Chapter 51: The Hammer & Anvil (4)
“What the hell are those bastards? Where have they been hiding before suddenly appearing and attacking from the side? Damn it!”
“I thought I’d be happy just staying here and fighting until that damned Crown Prince’s head would fall off.”
“Damn those Reich rats!”
400m.
As we enter the range where we would exchange magic and arrows, the curses and criticisms spewed indiscriminately by the enemy soldiers begin to be audible.
As the commander who proposed this operation, hearing such direct criticism from the enemy didn’t solidify our victory yet, but it already felt rewarding.
That was because such sincere criticism from the enemy soldiers served as a kind of measure showing how fatal my strategy was to the enemy.
“Hold on a little longer, and General Andrey will send us reinforcements! Just hold on!”
“Long live the Chekovia Republic! Long live our great Grand Duke of Chekovia! It’s the treacherous and evil Reich bastards who appear out of nowhere, like rats. Kill them!”
“Don’t be afraid! Their trump card, the Crown Prince, is already helpless in our hands!”
The Chekovian commanders tried to calm their wavering soldiers, but it was just a temporary measure.
Once we would gain the upper hand, the morale of the soldiers would plunge into the underground quickly.
And then, suddenly, the magic spells and arrows from both our allies and enemies began to fly toward each other.
“Yaeger Battalion, incoming ranged attack! Move forward silently and steadfastly, like a rock, just as we have been doing!”
All I could do now was pray to Deus, whom I didn’t even believe in much, and move forward toward the enemy lines.
“Oh great Deus, if I die here, I won’t be able to marry Camella. Please save me.”
“I have lived pure, never owing the military merchants even once. Please save your innocent lamb.”
“Damn, I’ve donated a lot. I believe you won’t abandon me here.”
It seems the soldiers are also in the same state of mind as me.
They, like me, were moving towards the enemies one step at a time, seeking God.
We only needed to endure about 6 more minutes of this eternal time, and we would be free from the one-sided, unavoidable ranged attacks.
I earnestly hoped for the time to pass quickly, waiting for the melee combat where we could fight fairly with spears and swords.
“This is insane! I want to live. I want to run away!”
“Mom! Dad! Ahh, Emily!”
“Chase, Watson! Ugh!”
I couldn’t look around since turning my head could lead to instant death.
But from the noises around us, it was apparent some unlucky ones died from the magic spells or arrows, and there were some who got executed trying to desert due to their fear of ranged violence.
While it was truly unfortunate for those who were killed by the mages or archers, those who were trying to desert were executed immediately.
In infantry combat, where deserting a position causes the deaths of dozens or hundreds of comrades, who would spare a deserting soldier?
Those guys must be eliminated as quickly as possible to prevent fear and desertion from spreading to other unit members.
“Idiot. If he wanted to desert, he would have lived if he did it during camping or the long march.”
While silently moving my feet with all these thoughts, the silver gleam of enemy spears came into view.
The ranged attacks that were aimed at the Yaeger Battalion had completely stopped.
“Reorganize the formation! Look at those filthy Chekovians right in front of you. It’s time to take revenge for our precious comrades whom they’ve killed!”
As I shouted, my soldiers yelled while reorganizing the formation.
“Let’s kill them all! Drench this land with their blood!”
“You guys are all dead. This is your grave. Get familiar with it and die.”
“Long live the Battalion Commander! Long live the Crown Prince! Long live the Reich Empire!”
The enemy soldiers didn’t lose their vulgarity as they kept coming towards us, ranting. Meanwhile, I was observing them for any weaknesses.
The enemy commander wasn’t stupid. He selected elite soldiers to protect his surroundings.
Because although most of the enemy soldiers seemed to be conscripted from farmers, they all had decent physiques and high morale.
“Mages, crossbowmen, shoot towards the enemy! Kill them all!”
Then, the mages and crossbowmen poured enormous firepower toward the enemy, waiting for the command.
Usually, during close proximity with the enemy, if a crossbowman accurately shot about three bolts, he was considered good, but today, despite the fatigue from the long march, they almost managed three bolts.
Truly, real battles were the best form of learning. They naturally improved in the extreme tension of war.
“Cowardly bastards, using magic and bolts right in front…”
“Do your parents know you live like this? These bastards never give warnings.”
“Ugh, damn it…”
Thanks to that, enemy soldiers started falling like leaves in the autumn wind.
The morale of our soldiers began to rise, as if it would pierce the sky, in response to this development.
“Dirty ones, you’ve died well!”
“They were loud and ugly while alive, but now that they’re dead, they’re quite silent and pretty!”
“Big brother will make you pretty! Kyahaha!”
I was worried that our combat abilities might be compromised due to the fatigue from several hours of the long march.
But perhaps the regular aerobic exercises to build stamina that we did and the anger from all the hardships we had experienced to get here fueled our morale, soaring high.
The burning will to definitely win and return alive seemed to have elevated our combat abilities even beyond normal levels.
So there would be no mistakes during close combat.
“Knights, conserve your energy! And Lieutenant Laura will act on my behalf. Take the Main Squadron to the Division Commander to get around thirty horses!”
When raiding the enemy’s command post, it was standard to mobilize all the available troops, aiming for a central breakthrough.
This way, we could kill more enemy soldiers and have a higher chance of killing the enemy commander protected in the innermost part of their formation.
So, the instructions I gave might seem a bit unconventional.
Was it because of the incredible record brought about by the unusual and beyond common sense actions performed by the commander known as Lieutenant Yaeger so far?
“Understood, Lieutenant! The Main 1st Squadron will move with me to where the Division Commander is.”
“The Knights Company will stand by at the rear of the battalion! Everyone dismount. Conserve the horses’ stamina.”
Both commanders followed my orders without any objection.
And now, to participate as an infantryman, I dismounted, switching my weapon to the infantry spear I had prepared beforehand.
“It’s time to grind the trapped enemy! Everyone, charge at once!”
In response to my command, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rows of soldiers started moving slowly towards the enemies as one.
Seeing our momentum, the enemy commanders started to panic.
“Lift your spears if you don’t want to die! Gather! Do as you were taught if you want to live!”
“You humble civilians, don’t be afraid! Those who are afraid die first!”
Seeing this, I sighed.
Because if the fear of the soldiers infected the commander, but the officers of that unit maintained sanity, the soldiers could calm down and recover their combat power.
However, if the higher-ups showed signs of panic, the soldiers, seeing this, would perceive the crisis more intensively.
Which meant that their morale would drop and their combat power would hit rock bottom.
Our sergeants and squadron leaders didn’t miss this weakness of the enemy… They grinned and said.
“Match the count, one, two, three! Walk on one, stab on two, pull on three!”
“You are one unit.”
“Move as one! Then you can definitely survive!”
The soldiers would be somewhat relieved when they heard the familiar commands from the sergeants and squadron leaders on the battlefield, commands they had heard tirelessly during training.
It was the usual commands and cheers, so they just had to do what they were trained to do.
And soon, the infantry of the Yaeger Battalion collided with the enemy infantry.
We stabbed each other, swung our spears, and exchanged curses.
Gradually, it was time to wear each other down.
So, the spearmen started fighting with the intent to kill each other, and soon, they couldn’t see anything but the enemy in front of them.
“Die, just die!”
“Go to your deceased mother!”
“Look at your trembling spear! I have to send you quickly out of pity. Farewell!”
As the soldiers became blind to everything but the enemy in front of them, their vision of their commanders also narrowed…
“Spear units forward! The Battalion Commander is leading!”
It was now the most advantageous time for us to win.
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