26
Chapter 26
The battle raged on.
Emilia attempted to strike down Dian with a decisive blow, but at that moment, Dian's cavalry charged toward her.
Even for a Sword Master, taking a full-frontal cavalry charge was impossible. The moment Emilia stepped back, the cavalry began to retreat with Dian.
The soldiers around Emilia unleashed a barrage of spears and arrows at the retreating force. However, they only managed to kill dozens in the rear; the rest successfully escaped with Dian.
Just then, one of Emilia's subordinates shouted to her.
"Should we pursue the cavalry?"
"No. The victory of the army is more important than Dian de Valboa himself. All troops, follow my lead from this moment on!"
Emilia's voice rang out across the field. Seeing her triumph over Dian, the soldiers' morale skyrocketed instantly.
"Oooooh!!!"
The thunderous roar shook the air; the Northerners' morale soared, while the Central army's spirits plummeted.
Leading the vanguard, Emilia mowed down the enemy, while the Central army—caught between the retreating cavalry and the advancing infantry—was slaughtered.
Furthermore, the Northerners relied on light infantry due to a lack of iron, whereas the Central army was heavily equipped with heavy infantry and heavy cavalry.
Normally, it is obvious that heavy infantry is stronger than light infantry, and heavy cavalry is stronger than light cavalry. Otherwise, those distinct classifications wouldn't exist.
But in the river, things were different. Having crossed the water, the heavy infantry's steel armor was clogged with mud and slush, slowing their movements to a crawl.
In contrast, the Northerners wore quilted and leather armor.
It was easy to put on and take off, and any mud that got in could simply be shaken off, allowing for far greater mobility.
This was exactly why Charles had predicted the defeat of the Crown Prince's Central army; they were simply not accustomed to fighting in the North.
"The enemy is bogged down in mud! Tear them apart!"
As Emilia shouted and charged, the Northern army pushed forward with overwhelming momentum.
The Central army had tried to offset the disadvantage of the river crossing through the brilliance of a single general, Dian de Valboa, but with him fallen, they were helpless.
Soon, the tide of battle turned decisively against the Crown Prince.
"Your Highness, what should we do? Should we retreat...?"
"Shut up! We outnumber the enemy two to one! If we fight to the end, victory is ours! I will never tolerate retreat!"
"But our armor is clogged with mud, making it impossible to fight! The very idea of crossing the river was a failure!"
-Whoosh!
The Crown Prince beheaded the officer who had suggested retreating.
"Look! This is the head of a coward! Anyone who tries to retreat will end up like this!"
For a moment, the soldiers seemed to advance at his words.
However, since the vanguard was already retreating, those moving forward and those fleeing collided in chaos, leaving them trapped and slaughtered.
Meanwhile, arrows from the longbowmen, crafted from Northern yew trees, rained down from the sky like a storm.
The Crown Prince's Army had already dwindled to less than half of its original 35,000.
"Do not fall back! I said do not fall back!"
The Crown Prince brandished his sword, cutting down his own men in a desperate attempt to spur them on.
But his encouragement was nothing more than a poison that plunged the army into deeper chaos.
The officers finally seized the Crown Prince by force and began a frantic retreat.
Emilia, however, crossed the river and pursued the Crown Prince without relent.
"Capture the Crown Prince here! If we seize the heir to the Empire, a counter-invasion of the Empire is no longer just a dream!"
Until now, the Central had invaded the North. But with the Crown Prince in their grasp, the North would have the justification to invade the Central.
The Grand Duke, Karl von Kronor, shouted this, and Emilia nodded before giving chase to the enemy.
"Lady Emilia! Your horse!"
A cavalryman handed her a mount, and Emilia skillfully rode the unfamiliar horse to pursue the enemy.
It was an easy task to cut down enemies who showed their backs. The soldiers were fleeing sluggishly, their armor weighed down by mud; some had even fallen, failing to strip off their heavy gear.
