Chapter 52: Battle in the Wasteland 4

The battle began early in the morning. The kingdom's army had formed a solid formation with its center, right wing, and left wing nearly integrated, creating a sturdy position with heavy infantry. Based on intelligence that the enemy's heavy infantry posed a significant threat, they formed a convex formation with the center slightly protruding to better withstand attacks. The enemy, apparently quite confident in their heavy infantry, charged forward without engaging in an arrow battle first. The kingdom's heavy infantry met this charge. They too had selected elite soldiers, and the initial clash became a wrestling match between infantry forces. Currently, the battle remained evenly matched.

Lord Schwartz had concentrated all allied cavalry on the left wing. This gave the left wing twice the cavalry of the enemy, while the right wing had no cavalry, but there was a different strategy in place for that area. Ryuu was commanding the Han cavalry unit. Klein was commanding the Kroitz unit. It was a battle of two thousand versus one thousand - they would likely win even in a conventional fight. Klein was a very methodical commander. He led the cavalry, avoiding direct confrontation with the enemy, instead attacking their flanks and gradually reducing their numbers. Ryuu adopted a similar strategy. With superior numbers, they could gradually whittle down the enemy until they eventually collapsed.

The enemy cavalry on the right wing was confused. The cavalry they expected to face wasn't there, and instead, they found a long line of spearmen blocking their path. They made several attempts to break through, but the enemy spearmen were elite soldiers and couldn't be broken. Just as the enemy cavalry commander realized, "These spearmen can't pursue us anyway, so we should go reinforce the left wing cavalry," A cavalry unit emerged from the forest on the right.

It was 2,000 Kitai cavalry led by Shenlong. I and Stein are participating too. This was our powerful hidden card. The enemy seemed at a loss for what to do in the face of this surprise. They just circled in front of the spearmen.

"Everyone, indirect fire!" Shenlong shouted. The Kitai soldiers had been riding horses since childhood, so they could stabilize their upper bodies by gripping with both legs, leaving both hands free. Mounted archery was second nature to them. 2,000 men loosed arrows toward the sky.

Shenlong and his forces moved even closer to the enemy.

"Front row, 30 riders, direct fire, 10 consecutive shots!" The 30 most elite soldiers in the front row fired 10 arrows in rapid succession with direct aim. It was a display of skill too fast for the eye to follow.

The two thousand indirect shots and three hundred direct shots reached the enemy almost simultaneously. In other words, two thousand arrows rained down from the sky while three hundred arrows attacked from the front at the same time.

Stein was amazed.

"I'm not sure even I could defend against such a coordinated attack. And the opponents are amateur cavalry who can't even free one hand from their reins. It's absolutely impossible to block both volleys of arrows. They'll fall into complete chaos."

If that's the case, let's throw them into even more confusion.

Stein spurred his horse. He charged toward the enemy at full speed. "Hey, Stein, where are you going?" I panicked, but my voice could never reach Stein at that distance.

The arrows struck the enemy. It was impossible to defend against both the indirect and direct fire, so either one or both types of arrows pierced the enemy soldiers. "Ahhh!" The enemy screamed. About half fell from their horses. They were either dead or too severely wounded to continue fighting.

Then Stein charged in. "You bastards!" He swung his battle axe wildly, cutting down anyone in range. With only enemies around him, he could be as reckless as he wanted. "Here I come! Hiyaaa!" The enemy, already in chaos from the arrow barrage, was now faced with Stein's charge and didn't know what to do. "What is this guy?" "Surround him and kill him!" "He's strong!" "Ahhh, run away!" Stein tore through their formation with his momentum and reached the allied spearmen. With allies behind him, he turned to face the enemy. His appearance, covered in splattered blood, was magnificent. He raised his battle axe above his head in a grand gesture. "Come at me if you want to die!" Every enemy soldier trembled.

"Hahahahaha!" Shenlong was roaring with laughter.

"You have an incredible man in your ranks. Look, he's overwhelming five hundred riders all by himself. I love guys like that!" "Don't let him die. Everyone draw your swords, charge!" The Kitai soldiers used two small swords similar to crescent blades, one in each hand. Everyone drew their swords and raised them to the sky. Four thousand blades held high reflected the sunlight, gleaming brilliantly.

The enemy cavalry, already demoralized, lost their will to fight when they saw the Kitai cavalry drawing their weapons and charging. They fled to the left and right, away from Stein.

"Udai, right!" Shenlong ordered a bearded, bear-like giant man beside him. "Yes, sir!"

"Hey, why aren't you running? This is a perfect chance to earn merit!" Stein's horse had stopped moving.

"Hahaha, even horses get tired. You're too reckless. Let your horse rest!" As Kitai soldiers passed him one after another, Stein slapped his head in frustration. "Damn it, can't be helped then."

From that point on, it wasn't a battle but a massacre. The difference in strength between both horses and men was obvious. Additionally, the enemy was fleeing, and it was common knowledge that casualties were highest during retreat. Merciless attacks were launched at the backs of the retreating enemy.

"Udai, how was it?" "This isn't a battle. I dislike bullying the weak." "I understand that well, but they are invaders. They attacked without reason. I hear they've been abusing women and children in the areas they've occupied. What do you think of that?" "Women and children should be protected. They're abusing them? Those aren't warriors. They're just villains. I hate villains. I'll defeat such people myself." "That's the spirit!"

The enemy's right-wing cavalry was completely annihilated.