Ch.602Unfortunate Encounter

Orhan, who was certain that Landenburg’s scouts would be watching Ordos’ movements, prepared a simple deception to fool their eyes.

Just before heading west with 6,000 Blue Banner troops, he disguised some of them as Black Banner troops and positioned them on the outer edges of the formation.

Thin armor that only looked convincing from afar and flags dyed black.

It was a crude disguise that would be immediately noticed upon close inspection, but it was enough to fool Landenburg’s scouts who were limited to observing secretly from a considerable distance.

The disguise had two purposes: to mislead the enemy about the pursuit force’s marching speed, and to make them believe that Ordos’ elite forces had fallen for their bait, encouraging the enemy to act more aggressively.

‘If it’s a diversion strategy, their goal must be to divide and conquer Ordos’ southern forces… or perhaps to target Ordos directly while I’m chasing after their detachment. The latter possibility is slim, though.’

If their goal was to divide and conquer, he could respond with Targiyan and the Red Banner troops.

Conversely, though unlikely, if Ludwig’s aim was to surprise attack Ordos while the main force was away, Orhan could simply pretend to leave Ordos with the elite Black Banner troops. This would trick the enemy’s main force into misjudging that the Black Banner troops had vacated Ordos, leading them to attempt a reckless attack.

Of course, Orhan also considered the possibility that Ludwig’s plan wasn’t a diversion. It could be a scheme to lure Orhan out using Haschal and then eliminate him.

‘If it’s not a diversion but a trap, Ludwig’s main force must be lying in ambush.’

Even in that case, disguising the Blue Banner troops as Black Banner troops had its advantages.

‘Tactics for countering heavy cavalry differ fundamentally from those for light cavalry. If they misjudge our pursuit force as Black Banner troops, we can exploit that weakness and counterattack.’

If the enemy knew they were facing Blue Banner troops, they would prepare numerous archers. But if they mistakenly thought they were facing Black Banner troops, they would reduce their archers and set traps primarily with heavy infantry and heavy cavalry.

In that case, Orhan and his Blue Banner troops could outmaneuver the enemy without worrying about arrow volleys, using their mobility to their advantage.

‘If it succeeds, we gain… and even if it fails, we don’t really lose anything. In that case, we’ll just have to confront them head-on.’

With this disguise that was more of a trick than a strategy, Orhan rode west.

======[ Haschal ]======

Orhan was coming.

Leading thousands of heavy cavalry.

This news poured cold water on the morale of the detachment, which had been elevated by repeated victories.

Rationally speaking, it should have been good news. After all, keeping Orhan’s attention fixed on them was the detachment’s strategic objective.

However, few people are brave enough to rejoice at achieving their mission objective when faced with the pursuit of thousands of heavy cavalry led by the strongest warrior of the steppes. Most of the cavalrymen were already showing anxiety, alternately looking west and east.

“…Our primary objective has been achieved, so all that remains is to shake off the pursuit force and retreat.”

Even Yan and Karim couldn’t laugh off Orhan’s pursuit. Though they tried to appear calm, the tension was evident in their eyes.

“Right. We need to get out before we’re caught. Get everyone ready.”

I nodded to them, then lit a cigarette and looked at the eastern horizon, which was gradually brightening.

Thousands of Black Banner troops led by Orhan. If our retreat was delayed and we ended up clashing with them, they could annihilate us in minutes. Even if I could hold my own against Orhan, it would be impossible for our detachment, now reduced to only 170 cavalry, to withstand the Black Banner troops.

And after the detachment was annihilated, I would have to face Orhan and the Black Banner troops alone… In that case, I’d have a better chance of survival begging naked on my knees. Though surviving that way wouldn’t really be living.

‘So, just this once, let’s retreat instead of fighting. Understand?’

[Hmm? That’s obvious, isn’t it? With a power difference of at least twenty times, not retreating would be foolishness, not bravery.]

I had brought it up thinking she might insist on fighting, but Hersella’s tone suggested she was wondering why we weren’t fleeing already.

‘You’re more level-headed than I expected. Didn’t you used to say something about retreating from battle being a warrior’s disgrace?’

[A warrior’s fight and an avenger’s fight are different. A warrior should value honor above life, but for an avenger, the success of vengeance is more important than personal honor.]

…Well said.

‘That’s fine then.’

I shook my head, tapped off my cigarette ash, and turned my horse toward the heavy cavalry who had finished preparations for retreat and were lined up according to Karim’s orders.

