novelraw Chapter 161: Krafte War - The Battle of Barua (7)
Chapter 161: Krafte War - The Battle of Barua (7)
The cavalry engagement was at its peak at the Revolutionary Army vanguard.
Prince Heinrich, leading the Krafte Army's cavalry, ground his teeth.
His cavalry, bewildered when their infantry ambush was counter-ambushed, was struck by the enemy Cuirassiers' charge and routed without a proper fight.
Expecting a victory, the prince personally charged out upon hearing the absurd news and somehow managed to gather a portion of the scattered cavalry before rushing back.
'Damn it, if only I had been there myself, we wouldn't have been taken down so easily!'
“Your Highness, enemy cavalry ahead!”
Heinrich, who had been grinding his teeth, immediately raised his telescope upon his staff officer's report.
Their numbers were around 2,000 to 2,500, mostly light cavalry.
Whether they were blessed by the Saintess Queen or were a holy order of knights, they held gleaming swords, but this side was 5,000 strong in heavy cavalry.
Having already disappointed the Great King's expectations, if he were held up by a mere bait unit here, he didn't know what he would hear after the battle.“Divide the forces. We can easily suppress them with even half our numbers. We must prioritize striking the enemy's main force.”
“The enemy commander at the front is Marquis Lafayette!”
“W-what?”
Prince Heinrich's mind went blank as he rapidly gave orders.
The prince immediately pointed his telescope in the direction his subordinate indicated, holding his breath.
A man stood at the very forefront of the vanguard, followed by a standard-bearer with the crest of the Lafayette family.
He wore the familiar uniform, even the black rose brooch on his chest.
It was the same man who had been at the meeting with the Great King.
“…Has he gone mad?”
No matter how short on reserves they were, the Commander-in-Chief himself was leading a bait unit to tie up the heavy cavalry?
Was he that desperate, or had he lost his reason, unable to accept defeat?
Either way, this was an opportunity that could not be missed.
An opportunity to take down the commander-in-chief who had fought on equal terms with the Great King, an opportunity incomparable to simply adding a hand to the Great King’s victory.
“…All forces, prepare to charge.”
“A-all forces, prepare to charge!”
“Annihilate the enemy cavalry ahead! Marquis Lafayette must not be allowed to escape! It matters not if he is killed or captured alive! The one who captures the Marquis will be personally rewarded by me!”
“Yes, sir!”
It was an opportunity to make up for a futile defeat and gain the honor of capturing the enemy's commander-in-chief.
No cavalryman could remain unmoved by that.
“Charge!”
“Commence charge! For Krafte!”
As soon as Prince Heinrich's order was given, 5,000 heavy cavalry began to charge in unison.
The characteristic sound of the Chasseurs' carbines erupted in succession, but few Cuirassiers fell to such single-shot guns.
A few were unhorsed and rolled on the ground, but most blocked the shots with their magic barriers and raised their swords high.
The cavalry of both sides closed the distance at high speed, and soon the pitiful screams of horses and the clash of arms filled the battlefield.
Despite their numerical inferiority and being mostly light cavalry, the enemy did not yield much in the initial clash.
“Tsk, that so-called Saintess Queen is more troublesome than I thought.”
It must be that Saintess Queen's blessing.
But that protection would not last long. Heinrich had already received reports from the main force on how they had countered their protection during the battle.
Moreover, the Cuirassiers were mostly men who could handle mana, however little, so if the battle was prolonged even slightly, this side would have the absolute advantage.
The moment Heinrich had that thought,
“M-monster—”
“S-stop him! Stop him!”
Voices filled with panic and astonishment erupted from the very front.
Heinrich instinctively raised his telescope and witnessed it.
A sword, swung at a speed that was hard to follow with the eyes, lightly tore apart the magic barrier of a Cuirassier.
Not only that, it split the cavalry sword that tried to block it in two, and sliced through the cavalryman's body.
Even though it was half-covered in blood, the blade gleaming pure white from the Saintess Queen’s blessing seemed somehow unreal.
Heinrich stared, speechless, at the dancing sword.
Every time the sword danced, blood splattered and his subordinates were split in two.
Whenever an opening in the Marquis’s defense seemed about to be exploited, the other two knights fighting beside him would invariably block and cut down the attacker.
The three knights at the vanguard displayed an absurd level of martial prowess, cutting down everything that approached. As dozens of losses instantly turned into triple digits, even the brave Cuirassiers began to shrink back in utter astonishment.
When Heinrich, who had been staring blankly at the scene, snapped back to his senses, he realized his subordinates were being pushed back.
Pushed back? By a force half their size?
