Night of the Soulless Heathens – 384



#384. Winter Entrance 4

“Count Azadin. I have not doubted your performance so far but isn’t this too reckless? The Arangian Guard is the best heavy infantry and heavy cavalry. And our army is woefully lacking in cavalry. They may be quite numerous but war is originally fought with cavalry.”

Count Ivechek was also anxious about the rumor that King Carnago IV of Arangi was coming to power.

Azadin’s forces had swelled to a massive size by absorbing refugees but they were not a proper force in terms of numbers.

Of course Azadin also knew this well so he made sure to train the refugees.

They gain practical experience by subduing goblins and bandits and operate a 10-person unit with those who excel in ceremonial training as leaders.

They placed the larger and stronger men at the corners of each 10-man unit and under the command of the unit leader they repeatedly trained to change formations change directions and exchange positions between the reserve and main units.

The problem is that most of them are light infantry.

There was little heavy infantry with metal armor and even less cavalry.

The terrain around Coxhall was the perfect environment for cavalry to move. However the problem was that Coxhall had already been destroyed and there were no proper walls to defend against the attack.

Considering the nature of the warlord who was driven by Azadin’s personal charisma and leadership it would have been difficult to utilize him even if he had a proper surname.

Because while Azadin was on Mercury the Azadin warlords in each region were sure to fall apart into pieces.

All of Azadin’s staff were trembling with anxiety.

“How about targeting only King Arangi like we did in the Banreung Kingdom? Commander?”

Scott asked Azadin but Prince Sram objected.

“When King Arangi is on his way he moves with the Arangian Guard cavalry. It’s absolutely impossible. If an assassin approaches he’ll go right into the middle of the Arangian Guard.”

“We have hippogriffs! We have griffins! They’re no match for diving attacks from above!”

Selim advocated a surprise attack using hippogriffs and griffins but everyone was skeptical about that too.

“I’ve ridden a hippogriff myself but it would be vulnerable to archers’ attacks. You can’t put armor on it. It wouldn’t work against the Arangian guards either.”

Azadin was also skeptical of Selim’s proposal.

“Well don’t worry too much. I’ve thought about it all.”

“Captain. You’re not bragging are you?”

Scott tried to gauge Azadin’s intentions. But soon everyone realized that whether they liked it or not they had no choice but to be dragged along by Azadin. They had already come too far.

*********

As soon as Count Azadin received the refugees he trained and put the men to work as engineers or infantry and began to take control of the area from Coxhall to the Banling Royal Castle.

Combat training is combined with subjugating the roadside goblins securing trade routes and recovering villages and farms. The royal castle is under the control of the Rescue Knights but it would not be an exaggeration to say that the effective rule of the Banreung Kingdom is now under Count Azadin.

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The problem was the movements of the Arangi Kingdom Army.

King Arangi mustered 50 Arangian Guard heavy cavalry and 100 Arangian Guard heavy infantry and gathered the armies of the counts to secure an additional 500 men of various types.

Although this is a small number for a king to personally rule this alone is enough troops to turn the country upside down.

On the other hand Azadin’s army is mostly made up of peasants. There are a few cavalry corps Count Ivchek’s light cavalry and Selim’s flying corps but their numbers are small.

It was as if the match was decided before it even started.

The King’s Church did not respond to Count Azadin’s heretical acts and ignored them. He was going to be erased by King Arangi anyway. He was nothing more than a reckless act by a blatant idiot who was not even worthy of being declared a religious figure.

After Count Azadin is defeated by King Arangi we can leisurely dispatch an investigation team.

Whether or not he preached the teachings of the New Testament the King’s Church abandoned Azadin as if he were about to die.

And as winter deepened King Arangi himself led his army and began to march toward Coxhall.

*********

On the plains south of Coxhal King Arangi’s vanguard encountered Azadin’s refugee force.

They are light infantry that were training refugees killing Bree and goblins and conducting mobile training.

The number is 400. It is not a small number and it is four times the number of vanguards.

However Prince Gislain the Arangian Guard who was leading King Arangi’s vanguard sneered at the condition of the refugee soldiers.

“They’re well trained but they’re still farmers.”

“Shall I suggest surrender?”

“Are you crazy? If they surrender we’ll have to feed them but we don’t have any supplies.”

King Arangi’s army thought they would win the battle and kept their supply units to a minimum.

The supply unit was currently following behind pulling a wagon carrying two weeks’ worth of forage and provisions assuming that they would be delivered safely.

It takes ten days just to move so the supplies are quite tight. It is not a situation where we can take prisoners.

“Kill them all and take their provisions!”

As soon as Prince Ghislain made that decision Count Azadin’s refugee army also began to form ranks ready for battle.

The spearmen armed with spears formed a formation strengthening the left and right flanks and standing in front. Judging by the elite soldiers placed at the corners they must have been on guard against a flanking attack by cavalry.

“Light cavalry! Stir!”

Prince Ghislain gave the order to his vassal leading the light cavalry. The fifteen light cavalry pretended to charge the pikemen and the pikemen formed a wall with their spears raised.

The light cavalry stops charging and turns sideways keeping their distance from the pikemen and running sideways.

