Chapter 40 – Schleitocker Road 3

Before the battle began, a small group of archers, following Vilgard’s instructions, climbed the rocky hill.

Their mission was to shoot down anyone climbing this hill from among the enemy soldiers to observe the battlefield. Because this position was the only place where one could oversee the entire battlefield.

No one among the enemy seemed to be climbing the rocky hill. They probably didn’t see the need to.

Thus, those who climbed here could carefully observe the battlefield.

“W-what is this…?”

“Unbelievable…”

“No, it can’t be…”

By seeing this, they could understand why Vilgard insisted on not letting enemy soldiers climb up here.

Due to the large army, it might not be possible to address immediately, but it was still better not to give the enemy any additional information.

In their field of vision, they could clearly see their own army surrounding the enemy from all sides.

At first, they clashed head-on with each other, so how did it turn into this shape? They recalled the situation at that time.

First, the infantry unit, which had bulged forward, clashed with the enemy infantry unit. Although the enemy’s attention was focused there due to the bulge, they continued to advance and eventually, the infantrymen who spread out sideways also collided and began fighting.

Both armies had extended sideways by about the same length.

They had chosen this location beforehand to make it so, and there were no separate units on the battlefield to manoeuvre around the enemy’s flanks. With this width and the size of their armies, it made it even more challenging.

However, despite having the same width in their formations, the thickness was vastly different. Naturally, the Imperial Army, with more soldiers, had a thicker formation. They used this thickness of their formation as their breakthrough power, steadily pushing forward the frontline.

The front rows of the allied infantry units were deployed with shield bearers, but they couldn’t hold their ground. The pressure from the enemy was just too strong.

However, while the allied infantry was being pushed back, the speed of their retreat varied depending on the location. The central part, which was initially in the front row, retreated to the rear faster than the surrounding areas.

As the enemy noticed the initial retreat of their opponents, they intensified their attacks to push even further. Thus, the pressure on the central part increased, and the momentum grew.

The central part of the battlefield, where Vilgard was positioned, was probably the site of the most intense fighting from start to finish.

As Vilgard’s forces retreated, closely followed by the enemy soldiers, there was a moment of realisation that things were changing.

The infantry, which had initially formed a crescent shape spreading outward, was now forming a crescent shape in the opposite direction, curving back. The heavily armoured infantry positioned at both ends of this formation remained stationary.

While the infantry maintained their crescent formation, those at the ends began to fall back. Meanwhile, the heavily armoured infantry remained steadfast, holding their ground.

Before they realised it, a cup-shaped formation had been created, with the heavy infantry forming the sides and the infantry forming the bottom.

“…! The enemy…!”

The enemy began to infiltrate the cup. Of course, the enemy soldiers on the flank of the crescent formation were aware of the presence of enemies on their flank.

However, at that moment, the infantry units were all focused on moving forward, and their attention was not on their flanks. No, they couldn’t afford to divert their attention to the flanks.

Even if some soldiers noticed the presence of enemies on their flanks, they had to keep moving forward. Furthermore, there was a significant delay in relaying the situation to the commanders.

The reason the enemy was able to advance so far without being noticed was because of the initial crescent formation they had adopted.

If they had clashed in a side-by-side formation and had lowered the centre backward in the same way, things might have been different.

Firstly, the enemy wouldn’t have accumulated as much fatigue because there would have been less pushing.

However, because only the centre was protruding, they had fought for a long time and covered a great distance to push forward.

Once the momentum of pushing forward started, it was difficult to stop, and the soldiers behind assumed that they were the ones pushing, so they continued to advance.

And so, they continued to fight for a long time, making considerable progress. Because of the large army, they couldn’t afford to change direction or slow down their advance from here.

While the enemy pressed the allied infantry, the situation continued to evolve. First, 8,000 allied cavalry on the left wing defeated the enemy cavalry. Those cavalry then moved around the battlefield to the north and headed for the right wing.

On the right wing, 3,000 heavily armoured cavalry had been maintaining a defensive posture, continuously withstanding the fierce attacks of the enemy cavalry.

But with the arrival of 8,000 cavalry led by Crudo, encirclement became possible. It wasn’t long before the enemy’s right-wing cavalry was completely annihilated.

And at this moment when both wings of the cavalry were defeated, the enemy infantry units had already fallen into the trap set by Vilgard.

With about 10,000 cavalry combined, Crudo and Garshin, they went to close the lid on the trap from the north. Thus, the enemy’s encirclement was complete.

To the south were infantry centred around Vilgard, to the sides were heavily armoured infantry arranged in columns, and from the north, 10,000 cavalry launched their assault.

“How… tremendous…”

Looking down from above, the confusion of the enemy infantry was clearly evident.

They’ve already lost their will to fight. All that’s left is to be crushed from all sides.

“So this is… the world our king sees…”

“Such overwhelming power difference… like this…”

Thus, the Battle of Schleitocker Road, which began with 60,000 Imperial soldiers against 40,000 Vilgard forces, ended with the overwhelming victory of the Vilgard camp.

The Vilgard forces focused on defence in the early stages, and with the completion of the encirclement, they launched their offensive. As a result, while there were many wounded, the dead numbered only 3,000.

Moreover, most of the dead were prisoners who had been standing on the front lines.

On the other hand, while the Imperial soldiers initially had strong momentum, it turned against them as they continued to advance even when surrounded. They faced simultaneous attacks from all sides, resulting in over 40,000 casualties.

By the time the report reached Barkdine, the encirclement was already tightening. Those at the centre of the camp were less aware of what was happening on the front lines.

Many suffocated not just from enemy blades, but also from being crushed by falling comrades. Such was the chaos among those fleeing within the encirclement.

And those who survived were taken as prisoners.

■

“Everyone, you’ve done well!”

Before me stood the heroes.

Each one had exerted their maximum strength… no, even more than that, and thanks to their efforts, we were able to annihilate the numerically superior Imperial army.

“This victory belongs to everyone… It’s because of the heroes who have rigorously trained themselves until now that we were able to seize it!”

“Thank you!”

“When the king says so… the efforts of the grassland people so far will be rewarded!”

Everyone is still sweating, some are injured. And we haven’t fully subdued the excitement and aftermath of our complete victory. I’m no exception. But…

“There’s still one last task remaining…! Right now, there are no substantial forces left in the Alcarol territory! This land is a crucial point that the Empire cannot ignore. If we delay, they’ll fortify their defences…! It’ll be tough, it might seem like we’re about to collapse at any moment! But! We’re going to take the capital of Alcarol territory just like this…!”

“OOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

By securing the capital, we can control the roads leading to Imperial territory, the grasslands, and the Lords’ Alliance.

With that, sourcing supplies and horses from the Dockward territory and the grasslands will become easier. Moreover, we can advance our forces toward either faction from this point.

“Split the troops into 30,000 and 10,000! The 30,000 will honour the fallen soldiers and escort the prisoners to the capital of Alcarol territory! The remaining 10,000 will accompany me to the capital of Alcarol territory! Hurry! Now is the best opportunity!”

“Oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

I call upon Raua of the Kyamura tribe and entrust him with the 30,000 troops. He’ll surely handle the logistics well.

And the various weapons and provisions carried by the 60,000 Imperial soldiers are extremely valuable.

I entrust the management of these to others, while I lead Garshin, Crudo, and the others to swiftly attack the capital of Alcarol territory.

With no frontline information and no substantial forces, the capital fell quickly. Furthermore, the lords pledged their loyalty to me.