Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Thunern Tribe Subjugation (10)
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“Archers, fall back while keeping up the arrow fire! Infantry, grip your spears or halberds tight and retreat step by step while holding them off!”
“Damn it, with those ironclad pigs charging from behind turning everything into a slaughterhouse, how the hell are we supposed to keep falling back?”
“Captain Janus, there's nowhere left to retreat to! What do we do? The other units are in the same mess right now!”
I could tell that the barbarians' plan to slowly whittle us down with arrows while retreating had gone up in smoke. Their infantry couldn't advance any further backward.
We couldn't miss this opportunity, or we'd be right back under a one-sided barrage of arrows.
“Their infantry is a rabble of conscripts. Crossbowmen and mages from 1st Battalion and the regimental direct battalion, target those fake infantry barbarians right in front of you! Each crossbowman fires three bolts, then pulls back!”
The barbarian infantry—no, the poor sods hastily conscripted and turned into infantry overnight—sensed that a full melee was about to erupt and began trembling in even greater terror.
My soldiers, seeing this, perked up even more and started mocking them in sneering tones.
“Die here and become food for the wild beasts you love so much! Don't you like that?”
“Just like you turned our empire's people into slaves, we'll make your families slaves in the empire! Go on and die easy, no worries!”
“The enemies of Corporal Matthias. I won't let a single one escape. I'll tear you all apart and make you pretty.”
After thoroughly mocking them, the reloaded crossbowmen and spellcasting mages unleashed their attacks on the unfortunate barbarian infantry.
The enemy infantry, without proper armor, dropped like flies from even a single spell or arrow.
Just the first volley from around three hundred mages and crossbowmen produced over a hundred casualties by feel alone, prompting incomprehensible groans and screams from the barbarians.
“Captain Laura, leave one company here to guard me and take the rest to slaughter the Thunern chieftain and his minions alongside Majors Marco and Chenis.”
“But if I take that many troops, there won't be enough left to protect you, Colonel.”
If the enemy had been at full strength, I wouldn't have dreamed of pulling off a tactic like this.
But their cavalry archers had taken heavy losses—impossible to count exactly, but not insignificant—so they wouldn't dare strike at my main position where I was.
Still, as Laura pointed out, wars were full of cases where a commander's head rolled from the slightest lapse in vigilance, ending the battle right there.
“I'll follow behind you from the vanguard and step in to support when needed. So if I come under attack, you protect me.”
“Understood, Colonel.”
With that, Laura swiftly drew the sword from her waist and charged forward, issuing orders.
“Regimental direct battalion, follow your deputy commander, Laura von Venner! Let's go pass judgment on these vile barbarians!”
With those words, Laura took point at the vanguard herself, just as I'd taught her, despite being a woman.
The soldiers of my direct battalion, hearing her command, gripped their spears with fierce resolve, determined not to be outdone, and followed her with surging morale.
“1st Company, Deputy Commander Laura's at the front. You ballsy lads aren't thinking of lagging behind, are you?”
“2nd Company! Anyone holding back today gets a sign around his neck saying 'I'm a wimp weaker than a woman' for a week, on top of military law! Fight like you're ready to die!”
“3rd Company, give it your all and annihilate the enemy. I won't forgive stragglers!”
Watching this, I finally understood why, in tales of the Hundred Years' War between France and England, people often said Joan of Arc's unit kept winning.
'With a woman as commander standing at the front, the French nobles and soldiers—who prized masculine courage—fought like hell to avoid hearing they were inferior to a girl.'
Soldiers lived on rank and pride, after all. Getting outdone by a woman in combat prowess meant a humiliating legacy of trailing behind her till death.
“Push with the pikes!”
“Those bastards are weak as hell! Pike 'em back, then axe-men, charge in and smash their skulls!”
“Any bastard who doesn't claim at least one barbarian head tomorrow gets to chant 'I'm dead' all day!”
Normally, infantry would standoff with pikes at the ready, but with Captain Laura at the front boosting morale, our troops unilaterally shoved back the barbarian infantry.
“Kill that woman! The chieftain will reward you with beauties!”
“The Thunern chieftain said he'll promote whoever kills her to captain and reward you handsomely!”
“Don't let a woman outdo you!”
Terrified by our infantry's overwhelming momentum, the barbarians began crumbling backward at a rapid pace.
By now, even the Thunern scum must have realized they couldn't win an infantry fight against us.
And figuring I'd committed all my main forces forward for victory, they'd try using cavalry to punch through the rear and take my head for a reversal, right?
