A man stared at the battlefield with a worried expression.
His name was Arid Wentworth, formerly of the Eastern Allied Army’s 2nd Knight Division. He was now the commander of the 1st Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment, 1st Brigade.
It was a relatively low rank, but he did not have any major complaints. After all, he had only recently become a regular knight. That was why he had also refused the offer to return to the knight order.
“Spending years as the youngest member is much worse than being a company commander.”
In truth, there were far more opportunities to earn merits here. If he stayed in the knight order, he would only be running errands anyway. Arid did not regret his decision at all.
However, at this moment, he felt slightly uneasy.
Of all places, he had been assigned to the southern wall, which was still under repair. It was an obvious weak point that the enemy was bound to target, so it was only natural for him to feel anxious.
As expected, the Mandus tribe completely ignored the northern and central sections.
“They are coming again! Everyone, get ready!”
“Yes, Company Commander!”
At Arid’s shout, his soldiers responded with disciplined voices. Hearing their spirited replies eased his anxiety somewhat.
The Eastern Allied Army could now be considered completely reborn. Training and supplies were excellent, and morale was sky-high. Even against the physically superior Mandus tribe, they were not being pushed back easily.
At this level, it would not be an exaggeration to call them the strongest army in the Empire.
Except for one place—the Imperial Guard Knights.
But now was the time to focus on the battle.
Arid shook his head vigorously. The enemy assault team had already reached the wall.
“Those damn bastards. They are doing it again.”
One soldier spat out a curse.
Recently, the Mandus had been employing a strange strategy. They spread out as much as possible, rushed forward, and climbed the wall. Their numbers and density were too low for grenades to be effective. The enemy also knew this.
They knew that grenades were not unlimited.
“Kill them!”
“Hraaap!”
Thud thud thud!
A Mandus who had barely poked his head over the wall instantly turned into a honeycomb. Dozens of spearheads had stabbed his upper body repeatedly. He could not even scream before falling limply backward.
As soon as another one climbed up, the soldiers’ hands moved busily.
“Do not hesitate! Stab them!”
“Do not hold the shaft too far back! You will get pulled off!”
“Kraaaak!”
Thud! Crack—!
Perhaps because of the excessive movement, one soldier’s pike shaft broke. However, no one lamented the loss. A reserve soldier waiting behind immediately handed over a new pike. The soldier who had lost his weapon quickly rejoined the thrusting formation.
“Whoa! This actually works.”
Company Commander Arid kept letting out exclamations of admiration.
Honestly, at first he had thought the commander was crazy. The wall was already cramped enough—now he wanted them to bring anti-cavalry pikes up onto it? It felt like he was treating war like a game.
But the pike-thrusting tactic was proving extremely effective.
If the Mandus had charged in a dense mass like before, it probably would not have worked well. But now, their numbers were at just the right level to counter.
“How did he predict a situation like this?”
“His Grace was called the greatest commander in the North, was he not? Something like this should be easy for him.”
Someone suddenly chimed in on his muttering. It was Sheldon, a squad leader who had risen from the ranks of regular soldiers. Despite his small build, he was quick and clever, and his training results were excellent. However, he occasionally said strange things.
Just like now.
When the commander was in the North… he was not exactly known for strategy.
Arid was a knight by origin. Because of his relatively high status, the quality of information he received was different. Unlike the country bumpkin Sheldon, he knew the commander’s true nature well—including how he had earned the nickname “Northern Berserker.”
However, everything Abel Carius had shown so far was completely different from the rumors.
Arid nodded and spoke.
“He is an incredibly sharp person, to the point where no one can match him.”
It had been the same during the military reorganization. With just a single remark, he had completely reversed the atmosphere among the knights. Originally, the seniors’ passive resistance should have left the entire army in disarray. Yet he had crushed it all by saying he would personally teach swordsmanship.
He was someone without formality, but he did not appear frivolous either.
“C-Company Commander!”
A soldier shouted in a voice close to a scream.
While Arid had been lost in thought for a brief moment, the situation on the battlefield had deteriorated rapidly. It seemed the Mandus forces had concentrated at one point.
“Th-This is……!”
Because the enemy had rushed up in a group, the pike-thrusting strategy was no longer working properly. Perhaps because they had been caught in a sudden crisis, Arid’s mind momentarily froze.
In times like this, skilled knights needed to step forward and break the momentum of the attack.
Shring!
Arid immediately drew his sword.
But just then—
Flutter!
Out of nowhere, a crow flew over and landed on his shoulder.
Everyone looked at Arid with bewildered expressions.
“Company Commander, have you become some kind of druid?”
“A bird flying over in the middle of a war……?”
“Damn it, this little thing is getting in the way!”
Arid irritably tried to shake the crow off. But he could not. A voice had been transmitted directly into his mind, as if digging through his head.
—Company Commander Arid. This is an order from the commander. Immediately withdraw your troops and take cover behind the wall.
“What……?”
This was even more shocking than the Mandus rushing up in a group. The moment the crow landed on his shoulder, he heard the commander’s order. In his utter bewilderment, he looked around.
However, everyone was only staring at him with blank faces.
“Did any of you hear a voice just now?”
“It must have been those Mandus bastards cursing! Hey! Do not let them break through!”
Arid snapped back to his senses. Now was not the time to be asking his squad leader questions. The Mandus were already right in front of them.
—Withdraw immediately! This is the commander’s order!
When the voice came again, Arid furrowed his brows. Did it make any sense that he could hear Abel Carius’s voice from the command tower? But now was not the time to question everything. The moment of decision had arrived.
Should he charge forward and earn merits?
Or should he withdraw his troops as the crow had ordered?
“Ah, damn it. Everyone, drop your pikes and fall back! Get down from the wall!”
In the end, Arid chose the latter.
