Ch.217Mistake

Havar praised me highly, but unfortunately, the seventh spear was the last one I could offer him.

Instead, I gave it to him directly as he wanted—shouldn’t the recipient be satisfied with that?

“Ha-schal-r-rrr!”

Apparently not.

Havar, who had barely blocked the javelin, screamed at the top of his lungs with a face as red as a date, clearly showing both the shame of nearly being unhorsed and the intense anger that overwhelmed it.

What a passionate cry. Anyone watching might think he was trying to hold onto an unfaithful lover.

I gently rotated my slightly stiff right arm while exhaling my held breath.

My remaining strength was about 60% of normal. The results were decent enough. The White Banner infantry, which had numbered a thousand, had already been reduced to about eight hundred.

Their charge had been faster than expected, making further javelin throws impractical.

The distance between Landenburg’s infantry and the White Banner troops was now less than 20 meters, meaning they would collide after just a few running strides.

“Regroup! The traitor and Imperial dogs are right before us. Tear them all to pieces! Warriors, gather behind me!”

Like a flower bud closing, the scattered White Banner troops quickly converged to form a solid formation.

Their speed of regrouping was impressive, befitting troops trained as infantry.

“Second and Third Infantry, spear wall formation! Fifth and Sixth Infantry, hurry and join up! Flank infantry, continue advancing! Protect the heavy cavalry!”

Ludwig shouted frantically as he commanded his soldiers.

The battle situation could be considered favorable, but it wasn’t overwhelmingly so. At least not from my perspective.

Landenburg’s heavy cavalry had shattered the White Banner cavalry’s front line but hadn’t completely broken through and had entered into a chaotic melee.

Their armor did shine in the melee, but at this rate, it would take some time to completely annihilate the enemy cavalry.

Some of the White Banner cavalry on the flanks were even jumping off their horses to grab the heavy cavalry and roll on the ground with them. As if they wanted to be trampled to death together.

Meanwhile, the archer cavalry in the rear was circling around to target the heavy cavalry from behind. The light cavalry that should have been blocking them had already fulfilled their role and been annihilated.

On top of that, the 5th and 6th Infantry still hadn’t joined the main force.

The wall was originally built to keep external enemies out, not for going outside.

There was no reason to make the exits unnecessarily wide, so the number of troops that could be sent out at once wasn’t very large.

Or perhaps in this case, the White Banner infantry was moving at an incredibly fast pace.

“Attack!”

“Defensive formation!”

With the shouts of both commanders, four hundred heavy infantry and eight hundred White Banner troops collided mercilessly.

—-

When Ludwig decided to deploy all four Masters to the flanks, I asked if it wouldn’t be better to place at least one in the center.

After all, the enemy Champion might try to break through the center where there were no Masters.

What did Ludwig say back then…?

Right. He said the central infantry was composed of the sturdiest heavy infantry, and that breaking through a formation of heavy infantry head-on would be difficult even for a Master-level warrior.

It would be hard enough to penetrate in the first place, and even if they did, they would lose momentum and get stuck halfway through.

It certainly isn’t an easy task.

Unless one could unleash one-sided bombardment from a distance like me, a warrior would have to rely on the speed of their horse and the weapons in their hands to break through…

Even charging with a heavily armored horse, they would gradually slow down after skewering a few enemies, and if the horse’s legs were cut during that time, they would be unhorsed. From that point on, it would be a chaotic melee.

His strategy seemed reasonable even to me.

While the central infantry held out as long as possible, we would concentrate our maximum strength on the flanks to somehow annihilate the enemy cavalry, then target the rear of the enemy infantry with a cavalry charge.

I was supposed to reduce their numbers as much as possible with javelin attacks from a distance, then go down the wall and join the infantry.

It was a classic, orthodox strategy, but in a situation where we were ambushed while deploying our troops, neither Ludwig nor I could think of a better approach.

We couldn’t just hold back and retreat during this golden opportunity when the enemies had entered our firing range.

Given our position of needing to resolve the eastern front as quickly as possible, we would have had to engage in a field battle anyway.

I was slightly uneasy but ultimately agreed.

A successful classic is better than a failed innovation. That is, if it succeeds.

And we were wrong.

—-

“White Banner! Your time has finally come! Triple-wave formation! Warriors, follow me and break through!”

“Uoooooh!”

With an exhilarated command, Havar plunged relentlessly into the heavy infantry.

It was like splitting a rock with an axe. Yet, amazingly, the heavy infantry’s formation began to split.

A soldier in heavy armor flew like a pebble when hit by the warhorse, and screams echoed each time his crescent blade swung.

Heavy infantry trampled under hooves crumpled in their armor.

His warhorse charged forward like a storm, swinging its head to knock away the spears and swords aimed at it.

It was like a military truck charging rather than a horse.

“What is that…! Is he riding some divine horse?!”