“Leave the regimental flag and markers here to make them think I'm staying put. Leave one platoon behind, and the rest follow me to support the deputy regimental commander. Move out!”
Attaching three platoons to a battalion wouldn't make much difference.
But if a high-ranking officer on the battlefield strutted with confidence, acting like he'd foreseen this crisis and had a plan ready...
His subordinate officers and troops would get a morale boost, even if they didn't grasp the reasoning.
Plus, with my track record of clever strategies pulling us through crises and racking up achievements, the soldiers who knew it would trust me even more, skyrocketing morale.
“Everyone, move out fast.”
With that, I handed off the regimental commander's flag, had the platoon leader here ride my horse, and moved to support the deputy regimental commander.
“Deputy regimental commander, deputy regimental commander. What's the current situation?”
He sighed in response.
“They got hammered by arrows and spells until just now, so they're not pressing the attack and just keep peppering us with arrows. The troops and officers are worn out physically and mentally.”
“I see. And the isolated units that got wiped out?”
“None yet.”
Satisfied with his report, I circled the battalion perimeter and eyeballed the number of cavalry archers raining arrows on us.
Roughly a hundred riders.
Considering the damage the Thunern bastards had taken midway, they must have concentrated their cavalry archers here to break through the rear once we switched to infantry combat.
No other explanation for why so many were still circling this spot.
“Here's the battlefield update. Our other friendly infantry are smoothly smashing the enemy's central forces, and barring any freak accidents, we'll claim an overwhelming victory in this war.”
“Really?”
“With Captain Laura leading the charge, our troops are fighting like demons. But the enemy isn't complete idiots. To seize their last shot at reversal, they'll throw every cavalry unit at this rear battalion to break through. So pull mages and crossbowmen to the very back and prepare to turn.”
“Yes, sir. Understood, Colonel.”
As he replied, the combat update and orders spread across the entire battalion simultaneously.
Mages and crossbowmen naturally fell back to the battalion's rearmost position.
“Enemy cavalry inbound! Their numbers look about double what they were! They're all charging straight here!”
Just as I'd predicted.
“Transmit to the entire regiment. Crossbowmen, reload without turning. Mages, begin chanting. Infantry, keep facing forward like you haven't noticed. They'll charge our backs. When I signal, the whole battalion turns, forms up, and crossbowmen and mages unload everything straight ahead blindly.”
The thunder of their hooves grew louder, shaking the ground, and their barbarian war cries rang out.
“Now! Battalion, about-face! Deputy regimental commander, you're in command from here. Regimental commander to the vanguard! The colonel's taking point!”
Normally, I wouldn't push to lead from the front as colonel, but pitting eight hundred infantry against over two hundred cavalry...
Everyone would be gripped by overwhelming fear regardless, so I had to show I was ready to die alongside them.
That way, they'd stay calm, muster courage, and execute the plan.
I borrowed a pike from a nearby soldier and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the pikemen.
Two hundred cavalry charged us, but countless arrows and spells flew first to greet the frontrunners.
Moreover, the mages and crossbowmen—aware their slow hands meant death if I, the colonel, got killed—unleashed arrows and spells mercilessly.
“Charge, charge! We have to break that damn formation!”
“Argh!”
“How the hell do we break that, you bastard Lukr!”
The enemy cavalry melted away like ice under a scorching sun from the spells and arrows.
By the time the horsemen reached me, their numbers had dwindled to about fifty.
Standing at the forefront of the pikemen, I bellowed.
“They're using swords, not pikes or lances! Axe-men! When they close in between the pikes, smash their heads!”
To hold against the charging cavalry, I planted my pike firmly in the ground and glared at the enemy riders.
Moments later, a heavy jolt traveled from the pike shaft to my hands, and the rider charging right at me dropped dead on the spot.
Then axe-men leaped out between the pikemen, smashing the heads of fallen riders and those still mounted alike—any barbarian not yet turned good.
The enemy cavalry was annihilated, save for a few who managed to flee.
An hour later, Captain Laura and the other commanders returned with the Thunern chieftain's head, proclaiming victory and bringing the battle to a close.
Afterward, over the next month, our regiment roamed the Thunern tribe's territory, laying waste to their villages.
We rounded up the barbarian women, children, and surrendering warriors—who had lost their fighting men and family heads—as prisoners and dragged them all back.
Upon returning, I drafted an operational plan based on the lessons of this war and submitted it to the corps commander.
‘Operation for the Permanent Stabilization and Annexation of the North’
In about eight months, the entire Northern Army would mobilize to seize Ludwig's lands and conquer this peninsula entirely.