WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Abood

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◈ Friedrich's Battlefield

Chapter 31: Battle of the Northern Plains (2)

Half an hour later, the formations of both armies were complete.

The forces of the Kingdom of Arelia showed no intention of moving. At the front stood roughly eight hundred infantry, with just over two hundred archers positioned behind them, all arranged in a broad line. At the very rear were the command post and a cavalry unit numbering slightly more than fifty riders.

The Kingdom of Loire which had once existed in these lands, had a population exceeding seven hundred thousand, but it was an agricultural nation with no abundant resources to generate wealth. As a result, its military strength was hardly impressive for a country of its size.

Furthermore, suffering devastating defeats at the hands of both the Kingdom of Edelstein and the Kingdom of Arelia over the past twenty years had weakened it further, making it difficult to maintain sufficient warhorses and knights.

The result was that the native regiments of the now-annexed Loire region, under Arelian rule, were structured in a way that glaringly exposed their lack of cavalry: seven hundred infantry, two hundred fifty archers, and only fifty riders.

To make up for their cavalry's lack of offensive power, the former Loire Kingdom army, now the Arelian Kingdom's Eastern Front forces, relied on building strong infantry formations. By assigning soldiers to regiments close to their hometowns, they fostered unity and a sense of defending their homeland, maintaining resilient infantry units.

However, this time, two hundred of Arelia's infantry had been replaced, swapping veteran soldiers for inexperienced conscripts. While this could be a powerful move against the mountain path detachment, it also meant the main force now carried a clear weakness, a double-edged sword.

Countess Cecilia Fargiere likely remained unaware her strategy had been noticed. Precisely for that reason, Matthias believed there was an opening to exploit the enemy's weakness.

"Gentlemen. This will likely mark the beginning of a long war with the Kingdom of Arelia. The Kingdom of Edelstein will emerge victorious. Our path to triumph starts today, on this battlefield. We shall carve the first step toward an overwhelming victory. Steel yourselves."

Matthias guided his horse along the front line of the formation as he spoke. His voice carried the same calm yet resonant tone as always.

The knights and soldiers responded with vigorous shouts, their voices returning to their living hero.

Matthias returned to the command post, took his position at its center, and fixed his gaze on the enemy lines.

"Let’s begin. Infantry and archers, advance."

Gregor bellowed the order in repetition. From battalion commanders to squad leaders, the command traveled down, and the troops began to move.

Once they had closed the distance somewhat, the enemy finally reacted. From the ranks of archers positioned behind their infantry, arrows arced high into the air before descending.

The infantry raised their shields, advancing steadily while protecting themselves. A few unlucky souls fell after taking arrows to exposed legs or were rendered combat ineffective under the hail, but the formation as a whole held firm, methodically narrowing the gap with the enemy.

Yet rather than pressing forward into an all-out charge, they halted, both infantry and archers, leaving a deliberate space between themselves and the enemy's frontline.

Perhaps this was unexpected. A ripple of unease passed through the enemy's vanguard, who had been waiting, poised to receive a head-on assault.

"Archers, loose."

Matthias' command was relayed, and roughly three hundred fifty of their bowmen released their arrows as one.

Positioned slightly behind and to the right flank of the infantry, the Edelstein archers concentrated their volley on the enemy's left side. Their shafts fell not only upon the opposing infantry but reached deep into the enemy's own archer ranks.

This brought relief to Edelstein's rightmost infantry companies as their opposing archers staggered under the hail. Meanwhile, the left flank infantry, lacking such support, stood firm behind their shields, weathering the enemy's arrows through sheer endurance.

"Archers maintain volleys. Battalion commanders will call the cease... Right flank infantry company, advance on the enemy's left and clear those wooden barricades. Cavalry, prepare to charge."

Gregor's repeated commands and the knights' relaying of orders ensured every instruction was delivered precisely, allowing each unit to move with purpose.

The hundred infantry positioned at the far right of their formation advanced toward the enemy's left flank. Once they had pushed forward enough, the archer battalion commander ordered a cease-fire to prevent friendly casualties, halting the rain of arrows.

Yet the enemy's left wing, having endured relentless volleys, could not recover quickly. Their losses were too severe. Seizing this opening, the hundred infantry closed in on the wooden barricade at the flank.

Their target was the central section of the enemy's left-side defenses, positioned directly beside the rearmost enemy infantry. Half the soldiers stood guard against counterattacks while the rest lifted and hauled aside the barricade.

In response, fifty enemy cavalry advanced to disrupt them. But Edelstein's cavalry was already in motion. Of the hundred riders charging the enemy lines, half broke off as planned to intercept and pin down the opposing horsemen.

