NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 66
However, I, SIEL von Croilet, need to drive them into a corner for an economical and efficient victory.
Because the victory I achieved is only with about 10% of the enemy army, comprising knights, and I did not annihilate the infantry.
Fortunately, the enemy infantry seems to be delayed in their advance, perhaps because they are caught in the bait laid by Chris, and I hear they are still struggling with our other soldiers…
However, the information conveyed by the messenger cannot be delivered in real-time due to the speed and distance at which the messenger runs, unlike modern Korea…
Thus, I cannot accurately perceive the battle situation due to the lack of information, described in war games like StarCraft as ‘fog of war.’
Nonetheless, since we’ve already defeated about 2,000 soldiers facing a similar number of knights… it can be said that the war has ended as I thought just moments ago.
However, if even 10% of the knights escape safely, tomorrow the enemy will reorganize around their infantry, leveraging their numerical superiority to attack us again, or they might return to their respective castles to enter a defensive phase.
If that happens, I will lose more future serfs and citizens, the cost of war will be maximized, and even more blood will flow from the soldiers who fought for me.
During the council of war, I strategically pressured the knights to the extent that they could not voice such opinions, succeeding in repelling the Count Nante’s knights… but still, 60-80% of them are likely alive.
Therefore, I must hack down the enemy like a madman, like a bloody murderer, to save even one of our soldiers from dying.
“Messenger! Is there a messenger!!”
At my words, one of the soldiers holding a lance approached me.
“Corporal Mainz!”
“Immediately relay this to your squad leader: ‘All our company leaders on the opposite side have thoroughly defeated 1,600 knights with only 2,000 infantry! And transmit the false news to the enemy that Schwabin has been captured!'”
“Yes, understood.”
Upon hearing this, Corporal Mainz began to run as if his feet were on fire.
And our soldiers quickly filled the gap created by Mainz’s squad’s exit.
I issued training orders, but I never expected them to move so quickly…
After a while, the enemy knights began to gradually distance themselves from our troops.
Seeing this, the soldiers lowered their lances and started to sit down to rest.
“Wow, I thought I was going to die!”
“I heard from Sergeant Short in the reconnaissance team yesterday that there were 1,600 enemy knights…”
“Wow, damn… no wonder it was so terrifying!! I thought we were done for!”
“Still, I caught two knights! If all goes well, I might get promoted to sergeant! When I do, I’ll confess to Layla! I mean, being a sergeant wouldn’t make me envy a village head, right?”
“You’re amusing. Even if you get Layla from your village, isn’t she pretty enough to be the Excellency’s concubine? They say her looks are renowned! She’s probably already married!”
“Hey! Oh!!! We still don’t know about that!!”
Any reasonable commander would allow soldiers who achieved such results to take a break, but we cannot afford to relax until we achieve an overwhelming victory over the enemy.
And our unit can still fight more.
So I approached the soldiers to lift their morale and order them to charge again.
“You guys?”
As I approached to speak, the soldiers who were talking about a girl named Layla started calling out their names.
“Corporal Mainz!”
“Private Sandel!”
“Sergeant Oink!”
I waved my hand to calm them down and said, “No matter how beautiful this girl named Layla is, who here said they’d confess to her?”
After hearing that, a man who introduced himself as Private Sandel quietly raised his hand.
“Is it you? Yeah, I said she’s pretty enough to want as a concubine. How pretty is she?”
“She’s really beautiful! Her eyes are as big as cherries, and her lips are as red as roses and cute! I really want to marry her! So I’ll succeed in the army and confess to her!!”
Guys who say things like that usually die in the middle of battles in movies or anime, but here it’s reality… so they shouldn’t die just for saying that, right?
So I gave Sandel a light pat on the shoulder and said, “I’m already good with just squeezing Ela at night. I don’t want any other concubines. And I haven’t married yet! We’re both still single!”
After I said that, looking around…
The soldiers were momentarily speechless, astonished that a nobleman as high as a baron was joking with a lowly peasant like a private.
They could only stare open-mouthed, alternating their gaze between Sandel and me.
“Alright, Private Sandel. Make sure to earn many merits and return alive. And let’s aim to get you promoted to sergeant so that marriage restrictions will be lifted. Once you become a sergeant, you should be able to get married, right?”
“Yes! That’s right!!”
“Once this war ends and you succeed in getting promoted to sergeant, I swear by my name that I will also attend your wedding. Let’s have a grand celebration at the castle. I want to see a girl so pretty that I’ll lose my mind!”
Hearing those words, Private Sandel and the other soldiers surrounding me were already misty-eyed at the graciousness that transcended the common sense of the esteemed Baron Excellency.
With this level of encouragement, I began to feel confident that I could now command them to follow a more rigorous strategy without complaint.
