Chapter 709 - Chapter Nine: Richard's Battle
It has already been about two months since Richard set out for the campaign. He timed it for when the King of East Liber issued a call to recruit soldiers and invaded West Liber territory. The border is in the forest, and there is a checkpoint and a small fortress at the exit of a narrow highway, but after a herald cavalry unit declared war, the main force's vanguard attacked and broke through. Since then, they have been exclusively attacking agricultural villages.
The method is always the same. They move near a village and send an envoy. They negotiate that if they surrender, the lord's life will be guaranteed. If they refuse, it's a massacre.
There is no knight who would surrender without a single battle when told to surrender. Most of them set out for battle. They have already sent envoys for reinforcements to neighboring nobles and the Royal Capital. Delaying Richard's advance by even a day was considered loyalty to the King.
The battle itself was a matter of being outnumbered. Victory and defeat were easily decided; lucky lords could manage to escape, and unlucky ones were restrained and became prisoners. Richard's cleverness was that he didn't lay a hand on the families. He also instructed not to kill villagers if they didn't resist. Of course, it's in the middle of a war. A few violent incidents occurred, but even if dozens of soldiers, commoners, or serfs are killed, it isn't publicized. The fact that he didn't kill nobles and didn't lay a hand on many villagers became his reputation. Naturally, the lord's property and most of the food were confiscated. However, that was a matter of course, and no one criticized Richard as a cruel man by pointing that out. Eventually, they began to crumble easily even if they fought one battle. The original military strength was too different. It couldn't be helped if they lost. And the ones who should be criticized were the Kings who should protect the knights who swore loyalty.
"They are fragile."
After one of several field battle victories, Sir Boltz said to Richard. The two, who should originally be in the main force numbering nearly twenty-five thousand, were acting with the vanguard of five thousand. However, the composition of that force was three thousand cavalry and two thousand longbowmen, who were light infantry. Heavy infantry were not incorporated, and the baggage train carried a large amount of arrows. Extremely rapid movement was possible, and their charge demonstrated sufficient power to scatter the enemy. That was also to be expected, as the enemy's strength was at most several hundred. Originally, the range of the Engrio army's bows was longer. If they rained down enough arrows and then charged with cavalry, the enemy crumbled easily.
"Well, yeah. However, I think a certain amount of military force will come out soon."
Richard, accumulating victory after victory, says it as if it's perfectly natural.
"It's the town ahead on our path, right?"
"Yeah."
It's not that large a town. However, it was a town that was fortified to some extent with town walls, and it was known that several thousand soldiers were protecting it.
"Will you besiege it?"
"No, let's draw them out."
"Will they come out?"
If they join with the main force, they'll be outnumbered. Sir Boltz thought they would stay in the town until the main West Liber army arrived.
"If they don't come out, I'll have them stay cooped up. Let's ignore them and change our course to the south."
Originally, after passing through the highway in the forest, they were supposed to take a course to the northwest. Richard chose the path to the west along with the vanguard. The main force is staying in the fortress they first captured. The one commanding the main force is the Duchy Chancellor. He won't do anything reckless. When Sir Boltz asked the reason for such a maneuver, he was told he would understand eventually.
In other words, to draw the enemy out, he would change course to the south, and including that, it would be a maneuver toward the northwest. He would advance south and attack villages. If the enemy who stayed cooped up follows, he would lie in wait and launch a surprise attack. Even without a surprise attack, if they join with the main force, it's thirty thousand against several thousand. They can win. They might be able to surround and annihilate them. The town can be attacked after that. Whether the enemy comes out or not, it's fine. Richard, moving in a counter-clockwise circle, and the main force in the east are closer to the hilly forest region of the border, which is the inside of the maneuver's arc. Because of that, joining with the main force is fast, and they can face the enemy by choosing advantageous terrain. The enemy who sets out and follows the outside of the arc will fall into Richard's trap as he waits. If they take the terrain as an ally, there is a possibility of winning even if they are a small force. Moreover, their numbers are large. There's no way they'll lose, and all the soldiers on our side know that. Having learned of Richard's phantasmagoric maneuver tactics, which were said to have earned him enough merit to obtain the current Duchy territory, Boltz was impressed.
When Richard advanced to a point where the town was visible, he sent an envoy with a surrender recommendation as usual. The visible military strength was almost equal, but it was known that Richard's army had a separate main force. It wasn't known where they were now, but it was reasonable to judge that they were following from behind. If they join, the difference in military strength will become large. The lord protecting the town judged it to be a ploy and a trap to lure them out. Since that was the case, as long as reinforcements didn't come, there was no need to go out and fight. He sent them back, telling them to come if they dared, and prepared for a siege battle.
