Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!

Chapter 296: Annihilated

"These arrow fletchings and heads are definitely the kind we use."

"So there are still horse archers left."

Barosi had told me that some of the Hungarian mercenary companies hired by Bohemia and Bavaria still remained. We presumed it was the Kuschak faction, which was on friendly terms with the mercenaries, but we couldn’t be certain.

Anton, who couldn’t make sense of it no matter how hard he tried, asked me.

"Commander, was the Beren cavalry really weak enough to be wiped out that easily?"

"They probably ignored Benjamin’s control, charged off on their own, and got smashed to pieces. Tsk tsk tsk."

"Like those bastards who ignored your orders and charged during the last pitched battle?"

I’d been burned by that once myself, but I had turned it into an opportunity. While the order violators tied up the enemy cavalry, I circled around and raided the enemy artillery and gunners, earning decisive merit that shook the entire battlefield.

The cavalrymen who had been utterly humiliated back then joined the interception force, burning for redemption, but old habits die hard. It was obvious they’d attempted another lone charge and gotten wrecked. It must have been a nightmare for Benjamin, who led the interception force.

The absurd part is that this wasn’t the first time.

The greedy ones had ruined everything in the last battle too.

Back then it hadn’t had much impact, but now it was a full-blown crisis.

Did the grand duke send them knowing it would come to this?

The finest elite unit, the Beren Lance Cavalry, was supposedly stationed in Dellingen, and it would take time to arrive. Until the main forces clashed, I had no choice but to hold the line somehow.

As a knight of Beren, shouldn’t I protect the people of Beren?

I assembled the troops scattered around Radensdorf castle.

"From this moment on, we will take the interception force’s place and fight the Bavarian vanguard."

The cavalrymen, who had been busy pounding away at bandits, were bewildered. This was completely out of left field. Why did they suddenly have to replace the interception force? The cavalry lieutenant asked me.

"Why do we have to fight the vanguard in place of the interception force?"

"Because I received a report that the interception force has been annihilated."

"A-annihilated? What do you mean!"

The crowd erupted. The cavalrymen were deeply rattled by this unforeseen situation. The truth is, most of the cavalry here had racked up all the merit they wanted and preferred the relatively safe rear.

All they had to do now was collect their fat rewards and go home. They didn’t want to fight with their lives on the line. Of course, the current operation put their lives at stake too, but it was nothing compared to fighting on the front line.

Only my direct subordinates had complained about being left out of the interception force.

I’d planned to keep my head down per the grand duke’s advice and take it easy in the rear, but I never imagined things would turn out like this. This thing called fate really knows how to make life a hassle.

I try not to stack up merit, and fate keeps force-feeding me chances to earn it. What’s the deal? Still, I’m not hard-hearted enough to sit still, if only for the sake of saving the refugees who would otherwise be trampled by enemy cavalry.

"Just in case, I’ll ask. Anyone want out?"

"..."

In a public setting like this, no one can back out even if they want to. They were stealing glances at each other, but for honor-prizing cavalrymen, backing out for fear of death is nothing short of social suicide.

But the most important thing was that I was the commander.

They had a superior with real name value, something the interception force had never had.

That exerts far more influence than you’d think.

When a large battle looms, people want something to lean on.

"As long as the Gale Knight is with us, we cannot lose!"

"That’s right! Our captain is a great knight!"

The duchy cavalrymen’s shouts drew a fierce response from the others, and morale soared. My reputation as a cavalry commander truly lived up to the hype. So no one could say they were being driven into a death trap.

"All right, let’s teach these uninvited guests from the east a lesson!"

"Death to the Bavarian fools!"

"The Gale Knight is with us!"

The cavalrymen cheered and mounted their horses.

I dispatched a messenger to Michael, requesting that every cavalryman remaining in the duchy army be sent east. With our numbers, a head-on clash with the enemy cavalry would be difficult. Two hundred ninety-five horsemen galloped east.

Through the Commander Scouter, I monitored the front in real time. I spotted a group that looked like refugees, with enemy cavalry chasing them down. Like blood-starved wolves, the riders tore into the flock of sheep without mercy.

"Commence attack!"

At Anton’s flag signal, the cavalrymen drew their swords in unison. Since we hadn’t prepared lances, cavalry swords were all we had. Well, I alone wielded a halberd.

Ever since I had received the Strength bonus, even the heavy halberd felt light in one hand. That meant I could swing it freely on horseback. The time had come to properly put the Halberd of Hades to use.

Thud thud thud thud thud!

As we crested a small hill, refugees being cut down helplessly came into view. The uninvited guests from Bavaria were cruelly slashing at their backs. In that moment of distraction, our cavalry crashed into the raiders.

I swung my halberd and hacked down five horsemen in the blink of an eye.

The small band of enemy cavalry was annihilated without putting up any real resistance.

"Follow this road straight and you’ll reach Radensdorf. Ditch your belongings and run as fast as you can!"

"Th-th-thank you! May the Lord’s protection be with you!"

After sending off the refugees, who had been trembling in terror, I scanned the area with the Commander Scouter. Refugees were under attack sporadically all over the place. It was dizzying.

But I kept calm and, starting with the nearest, crushed the small enemy cavalry bands attacking the refugees. We killed them all, leaving no prisoners. We couldn’t afford the luxury of dragging prisoners around.

While advancing east, I found some of the scattered groups of friendly cavalry. They had failed to shake off the pursuing enemy cavalry and had been run down. Naturally, we charged to save our allies.

Crunch!

"Gaaak!"

The Halberd of Hades was powerful enough to crush cavalry armor in a single blow. With a cavalry sword, all you can do is clang away until you manage to stab through a helmet gap or a weak point and unhorse your opponent, so this was incredibly convenient.

Crunch! Crunch!

"Aaaargh!"

Trying to block a halberd with a flimsy sword is absurd on its face. I split the enemy cavalry’s center in two, breaking through without pause until I spotted a commander who appeared to be a knight.

Their formation had already collapsed, and horsemen were playing tag in every direction. Of course, we were "it," and the ones fleeing were the enemy cavalry. The knight resisted bravely, but he died with the halberd buried in his skull.

I had meant to take him prisoner, but he fought back so fiercely that I had no choice.

"Thank you for the rescue, Sir Streit."

"I’m relieved you’re safe, Viscount."

"You have my respect for your dazzling performance."

The noble who had cheated death was Viscount Erbach of Ulm. He had joined the campaign to make up for his record of participating in the rebellion, but far from redeeming himself, he had nearly been taken prisoner. I asked him what had happened.

"Viscount, what on earth happened in the battle?"

"Those damned court noble commanders, who don’t know the first thing about war, charged at will, and everything turned to chaos in an instant. Even the commander of the Offenburg Knights couldn’t control it."

"So the greedy ones finally caused a disaster."

Just as I’d predicted, the commanders the court nobles had planted were the ones who caused the problem. The enemy was probably even more dumbfounded than our side by that reckless, orderless charge. And then our men were picked apart one by one.