Chapter 158: Krafte War - The Battle of Barua (4)

The cavalry engagement was in full swing, at the Revolutionary Army vanguard.

“The enemy has changed formation!”

“What now!”

As Giselle Davi reported, peering at the enemy lines through her telescope, Damien De Millbeau snatched it from her hand with an irritated snap and looked at the enemy lines himself.

“What the hell is that. When did they change.”

The Krafte Army's line infantry, which had been in a somewhat sparse 3-rank formation to facilitate a smooth retreating volley fire, now formed a dense 2-rank formation.

“Just a moment ago…”

“Damn it all! They’re changing formations in the middle of a battle without even time to reorganize? Does that make any sense?!”

“It just happened right before your eyes, Your Excellency the Count! Please, calm down just a little!”

The Drones he had faced in Iberica were better.

It was terrifying to face an enemy that knew no fear or fatigue, but this side also seemed fearless, thanks to their thorough discipline.

If anything, this side was even more monstrous than the Drones, as an intelligent enemy, embodying the commander’s overwhelming tactical prowess and changing from moment to moment!

“With a formation like that, a retreating fire would be difficult, wouldn't it?”

“It seems so, Your Excellency. By all appearances, that is a formation for a frontal firefight, just like conventional line infantry.”

The blessing of protection Eris had cast was already broken.

The light infantry eventually retreated due to a lack of ammunition and personnel, and the engagement between the line infantry was about to resume. The Krafte Army no longer needed to fight a delaying action with retreating fire.

Damien De Millbeau took a deep breath and glanced behind him.

Eris, who had seemed so composed, chatting amiably with Giselle Davi at the start of the battle, now had her hood thrown back as if suffocated, sweating profusely and panting for breath.

She was struggling so much that she had to endure the intense noonday sun, which could not be good for her, and she seemed to have no capacity to even pay attention to their conversation.

“Hoo, the main force?”

“They are advancing, Your Excellency.”

Louis Desaix and Marquis Lafayette’s armies had also begun to advance.

Both the Krafte Army and their own had decided that now was the time for a full-scale battle.

“Good, relay to the front. We’ll face the enemy at the first defense line. We’ll respond with volley fire as well!”

“Yes, sir! Relay to the front, halt the enemy at the first defense line! Respond with volley fire!”

*

At noon, when the sun was at its most powerful.

As a wave of black uniforms, like the Grim Reaper himself, approached them, the Revolutionary Army swallowed dryly.

“First rank, prepare to fire!”

“First rank, aim!”

At the officer’s shout, a sergeant repeated the command, and the first rank of the Revolutionary Army raised their muskets in unison.

The officer swallowed dryly.

The distance was roughly 90 meters. There was still a little way to go until 80 meters, where maximum effective accuracy could be expected.

How far will the enemy advance? Should we fire first? If we fire first and they get closer to return fire, we’ll be at a disadvantage. Will the second rank fire faster?

While he deliberated, the enemy advanced to a position just under 80 meters, and a shout erupted from their lines.

“Halt!”

'Now, I must fire—'

“Prepare to fire!”

In less than a second, shouts erupted, and the first rank of the Krafte Army knelt down and aimed their guns, while the second rank aimed theirs simultaneously.

“What…?”

The moment the officer hesitated at the astonishingly swift and orderly movement and the unfamiliar formation—

“Fire!”

The first and second ranks of the Krafte Army fired simultaneously.

“Ugh!”

“Aargh!”

With the sound of bullets tearing through the wind, blood splattered from various points.

The officer, who had hesitated while about to give the order, was also splattered with blood in his eye. He frantically rubbed his eyes and lowered his hand.

The moment he did, the soldiers of the first rank were gone.

“What, where, everyone.”

The firepower was incomparable to that of the three ranks who had fired sequentially while retreating and increasing the distance to break the protective barriers in advance.

This was the volley of the entire two-rank formation of line infantry, who possessed incredible accuracy from bone-grinding training at a proper effective range.

With that alone, most of the soldiers who were preparing to fire at the frontline were hit.

Soldiers placed in the first rank of the line infantry are typically those with the best training and morale. Otherwise, it is impossible to endure the situation of exchanging fire with a clear head.

Such men were cut down in a single moment, and the soldiers of the second rank, now exposed at the very front, were already not in their right minds.