Richard waited for two days. After confirming that there was no sign of the enemy coming out of the fortress, he began moving toward the south early on the third morning. The destination was agricultural villages, just as before.
"The first village to be attacked will be around here."
In the town after Richard had left, the commanding general and staff were looking at the map and predicting Richard's path. After Richard's unit left, information from scouts came in that his main force remained in the fortress near the border. Until now, information from the east hadn't come in because Richard had set up a surveillance network and was hunting scouts. As soon as he left for the south, the surveillance network was also lifted.
"The distance is about three days. Since they are attacking villages at a rate of one per day, the next attack will be tomorrow. How about we set out under the cover of night and attack from the rear at the timing they arrive at the next village?"
One of the staff members gives an opinion. If the military strength is equal, they might be able to win if the surprise attack succeeds. Even if the pursuit is discovered, they can face them. If it comes to it, they can just flee back.
"Humph. Let's try to strike a blow and aim to stall them at least."
"I believe that would be best."
"Alright, let's go out. We'll leave in the evening."
The commanding general of the fortress didn't know it, but actually, a messenger from Richard had set out for the main force many days ago. The main force had already set out and several days had passed by the time Richard sent the envoy to the town.
"Richard-sama, it seems the enemy has set out."
"They finally came out. Then, from tomorrow, let's speed up our marching pace a bit."
"Is the destination fine as originally planned?"
"Yeah, I'll send a messenger to the old man too."
"Understood."
Obtaining information from scouts, Richard ignored two villages and didn't attack them. After passing the second village, he changed course slightly to the east.
The five thousand West Liber troops who left the fortress and followed Richard's unit lacked mobility because they included heavy infantry equipped with long spears. Still, they thought they could catch up because the other party was maneuvering while conducting combat, but contrary to expectations, Richard was heading south without attacking villages.
Everyone thought it was a trap.
To see how things were, they stayed in a village that had escaped being attacked. The villagers were overjoyed, thinking Richard's army had fled because the army had moved. If all the harvested wheat had been taken, they wouldn't have been able to pay taxes and wouldn't have been able to survive. That remained entirely. The whole village welcomed them grandly. And they received a report that Richard's unit had attacked a village to the southeast and plundered the wheat that had just been harvested.
In front of the villagers, they couldn't leave Richard's army alone. While thinking it was a trap, they set out. And while heading south and gradually chasing Richard's army further and further east, they learned of the approach of Richard's main force.
"The main force, you say?"
"Yes. They are to the northeast of our army. The distance is about one day."
Their retreat was cut off. The commanding general who received the report turned pale.
"Why did we not know until now!"
"Sir! Because the messengers followed behind our moving army, the report was delayed by that much."
"...The numbers?"
"About fifteen thousand. The strength is one thousand cavalry, six thousand heavy infantry, and eight thousand light infantry with archers as the main force."
"One thousand cavalry, huh."
The reinforcements that came from Engrio have many cavalry. It's because there are many mercenaries. Actually, Richard and Sir Boltz were leading all the cavalry that came from Engrio. They are mercenaries, but many are former Engrio knights and their morale is high. The cavalry assigned to the main force are the Roland Duchy cavalry. For the Roland Duchy, it's a number that can be said to be all they could put out. And the Duchy Chancellor is leading them. He placed the unit with the highest offensive power and mobility in the vanguard, and placed the heavy infantry with the highest defensive power in the main force. And that unit with higher mobility appeared to the south of the West Liber army.
"Enemy soldiers are approaching from the south! It is the army of Duke Richard of Roland. Five thousand in number. Three thousand are cavalry."
They had turned back. They had fallen into a trap. They had thought they would join with the main force at the destination of the enemy vanguard. Did he intend to make this area the place for the decisive battle from the beginning? Had he read our movements that far?
The commanding general shuddered at Duke Richard of Roland's battle formation.
In reality, it was the result of Richard placing scouts wherever he went. The scouts who confirmed the movement of the West Liber army don't run along the maneuver of the arc but run linearly toward Richard's army's destination. There, the next placed scout is waiting. In that way, the handover of information was carried out one after another, and finally reached Richard's headquarters. This is the same for the messengers to the main force. As long as it's known in advance how Richard will move, the travel distance can be significantly shortened. As a result, information was brought to Richard and the main force faster than to the West Liber side. The commanding general didn't think Richard was conducting such thorough intelligence activities in enemy territory.
