186 – Eastern Franchi Expedition (21)

In the place where the knights of the Marquis Simon and Count Laurent swept past, only fragmented troops with no commander to lead, meat paste smelling of rusty iron and blood, broken spears and shattered standards remained.

Towards them, the order of Count Ilias, who must fight hard no matter what, is resonating through some nobles and commanders.

“Hold the line! Reorganize your troops!!”

“Don’t desert! Those who run away from here will be considered deserters! What do you do in a solo battle?”

However, it was already a situation where desertion was more likely to survive than fighting the enemy knights in the war.

Although Count Elias did not order his army to retreat for his own survival, they are already imaginary beings who cannot play any role.

Colonel Frost looked at the sight and thought.

‘I felt it in the past when serving the ruined Earl of Schwein, but serfs, freemen, and nobles with an incompetent lord are truly dying in vain… . On the other hand, I have been in this Eline Empire since the days of the so-called… No, it was able to survive because it brought together great people worthy of being counted in history.

No, because I followed your Excellency, I was able to obtain a land and position that were not worthy of a play that sang about the deeds of me, a mere bastard, and Mark, who was a serf. Also, if I win this war and go back, I will be able to become a baron like my father. It’s like a dream.’

However, the future he is trying to seize can only be won if he always achieves results.

What if it fails? It has no choice but to fall by accepting the reaction that has risen rapidly so far.

This reality is the same for other soldiers and officers who have risen thanks to the Kreutel family, if not as much as Frost, the regimental leader.

So Colonel Frost, watching the enemy knights withdraw to reorganize, spoke as if appealing to the soldiers.

“If I had been born into a different family, I, Jack Frost, would not have enjoyed the same position and honor as I do now. No, as one of the bastards of a knight family, he would have become a mercenary or lived a worthless life. And probably the majority of people here have lived and died meaninglessly like that.”

As he said, other rural knight families do not have the ability to provide a place for bastards.

No, in many cases, it is not possible to provide academic education for bastards to have the ability to live alone and the minimum education to live as knights.

This is because it takes dozens of gold coins to complete a meaningful level of education and develop competency until you have the ability.

So, unless you are a high-ranking noble of a baron family or higher, there are many cases where you teach a suitable 2nd or 3rd class retired mercenary how to handle a sword and then send it out as a mercenary.

The serfs do not receive such an education, and unless they are the eldest son, they are often starved to death or executed while working as urban poor, criminals, or bandits.

“However, our lord, the Marquis Ciel von Creutel, gave a chance to bastards like me, the second son of serfs, and the third son of a fool! So, isn’t everyone enjoying the wealth and glory that is out of proportion now? Already we are living a happy life with our wives and children in the city with a decent salary. In addition, we enjoy meat, alcohol, and even women that we could not have imagined when we were bastards or serfs. To put it bluntly, when I was poor, I even put in a petition saying that I was tired of eating pickled herring and salted meat every day, which I barely ate on holidays. Isn’t it?”

After the colonel paused, the officers and men of the unit began to think about where the happiness they were enjoying came from.

Before long, soldiers from serfdom and officers who were poor bastards began to weep and reminisce about the past.

‘Before I joined this unit, the road ahead was bleak, thinking of going out of the house and joining a third-rate mercenary. I never thought that I would be able to participate in such an honorable battle as now, and that I would have a wife and children to greet me when I returned.’

‘I got tired of the pickled herring and salted meat that were rationed every day, but during the days of the serfs, it was a food that I ate only occasionally during holidays… ‘

‘In the past, I did not dare to hope that life would be better, but since serving in His Excellency’s unit, I have been able to dream of a better life… ‘

“For those of you who think I’m right, look at the knights arranging the battle lines, raising dust! Those bastards are now clamoring to kill the Marquis of Creutel! Also, they try to kill those who serve the same lord like the soldiers of Count Ilias. And I won’t be able to see it even if I die. Also, if we protect them, we will always be able to receive generous rewards from His Excellency, who promised us victory and generously bestowed its fruits. Everyone, are you ready to risk your life and kill those damn bastards with me?”

At the colonel’s words, the rest of the soldiers drew their swords from the horses and raised them upwards.

“Let’s go to repay His Excellency’s kindness!!”

“Let’s kill the iron clumps and change the character!!”

“Long live Mr. Creutel! Long live the regiment commander!!”

Seeing that morale had risen enough, Colonel Frost thought.

‘No matter how much our troops have gone through countless drills and several real battles, it is a fearful thing to turn after charging towards the head of a wedge formation of knights. So, if we don’t raise the morale of the soldiers like this… They could have made a mistake out of fear… If he’s in his elevated state like he is now, he’ll never make a foolish mistake.’

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Moments later, the matchlock cavalry regiment led by Colonel Frost spotted the knights running towards the rear of the Kreutel Corps.

Knights in silver armor rode gigantic horses at a distance of about one kilometer.

Although no one was holding a lance because he had made several charges, the sight of him running with a gleaming silver secondary weapon and screaming loudly was the death god himself.

Count Laurent, the commander of the knights who thought he had caught up with the Marquis of Creutel, smiled and said in the lead.

“I, Laurent, will defeat the famous Marquis of Creutel throughout Europe! If that’s the case, I’ll be able to rise above the count and become a marquis without fail! All troops, do your best to destroy Marquis Creutel’s army!”

Colonel Frost formed a line in line at the head of the knights commanded by the confident Count Laurent.

Then, at the head of the wedge of knights, Colonel Frost and his men mounted and charged at the same speed as the knights.

Although they say they are carrying guns, it is a crazy thing that light cavalry, who form formation and must fight with speed and hit-and-run tactics, will never do it, unlike heavy cavalry, who are pressed down by the weight of horses and armored knights.

So thought Count Laurent, who could not see the approach of Colonel Frost because of the sound of the hooves of his allies and the dust of the horses.

‘Anyway, there are no more troops to surprise our allies. So, this charge is what we’re going to eat.’

After about three or five minutes, when the Frost Regiment approached the knights under Count Laurent, the Count finally noticed.

However, they did not respond at all to the assault of the light cavalry, who were not even wearing proper armor.

No, if he responded, the knights who were charging could not stop talking, so they had no choice but to die from being crushed.

So, he just lowered his lance and charged towards the soldiers of the Marquis of Creutel in front.

Please, praying that those damn Kreutel hussars won’t be able to respond to our attacks.

However, everyone believed in Deus the same in the first place, so there was no way anyone would take the side of one, as if the gods were scoffing.

Colonel Frost signaled a turn to his men and began to make a hasty turn while keeping a distance of about 150 meters from the enemy’s lead.

Seeing this, the knights led by Count Laurent fell into great fear.

Because, from what they could see through the slit in the face shield, more than a thousand matchlocks were pointed at them.

A fear they didn’t have to feel from the moment they put on their armor and rode their horses.

He faced the reality that he would die in a disgraceful, miserable and miserable manner like the serfs conscripted from the battlefield, and that he would feel great pain.

However, no one within it could put up the right resistance.

They are just waiting for death to come towards them.

By the time Colonel Frost reached the end of the wedge formation over the course of about a minute, lead bullets rained down on the knights who were unable to slow down and kept moving forward.