96 – Civil War – 7
The Crown Prince led 16,000 troops and began to carefully advance into the Eitrich Forest. The forest was deep. Large broad-leaved trees were densely lined up, and if you went just a little off the road, the trees were blocking your view to the point where you couldn’t even see the sun.
‘The terrain is rougher than I thought.’
The crown prince was taken aback by the terrain being more rugged than he expected. It seemed that it would not be easy for him to chase down the enemy if he was attacked in this type of terrain.
“Liam. “The terrain is rougher than I thought. Will you be okay?”
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. Although the forest is thick and the terrain is rough, the number of enemies is only 6,500. It’s not even half of our team’s size. If the enemy attacks using rough terrain, allies can respond with direct attacks. It’s about pushing it with force. No matter how much guerrilla warfare we wage, if we succeed in getting out of this forest, it will be a victory for our troops.”
“… “That’s right.”
I was worried about the rough terrain, but it wasn’t a big problem. That’s because the number of enemies is less than half that of our allies. An ambush is only meaningful when both parties’ strengths are similar. With such a large difference in troops, there was no way an ambush could cause significant damage. With that thought in mind, the crown prince continued to move his army forward. And he had scouts actively moving around the main army to check for ambushes. Meanwhile…
“Messenger! “The scouts say they have discovered the enemy’s main army!”
“What? The enemy’s main army? “You mean you found Leonia?”
“Yes! They say they found the Arcadia family flag! “This is Princess Leonia’s army!”
“… !”
The crown prince’s eyes shone.
“Where are you? “Where is it?”
“It is said that they were encamped in a large open space 6 kilometers ahead of here.”
“Vacant? “You mean it wasn’t an ambush?”
“Yes. “I guess they are waiting for a direct confrontation.”
The crown prince could not hide his joy at those words. It was also true that I felt a little anxious when I thought the enemy was setting up an ambush. But it’s not an ambush, it’s a direct confrontation? Is the princess crazy? But I was rather thankful. She thought that if the princess had acted smartly and had hidden her ambush and marched before Jiyeon, she would have been in trouble even if she had not survived.
“Head-on confrontation. It’s a direct confrontation… “
The crown prince thought. It seems that Leonia also has royal pride. But her royal pride will kill her.
“But… “Something is strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“No matter how you look at it, the number of enemies is said to be only 2,000 to 3,000.”
“What?”
According to Prince Leonhard’s knowledge, Princess Leonia’s soldiers numbered between 6,000 and 7,000. But now there are only 2000 to 3000? That couldn’t have been possible. It was impossible. Where did the remaining 4,000 go?
“Did they set half in ambush and half in an open space? Why?”
In order to ambush, the entire army must be ambushed, and in order to engage in a direct confrontation, the entire army must be led to a direct confrontation. But what is the reason for being so ambiguous?
“Liam, what is your opinion?”
“The main army… “I don’t think it was bait.”
“Bait?”
The crown prince did not understand. Bait is something that presupposes sacrifice. In that case, it is normal for someone who doesn’t mind being sacrificed to be the bait. But how could Leonia become the bait of the monarch herself?
“It is believed that Princess Leonia used herself as a bait to lure her allies and then used her hidden detachment to attack the allies’ rear.”
“Damn it… If so, isn’t it a big deal! “How should we solve this?”
“There is no need to change operations. Princess Leonia’s crucial mistake was that she herself became the bait. Moreover, she only brought with her a small army of two or three thousand men. On the other hand, what is the number of allies? It’s 16,000. To put it simply, it is a fight of 16,000 vs. 3,000. “If we use 16,000 soldiers to push them back with all our might and only get Leonia’s head, the hidden enemy detachments will also immediately lose morale and flee.”
“Indeed… “
When I thought about it that way, the point was very simple. The core of this war was ultimately a fight to see which of the two monarchs would die first. That means there is absolutely no need to annihilate all 6,500 enemies. It was a fight in which only one monarch had to be killed. So, if Leonia had decided to become a bait, the crown prince would just have to kill Leonia.
“By the way, Leonia also made a foolish choice. She turned herself into bait. There was no way she could hold out against her army of 16,000 with only 3,000… “
“I guess it was a gamble to get a glimmer of hope.”
“It’s gambling.”
