Civil War – Battlefield of Lafayette (2)
Northern Niverne Plain, Kingdom of Francia.
“These damn people…”
King Louis gritted his teeth in the command barracks.
Even so, at the most convened Estates General meeting, the commoners made such absurd claims that the Third Estate, which had a large number of people, should have more representatives, so the story of the Estates General meeting became ridiculous.
Does it make sense for lowly people to demand the same qualifications as nobles and clergy?
Still, he had to go out to suppress the rebels, so he suppressed his anger and advanced, but the letter that came to him made him even angrier.
The content of the long, verbose, pompous, and polite letter, which began with the sentence congratulating him on his accession to the throne and wishing God to bless him, was briefly summarized as follows.
‘I congratulate you on your ascension to the throne, but since the country seems to be in ruin, how about you make a national decision to end the civil war? If you do so, I will provide financial assistance as a way of praising Your Majesty’s mercy. However, if Your Majesty wants to continue the civil war and purge half of the kingdom’s nobles, we may be forced to make a decision that goes against Your Majesty’s will.’
Letters bearing the signatures of families that remained neutral in the civil war, including the Countess of Aquitaine and the Count of Anjou.
In effect, it is a threat that if the civil war is not ended, neutral nobles may join the enemy.
“You damn traitors. “Everything must be wiped out….”
In any case, it is virtually impossible to run the government normally due to the mountain of debt. For King Louis, who went to war with the help of the Abyss Corporation, the option of ending the civil war was not something he could consider in the first place.
Fortunately, a vassal who happened to come in told him about the long-awaited news.
“Your Majesty the Great King, they say they have divided their army into three parts. The Duke of Lorraine is leading an army of 4,000, the Duke of Orleans is leading an army of 4,000, the Marquis de Lafayette is leading an army of 1,000 and the Duke of Brittany is leading an army of 1,000, and the ‘Blue Knight’ is trying to stop His Majesty with an army of 5,000.”
After receiving the report, King Louis finally smiled with satisfaction.
“The Duke of Lorraine is, as expected, a protector, and the arrogance of the Blue Knight is sky-high.
Are you going to stop me with an army of only 5,000? Hahaha….”
“Their foolishness is indeed great, but it seems that the Duke of Brittany’s army was not able to disperse the enemy as much as expected, Your Majesty.”
“hmm. “That’s a little disappointing.”
King Louis touched his chin with his hand, feeling regretful.
Because of the deal with the Abyss Corporation that enabled the dispatch of as many as 20,000 troops, an attack on Lafayette had to be launched, but since King Louis had provided 4,000 troops, he expected to attract 2,000 at best.
“By the way, are you saying they don’t have that much talent? “You make the shame of a nobleman who has nothing more than defeating Mirbo’s foolish second son as your commander?”
“I guess it’s because no family other than the Marquis de Lafayette is directly affected, so no one has come forward.”
“Hmph, what a ragtag bunch. “Send a messenger to the Duke of Brittany and tell him to defeat them and thoroughly plunder the Marquisate.”
“I will do so, Your Majesty.”
It’s unfortunate that he was only able to attract 1,000, but with the Duke of Brittany’s 4,000, he could easily defeat the Lesser Marquis and trample the Marquis’ territory.
Now he is more of a blue knight. Fortunately, the Duke of Lorraine sent a large number of troops to the east as for the troops lost to the south, so King Louis had to deal with at most half of the troops.
“Anyway, the important thing is not the small children, but the blue knights.”
In the Kingdom of Francia, a country of knights, the number or number of troops does not determine victory or defeat in a war.
This is because, no matter how many insignificant soldiers there are, if the knights are allowed to charge, the battle will often end just like that.
Nevertheless, the reason why we care about the number of troops is because a large number of knights are usually organized in proportion to the number of troops. This is especially true since lord knights usually also serve as commanders.
Normally it would have been like that.
