episode_0005

The infantry division of this era is composed of five battalions: one reconnaissance battalion and four infantry battalions. Within the reconnaissance battalion, there is one company and about 20 soldiers are organized as magic infantry. So, within one division, there are only 20 magic infantry. A very small number.

However, this composition is for standby divisions with the unit number in the front, and for reserve divisions with the unit number at the back, instead of the reconnaissance battalion, a pike battalion was still organized. It was because, although it’s an artifact from a past era, during the charge after a few rounds of direct fire between the front-line infantry, they played a vital role in suppressing fires. Moreover, the maintenance cost of the unit was also low.

In the case of the 13th Infantry Division, it was a standby division that organized a reconnaissance battalion, and in the case of the 147th Infantry Division, it was a reserve division that maintained a pike battalion.

“Company – Shoulder arms!”

A dull sound of muskets being shouldered was heard. At Lieutenant Erdua’s command, the personnel of the augmented magic infantry company from C platoon and the 13th Infantry Division moved in unison. They were all placed under Lieutenant Erdua to take charge of the vanguard. Because of this, I also had to keep an eye on the Living Marge.

“Vanguard, advance 5 steps!”

Clare moved to the rear duty station due to magical exhaustion. I was prepared to receive punishment and had gone to save Clare, but fortunately, as Colonel Auguste said, there was no punishment. Did he prioritize saving an officer over me? Perhaps Colonel Auguste wasn’t as bad a person as my first impression suggested.

The artillery fire from the 2nd Royal Artillery Battalion was surprisingly accurate. Although the target was enormous, almost every shell hit its mark precisely. Being close to the base meant there was no shortage of ammunition, and it felt almost like conducting joint firepower training in the 21st century. Due to the continuous shelling, the rectangular structure, or as Colonel Auguste called it, the “indecent box,” clearly looked on the verge of collapse from a distance.

At about the time when half of it had crumbled – surprisingly, even the outdated firearms of this era could cause destruction – a report came from the reconnaissance unit previously sent to Saint Marg that something had flown out of the cursed box and landed in the harbor. Colonel Auguste immediately ordered the formation to move.

At the forefront, there was a cannon unit with grape shot loaded, followed by a reinforced company of 25 magic infantry and a pike battalion of 400, while the remaining 3200 regular infantry and 320 guards were densely packed into a very narrow formation. It was a formation not typically used during combat with regular infantry.

The tension on the face of the artillery officer, who was positioned right behind the cannon, was visible. It was understandable, as they were protruding at the very front of the formation. Even though there were pike and magic infantry waiting behind, being in a vulnerable position at the front, with unknown cursed entities possibly launching an attack, was no easy matter.

Almost simultaneously with the movement of the formation, something began to creep from the burning shadow of Saint Marg. Was it the retreating reconnaissance unit? I strained my eyes to see more clearly, but it was still indistinct. It would have been good to have a spyglass, but such things were not given to ordinary magic infantry. Clerics might have one. Looking around, it seemed that other magic infantry also noticed something.

Soon after, the order for the pike battalion to advance was heard from behind me. Before long, even in the darkness, their figures began to be distinctly visible. There were about thirty of them? Or maybe more. They were the hefty creatures that had torn through A Company and the Moscovi army, resembling the creatures from a movie, Alien. However, compared to those, these looked heavy enough to be classified as heavyweights. Colonel Auguste would probably label them as cursed creatures.

Their charge towards the ground resembled a cavalry’s assault. Despite their seemingly small number, they charged straight toward the cannon without changing direction. It was only a moment before they entered the effective range of the grape shot, about 500 meters.

“Fire!”

From the muzzle of the foremost cannon, grape shots flew out like shotgun pellets. However, their speed was too fast. Clearly, several were torn apart by the initial grape shot volley. Then, the pike and musket infantry should have advanced to the front of the battery, but before that, they collided with it much faster. The gunners who couldn’t evade became literal blood splatters, colliding head-on with the battery without even slowing down.

“Company, prepare for firing! Take aim!”

Despite the gunners being decimated up front, it seemed like a contradiction of the linear infantry era. We calmly aimed our muskets at them. Nighttime black powder volleys. Even a single volley would make it impossible to see ahead.

“Fire! Follow with canister shot!”

Bang!

Amidst the muzzle flames, billowing white smoke completely obscured my vision. I heard the drummer’s advance drum signal from the rear pike infantry. Through the faint smoke, I saw a 12-pounder cannon flying through the air. Who the hell threw it towards the battery? As the pike infantry advanced to my position, grotesque creatures swept everyone on the battery and revealed themselves in the smoke.

Grrrk

The figure standing tall was easily over 3 meters. Two holes pierced its chest, and from there, black liquid flowed, indicating it had been properly shot. Yet, there seemed to be nothing wrong with its movement.

“Stab!”

A dozen or so pikes simultaneously stabbed the creature. The pikes of this era were a staggering 5 meters long. Some pikes couldn’t pierce its outer layer and slipped off, but the rest went straight through. Unable to inflict fatal wounds, the creature tried to push away the pike infantry with force while screaming, but the pike infantry, holding firm, didn’t budge easily. They probably wouldn’t hold out for long.

“Hey, what are you doing! Shoot quickly!”