“H-hiiiik!”

“W-what! What happened!”

“Ros, get up! Ros!”

“W-we’re all going to die!”

The second lieutenant, who was frozen at the sight of the panicked soldiers, came to his senses only at the urgent shout of a sergeant.

“S-sir!”

“Uh, uh, s-second rank, prepare to fire!”

“Second rank, prepare to fire!”

The order was given, but the agitation of the fumbling soldiers did not subside.

Some raised their guns, some screamed, and some were bewildered. All the while, the Krafte Army was mechanically pouring in gunpowder and ramming bullets into their muskets.

“Fire, fire!”

At the hastily given order, less than half of the confused second rank fired. Half of those bullets flew into the sky or the ground.

While only a few Krafte Army soldiers fell, the rest finished reloading with mechanical movements in just over 15 seconds.

“Aim—”

The entire Krafte Army aimed their guns as they had before.

'This is a loss.'

The moment the second lieutenant had that premonition,

“Fire—!”

The bullet, tearing through the wind, blew away his consciousness.

*

Under the volley fire of the Krafte Army, deployed thinly and widely in two ranks, even the second rank of the Revolutionary Army crumbled.

“The vanguard is finished.”

The Great King, watching the scene through his telescope, muttered softly.

It was the limit for even adequately trained line infantry to form three ranks and fire sequentially.

But the Krafte Army had long since surpassed that limit, able to deliver a volley, reload much faster, and then deliver another in the time others would fire slowly and in sequence.

Theoretically, they could project 1.5 times the firepower, and when considering the loss of firepower and morale panic suffered by an enemy hit all at once, the gap widens overwhelmingly.

“Did you not know it would turn out this way, Your Majesty the Great King?”

“Hmm, that I did, but…”

They were soldiers trained to the extreme from the beginning for this very purpose, and he understood very well the destruction their tactics would cause.

The Great King stroked his chin and added,

“Still, I had hoped there would be something a little unexpected.”

Just as the Great King had expected, the moment the surviving soldiers from the instantly devastated ranks of the Revolutionary Army were about to flee,

Once again, a light erupted, covering the battlefield.

A light so intense it seemed blinding, yet it felt strangely comfortable. Feeling a sense of elation, the Great King twisted his lips into a smile.

“Hah…”

“My goodness.”

“Wh-what in the world is that.”

The moment not only the Great King but also the staff officers of the Krafte Army could only express admiration, the Revolutionary Army soldiers who had fallen under the Krafte Army's volley slowly rose again.

Even from this great distance, he could feel everyone's bewilderment.

The moment even the soldiers of the Krafte Army, who moved like parts of a war machine, were so surprised their hands stopped, a sharp and desperate cry erupted on the battlefield.

“Fight!”

The Queen’s voice, amplified by divine power, echoed throughout the battlefield.

The Revolutionary Army soldiers, who had been shot down but had risen again, were dumbfounded. Hearing the Queen’s cry, they scrambled to pick up their dropped muskets and fired. Even the Krafte Army was unable to respond.

The soldiers who had suffered fatal wounds and died immediately were still lying on the ground, despite Eris’s power.

The volley from those who had been groaning in pain, only to rise as new flesh grew and the bullets were pushed out, was haphazard and ineffective, far from a unified volley.

But even with such a volley, a person hit by it would still fall.

The Krafte soldiers, who had seemed like an unknown, inhuman terror to the eyes of the Revolutionary Army, also fell when shot.

For the first time, the Great King saw his army bewildered.

Even the war machines, trained to the extreme and stripped of their humanity, felt awe and bewilderment before the miracle of God's power.

And with that alone, the Revolutionary Army, which had seemed on the verge of collapse, rallied and launched a counterattack.

The Great King raised his telescope and saw in the distance the enemy queen slowly collapsing in the vanguard and her startled aides rushing to her.

“Ha, hahaha. Magnificent, truly magnificent.”

Is she not a saintess worthy of true love and praise, revealing the greatness of God?

“Y-Your Majesty. The losses to our troops are significant.”

The worried words of his staff officer could not dampen the Great King's cheerful mood.

“Haha. Do not worry too much. Their queen has fallen. However saintly a queen she may be, she must have overexerted herself. There are some losses, but in the end, if the engagement continues, our victory—”

“M-messenger! Your Majesty the Great King! Urgent news!”

