Chapter 160
Chapter 160
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 160
Chapter Title: Ritzen Hill Great Battle (3)
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Up to now, as a two-star major general, I'd already cut down nearly twenty soldiers at the vanguard. The knights and soldiers standing at the front lines with me were fighting with everything they had, holding the line firm.
If our opponents had been from the Franco Republic or the Duchy of Chekobia, the enemy infantry's morale would have already hit rock bottom by now.
The enemy commander would have rotated out his attacking forces by this point, not wanting to waste his men on pointless deaths...
"You filthy invading bastards, drop dead! I'll show you the pride of the Swiss mercenaries!"
"You worthless pigs, I'll rip out your guts and make sausages out of them!"
"Die! Die! Die!"
Exaggerating just a bit, this was a mercenary nation where practically every citizen was called a mercenary. These bandit spawn might be flagging in stamina,
but they were still maintaining some level of morale, their soldiers surging forward like endless waves.
Damn bastards. It was like watching WWII German troops high on meth or those Russian "Urah!" charges in the flesh...
That's how I kept slashing at the approaching soldiers while lost in thought, when faint ominous murmurs started drifting in from around me.
"Shit, Maria, I'm sorry."
"Even if I die here, you're coming with me, you dog worse than scum."
"Sergeant! Sergeant! Argh! You filthy Swiss bandit bastards."
Thanks to me fighting like a madman at the front, I wasn't hearing any complaints blaming His Highness the Crown Prince or the other generals.
But if things kept going like this, the knights and soldiers' stamina wouldn't hold out, and the hill's defenses would collapse completely.
Then we'd be annihilated here.
"Send in the second wave! The first wave fighting now, fall back to the rear and rest! Prepare some hardtack and grain soup for the returning first-wave soldiers!"
At those words, the first-wave soldiers who'd been fighting alongside me finally let out sighs of relief, able to rest and glad they'd survived.
At the same time, signals via bugle and flags conveyed the rotation of first and second waves, and a soldier behind me asked,
"Major General, sir, why don't you withdraw with us? You've already taken down nearly dozens of enemies—aren't you pushing too hard? Shouldn't you rest and recover your strength too, sir?"
Truth be told, I wanted nothing more than to pull back and rest. But today, I had to fight to the death no matter what, until the enemy retreated.
That way, the soldiers would realize there was a general fighting for them to the end, even in this hellish situation.
In the horrific retreat battle ahead—god knows how long it would drag on—they could cling to Peter Jaeger as their mental pillar of strength.
As Admiral Yi Sun-sin once said, to survive, you must resolve to die—no, sometimes embrace ordeals that make you think dying might be better.
"It was my failing that placed you in this horrific battlefield. How could I retreat from the vanguard on just the first day?"
"You've fought more than enough, sir. If you get hurt or..."
"Didn't I tell you yesterday? My mission is to save even one more of you from this hellhole and send you safely home. So I stake my honor on it— as long as my heart beats and I draw breath, I will not retreat today."
I knew even as I said it how cringey it sounded. But this was an extreme situation.
So a corny line like that could end up as a famous quote in history. Even if not, if it touched these soldiers' hearts, that was enough.
The first wave, pulling back to rest and catch their breath, would gossip plenty.
About how the noble Major General Peter Jaeger had staked his life at the front, cutting down dozens, yet refused to join them in rest when the whole first wave withdrew.
How he'd sworn to stay at the vanguard and fight no matter what.
If word of this spread through the army, the soldiers would know my sincerity and trust me.
Whether I'd return alive or as ashes to Laura's side hung on this.
And right on cue, the footsteps and voices of the second-wave soldiers echoed from behind me.
"The 7th Division commander's right there! And Major General Jaeger's at the very front!"
"The Major General really staked his life for us! Let's repay his sincerity with our lives!"
"You idiot! The Division Commander treats even us lowly grunts like his own kids and told us to come back alive. So we kill all those bastards and go home alive!"
