Chapter 114: Battle Of Hattin Forest (6)
As soon as Major General Yeager issued the attack order, the officers of the Reich Empire took the lead in the vanguard to join the melee battle for victory.
Seeing this, the soldiers of the Reich Empire, noting that they werent being pushed back, saw the noble officers taking the front lines.
They thought that the high-ranking officers would not be at the forefront unless they were certain of victory.
The soldiers began to cheer and shout as the commanders in the vanguard started cutting down the enemy.
Our company commander has taken the lead! We will win this time too!
Long live the Reich Empire! Long live His Majesty the Emperor!! Long live Major General Yeager!
Just hold on a little longer and survive to return!
The officers, seeing this and knowing the meaning of Major General Yeagers order to send out the polearm troops and launch a total offensive, gave a bitter smile.
And what they thought the Major Generals order meant was,
If we dont secure a win here, our side will surely lose. So, we must endure and win by any means.
Such thoughts were to be shared among officers after the war ended, or during gatherings or feasts with their troops.
Knowing that in such urgent and straightforward situations, where the enemy was charging head-on, blindly boosting morale was most effective, they said,
Surely theres no idiot in our company who cant even cut half the number of enemy necks as this company commander, right?! If there is such a lacking person, the company commander will be utterly disappointed!
Just follow my back!
Soldiers of the Great Reich Empire, the proud soldiers of Schumacher Company! I, Ben Schumacher, will be with you!
To boost the morale of the soldiers, wearing full plate armor for some degree of safety, he brandished his sword and spear at the vanguard like a rampaging horse.
Terrified by this display, the soldiers of the Francois Republic started to recoil and slowly give ground, stepping back one by one.
Madmen, crazy bastards. Theyre fewer than half our number
Damn, but why arent we getting any support from arrows and magic all of a sudden?
I dont know, damn it! And instead of worrying about that, thrust with your spear once more!
Meanwhile, Division Commander Pompadour, seeing his numerically superior army being slowly pushed back, though not completely overwhelmed, threw his baton to the ground.
He started to swing his sword, which was sheathed at his waist, in place of the baton, becoming irritable.
Damn, damn! Why arent the knights coming? If the knights had just done their job properly, our crossbowmen wouldnt have suffered devastating damage, and our infantry wouldnt be getting pushed back by an enemy force of less than four thousand! Argh!
Hearing this, the other officers of the Francois Republic recalled the adage from the academy they attended.
In war, the army with a commander who loses his temper first loses.
They sighed, hand on forehead, thinking,
Damn, this seems like a total mess. What should we do?
While they were struggling to come up with a solution, the knights of Francois were being completely outmaneuvered by the archer cavalry led by Lieutenant Anastasia.
Their tactic involved shooting arrows at the sides of the horses, not the riders, from a distance, causing the knights to fall off and break formation when they did.
With uncanny perception, they would put down their bows and arrows, approach the knights formation, and either slash the horses arteries, killing them, or mercilessly beat both horse and rider with polearms.
As a result, over 700 knights of the Francois Republic, who had boasted before the war that they could decimate a pitiful brigade of the Reich Empire within a few hours, now had no trace of their earlier bravado.
Crazy barbarians, dont come! Save me! Damn it!
Worthless scum! May a curse be upon those filthy pagan cavalry!
Hey, Milton, you madman! Stop there! Dont run out!
The archer cavalry diligently fulfilled their role of hamstringing those knights, slowly reducing their numbers one by one.
Lieutenant Anastasia, commanding the archer cavalry, cut down the enemy knights horses with her saber and shouted.
Major General told me, Anastasia Kerzhit, that we, the archer cavalry, have the most important role in this battle! Lets live up to the Major Generals expectations and faith! Lets accomplish our mission by any means! Honorable cavalry of the north, use all your strength to grab and tear at their ankles!
Hearing her command, her archer cavalry responded with cheers, redoubling their efforts to disorient the enemy knights.
Whether their struggle was effective or not, Major General Montblanc, who led the knights of the Francois Republic, partially lost his judgment due to the storm-like onslaught of the archer cavalry.
If only he could come to his senses now, abandon intercepting the archer cavalry, and quickly join Division Commander Pompadour.
Even though they were being harassed by the archer cavalry, they could have created an opportunity to turn the tide of battle, but he failed to do so and issued an ill-suited command instead.
Archer cavalry! Ignore the archer cavalry! Instead, lets go and kill those damned knights of the Reich Empire! They are currently massacring our crossbowmen and mages!
The original order he had received from Division Commander Pompadour was to protect the soldiers capable of long-range attacks from enemy knights.
Although it was a very important role, engaging the enemy knights would mean longer movement trajectories on horseback.
Due to this extended range of movement, the likelihood of being attacked by the Reich Empires archer cavalry increased, making it an unsuitable command for the current knight order.
And unbeknownst to Major General Montblanc, the crossbowmen and mages he sought to protect had already been nearly annihilated by their natural enemies, the knights.
Division Commander Pompadour, who had commanded 10,000 troops of the Republic, now had only about 6,000 infantry left at his disposal.
Major General Yaeger, seizing the situation, issued the next command for victory.
Leave only the minimum troops to escort me, and the rest of the soldiers and officers join the offensive! The entire army must not miss this opportunity to annihilateno, massacrethe enemy! Kill everyone, noble or commoner, if they dont surrender! There is no mercy of God for the excommunicated soldiers of the Francois Republic!
Shortly after, a golden eagle flag, symbolizing a total attack, was raised at the headquarters.
The polearm troops, armed with poleaxes, took the lead, swiftly and briskly harvesting lives like crops, striking the heads of the infantry and officers of the Francois Republic.
The spear troops killed any Republic soldiers missed by the others, either stabbing them with spears or drawing their daggers to end the miserable lives of the unfortunate Francois soldiers.
Head, head, head! Ill smash your head in!
Die and be at peace! No, die and fall into hell!
Dont beg for your life! Just die there!
Thus, the force led by Major General Yaeger of the Reich Empire seemed to swallow up the Francois Republics army, which was 2.5 times larger in number.
It seemed almost like a snake swallowing an elephant, but the infantry commanded by Major General Yaeger was slowly but effectively digesting the Republics snails.
Meanwhile, Pompadour failed to realize that their fate was an inevitable defeat.
Still believing in victory due to his superior numbers, he commanded in a pitiful voice.
Damn, in this case, my direct unit, led by the Division Commander, will take the front! Raise the divisions flag and the flags symbolizing the Division Commander and the Commander-in-Chief!
At his words, some officers fell into the delusion that the tide of battle would turn now that their commander was going to the front line.
But the situation was already too unfavorable for the Francois Republics army, and if the commander of the 10,000-strong army had stepped in to turn the tide, he should have done so at least an hour earlier.
However, even at the cost of all his subordinates lives, Pompadour had to protect his family and himself.
Even after winning a battle, he faced excommunication by the papacy, and to avoid becoming a scapegoat to appease the madness-driven populace and the nobles leading them,
Charge forward! Lets take Major General Yaegers head!
He reached the point of making a bad move that should not have been made under the current circumstances.
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