Chapter 191: Miltons Participation (1)

Siegfrieds face hardened when he heard the messengers report.

Lester Kingdom? Are you sure?

Yes, sir. Im sure. And weve also identified a military flag representing Milton Forrest.

Milton Forrest Why are you here?

Wrinkles etched on Siegfried's forehead.

***

Milton climbed onto Leonards back and examined the battlefield.

Its been a long time since Ive been on the battlefield.

He smiled bitterly. It was strange to think that he had gotten used to the odd smell of blood and dirt mixed together.

Jerome approached him and spoke.

My Lord, I have the name of the commander who leads the Imperial Army.

Who is it?

It is Marquis Ryan Catel from the Strabus Kingdom, sir.

Marquis Catel I see. Its only because hes that strong that hes been able to hang on so persistently.

Even from a distance, Milton could see a speck running wildly within the Republican encirclement. The situation looked precarious, almost like a candle flickering like it was about to go out in the middle of a raging storm.

Itd be a waste to let him die here. Whats the development of the troops?

Theyre all finished, sir.

Milton nodded when he heard Jeromes response.

Good.

Milton put on his helmet, then stroked Leonards mane once.

Its been a while, but lets work together again.

Leonard snorted as if he was responding to Miltons words, like the horse was telling Milton to just believe in him.

All troops, move out!

At Miltons orders, 30,000 Lester Kingdoms troops moved forward.

***

2nd Corps, face right! Archers, stand by and wait for the signal! Messenger, youll instruct the pikemen and the archers of the 3rd Corps and call them this way!

In a loud voice, Siegfried personally commanded his troops. How did Milton come all the way here to the battlefield in the Valence Kingdom? He hadnt heard that the border between the Republic and the Lester Kingdom had been breached. He could think about a couple of theories, but what was important right now was fighting against Miltons army. Even without disrupting their vigilance against Marquis Catel, who had been captured in the encirclement, the Republicans had created a formation that could deal with Milton. This kind of precise military command was only possible because it was Siegfried.

Its fine. This is enough to fight against him.

After arranging the battlelines, Siegfried calmed himself down. They had enough troops and the soldiers' morale was high. Siegfried believed that he could most definitely win and perhaps even take this opportunity to capture Milton as well.

Having created a rough plan in his head, Siegfried made his first move.

Mounted archers, move out! Make a detour to the left and attack the enemy!

The mounted archers of the Kobrook Republic - that was Siegfrieds first move. The mounted archer unit, who rode on the fleet-footedSilfidsand used the long-ranged special crossbows, had been trained with particular effort by Siegfried after he had gained control of the entire Republic. Originally a strong military unit from the time of the Kobrook Republic, the mounted archer unit was a favorite of Siegfried on the battlefield. Fast mobility and long-range: with these two advantages, they stood at the forefront and dominated countless battlefields.

However, in the Lester Kingdom were horses that were even faster than the Silfid, so Siegfrieds mounted archers couldnt be utilized in the same manner as before.

I think they were called the Destroyers? We cant underestimate their mobility and explosive power.

Thats why Siegfried was thinking of using the mounted archers as bait. If the enemy was more confident in their mobility, then they would most definitely use them to lead the cavalry and intercept the Republicans mounted archers.

Siegfried was planning on using that chance to send out the main Ghost units led by Jake. At that point, their goal would either be the main army without their horsepower, or the cavalry that had separated from the army. Either was fine. He planned to keep both options in mind and, depending on the situation, send his troops to whichever one that seemed like it would be more advantageous to them.

This was where Siegfried made a mistake. To be more accurate, the lack of information was what led to the error. Even if Siegfried was a genius, if he lacked information, then he would naturally come to the wrong conclusions. That was where Siegfrieds mistake was.

***

Are they the archers from Kobrook? Its been a while since Ive seen them. Im even feeling affectionate towards them.

They were an opponent Milton had faced before. At that time, he had been quite wary and carefully timed it so that the Destroyer breed would eat them up.

Milton smiled and raised his hand.

Composite bow archers, get ready to defend!

The archers pulled on their bowstrings. After carefully measuring their distance from the enemy, Milton shouted.

Fire!

With the clear sound of the bowstring twanging, the arrows flew high.

***

The enemy is aiming their bows, sir.

When he heard his deputys report, the commander leading the mounted archers spoke.

Theyre bluffing. Dont worry about them!

Having led the mounted archers since the days of the Kobrook Republic, he had always been able to accurately gauge the exact distance. In his view, they, the Republican army, needed to get 50 meters closer in order for them to even have a chance of shooting the Lester Kingdom. Personally, he planned on attempting to attack after 70 meters.

Lets carefully gauge the distance and if they move, well have to escape fast since they have faster horses than ourSilfids.

He was being more careful than ever as he led his men closer and closer. But then

Captain! The enemies are shooting their arrows.

Thats dumb, theres no way theyll reach h Gah!

The captain who had been talking was shocked. He had thought there was no way the arrows would reach, but the enemys arrows had reached him. That was the beginning of the arrows raining down upon them.

Thud Thud Thud Thud! Thud! Thud!