King Louis looked at Stefan d’Artagnan, commander of the Knights of the Guard, standing next to him.
He is the king’s most trusted second knight, but his knight suffered countless defeats simply because he was a contemporary of the Blue Knight.
“I believe you know that there is no better opportunity than this, sir.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. “I’m keeping that in mind.”
Even d’Artagnan could not be the Blue Knight’s opponent on his own. Throughout the civil war, the Second Prince faction had to fight a war by running away from the Blue Knights’ army and attacking armies without Blue Knights.
But this time is different.
This is because the condition put forward by the Abyss Corporation, which provided the funds to operate such a large army in the first place, was the fall of Lafayette.
They emphasized the minor marquis, but King Louis and his subordinates naturally paid attention to the blue knights rather than the minor marquis. Because to them, Lafayette is the Blue Knight itself.
The 6,000 troops that the Duke of Orléans brought out included almost no knights, and his role was simply to attract the attention of the Duke of Lorraine’s troops and knights and tie them to the east.
In order to deal with the Blue Knights, King Louis summoned almost all the remaining knights in the Kingdom of Francia and prepared as many as 300 knights in his 10,000-strong main force.
In fact, it is a military force prepared only to deal with the knight who is said to be the strongest in the kingdom, who has gathered all the knights whose seeds were withering due to the long civil war.
As long as the Duke of Lorraine continues to act as a defender, this is a battle that cannot be lost.
King Louis smiled in repentance and was confident of victory.
“It should have been done this way at the beginning of the civil war. This time, make sure to defeat that damned Blue Knight. Without him, those traitors are like a light in the wind!”
–
Entrance to the central Franzian forest area, south of the Berry Plain.
“This is a little surprising. “It’s not a delayed battle, but a rotational one.”
Count Mirbeau frowned at the words of the Duke of Brittany, the commander-in-chief of the local army, who was very carefree.
Although most of the 4,000 troops were provided by Count Mirbeau and his vassals, the commander-in-chief was the Duke of Brittany, a vassal of the king.
Count Mirbeau looked to the side for no reason, and Damiande Mirbeau, his second son whom he once cherished, flinched and lowered his head.
If that fool hadn’t brought Mirbeau’s prestige to the ground, the position of commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Army would have been his!
Whether Count Mirbeau was dissatisfied or not, the Duke of Brittany looked at the enemy army stationed at the entrance to the forest with admiration.
According to information, the number of troops following the Marquis de Lafayette is about 1,000, but no matter how you look at the troops stationed in front of you, there are more than that.
“Is it about 1500? “It’s more than we knew.”
“It seems so, Your Excellency.”
At the sight of the army encamped in a long line a short distance away from the vast forest area of central France, the Duke of Brittany smoothed his beard with his hand and opened his mouth.
“Even so, there is no difference in the fact that this side has an overwhelming advantage. But it’s unusual. “You formed a line with your back to the forest…”
The Duke of Brittany maintained a leisurely, contemplative attitude, but Count Mirbeau was just frustrated.
He must somehow make a contribution in this battle and re-imprint the name of Count Mirbeau to the king.
“Please move forward first, Your Excellency.”
“hmm. “Okay, let’s move forward a little bit first.”
The duke’s permission was given, and the orderly array of 4,000 troops began to advance along the plain.
As the distance gradually became closer, the weapons held by Lafayette’s soldiers, who were still in formation, could be seen with the naked eye.
“A matchlock gun in the center and spearmen on both wings? Interesting. Are you planning to position your back to the forest along a long line to prevent the knights from detouring, while maximizing firepower with matchlock guns in the center?”
The general doctrine of the Kingdom of Francia is that infantry fights in the center, knights and cavalry fight on both wings, and the winning side targets the enemy’s flanks and rear.
Therefore, at first glance, the plan to spread the small number of troops in a line with the back to the forest and block the two sides with spearmen to prevent the cavalry from targeting the flanks and rear seemed reasonable at first glance.
