novelraw Chapter 153
Chapter 153
Chapter 153
* Thud thud thud
With the sound of pounding hooves, the Horse Tribe charged in.
Their numbers weren’t that large.
Roughly 200 mounts.
Since each Horse Tribe warrior carried one rider, that made around 400 in total.
The Horse Tribe had decided to mobilize only warriors for this war.
With about 500 warriors in total, that meant nearly all of them—except for those left for defense—had been deployed here.
Their numbers were small, but they were by no means a force to be underestimated.
Especially since both the riders and the war mounts were armed with Minotaur Horn Bows.
All the spare horns we had were turned into Horn Bows and sent to them, after all.
‘This looks a bit… strange.’
Visually, it looked like something out of a demon king’s army.
Centaur-like war mounts charging forward with Horn Bows, and riders behind them drawing their bows.
Considering that centaurs were usually depicted as monsters in most novels, it fit perfectly.
It was very different from the cavalry I had imagined.
From the outside, it looked bizarre.
“…Wow.”
But their power was astonishing.
The first to spot and respond to the Horse Tribe were the Imperial archers stationed some distance away from the Castle.
The archers quickly nocked their arrows, and the Imperial infantry who hadn’t climbed the walls rushed forward to shield them.
Infantry protects, archers attack.
A textbook response against cavalry.
* Shushushushuk
The problem was that the range of the Horn Bows used by the Horse Tribe far exceeded that of the Empire.
And the arrows they used were also Johnson Territory’s custom Iron Arrows.
From outside the archers’ range, they fired relentlessly—and with terrifying accuracy.
Even the infantry meant to protect the archers, along with the archers themselves, fell like leaves in autumn.
This was an attack that ordinary Soldiers simply couldn’t withstand.
At this rate, the Soldiers would be completely whittled down.
* Retreat! Raise shields! Maintain formation and fall back slowly!
Even at a glance, it was a hopeless situation.
Octosia quickly issued a retreat order, and the Knights who had climbed the walls immediately withdrew to where the Soldiers had regrouped.
The Imperial Master who had been blocking me clicked his tongue and turned, jumping down from the wall.
It was an incredibly swift retreat.
“Planning to proceed as planned, human chieftain?”
“That’ll be difficult.”
As we watched the retreating Imperial Army, Gariman, the Chieftain of the Cow Tribe, spoke.
He was asking if we would follow the original plan.
Seeing Gariman covered in blood, it was clear he had gone through quite a struggle.
He looked like he wouldn’t be satisfied unless he beat the Imperial bastards down properly.
Originally, whether it was the Horse Tribe or the Cow Tribe, once they joined this battlefield and struck the Imperial main force, the Castle would actively support them.
From the Territory’s Knights mounted on Mountain Goats, to the Crimson Comet, masters of mounted combat—
All would gather and break through the enemy in a single charge.
The reason I had left the Crimson Comet here was precisely to exploit such an opening.
‘But this situation…’
It was true that the Horse Tribe’s attack had thrown the enemy’s formation into chaos, but if the Knights actively joined the defense, they could stabilize the situation.
Even now, they were forming defensive formations and retreating slowly.
Charging in now wouldn’t gain us much.
In this situation, consolidating our forces came first.
The Cow Tribe reserves, who had served as our shield and held onto the enemy, had taken heavier losses than expected.
“Let’s tend to the wounded first. We need to prepare for the next battle.”
“As expected. Understood.”
After asking Gariman to handle the battlefield cleanup, I observed the situation again.
The Imperial Army, retreating slowly as a single mass, and the Horse Tribe sniping them from afar.
At this point, with their relatively small numbers, it seemed difficult for the Horse Tribe to do much more—
* Urgh!
* What the—! The arrows are piercing the shields…!
The Horse Tribe shattered my expectations.
Even as the Knights joined in defense, I thought they might manage—but once the Horse Tribe began firing in earnest, the situation shifted again.
Even the Imperial shields that had managed to block our Rangers’ attacks couldn’t fully withstand the Horse Tribe’s arrows.
Aura-infused arrows pierced through shields, forcing damage onto the enemy.
Even the Knights at the front began to fall one by one.
* Damn it, close the distance and engage them! Stop those horse bastards!
Realizing that simple retreat wouldn’t work, Octosia issued a new order.
Close in and force melee combat.
Hundreds of Knights charged toward the Horse Tribe.
Then, some of the remaining Knights mounted warhorses waiting near the main force and launched a second wave.
They clearly intended to catch up somehow.
‘Close combat, huh. Well, if they’re Beastmen, there’s no reason they’d refuse mounted combat against Imperial Knights…’
I thought the Horse Tribe would respond.
That’s what Beastmen did.
Why would they avoid a glorious mounted battle?
But surprisingly—
The Horse Tribe reacted differently.
As soon as the Imperial Knights charged, they turned and fled as if they had been waiting for it.
* Shuk shuk shuk!!
* Damn those horse bastards…!
‘That’s… retreating?’
But it wasn’t just a retreat.
The war mounts ran forward without looking back—but the riders kept firing arrows even while fleeing.
No—some of them even turned fully backward, calmly drawing their bows.
At this point, it didn’t matter whether the enemy was in front or behind.
This was only possible because the Horse Tribe had essentially perfected autonomous movement.
It was far beyond the backward-shooting techniques I knew from Mongol armies.
It seemed the Horse Tribe was a very rational tribe that loved one-sided damage exchanges.
‘This is insane. Wait… if that’s the case—’
“Prepare to sortie immediately. Only the Johnson Knights and the Crimson Comet.”