Even Lord Ludwig couldn’t hide his astonishment.

The expression “divine horse” wasn’t an exaggeration. Even to me, this seemed impossible for an ordinary horse.

[So he mastered that… Indeed, he has reason to charge so confidently.]

Hersella muttered with slight admiration.

‘That?’

[He’s not riding a divine horse. If such a horse existed, he would have offered it to Orhan. That’s a technique I suggested in my youth. He’s infusing his Champion’s Karma not just into his own body, but into his mount as well.]

It sounded preposterous.

Infusing one’s Karma into another creature?

‘Is that even possible…?’

[It would be impossible for you or the Imperials. That’s only possible for someone who has grown up with horses from childhood, spent long hours on horseback, and finally come to recognize it as part of their own body. Even among Champions, many have failed. But those who succeed… look, they become capable of such feats.]

A mount sharing its master’s power, exhibiting impossible strength.

No one could stop that charge.

“You’ve grown weak! Can such weaklings stop me?!”

With a hearty laugh, soldiers’ blood sprayed in all directions.

The footprint left by a single Champion. Warriors charging behind Havar plunged in, creating even more fractures.

The heavy infantry’s formation was split in half.

—-

To make matters worse, problems weren’t limited to the center of the formation.

The front-line soldiers engaging with the White Banner were also facing tactics they had never imagined.

“Aaaagh!”

A heavy infantryman fell with a scream.

With an arrow lodged in the middle of his face.

This was something unlikely to happen in conventional infantry combat.

However, such incidents were occurring throughout the front line.

Landenburg’s heavy infantry, like typical infantry, faced the enemy armed with long shields, spears, and swords.

They adopted the obvious tactic of blocking with shields and thrusting with spears to halt the enemy’s advance, then drawing swords when the battle devolved into close combat.

But the White Banner was a corps created to break such tactics.

This was their first time fighting against Imperial forces… which meant the Imperial forces knew nothing about them either.

Triple-wave formation.

It was a wave attack that divided the infantry into three rows, each delivering different attacks.

The front row relied on spears and shields like ordinary infantry.

The only difference was that they left small gaps between their formations.

“Aaaagh! My leg…!”

“You barbarians!”

Soldiers in the middle row drew their swords, rolled on the ground through those gaps, and swung their blades at the enemy’s legs.

It was a tactic that should have made them easy targets for spears, but the rear row existed to prevent this.

“Second row! Target those rolling in! Pierce their backs—guhk!”

The soldiers at the very back of the triple-wave formation wielded not spears or swords, but bows.

Their arrows rained down on the Landenburg heavy infantry who were targeting the sword-wielding middle row.

At such close range for hand-to-hand combat, even with armor and shields, they weren’t wearing full-body armor like heavy cavalry, so there were plenty of vulnerable spots to target.

It was a tactic Imperials would never adopt, as it relied too heavily on individual skill.

However, the Ka’har infantry had the ability to accurately shoot arrows at enemies even in the chaos of melee.

Landenburg’s heavy infantry had to choose one of two options:

Whether to die from swords targeting their legs or arrows seeking gaps in their armor.

“White Banner! Surround their flanks! We must kill them all before reinforcements arrive!”

Having successfully broken through, Havar turned his horse and shouted, and part of the White Banner dispersed left and right to move to the heavy infantry’s flanks.

The entire heavy infantry fell into confusion.

Enemies attacking with unfamiliar tactics in front.

The center had been breached with warriors engaged in a slaughter, and the flanks were also blocked by enemies.

On top of that, the terrifying enemy commander was preparing to charge again from the rear.

The four hundred heavy infantry began to diminish rapidly.

—-

‘I suppose you didn’t think to tell me about such tactics…?’

[Of course not. Did you mistake me for your strategist? My advice is only meant to prevent you, who fights under my name, from looking pathetic… How many Imperials die is none of my concern. The same goes for the White Banner.]

Hersella sneered.

Right. Of course.

I’m the one fighting on the Empire’s side, not this woman.

Gritting my teeth, I drew the eighth javelin from my back.

“Baron Median! Throwing spears now will only increase our casualties! You need to go down the wall and stop the enemy Champion…!”

Lord Ludwig urgently tried to dissuade me. His expression was filled with dismay.

The heavy infantry was collapsing much faster than expected, so even if I went down the stairs now and headed beyond the wall, by that time, half of the four hundred heavy infantry would already be destroyed.

I knew that well enough.

“Yes, I need to go down.”

[It seems too late already… well, do your best.]

‘…It’s not too late.’

I dashed forward with that brief remark.

Not toward the stairs behind the wall, but straight ahead.

Ludwig realized what I was about to do and was shocked.

‘…You said you didn’t want to see a pathetic sight? Then how about this?’

I gripped the spear tightly and threw myself forward.

Toward the ground 30 meters below.

A dizzying sensation of falling pierced through my entire body.