It was an unexpected order.
However, the soldiers retreated without the slightest hesitation. They had been trained to obey their commander’s orders.
But at that very moment—
Thud thud thud! Clack! Ping—!
Someone came running, and soon after, a sharp metallic sound rang out. It was the sound of a fragmentation grenade activating—the insane weapon the commander had created.
Boom!
With a tremendous shockwave, the wall trembled.
“That’s it!”
“Yessss!”
However, the soldiers of the 1st Company cheered while staying hidden. The meaning of that explosion was clear.
On the other hand, Company Commander Arid wore a hollow expression. If he had not listened to the crow and had charged instead…… Just imagining the result made the hair on his body stand on end.
“Whew! I am glad I listened.”
“Listened to what?”
The talkative squad leader Sheldon asked a question. But Arid could not tell him the truth. If he said a crow had pretended to be the commander, he would obviously be treated like a madman.
Arid brushed it off vaguely.
“Just…… something like that.”
The battle was proceeding exactly as I had intended.
In truth, the pike-thrusting tactic was nothing more than a simple idea. Even though the Mandus did not ride horses, they gave off a similar feeling to cavalry. They would charge in and break formations, rampaging like wolves among sheep.
So why would anti-cavalry tactics not work?
However, the effect was much better than expected.
“They cannot even put up a proper fight. We should have done this from the beginning. As expected of the commander.”
Zyler Spencer, who had been observing the battlefield, could not hide his admiration. The sight of Mandus falling one after another seemed quite fascinating to him.
Well, it was only natural. Until now, getting beaten by them had been routine.
Still, while I appreciated the praise, I had to correct what was wrong.
“It would not have worked in the past. Right now, their forces are fewer, which is why the pike thrusts are effective.”
“Aha! So it was a strategy that accounted for that as well!”
“Yes, well.”
I smiled awkwardly.
To speak so casually about something that sounded like something only a sycophant would say…… This old man must have risen to the position of knight division commander not only because of his skill but also because of his silver tongue.
It is about time.
While carefully observing the battlefield, I noticed an unusual movement on the southern wall. The Mandus who had been climbing the wall in a dispersed formation were beginning to gather at a certain point.
If the defensive wall was breached and facilities were destroyed, that would be the perfect timing for the enemy to advance. If I did not cut them off at the right moment, it would become troublesome.
“Feltron!”
—Ung!
“Relay this order to the 1st Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment, 1st Brigade. Tell them to withdraw their forces immediately.”
—Got it!
“Hey! Why is your tone like that? Are you protesting because you do not want to work?”
—I need to focus right now. I have to speak quickly.
“Ah, if that is the case, then fine. Hurry up and proceed.”
—Ung!
Feltron had already transformed into a white bat the size of a fist. He must have released his manifestation to focus on controlling his subordinates. His authority had been nearly depleted, so even after consuming some vitality, he could not afford to be too relaxed.
I quickly scanned the battlefield.
However, Company Commander Arid had still not responded to the order. He had drawn his sword and was hesitating.
“Why is he like that?”
—He does not seem to believe my words.
“Did you tell him it was the commander’s order?”
—Yes. I even imitated the captain’s voice.
“Urge him again. Contact the Lelbrant Special Task Company as well.”
What should I tell the Lelbrant unit?
“Dispatch one grenadier to the southern wall, section 1. Have him throw the grenade as trained.”
—Ung!
After waiting a moment, a change finally occurred on the battlefield. Company Commander Arid had followed the order. Immediately after, the grenadier who had run over threw a fragmentation grenade.
Boom—!
With a tremendous explosion, dozens of Mandus were blown apart. They had gathered to break down the wall, only to be turned into honeycombs by grenade fragments.
The high-ranking officers on the command tower who witnessed the scene let out cheers.
“Kya! As expected, its power is insane.”
“To think the Mandus would fall so easily…… I have lived long enough to see everything.”
“But their movements are a bit strange, are they not? It is too precise, like it was measured with a ruler.”
“Indeed. His Grace even got rid of messengers.”
The officers looked at me with dumbfounded expressions. They seemed to want to ask what exactly was going on.
It was only natural. This was something that should have been impossible in the first place.
Have you ever seen a war movie where everything proceeds exactly according to plan? In reality, that is nothing more than direction and entertainment. The actual battlefield is a place where nothing goes as planned. No matter how much training one does in peacetime, it rarely works in real combat.
Under normal circumstances, one would be lucky if orders were even delivered. Messengers often died midway, or field commanders refused to follow orders. The enemy could also send spies to deliver fake orders. The same applied to written documents.
There is always the possibility of forgery, after all.
Even in modern warfare with radios, things do not always go as intended. How could perfect command be possible in the far more chaotic medieval era?
Yet I had achieved it right before their eyes.
Everyone must have been curious, but they could not ask recklessly. Asking the commander pointless questions in the middle of a war? That was grounds for a military trial.
Of course, I could have answered them willingly. But I did not have much leeway either.
I had to keep an eye on the entire battlefield, so my vision was already spinning. I also had the employee management window open. Only then could I properly grasp which unit was where. On top of that, I was listening to the opinions of the high-ranking officers, including Brigade Commander Spencer.
“The Mandus are also sending forces to the northern wall.”
“They are probably trying to attempt ranged attacks. The command tower is likely their target.”
“Would it not be better to use the central archer unit more aggressively?”
Perhaps because they were people who had been through many battles, their advice was quite appropriate.
Just as my communication with Feltron was becoming faster, Brigade Commander Zyler Spencer suddenly shouted loudly.
“Commander! The enemy has begun to retreat!”
Great Chieftain Baskan Magres had finally admitted it.
His trick had not worked.
Now it was time to awaken the devil of the east.
With a faint smile, I gave the order.
“Open the gates.”