WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Abood

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◈ Friedrich's Battlefield

Chapter 61: The Ducal Army’s Annihilation Battle (3)

“Your Excellency, forgive me. One managed to break through.”

“It’s fine. This wasn’t your failure, but only a sign of the enemy’s unexpected tenacity.”

So replied Matthias to Gregor, who had returned to report after the remaining enemy knights were dealt with.

Just then, the battlefield grew louder. Friedrich and the others turned to see around a hundred of the enemy’s reserve troops pouring into the fray.

Roughly half charged the northern flank of their formation, attempting to hit the infantry from the side, while the other half moved southward, aiming to keep the cavalry in check. Both appeared to be trying to cover the retreat of their comrades.

“...As expected. Duke Bachstein moves exactly as predicted.”

They had already confirmed during the early stages of battle that the enemy had kept a reserve force. Matthias had guessed that it would eventually be deployed in support of their main force.

And now, with the reserve unit committed in the latter half of the battle, Duke Bachstein’s main camp would be left wide open.

“No more need to remain hidden in the forest’s shadow. We’ll observe the enemy camp directly, move forward.”

At Matthias’s command, the forces at the main camp began their advance.

To Friedrich and the others, the forest that had shielded their headquarters stretched out to their left. Once they advanced past its edge, they could see the enemy’s command post, Duke Ernst Bachstein’s main camp, perched on a gentle hill at the ten o'clock direction.

There, barely a dozen figures remained: the duke himself, his standard-bearer, and a handful of personal guards.

“Another of your predictions proven correct, my lord.”

“Indeed.” 

Matthias replied with a nod.

Desperately needing every soldier he could spare for the frontline, Duke Bachstein had stripped his headquarters of nearly all protection to reinforce his struggling forces. That move, too, was exactly what Matthias had foreseen.

And now, the enemy's headquarters, left virtually defenseless, was about to be struck. A unit of about ten knights emerged from the north, circling around the forest.

It was Oliver, leading a detached force from the Ferdinand Regiment.

They had hidden alongside the main ambush force in the northern woods. At the moment the battle commenced, they split off to silently maneuver around and wait just north of the enemy command post, awaiting this precise moment. Now, they surged forward, wasting no time seizing the opportunity.

・・・・・・

“The enemy commander is right in front of us! Charge!”

“OUUHHH”

When Oliver shouted, the squad of knights led by Sir Yarg responded with spirited voices. Among them was the knight apprentice, Gunther.

The headquarters of the Ducal Army hurriedly moved to form a defensive position as they noticed their approach, but with only a few knights and about ten infantry, there was no way they could stop a charge of ten mounted knights. The enemy seemed to realize this as well; the Ducal commander, Duke Bachstein, though reluctant, was being urged by his guards to retreat.

Before long, perhaps accepting the reality of the situation, Duke Bachstein turned on his heel and began to flee. One knight followed him, while the remaining guards stood their ground in front of Oliver and his men.

“You shall not pa—”

“DIEEEEEEEE!”

Riding forward with fierce momentum, Gunther swung his greatsword with one hand effortlessly at the approaching enemy knight. The greatsword cleaved through the horse’s head and the enemy knight’s torso in one strike. The rider, now headless, wobbled atop the horse, which collapsed along with him.

The remaining enemies were cut down one after another. Although the situation looked hopeless, perhaps out of strong loyalty to the duke’s house, the duke’s personal knights and soldiers stubbornly resisted to the last man.

As a result, by the time Oliver and the others wiped out the enemy, a considerable distance had opened between them and the Duke of Bachstein.

"Oliver, shall we pursue?"

"No. If we chase too far, we risk becoming isolated deep in enemy territory by ourselves. This is as far as we go."

Answering Yarg, Oliver glanced back toward the main battlefield.

"The enemy commander has fled. Our duty here is done."

・・・・・・

Oliver turned his gaze to the main battlefield where the enemy and friendly forces clashed.

There, despite the deployment of reserve troops, the Duke’s army was beginning to completely collapse.

“Hey, the duke’s banner isn’t standing!”

“The main camp’s been taken! The duke has fallen!”

“Then who’s going to take command? How are we supposed to retreat?”

With the overall commander missing and the captain of the prisoner recovery unit dead in battle, the captain of the escort unit was caught in the chaos and unable to give orders to the entire force.

In such a state, the Duke’s army had become nothing more than a disorganized mob.

“The western encirclement is weak! Break through with the wagon convoy! Those who can run, follow behind the wagons!”

Amidst this, there was barely any order left around Knight Franziska. The soldiers within her voice’s reach had no one else to follow, so they obeyed her commands and tried to escape the battlefield.

A small number somehow broke away from the Ferdinand Regiment and began to retreat, and seeing that, other soldiers decided there was no point in fighting anymore and started fleeing on their own accord. It was not a retreat, it was a complete rout.

Matthias and the others watched this scene from the main camp.

“Begin the pursuit. Ignore the wounded. Target those still able to run on their own and put them out of action so they won’t be able to return to the front for a while. Do not pursue too deeply.”

“Yes, sir.”

“A remarkable victory, sir,”

Friedrich said as he stood beside Matthias. Beside Friedrich stood Yurika, her hair stained with the enemy’s blood.

“Indeed. But the enemy also fought remarkably well... We should commend those who are not professional soldiers for showing such skill in battle.”

Matthias praised the efforts of the Duke of Bachstein without boasting about his own victory.

Friedrich agreed. Duke Ernst Bachstein had done well by any measure. Considering he was a nobleman with almost no real combat experience as a commander, to have fought alone against a living hero was a valiant effort worthy of high praise.

In fact, the prisoner rescue operation under his command came close to success. Had the enemy been weaker or led by an average commander, it might have succeeded.

However, facing the elite Ferdinand Regiment, the lack of cavalry and overall troop strength meant they could not deliver a decisive blow.

That was the result. The Bachstein duke’s house, which sent the main force of the domain army to rescue two hundred prisoners, ended up losing more troops than that.

In the end, the duke’s army that managed to retreat to the domain capital Remcheid, including the freed prisoners, numbered about three hundred. Many were wounded and unable to return to the front for some time, leaving fewer than a hundred as effective fighting force.

Footnotes: 

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