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Volume 7 Chapter 4 Part 2

However, Petr did not blockade the armed bridge itself. He should have been able to build a fort inside the armed bridge. If he had done that, Milza would have attacked as expected. Although he is a younger monarch than Theo, he gave the impression that he is adept at such delicate tactics.

(He’s the kind of ruler that everyone would want to have under his command.)

He had many military exploits under Lassic, and after taking over Veltava with Theo, he repelled all the invasions that the Heavy Knights of Waldrind have launched towards them.

「Now, where do we start? 」

As they approached the armed bridge, Milza muttered to himself. Terius also looked around at the wasteland that spread out beyond the bridge.

There is a road that runs north and south, and Theo has built a stronghold on the north side where he was waiting for them to arrive. This is a formation in preparation for the arrival of reinforcements from Waldrind. To the south, the reinforcements that arrived earlier were setting up camp.

「First, let’s go to the south. While cutting down the enemy’s territory, we will defeat King Lassic of Selvis. If we defeat him, the leader of the Artuk Treaty, this battle will end in our victory! 」

When Milza shouted, the warriors of Dartania’s army cheered as if they had already achieved victory.
They have already received the power from Milza’s Banner, after he raised his hand high and caused his Crest to shine. It was rare for him to do something like that for his soldiers, but todays battle was special, so he was willing to make an exception.

In fact, while they were holed up in Castle Unicorn, their morale had dropped to the point that Terius was seriously worried whether or not the soldiers would even be willing to fight at all. However, they have now returned to being mighty warriors they always were, and there was no negative effects on the influence of Milza’s Banner on them. Just seeing their black Viceroy running dashingly at the head of the ranks is enough to inspire them.

(Shouldn’t I have believed in the strength of Lord Milza all along?)

Terius wondered if their current situation could’ve been easily avoided if only he wasn’t so afraid of having Milza fight in a disadvantageous situation.

「First of all, that group. 」

Milza pointed the tip of his sword in his hand at the only enemy line that stood out from among the rest of the enemy troops.

Judging from the coat of arms and their armaments, Terius believed that this army was led by King Alfred Shakes of Clovis. He is a Lord who is said to be cautious at best, and slow at worst. There are many independent Lords on his territory, so even their formation was not properly set up, and it was clear to see that they all lacked discipline

「They are not the worthy opponents for us! 」

Milza declared. He then crosses the bridge and approaches the fort. Naturally, arrows rained down towards them. Some of his people were even hit by them and fell from their horses, but the rest managed to get by unscratched, and since they didn’t have the luxury of time on their side anymore, Milza had no choice but to order his men to leave those who fell from their horses behind. Dartania’s army proceeded to pas by these stones one after another without slowing down…

「Come on, let’s get out. 」

When about 500 of the Dartanian horsemen passed them by, Petr gave the signal to his people.

With that signal of his, the gates of the fort have been opened, and soldiers, armed with long spears, charged into the flanks of the enemy ranks. Their horses that had been pierced by the spears fell on top of each other, crying out in pain, and those who followed had no choice but to stop on the bridge to avoid tripping over them.

「We’ll push the rest of the enemies back to the other side of the bridge! 」

After another command, Petr’s warriors formed a lance formation across the width of the bridge and pushed the Dartanian army back toward Castle Unicorn.

「With this many people, we can kill them on our own! If Milza’s main force returns here, we’ll use this bridge to block them! 」

This armed Bridge originally served as a gateway to Castle Unicorn. It was useless when the castle was attacked from the inside, but it was built to be easy to defend against attacks from outside. It was extremely negligent of the Dartanian army to not use that bridge as one of their defensive bases. Dartania’s cavalry, unable to move forward and stuck on the back of the armed bridge, was defeated one by one by the long weapons of the spearmen commanded by Petr. The remnants who managed to survive gave up on trying to join back with the rest of Milza’s army and retreated back to the castle.

「There’s no need to chase after them! We’ve already accomplished our purpose. 」

Although only a few dozen cavalrymen were defeated, the nearly 500 cavalry unit Milza has set out with has been divided.

Petr’s army remained on the bridge, preparing for attacks from both the front and the backside of it, because even though they build a fort in here, the place still remained dangerous and highly succeptable to attacks.

No matter how anyone would look at it, it was a dangerous place to be in, but the way Patr saw it, as long as you’re not afraid of dying, you can overcome any situation, no matter how unexpected it would be. It’s exactly the same as back when he was a child and was chased by Lassic for trying to steal from his father’s garden.

(Of course, if we end up dying, then that’s going to be it.)

If Milza’s main force returns to the bridge, then the followers who have returned to the castle will likely come out again, and if they are caught in the front and back, their annihilation at their hands would be all but inevitable.

He didn’t know if it was his time to die yet, but one thing he knew for sure. Wherever he went, death was always following him closely like a shadow. And there is no use in being afraid of your own shadow.

(Still, I have to live until Lord Theo orders me to die for him.)

However, Dartania’s main force never turned back.

「Pay no heed to whether they are friend or foe. Just take the bodies of the deceased and their horses and create a makeshift barricade out of them. We shall give them all a proper burial once the battle is going to be over, but for now just focus on treating the wounded to get them back into fighting shape as soon as possible. 」

Then, Petr turned his attention to the Dartanian army that was moving away. An overwhelming army of thousands of cavalry was advancing south. Beyond that, there are reinforcements from the Artuk Treaty that have just arrived onto the battlefield.

「It’s definitely going to be a tough battle for them. 」

* * *

「Fall back! Fall back I said! 」

King Alfred Shakes of Clovis shouted at the top of his lungs towards his soldiers. Clovis’ army was completely destroyed in the blink of an eye as Dartagnia’s army charged at them with ferocious force.

At the foot of a bridge over a natural trench, they saw a unicorn flag, a maelstrom flag, and a flag with a crane design fluttering in the air, so Dartania’s army proceeded to attack them in order to stop them from advancing forward any further. Since Clovis’ army didn’t expect to encounter Dartania’s army so soon, it quickly dominated them, since the soldiers were also tired from the long hours of continuous marching without stopping. The independent Lords quickly fled from the battlefield when they saw that trying to fight Dartania now would be a thoroughly lost cause, and King Alfred quickly did the same thing while being protected by his own subordinate Lords.

「Father, over here! 」

Mislav, Alfred’s successor whom he brought with him so that he could experience his very first victory in an actual battle shouted to his father as he observed the movements of both his father and the Dartanian army as he was trying to lead his father to safety. Fortunately for the both of them, the place that Milza attacked was the rearguard of Clovis’ army. If he had chosen to attack it from the front, then both the King of Clovis and his son would have been annihilated first.

「Fuck! All I wanted was to achieve a military success that would increase my standing at the next Lord’s Conference! 」