So I snatched the flag from Sergeant Randell and said,
“O proud soldiers of the family of the Keeper! If you want to return home to rest!! Follow me; the enemies are still before our eyes! If they manage to enter their castle to fortify, it will only delay our return home! Even if you’re tired, hold your lances and follow me! I am with you!”
Saying this, I applied strength to my legs, which were feeling weak, and started to run in my iron plate armor.
And after a moment, glancing back slightly, the soldiers no longer showed any signs of exhaustion from ‘risking their lives’ and were determined to keep fighting.
In their eyes, there was only the confidence that, with their “Esteemed Baron Excellency,” there would be brighter days ahead in their lives.
After running about 500 meters, I waved the flag to stop the soldiers and directed them to form defensive lines.
Everyone quickly formed a solid shield wall, and we had completely blocked the rear of the enemy army.
Shortly after, the enemy knights and our knights began to charge for a clash.
We wielded lances, but since we had fewer numbers compared to the enemy, our depth was shallow to align with them.
While the enemy maintained close formation with around 9-10 rows, we barely had around 3 rows.
However, the screams of the dying echoed…
“Croilet!!”
“Impossible…”
“SIEL!! You dog of a bastard!!”
“For the Baron Excellency…”
The enemy’s side was much larger.
Then, the knights of Croilet could not engage with so many enemy knights without lances, and they swiftly retreated.
“SOLDIERS! Follow me! Your honor and wealth are held by the knights ahead! Bring down the arrogant knights of Nante from their horses!”
With that, I broke formation along with my flag and charged after the enemy knights.
Because even with a broken formation, our infantry would surely defeat those knights who were already in tatters.
The formation was broken, but the soldiers, perhaps due to the importance of teamwork learned in past training, engaged the knights mounted on horses in a ratio of ‘two lances to one halberd.’
Two lances would block the movements of the knights and stab the horses, then the soldier with the halberd would strike down their helmets to paralyze their movements and stab their swords or daggers into the gaps or inside the helmets of the enemies.
As a result, our battlefield transformed into a scene of carnage.
“Ahhh! My eyes!!”
“If you just lie still, you’ll die in one hit. Old man.”
“How dare you, you insect-like commoners!! You don’t mind killing nobles at all!!”
“To us, nobles are Excellency and those who follow him. Other nobles are just piles of money!”
“Hehe, if I kill you, I can give a dress to Maria…”
“You lunatic!! Get away!! Get away!!”
“Ten gold coins for each knight’s head! If I kill just ten, I could build a house inside Croilet Castle!”
“I’ll surrender!!! No, I beg for mercy! Please spare my life! I don’t want to die for such trash!!”
The blood of the knights flowed into puddles on the battlefield, eventually starting to flow like a small stream.
As my soldiers butchered the “noble lords,” 3,000 enemy soldiers from the opposing side began to join in to share despair and death equally.
Right now, at a distance, only the largest flag featuring my emblem is visible, but once they join, a massacre will begin.
Some might ask if the battle that just occurred wasn’t already a “massacre,” but strictly speaking, as a historian, I believe it isn’t a massacre as long as the opponent can resist even slightly.
However, the purpose of this war is to completely incapacitate the enemy, the family of Count Nante, not a massacre…
Thus, I decided to bestow one last mercy upon those poor young knights.
“Everyone, if you don’t want to die, surrender. Do not risk your lives in this dishonorable lost war. If you are willing to surrender, put down your weapons.”
Then, I raised my flag with one hand toward the highest-ranking knight among the knights who had already lost the will to resist, directing it at his neck and said,
“If you do so, I will spare you from a dog’s death. You can return to your family. Or will you fight me?”
“But I am a knight. As a knight, I must fight against a traitor like you…”
Though he spoke those words, his voice was already filled with tremors and his eyes could no longer meet mine.
It seems his will to fight has been completely broken, but perhaps he deliberately puts on a last stand to maintain his honor…
This means that if I break his will to fight, I could make many of his knights surrender easily.
And with an incompetent superior, a capable or honest subordinate… it would be a waste to let such talent die.
To swallow Nante, I must put on a show to recruit such knights…
“Surrender for your vassals and serfs in your domain. If you die, what will happen to them?”
“I only hope you show mercy! Giving them to me and their assistance is all the grace of Count Excellency. To repay that grace, I will die here!”
… It would truly be a loss to just kill such a gentleman; a knight with such character would likely have a decent reputation within the territory…
If I play my cards right, I might be able to make use of him.
“Just surrender. The war is already over, and if you don’t surrender, I will kill all the other knights here. The reason I am making this offer is because there are still knights like you, who have not lost their honor.”
Hearing those words, the aging knight pointed his sword at me, sighed, and then laid his sword down on the ground.
He expressed his intention to surrender.
To not miss this timing, I raised my hand and shouted.
“Men! We are going back! We have won!”