The Shadowed Legacy of the Soulless Messenger [EN]: Chapter 383

“Count Azadin, I don’t doubt your past achievements, but isn’t this too reckless? The Arangi Guard consists of elite heavy infantry and heavy cavalry. And our army is overwhelmingly lacking in cavalry. We have a considerable number of troops, but wars are essentially won with cavalry.”

Count Ibechek was also shaken by the rumor that King Karnago IV of Arangi was personally leading the campaign.

Azadin’s forces had swelled to enormous numbers by absorbing refugees, but they were just a large number, not a proper army.

Of course, Azadin knew this well, so he made sure to train the refugees thoroughly.

He had them gain practical experience by subjugating goblins and bandits, and he organized them into 10-man units, with those skilled in drills as squad leaders.

He placed large, strong individuals at the corners of each 10-man unit, and under the command of the squad leader, they practiced changing formations, turning directions, and having reserves and main forces exchange positions.

The problem was that most of them were light infantry.

There were few heavy infantry equipped with metal armor, and even fewer cavalry.

The terrain near Coxhall was ideal for cavalry maneuvers. However, using fortifications for defense was problematic because Coxhall was already destroyed, and there were no proper walls.

Considering the nature of Azadin’s faction, which was driven by his personal charisma and leadership, it would be difficult to utilize a proper castle even if one existed.

It was clear that while Azadin was defending, the various Azadin factions would fall apart.

All of Azadin’s staff were anxious.

“How about targeting only the King of Arangi, like we did with the Vanlung Kingdom, Chief?” Scott asked Azadin, but Prince Sram objected.

“The King of Arangi moves with the Arangi Guard heavy cavalry when he leads a campaign. It’s absolutely impossible. If an assassin approaches, they’ll be going right into the heart of the Arangi Guard.”

“We have hippogriffs! And griffins too! A sudden dive attack from the air would be unstoppable!” Selim argued for a raid using hippogriffs and griffins, but everyone was skeptical about that as well.

“I’ve ridden a hippogriff a bit, and they’re vulnerable to archers’ attacks. We can’t put armor on them. It wouldn’t work against the Arangi Guard either.”

Azadin was also skeptical of Selim’s proposal.

“Well, but there’s no need to worry too much. I have a plan.”

“Chief, you’re not just bluffing, are you?” Scott probed Azadin’s intentions. But soon, they all realized that whether they liked it or not, they had no choice but to be led by Azadin. They had already gone too far.

*********

Count Azadin took in refugees and made the men into engineers or infantry, training them and starting to seize the area from Coxhall to the Vanlung Royal Castle.

They conducted combat training by subjugating goblins and Bree along the roads, securing trade routes, and restoring villages and farms. The Royal Castle was under the control of the Rescue Knights, but it was no exaggeration to say that Count Azadin now had effective control over the Vanlung Kingdom.

The problem was the movements of the Arangi Kingdom’s army.

The King of Arangi had summoned 50 Arangi Guard heavy cavalry, 100 Arangi Guard heavy infantry, and had gathered an additional 500 troops of various types by summoning the counts’ armies.

It was a small number for a king leading a campaign in person, but it was still enough to overturn a country.

On the other hand, the majority of Azadin’s army were peasant soldiers. There were some retainers, Count Ibechek’s light cavalry, and Selim’s aerial cavalry, but their numbers were insignificant.

The outcome was practically decided before the battle even began.

The King’s Church did not respond to Count Azadin’s heretical acts and ignored them. He was someone who would be erased by the King of Arangi anyway. It was just the reckless behavior of a nobody, not worth declaring a heresy.

They would leisurely dispatch an investigation team after Count Azadin was defeated by the King of Arangi.

Whether he preached the teachings of the New Testament or not, the King’s Church considered Azadin as good as dead and left him alone.

And as winter deepened, the King of Arangi personally led his army and began marching towards Coxhall.

*********

In the plains south of Coxhall, the advance scouts of the King of Arangi encountered Azadin’s refugee soldiers.

They were light infantry who had been training and conducting mobile drills while subjugating Bree and goblins.

The number was a considerable 400. It was four times the number of the scouts.

However, Prince Gislain of the Arangi Guard, who was leading the advance scouts of the King of Arangi, sneered at the condition of the refugee soldiers.

“Their training is quite good, but they’re just peasants after all.”

“Shall we recommend they surrender?”

“Are you crazy? If we make them surrender, we’ll have to feed them, and we don’t have any supplies.”

The King of Arangi’s army had minimized the supply unit, expecting to win the battle.

The current supply unit was following behind with carts, carrying enough fodder and rations for fifteen days, assuming they would be safely supplied.

It would take ten days just to move, so the supply was quite tight. It was not a situation to take prisoners.

“Kill them all and seize their rations!” Prince Gislain decided. Azadin’s refugee soldiers also seemed ready for battle and began to form ranks.

The spearmen, armed with spears, formed a line to reinforce the left and right flanks and stood at the front. The placement of elite soldiers at the corners indicated that they were wary of a cavalry breakthrough on the flanks.

“Light cavalry! Stir them up!” Prince Gislain ordered the retainer leading the light cavalry. Fifteen light cavalry charged at the spearmen, and the spearmen raised their spears to form a wall.

