Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 370: Chrysanthemum War II (11)

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The morning of the 6th month and the 28th day of the year 1512 on the continental calendar had dawned.

On this day, the soon-to-be-clear sky will be forced once again to witness the events that will unfold on the surface.

The blood that will cover the earth that had become humid due to the summer rain. The metallic sound of studded shields colliding against one another. People refer to this as a slaughter, war, and tragedy.

However, no single word would be able to describe the scene that will be witnessed today.

Thirty thousand men were going to die today. Individuals utterly oblivious of the situation will be murdered and will also commit murder. No responsibility will be taken here. People are more than capable of slitting the throats of others with no remorse.

How will historians describe this?

What will they write in the history books utilizing their fancy language and writing?

At most, this was the ugly instinct of people. They will gloomily sing about tragedy if the war doesn’t end, and they will record things as if the bravery, wit, and fortune of some are the only things that are special.

There is no blood there.

That is absent of the clashing of metal and the cries of murderers before the faces of other murderers.

Therefore, remembering this is my duty.

As a Demon Lord that lives eternally, I will remember every drop of blood that will be shed on these plains. I will not allow the halfhearted blaming of human nature. The responsibility is here. And it will remain here forever.

“General.”

“I know.”

Laura slowly tied her hair into a ponytail.

Our army was currently marching to Piacenza. Our goal wasn’t to capture it. We were inferior in numbers anyway, so a siege was out of the question.

Our goal was the river flowing between us and the Sardinian troops.

There are two paths that can be taken when going from Pavia to Piacenza. The southern path that goes along the river, or the northern path that detours around Milano.

“The north path would put us between Milano and Piacenza. If we take this path, then the Grand Duke will start to become suspicious. We should not be aware of the internal discourse between him and the Duke of Milano, so he would question why we would intentionally put ourselves into a difficult position…….”

This has the risk of making the Grand Duke doubt our intentions, so we chose to take the southern path.

“Duchess, my only concern is whether Baroness de Blanc has hidden herself well.”

“The Baroness led the detached force during our previous operation and carried out her task splendidly. She is well-qualified.”

Baroness de Blanc spent the entire night pursuing the prisoners. She was only able to get three hours of sleep before she departed somewhere with a teleportation scroll.

What was there to hide?

Last night, Laura had ordered our men to pursue the prisoners half-heartedly. That was because there was a far more important goal than chasing some prisoners.

The cavalry unit led by Baroness de Blanc was currently lying in ambush near the river.

A cavalry unit mobilized under the pretext of capturing prisoners in the middle of the night. If a spy that has infiltrated our army (there is always a spy somewhere) witnessed the cavalrymen leave, then they will most likely report it as “a cavalry unit was sent out to pursue prisoners”.

This was the perfect opportunity to prevent anyone from suspecting an ambush.

Adding to this, 1,000 cavalrymen and 1,200 infantrymen were sent to pursue the prisoners at night. 200 infantrymen returned to our camp as a deception tactic, while the remaining 2,000 were probably now hiding with Baroness de Blanc.

There was one thing that I learned after going to war a bunch after falling into this world. It was the fact that we have to always make our numbers seem inflated.

If we have ten thousand soldiers, then make it appear like twenty thousand. If we have twenty thousand, then inflate that to fifty thousand. This wasn’t just for show. By doing this, we can prevent the enemy from noticing if we send out a detached unit of 1,200 soldiers.

Both sides know that fifty thousand is an embellished number. The only thing that’s necessary is to make it difficult for the enemy to grasp how many troops we have.

In a situation where we have to either make our numbers seem small or inflate them greatly…… it would probably be better to inflate them. Even when asking for support from one’s home nation or allied nation, you’d gain more if you report that fifty thousand troops are starving instead of thirty thousand.

In any case, the enemy does not have an accurate grasp of our numbers. The absence of two thousand soldiers was still within acceptable bounds.

“…….”

I turned to look at Laura and saw a cold and imposing face.

This girl has always been about getting two birds with one stone. By deliberately releasing our prisoners, she lured the enemy into hastily taking the field. At the same time, she managed to hide our soldiers without arousing any suspicion…….

There was probably an extremely high chance that the ambush will succeed. Her skills were awe-inspiring.

Planning an ambush was something that anyone could do. The issue was whether it was actually successful or not……. This is where third-rate and second-rate are divided. If you’re able to kill two birds with one stone while also carrying out a successful ambush, then that would undoubtedly make you first-rate.

“We have received intel from our scouts, Your Highness.”

An adjutant quickly approached while on horseback.

“The enemy troops in Piacenza have begun to move frantically. They are most likely preparing to set out.”

“Have they already begun to move? It seems that the Grand Duke of Florence makes quick decisions.”

Laura smiled.

“I command the Blue Mountain Goat Cavalry Regiment.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

“Immediately, as the vanguard, ride forth and rain down a barrage of arrows upon the enemy camp in Piacenza. This is not a full-blown battle. Just showing those Sardinian scoundrels a taste of our arrows on their backsides will be sufficient.”

The dwarven regiment captain saluted.

“As you command. We will return soon.”

A thousand mounted archers split away from our formation and ran ahead. Ten mages also followed in case a magic battle were to occur.

While our mounted archers were busy harassing the enemy, we arrived at our destination, the river. Laura ordered for an encampment to be made with this river in front of us.

The name of this river was Trebbia.

In reality, it was more like a slightly wider stream than a river. The width of the river was significant, but its depth was shallow. In Sardinia, rainfall was scarce in the summer and frequent in the winter. The rain wasn’t so scarce that you would call it a dry season, so the river was able to maintain its form.