“D-do not retreat! The enemy is mostly light cavalry! Stop them!”
Stop them? That?
Even he, who was giving the order, did not see how it was possible.
No, is that even possible?
-The war between Francia and the Empire was truly tremendous.
It was a story only the generation of his parents remembered.
Among them, the Blue Knight. The terror of that man cannot be believed without seeing it with one's own eyes. But I saw that a human who could overwhelm an army single-handedly really did exist.
He had always thought it was an exaggerated tale of his ancestors, a sight that would not be seen on a battlefield already entered into the age of gunpowder.
Prince Heinrich slowly lowered his telescope.
In that time, the distance to the erupting shower of blood and screams grew closer.
He could picture the Marquis and his knights charging forward with overwhelming martial prowess, crushing everything in their path, even without a telescope.
Prince Heinrich clutched his chest without realizing it.
The frantic pounding of his heart.
Is this, fear?
He, the heir to the Kingdom of Krafte and the general leading the strongest army of mankind?
“Y-Your Highness! The vanguard is wavering!”
The staff officer’s words seemed distant somehow.
-It is a pity, Heinrich.
-What is it, Your Majesty the Great King?
-That there is a successor who might be comparable to me, yet it is not my heir, is a pity.
Prince Heinrich clenched his jaw.
-To face that man and continue the strongest kingdom I have built, you will need to put in a bone-grinding effort.
He had seen it with his own eyes.
He realized he could not follow the man who had brought the battle against the Great King to this point.
But that is precisely why.
To continue the Kingdom of Krafte as the heir of the Great King, to continue the name of the strongest, that man must die here!
“Relay to the front! The Marquis and the vanguard knights are to engage defensively, maintaining distance and fighting a delaying action! All other units are to hunt down the enemy cavalry first!”
No matter how great he is, in the end he is only human, a being temporarily displaying strength with the blessing of the Saintess Queen.
In the end, he is a noble knight showcasing his valor by using his subordinates as sacrifices.
Once we annihilate the mere light cavalry, that inhuman man can be dealt with as well.
Prince Heinrich clenched his fist and commanded.
“Do not retreat! Show that relic of the old age what a battle of armies is!”
If that reckless man wants to follow the last moments of the Blue Knight, so be it!
*
I have cut down so many enemies I cannot even count.
What I feel is my own ragged breath, and Gaston and Sir Beaumont on either side of me, protecting and matching my pace.
Before me is the fear and astonishment of the enemy, who are being overwhelmed.
The momentum of the enemy, which had been surging towards us like a wave, has faltered.
The enemy's will to fight, as they try to retreat as much as we advance, is already faint.
I moved my aching arm and flicked my sword, blood covering the ground.
I glanced to the side, at the path I had taken.
A desolate land, filled only with blood and corpses, lay behind me.
I have walked a very long road.
Why did I, a noble and a knight, join hands with commoners?
Many have wondered about this.
Even Christine did not always understand why I made such a decision.
It was simply the lesser evil.
Because I knew the obvious worst would happen, I would stand with the victorious and survive.
Even while convincing myself of that, I walked this path.
“U-uwaah!”
As I had done until now, I knocked aside the charging knight's sword and thrust my own into his chin.
I kicked the gurgling, blood-spitting man to pull out my sword, then swung it at the enemy charging from behind.
The enemy raised his sword in panic to block, but met the fate of being split in two, sword and all.
My mithril sword absorbs mana without waste, and combined with the aura of Eris's blessing, it produces more than enough power to overwhelm an ordinary heavy cavalryman.
This power, which surprised even me, added to my conviction.
Whether it was the divine power Gremory spoke of, which caused my regression, or something else, I was clearly getting stronger with each infusion of divine power.
“L-like a monster—”
The enemy fell, spouting blood, his throat cut before he could finish speaking.
The hot blood gushing from his throat drenched my body.
Why am I fighting like this, stained with so much blood?
Now I know the answer.
I was a noble, yet I was not truly one of them.
The sense of privilege and pride a noble should have had never been granted to me by the Blue Knight.
Because the Blue Knight saw me as a future political rival and thoroughly suppressed me, I grew up feeling more affinity for the common people who looked up to me than for the nobles.
Only in the moments when I was praised for showing mercy and respected by them could I prove my own worth.
That's why I despaired so much when the Revolutionary Army denied me everything and executed me as no different from a corrupt noble.
I had been so obsessed with joining the Republic, not just to survive, but to prove I was different from those corrupt nobles.
That was why I had not even considered assassinating Raphaël Valliant, even though he might have been the greatest threat.
