Chapter 42. Battle of Lake Apitello (3)

The first to encounter each other were the 10,000 troops of the kingdom army's right wing led by Bevis and the 7,000 troops of the imperial army's left wing led by Viktor.

After approaching to a distance where they could see each other's faces, they briefly faced off with spears pointed at each other, then,

"Attack!"

The full-scale battle began as the kingdom army, receiving Bevis's order, initiated the attack.

"Waaaaaaah!"

The roar of tens of thousands of young men shook the earth.

"Attack! It's an attack!"

Including the reserves and cavalry in the rear, it was a force nearly twice as large, so the kingdom army spread their formation wide to the left and right and vigorously pushed against the imperial army's left wing.

Although it wasn't a perfectly controlled offensive, it was as if strategy or tactics weren't necessary if the numbers were overwhelming.

"Aim for their flanks!"

"Charge!"

The kingdom army continued their wave-like offensive even while taking hundreds of casualties, and the imperial army's left wing began to slowly give way less than 30 minutes after crossing spears.

"Retreat! The enemy is too numerous!"

At this, the company commanders of the 1st Provisional Corps standing at the front of the imperial army shouted retreat loudly, and,

"The enemies are running away! Let's go!"

The kingdom army advanced vigorously towards the imperial army slowly stepping back.

Some companies in the rear of the imperial army even turned their backs and fled completely, so.

To the kingdom army's eyes, the formation of the imperial army's left wing seemed on the verge of collapse.

"Let's win! Kill them all!"

"Waaaaaaah!"

Buoyed by their endlessly rising morale, the kingdom army recklessly charged towards some imperial troops still stubbornly pointing their spears and retreating in an orderly manner.

"The enemy is being pushed back! Their formation has already collapsed, and our soldiers are in hot pursuit!"

"...That's too fast."

A moment later.

Bevis, hearing this fact from a messenger, felt something strange about the imperial army's collapse being too quick.

"First, stop and reform the formation... Hah."

He was about to give orders to adjust the offensive speed of the right wing, but,

"..."

Seeing the messenger waiting for instructions with a flushed face excited at having gained the upper hand, he lowered his outstretched hand and reconsidered.

Although Bevis wanted to regroup and systematically attack the enemy knowing the imperial army's potential, it's not something that can be done by sending a few messengers to stop soldiers whose spirits have already risen.

Moreover, as he was waiting in the rear with 2,000 reserve troops in case of unexpected situations, it was burdensome to carelessly issue stop orders now when it was difficult to properly grasp the battlefield situation.

The morale that had risen thinking they had won might immediately fall, and…

If the imperial army's left wing really collapsed, stopping the troops would be an act of giving time to the enemy.

"Viscount Delong. How's the reconnaissance going?"

"There have been no reports of enemy sightings."

"...Good! Tell Lord Jean Paradot! The cavalry should move to the forest on the right flank while watching out for ambushes, and attack the enemy left wing's flank!"

"Understood!"

Bevis chose to add strength to the offensive by dispatching 2,000 cavalry that had been waiting in the rear.

"...This offensive will be our last chance."

After the messenger receiving instructions left the tent, Bevis also steeled his resolve and went outside the tent.

"We'll advance! Follow me!"

"Yes!"

He began moving to support the right wing, leading the reserve troops.

Jean Paradot, receiving Bevis's orders, following his instructions that there might be an ambush,

"Lord François Philippe. You take the vanguard."

"Understood."

Prepared by sending about 400 cavalry as an advance party to induce the movement of ambushing troops.

François Philippe, famous for his bravery even usually, didn't mind the dangerous role.

"They've all passed. Let's go too!"

Jean, confirming that François's vanguard had passed through the expected ambush points without receiving any attacks, moved the cavalry through the forest, and,

"Waaaaaaah!"

"Wh-What!"

They were ambushed by the imperial 10th Corps Cavalry Regiment waiting according to Viktor's instructions, ignoring the advance party.

"Retreat!"

Jean hurriedly ordered a retreat, but the kingdom army's cavalry suffered heavy damage, ambushed on the flank by heavy cavalry while moving.

"Ugh!"

"Lord Paradot!"

In the process, even the commander Jean fell from his horse under the imperial army's attack, and the kingdom's right wing cavalry, having lost their commander, was instantly annihilated.

The 10th Corps Cavalry Regiment, having defeated the enemy cavalry with almost no losses, left only a small number of cavalry to chase them and began moving towards the flank of the kingdom army's right wing following Viktor's subsequent instructions.

"We must help our allies! Move quickly!"

François, who had returned realizing the emergency, urgently gathered the remaining cavalry, but the remaining cavalry combined amounted to only about 500.

