WeTried Translations

Translator: Nemui

Editor: Nemui

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◈ Friedrich's Battlefield

Chapter 141: Decisive Battle (1)

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"Then we have no choice but to force our way through after all?"

"Yes. With the enemy guarding their flanks in that manner... on a battlefield this large, and with most of both armies made up of conscripts, it would be difficult to devise some new complex operation at this stage. I believe the best course is an all-out assault by the vanguard, supported by the rear."

Halfway up the gentle hill where the Arelian army had deployed, Childebert and Cecilia spoke from the headquarters placed amid the rear formation, looking out over the battlefield below.

First, the enemy's formation had its flanks protected by forest and hill. The hills were not impossible to cross, but doing so would take time and inevitably exhaust the soldiers, which made it a poor option. Worse, to cross the hill on the enemy's right flank, they would first have to detour around the forest, costing still more time. If they attacked from the hill behind the enemy's left flank, the imperial cavalry unit deployed there would become a severe obstacle.

The one place not protected by terrain was the left flank of the enemy vanguard.

But charging cavalry there had also become difficult. The largest obstacle was the anti-cavalry barrier the enemy infantry had begun lining up just before the battle, as if to protect that left flank. It was commonly called Felix's Hedgehog.

Until then, the obstacles seemed to have been hidden inside the infantry formation. Now, however, Arelia could see them being arranged firmly in two lines across the whole left flank.

If Felix's Hedgehog protected the flank, then even if Arelia committed its precious cavalry, the force of the charge would be greatly weakened. They would probably fail to break the enemy infantry formation. Worse, if the obstacles killed the momentum of the charge, Edelstein's own cavalry would then strike. The losses would be heavy, and a mistake might even annihilate the unit.

Knights could not be easily replaced. They could not be thrown into a charge when no result could be expected.

Nor would it be simple to send part of the infantry to remove Felix's Hedgehog. The enemy cavalry would surely advance. The enemy infantry facing the flank would not simply stand aside and watch. A vanguard made mostly of conscripts would be scattered and driven off while it fumbled forward.

If a flank attack was difficult, the battle would be fought directly between the two armies.

Arelia's method of attack had become extremely simple. The enemy had narrowed their choices, but in a sense, the easiest form of battle remained.

"I see. Then we will attack from the front as you advise. A fair and open battle is what I prefer most... and it is fitting for my heir to witness."

As he spoke, Childebert glanced back.

Beside him stood Crown Prince Samuel Arelia, who had only recently come of age.

"Watch carefully. Watch how the Kingdom of Arelia fights. Watch our army swallow the enemy army whole."

"Yes! I will learn much from it, Father!"

Samuel still had some boyishness in his face, but his expression and voice were brave.

Childebert had brought the crown prince to this historical decisive battle, one that would determine the unification of the western continent. He wanted the heir who would one day succeed him to witness one of the largest wars in western history and learn what supreme war looked like.

Satisfied with his son's earnest attitude, Childebert faced forward again and raised his right hand.

"All forces, advance. Close the distance with the enemy formation. Once in position, the infantry vanguard will charge."

At the command of the hegemon king, the Arelian army of nearly forty thousand began to move.

Only Arelia moved.

The army of Edelstein showed no movement at all.

"..."

As expected, they mean to receive us, Cecilia thought.

From the moment Edelstein deployed on that terrain and in that formation, she had understood their aim. They intended to absorb Arelia's attack and attempt some kind of scheme. Most likely, the enemy would show no movement until the moment of collision.

What sort of petty trick would they use?

As far as Cecilia could judge, no trick would overturn a gap of well over ten thousand men.

Queen Claudia Edelstein had placed her headquarters not at the very rear of the formation, but behind the infantry and in front of the archers. She was likely trying to encourage the infantry from nearby and maintain morale herself. But how long could she hold back the furious attack of Arelia's infantry?

The enemy's morale might be high, but that was an illusion created by the Edelstein queen's performance. Most of the enemy were merely conscripts. If they received the fierce assault of Arelia's numerically superior vanguard, their formation should collapse before long. Arelia would give them no time to work any scheme.

The living hero of Edelstein was no longer in the enemy ranks.

There was no hero left to bring about some great reversal.

They would break the enemy in one orthodox strike and achieve a complete victory.

While turning those thoughts over, Cecilia rode down the hill beside Childebert as one of the headquarters escort.

The distance to the enemy gradually shrank. After advancing a little farther, the infantry vanguard would shift into a charge. They had to close on the enemy infantry before the harassment from the enemy archers caused too much damage.

Then it happened.

"Huh?"

