Dungeon Defense (WN)

I let out a gasp.

A cavalry charge after a swarm!? The enemy was firing a volley of arrows with their first line before immediately switching with their second line to charge. I swung my baton frantically.

“Spearmen! Send the spearmen forward!”

The command flags flailed about.

Jacquerie and the other dwarves were already shouting at the spearmen to go forward before the order was even fully conveyed. The peasant soldiers were stupefied because of the chain of unexpected events, but they quickly began to move again once the officers kicked them in their rears.

“Graaaaauh!”

Our infantrymen gripped their spears tightly as they stuck to the barricade. Some of them ended up dropping their spears because they were in such a hurry. Unsightly mistakes were happening over and over again. I couldn’t hide my anxiety. Our line and rank were a complete mess!

The hunters who had stepped forward to show the enemy’s mounted archers their place withdrew. Chaos erupted here and there as the retreating archers and the advancing spearmen collided.

This was a moment where every second was precious. Archers couldn’t possibly be able to endure a lance charge. Especially lance charges that have the auras of knights imbued into them. We had to change our formation as soon as possible. Brittany’s knights were approaching us like a tsunami right this instant.

Finally, the knights reached us. Their horses were galloping as fast as they could as they charged rampantly. The knights poured into the gap between the fences while letting out battle cries.

“Daffodil Company, charge!”

“For Her Highness the Queen! For Henrietta de Brittany!”

The knights and spearmen collided. Blood splattered. Lances imbued with aura stabbed through several infantrymen. The monstrous warhorses with mixed blood cried out as if they weren’t afraid of the spears at all. The knight lances that were overwhelmingly longer than the spearmen’s lances stabbed through their shoulders, necks, and chests.

The warhorses stepped over all of the shields that were blocking them. It all happened in an instant. Dozens of spearmen fell in unison.

I couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Stop them! Stop them no matter what!”

I got on my horse and immediately urged it forward. Jeremi shouted something at me from behind but I ignored her.

She was obviously trying to tell me that it was dangerous. Was it not funny? I wasn’t the one in danger, it was our allies!

Henrietta de Brittany executed a deception tactic and a surprise attack simultaneously. These were things that showed their effectiveness at the beginning of the battle. If our soldiers get scared and leave the wooden fences, then━that would be the end for us.

“Do not retreat!”

We have to at least defend the barricade. I activated the sound amplification spell that was prepared on my necklace beforehand and shouted. My voice echoed throughout the battlefield like a bolt of lightning.

“Mr. Priest?”

The soldiers around me turned to me in surprise. These idiots! I rode my horse to the very rear end of our spearmen unit.

“Men of Frankia, look forward! Do not back down!”

The soldiers who had turned around quickly turned their heads back around. It wasn’t over yet. I have absolutely no intention of letting you end the battle like this, Henrietta de Brittany.

“Heed me! The knights may seem impressive at a glance, but they have not gotten past our defenses. Those knights will use their aura to destroy our fences without any hesitation the moment you step away from them. We will lose if this happens. Soldiers, stick to the fences! Stop the knights from approaching us!”

To the fences! To the fences! The dwarves echoed my orders loudly. Whether the soldiers understood me or not, their feet took them forward as they were swept up by the heat of the battle. Woaaah! Woaaah! The soldiers shouted as they stepped forward one step at a time.

The dwarven mercenaries ran around to the point where their feet bled in order to maintain our line and rank. Not too fast and not too slow. A knight had slain 5 infantrymen, but who cares? We just had to send in another 5, 10, or 20 soldiers!

“Uaaaagh! Die!”

“Stab the horse! Let these pigs of Brittany taste the metal of our spears!”

“For the glory of His Excellency the Emperor! For the glory of Frankia!”

It wasn’t like every single cavalryman that had charged at us were knights. The knights were at the front, but all of the cavalrymen that followed after were normal cavalrymen. Their 5-meter long lances were still terrifying, but they didn’t have any aura imbued into them.

Lances weren’t weapons that could be used over and over again. You have to pull your lance out after a single stab. The knights and cavalrymen released their lances and unsheathed their swords. Their curved swords collided sharply against the spears.

It didn’t matter whether they were the most elite soldiers of Brittany or not, it was impossible for them to apply pressure on barricaded spearmen with only swords. The cavalrymen became visibly slower after they lost their charging power. This was good. Cavalrymen without any speed were nothing more than food for spearmen!

“O proud warriors of Frankia, behold!”

I could feel something hot surging inside of me.

“Those Brittany bastards are all dickless! Their dicks may be long, but they ejaculate after only two thrusts. Sons of Frankia! Show those dickless bastards what real men are!”

The soldiers burst into laughter. They weren’t laughing because it was funny. I was making them squeeze a laugh out of their lungs. There wasn’t a single person who tried to escape even though their comrades were slaughtered by the knights.

This was the power of infantrymen tightly packed together. If our formation was spread thin, then we would’ve fallen to the cavalry charge. However, there were dozens and hundreds of people behind every fallen soldier.

If one person out of a group of ten were to fall, then the rest would become restless. If one person out of a group of a hundred were to die, then they would still stand firm. Simply having a countless number of allies around you would give you the feeling of being like an impregnable fortress. We even had barricades…….