“It’s not bad, but it’s clumsy.”
However, for that formation to be established, at least the spearmen must be able to properly block the knights and cavalry. Can the spearmen lined up in a row stop the French knights who can pierce both bullets and spears?
“Maybe they turned their backs on the forest to minimize being chased by knights and cavalry even if they were defeated.”
The Duke shook his head at Count Mirbeau’s words.
“Well, how many of the troops who retreated in disorder to the forest will remain? “If that was going to happen, we shouldn’t have started the fight.”
While the two commanders were wondering, a blue flag was raised high in Lafayette’s camp.
“What signal is that?”
The question didn’t last long. A series of loud sounds rang out from the high ground behind the forest.
While everyone was puzzled, a round steel bullet flew with an unpleasant roar and passed by the advancing royal army.
“…shelling?”
But the second shot wasn’t like that.
The steel bullet that unfortunately fell on the army that was marching in column made a terrible sound of something breaking or breaking, crushing the army as it passed by.
Even then, as three and four bullets flew over and to the side of the marching army in succession, the soldiers began to become agitated.
“Your Excellency the Duke! “They are firing cannons from the high ground behind the forest!”
“I know because I have eyes too.”
The Duke of Brittany smoothed his beard.
“Strike the troops with weapons used for siege purposes.”
Judging from the sounds heard and the intervals between them, the number of gunshots is not large.
That alone is not enough to inflict significant damage to 4000 troops.
“Your Excellency the Duke! “I will charge in and trample that thin crossbar at once!”
However, psychologically, it had a significant effect, and Count Mirbeau and the knights began to feel tired.
“Tsk.”
It looks like it can be easily trampled if charged, but it is also reluctant to get caught up in what the enemy is aiming for.
The Duke of Brittany, who was well-versed in tactics by the standards of the Kingdom of France, wanted to fight as elegantly as possible and did not want to get caught up in a fight with the enemy.
Above all, I did not want to waste the troops entrusted to me by the king when it was obvious how much damage a volley of fire from long rows of matchlock musketeers would cause to the troops.
Even if the magicians only spray a small amount, the gunpowder, which is vulnerable to moisture, is immediately neutralized. After that, the losses will be minimal, so it is okay to attack after that.
“Send forward wizards who can manipulate the water attribute. Baptize those musketeers with water-”
The Duke’s words were cut off by the sound of gunfire that erupted after reloading, and two of the cannonballs flew in with a roar again and struck his troops.
The duke began to feel irritated.
Count Mirbeau, who pretends not to be the case and is dissatisfied with himself as a superior, is also annoying, but it seems like he is being caught up in an enemy that is not a big deal.
“…Ask me to show you a taste.”
“ancient!”
The duke’s order was delivered, and three wizards dressed in robes stepped forward to prepare the magic.
However, as if he had been waiting for this, a knight on horseback quickly jumped out from the enemy lines.
“What is that-”
Before he could finish his sentence, a knight with a bow shot an arrow while his horse was running.
“Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkdizededededizeddizeddeddededdededededededededededededededededededizeddedss,
the wizard was shot in the neck by an arrow without even understanding what was happening and he fell back without even being able to make a proper groan.
“Lafayette…”
The Duke recognized the pattern engraved on the enemy knight’s armor. He is the Marquis de Lafayette, not the Blue Knight.
Meanwhile, the Marquis So quickly pulled out another arrow and fired it.
“Khaak!”
The second wizard tried to protect himself by gathering his magic power, but the arrow fired by the Marquis Somarquis passed through the magician’s magic power and hit him with a blue energy.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Your Excellency the Duke!”
One of them has an arrow stuck in his arm and is screaming and struggling, and the remaining wizard is running away in a panic.
“What do archers do?”
“It’s far from that. Your Excellency the Count. To that distance…”
“Huh!”