“Yes!”
Looking at the situation, an opening was forming.
The Horse Tribe’s strategy was so overwhelming that the Empire couldn’t properly respond.
If that was the case, we should take advantage of it.
Just as I expected, from that point on, it was the Horse Tribe’s show.
They effortlessly distanced themselves from the pursuing Imperial Knights while continuously raining arrows down on them.
When the war mounts tired, they switched roles with the riders—or both would transform into war mounts and run together.
Switching between humanoid and centaur forms, they toyed with the enemy.
Even the Imperial Knights, who had brought warhorses, were helpless against their unpredictable mobility.
They needed to close the distance to do anything—but they couldn’t even get close.
* Damn it! Everyone, get behind the shields! Pull the main force back!
After tying down the Knights, the Horse Tribe would approach the main force again, unleash another volley, and retreat.
Repeating advances and withdrawals, they endlessly chipped away at the Imperial Army.
Eventually, after suffering steady losses, the Empire decided to retreat.
Their main force began pulling back.
“Now! Move out! Take their rear, strike briefly, then withdraw!”
“Johnson! Johnson! Johnson!”
At that moment, the Johnson Knights and the Crimson Comet charged out from the Castle gates and struck the enemy’s rear.
Already thrown into chaos by the Horse Tribe’s assault, the Imperial Army was helpless against the sudden charge of the Mountain Goat cavalry.
Thus, the first clash ended in an overwhelming victory for the Johnson–Beastman Alliance.
---
After delivering a solid blow to the Empire’s rear, we returned.
We quickly began handling the casualties.
The heaviest losses were, as expected, among the Cow Tribe reserve warriors.
If we won this war, they would likely deserve the most credit.
The Horse Tribe had performed brilliantly in their own way—but it couldn’t compare to the Cow Tribe, who had risked their lives to hold back the Imperial Army in dire conditions.
“Priest Brito! This one’s on the verge of death!”
“Bring the critical ones here first! Hey! Those who can be treated with potions, move over there!”
Fortunately, the treatment process was going smoothly.
Brito, along with ten Priest-Warriors and trainee Priests, moved quickly to treat those who couldn’t be healed with potions.
Even the Priest-Warriors who had been rampaging across the battlefield were still Priests at heart.
They were incredibly proactive in treating the wounded.
As long as they could keep someone alive, they would force potions down them and bring them back.
Thanks to that, many Cow Tribe warriors survived.
‘And well… I guess Suppository Potions helped too.’
“This one’s unconscious!”
“Good. Then take off his pants and insert it.”
“Uh…”
“Shut it. No time. Move!”
Well… yeah.
Suppository Potions inflicted extreme psychological damage—but their effectiveness had long been proven.
For the Cow Tribe, who weren’t used to them yet, the Knights of Johnson Territory personally demonstrated how to use them.
It was a matter of life and death, after all.
The Knights’ leadership by example would surely serve as a valuable lesson.
* Though that Knight… isn’t he smiling?
‘He’s saving a comrade. Of course he’s smiling.’
Surely there wasn’t some lunatic in Johnson Territory thinking, “I suffered this, so everyone else should too,” while shoving in suppositories.
“Ugh… I’m awake…”
“He’s not in a state to drink potions yet. Administer it immediately!”
“Wait, I’m awake—ugh!!”
It was already proven that Suppository Potions worked faster than regular potions.
The Knights seemed eager to ensure faster recovery.
It was winter.
---
After the first day of battle ended—
While tending to the wounded, I cautiously observed the enemy camp.
The Horse Tribe had already retreated far out of sight after their relentless assault, and the Imperial Army, thoroughly harassed, was setting up camp in exhaustion.
Since they had intended to capture the Castle in the first battle, they had much to deal with—and their morale seemed extremely low.
‘If their morale were high in this situation, that’d be strange.’
* They got beaten the whole time near the end.
But even so, the Empire was doing something strange.
Their camp, set up a bit away from the Second Horn.
For some reason, they had built stone walls around it.
Did the Imperial Army have Builders too?
Seeing stone walls being constructed in real time left me speechless.
‘And building walls like that means…’
More importantly—why build something like that?
It looked like they intended to stay here and continue the siege.
To defend against the Horse Tribe’s raids, such thick stone walls would be necessary.
‘I thought they’d obviously withdraw their forces.’
Was this really the right move?
Continuing the siege in this situation?
‘Ah… I see.’
Though the Empire had taken heavy casualties, most of them were Soldiers.
The Knights had suffered injuries too—but only around 200 to 300 had actually died.
Of course, that was still a massive loss.
But with over 700 Knights still remaining, they might think it was too early to give up.
If they withdrew now, they would gain nothing.
‘And our side took damage too.’
The Cow Tribe reserves, who had acted as shields, were mostly injured.
Comparing current forces alone, the Empire still held the advantage.
So if they could just avoid the Horse Tribe’s one-sided attacks, it wasn’t unreasonable for them to think they still had a chance.
“That one’s making a big mistake.”
But for that to work, no additional enemies could join the battlefield.
Just like the Horse Tribe had ambushed them—if another Beastman force appeared, they’d be in serious trouble.
The Cow Tribe warriors were already on their way here.
Octosia seemed confident that the defenders of Lucas Castle would hold them back.
“Breaking through an ambush by both the Lion Tribe and the Horse Tribe to chase the Cow Tribe?”
Could the Lucas defenders—already weakened after sending many Knights here—really achieve that?
I didn’t think so.