Black Powder Mercenary Leader - Chapter 582
Only Ranovel
53-4. Battle of Mikladorf
Manfred carefully watches the movements of the Elankian knights. No, I didn’t have time to watch it closely.
As you hesitate, the distance between you and your enemy will grow further and further. You must finalize your judgment and give instructions as quickly as possible.
The cavalry’s departure itself was expected.
Mikladorf is a narrow battlefield surrounded by hills and villages.
Moreover, since the rear, where the reserve force would normally be located, is a swampy area, it is difficult to preserve the vitality of Elancia’s strongest knight corps.
Therefore, it is common sense to separate some mobile troops, stand by on the outskirts of the battlefield, and secure an area of activity by widening the battlefield.
If it was ‘part’.
It was not expected that ‘all’ of the cavalry would be taken out right before the battle.
I can’t quite decide what the purpose is. why? For what purpose?
It is natural that the more troops you have, the more important the synergy between types of troops becomes, but you broke the combination by separating the infantry and cavalry yourself.
In fact, didn’t the Elankian army fight so well in the Battle of Polms?
They overcame their numerical inferiority by taking full advantage of the internal lines and quickly transferring information, increasing troops, and connecting between each defense line.
How many defeats did the Grunwald army have to experience because the enemy arrived at the battlefield early and occupied the defense line?
It was truly excellent management and judgment.
It’s a shame, but once this war is over, a report on the topic of ‘Operation of large armies and use of internal ships’ will be written and it will be considered as a research topic on the view of war.
Suddenly, I remember a novel that deals with heroes’ wars and military strategies.
Manfred did not particularly enjoy reading such novels, but when studying war history, he often read contemporary novels as reference material.
Also, in many cases, texts in the form of biographies praising specific heroes were actually novels in the form of history.
Usually, in novels like this, standards are often expressed as foolish, old, and stereotypical.
A typical story about a hero defeating an undeveloped, old-fashioned, and foolish enemy with his own novel strategy.
However, Jeongseok may have been a novel strategy to someone at some point.
And the reason that it is still passed down as standard to this day is because countless other strategies failed to win.
Basically, a strategy is used by the disadvantaged side. Perhaps King Elancia, who was in charge of overall command of the enemy, may think that the forces in this battle are more disadvantageous than expected.
There is no need to be dragged around, all you have to do is fight in a way that will win.
Manfred, who has made a decision, calls his staff who were waiting for orders.
“Send a message to Count Felcoot!”
“Yes, Sir Manfred.”
“Count Pelkut leads the entire army in pursuit of the deserting Elankian cavalry. “Don’t miss it till the end.”
The staff members who heard that became agitated.
“Sorry, but… by the entire army, do you mean all 10,000 cavalry under Count Pelcutt?”
“Yes.”
Currently, the two armies are not simply facing off.
It is a situation where an attack is imminent. Grunwald’s artillery, which had arrived late, was taking up a defensive position, and his infantry was also in the process of designating an attack position.
The battle will probably begin within an hour at the latest. That was also due to the Grunwald army’s attack.
However, if all 10,000 cavalry under Count Pelkut were taken out of the battlefield… our army’s combat power would plummet to less than half.
That was why the staff froze with worry.
“Shouldn’t we leave some behind? Our troops… are in a situation where they have to climb the hill and attack…”
“That’s because it’s even more dangerous if the troops are dispersed.”
“Oh, I understand. “I will immediately tell Count Pelcut to lead the entire army to chase down the deserting Elankian cavalry and not to let them go until the end.”
If they were to sortie with some of the cavalry left behind… they would once again face the situation that they had heard ad nauseam throughout this war and had proven with their own bodies: ‘Elankian knights cannot be defeated with the same numbers.’
It was Manfred’s judgment, and Duke Dioborg’s judgment, that if the Elancia cavalry numbered 6,000, this one should number 10,000.
This was even the judgment of the cavalrymen who participated in this battle.
Thanks to Manfred’s careful tactical instructions, the Grunwald knights have regained some confidence recently.
The method was to stick together and withstand the enemy attack without counterattacking.
Although it is a simple and ignorant method, it is not easy for cavalry to penetrate a space crowded with humans and horses.
In the end, the impact power was halved and the Elancia knight was forced into a melee without losing his biggest weapon, making it a ‘neither win nor lose’ tactic.
But that is only possible if you have a numerical advantage over the enemy. If the number is small, you will be surrounded and eaten from all sides at once.
So, whether it is 2,000 or 3,000, it is judged that if the troops are sent with a reduced number, the morale of the cavalry will be shattered and a bold chase like now will become unthinkable.
You can trust Count Pelkut. His ability, responsibility, and personal revenge were all expected.
“They say the artillery unit will soon finish dissipating heat.”
“Thank goodness. “We must begin the attack as soon as the infantry is ready, so order the prepared batteries to fire in advance.”
“Yes, Sir Manfred!”
At the time the new report was received, Count Pelcut’s cavalry was leaving the camp, as if Manfred’s order had been delivered.
It was a spectacular sight to see 10,000, or more precisely 10,600, cavalry moving in loose formation, kicking up dust.
With this kind of momentum, I thought I could definitely look forward to this match.
Also, even if Count Pelkut’s cavalry left, some cavalry remained under Manfred.
It was part of his personal guard lent by Duke Dioborg. There were about 800 cavalrymen in 6 companies, all of whom were well-armed heavy cavalry.
At the Battle of Polms, they had been devastated by a sudden attack by an Elankian knight… so they were all burning with thoughts of returning the stigma and seeking revenge.