Those souls were crushed under galloping hooves, while the rest were cut down as they fled.
The enemy retreated toward the forest, and Emilia followed close behind.
It felt as though all 35,000 of them could be annihilated by tonight.
That was the case until that man, Charles Jean Rochefort, appeared.
Emilia chased after the fleeing remnants of the Crown Prince's Army.
Thirty-five thousand men. It sounded like a lot, but most were simply opportunists looking for spoils.
Their resolve was worlds apart from the Northerners who fought to protect their homes.
They were the type to abandon their comrades just to save their own skins, prioritizing survival over victory.
Cutting them down had been effortless. At least, until that man stepped in.
A forest lay behind the Crown Prince's military camp, and most of the soldiers had fled into its depths.
Emilia followed them into the woods, but the moment she entered...
"All units, fire!!!"
A familiar voice rang out—it was Charles Jean Rochefort. And then...
-Swoosh!
Hundreds of arrows rained down. Emilia's keen senses allowed her to dodge, but dozens of her cavalry were struck down.
She scanned the area to find archers stationed across the hills, shielding the retreating soldiers.
"Sh-shit. She actually showed up."
"Did you honestly think she wouldn't?"
"I just thought you were some eccentric strategist. I didn't realize you were this precise..."
Charles let out a low chuckle at Gabriel's remark.
"Emilia von Kronor, of all people."
The strongest being in existence had arrived. If Dian de Valboa was the second most powerful fierce general, Emilia was the first.
She firmly believed she was loved by the Goddess of War, though she was actually favored by a different entity. If Princess Leonia possessed perfectly balanced stats, this woman had dumped every single point into warfare.
"Charles Jean Rochefort."
Emilia whispered his name. She knew who he was, having witnessed the mock battle between Yuria Russell and Charles.
It had been a legendary clash, a fight for which there was no other word. As a perfect tactician and strategist, Charles had left a deep impression on her. Furthermore...
[So, it is that child.]
She was a girl who had caught the attention of the Goddess of War—so much so that the Goddess herself had told him to seek her out. The night before leaving the academy for the North, Emilia had encountered Charles Jean Rochefort reading alone in the academy hall. He wasn't a beauty by Northern standards—which required a height of over two meters and a weight of over 120 kilograms—but he possessed a distinct, memorable aura.
And now, that very man, Charles Jean Rochefort, stood in her way.
"Lady Emilia, what are your orders! Shall we attack?"
"..."
Emilia hesitated. Charles likely anticipated the Crown Prince's defeat and had stationed troops here in advance. It was logical; any operation involving heavy infantry and heavy cavalry crossing a river was predisposed to failure.
Indeed, Charles had known from the start that the Crown Prince's Army would lose. If he had placed an ambush here...
'If it were me, I would have stationed at least five thousand.'
Emilia mused. If there were only a thousand or two, she could simply blast through, but she doubted Charles would be so meager. He had likely deployed five thousand. Against such numbers, even Emilia would struggle to break through. To attack blindly without considering the terrain would be to repeat the same mistake the Crown Prince had made.
"All troops!"
Emilia shouted.
"Retreat!"
Hearing this, Charles Jean Rochefort let out a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Gabriel, the reconnaissance officer, looked puzzled.
"Why are we retreating? We would have won if we fought."
"It is night, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"And we are in a forest."
"That is true."
"Exactly, so she can't gauge our numbers. Had she known there were only a thousand of us, she would have charged, but the possibility of there being three or five thousand made her withdraw."
Gabriel let out a small sound of realization.
Emilia was a competent commander. Because of that competence, Charles believed she wouldn't take an unnecessary risk. His prediction was spot on; he had successfully manipulated her very skill.
Thanks to this, the Crown Prince's Army managed to escape, preserving nearly half their force that had been on the brink of annihilation. All of this was the result of Charles and a mere thousand soldiers.