Brittany’s mounted archers and cavalry charge were definitely impressive. You could tell how much training they received under Queen Henrietta’s command. They most likely practiced their strategy numerous times after arriving at St. Denis Plains first.

But they were only impressive. Our 10,000 volunteer soldiers were still enduring splendidly.

“You really are reckless! What would you have done if something happened!?”

The assassin group members panted as they reached my side. Jeremi was in the lead.

I turned off my amplification spell for a moment to speak to them.

“Jeremi, take your unit and defeat those knights! There will be nothing to fear if we take care of the knights. Take their warhorses’ legs down and give our spearmen fodder.”

“No, if I go as well, then how do you intend to give your orders?”

“Do not worry. Your commander will find an aide by himself.”

I urged Jeremi to quickly go.

“All 10,000 of our volunteer soldiers here in St. Denis are my aides!”

“……Aah, seriously! This is a mess. Fine! I just have to go, right!?”

Jeremi scratched her head before shouting behind her.

“You damned bastards of the Scarlet Scar, it’s time to slaughter some pigs! Cut their useless dicks off from the root!”

The unit of 20 assassins disappeared into the frontline as soon as Jeremi finished speaking. Jeremi spat on the ground and unsheathed her dagger from her waist. She left without even saying goodbye.

Furious voices, the sound of metal hitting metal, screams from the defeated, and the cheers from the victors shook the earth. Brittany’s army struggled desperately to push us back. Our forces did their utmost to push Brittany’s army outside of our fences.

The assassins immediately displayed their effectiveness as soon as they got involved. Several of Brittany’s knights were like matchless warriors as they were sweeping through our forces with only curved blades. These people suddenly fell off their horses.

“The knight has fallen! Stab him! Stab him now!”

“Uaaah! Everyone rush at them!”

The further in the knights were into our formation, the more surrounded they were by enemies. Our spearmen ran in like hyenas as soon as they saw even the smallest opening and thrust their spears. Dozens of spears and axes rained down on the knights once they hit the ground. The knights died without being able to get back up.

This scene gradually repeated itself. The assassins would hide among the spearmen and only sever the legs of the warhorses before leaving and letting the soldiers handle the rest. I didn’t tell them anything, but the dwarves seemed to figure things out themselves as they supported the assassins.

Did they realize that doing anything more was impossible now?

“Retreat! Retreat with haste!”

One of Brittany’s units turned their horses around.

Once a single unit started to retreat, almost every single cavalryman turned around at the same time. The sound of cheering from our allies, the realization that we had successfully defended against the knights spread throughout the plains. Victory! We had won the first skirmish. Farmers and peasants had managed to repel knights and elite cavalrymen.

“Wooooaaa! Glory to Frankia! Glory to His Excellency the Emperor!”

“Fuck those shitty Brittan dogs!”

The mounted soldiers retreated through the opening between the fences where they had come from. A portion of our archers didn’t seem to want to let them leave just like that, so they shot their bows until the very end. It was in vain, but it was proof that our soldiers were fighting without any concern about the price of the arrows.

“Let me ask you this, Sons of Frankia!”

I shouted with a rugged voice.

“Are you proud of your empire!?”

As soon as these words came out of my mouth, the soldiers roared chaotically. All we required were beastly roars.

“That is right! We are proud of this nation. These rutting hares are trying to step all over this nation……Will you allow them!?”

– Non! Non! Non!

The soldiers kept chanting ‘Non!’.

“How should we cook these dirty hares!?”

– Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!

“That’s right, kill them! Do not hesitate! Slaughter them!”

I was improvising everything as I shouted. Yes, it was fine for speeches that were prepared beforehand to be discarded in situations like this. 10,000 humans had merged into a single mass and were being swept up by the madness of the battlefield. No, we had become a wave and were washing over the battlefield with chaos!

“An endless slaughter. A slaughter that cannot be satisfied! Let the grass and plants of Frankia grow with the blood of the enemy! Engrave into the enemy what sort of end the Gods have prepared for barbarians that pillage this empire! Warriors of Frankia, show to history that we are the ramparts of the empire!”

I took in a deep breath before shouting as loudly as I could.

“Here, and now, we shall be the victors!”

The soldiers cried out vigorously. Viva Frank! Viva Frank! The shouting that started from the left wing soon spread to the middle and the right wing that was beyond the morning fog.

I was certain that all of our forces had managed to stop the cavalry charge. The surprise assault that Queen Henrietta was confident in was denied!

However, the sound of hooves could be heard approaching once more from the other side of the plains. I barely managed to calm my excited heart down as I stared at the plains in front of me. Mounted archer. More than a thousand archers were approaching us again.

“Kuh.”

I realized what Henrietta de Brittany’s strategy was.

The Queen was planning to attack us endlessly by rotating between mounted archers and mounted lances over and over again. Therefore, all we had done was stop the first wave.

Was it going to be Brittany’s spear or Frankia’s shield? The sun had only just now started to rise. I ordered our archers to go forward again. Today was definitely going to be a long and exhausting day…….

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Well, I was able to squeeze this chapter out before going to my family reunion. The next chapter will probably be late by a day, though. I don’t know if other people are celebrating a holiday too, but uh, I hope you guys have a good one. Time to sit uncomfortably in a small room talking to relatives about probably nothing because not enough time has passed since the last gathering. Fun.

See you guys in the next chapter.

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