Morning came.
If I said I had no hesitation about battle, that would be a lie. I'm about to kill people, so hesitation is natural. However, I have memories of my previous life where I was also a soldier. I killed many people there. I won't say hypocritical things now.
I'm about to go to war. Yes, I'm going to kill people. I don't want to, but there's no choice.
Both armies were deployed on a needlessly vast, flat snowy plain under clear skies. Even six thousand people looked small on this wide plain. Humans are insignificant compared to nature.
Behind them, the knight's castle was faintly visible. People are dying over something like that. It can't be helped; since they've attacked us, we have no choice but to fight.
Both armies had formed lateral formations, almost identical in shape. In the center were fifteen hundred infantry, with five hundred infantry deployed on each wing, and two hundred and fifty cavalry positioned at both ends. And with the headquarters at the rear, it was like looking at a mirror image.
On our side, Unicorn flags with black unicorns on white backgrounds fluttered across the entire army. This method has the disadvantage of revealing our formation to the enemy, but it has the advantage of allowing the entire army to quickly change formations. It's used because the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Also, sometimes false flags are raised to adopt different formations, which makes it difficult for the enemy to make immediate judgments.
I positioned my cavalry in a lateral formation on the far right wing, raising both the Han family flag and the Unicorn flag. The enemy appeared to have almost the same number of cavalry.
Orders were given, and the infantry in the center and both wings began to advance. The enemy infantry was also advancing. The pitched battle had begun.
I too set my cavalry unit in motion. The first unit was one hundred horsemen led by Yan. Behind them, almost hidden, followed Stein's hundred horsemen. I followed with fifty horsemen as the rear guard.
Just as Yan's unit was about to clash with the enemy, the formation changed. A Phoenix flag with a white phoenix on a blue background was raised. Both wings of Yan's unit spread forward, transforming into an inverted V-shape.
The Phoenix was a crane-wing formation, becoming an inverted V-shape designed to envelop the enemy. This formation is typically used when a larger force surrounds a smaller one. Yet here, a force barely half the size of the enemy was using it.
"Lord Yan, isn't this dangerous? It differs from the usual strategy," one of Yan's squad leaders said worriedly.
"Usually, yes. The enemy is in a wedge formation. We just need to entrap them."
"Mobility is everything for cavalry. This will stop our movement. We can't utilize cavalry's advantage."
"The same applies to the enemy."
"Even so, the numbers are different. We can't hold for long."
"We only need to hold for a little while."
"But..."
"It's fine. He'll be here soon."
Yan's forces collided with the enemy cavalry. The inverted V-shaped formation crashed into the enemy forces, which, unlike the Burg Kingdom army, had no clear formation and were moving as one mass. Yan's forces enveloped the enemy.
As the forces collided, both armies came to a halt.
The cavalry began pushing against each other.
At that moment, Yan thought that somehow the enemy's pressure seemed less than usual. The force of the collision also seemed weaker. If so, the reason didn't matter—this was a chance. They just needed to push.
Yan suddenly thrust his prized spear into the throat of the enemy soldier directly in front of him. The enemy spat blood and fell from his horse. Then, with blinding speed, he thrust at the throats of enemies on both sides. In an instant, four or five men were dead.
Friend and foe were pressed tightly together on horseback, fighting while barely able to move. Yan's subordinates were fighting with spears and longswords. Overall, our side was pushing forward, but the enemy's numbers were greater, and it didn't look like we could hold out for long.
"Hey! The enemy is only half our number, why can't we break through?" the enemy commander shouted impatiently.
"The enemy center is unusually strong, and we can't break through. Also, our forces have lost strength from the winter encampment and can't exert their usual power."
"I don't care, hurry up and do something!"
Yan's unit had thinly encircled the enemy with the crane-wing formation, so the enemy couldn't see their surroundings.
Then Stein's unit, keeping a low profile, quickly raced past where Yan and his men were fighting and circled around to the enemy's rear.
And then they charged from behind the enemy.
Stein's unit was flying a Dragon flag with a white dragon on a red background. The Dragon represented a wedge-shaped charging formation.
"Go, go, GO!" Stein charged in swinging his battle axe, followed by a hundred horsemen charging after him.
