Chapter 256
Chapter 256
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 256
Chapter Title: Battle of Glopino Plains (5)
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The clash between 15,000 knights who failed to form proper ranks and the Reich Empire knights who maintained the correct formation to maximize their impact.
Here, the early advantage went to the Reich Empire forces, who slammed into the enemy with a dense wedge formation at just the right speed.
On their approach, the Warsaw knights had already suffered a preliminary volley of arrows from the Empire's mounted archers, causing their horses to bolt or collapse and shattering their formation.
As a result, they couldn't properly wield their lances—the long spears that amplified a knight's power.
Most of the Warsaw knights' attacks never even reached the Empire troops.
Dozens of minutes of galloping buildup for their killing blow ended up whiffing through empty air or glancing off armor, the force dissipating harmlessly.
In the ensuing panic, the knights floundered, at a complete loss for what to do.
"You thick-headed horse bastard! Eyes front, front! Why the hell are you looking left and falling over?!"
"Shit, it missed. If this misses, we're dead."
"Argh! Shield! Shield!"
As the saying goes, one man's misery is another's joy. The Reich Empire knights, holding their textbook lance charge formation, skewered the flailing enemy who could only poke at thin air.
The heavy blows—horse speed plus the weight of knight and mount—sent Warsaw knights flying sky-high from their saddles.
No one in proper plate armor was pierced fatally by the lances, but some wore subpar gear... and those turned into human kebabs.
But no need to feel too bad for them.
Even knights in proper plate just avoided the skewer treatment—they still died all the same.
Those hit first by the vanguard and the lances right behind them first tasted the shock of being unhorsed, then got trampled and crushed under the hooves of their own follow-up knights.
For them, their armor became their coffin.
"Warsaw moron bastards—how do you even charge with lances and just swing at empty air? I'm so grateful I'm gonna cry."
"Go rest easy with your late mother and father."
"We'll bury your corpses nice, so don't worry! Dying in armor mid-battle makes you heroic warriors, right? I'm so jealous!"
With the vanguard regiment under Colonel Laura's command succeeding in their charge, follow-up units piled in right after, driving the wedge deeper like splitting a massive boulder.
The gaps torn in the Warsaw knights' lines—who had lost momentum in the initial clash and let the Empire knights penetrate—only widened with time.
As the holes in their formation grew, more Warsaw knights died, and the Reich Empire knights' momentum soared higher.
Yet even this ferocious charge had limits, given the Empire knights' numerical disadvantage. What started as ripping through paper soon slowed, eventually stalled by the Warsaw Grand Duchy knights.
The Empire's knight commanders, quick to seize the moment, issued new orders just as the lance charges ended.
"Draw swords! Pull secondary weapons and brace for a dogfight!"
"Prepare for melee! Melee prep!"
"No second charge! Grab those damn Warsaw knights' ankles by any means necessary!"
In such situations, knights from both sides would tacitly withdraw to regroup.
But with the enemy outnumbering them by over 1.5 to 1, falling back to reform and recharge would put the Reich Empire knights at a hopeless disadvantage.
So rather than the standard second charge, the best play now was to crash in and hold.
Colonel Laura, at the forefront of the Empire knights, knew this well. She spurred her horse forward, shoving through allies, one hand drawing her rapier—perfect for stabbing armor gaps—as she commanded.
"Grab their ankles! It'll be awkward with our own mounts in the way, but flip that: while you're hooked on them, they can't move freely either! If we let these Warsaw bastards go now, they'll just charge again."
She didn't spell out the consequences, but the knights knew the ripple effects all too well.
So they clustered tight, latching onto the Warsaw Grand Duchy knights' ankles with everything they had. The fight devolved into a mounted brawl.
"You goddamn sons of bitches! I'll smash your pots with my hammer!"
"Follow Colonel Laura! Crack those Warsaw bastards' helmets!"
"One swing from that big heavy mace in your hand kills the bastard in front of you!"
In the chaos of the melee, Laura wove through allied horses to reach the Warsaw knights.
She stabbed her rapier into armor joints—vitals only—dropping one foe, then two.
Meanwhile, Brigadier General Anastasia, under Division Commander Jaeger's orders, swung wide to the enemy right flank.
"Give those Warsaw moron bastards a taste of arrows! Let's show the Warsaw thieves some fine Northern customs!"
Just like in her Northern nomad days, Anya ordered lavish arrow barrages as they passed the enemy flank.
She and all her riders loosed dozens of shafts at the Warsaw infantry.
"Nice shot! Warsaw thief spawn, not a single one of you is going home alive!"
"Blame your generals who herded you into this mess—not us!"
"Wanted to send you off with fire arrows so it wouldn't feel lonely—sorry! Love ya! Die!"
The Warsaw right flank had to face Reich Empire infantry head-on while arrows rained from the side.
Soldiers and officers alike had no clue how to respond.
"When the hell are the reserves coming? We'll all die like this!"
"Captain, we've lost a whole platoon already! We can't just hold hands and die together!"
"S-save me, shit! Arrrgh!"
Even those who knew the playbook were helpless. Panic shattered their pike square defenses in seconds.
This handed the Reich Empire forces a prime melee setup, and the Warsaw infantry started getting massacred one-sidedly.
"Don't get ahead of yourself chasing promotions—you could end up hanging from a military tribunal! Kill 'em one by one, slow and steady!"
"One enemy down, check your flanks! Push too deep and you're surrounded!"
"Shoulder to shoulder with the man next to you—advance! Their pike squares are broken, so steamrolling now is safest and most efficient!"
As the Reich Empire infantry pressed from the right flank, Anastasia's adjutant asked.
"Ma'am, didn't Division Commander Jaeger grant some leeway for initiative?"
"He did. So what do you want?"
"How about hitting those flailing, fallen Warsaw bastards over there?"
Anastasia pondered briefly.
For personal glory, sure—her 4,000-ish mounted archers could stab the Warsaw infantry's side, as the adjutant suggested.
But on the big picture, it might slightly disadvantage the Empire overall.
"Circle to the enemy rear as planned. Buy time until their plodding infantry reserves from the woods arrive. Once I signal, all units break into platoons and tear up the Warsaw rear."
The order spread swiftly through the mounted archer brigade, met with cheers.
Back in the free Northern days, they'd raided Stockholm Kingdom scum in small guerrilla bands.
This was their chance to taste that thrill again.
"Olga Company, all hands: we're splitting into platoons from here!"
"Play as rough as you want—just don't trip up the others!"
"Rear's gonna eat arrows or spells if we clump up... Heh, a command worthy of the top Northern success story in the Reich Empire."
"That's why our division commander proposed first—begging her to marry him..."
That last bit about Jaeger proposing to Anya first was baseless Northern gossip.
It didn't harm the Empire or Peter Jaeger, and the Northerners loved it, so no one bothered debunking.
Either way, priority one: shred the Warsaw army's rear.
"All units, disperse! Charge mages and crossbowmen on sight—feed pikes endless arrows! See you alive on the flip side!"