Black Powder Mercenary Leader - Chapter 585
Only Ranovel
53-7. Battle of Mikladorf
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The armies of the Kingdom of Elancia and the Holy Grunwald Empire clashed on Mikladorf Hill.
A hill on the border that normally no one would have paid attention to. A lot of blood was being shed to occupy the loose dirt slope.
It was Grunwald who first started showing signs of victory.
One of the Groienfeld Regiments deployed as a reserve unit is making a detour at high speed. The direction is south of the hill.
From the perspective of the Elankian infantry that occupied Mikla Hill first, the village of Mikladorf exists to the north, to the left.
Therefore, in order to attack the main force on the hill, you must break through the flank defenses that are defended by the buildings.
And even if the Grunwald army takes over the village, the buildings and perimeter fences get in the way, so they have no choice but to break up their dense formation.
In the end, it would take a considerable amount of time to attack the flank of the Elankian army on the hill.
In comparison, the southern flank that the bypassing force is currently targeting has only a slightly steep slope and no special obstacles.
The ‘steep’ slope is also steeper than the gentle eastern slope, but not so much that people feel uncomfortable while climbing it.
Of course, there is a disadvantage that the area on which attacks can be concentrated is narrow due to the hilly terrain that is long from north to south and narrow from east to west.
However, if you deploy your troops appropriately and attack, it may be an advantage to semi-encircle the enemy’s flank and attack from three directions simultaneously.
Also, the Elankia military command is not stupid either.
They were preparing a strong defense on the side that might be a weak point.
Even though the artillery force was inferior to that of the opponent as a whole, four guns were selected and entrusted to defend the flanks.
It seemed like they believed that if one side was protected by a fortified village and the other side was defended by artillery and reinforced defense forces, the enemy would never be able to break through the front.
This is a paradoxical aspect that often appears on the battlefield.
It was an obvious weakness, but knowing that, I specially strengthened my troops.
In other words, it is a strengthened weakness.
The Grunwald Army is attempting to attack it by deploying one of its two trusty cards, the Groienfeld Regiment.
“Now, let’s not relax too much. “There is still a long battle left!”
“Let’s not look embarrassed.”
Groienfeld, a prestigious mercenary group whose reputation was widely known throughout the continent, was truly a unit worthy of its name as the strongest.
His reputation is such that it can be said that if the employed staff has the Seitritz view of war, the employed regiment has the Groienfeld.
Therefore, there is not a single mercenary regiment named Groienfeld, but several separate regiments exist under the mercenary group.
The number of regiments was about 4 to 6, and having two of them on the battlefield meant how high expectations were placed on this battle.
To make a detour, they circled halfway around the battlefield in a long marching formation.
In a battlefield where an attack may come from any direction at any time, it is an irregular behavior for infantry to move out of dense formation.
In the end, the strength of the infantry comes from its unique cohesion, so there is a risk that a long marching formation can become disorganized even when attacked by even a company-level cavalry.
The cavalry’s mobility and shock power paradoxically serve to impede the movement of infantry throughout the battlefield, even while doing nothing.
But this time is different.
The Elankia knights, who were famous for being powerful, had completely left the battlefield.
All that remains are the infantry trapped on the hill.
The Groienfeld Regiment, clearly aware of this fact, boldly crossed in front of the Elankian army.
Quang!
“Ugh!”
“Kaaak!”
A shell flies from afar and hits the soldiers of the Groienfeld Regiment.
Fortunately, because it was a long marching formation rather than a dense formation, the damage was not that great.
However, Morned Selkirk, who commanded the Groienfeld Selkirk Regiment, was annoyed by the small damage.
It was a good choice to steadily protect the flanks with artillery despite being outnumbered overall.
If we had been so busy protecting the main front line and neglected defense, the battle would have been much easier.
He values the soldiers in his regiment. Either because of the relationship between superior and subordinate, or as useful human resources, or both.
But recently, Morned’s regiment has suffered too much damage.