The enemy was leaning forward and apparently never expected an attack from behind. Therefore, they were all facing forward and not in a position to fight enemies from the rear. That's when Stein charged in.
"CHARGE!"
Stein entered the enemy lines swinging his battle axe. The heads of many enemy soldiers flew up with sprays of blood. Stein's incredible brute strength was amazing, slicing an enemy knight's torso in two right through his armor.
Seeing this, the enemy trembled with fear and retreated. A path opened slightly.
"ORA ORA ORA!" Wherever Stein went, enemy heads and limbs danced in the air.
"Lord Stein, there appears to be an enemy commander over there."
A subordinate pointed in a certain direction. There was someone in splendid armor who appeared to be a general. And he was just ahead.
Stein quickly spurred his horse and charged toward the general.
"The front-line commander shouldn't be all the way in the back!"
Stein stood on his horse's back and leaped into the air with his battle axe raised high.
He swung down his battle axe with all his might, adding the momentum of his fall. The enemy general, with a surprised expression, was helplessly cut in two along with his horse, sending up a spray of blood.
As Stein fell and rolled on the ground, his subordinates immediately rushed over and formed a wall around him. Another cavalryman brought Stein's horse. Stein immediately mounted his horse and glared back at the enemy.
"We've taken down the enemy commander!" Stein's subordinate shouted loudly enough for both friend and foe to hear.
You could see the enemy falter.
"Now, let's charge in at this opportunity!"
With Stein at the lead, a hundred horsemen with morale at its peak charged into the enemy lines like a drill boring in.
Every time Stein swung his battle axe, blood sprayed. To the enemy, it looked like flames. Especially when he performed a diagonal slash that cut through an enemy's torso, blood sprayed upward diagonally, looking as if flames were erupting.
Stein was dyed completely red with the enemy's blood, making him look like a red demon to the enemy.
"The red demon's axe is spitting fire!" the enemy cried out in fear.
Those who heard these words, friend or foe, shuddered.
Confusion spread through the enemy.
Meanwhile, with Yan:
"It seems Lord Stein has taken down the enemy general. The enemy lines are in disarray."
"Did he do it? Be careful. He'll break through to this side soon."
"Change formation to Dragon formation. The first two rows continue holding off the enemy. The rest fall back and form up. Once formation is set, charge. After that, the first two rows circle around and move to the rear of the Dragon. Let's go!"
"Understood!" The blue Phoenix flag was lowered, and a bright red Dragon flag was raised. Cheers rose from all around. The rise in morale was clearly evident.
Except for the first two rows, the forces fell back and quickly transformed into a wedge formation. Seeing this, the first two rows that had been holding off the enemy broke formation and circled around to the rear.
Just as if he had been waiting for this moment, Stein broke through the enemy and came out on this side.
"Thanks for holding them."
"Impressive breakthrough."
As Stein and Yan passed each other, they raised their fists in salute.
"Charge the enemy left wing!" Yan ordered.
"Charge the enemy right wing!" Stein shouted after turning around.
The enemy had already lost their general and was broken and scattered by Stein's charge, having lost many soldiers.
Then came this charge. The enemy was immediately thrown into disarray.
"..." Yan silently slaughtered the enemy.
"HYAHHA!" Stein was making a great commotion, swinging his battle axe.
The panicked enemy couldn't stand it and began to flee. Our forces continued to stab them in the back.
It was already at the stage of mopping up the remaining enemy.
"We didn't get a turn at all."
"Seems like we've taken down about eighty percent of the enemy."
"Good, gather all forces once. Send a messenger to Lord Schwartz to ask for the next instructions."
And so the cavalry battle on the right wing was decided. It was our great victory.
I was watching from the beginning, and it wasn't dangerous at all. I had intended to rush in to help if things got dangerous, but after Stein charged, the battle became one-sided. I wanted to fight a little too. This makes me useless.
However, I had the impression that the enemy was strangely fragile. I wonder why.
Well, it doesn't matter. The overall battle isn't over yet. We shouldn't let our guard down, and I'm sure there will still be a chance to play a role. That's what I'll think. Oh well.