The light cavalry stopped their charge, turned sideways, and ran alongside the spearmen, maintaining their distance.

Then, these refugee soldiers, who seemed to have had quite a bit of training, accurately maintained their distance and slowly turned their spear tips.

When spearmen move while dealing with a cavalry charge, their formation is bound to collapse, but their formation did not break.

And behind them, slingers began to throw stones with their slings.

The aim was terrible, but it was enough to startle the horses. Prince Gislain signaled to the flag bearer to raise the flag, ordering them not to charge but to return.

“Wow, they’re quite good. To train peasants to this extent. Even if their equipment is poor, they must have had a lot of time.”

“Count Azadin is said to have deliberately taken them in as soldiers and trained them to feed the refugees,” a mercenary staff officer said to Prince Gislain, and his tone seemed to show a favorable view of Count Azadin.

Many mercenaries, sellswords, were cruel and vile, but many of them were also the sons of peasants, so they knew well that the situation of peasants and refugees was dire.

They couldn’t help but be favorable to Azadin, who took in and fed the refugees generously.

“Is that so? He’s a fool who likes to do useless things.”

Prince Gislain ignored the mercenary captain’s reaction.

“It must be to feed the people and give them work. I understand.”

“He’s a pathetic fellow. If he wants to reduce the number of mouths, he should just kill them.”

“………”

“Spearmen, advance!”

Against the spearmen formation, Prince Gislain advanced his spearmen.

When Count Azadin’s refugee soldiers and Prince Gislain’s spearmen clashed, a tense battle ensued at the beginning.

Surprisingly, the training level of Count Azadin’s refugee soldiers was considerable. They fought on par with the King’s regular soldiers at the beginning.

However…

“Arangi Guard, deploy!”

Skilled Arangi Guards rushed into the gaps between the spearmen. They approached through the gaps opened by the spearmen and charged towards the corners of each spearmen line, the ends of both sides.

To deal with this situation, the corners of the spearmen formation are usually filled with the strongest and most steadfast individuals, but the Arangi Guards were the kind of people who wielded halberds with one hand like they were sticks.

The Arangi Guards, wielding large weapons with both hands, a halberd in one hand and a greatsword in the other, were like tanks that destroyed everything they touched.

They were not opponents that a mere woodcutter-turned-spearman could handle.

The elite spearmen at the corners were instantly crushed, and the spearmen’s formation collapsed.

As the Arangi Guards became excited in battle, horns sprouted from their heads, and flames spewed from their mouths.

Just the sight of them was terrifying, and they charged while lightly wielding giant weapons with both hands, so ordinary soldiers had no choice but to panic.

-Wham!

When the Arangi Guards struck people with their weapons, severed torsos flew into the sky, and blood and guts danced.

The Arangi Guards, only six in number, who had rushed into the spearmen’s line, tore through the spearmen’s line diagonally.

And the spearmen’s line, which had been stirred up like that, could not withstand the attacks of the enemies following behind and collapsed.

“Re, reserves!”

The commander of the refugee soldiers advanced the spearmen deployed in the rear to try to catch the Arangi Guards who had broken through, but the Arangi Guards endured their attacks long enough while the spearmen behind them pushed forward.

“Close combat won’t work! Damn it!”

“Throw!”

Slingers threw stones from behind, but they could not inflict damage on the Arangi Guards who were properly armored. Rather, the stones bounced off and hit the refugee spearmen who were not armored, only harming their comrades.

In the midst of this engagement, the light cavalry of the Arangi Kingdom, who had flanked around, rushed into the slingers’ camp, and the battle ended in an instant.

With light cavalry in the rear and Arangi Guards and spearmen in the front, attacking from both sides, Count Azadin’s refugee soldiers were annihilated without even being able to flee properly.

It was a battle of 100 against 400, but it was the 100 advance scouts of the Arangi Kingdom who achieved an overwhelming victory.

*********

The commander of Count Azadin’s army, captured by Prince Gislain, was just a commoner mercenary.

It was someone who had originally been a subordinate of Legion, who had been promoted to a lower officer and exercised training and command over more than 400 refugee soldiers.

Considering that the refugees’ weapons were at best cheap spears, slings made of rope, and clubs, they seemed like insignificant forces, but still, to give command of an army of 400 to a commoner who was not even a retainer.

Prince Gislain was wondering if Azadin was generous or if his organization lacked discipline.

‘Of course, if they were undisciplined, they wouldn’t have shown such sharp movements. They are well-trained. We shouldn’t underestimate them just because their equipment is poor.’

The high level of training of the refugee soldiers and the commander’s decent command capabilities were a small shock to Prince Gislain, who had the prejudice that those who were not of the warrior-noble class were useless.

“Hmm. He was originally just a soldier from the Chadra Plateau? His command ability is quite good for that.”

Prince Gislain grinned as he looked at the refugee commander.

“Do you have any intention of serving me?”

“Oh, of course! If you spare my life, I will definitely serve you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. If you entrust the soldiers to me…”

“Hey.”

Prince Gislain signaled to his subordinate with his chin, and the subordinate approached and grabbed the refugee commander’s finger.

-Snap!

A scream filled the barracks along with the sound of a finger breaking.