In the end, just like war and mercenaries, it is inevitable that casualties will occur.
But no matter how you think about it, it was an unnecessary sacrifice.
The Groienfeld Selkirk Regiment was, until recently, involved in the civil war of the Naudesa Federation, a small northern nation.
The civil war that took place between the powerful Archduke Isobron and Duke Birkese was in fact a proxy war with the two great powers of Elancia and Grunwald behind it.
Morned followed his employer’s instructions and led his men to take Duke Birkese’s side.
No, to be precise, it should be said that he almost took charge of the war.
Even though the Birkeje faction was originally inferior, they were completely unprepared, so they could not use the strength in the round.
Therefore, the actual force was almost entirely mercenaries, except for small local guard units in good condition and high-ranking cavalrymen.
Because of this, Morned was nervous because he thought the war would not be easy…
However, I didn’t think that it was fortunate that the enemy was at the same level.
Although the Isobron anti-communist army was numerous, it was not even basicly prepared for war.
The excellent subordinates of whom Mordred took pride as a regimental leader literally destroyed the clumsy Naudessa recruits who went to battle.
The enemy forces defeated by Groienfeld Selkirk during the first few weeks of the war alone would have been enough for three regiments.
…Now that I think about it, I suddenly remember Jaros, who was my subordinate during the Storch era.
At the beginning of the war, a Naudesa regiment seemed to be stubbornly resisting, but the irony was that the regiment leader was a former subordinate.
···I did not know this fact at the time of the battle, and when I met Yaros later, he had already been removed from his position as regimental commander and was imprisoned.
It was not a prisoner of war camp set up by Duke Birkese, but a camp for political prisoners set up by the Naudesa government.
I don’t know what happened or what he did, but it seems he was framed as a traitor in the meantime.
The battle that followed was, well, one-sided.
It is obvious from a group that impeaches and throws the regiment commander, who knows how to fight and was the only one who avoided decisive defeat, as a traitor and throws him in jail.
Since then, the Groienfeld Selkirk Regiment has never been in danger, let alone defeated.
The result of the large-scale rotation that followed was an unwavering complete victory.
The number of enemies was overwhelming, but it was no problem.
The center centered around Groienfeld fixed the enemy’s main force, and when the reserve light infantry and cavalry diverted to the enemy’s rear, the enemy collapsed before even fighting properly.
It was absurd. The diversionary force was a poorly armed infantry unit that had not been trained in dense formation, and consisted of less than a thousand cavalry.
The battle would not have been easily won if the enemy cavalry had properly intercepted it, or at least if the infantry had held out in a square formation with the determination to hold out until the end.
The Battle of Obeseirel was able to end with such an overwhelming victory.
But that ended up being the pinnacle of glory.
The Naudesa Federation and Archduke Isobron, who had been foolishly sending unprepared troops, seemed to have come to their senses when the main force was destroyed.
They no longer attacked recklessly, but began a sit-in protest by staying in the fortresses built in the already narrow area of Naudesa.
The bridge connecting the villages was broken and two or three layers of trench lines were installed.
From then on… I didn’t have any good memories.
The narrow roads and swamps that passed between the endless rows of farms in Naudessa, and the castle walls and hilly areas with high elevation differences were not a very good battlefield for the elite mercenaries of Groienfeld.
On flat ground, a similar number of mercenaries of average level would be able to suppress them in an instant.
However, it took half a day to drive out dozens of farmers trapped in a fort built on a steep hill.
However, it was not a job that could be left to other undertrained soldiers or arrogant city nobles.
Moreover, since they were not very talented, they were a useful force in their own way, so we could not just force them into a dangerous battle.
In the end, the dangerous and cumbersome mission was left to Morned’s mercenaries who were familiar with combat.
I thought it was a relief when the order to summon me to the Grunwald mainland came.
When I think of that, I think of Jaros again.
Isn’t he the person who captured the enemy fortress with as many as five people during the Storch era?
Of course, they always say they were lucky, but even if there were no guards in the first place, not many people would have the courage to confidently walk into a fortress occupied by the enemy alone.