François attempted to raid the imperial army's left wing to fulfill his duty to the end, but the imperial army's pike infantry units, which had seemed to be retreating scattered, formed defensive formations at the right places and suppressed their attack.

François's cavalry, with limited mobility, lost strength under the fire of a small number of imperial cavalry and archers chasing them, and,

"...Follow me! For the glory of the Brotan Kingdom!"

Following his decision that retreat was impossible, they launched a final charge towards the enemy and perished.

"The enemies are weak! Victory is not far!"

Unaware of these facts, the kingdom army's right wing advanced without stopping, so most of their forces had already been sucked into the inside of the imperial army.

The kingdom army, completely distracted by the left wing regrouping while nimbly repeating retreat and stop at the company level,

"The enemy's resistance is strong!"

"Push through! What can those retreating bastards do even if they form a formation!"

Found their feet tied by the imperial army's left wing, which had somehow formed a perfect defensive line,

"Imperial army! They're coming from the left!"

"Cavalry, it's cavalry! Enemy cavalry is charging from the right!"

Their flank was attacked by the 10th Corps Cavalry Regiment's charge and the attack of 5,000 reinforcements that had departed from the imperial center.

"Baron Jean Paradot has fallen in battle due to the enemy cavalry's raid!"

"Gerhart's forces are attacking us from the left!"

"Our numbers are still not small! The reserves will prepare for the enemy cavalry on the right, soldiers should gather to defend the front and left!"

Bevis commanded to the best of his ability at the sight of messengers running up with pale faces to report, but it was already a situation that couldn't be changed by sending messengers and signaling.

"Urgh..."

"It's archers! Raise your shie... Argh!"

A rain of precisely fired arrows fell on the kingdom army trying to gather and respond, and,

"Argh!"

"H-Help me!"

"They're coming, th-they're coming!"

The imperial cavalry that had broken through the flank moved in groups of about 200, ravaging the confused kingdom army.

"There are too many enemies...!"

"Run away!"

"Stick together! If we scatter, it's death... Gah!"

The imperial army ignored soldiers turning their backs and fleeing, concentrating attacks on those attempting to resist, thoroughly breaking the kingdom army.

Even amidst this, the imperial army's left wing moved in company units, repeatedly performing small-scale encirclements, causing the kingdom army's right wing's losses to grow uncontrollably.

"Lower your weapons and surrender!"

Eventually, the conscripts either threw down their weapons and fled in fear or laid face down on the ground, lowering their weapons following the imperial army's advice.

"Let's go! We must help them!"

"Enemy cavalry is coming this way!"

"The enemy is coming from the rear as well!"

"Ah..."

Bevis's reserves trying to save them instantly disintegrated, encountering the all-directional charge of imperial cavalry that had gathered in an instant.

The reserves, all infantry, couldn't withstand the repeated charges that came like tearing off flesh.

"This, what on earth is this..."

Bevis couldn't comprehend this horrific scene at all.

The enemy cavalry units moved organically, one by one, shredding the kingdom army's formation, and the enemy's left wing, which they thought had collapsed, reformed and launched a counterattack.

The archers immediately fired at places where the kingdom army seemed to concentrate, weakening their defensive formations.

"How is this possible...!"

Although the imperial army he had fought before was strong, he had never felt such overwhelming superiority with equal numbers of troops.

"Count! Right now...!"

-Bang!

"Argh!"

"Bevis Lefebvre! Surrender!"

"..."

Although he hadn't received reports of the damage, seeing the spear tips pointed at him, Bevis could be certain.

This battle was a defeat for the kingdom army.

Moreover, an utterly disastrous major defeat.

-Thud.

"Robo! Transport this one to the main camp! We'll continue on!"

"Yes!"

After sending Bevis, who had quietly accepted being bound, to the main camp, the imperial cavalry carried out the next instructions given in real-time.

"The right wing has collapsed! The enemy's left wing is coming this way!"

"What! Right now..."

"Enemy cavalry from the right!"

"...Oh no."

Daniel Renault's center, which had been slowly moving troops towards the right wing while battling Gerhart's center, was attacked by the rapidly advancing imperial army's left wing and cavalry.

"Your commander, Bevis Lefebvre, has already been captured! Surrender!"

"What?"

"Our commander? Are we, have we lost?"

"Uh, uh... They're coming! The enemies are coming!"

As news spread that even Bevis had been taken prisoner, and attacks came from the flanks, the kingdom army's morale plummeted to rock bottom.

Even amidst this, the imperial army moved their soldiers without overexertion, steadily breaking down the kingdom army.

