The start of the battle wasn’t initiated by Bratta’s forces, who had been waiting Frizione, the soldiers lying in ambush in the forest, nor by Frizione’s amry.
Instead it was was the small force of about 20 people who had been following Frizione’s group ever since they had left the Imperial Capital.
They had been positioned behind Frizione’s army……and Marquis Lognos’ subordinates spotted several clouds of rising dust from even further back.
「Marquis Lognos, look over there!」
「……I see. So it’s not just one ambush, huh? No, I can’t really call this an ambush, can I? Anyway, judging by the clouds of dust, they must be cavalry. Bring the supply troops in and surround them with archers and mages, have the infantry move forward with spears. The cavalry will attack the enemy’s flanks once they stop moving, so get to place where you can move quickly.」
Marquis Lognos gave rapid orders as messengers briskly ran off.
As he turned to look towards the supply troops, Marquis Lognos called out to his subordinate.
「Normally, the people guarding the supply unit aren’t the most skilled, but……can we assume that they are reasonably skilled?」
「Yes. After all, this unit is made up of elite soldiers.」
Hmm, Marquis Lognos, who had been looking at the supply unit as his subordinate spoke, spoke up to give new orders.
「Give the soldiers guarding the supplies bows and make them archers.」
「That’s……but is it okay? Guarding the supplies……」
「I don’t mind. As long as they’re in the center of the army, they don’t need to actively guard. Not now.」
「Then how about we let them join the infantry?」
「No, we don’t need them to guard the supplies now. But if something happens, we’ll need them later. I want them to be as close to the supplies as possible so they can return to guarding it right away.」
「……I see. Understood, I’ll make the arrangements right away.」
As he watched his subordinate pass on his orders, Marquis Lognos turned his gaze to a part of Frizione’s army.
The nobles there were likely traitors.
He told his subordinates to be careful not to slip up during the battle.
If anyone did anything strange, they would be immediately arrested.
「The price of betrayal will be high.」
As he muttered……the cavalry finally appeared, raising a cloud of dust.
If that was all, it wouldn’t have been particularly surprising, as that was his expectation.
However, his eyes did widen slightly.
It was certainly cavalry, as he had expected. About 20 in number.
However, each rider was accompanied by a second horse that didn’t have a rider.
In other words, there were only about 20 cavalry with 40 horses.
It became clear what this meant in an instant.
Those horses belonged to those who had been following Princess Frizione’s group on foot.
The 20 infantry quickly met up with the 20 cavalrymen, turning into 40 cavalrymen.
「……I see. Troublesome. Moreover, even those who just arrived, judging from their condition, are experienced cavalry. Archers, mages, don’t let the enemy get close!」
Marquis Lognos shouted as he ordered the attack.
The soldiers that had followed him were all top elites, so arrows flew out without interruption.
The speed at with the arrows were shot was incredible and, at the same time, fire, wind, stone, ice, and other magic flew through the air towards the cavalry.
But……even if they were just cavalry, the ones present were those who served directly under the Second Prince.
If the soldiers led by Marquis Lognos were elites, then there was no doubt that the cavalry were also elites.
While not quite as fast as the wind and rain……they still pushed forward in sync with their horses as countless arrows rained down on them.
Their speed was fast and the distance to Marquis Lognos’ soldiers closed in the blink of an eye.
Of course, not everyone could avoid the incoming attacks.
Some were killed by arrows that rained down, piercing their heads and causing them to fall off their horses.
Many others had arrows pierce their limbs.
Some were burned by flames, cut by wind blades, or pierced through by ice spears.
The horses were also hit, causing their riders to fall to the ground.
Among the ones hit, many of them were the ones who had been following Frizione’s army.
Of course, they had been walking instead of riding horses. Naturally, this meant that they were wearing lighter armour, such as leather, rather than metal armour.
But still……the cavalry showed now fear as they slipped through the arrows and magic raining on them to reach the infantry.
「Do not be afraid, prepare your shields and spears! Even if they are cavalry, they are by no means invincible! If we stop their movement with our shields and thrust out our spears all at once, we can deal with them!」
At the commander’s words, the infantry steadied their minds, raised their shields, and thrust their spears towards the charging cavalry.
……If the cavalry had been ordinary cavalry, this might have been enough to deal with them.
However, the charging cavalry weren’t ordinary cavalry. They were cavalry that served directly under the Second Prince.
They cut off the spear tips thrust towards them, deflected the spears away, or controlled their horse’s movements to avoid the spear tips.
Their horses were rigorously trained and the ones riding them were elite troops.
With those two combined, they were extremely capable cavalry.
「UOOOOOH-! I won’t let them! I won’t let them get through!」
「That’s right! We will protect Princess Frizione!」
「I won’t die in a place like this! I, we will see the world after the end of the civil war with Princess Frizione!」
But, the cavalry’s advantage didn’t last long.
Soon, soldiers from the back appeared, replacing those who had lost their weapons or were injured.
Cavalry might have high charge strength and offensive power. But, once they stopped, they left many openings to exploit.
As if to prove that, the cavalry who were stopped by the metal shields were stabbed with spears, slashed with long swords, and struck with halberds, reducing their numbers.
That wasn’t all either. Cavalry were on horse back. In other words, they were at a much higher position than the soldiers on the ground.
In a melee, archers and mages would refrain from attacking, but at this range, it was easy to see their targets. With the elites in Frizione’s army, there was no way they would hesitate to attack in this situation.