The remaining fifty rode hard toward the newly exposed gap where the barricade had been and drove straight into the vulnerable side of the enemy's rear infantry.

Roughly half of the enemy infantry's rear guard consisted of raw conscripts. Untrained in coordinated defense against cavalry charges and lacking the nerve to stand firm against mounted assaults, they broke formation the moment the earth began trembling underhoof.

Fifty armored knights atop warhorses - a combined mass exceeding five hundred kilograms - came bearing down. The sight alone shattered the conscripts' cohesion. When the cavalry finally struck home, any semblance of orderly resistance collapsed.

This was precisely Matthias' plan.

Though equipped identically to regular troops, conscripts lacked both training and mental fortitude. Pummeled by unprecedented arrow volleys, stripped of their flank's wooden barricade, and now hammered by a cavalry charge, their lines crumbled with predictable ease.

Once the breach was made, the battle became a rout. Fifty horsemen proved sufficient - once inside enemy lines, their sheer momentum trampled all before them.

"Infantry, charge."

Matthias, confirming the cavalry's successful charge, issued his next order. The nearly eight hundred infantry who had endured the enemy archers' suppressive fire now launched their assault as one. They closed the distance to the enemy vanguard in moments and crashed into them.

The enemy's front line consisted of their finest infantry. But with their rear guard thrown into chaos by the cavalry strike, even these elite troops could no longer maintain disciplined resistance. Caught between the frontal assault and the turmoil behind them, their formation began crumbling.

At this point, the Arelian forces lost all cohesion, their entire army beginning to collapse.

・・・・・・

From the rearmost command post, Cecilia observed the unfolding disaster.

"Well, well. Just as expected from conscripted peasants. How easily they break,"

She murmured, her expression remaining serene despite watching her forces collapse.

Anger or shouting wouldn't change the situation - maintaining composure always proved best. This philosophy had carried her through life thus far.

"Your Excellency, what are your orders?"

"Nothing can be done now. First, withdraw the cavalry. Have the archers retreat while maintaining formation. Order the infantry at the formation's far right to clear the wooden barricade for retreat. Use the previously withdrawn cavalry and archers for covering fire, save as many foot soldiers as possible. A complete rout here would be unacceptable."

Cecilia turned her gaze forward again after answering her adjutant.

"But... judging by how they moved, they clearly knew we'd mixed conscripts into our infantry's rear guard," 

She mused, tilting her head and shaking her neatly cropped black hair. Her crimson eyes peered through her bangs as she surveyed the battlefield, her tone devoid of frustration or sorrow, merely matter-of-fact.

Had a messenger reached their main force from the enemy's detached unit before the battle began? Had they realized the combined strength of her main and detached forces was too great?

No. Even so, it seemed unlikely they'd deduced her entire strategy. No commander would normally consider that she'd conscripted peasants mid-march, dressed them as regulars, and positioned them in the rear.

Unless perhaps…

Before the battle began, enemy commander Matthias Hosenfeld had stood alone at the forefront of his formation, watching their lines. Had he noticed the conscripts mixed among their infantry even then?

From such a distance, could he truly have discerned the uneven quality of their rear guard's formation just by sight alone… and from that, deduced their entire strategy?

If so, it was nothing short of remarkable. Truly befitting Edelstein's living hero.

"So this is the keen eye of a veteran commander who combines talent with experience. I hadn't anticipated this."

Cecilia let out a quiet breath as she murmured. 

n strategic cunning, she prided herself on surpassing even the enemy's hero. But at just twenty-five, her experience paled next to Matthias' battle-hardened expertise. He understood war and battlefield on a level far beyond her.

This is the gap between them, the things he could perceive that she could not.

"Your Excellency. Shall we relocate the command post as well?"

"...Hm? Ah, yes. Let us withdraw."

Cecilia nodded to her adjutant, turned her prized warhorse, and began retreating.

The enemy forces did not pursue their infantry deeply, falling back swiftly under covering fire from their archers and the threatening advance of their cavalry.

As the distance between both armies grew, the day's battle concluded.

Whether there would be a second engagement depended entirely on the success of their detached unit's operation. If they managed to break through the mountain pass and crush the enemy's flanking force, the enemy main army, fearing encirclement, would likely retreat. That would allow Arelia to expand its dominion eastward beyond the northern plains.

"Well then... I wonder if Lord Alanbure is faring well in the mountains."

Cecilia murmured the words calmly as she withdrew alongside her adjutant and the command post's guards.

Footnotes: 

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