulder.
One.
A naginata wielder with a face full of malice came into view.
Two.
The gap at his neck, between breastplate and helmet, widened.
Three!
A heavy impact traveled up his arms.
Whose flesh broke? Whose lance shattered? It didn't matter.
Clang.
He drew the cavalry saber from its saddle sheath.
"Break through!"
He swung fiercely.
"Kaaack!"
"Argh!"
The silent world erupted in chaos once more.
**
Yakov Kasimir forcibly clung to his fading consciousness.
Despite their full preparations and ambush, most of his escort had been slaughtered by the enemy's surprise attack.
The company-sized Redcoats were down to four, including himself.
If he fell here, the situation would be irretrievable.
"Hah!"
He grabbed a thrusting spear shaft and yanked it toward him, slashing the startled enemy's throat.
Spurt.
Blood sprayed up like a fountain, straight into his eyes.
His visor was up to secure his vision.
Damn it!
He wiped his eyes with his gauntleted hand.
But the glove was already soaked in blood.
Far from cleaning it, the pain only worsened.
"Grahhh!"
He swung his sword in a wide arc to push back the enemies, then hastily stripped off his gauntlet and rubbed his eyes roughly.
Even then, it took time for his vision to clear.
As he parried blows one after another, waiting for his sight to return, something odd caught his eye.
From far up the hill, something was descending.
"Bluecoats!"
He couldn't help but cheer.
But the cheer was short-lived.
"N-No! Stop!"
The Bluecoats numbered barely twenty.
A single platoon couldn't handle enemies fully prepared against cavalry.
Charging like that would just get them counterattacked.
"Huh...?"
But the Bluecoats' speed was insane.
So fast they looked like blue streaks.
The enemy sharpshooters who had unhorsed countless Redcoats missed shot after shot.
But that was it.
They couldn't properly exit the downhill at that reckless speed.
Many would surely crash into the ground.
So he thought.
Thud thud thud thud thud!
No.
All twenty Bluecoats cleared the downhill unscathed.
Their speed hadn't dropped at all.
Boom!
Then they slammed into the enemy.
He was dying to know the outcome.
Unfortunately, the enemies didn't give him time.
"Grahhh!"
He roared, swinging his sword wildly.
Any thought of felling foes was long gone.
Just flailing to keep them at bay was all he could manage.
But one hand couldn't block ten.
"Nngh."
Weighed down by naginatas pressing on his shoulder, he finally dropped to one knee.
One infantry raised a mace, closing in.
Intending to crush him armor and all.
This was truly the end.
Sensing his last moments, Yakov Kasimir glared wide-eyed.
At that instant.
"Gek!"
The mace-wielder vanished from before him, flung high.
The naginata troops scattered in all directions.
"Ah..."
A Bluecoat astride a pure white warhorse looked down at him.
"Can you still fight, Redcoat?"
The Bluecoat whose eyes met his asked.
Having survived by the skin of his teeth, he had no strength left in his body.
"I can fight."
Even so, he grabbed an enemy lance from the ground and stood.
A Redcoat couldn't show weakness.
Especially not to a Bluecoat.
"Then hold out just a bit longer."
The Bluecoat bared his teeth in a grin and lowered his visor with a click.
"Break through straight ahead!"
Then, leading the Bluecoats who had arrived just after, he vanished toward the opposite direction from which they'd come.
Moments ago, he'd been completely stationary, speaking to him. Now he was charging at the front again.
Was it the horse or the rider?
"Hoo."
Yakov Kasimir readjusted his grip on the lance.
The spot the Bluecoats had swept through was already filling with enemies again.
They attacked him even more fiercely.
They knew it too.
No chance once the Bluecoats returned.
And.
"You held up well."
They came back.
"Leave the rest to us."
**
Thracians always said it.
Redcoats and Bluecoats were the kingdom's finest cavalry.
And the Redcoats denied it.
- The crude mounted combat techniques of field cavalry were nothing compared to the refined arts of the Redcoats.
Yakov Kasimir had believed the same.
That they were the kingdom's strongest.
The Redcoats had mastered every tactic and technique the Bluecoats used.
Under equal conditions, the individually superior Redcoats wouldn't yield to Bluecoats.