Then, as if to deliver the finishing blow, cavalry from the First Princess’ army charged into the flanks of the Second Prince’s cavalry.
But, despite being stopped and attacked in waves, the Second Prince’s cavalry suffered many injuries, but few deaths.
Not only that, as soon as one of them saw the casualties they were taking, they took out a magic flute from his pocket and blew hard into it.
The sound echoed out, reaching the ears of all the cavalrymen and they struck with all their might before retreating.
Taking advantage of the momentary gap, their graceful retreat was worthy of being a cavalry unit under the Second Prince’s direct command.
Marquis Lognos tried to pursue, but the cavalry quickly distanced themselves.
Arrows and magic were thrown at them as they retreated, but to little effect.
「……The level of training, as expected of the Second Princes’ soldiers.」
Marquis Lognos muttered in admiration and regret before quickly shaking his head and changing his focus.
「What about our losses?」
「There appears to be many injured, but few dead.」
「I see. Have the supply troops treat the injured. There’s no need to save on potions. Right now, it’s most important to heal the wounded.」
He gave orders while breathing a sigh of relief at his subordinate’s words.
After issuing his orders, Marquis Lognos suddenly sharpened his gaze as he spoke.
「What about them?」
「They haven’t shown any strange behaviour so far. They followed our order obediently. If I had to say, it did seem like they were holding back when attack the enemy……but that might just be my imagination.」
「I see. They didn’t show their tails this time, but be sure to keep a close eye on them.」
「Yes-! So, Marquis Lognos. We’ve successfully defended ourselves, but what do you plan to do now?」
Hearing his subordinate’s words, Marquis Lognos stroked his large beard as he turned to look over at the front of Frizione’s army.
Even from this position, it was clear that a fierce fight was taking place.
At the same time, explosions could be heard from the forest along the road.
Seeing that, there was no need to consider what was happening.
「I would like to say that everyone should support the front, but even if there aren’t that many dead, there are many injured. And, we can’t afford to ignore the enemy still behind us. The cavalry has retreated, but the damage they took shouldn’t be that great. If we show any weakness, they’ll come again.」
The problem for them was that the force behind them was highly mobile cavalry.
If they saw any weakness in Marquis Lognos’ defense, the would definitely attack again.
「So, should we just wait and see?」
「No, that’s impossible. ……Can we send 50 soldiers?」
Marquis Lognos’ subordinate looked around and did the math in their head before nodding.
「Yes. Fifty……no, we can send sixty, we should still be able to defend the rear.」
「I see, then you lead the troops. I would normally be the one to go, but I can’t abandon this position as the commander.」
Their commander had fled. If his actions were perceived as such, their morale would definitely drop, even if they were elite soldiers.
「Take Viscount Kizlo, Baron Brumos, and Baron Clarina with you. But you will still be the one in charge.」
「Yes sir-!」
Normally, even if he was a high ranking noble like a marquis, he wouldn’t let his subordinate command other nobles.
However, the three nobles Marquis Lognos had just named were ones who had fought countless battles under his command.
As such, they fully understood the capabilities of Marquis Lognos’ subordinates and did not object to following their orders.
Watching his subordinate leave, Marquis Lognos reorganised his ranks to resist any further cavalry attacks.
The injured were sent to the center where the supplies were for immediate treatment.
Naturally, the infantry had suffered the most injuries.
Soldiers brought by nobles, adventurers who had volunteered out of admiration for Frizione, and mercenaries.
They had all suffered heavy damage from the cavalry charge.
Marquis Lognos could see them being treated with potions and healing magic.
Some were wounded so greatly that the treatment couldn’t keep up and they eventually died. Marquis Lognos told himself that now wasn’t the time to be sad as he turned his gaze elsewhere.
The long range attack unit, which was made up of archers and mages, had some injuries, but mostly just minor scrapes.
This was mostly because the cavalry had very few projectile weapons on them.
Thanks to the infantry’s hard work, their injuries were not as severe.
The cavalry had suffered minor injuries as well.
With the infantry stopping Shurus’ cavalry, Frizione’s cavalry were able to press a one sided attack from the flanks.
The fact that they were wearing metal armour, as they had been expected to fight a pursuing force, was also another reason why they had only suffered minor injuries.
Considering all these factors, the loses suffered by Marquis Lognos’ forces was relatively minor.
(However, it is not certain that this will be the last battle. Prince Kabajid and Prince Shurus still have plenty of strength.)
The factions of the two princes were bigger that the Frizione’s faction to begin with.
With more nobles, they naturally had more soldiers available to them.
Even with the devastating losses suffered by the punitive forces, it was easy to replenish them.
In other words, it was important that they limited the losses they took in battle before joining with the rebel army.
(Although His Highness’ and their men can quickly recover from losses, they can’t send out multiple pursuit forces only to lose them again and again……with Crimson on our side, they have no choice but to be cautious.)
Marquis Lognos knew from Frizione that Rei had used a fire tornado to devastate the punitive force.
As a result, he understood that Kabajid and Shurus had to be wary of that.
「In other words……if we can get through this, we’ll probably be able to do something.」
It wasn’t good for the princes if Frizione’s army managed to join up with the rebel army. They would be throwing away a golden opportunity to defeat them one by one.
But, as the heads of their respective factions, if they continued losing and abandoning the nobles in their faction, it would be a case of putting the cart before the horse.
We just need to get through this.
Hoping for that, Marquis Lognos turned his gaze to the battlefield ahead.