However, this turned some areas around the river into mires.

If a large army were to try and cross Trebbia, they would initially find reassurance in the sluggish current and shallow depths. However, the small and large marshy areas scattered around the river made it difficult to tread with ease.

In other words, it was ideal for a small number of troops to cross, but it wasn’t good for an entire army of considerable size to cross at the same time.

Laura had dispatched scouts in all directions for over two weeks, thoroughly surveying the nearby terrain. She had anticipated that the battle would occur near Piacenza, so she ordered the scouts to survey this area meticulously.

She then chose Trebbia River as the place of battle.

“It may not look impressive on the surface, but this small and ungainly river meets all the conditions to be used as an ambush point.”

Shortly thereafter, our mounted archers made a swift return from the opposite side of the river, pursued relentlessly by enemy cavalrymen.

Without a moment’s hesitation, our unit plunged into the river and advanced towards our encampment, causing the enemy soldiers to momentarily pause. Perhaps they were wary of venturing too far on their own. Satisfied with driving our men this far, they turned their steeds around.

As the enemy cavalry had their backs turned, our mounted archers halted their river crossing to unleash a barrage of arrows upon them. Their determination to harass the enemy soldiers was evident. Responding in kind, the Sardinian cavalry troops drew their bows and retaliated.

It was a rare and remarkable sight, witnessing mounted archers on both sides darting along the riverbank, exchanging volleys of arrows.

Referentially, a fight between mounted archers was typically something that incurred the least losses. It was already hard to hit targets from afar, but that becomes even harder when both sides are moving around on horseback. Honestly, it was a waste of arrows.

Once it became afternoon, the main army of Sardinia began to move.

The enemy troops were already in complete formation. Their mounted archers stood at the front with spearmen supporting their rear. The enemy even mobilized their regular cavalrymen to prevent our archers from approaching.

Laura watched over the skirmish that was happening a distance away.

“The enemy does not have many cavalry units. At a glance, they appear to have about 3,000.”

“It is far less than that, Your Highness. They have about 2,400 to 2,600.”

An elf captain trotted forward on their horse. Elves have better eyesight than humans.

“However, Florence’s Black Eagle Order is rather particular. It is a knight order that consists of 600 men and is known as the strongest knight order in Sardinia.”

“The strongest in Sardinia, is it?”

Laura chuckled.

“Claiming to be the strongest must be a trend lately. So, are they terrifying?”

“Of course not. We wouldn’t be able to work as mercenaries if we were afraid of a Sardinian knight order, Your Highness.”

The mercenary captains laughed. Our morale was high.

“Change of plans.”

Laura tapped her palm with her baton.

“I was originally planning on attacking the enemy as they crossed the river, but it seems that that will not be necessary. We will wait until the enemy crosses the river.”

“Is that fine, Your Highness? This battle could end a lot easier.”

“Yes. There is no need for us to be cautious when the enemy has at most 2,500 cavalrymen.”

The mercenary captains did not argue as they nodded. By this point, their trust in their young commander was rather firm.

Our mounted archers fully crossed the river while being pursued by the enemy cavalrymen. The enemy seemed to be determined this time as they chased after our mounted archers across the Trebbia River. Laura swung her baton as soon as the enemy crossed the river fully.

“All cavalry! Charge!”

The cavalrymen that were already standing in formation blew their horns.

Excluding the group with Baroness de Blanc hiding in a nearby forest, all of our cavalrymen ran forward. Including our light cavalrymen, we had about 4,500 men total. This was twice the amount the enemy had.

An intense cavalry battle unfolded on both flanks.

While this was happening, the enemy infantrymen came across as well.

The enemy soldiers made no delay as they approached our encampment. They had a massive army of about 30,000 infantrymen. The sight of them walking in formation was enough to intimidate even the veteran mercenaries.

“Archers forward!”

“Archers forward!”

I repeated Laura’s command using amplification magic. 5,000 archers stepped in front of the spearmen. Soon after, the same command could be heard from the other side.

“Fire!”

“Shoot!”

The archers released their arrows in perfect unison, following the commands of their captains. Some arrows found their mark, piercing thighs or arms, but neither side suffered significant injuries.

The exchange of arrow volleys continued repeatedly, and with each exchange, the two armies inched closer to one another. It wasn’t fast, but the distance was undeniably getting smaller one step at a time. Eventually, they reached a proximity where any human with keen eyesight could discern the expressions on the faces of the opposing forces.

“Pull the archers to the side.”

Laura ordered. The period where we courteously exchanged only arrows was now over.

Our archers slipped out to the side while the enemy’s archers also hid behind their spearmen. Although only for a moment, the number of arrows in the sky had decreased.

Now be it them or us, neither of us could back away now.

Turning around now would only lead to running away in defeat.

“For His Highness the Emperor!”

“For the glory of the king!”

With these battle cries ringing in the air, the frontlines of both armies collided.

The Battle of Trebbia had begun.

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TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. This week has been pretty rough. Last weekend I ended up working for a total of 12 hours, so that was a good part of my weekend gone. The following week was pretty swamped at work and a company dinner I had to attend. Just a lot happened. I’m also finally moving tomorrow. Today was spent finalizing all the paperwork. Jeez, the weather today sucked. It wasn’t “hot” but it was super sticky and humid, so just walking outside for 5 minutes was enough to get my body sticky with sweat. I’m drained, but I gotta endure till tomorrow.

In any case, the next chapter will obviously be a bit delayed as well since I won’t immediately have internet after moving and I’ll probably spend most of my weekend just settling in the new place, so yeah.

I’ll see you guys after I survive all this… This has been a stressful two months… It’ll finally be over soon.