But in this moment, he painfully realized how stupid and arrogant that was.
"Bluecoats! To your positions!"
The Bluecoats formed a near-semicircular line abreast.
"Forward!"
The warhorses slid forward, dragging their hooves.
"Thrust!"
The twenty Bluecoats thrust as one body.
"Back to position!"
The horses that had glided forward retreated in short steps.
With each advance and retreat, the enemies tormenting the Redcoats fell like harvested wheat.
Mastered mounted combat techniques perfectly?
The Redcoats could never fight like that, dead or alive.
If they could, they wouldn't have failed so miserably to break through when they first spotted the ambush, getting dragged down one by one.
They had failed, and in that brief absence, their infantry escorts were massacred.
But the Bluecoats succeeded.
The notion that they wouldn't yield under equal conditions was just arrogant wishful thinking from the Redcoats.
At least on horseback, Redcoats couldn't keep up with Bluecoats.
Right now proved it.
It wasn't just repeating advance-thrust-retreat to kill.
They were masterful with speed, height, and spacing too.
And the horses—fierce beyond belief.
The naginata wielders couldn't even approach properly.
Especially that white one.
-Neighhh!
It trampled spear-wielding foes like a porcupine without hesitation.
Sometimes even biting their necks and hurling them aside.
Its rider was equally astonishing.
Perfectly timing advances and retreats, striking and withdrawing; each command he gave shook the enemy encirclement.
Archers tried to unhorse them, but the Bluecoats closed ranks tight, using infantry as shields, foiling every attempt.
Frustrated, the archers targeted riders directly with arrows.
But the Bluecoats didn't flinch, deflecting arrows with their armor.
Exposed archers were promptly punished.
By then, the archers didn't dare reveal positions, just watching warily.
"Waaah!"
How much time passed? Cheers echoed from the ridgeline, followed by colorful masses tumbling down the slope like rolling boulders.
"Switch to offense!"
Only after the Bluecoat commander's order did he realize they were reinforcements.
Caught in a pincer attack, the enemies fell into total chaos.
Soon, they began fleeing one by one.
"Damage report!"
Rather than pursue, the Bluecoat commander checked casualties first.
"Five lost their horses, but no fatalities."
"Injuries?"
"One has broken front teeth, the other four are relatively fine."
"Good. Legs are intact, then."
"Yes. They're fresh enough to run to the front lines, not just the fortress."
But the conversation felt off somehow.
Like he was about to hand down punishment to bees or something.
Horses could just be resupplied, after all.
"Did you hear what the young master said?"
"'Resupply and done,' he says?"
The Bluecoats must have overheard, bursting into laughter.
As if it'd been the funniest joke ever. Their demeanor didn't make sense.
"Try saying that in front of Major Sanov."
"Young master thinks the front is as plentiful as the rear."
Even the dismounted Bluecoats joined in, tossing barbs.
"Isn't a cavalryman who loses his horse as good as dead?"
"But the corpses are talking?"
They wilted after one retort, though.
They didn't look like men who'd just fought a brutal melee. Yakov Kasimir was left dumbfounded.
The screams of enemies and allies still rang in his ears.
The sticky blood scent clung to his nostrils.
"Ah..."
Only now did the surroundings register.
Friend and foe lay tangled together.
Soldiers with ghost-like painted faces roamed, stabbing corpses one by one to confirm.
"Urk."
Nausea surged belatedly.
He couldn't hold it.
"Bleurgh!"
He emptied everything.
**
The Bluecoats seized the moment to tease the Redcoats.
But it wasn't the best time to air old grudges between the storied cavalry units.
Of the three Redcoats who fought to the end, two succumbed to blood loss.
The lone survivor was the one before him.
"Enough."
A bit late, but he shut the Bluecoats up and dismounted.
"Hama."
Without orders, Jamal took it upon himself to inspect the Bluecoats.
Leaving them behind, he approached the half-wrecked carriage.
Knock knock.
He rapped lightly on the door.
No response.
Maybe the impact wrecked everyone inside unconscious.
He cautiously opened the door.
Creeeak.
The moment he did, a brilliant blue flash shot out.
Damn it.