Viscount Kroitz was growing anxious. While almost the entire enemy army was on the verge of collapse, only his cavalry unit was fighting the enemy cavalry on nearly equal terms. Though not losing was fine in itself, it was problematic that his unit alone wasn't showing decisive results while others were winning handily.
"All units charge!" Believing this was the moment, he raised the Dragon flag and charged.
The enemy seemed to have anticipated this and skillfully split into two units from the center to the left and right. One of these units made a wide detour around the battlefield and headed toward the rear of Kroitz's forces. "This is bad. They're heading for our headquarters. We must stop them somehow."
Kroitz, in a hurry, turned his horse to stop the unit heading toward headquarters, but at that moment, the remaining enemy unit charged at him. This unit had committed to fight to the death.
Although the battle was almost decided, this last desperate unit was determined to protect their comrades who were heading toward the headquarters to take down the enemy commander. They were making one final gamble—if they could kill the enemy commander, perhaps they could still achieve a reversal victory. Kroitz couldn't shake off these persistent enemies.
At headquarters, a sense of optimism prevailed as victory seemed assured. Then they saw an enemy cavalry unit heading toward them.
Headquarters was thrown into confusion. "Form a circle! Create a hedge of spears! Don't let the cavalry through! Protect Lord Schwartz!" "Raise the Hydra flag! Form a circle!"
A flag with a white Hydra on a yellow background was raised. The Hydra flag signaled a circular formation for defense. Normally, infantry is weak against cavalry, but they can counter only when forming a disciplined spear hedge. However, this required staying calm while facing cavalry charging directly at them—it demanded considerable courage.
But this was headquarters after all. They were elite soldiers. They formed a circle with fluid movements, and without a single person faltering, they raised their spear hedge. Everyone planted their spear butts into the ground and held their spears at the same angle. There wasn't a single gap.
The enemy cavalry attempted to charge multiple times, but each time they were repelled by the spear hedge. However, if this continued, the situation could eventually turn dangerous. Though they wanted to send messengers, the enemy had thought of this too and had deployed several small units to intercept them, so messengers were either forced back or killed.
Having defeated most of the enemy, we were galloping around, picking off fleeing enemies here and there.
As we were essentially in the mopping-up stage, I was feeling somewhat relaxed. "We've won. Though I didn't do much," I grumbled. "Come now, Han's unit annihilated the enemy's right-wing cavalry. That's a great achievement." "That was Yan and Stein." "Don't be so down on yourself. The field kitchen and other things were very successful." "Maybe logistics is really my true calling." Hmm, perhaps logistics is my forte after all, though I'm confident I could perform well in combat too.
At that moment, Ryu suddenly became serious. "Han, look at that," Ryu pointed toward the headquarters. I narrowed my eyes and looked in that direction.
"What's that? A yellow flag has been raised." "That's the Hydra flag. It signals a circular formation. It's a defensive formation. Something must have happened at headquarters. We should send reinforcements immediately." "Send a messenger to Stein, tell him to save the headquarters."
"Awesome! A chance for glory just fell into our laps. Men, let's go!" Stein jumped with joy. "Headquarters is in danger, they say. What carelessness! If we save them, it'll be a great achievement for me. A chance to make a name for myself, yahoo!" "Forward! Raise the Dragon flag!" Stein's unit kicked up dust as they headed toward headquarters. They had been in charging formation from the start.
The commander of the enemy cavalry was growing desperate. He had successfully exploited a gap in the opposing cavalry, sacrificed one unit, and managed to reach the enemy headquarters. When he eagerly attacked, the enemy formed a circle and countered with a spear hedge. Despite several charges, they couldn't break through the spear hedge. The main force was on the verge of collapse. The only way to achieve a reversal now was to take down the enemy commander.
"In that case, charge without regard for casualties! Even if you're impaled on spears, stop the movement of their spears. The next cavalryman will break through. If we don't break through here, we'll die anyway!" The entire cavalry unit committed to fight to the death and charged.
"This is bad! Spears are stuck in the horses and won't come out!" "Mine too!" The spear hedge became disorganized. The cavalry broke into the formation. The situation had become critical.
Stein lowered his back and watched the headquarters situation while charging forward. It looked somewhat dangerous, but they could make it in time.
Hiding in the shadow of the friendly headquarters, he approached from the enemy's blind spot. After reaching headquarters, he circled around it and charged at the enemy's flank.
Just as the enemy commander thought he had won, Stein's unit crashed into the enemy's flank. "Charge!" Stein shouted as he swung his battle axe and rushed in. His subordinates followed.
The sounds of clashing swords and colliding spears echoed everywhere, and wounded soldiers fell from their horses. It was clearly the enemy who suffered more casualties. Stein and his men cut through the enemy from the center and broke through to the other side. They immediately turned around and charged from a different direction. The enemy was scattered.
"Now! Half-encircle the enemy! Raise the Phoenix flag!" A blue Phoenix flag was raised. The spear unit disbanded the circular formation, quickly changed formation to a crane wing, and took a half-encirclement position. Stein's unit attacked from behind, driving the enemy into this formation. Finally, the enemy was surrounded. A white flag was raised from the enemy lines, and everyone dismounted. They were surrendering.
As Schwartz's infantry was about to tie up the enemy, Stein slowly approached headquarters and shouted:
"Hey, I'm the one who saved you! Remember my name. I'm Klaus Stein from Han's place. Don't you forget it!" After shouting loudly toward headquarters, he turned his horse and went back the way he came.
"How... how insolent!" One of the staff officers put his hand on his sword. "It's fine. I love energetic fellows like that. If you're frustrated, try to become someone who can speak like that yourself." Schwartz was laughing, clearly amused.
It seemed the battle had been won