Cecilia let out a startled sound when she saw movement in the enemy rear. The archer units were moving.

It seemed they intended to begin support fire by arcing shots, but it was far too early. Arrows from that position should not be able to reach Arelia's infantry vanguard.

"What is this?" Childebert asked. "At this distance, the enemy rear's arrows should not reach our vanguard."

"They should not. It is clearly too far... no."

As Cecilia answered, a thought came to her.

A new composite bow the Empire had developed in recent years. Rumor said its effective range was several tenths greater than conventional bows. Its name was something like the Black Bow.

Until now, she had only occasionally heard that it was being used in limited numbers during conflicts with the Shival Kingdom in the eastern continent. She had assumed it was still in development and that the Empire was testing its performance in small-scale battles.

Had it finally entered mass production?

But even for the Empire, the Black Bow should still be a precious latest weapon. Would they really lend elite units equipped with it to an ally by the thousand so generously?

While Cecilia's thoughts raced, the first volley was released from the enemy rear.

Several thousand arrows drew parabolic arcs, flew over the enemy vanguard, and came toward them.

......

"...They are coming straight through the front after all."

In the Edelstein position, from the headquarters placed between the vanguard infantry and the rear archers, Claudia watched the enemy move and murmured.

Edelstein had used the terrain for defense to narrow the enemy's attack options. By placing Felix's Hedgehog on the left flank of the vanguard, they had also made an enemy cavalry charge difficult.

In the first clash with Arelia on the northern plains, and later during the rebellion of Crown Prince Konrad and Duke Ernst of Bachstein, it was Felix's Hedgehog that had obstructed the kingdom army's attacks.

It was not some exclusive specialty of Arelia. If Edelstein used it, it naturally produced the same effect. To protect a wide area, many obstacles had to be prepared, and they were not easy to move during battle, so they hindered flexible formation changes. But if used in the right place, they were an extremely effective countermeasure against cavalry.

As a result, the enemy had lost any effective method except advancing with the whole army from the front and crushing Edelstein with superior numbers.

So far, everything was as planned.

That did not mean the battle would be easy.

The enemy infantry vanguard advancing from the front numbered twenty-six thousand. Even if they were low-quality conscripts, their number alone approached Edelstein's total force. Behind them followed roughly eight thousand rear troops made up of regular soldiers, and another five thousand archers.

Edelstein would now have to receive all of them and stop their advance.

There was no simple way to block the enemy charge.

Edelstein had placed its cavalry on the left flank, but the enemy had also placed cavalry on its right flank. If Edelstein tried to strike the enemy vanguard's right flank, Arelia's cavalry would block them. In addition, the Arelian archers in the rear had been placed toward the right, probably as a countermeasure against cavalry. If Edelstein's cavalry charged, a fierce rain of arrows would strike them before they reached the enemy formation, causing considerable losses.

In the end, Edelstein had also lost the option of a mounted charge for now, just as Arelia had.

Both armies had been forced to collide head-on, at least at the beginning.

But that too was within expectations. Edelstein's tactics had been built on the assumption that the armies would clash.

"Imperial archer units, prepare for arcing fire. Once the enemy vanguard enters range, fire at the commander's discretion."

Claudia gave her first order as supreme commander. It was immediately relayed to the rear.

The archer units sent from the heart of the Rigald Empire numbered three thousand. These elites, the first to be formally equipped with the mass-produced Black Bow, drew their bows all at once under their unit commanders' instructions. Their angle for arcing fire aligned with almost artistic precision.

Then the imperial noble commanding the three thousand judged the distance by eye and ordered the volley.

For an instant, a thin shadow fell across the sky above the Edelstein position.

It was the shadow cast by a swarm of three thousand arrows. The shadow flew west in a parabola and closed on the enemy vanguard.

The arrows loosed by the Black Bows reached an enemy force that ordinary bows could never have touched at that distance. A rain of arrows poured down on the Arelian vanguard infantry while they were still walking forward, before they had shifted into a charge.

Immediately, the enemy's advance clearly slowed.

No small number of enemy soldiers fell in the first strike, and confusion spread through the enemy infantry vanguard made up of conscripts.

The imperial archers did not loosen their shooting. A second volley struck the enemy formation. Then a third flew toward it.

Perhaps driven forward by the regular soldiers behind them, the enemy conscripts resumed advancing even through the rain of arrows. Until the enemy closed the distance, Edelstein could attack one-sidedly. How much damage they could inflict during this time would change the advantage or disadvantage at the moment of collision.

Claudia watched the enemy formation with that thought in mind.

Then, much earlier than expected, the enemy infantry vanguard shifted into a charge.

All at once, they began rushing down the hill.

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