I snapped back to attention at the pike infantry’s shout. I took precise aim at the struggling creature’s head. It was futile for it to shake its head here and there in such close quarters.

Bang!

The blue mana pierced through the guy’s head. The pike soldiers, who had just managed to pull out the pikes from the collapsed guy’s body, were maintaining their formation in the same spot.

Did they receive separate training somewhere? It was amazing that all the people here were holding their ground without losing morale, even though they must be seeing those monsters for the first time. The extreme obsession with maintaining formation from the era of front-line infantry was unintentionally being utilized as an advantage here.

However, regardless of that, the number of friendly casualties was steadily increasing. There were only 400 pike soldiers. To take down the monsters all at once, we needed at least a dozen more. Then, the remaining guys who weren’t stopped swept away the pike soldiers and bit into the heads of the magic infantry whose defensive formations had been broken.

“Damn it, what is the infantry division doing!”

The Royal Artillery Battalion still had several artillery pieces left in the rear, but we hadn’t heard any sounds of bombardment. What could be happening in the rear? I wanted to check, but if I indulged in such curiosity, I’d likely lose my head. While the magic and pike infantry were somehow holding off the front line, there was no news from the rear infantry division.

After driving the spike into the second monster’s head, I looked around for a moment, and the size of the pike battalion had significantly diminished. There were barely ten magic infantry left. Lieutenant Erdwa was still alive. In contrast, there were over twenty monsters. Instead of heading towards the front-line infantry to finish us off completely, they were loitering around. A couple of them rashly charged into the pike unit and ended up skewered, with the spikes piercing through them like a barbecue skewer.

“Don’t panic! Let’s kill them one by one, starting with the closest ones!”

I wasn’t sure about the front-line infantry, but the pike soldiers were definitely helpful in dealing with these creatures. It was ironic that the troops waiting to be withdrawn from the battlefield were now being of help. While the magic infantry were recovering their momentarily depleted magical power, a standoff continued as the creatures hesitated to engage easily.

“Aaaargh!”

“Cannons are coming!”

The cannons of the vanguard unit, which had been annihilated like a scream, were raining down from the sky. To confront the encroaching enemies from all sides, the pike and mage soldiers formed a square formation in the center, while cannonballs, like stones thrown by a catapult, were literally falling among them. Were these guys moving on instinct alone?

It wasn’t good. Although the cannons they were firing were probably no more than three or four, it wasn’t easy to maintain formation when iron balls were flying towards densely packed humans. When a cannon fell in the middle of the formation, about a dozen people were instantly turned into bloody messes. After this happened several times, morale plummeted. As soldiers began to break formation, the square quickly crumbled.

“Don’t run! Stand together!”

Even though I wasn’t in a position of command, the orders I shouted in frustration were nothing less than a roar. It was remarkable that regular soldiers endured this much. For mage soldiers, there were spells to boost morale or provide mental defense. But the fleeing soldiers were all witnessing this soberly, so they wouldn’t have the resilience to endure.

The scattered forces became nothing more than easy prey for the monsters surrounding them. No matter how they tried to maintain formation with military discipline, once the ranks collapsed, they couldn’t recover.

“Mages! Gather here! We’ll break through with full force!”

Lieutenant Erdua drew his saber and shouted. He charged towards a spot that seemed to have a wider gap between the monsters. Around forty people gathered around him, including both mages and pike soldiers. Staying here would only result in certain death, so they ran towards what seemed like a vulnerable area. Even as they ran, their numbers steadily dwindled.

“One strike for escape…!”

First, Lieutenant Erdua, who was leading the charge, abruptly stopped speaking and his body floated up into the sky. Shattering his defensive spells, he soared through the air like a broken puppet, disappearing from the forefront. The formation momentarily froze with the disappearance of their leader. Seizing the opportunity, the monsters mercilessly slaughtered those on the outskirts. Someone had to step forward.

“Don’t stop! Push forward with all your might toward the main unit!!”

Internally cursing every possible insult, I found myself at the front. Survival was paramount for now. That’s what would lead to success, or anything else for that matter. Fortunately, Erdua’s assault seemed to coincide with our escape from the encirclement, allowing us to sacrifice the unfortunate soldiers left behind as we headed towards the main force.

“?”

Breaking through the encirclement, I could see that the infantry ahead had offered no assistance. The soldiers who followed me out were speechless at the unbelievable sight.

The scattered bodies of the infantry revealed what had happened. And the remnants of the destroyed artillery unit. Strangely, an enormous flock of crows had descended upon the corpses. Was it them? Given the creatures we had encountered multiple times, it wasn’t surprising regardless of their form, even if they resembled crows. Had they all fallen victim to these bird-like entities?

“What about Lieutenant Clair…?”

No, she couldn’t be dead. Even if she suffered magical exhaustion, she was incredibly powerful. I didn’t want to believe her body lay among those crow-like monsters. Taking a few survivors who had barely made it through the desperate breakthrough, I changed direction. If Clair was alive, she would have headed towards the 93rd Independent Alarm Infantry Battalion. In our current state, we wouldn’t survive being pursued by them, but fortunately, the monsters seemed indifferent, reveling in the buffet spread across the valley. We were lucky.