Then these refugee soldiers who must have been trained quite a bit slowly turn the tips of their spears while maintaining a precise distance.

When the spearmen move to deal with the cavalry charge the formation collapses even if they don’t want to but the formation doesn’t collapse.

And behind them the slingers began throwing stones with their slings.

The aim was poor but enough to startle the horse. Prince Ghislain ordered his signalmen to raise their flags and turn back instead of charging.

“Wow that’s pretty good. To train the farmers to this extent. Even though they don’t have much equipment they must have a lot of time left.”

“It is said that Count Azadin deliberately takes in refugees and trains them as soldiers in order to feed them.”

The mercenary-turned-advisor spoke to Prince Ghislain and his tone clearly showed that he had a favorable view of Count Azadin.

The mercenaries the Sellswords were often cruel and vulgar but many of them were children of farmers and they knew very well that the situation of the peasant refugees was dire.

One cannot help but be sympathetic to Azadin who generously takes in and feeds refugees.

“Really? You’re a guy who likes to do useless things.”

Prince Ghislain ignored the mercenary captain’s reaction.

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“I guess it’s to feed the people and give them jobs. I understand.”

“He’s a pathetic guy. If you want him to shut up just kill him.”

“…….”

“Forward spearmen!”

Regarding the spearmen’s phalanx Prince Ghislain advanced the spearmen.

Count Azadin’s refugees and Prince Ghislain’s spearmen clashed and at first a tense battle ensued.

Surprisingly Count Azadin’s refugee soldiers are well-trained. They fight on equal terms with the king’s regular soldiers in the beginning.

however….

“Deploy Arangian Guard!”

Between the balance of the spearmen the skilled Arangian guards rushed in. They took advantage of the gaps the spearmen had opened up and approached charging towards the ends of each corner of the spearmen’s ranks.

To deal with such situations the corners of the spearmen’s phalanx are usually lined up with the most solid and strong men but the Arangian Guard are men who swing their halberds one-handed like pokers.

The Arangian Guards wielding a halberd in one hand and a greatsword in the other and swinging their large weapons with both hands were like chariots charging forward destroying everything they came into contact with.

It’s not something a large lumberjack-turned-spearman can deal with.

The elite spearmen at the corner are instantly destroyed and the ranks of spearmen disintegrate.

As the Arangian Guard burn with the excitement of battle horns sprout from their heads and flames shoot out from their mouths.

Just the sight of him is scary but when he charges while swinging a huge weapon with both hands ordinary soldiers cannot help but be terrified.

-Bam!

As the Arangian guards strike people with their weapons the dismembered upper bodies fly into the sky blood and entrails dancing.

There were only six Arangian guards who had rushed into the ranks of the spearmen but they cut through the ranks of the spearmen diagonally.

And so the ranks of the spearmen which had been so stirred up collapsed unable to withstand the attacks of the enemies that followed.

“Yes reserve!”

The leader of the refugee army tried to catch the Arangian guards who had broken through them by advancing the spearmen stationed at the rear but the Arangian guards broke through the front line of spearmen and withstood their attacks long enough for the spearmen at the rear to advance towards them.

“Close combat won’t do! Damn it!”

“Throw!”

The slingers hurled rocks from behind but they failed to hit the properly armored Arangian guards. Instead the rocks bounced off the refugee spearmen who were not wearing armor injuring their comrades.

The battle ended in an instant when the light cavalry of the Arangi Kingdom who had made a detour during this close combat rushed into the slinger camp.

With the light cavalry in the rear and the Arangian Guard and spearmen in front they surrounded and attacked from both sides so Count Azadin’s refugee army was annihilated without even being able to properly flee.

It was a battle of 100 vs. 400 but it was the 100 vanguards of the Arangi Kingdom who achieved an overwhelming victory.

*********

The commander of Count Azadin’s army captured by Prince Ghislain was just a commoner mercenary.

Originally a subordinate of Legion he was promoted to junior officer and was given command and training of over 400 refugee soldiers.

Considering that the refugee army was armed only with cheap spears slings made of rope and clubs they may not seem like a great force but it was still surprising that they gave command of an army of 400 men to a commoner who had not even been a military officer.

Prince Ghislain was suspicious of whether Azadin was a big shot or if there was a lack of discipline in the organization.

‘Of course if they were undisciplined they wouldn’t be able to make such sharp movements. They are highly trained. You can’t look down on them just because they are poorly armed.’

The high level of training of the refugee army and the fairly good commanding ability of their commander gave Prince Ghislain a small shock as he had a preconceived notion that those who were not of the warrior class were useless.

“Hmm. Originally you were just a soldier from the Chadra Plateau? For something like that your commanding skills are pretty good.”

Prince Ghislain looked at the refugee commander with a grin.

“Don’t you intend to serve me?”

“Oh how could I care less? If you just let me live I will of course serve you.”

“okay?”

“Yes. If you leave the soldiers to me…”

“hey.”

As Prince Ghislain signaled to his subordinate with his chin the subordinate approached and grabbed the refugee commander’s finger.

-Knock knock!

Screams filled the barracks along with the sound of fingers snapping.