Chapter 436: Wait for the Wind

Their reputation was well-earned.

I’d felt it back at the Battle of Euz, when we clashed with the mercenary company of Leto and Gedel, the one guarding the Count of Basel. But only now did I fully understand why these men were called the strongest mercenaries in the world.

Even as they dropped under the massed volleys of the Streit Gunners, they closed the gaps and held their ranks together, over and over. They refused to give a single step, as if there were nothing behind them to fall back to, and their morale never wavered.

If anything, it was the duchy army’s pikemen facing them who began to break. That was exactly why the Count of Basel had boasted that the pike line shielding my gunners would collapse before my men could reload.

What a contrast to the Battle of Vintenheim, where the mercenaries lost their nerve and ran after only three volleys. This was the strength of Swiss mercenaries, and their iron will was dominating the field.

They were the enemy, but I couldn’t help admiring them.

The saving grace was that, unlike our faltering pike line, the Streit Gunners were still doing everything their orders demanded. Instead of running, they strained to reload faster.

When enemy swordsmen forced their way through the pikes, the gunners ran them through with bayonets. Others stepped into the holes in the broken pike line and thrust their arquebuses out at full extension, plugging the gaps however they could. It was hard to believe these were raw recruits.

"Feuer!"

Bang-bang-bang-bang!

The Streit Gunners were armed with an iron will of their own. Bringing recruits to that level in such a short span should have been impossible, but the system made the impossible possible.

[D-Rank Streit Gunners: Discipline 30%, Firepower 30%, Accuracy 30%]

They had still been E-Rank when they saw their first real combat at Vintenheim, but after I burned three Training 200% Boost Scrolls on them, they climbed to D-Rank and their combat strength shot up.

On top of that, the passive skill Strong Soldiers (10%) raised the stats of any soldier belonging to Rosenheim by ten percent. So the Streit Gunners’ final numbers came out to Discipline 40%, Firepower 40%, Accuracy 40%.

My F-Rank Gunner Commander title (Control 20%) had to be contributing as well. But none of those bonuses applied to the duchy pikemen protecting the gunners.

"Second Company’s pike line is starting to buckle badly."

"Commander, now is the moment to hit their rear! If we leave it like this, the whole line goes!"

"...No. It isn’t time yet. Wait a little longer."

The Swiss had their rear well covered too, and even if we struck there, they had the discipline to re-form and stop us almost immediately. What I was waiting for was the powder smoke, and for it to spread thickly enough.

I waited until the enemy’s rear was completely blind.

Our losses piled up in the meantime, but I kept my patience.

[Gale Knight XI Quest]

[Defeat the Swiss mercenaries]

[Reward: 10,000 points, 10 gold coins]

[Item Reward: Courage 200% Boost Scroll (one day)]

[Danger Rating ★★★☆☆]

Perhaps sensing my restlessness, Chrysos snorted low, as if telling me to relax. For this battle I’d brought Chrysos, with her better endurance, instead of Mont Blanc. I stroked the golden-maned mare’s neck.

Something in me settled.

Cool head, hot heart.

I waited quietly for the moment.

"Aaaagh!"

"Hold the line! Hold the line!"

"Damn it, we can’t hold!"

Second Company couldn’t take the Swiss pressure, and even keeping the line together was becoming too much for them. Their morale had gone yellow and their combat strength was plummeting.

"There’s the wind."

At last the powder smoke rolled up like fog and swallowed the Swiss rear. The wind had begun blowing from behind our own lines. The perfect situation I’d been waiting for had arrived.

I raised my halberd high and shouted.

"Gale Knights, charge!"

"Follow the commander! Hyah!"

My personal squad roared as one and came thundering after me, as if they’d been waiting all day for it. Racing across a battlefield again after so long sent a thrill through me that nothing else could match.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

I had held myself back so my men could earn their own glory, but the people of Beren called me the Gale Knight for a reason. I still loved tearing across a field like a gale. I was a knight too, one more rider in the fight.

Fifty-odd horsemen plunged onto the smoke-choked field. The gunners’ brilliant red made it possible to tell friend from foe even in that haze. And I had the Commander Scouter.

The Commander Scouter showed me the exact positions of the rattled Swiss mercenaries. The optimal route function laid out the single best path to break them in one stroke.

I led my men along that path.

Straight into the enemy’s heart.