"Tell Georges! We're retreating!"

"Yes!"

Daniel ordered a quick retreat to preserve at least a minimum of troops, but due to the imperial army beginning a full-scale offensive at that very moment, even the retreat didn't go as he wished.

"Enemy! Ugh...!"

"Run away! Everyone run away!"

The kingdom army, already terrified, scattered randomly and fled as soon as they heard the retreat order, and,

"Huh, what! Our allies are running away!"

The kingdom army's left wing, which had been barely holding their position while enduring the attack of the imperial army's right wing under Viktor's command, also rapidly lost morale seeing the center collapse.

The imperial army's 6,000 cavalry roamed the entire battlefield, completely crushing even sporadic resistance.

Charles Becker's cavalry supporting the kingdom army's left wing became isolated in the process and, like the right wing's cavalry, couldn't withstand the coordinated attack of pike infantry, archers, and cavalry, being completely annihilated.

"The enemy is fleeing! Pursue them!"

Afterwards, the imperial army pursued the kingdom army mainly with cavalry, and Daniel barely escaped to Saint-Toire with only a small number of troops gathered.

It was a perfect victory for the imperial army.

---

That evening.

After the battle that lasted about 5 hours ended, the imperial army officers gathered in Gerhart's tent to confirm the results of the battle.

"The 1st Provisional Corps had 268 deaths and 920 wounded."

Viktor, the deputy commander and corps commander of the 1st Provisional Corps, reported the casualties in a calm but somewhat gloomy voice, and,

"The 8th Corps..."

"The 10th Corps..."

After tallying the damages of each corps, the imperial army's deaths were 937, and the wounded were 2,881.

The imperial army's casualties mostly occurred during the initial engagement of the infantry, and after the collapse of the kingdom army's right wing, the damage was extremely small.

"The Brotan Kingdom army's casualties are expected to reach 8,000. Prisoners are estimated at about 20,000."

"20,000 prisoners alone..."

On the other hand, over 5,000 soldiers of the Brotan Kingdom army died, and about 20,000 prisoners were taken.

Since not all fleeing forces can be gathered, the expected remaining forces of the kingdom army are at the level of 5,000.

Before the excited officers could say anything about the incredible battle result of annihilating 35,000 enemies with 3,500 losses,

"The battle isn't over yet. By now, Commander Friedrich must be facing several times more enemies. We don't know when the deception will be exposed."

"Hmm."

Viktor mentioned the unfinished situation with a coldly hardened expression and prepared for the subsequent plan.

"We should assign the soldiers who fought most intensely to clean up the battlefield and manage prisoners, and organize reinforcements mainly with less fatigued soldiers who were in charge of the reserves, so we can depart tomorrow morning."

"Is that so? What do others think?"

"I agree."

"I think so too."

Unlike before, all officers agreed with Viktor's opinion, and the plan was quickly established.

"That's all."

He sat down again and waited for Gerhart's further instructions, but,

"...It seems there's still something left to mention."

Instead of giving instructions to the officers, Gerhart sat quietly, giving his attention to Viktor.

Other officers also sent gazes filled with awe and admiration to Viktor sitting next to Gerhart.

"...?"

In that strangely subdued atmosphere, Karl Jäger, commander of the 8th Corps 7th Infantry Regiment, suddenly stood up from his seat and approached Viktor.

"Deputy Commander!"

He grabbed Viktor's hand and,

"It was truly, truly amazing strategy and command!"

Shouted in a voice filled with emotion.

The murmuring officers began to stand up one by one and start applauding.

"Without a single member left behind, everyone returned alive! It's thanks to your command, General!"

"The regrouping and counterattack following the feigned retreat... It was a tactic no one else could dare to follow!"

All the officers of the 8th and 10th Corps, who had been half-sceptical before the battle, praised Viktor, who had created an unprecedented great victory.

From the conception of the strategy to the detailed plans, to his clear instructions that everyone could hear during the battle.

Now, no one doubted Viktor.

At their sincere admiration, Viktor blinked for a moment and then slightly bowed his head.

"It was the result of your leadership and guidance combined with the soldiers' hard work. Both I and you fought for the empire's victory, so..."

"That's not wrong, but you're the main protagonist of this battle. Isn't that right?"

Gerhart, who had been watching from the side, also opened his mouth at Viktor's humble words with lowered eyes.

"That's right!"

"Correct!"

"...Hmm."

Viktor, who had continued to maintain a hardened expression,

"...I'll go to the soldiers first."

"Haha... Go ahead."

Hurriedly left Gerhart's tent, covering his mouth with his hand.

The corners of his mouth didn't rise fully.