Over a hundred pairs of eyes looked at me anxiously. My next duty was to get them safely to the Wall.

“As you all know… the Ka’har are faster than us. Even though our scouts returned as quickly as possible, we don’t have time to spare, even considering that the enemy are all heavy cavalry.”

To begin with, there was no guarantee that the entire pursuit force would be heavy cavalry. It didn’t make sense. It would be like bringing out heavy tanks instead of armored vehicles in a situation where you need to chase fleeing enemies.

If Orhan’s forces only appeared to be heavy cavalry but were actually mostly light cavalry, the distance between us and them could be much closer than expected. I didn’t voice this speculation as it would only break morale.

“So ride like hell. Don’t even think about rest. Understood?”

“Yes!”

The heavy cavalry shouted, pounding their breastplates with their fists, as if trying to shake off the tension and anxiety weighing on their hearts.

“Good. Prepare to charge! Our destination is the Wall of Berengaria. Ride as if those who fall behind will die!”

With a forced battle cry, 170 heavy cavalry simultaneously whipped their horses.

With the sound of thunder and raising dust like fog, we galloped toward the west.

It was a four-day journey in a straight line to the Wall. The four days that would determine our fate had begun.

—-

During our retreat, both horses and riders pushed themselves to their limits. I employed every possible means to slow down the enemy’s pursuit.

I stripped off the horse armor and full plate armor that only hindered our escape, half-melted them with Karma and threw them on the road. I set fire to fields and bushes, and used the power of destruction to damage the marching route in various places, turning it into rough terrain.

No matter how great the Ka’har’s horsemanship, they couldn’t charge through the metal pieces scattered everywhere, the blazing fires, or ground that looked like it had been torn up by a crazy excavator without detouring.

These were only stopgap measures, but they seemed to buy us some time. After all, we hadn’t been caught by the pursuit force even after three days of retreat.

Well… three days turned out to be the limit.

—

“Sir! The pursuit force!”

“I know!”

I gritted my teeth in response to the nameless knight who called out urgently, pointing at the horizon, then turned my head to look behind.

Beyond the horizon shrouded in brownish mist, thousands of black dots resembling an ant colony were shaking with the earth. They were emitting a fierce, burning aura.

Damn it. With only half a day left to reach the Wall’s sphere of influence…!

[That speed…! They weren’t Black Banner troops! At this rate, they’ll catch up!]

‘I know!’

They say bad premonitions never fail, and indeed, it seems the enemy were merely disguised as Black Banner troops but were actually light cavalry. Judging by the speed at which they were charging toward us.

“Can’t we increase our speed!”

“Everyone’s already at their limit! Whipping them more would just…!”

Nigel shouted in a tone full of dismay.

Yes, they’re at their limit. I know that. I only asked because the situation was so urgent.

Whenever exhausted horses collapsed, we either captured wild horses to replace them or poured recovery potions on them to revive them, but as Nigel said, we were reaching our limit, making it impossible to shake off the pursuit by increasing our speed.

Whipping horses that were already foaming at the mouth would only make them collapse rather than go faster.

“Damn it…! Kenaz!”

I threw my right arm backward, spewing magical flames. With a whooshing sound, horizontal crimson flames formed a wall of fire.

[That won’t be enough!]

I know.

As Hersella said, it seemed impossible to halt their advance with the fire rune at this point. If we were in grasslands or forests with plenty to burn, it might be different, but the land we were galloping across was ordinary wasteland covered in dirt.

Setting fire to such ground wouldn’t spread widely or burn for long before extinguishing. Karma fire could burn the soil itself and last longer, but if I created Karma fire strong enough to block thousands of cavalry, the power of Murder Karma would be completely depleted before long.

If that could shake them off, it wouldn’t matter, but if it couldn’t, it would reduce our already low chances to zero.

…Do we have to fight?

I bit my lip, contemplating. All sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind. The chances of winning in battle, tactics to increase those chances even slightly, and the fate we would face if we lost despite everything.

No.

There’s no way to win.

If I could draw out power beyond my limits as I did against Invidius’s arm, I might be able to defeat Orhan. Even setting aside whether that’s possible.

The problem is… by the time I managed to take down Orhan, those cavalry would have killed all our allies and could even hold a funeral if they felt like it. I could clearly envision our forces being cut down like straw bundles upon collision.