Chapter 242
Chapter 242
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 242
Chapter Title: The Empire's Vikings (3)
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As soon as I said that and thrust my sword forward, the Reich Empire's soldiers charged ahead, humming cheerful tunes.
"Let's charge in! There's a bounty payout for every one of those bastards' heads we lop off!"
"You think we're gonna make Captain Jaeger swing his sword around for nothing? Grab your blades and get in there!"
"Let's take the necks of the scum who shot arrows at our comrades first! Don't leave a single one alive!"
With that, they leaped onto the enemy ships clustered to the right of our flagship—the one I was riding—armed with cavalry sabers meant for use on horseback.
The sight of them pushing forward, swords in hand, was like that of Mongol horsemen sweeping through an enemy city in an instant.
Well, not quite. Before surrendering to the Reich Empire, they had been nomadic tribes living off plundering honest folk who just wanted to farm in peace.
But ever since I personally slew Ludwig, they followed my every word to the letter—exaggerating a bit, they'd even pretend to die if I told them to. I almost forgot what they really were.
Once they boarded, they slaughtered the enemy marines with a ferocious momentum straight out of a pirate movie I'd seen in my past life—monsters sucking the blood from their foes.
"You crazy barbarian bastards! Aren't you afraid to die?!"
"Damn it, clump together! We only survive if we stick as one—huddle up, you idiots!"
"Agh, you Reich Empire scum... why the hell did you invade and ruin everything..."
The soldiers from our Reich Empire flagship steadily pressed the enemy, shifting the battle's momentum in our favor.
The enemy captain couldn't just sit there taking it, either. He drew his own sword and swung it around, directing his men with surprising vigor.
"Don't let yourselves get pushed back by the northern barbarians the Reich Empire keeps as pets! Kill every last one of them! Push forward!! Just a little more pressure, and we can take that Jaeger bastard's head! Any man who wants to change his fate, charge without mercy!"
As the captain stepped up personally to rally the Warsaw thugs aboard with him, their morale visibly surged in an instant.
My own troops fell back slightly to catch their breath, and I scanned the surroundings, racking my brain for the right command to give.
"I've been busting my ass for two straight months just to slaughter brainless punks like you—damn it all!"
"If you don't wanna die, drop your swords and surrender!"
"Screw you—die just like that. Die!"
I couldn't see the full battlefield from my perch on the lookout tower, but so far, the tide had clearly turned in our favor.
Still, if this standoff dragged on, it would rack up unnecessary casualties for our side.
And more casualties here would jeopardize the follow-up operation: the coastal city plundering.
As commander, I couldn't tolerate such variables.
So, steeling myself to take a bit of risk, I decided to smash those dog-worse-than scum with my own hands.
"Everyone, stand back! Peter Jaeger himself will cleave the heads of those rootless Warsaw bandit bastards in two!"
With those words, I plunged straight into the gap between the Reich Empire soldiers and the Warsaw troops.
As I pushed in, I drew the cavalry saber gifted to me by the northerners from its sheath on my right side and immediately slashed down the Warsaw marine right in front of me.
I felt that heavy, familiar handshock of killing a man after so long, but there was no time to savor it.
Because Warsaw bastards ripe for my blade were scattered everywhere, waiting.
"You Warsaw scum, not even worth a dog's spit! If you were born men, you'd charge to take my head— so why are you sniveling on the deck like this?!"
After needling the Warsaw soldiers like that, I swung my sword from low left to high right, ending another unfortunate soul.
To keep grinding down the Warsaw marines' morale, I stuck to spots shielded from magic and arrows, pressing the melee.
With every one I killed by my hand, cheers erupted from the northerners.
"Damn, glad we're still kicking. Getting to watch Captain Jaeger carve up the enemy in person."
"Bet he fought just like that when he took down Ludwig."
"That's a real man right there. Man, I gotta practice my swordwork more."
As I built up momentum, the northern soldiers followed right behind, raising their own spirits and picking off the Warsaw fighters on the ship beside our flagship, one by one.
When we'd first boarded, there had been nearly a hundred enemy combatants. Now, you could count them on your fingers.
With things cornered like this, the captain and his surviving troops frantically scanned for escape routes—but fat chance.
"A captain's gotta be ready to go down with his ship. Abandoning it to run? That's no way to fight! Die honorably on deck!"
I couldn't let him slip away; that'd be like cooking him up and feeding him to someone else's dog.
With that, I shook the blood from my blade and bolted toward the captain like a shot.
"Damn it, why's a four-star captain like you personally swinging a sword?! You bastard!"
It was my call to spare my men even one extra death, but I didn't owe the bastard an explanation.
I deflected his swing at a slant to the left, then brought my blade down hard on the right, slashing deep into the captain's neck.
He wasn't the enemy commander overall, but as a Reich Empire captain, I'd just taken down a high-ranking enemy officer.
Naturally, our troops' morale shot through the roof, and word spread instantly across all forty Reich Empire warships locked in fierce combat here.
"Captain Peter Jaeger personally took the head of the Warsaw warship's captain!"
"It's as good as won already! Keep pushing!"
"Long live the Reich Empire! Long live the Kakan! Long live His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!"
I'd only personally captured one ship, but just as a massive building crumbles from a tiny crack...
The news of the Reich Empire commander beheading an enemy captain was plenty to crush the Warsaw fleet's morale across the board.
My prediction hit the mark perfectly—the Warsaw marines' fighting spirit visibly deflated compared to moments ago.
"We've taken the warship! Head below deck now and kill or capture the rowers! Slaughter anyone who resists without mercy. Take the surrenders as prisoners!"
At my order, about forty soldiers descended below the Warsaw warship's deck where I stood, and I led the remaining flagship troops back aboard.
The momentum, evenly matched until I'd slain the captain, now swung completely our way. The battlefield filled with the dying screams of the enemy.
"Damn you Reich Empire bastards!"
"I surrender! I'll surrender, so put down that sword!"
"Just spare my life—please, just my life!"
That way, we captured or seized enemy ships one by one, steadily shrinking the front line held by the Warsaw fleet.
Before long, a few Warsaw navy warships started turning tail, prepping to flee.
In a normal battle, we might've let them go, but in a surprise raid like this, escaping enemies would just run to our allies and spill that we'd hit them.
The more we smashed now, the longer it'd take for word of our coastal plundering to spread across the shore.
That would let us execute the original plan—raiding the coastal cities—on a grand scale.
Of course, with this, the Warsaw bastards would soon notice their patrol ships had vanished.
The scale of the coastal cities and ports I proposed to His Majesty would shrink...
But facing down forty enemy ships and scoring a massive victory? The actual merit dwarfed just looting the coast. If anything, this was better than expected.
"Any warships with steam left, pursue those fleeing bastards immediately! Disarm the prisoners, stash them below deck, then give chase! Don't let a single one escape! I'll lead the vanguard!"
With that, I drew my cavalry saber again and dashed across the planks laid between ships, hounding the enemy so they couldn't flee freely.
Thanks to throwing myself into the fray without holding back that day, we clinched a huge win in my first naval battle.
Eight enemy ships captured, fifteen sunk, two thousand enemy killed, nearly a thousand prisoners taken, plus navy supplies seized.
The original plan—to plunder westward deep into Warsaw—would now scale back to hitting just two major hub cities on the way home...
But this would cripple their sea dominance for the foreseeable future. Strategically, it was the bigger victory.
"Bind the prisoners with ropes, stuff them below deck, and make them row! If they resist, break them until they obey—but don't kill or beat them otherwise. We're hitting just two big coastal cities, then heading straight back!"