A little less than 10,000 infantry and 20 artillery pieces join in.
The Elankian infantry on the hill is thought to be around 7,000 at most, and the artillery is also believed to be superior, although the exact number is not known.
There is the advantage of having fewer hills, but I think the power difference is acceptable enough to offset that.
pop! Pow! Boom boom! Pubbung!
The artillery began firing. As it was the first shelling, the accuracy was not that good, but several rounds landed near the enemy lines on the hillside.
After a while, the Elankian infantry becomes frantic, breaks their ranks, and flees over the hill.
“They’re running away!”
“Hail!”
Some soldiers cheer with a sense of victory.
However, just looking at it, it is not a rout where the fighting spirit is lost. It was probably a planned action to retreat once the bombardment began.
They will then gather safely on the other side of the hill, and then crawl out again when friendly infantry approaches.
It looks like the infantry is almost ready to attack. The outlying officers and non-commissioned officers can be seen checking the straight square formation for the last time.
“Lord Manfred, this is the messenger! “This is a messenger from Count Pelcut!”
“Give it here.”
Manfred receives the sealed paper and opens it. Certainly, there was a reason why a document was sent in a hurry rather than a message through the voice of a messenger.
‘As ordered, we will pursue the enemy to the end. But I don’t know which side King Elancia is on.’
…It was a sharp point.
I didn’t even think about it. This may be because they simply thought that all they had to do was fight each other and win.
Of course, destroying the King’s Guard is a very big task.
This is not only in terms of simple loss of power, but also because the SS in any country is made up of the ruling class, the nobles, and their children.
In fact, because the monarch’s bodyguard suffered so much damage in the battle, there were times when the palace suffered from a lack of people after the war ended.
However, this excessive chase had the ultimate goal of capturing or killing King Elancia himself.
Through this, the balance of national power between the Grunwald Empire and the Kingdom of Elancia will be completely overturned, and Duke Dioborg will be crowned as emperor in name and reality.
···Of course, Manfred himself will leave his name as a great strategist who will no longer be remembered in the world of war.
We can be sure that the king is here because we have mobilized various information resources and Elancia has also deliberately promoted it.
Elancia, whether intending to carry out a decoy operation or not, simultaneously spread counterinformation that ‘the king would soon arrive in a convoy.’
Intelligence officers, scouts, and spies worked hard to filter this out, and were able to confirm the facts in just a few days.
There was no way the intelligence department, made up of war officers, would have been swayed by a counter-operation like this.
In the process, I felt sorry for my subordinates because they were overworked, but I was still proud.
But now that the cavalry and infantry are divided, which side is the king?
A rough guess would be with the cavalry.
In addition to being surrounded by mobile guards, wasn’t King Elancia said to have great pride as a cavalry commander?
But another guess comes to mind.
This is because if the soldiers had quietly left the battlefield after sounding the bell like this, the morale of the soldiers left behind could have been lowered.
And as a knight and commander of Elancia, his pride could have prevented him from leaving the battlefield.
···Either could be a valid reason.
This is an area of speculation.
If we mobilize all our intelligence networks again, we will be able to find the king’s whereabouts someday.
But you need to know ‘now’. It would be of no use to find out after today’s battle.
“Tell this to Count Felcoot.”
“ancient!”
“I fight thinking it’s both sides.”
“Old, I will tell you to think of it as both sides and fight!”
Until certain information is revealed, you must fight believing that the enemy unit in front of you is King Elancia.
But what does it mean to believe and fight like that… I wasn’t sure.
To completely surround the enemy so that they cannot escape and fight until they are annihilated?
To force them to accept surrender?
This is only possible after a complete victory for either side. If we don’t win right now…
“The center and both wings are said to be ready for an infantry attack!”
“good. Issue an attack order. “I offer the head of King Elancia to Duke Dioborg, no, to His Majesty the Emperor!”
“Yeah!”
Suddenly, I briefly regretted whether I had spoken too emotionally on the subject of hired mercenary staff.
But the effect was great. Whether they were part of the war hall or not, the staff and guards all clenched their fists and cheers continued from unit to unit.
The morale of the soldiers fighting to end this war is high.
Moreover, he himself, Manfred the ‘Black Wolf’, is a commander with full authority without worrying about anyone else. If this is the case, you can definitely win.
bang! Pubbung! Boom boom! Quack!
The artillery fires again. Perhaps the aim had been corrected due to the bullet impact earlier, but even at this distance, almost all of the shells were falling on the hill.
It is a bit unfortunate that the enemy infantry ranks retreated to the rear… but this also helps the momentum.
With the easy target of infantry gone, the Grunwald artillerymen seemed to have chosen the Elankia battery visible over the ridge as their next target.
There are no hits yet, but you can start to see shells narrowly grazing the ridge.
And under that cover, an orderly line of infantry approaches.
These 10,000 infantrymen are not just 10,000.
Although it was not at the level of the royal guard, our army also gathered only the bare minimum of troops out of an army of 100,000. This is a military force that can be expected.
In addition, there were two elite mercenary regiments, the Groienfeld Regiment, which were counted on one hand even if searched throughout the empire.
The regiment that was originally attached to the Central Army was joined by a regiment that had recently returned from the Naudesa Front.
It was also the first time for Manfred, who served several lords and had experience commanding various mercenaries, to have two regiments of Groienfeld under his command.
“Advance! Keep pace!”
“one two! one two!”
Another infantry company passes by, and commands from officers controlling the soldiers are heard.
This is how the Battle of Mikladorf began.