Soldiers heading into battle—especially a hopeless one they were forced into—usually trudged to the front lines with dead-fish eyes.
But just knowing I was here filled these men with hope that they could return alive.
How could I leave such men behind and rest easy?
"As long as the sun doesn't set today or those vile Swiss bastards don't retreat, I'll fight at the vanguard to the end. So don't fear. I'll send even one more of you home alive."
Those words, of course, reached both the Swiss soldiers and the Reich Empire troops.
My men erupted in cheers like rabid fans shaking hands with their idol, while the enemy wore expressions like it was all over.
"Shit, we're fighting just as hard—why won't our nobles even think of leading from the front? Isn't that too much?!"
"...This guy's insane. Totally insane. We're winning. They're completely cut off."
"Mom, Dad. What is this? I'm scared."
Seeing the soldiers before me freeze in terror, bodies paralyzed, I swung my sword and cut down the one right in front of me first.
Blood naturally splattered my armor, and I exploited the enemies' stunned shock, swinging wildly.
Enemy soldier necks, chests, thighs, waists of those in quilted armor, and more.
Killing several in their dazed state, I spotted gaps forming in the enemy's assault formation.
"Second wave! Counterattack! We'll push them off this hill! Follow my back! 7th Division standard-bearer, bring the division flag and follow!"
At my shout, a greenhorn lieutenant carrying the division flag chased after me, and the soldiers roared madly as they surged forward en masse.
"Long live Major General Jaeger! He's carved a path to survival in this hellhole!"
"Division Commander's orders: smash the pots of those fear-frozen bastards and save them! Everyone, grab your polearms and follow!"
"I'll smash over ten pots today—then go back, get promoted to NCO or discharge papers, and that's that!"
Hearing that, I charged at the Swiss troops shaking so badly their weapons rattled in their grips.
They couldn't use long spears for hill assaults, but charging as division commander into foes wielding maces that could flatten me in one hit was insane—anyone would try to stop me.
But in truth, leading the charge from the front when our army's momentum peaked was relatively safe.
Because humans instinctively freeze or tremble in fear against a terrifying, powerful group, slowing their movements.
Making them far easier to kill with my sword.
Maybe that's why Admiral Yi Sun-sin said not to yield to the instinct to live shaking—resolve to die and move nimbly.
"Spare me, spare me... Shit, I don't want to die... I don't wanna die like a dog!"
When the enemies right before me shook uncontrollably, barely gripping their weapons as expected, I grinned inside my helmet and said,
"I'll save you from the terror of death. Rest easy and die now, you Swiss bandit scum."
With that, I horizontally slashed my sword across the throats of the three right in front, sending them off in one go. Once fully engaged in close quarters with the enemy, I sheathed my two-handed sword.
Instead, I drew my mace—the perfect weapon for melees and smashing armor.
"I'll smash all your skulls and kill you! Haha, if you want to live, turn tail and run."
Saying that, I hammered whatever vital spots came to hand: waists, torsos, arms, necks, heads.
When the mace hit an enemy's torso, a numbing jolt and the crunch of shattering bones transmitted straight to my hands.
"Bastard, you bastard... Invading our land, acting all righteous alone."
Those who didn't die instantly writhed on the ground, feeling their weakening heartbeats as they cursed me.
But I had no room for sentimentality, mechanically bashing every enemy in sight one by one.
Sometime later—thirty minutes? An hour?—I snapped to and realized I'd advanced nearly forty meters from our hill position.
From the Swiss lines, the retreat bugle blared loud and clear.
The moment they heard it, the enemy soldiers bolted like their lives depended on it—hell, they did.
"Flee the monster! Escape that damned lion bastard!"
"The Reich Empire troops are monsters... Monster bastards..."
"Even if I mercenary again, never against Reich bastards. Shit! Shit!"
I wanted to pursue and slaughter them, but pushing deeper risked a counter-ambush.
"The Reich Empire army has won today's battle! All troops, withdraw as is and rest!"
That was as far as we'd go.