However, the Great King’s leisurely words were cut short.

“His Highness, Prince Heinrich, has been defeated! The ambush force has been annihilated, and the Cuirassiers have also suffered serious damage and been routed!”

For the first time since the battle began, the smile vanished from the Great King’s lips.

*

When the first rank collapsed before the enemy's volley, the only thought in Damien De Millbeau's head was disbelief.

While he was denying the unbelievable sight before his eyes, the second rank also collapsed under the same volley.

The only thought that came to him then was terror.

They were human, but it was not an army of humans. It was the absolute, a weapon forged solely for war.

It was natural that they could not win against such a force.

The thought that arose as the barely surviving soldiers of the third rank wavered and were about to flee was self-justification, namely that no one could blame this on his lack of ability.

But when the light that covered the entire battlefield erupted, all Damien's thoughts were blown away in an instant.

“Fight!”

It was surprising that such power was contained in that slender body; the forceful cry seemed to shake his very soul.

“C-Count Milbeau.”

Eris’s voice, having collapsed and been caught by the rushing Sir Beaumont, was almost a whisper.

The queen, her face deathly pale, reached out her hand and took his.

The hand was so surprisingly cold that Damien was startled. Just then, Eris forced her eyes, which were about to close, open and spoke in a thin, strained voice.

“I believe in you.”

With those words, Eris lost consciousness.

-I can trust you and go forth with you, right? You will gladly stand in the vanguard with me for this country and for victory, won't you?

The Queen had asked so.

-O-o-of course, Your Majesty! I, Damien De Millbeau, will devote my life and exert all my abilities for Your Majesty the Queen and Francia!

Damien had answered so, but he had not truly intended to.

He had answered that way because if he hadn't stood in the vanguard, that Saintess Queen, or Marquis Lafayette, or Countess Aquitaine, one of them, would have destroyed him.

Damien slowly reached out and unclasped the Queen’s hand.

As he did, he was again surprised that the slender fingers of an unconscious person could hold such strength.

“…Your Excellency the Count.”

Giselle Davi’s voice seemed distant as Damien gave an order.

“Take Her Majesty the Queen to the rear.”

Even as he spoke, Damien couldn't understand.

How could she do that?

She’s a saintess. She’s a queen.

Even beyond that, she is already noble and worthy of deep reverence.

Marquis Lafayette is the same.

A noble, the supreme commander of the army, how can he fight for the Revolutionary Army as if consumed by fire?

When he had run away from Dilrus and returned to rally his troops, only one thing was on his mind.

If he ran away like this, he would have nothing left in his life.

A choice made solely for his own glory and honor.

For him, who was content with merely surviving and being praised, such an action was utterly incomprehensible.

But nevertheless.

For some reason, his chest boiled. Damien clenched his teeth and shouted.

“Relay to all units! If they get within 100 meters, fire unconditionally and retreat to the next rank!”

“But if we do that, the ammunition consumption…”

“What good is ammunition when we’ve been turned into corpses by those war machine bastards! I don’t care about wasting ammunition. Just tell them to fire and kill at least one and survive! Our role is to break their spearhead and hold out until the main force launches an all-out offensive!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

While Giselle Davi was hastily instructing the messengers, Damien drew the sword from his waist.

-I believe in you.

“Damn it.”

The Queen’s words just before losing consciousness would not leave his mind.

Words of belief, words of expectation.

Words that always sounded heavy, words he had never wanted to hear.

Damien looked at the inscription on the hilt of his sword, a gift from Iberica.

-To the Guardian of Dilrus, with respect.

No matter how others praised him, he had no courage, no resolve.

But even he.

“Bring me Second Lieutenant Aquitaine! I'm joining the vanguard!”

“Y-Your Excellency?”

“If it becomes known that Her Majesty the Queen has fallen, the morale we just recovered will shatter again! To hold on, this is the only way!”

Seeing such resolve, such desperation, he was not so worthless as to feel nothing.

He had always thought the reckless Marquis Lafayette was a fool, but he had never dreamed he himself would say such things.

“I will lead, so follow me! We must win this battle! Whatever the cost!”

The moment he shouted that, the frustration that was always pent up in Damien’s chest vanished.