Keugh

Ugh

Damn it, how could they ack

In order to take advantage of their mobility and range, the mounted archers had minimized their armament and so, had poor defense. As the arrows continued to fall down on them, they all fell without being able to put up a fight.

***

How could they get that reach?

Siegfried was greatly surprised. It didnt seem like the captain leading the mounted archers had misjudged the distance. The enemys arrows had a further reach than the Kobrook Republics specialized crossbows.

Milton Forrest Just what did you get up to?

Siegfried gritted his teeth.

***

Failure is the mother of success. Thats certainly right.

Milton murmured to himself as he was gloating about his results.

The bow, which had a longer range than the Kobrook Republics special crossbow, was a type of composite bow made by mixing wood and metal together. Its official name was Long Point.

At first, Milton had been trying to make a gun. It might have greatly changed the history of war in this world, but Milton hadnt been sure he would be able to deal with Siegfried, that monster, so he had wanted to use a cheat key of civilization. Thats why he even had ambitious plans to build tanks and helicopters, even missiles, if he was able to make a gun.

But of course, that plan had failed. Miltons knowledge of weapons was too abstract and fragmentary and as great as Biancas magic and knowledge were, she wasnt omnipotent. However, the by-products created in the process of making firearms had been surprisingly useful.

In order to make strong metal for bullets, Bianca had utilized her knowledge of alchemy and metallurgy. In the process, she had created a different type of metal by chance. It was lightweight, hard, and very elastic. Even Bianca, who had been tormented by Milton constantly harassing her, had been surprised by the results. Milton decided to call that metal stainless steel. He wasnt sure if the stainless steel on Earth actually had the same properties as this one, but he had named it that because he thought it was very useful.

While this stainless steel wasnt suitable to use as a weapon due to its lightweight, it was perfect to use as armor. Since the weight of their armor was reduced by more than half, the soldiers movements became more agile and it increased their defense capabilities. And since stainless steel was very malleable, the composite bow made out of it gave a better range than the special crossbow from the Kobrook Republic.

Along with the Destroyer breed, the special metal stainless steel had been classified as an important military secret of the Lester Kingdom that was strictly controlled.

Now, itwasmaking its debut on the continent.

Its a good thing we kept it a secret. Thanks to that, Ive managed to make that disgustingly horrid genius miscalculate.

After overwhelmingly crushing the mounted archers sent out by Seigfried, Milton turned to give further instructions to his entire army.

We keep up our confidence and move forward in high spirits. Move out! Archers, when the enemies enter your crosshairs, shoot autonomously.

Milton sped up his troops movements. For once, Siegfrieds calculations had been wrong, so Milton had decided it was best for the Lester Kingdom to attack without giving him time to think.

***

Miltons prediction was correct. Just like when a precision machine broke down, it would become a lump of scrap metal, once Siegfried miscalculated once, he began to make mistake after mistake.

Keugh

Guh

The pikemen in the Republics infantry lines began to fall down after being shot by the Lester Kingdoms arrows.

Sir, the enemys arrows are reaching our men.

I know that.

Siegfried bit his lower lip at Ghost Group Leader 1s words.

It was a mistake. I should have sent out shieldmen first to deal with that new bow.

As long as you were a human, everyone made mistakes, but for Siegfried to make this kind of mistake meant that he had been mentally shaken. Realizing that he had been shaken, Siegfried tried to pull himself together.

Jake!

Yes, sir.

You and I are going to separate and rush in. Youll lead Ghost Group 2. Ill go with Groups 4 and 5.

Yes, sir!

In order to change the bad situation, Siegfried decided to use force. Jake and himself were going to personally enter the fray and even put in Group 2, the best of the Ghosts.

Its a shame I cant send in Group 1.

Currently, Group 1 was laying siege to Marquis Catel so he wasnt able to mobilize them. Either way, this was the best judgement that Siegfried could make at this point.

Will it be alright?

Even while carrying out Siegfrieds orders, Jake was feeling a bit uneasy inside. Having served Siegfried as his master for a long time, this was the first time he saw the look of nervousness on Siegfrieds face. Jake didnt think Siegfried made the wrong judgement.

As long as the enemys bow had a much longer range, it was stupid to wait any longer. It was absolutely necessary for the Republicans to narrow that distance as much as possible and it was standard procedure to use the cavalry as the leading force to narrow the distance. However, even if he could understand it in his head, there was still something that was bothering him.

No, lets trust my master.

Jake somehow got rid of his doubts. He was his masters sword and it was better for him to crush the enemy in front of him with his sword than for him to think.

And Milton Forrest would have come from Lester as well.

He couldnt fight against Marquis Catel, but there was someone who caused his heart to pound even more.

Charge!

OOOOOOHH!!

At Siegfrieds words, the two formations jutted out from the rest of the army like a bulls horns.

Keep case with the left! Were rushing in at the same time!

It had been a while since Siegfried rode at the front and charged at the enemy. Although he usually put a lot of importance on strategic tactics, he was still a man who had risen to the level of a Master. Just like Marquis Catel had done, Siegfried was aware that he himself was a valid strategic tool to break through the enemys battlelines.