Leonhard felt sorry for Leonia. Winning is not achieved through gambling. Of course, the basic strategy was to create a win-win situation and win. In that respect, Leonhard was born as a winner. He was born as a person higher than anyone else. And Leonia, who did not conform to her origins, went against her order and deserved to die.
“Let me show you the gambler’s words here.”
Leonhard, who said that, smiled meaningfully and Liam lowered his head.
“All armies, march! “The target is the clearing where Leonia is!”
No matter where or what kind of ambush was lurking, all they had to do was cut off Leonia’s head and it would all be over.
—–
Meanwhile, Princess Leonia got off her horse and looked at her soldiers.
The soldiers’ shoulders were shaking mercilessly. It was natural. This is because only 2,500 soldiers had to face 16,000 soldiers.
Leonia placed her hand on the shoulder of a soldier.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Are you afraid?”
“Two, I’m not afraid!”
“I am afraid.”
Her soldier looked at Leonia in some confusion at those words.
“War is always scary. It wouldn’t be strange if someone died from being hit by a blind arrow. On the battlefield, anyone can die and anyone can survive. Therefore, I cannot promise that you will all survive.”
An exclamation erupted from somewhere. But at that moment, Leonia raised her voice.
“But!”
All the soldiers paid attention to Leonia because of her loud voice, which was hard to believe that it came from a person with a small height of 165.
“I promise you! If you die, I will die here with you, and if you survive and achieve victory, I will also toast with you on the hill of victory! So, when you want to run away, make sure you look at the best of your troops! “There I will always be holding the flag!”
At that moment, without anyone ordering them to do so, all the soldiers began to shout.
“Waaa!!!!!”
The soldiers shook off their fear as they heard shouts coming from all directions. The soldiers, who had been shaking just a minute ago, soon gained much morale and were hitting the ground with their spears.
The ground began to shake. It was only natural that thousands of soldiers hit the ground with their spears all at once. But at some point, the sound started to get louder. The soldiers, puzzled by the louder and stronger sound, looked straight ahead. Across the forest, it started shaking. And there…
“It is the enemy… “
A man in shining golden armor was riding his horse and looking around. The man laughed evilly. And as the man retreated, hundreds of cavalry began to appear there.
“All in basic posture!”
The long spear soldiers who were shaking the ground with their spears all stopped moving and raised their spears to the sky. At that moment, the clouds of war were in the air. Soon, countless infantry appeared behind the cavalry, which numbered only a few hundred. At a glance, the infantry that appeared from the grass seemed to be more than five times the size of our troops. Maybe 6 times or more.
It is easy to say that it is 6 times bigger, but in reality, the soldiers who saw the enemy 6 times bigger had no choice but to fall into fear. That’s because it was enough to fill one side of an empty lot that was six times smaller.
“Make a square!”
Leonia gave an order and the officers began to form a formation following the order.
“To the center of the musketeers! “Pikemen, to the four corners!”
The musketeers form a square formation in the center, and the pikemen form a square formation at the corners of the muskets. When the musketeer finished firing, the pikemen at the corners formed a square formation surrounding the musketeer and charged at it, repelling the incoming enemy.
Because it was a formation that had already been practiced hundreds or thousands of times over a period of over a year, the soldiers succeeded in creating a formation as if they were machines rather than humans, but the number of enemies was still overwhelming.
“Can we win this?”
One of the soldiers asked the soldier next to him. Then the soldier next to me spoke.
“I don’t know, f*ck. “I’m scared to death right now.”
And the soldier looked somewhere. The eyes of other soldiers followed that soldier’s gaze. There was a princess there.
Princess Leonia dismounted from her horse and held her polearm in front of her head, aiming it at her enemies.
Dozens of enemy bolts (crossbow arrows) and arrows were pierced in front of Leonia, but Leonia did not move a single step and continued to hold on to her spear. The eyes of the soldiers who were looking at the enemy focused on Princess Leonia due to her majestic appearance.
“Wow… “Isn’t that person scary?”
“Sometimes, when I look at him, he looks like someone who left his life somewhere behind.”
“Even high-ranking people do that, so we can’t be afraid. Everyone, come to your senses!”
Leonia thought as she listened to that conversation. Her soldiers were afraid at the sight of the enemy. But it was different now. He was relieved to see himself. If a monarch had a role, it would be this. And…
“Charge!!!”
When the crown prince shouted, hundreds of cavalry charged towards Leonia at once.