Are you cowardly targeting the wizard from a one-sided distance by using magical power to attack the knight?
As if he was expecting the wizards to target the arquebusiers?
The magician’s precious power was wasted because he was misled by that brat.
The Duke of Brittany finally trembled with anger.
“Remaining talent…”
And then the gunfire rang out again.
This time too, one of the steel bullets tore through the troops, and by this time, the deteriorating morale of the troops was clearly visible to the Duke.
“Your Excellency the Duke! Please give orders! If this continues, the damage will only accumulate!”
“Give the order to charge! “I will break through that poor formation in one fell swoop!”
As the knights’ patience reached its limit, Mirbeau’s second son, Damien de Mirbeau, who had been restlessly still, opened his mouth.
“Go, Your Excellency! The Marquis de Lafayette is extremely cunning and cunning! Don’t be swayed! “There may be more troops hidden in the forest!”
“Shut up! “It’s not your place!”
The knights’ cries and Count Mirbeau’s angry shouting only make the duke’s spirit more fierce.
The Duke of Brittany glared at the Marquis d’Or, who returned to his formation in a leisurely manner as the wizards hid themselves in their formation.
They prepared an ambush by hiding additional troops in the forest?
In this way, the troops are stretched out in a long line to prevent the flanks from being attacked even with more troops, and when an engagement begins, they jump out of the forest and attack the flanks.
It’s definitely a possibility.
The duke narrowed his eyes and looked at the enemy formation and forest in the distance, but even with the knight’s eyesight, he could not see through the structure of the enemy formation vaguely located on high ground and the interior of the forest.
While the duke was lost in thought, gunfire rang out again and shells flew.
Although the damage was insignificant in terms of the overall force, the formation of the soldiers gathered in columns was seen to be shaken.
The 4,000 troops he leads are being attacked one-sidedly by a force of only 1,500.
He is the Duke of Brittany, renowned as a tactician for those who call him a disgrace to the nobility!
The duke finally lowered the cover of his helmet.
“Assemble the knights! Strike the enemy in one fell swoop!”
“Your Excellency. “Your Excellency, are you charging in yourself?”
Concerns arose right away, but he also has a position and respect. People like the insignificant Count Mirbeau are secretly showing their dissatisfaction, but if you hide behind them shamefully, you won’t gain any prestige even if you win.
“What are you looking at me for? “I am also a knight of the Kingdom of Francia!”
“…ancient!”
As if waiting for those words, 30 knights, including Count Mirbeau, gathered around him, followed by heavy cavalry.
“under! The brat really knows how to provoke people. “It’s good. I won’t be able to see His Majesty until I suffer more damage than this.”
That brat must have been planning to induce a charge by forcing losses and then attack the flanks with the troops he had ambushed in the forest…
“With me at the head, the knights and heavy cavalry charge into the center and immediately cut the enemy formation in two. “The infantry should take charge of both wings, and leave a reserve unit to prepare for an enemy ambush.”
On the other hand, it seems that the cavalry’s flank attack was in mind, but the sloppy front and long horizontal formations were a big mistake.
Whether it’s an ambush or something else, if it’s a thin line like that, the moment cavalry jumps into the center, it’s bound to collapse without even being able to provide support in time.
“Your Excellency, I am offended, but this could also be the enemy’s plan…”
“What kind of cowardly thing you are saying, even though you are a knight!”
“You really want to kill me!”
Mirbeau’s second son came forward again, but was immediately rejected by the knights and the count.
How dare that brat read his every thought?
The Duke of Brittany, who thought so, was also indignant.
“If you’re that anxious, take command of the reserve unit.”
An order depriving a knight of the honor of charging.
Count Mirbeau’s face turned an earthy color from the shame that could no longer exist.
Damien de Mirbeau’s face also turned white, but somehow he retreated, looking a little relieved.