Because he had defeated me in the name of liberty, equality, and fraternity with the people's support. Because he embodied the very image of the leader, respected and loved by the people, that I had so longed to become.
The time I fought without knowing this about myself, and the mistakes I committed by spilling so much blood and sacrificing my own people, push me forward.
Countless enemies still stand before me.
Once again, swords danced and blood scattered.
“Your Excellency, it seems the enemy is attacking the cavalry first!”
At Gaston's call, I turned and saw our cavalry, which had entered the path that opened during our breakthrough, being attacked from the flank.
Looking ahead again, I could see Prince Heinrich's flag in the distance.
If I break through further, could I reach him?
If I stop to protect my subordinates here, will I miss this opportunity and be crushed by their numerical superiority?
-Christine, for you.
I fight for the future I will build with Christine and my people.
I had said it.
I will no longer fight for Francia.
I will never again force sacrifices from Christine and my people.
And.
“General Gaston, to the left flank. Sir Beaumont, to the right flank. Protect the troops.”
“But Your Excellency the Marquis, in that case, Your Excellency may be in danger.”
-Pierre, for you.
Christine fights for me too.
She told me this.
-Just because you've abandoned a path no different from death even if you survive, don't feel sorry for me. I believe in you, so I will wait, knowing you will repay my faith.
Christine had sent a letter with those words to me as I was about to plunge into the enemy lines against the Storm Witch.
Shamefully, she had seen through to my core even before I swore fealty to the now-Queen Eris, and before I witnessed Izidor's death.
She knew that the reason I had fought so hard was not just to survive.
I looked again at the path I had come.
On the path where the Blue Knight had galloped, only blood and corpses remained. Those who followed him had suffered devastating damage, and in the legend that sang of his death, only the martial prowess of the Blue Knight remained.
But now, on my battlefield, covered in the symbols of death—corpses and blood—the thousands of troops who believed in me and followed me are fighting fiercely.
This is the difference between the Blue Knight, my father, and I.
I commanded them to follow. It was not a command given so that I could lead the way alone and be remembered in legend.
To lead this battlefield to victory, so the sacrifices of those who have fallen, and the struggles of those who will survive, will be rewarded!
“If they fall, I too will eventually die. To save them is to save myself. Go!”
“I receive the order of His Excellency the Marquis!”
As Gaston and Beaumont galloped off to either side, my eyes met those of my subordinates. They were covered in blood, exhausted, and outnumbered, yet their gazes were unwavering.
All of them are already my people.
Before the regression, what I had so dreamed of and longed for was already in my hands.
The people I must protect are on this battlefield. I have shed blood and piled up corpses to fight for this.
So, I am grateful.
Blue Knight, Hubert De Lafayette.
Without you, I,
Could never have come this far.
Seeing Gaston and Sir Beaumont move away, the enemy began to charge.
I readjusted my grip on my sword.
The long and arduous journey of fighting stained my path with blood.
Everything was for this very moment!
“Follow me, Revolutionary Army! I will be your shield, so do not fear the enemy!”
*
On a hill overlooking the plain, where an army of hundreds of thousands was fighting a fierce battle.
Karl II was holding a telescope, looking not at the plain where his soldiers were fighting, but at the ridge on the flank.
The battlefield where Marquis Lafayette was leading less than half the number of cavalry to clash with the 5,000 heavy cavalry led by his heir.
Seeing the 5,000 heavy cavalry slowly but surely being pushed back after a desperate close-quarters battle with that force of less than half their number, Karl II slowly closed his eyes.
“Your Majesty the Great King, my apologies. The ammunition is exhausted…”
He had prepared for war his entire life.
He had chased glory his entire life.
During that time, had he ever thought it would turn out like this?
He had told them to try and defeat him, but he never thought it would actually happen.
The undefeated Great King who knew no defeat.
The one who commanded the strongest army of humanity.
“Haha, hahaha…”
A laugh escaped him on its own.
This was the first stain on his glorious legend.
Why, then, was he filled with only mirth?
The Great King picked up his cane and, striking it on the ground with all his might, opened his mouth.
“This battle is my defeat.”
“M-my apologies, Your Majesty the Great King.”
The sight of his staff officers bowing their heads in apology was already invisible to the Great King’s eyes.
His gaze was now directed at Marquis Lafayette, who would be fighting desperately at that very moment, and at the Saintess Queen Erisliste, who would be with the enemy's main force.
Clap—Clap—Clap—
Slowly, three times, the Great King sent them applause that they would not hear. Then he turned his back without any lingering attachment and commanded.
“To prepare for the next performance, we must avoid any further losses. We are retreating. Relay the order to retreat to the entire army.”