If you had such a trustworthy subordinate officer, your stress would have been reduced.
Where are you and what are you doing now?
He was a strange friend who had abilities but was afraid to use them. I hope he leaves danger and finds peace as he hoped.
Quagwang! Pop!
“Kwaaaak!”
Enemy shells fall and several soldiers are knocked out by the shells.
Of course, Groienfeld’s skilled soldiers were not this scared, but painful damage was still accumulating.
As the commander of a regiment, Mornaed thoroughly trained his troops and also equipped a light artillery battery that could keep pace with the infantry and support firepower…
Unfortunately, due to the tight schedule, I couldn’t bring him with me this time.
“Battle deployment!”
“You have to go uphill. “Give your legs a rest.”
“Finally it’s our turn!”
The transition from marching formation to battle formation occurred smoothly and smoothly.
Not only did they move so that they could line up in order of arrival from the beginning, but they also probably moved quickly because they did not want to be exposed to artillery fire any longer.
“Is there any special communication from headquarters?”
“Old, regimental commander!”
“good. “The attack begins as planned.”
“ancient!”
When the order was delivered, the soldiers of Groienfeld Selkirk moved in perfect order under the command of the company commanders.
I was too late returning from Naudessa to participate in the Battle of Polms, but from what I heard, it might have been a good thing I was late.
This time, the Grunwald Allied Forces were numerous, but very disorganized.
This is not necessarily because Morned is a master of tactics, but everyone would think that way.
I even heard that several staff members of the famous Zeitritz war officer are working at the general headquarters under Duke Dioborg.
After such a poor battle command, I couldn’t quite understand why I was being dragged around by the Elankian army from start to finish.
Of course, Morned himself does not think his perspective is objective, as he only heard the news from outside the battlefield.
‘Despite the presence of war advisors, we were at a disadvantage… Rather, if we had not had war advisors, we might have ended up in a crushing defeat.’
A fellow regiment commander, Groienfeld, whom I met after a long time, even said that.
In any case, one of the causes of Regiment Commander Morned’s stress was that he could not comfortably follow his superiors’ orders.
Complete trust in superiors.
Even if I am isolated and have to fight a difficult fight, I have a perfect sense of unity that allows me to convince myself, ‘It must be because it is tactically necessary.’
I can’t even remember the last time I went into battle with that kind of mindset.
No, there is a moment that I remember clearly.
At that time, Jaros was a new soldier and he was a young company commander.
A time when all our allies collapsed and had to leave the battlefield and run away while facing a powerful enemy.
Even when I think back on that moment, when the sense of resignation that ‘I could really die here’ and the deep conviction that ‘I won’t die like that’ coexist, it seems unrealistic even when I think back on it.
I walked without sleep for three days, and when I got a wound, the bleeding would stop and I would return to the front lines.
For some reason, I wasn’t worried about anything.
It’s hard right now, but it’s worth it. If we keep doing this, the enemies will retreat, so won’t we be able to survive somehow?
I clearly remember thinking those thoughts even in my head, which had become a mess from lack of sleep.
···Condottiere, who did not look after his subordinates, felt mean and left Storch.
After that, he lived hard and became the commander of the most prestigious mercenary group, Groienfeld, but he still felt uneasy.
When I heard that Condottiere had recently returned, I felt resentful of myself for acting impulsively in the past.
Ludwig, Celestina, Kresimir, and Moritz are all having a fruitful time right now.
He also wanted to be with Condottiere. He wanted to listen to his gentle but confident instructions and stand on the battlefield without any worries.
I wanted to meet you again.
If not an ally… even an enemy.
Ta-ta-ta-tang! Ta-ta-tang! Quang!
“Shoot!”
Tatang! Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tang!
The loud gunshot brought Morned back to reality.
The infantrymen climbing the slope were beginning to fire volleys.
This battle will also definitely be won.
Because I can’t tarnish my pride in being a senior company commander in Storhi.