The coward’s absurd attitude and the sound of the roaring sound and artillery fire breaking up the formation once again heightened the Duke of Brittany’s discomfort to the peak.
The duke shouted as he felt the hand holding the spear tremble.
“Honor to the Kingdom of Francia and victory to Your Majesty! “Advance!”
–
In the enemy camp, trumpets sound and flags carrying orders dance continuously.
The enemy’s knights and heavy cavalry were positioned in the center of the enemy camp, and then the infantry was seen splitting and running towards the center, which was extremely weak, of our army.
Behind them, thousands of infantrymen rushed forward to fill the horizon.
I can see the tension spreading through our formation as the sound of hundreds of cavalry galloping and the vibrations of the ground corresponding to it get closer little by little.
I rode my horse, held the flag in my hand, and watched the non-commissioned officers who were anxiously awaiting my orders.
Not yet. We need to pull it in a little more.
I raised my head and looked at the majesty of the knights charging bravely, waving the flags of the Duke of Brittany and the Count of Mirbeau at the head.
They are approaching faster and faster, and I have no doubt that they will collapse the formation in an instant with this charge.
A knight who is the pride and strongest force of the Kingdom of Francia.
This is the fundamental cause of the kingdom’s tactics becoming complacent in the old world by strengthening itself with magical power and wiping out both spearmen and musketeers equally.
At the same time, despite the society being clearly underdeveloped and lagging compared to other countries, they are the ones who have not yet dared to revolt against the common people.
“Marquis Soso!”
As the musketeers lined up in two rows fell into confusion due to the overwhelming majesty of the knights who had now come a short distance away, the sergeant could no longer bear it and called me.
In response, he raised the command flag in his hand.
“Start shooting!”
“Fire!”
The guns of the soldiers lined up in a long line fire and the gunshots spread like waves.
A pungent smoke rose, but unluckily, a few of the cavalrymen who had come too far ahead fell from their horses.
The knights, who protected their bodies and steeds with bluish magical power, are charging in good health.
I immediately waved the flag left and right, but in reality, there was nothing to do other than send a signal.
The soldiers, who were terrified at the sight of the knights charging unharmed despite the volley of fire from the matchlock guns, began to run away, splitting left and right to avoid the knights without any thought.
The enemy’s knights and cavalry, who were charging with great vigor, belatedly discovered that a long, sharply cut fence had been erected after the soldiers had fled.
Some of the soldiers who were unlucky enough to run away were kicked or cut down by their horses’ hooves, but the cavalrymen who were charging so fiercely that they could not slow down or change direction were hit by sharp wooden fences and were skewered along with their horses.
“Such insignificant obstacles!”
However, the Duke of Brittany, Count Mirbeau, and several excellent knights showed off their strength by cutting a wooden fence in half with a sword full of magical power.
Even with matchlocks and wooden fences, the only thing they could do was barely stop the monstrous French knights.
However, the momentum of the charge was clearly lost, and the knights and cavalry were huddled together.
That’s enough.
I looked down at them, threw away the flag I was holding, drew my sword, and held it high.
Unlike the artillery fire from the high ground in the forest, they are positioned behind a fence and the cannons that have never revealed their presence are pointed at them and await my orders.
From this moment on, everyone will know.
The symbol of the kingdom’s old world and oppression is nothing more than an ordinary human being made of cloth.
“Lafayette you bastard!”
The duke screamed in anger later, but there was no turning back.
I lowered my sword as I watched the knights, who seemed to have no fear of anything, slowly but surely become agitated.
“launch!”
The artillerymen, who had lit the wick, crouched down, covering their ears, and the gunfire erupted, shaking the earth.
In response to the overwhelming firepower unleashed by the cannon, pellets of scrap metal and pebbles packed into the cannon fly like a storm and attack the trapped enemies.
That overwhelming violence is the protection of magic that knights had so much faith in, gorgeous armor, war horses, and human fabric.
Everyone was torn apart equally.
?