"Right now, the military strength is equal. Let's engage Duke Richard's unit first. Even if we are caught by the enemy main force coming from the rear, we can retreat to the west."
"U-Umu. To just flee after coming this far would affect a knight's honor. Shall we strike a blow? Of course, we will win!"
"Of course!"
Receiving the staff's advice, the commanding general made a decision and instructed his subordinates on the formation for a field battle.
"Ho-ho, they seem motivated."
"They won't just stay still, will they?"
At Sir Boltz's words, Richard sighed.
They were on the march. Beside the advancing unit, he pulled his horse to a grove and gathered his staff.
Even though the main force had left the west open, they didn't go there. If they had just circled around to the south and come out to Richard's flank, the situation might have changed.
"Will you engage them?"
"That's right. If possible, let's draw them a bit further east."
"There is a small hill."
"Let's take a position there. Let's have the wagons go ahead and make a simple field camp to welcome the guests. Send a messenger to the old man. Tell him I'll be the decoy, so cut off the enemy's rear."
"Understood."
Richard put a mark on the map and handed it to one of the staff. The staff called a mounted scout and gave instructions while showing the map.
Richard intended to climb the small hill, surround it with wooden fences and baggage, and conduct a simple siege battle. The longbowmen and dismounted heavy cavalry hidden in the shade of the cover would rain down arrows on the charging enemy. Since the enemy fears the approach of our main force, the only way to win is to charge. Even if they flee, they won't be able to flee until our main force gets quite close. The greater the damage from arrows, the harder it will be for them to simply withdraw.
Good grief, a knight's honor is a nuisance. Wouldn't it be more flexible if it were just mercenaries?
Richard sighed for the enemy.
After seeing off the man chosen as the messenger as he repeated the message and galloped away, Richard asked Sir Boltz.
"If you were the enemy general, how would you move?"
He is the man who, when his father King Seldic suffered a crushing defeat, brilliantly commanded the rearguard and contributed to an orderly retreat. Richard wanted to hear his view.
"I would not set out for battle. I would firmly protect the town and single-mindedly send envoys for reinforcement requests to the King of West Liber."
"I thought so. I would do the same. Then why did those lot come out?"
Richard, relieved by Sir Boltz's words, jerked his chin toward the West Liber army.
"I do not know. Perhaps they feared being called cowards by choosing to stay cooped up without a single battle."
"Cowards, huh. I think it's fine to be a coward as long as you win in the end."
"That is what ordinary people do not understand."
"In other words, is the opponent a mediocre, foolish general?"
"There is that possibility."
"Then, I don't know what will be said if we lose too."
"Let's win. It's fine as long as we win."
When he heard Sir Boltz say that in a calm voice, Richard thought they had won this battle.
The most important thing for a unit that came to help is to minimize the damage to their own unit. It's even more so if they win by doing that. Sir Boltz, who led the reinforcements, believes they can win. A general's feelings are transmitted to the soldiers. If the general is full of confidence, the soldiers can also think they can win. If they were to lose after committing the cavalry and longbowmen from Engrio, who could be called Richard's army's strongest units and trump cards, they would have to significantly revise their future strategy. For Richard, he wanted to sufficiently lure the enemy with the vanguard to whittle down their strength, and connect that to the subsequent pursuit by the main force.
"True. Let's win, then."
When he lightly tapped Sir Boltz's shoulder, Sir Boltz bowed his head slightly with a smile.
Two days later, Richard won a crushing victory, and the fleeing enemy army suffered a devastating blow from the pursuit of the main force over two days. And the principal nobles became prisoners.
"You lot fought bravely. That courage and boldness are worthy of praise."
At Richard's words, the West Liber nobles who had lost most of their own soldiers puffed out their chests.
"We are established knights. We wish to demand treatment befitting our status. Duke Roland is also a knight. I believe you will not do anything that would earn you the scorn of posterity."
Treatment befitting status, huh. You lost, so just die quietly.
Richard doesn't say that. They are valuable products to earn ransom.
"Since we are on a march during wartime, you will have to endure some inconvenience. Naturally, guards will be attached. If you escape, I will kill you. However, for food and wine, you will eat and drink the same as me. Please endure with that."
"That is fine."
I'll leave the ransom negotiations to the old man. Richard thought so.