In the middle of the charge I let go of the reins and took the halberd in both hands, clamping my thighs against Chrysos’s barrel to keep my balance. A few of my men raised their halberds along with me.

We burst through the powder smoke, and finally I could see them.

The enemy’s faces, frozen in shock.

In that instant the world slowed. My halberd swept a full circle and split a man’s face open in one blow, blood and fragments leaping into the air. The blood came down like rain.

Every swing soaked me further. And the horrible part was that I wanted more of it. It was as if a blood-starved wolf had been let loose on the field. I didn’t understand myself.

There was only killing whatever stood in front of me.

Crunch! Crunch!

"Aaaagh!"

"Enemy cavalry! Stop them!"

Crrrunch!

The world snapped back to its normal speed.

Our breakthrough collapsed the Swiss Confederation’s rear ranks in seconds. The optimal route had pointed me straight at their weakest seam, and I drove deeper into it.

The gap opened at the exact moment their reserves were pushing forward to fill holes in the front line. That let us punch all the way into the middle of the Swiss formation, halberds and cavalry swords swinging in every direction.

A halberdier tried to hook me out of the saddle, but I knocked his weapon aside and drove my spearpoint through his throat. A dense formation with no pikes left is nothing but easy prey for cavalry.

More of the mercenaries died under hooves than under blades. While we were churning up their center, the Streit Gunners finished reloading and leveled their weapons as one.

"The lord is here! Feuer!"

Bang-bang-bang-bang!

"Forward! Push forward!"

The Swiss still had fight in them, but once the volley from the gunners in front of them landed on top of everything else, they found themselves in a hopeless situation unlike anything they had ever known.

Second Company’s pikemen, moments from routing, took heart from the cavalry support and pushed hard. The Swiss formation broke apart completely, and in the end the Count of Basel had no choice but to raise a white flag.

"We won! We won!"

"Streit! Streit!"

"Hoooraaah!"

My soldiers cheered and celebrated the victory. Drenched head to toe in blood, I waved to them, and the cheering swelled louder. The Swiss mercenaries lowered their weapons, all the strength gone out of them.

The pride they had carried as the strongest in the world was slowly cracking, as if they could not accept what had just happened. Their captains consoled the men with heavy hearts, and even so, not one of the mercenaries bowed his head.

"A magnificent breakthrough, worthy of the Gale Knight. To think the Swiss, who pride themselves on being unmatched, would fall like that. I’ll have to admit I underestimated you, Baron."

"It looks like you never even drew your sword, Count."

"The gale hit so fast I had no time to draw it."

The Count of Basel was spotless from start to finish. He had looked uninterested in the outcome of this battle from the beginning, but losing to me had clearly stung his pride, and his mood seemed thoroughly foul.

He didn’t let the displeasure show, though.

Because it wasn’t over yet. ℴ

"Let’s hold the peace talks in a week."

"Do you really need a full week?"

"The Swiss are in this state, and cleaning up takes time. Surely the victorious Baron won’t refuse me that much mercy? If so, I’d be disappointed in your generosity."

"And for that week while the talks are delayed, are we still at war?"

"We are. It wouldn’t be strange if something happened."

A loaded remark. True enough, it wouldn’t be strange if something happened in that time. The Count of Basel dangled mercy and generosity in front of me to maneuver me into agreeing. Dragging things out suited me just fine.

"Very well. I’ll see you at the negotiating table in a week."

"I’m curious what your face will look like when that day comes."

"The same goes for you. Travel safely."

And so the nobles’ battle came to a close. Officially, though, the Rosenheim-Basel war had not ended. The lords of the west and the south turned away with very different things on their minds.

When I rode back to our camp, every soldier there was watching me. The first thing I saw was Oscar and Gustav, filthy with black powder, and the Gale Knights behind them.

I spoke to them like a declaration.

"This battle is ours."

"Hoooraaah!"

"Streit! Streit!"

[Gale Knight XI Quest complete]

[10,000 points, 10 gold coins awarded]

[Item awarded: Courage 200% Boost Scroll (one day)]

When I raised a hand, the frenzied cheering vanished as if it had never been there.

"But the war is not over. Build the encampment and recover the bodies of our brothers. Do not let your guard down. All celebrations will wait until after the negotiations a week from now."

The soldiers who had assumed the war was finished looked bewildered, but once their officers began issuing orders without missing a beat, they set about building the camp and clearing the field with dazed expressions. Whatever spoils lay scattered out there were theirs to keep.