Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: Richen Hill Great Battle (2)
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In this battle, the fight on the first day could be called the most crucial.
If we achieve good results on the first day, we can say we've practically won half the war already.
The reason is that while I stepped up to the front lines to boost our troops' morale, it's nothing more than injecting them with a stimulant—temporarily igniting their fighting spirit in a surge.
However, if that temporarily heightened battle fervor produces one victory, people who've tasted success will find it easier to claim the next one too.
The army that marches into battle draws strength from the confidence born of that successful experience, making them even tougher—even in more dire circumstances next time—and securing another win.
Thus, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that whether we endure the first day unscathed will determine the success or failure of this entire retreat operation.
Since the Swichiland Duke and the duchy’s commanders know this as well as we do, today’s battle will likely be especially fierce.
"Kill them! Kill! Don’t let a single one escape! We have to let the Major General who risked his life for lowly scum like us live!"
"Loose arrows! Fire! Pour them out without mercy! If we run out, we’ll yank the ones from the enemy corpses tomorrow!"
"Anyone not a crossbowman, hurl stones! One good hit cracks their skulls!"
Like that, the soldiers unleashed a torrent of arrows, spells, and even boulders at the vile enemy. The Swichiland bandits up the hill couldn’t recover from the barrage raining down from above.
Of course, the enemy fired arrows and spells back at us on the hill, but from our elevated position, they didn’t land very effectively.
So, to exaggerate just a bit, the ranged exchange was practically a one-sided slaughter.
We could fight with relatively light hearts, but the Swichiland soldiers must have felt every minute dragging on like a year.
Of course, we Reich Empire troops—including myself—are such humanitarian folk that we’ll hasten their release from suffering with a swift dose of death.
"Damn it, why the hell are those Reich invaders camped on Richen Hill?!"
"We can’t climb up! Hey, Mark, snap out of it! Don’t die!"
"Come down and fight fair, you bastards!"
The Swichiland troops climbing from below were dying miserable deaths, but unless we had machine guns in our hands blasting away...
Eventually, they’d pile up a wall of their own corpses and reach us, so it was about time to prepare for close quarters.
"Mage units, crossbow units, and cavalry archers fall back behind the spearmen and provide covering fire down the hill. Knights, position yourselves at the front to meet the enemy head-on. Infantry, shift to a support formation from the rear."
This way, even if the enemy closed in, we could keep pounding them with ranged weapons.
Not only were the knights supreme on horseback, but dismounted in melee, they boasted peak combat prowess—and with them at the forefront, the enemy infantry couldn’t easily take them down.
That bolstered our formation’s defense and offense, and with infantry support from behind, it grew even stronger.
Thus, this new formation was the absolute best for facing the Swichiland horde swarming up like cockroaches.
By the time the bandit scum had clambered over their own dead to halfway up the hill, we’d already perfected the formation I’d ordered.
The knights in steel plate thumped their chests and laughed boldly as they took point.
"Make way! Make way! The knights of the Reich Empire will stand on the most dangerous ground!"
"You lot stab and bash anything that gets past us from behind!"
"Hahaha! What a glorious day for an honorable fight!"
The soldiers gazed at them—at those stepping proudly into the deadliest spot—with respect and envy.
The knights welcomed those looks with glee, swinging massive infantry flails.
Even to me nearby, they looked brutally heavy and powerful; to the Swichiland grunts slogging up the hill, they must’ve seemed scarier than ghosts.
About five minutes later, the hillside they’d climbed was carpeted with so many Swichiland corpses you couldn’t count them.
The surviving enemy soldiers ground their teeth and pressed nearly to our position.
"Why won’t you bastards leave us be, even when we’re just holed up quietly in our mountain valleys?!"
"You dogs worse than dogs! Heathen scum!"
"I’ll kill every last one of you! Then grind your bones to dust and drink ’em down!"
Sure, we’d struck Swichiland first, but it was Count Bern and the Swichiland Duke who’d lured us into attacking.
Count Bern—the man who’d fed His Highness the Crown Prince the pretext for war by pretending to betray his homeland and spreading false intel for years.
But there was no time to quibble over that now.
All that mattered was killing one more enemy in front of me and sending one more Reich Empire soldier home alive.
"These Swichiland bandit scum sure are cowardly! Crying and dragging your feet up a single hill—think that’ll work? No way! Brave soldiers of the Reich Empire, those pansies look like they’re suffering, so let’s put them out of their misery! Everyone, hurl stones on my mark!"
With that, I hefted a boulder the length of my arms in both hands and flung it at the crawling swarm.
The other Reich troops chucked hefty rocks too.
Most struck the Swichiland soldiers mid-climb; those hit by the heavy stones died outright or suffered grievous wounds.
"A death fit for Swichiland hillbilly bandits! Alright, now the real fight begins! Everyone, hold the line to the end!"
The moment I finished speaking, the Swichiland soldiers tried vaulting or smashing our makeshift barricade.
I thrust my sword into the chest of one swinging a hammer at the wood, then methodically cut down those around me.
In a normal battle, if a major general like me slew an enemy, the troops would shout it for all to hear.
But glancing around now, no one had the spare wits for it.
"Didn’t your mothers teach you steel plate shrugs off punches? Die, you ignorant brute!"
"Go join your parents in the grave!"
"What a pretty way your head cracked! Stick your noggins out, you hick bastards!"
Everywhere I looked, men were too busy stemming the flood of Swichiland troops to notice anything else. The soldiers fought their utmost to live up to my faith in them—risking all for us.
To someone who’d studied to become an officer even before possessing Peter Jaeger, this scene felt downright beautiful.
But to bring this tale to a beautiful, perfect end...
We had to save every last man we could.
"Die, you goddamn Swichiland bandit scum!"
I trusted my 400-gold premium plate to stop all but the worst hits, swinging my sword recklessly.
My blade work—which had already slain Khan—didn’t disappoint, felling every Swichiland soldier in its path.
The ones facing me soon trembled in terror, faces drained of color.
"M-monster. It’s a monster."
"Damn it, I get the rest, but why’s a noble major general from your own country prancing around here causing havoc?!"
"Surrender—we surrender! Spare our lives..."
Even with the battle tilting so heavily in their favor, they quaked at my sword. Leading from the front didn’t just boost our morale—it shattered theirs too. Perfect.
Thinking that, I signaled the supporting troops behind me with a glance.
Then I cleaved the terrified foe before me, and the men who caught my cue bellowed.
"Major General Jaeger is massacring the Swichiland bandits!"
"Swichiland soldiers can’t stand against us!"
"Long live Major General Jaeger! Long live the Reich Empire! Long live His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!"
Those cheers set our already fired-up Reich Empire troops boiling like water in a pot.
I felt a powerful cohesion forming around me. Knights and soldiers nearby began fighting with utter resolve.
"The Major General kept his promise! Now let’s stake our lives on surviving!"
"We only die once—let’s go out fighting gloriously!"
"I’ll make it home alive, and I’ll kill you bandits here! If you value your hides, stay out of my front!"
Watching this, I thought to myself.
‘Just the fact that a high-ranking officer is fighting on the front lines boosts morale this much. Is that why that Patton general was always itching to lead the vanguard?’