My fief, the Northern Region, was vast enough to occupy one-fifth of the Kingdom.
As most of that region consisted of highland mountains, its agricultural output was low and its population density correspondingly sparse.
Of course, it was not well suited to farming, but it was not the so-called “shithole land.”
Vast mountain plateaus lay at elevations of two to three thousand meters, and the well-developed grasslands made it suitable for animal husbandry.
These grasslands produced distinctive horses compared to those raised on ordinary grassy plains.
These horses had developed the ability to withstand the cold, bear the weight of their coats, and make efficient use of oxygen.
The Kingdom’s northern horses, natives of highland regions, were broad and thick as though they had bulked up.
They were powerful enough to carry heavy lancers and heavily armored knights with ease.
Their endurance and speed did not fall behind the horses of nomad cavalry. However, since they were warhorses ridden by armored knights, they slowed according to the knights’ weight and lost some endurance.
Still, the horses themselves were so exceptional that it was not enough to become a problem.
“They are truly remarkable horses.”
The Duke of the East looked newly astonished at the northern horses, whose gentle eyes were all that showed beneath their barding.
It was strange to see him surprised.
He must have seen northern horses before. Even if he had not, he should have learned of them after spying on my Northern Cavalry at the Royal Castle.
Did he simply wish to praise northern cavalry?
“Did I not send you some a few years ago?”
“Hmm? You sent me horses?”
“Have you forgotten? Or what?”
“This is the first I have heard of it. Look into my eyes. Do I not plainly have the expression of someone thinking, ‘What is this? If horses like these exist, you should have sent me some’?”
That was true.
Before the Duke of the East had run off with the Lion Unit, I had once ordered that several horses be sent as a gesture of friendship.
No return gift had arrived. Was this why?
The Lion Unit might have swallowed them somewhere along the way.
Whatever else, the Duke of the East was not the sort of man to lie about something like this.
Rather than pressing the matter, I handed him the reins.
“They have fierce tempers, but they become docile once gelded. A warrior of your caliber should be able to handle one.”
“Fine horses are difficult to obtain. I thank you.”
“I intend to place you at the vanguard with me. Would I begrudge you a single horse?”
More precisely, I gave horses to the knights under the Duke of the East as well.
They were men whose martial prowess was worth seeing.
They had looked upon me insolently until now, but after receiving steeds superior to the horses of the East, they wore embarrassed and bewildered expressions.
“Are you giving these to us?”
“Use them. Could I not gift a horse to subordinates who will protect my friend?”
“Th-thank you, Grand Duke.”
As the Grand Duke of the North, nearly all the Northern Region’s products belonged to me. Would I begrudge one or two horses?
“You are taking the vanguard too? Are you not the commander? How do you intend to command?”
“It does not matter.”
“I have not failed to see the north fight, but I cannot understand what you know to behave like this. As expected......”
“Because I see the future, I believe we will naturally win, that I will not be hurt, and that I should occupy the position where I can shine the brightest.”
“Good grief.”
“Let us march. Time is of the essence, so I will postpone the departure ceremony.”
“For that, are you not far too relaxed?”
“Let us bid Her Majesty farewell before we go.”
With fifteen hundred Northern Cavalry, the members of the Royal Castle Guard who could ride, and several nobles who had volunteered, I marched out with a total of two thousand cavalry.
It was a force nowhere near enough to contend with the Deposed Queen’s army, which was said to be advancing with more than ten thousand cavalry.
Even then, apart from the fifteen hundred elite Northern Cavalry, I assigned everyone else supporting duties except for a few with exceptional martial prowess.
It was fair to consider us a force of only fifteen hundred cavalry.
“Are you truly not taking any infantry? The elite heavy infantry should be useful. We could form a square as well.”
“There is no need. There is no reason to drag this battle out.”
After dismissing the matter, I had an audience with Her Majesty.
In truth, the Duchy of Feltkirch’s scouts had already crossed the Kingdom’s central plains and were about to enter the Royal Domain.
The main force would arrive in the Royal Domain roughly three hours after the vanguard.
To anyone with even a little knowledge of war, this was not a time when we could afford to relax.
“Your Majesty. Preparations for our departure are complete.”
“D-do I truly not have to depart as well?”
Her Majesty was wearing ceremonial armor.
It was armor intended for the royal family’s boys and girls.
It did not appear to lack defensive capability, but sending a child this young to the battlefield would be madness. It was merely armor that conveyed the meaning:
‘She is an important captive, so do not kill her. Take a ransom.’
“Your armor suits you very well.”
“Then...... I should depart after all, should I not?”
No.
“Please entrust military matters to your vassals.”
“But Princess Aisia is said to be departing in person.”
Her Majesty generally possessed the attitude of a learner who wished to say, ‘I will try it too.’
Yet this time, she truly appeared to lack confidence.
It seemed that she disliked having to ride a horse.
Her Majesty’s youngest uncle had also suffered a riding accident and become paralyzed from the waist down. She was right to be careful.
And there was no reason to bring a child to the battlefield.
“Once victory or defeat has been decided, the form and justification of the battlefield no longer matter. The notion that one claiming a title must appear on the battlefield is, rather, the notion of someone who does not understand war. Please set your mind at ease.”
“The matter of Your Grace leaving the Royal Castle......”
Her Majesty’s concern for safety was firm.
She was right.
If the sovereign’s guardian and the army protecting the sovereign left the castle, would the Royal Castle be safe?
It would not.
“I have arranged for that as well, Your Majesty. Please rest assured. There will be no one within the Royal Castle who can harm Your Majesty.”
I left my heavy infantry in the Royal Castle.
If I took all the Northern troops with me, the Royal Castle would be filled with armed forces, including the private soldiers of the nobles currently present. They might overpower the Royal Castle Guard, who were not heavily armed, and seize the sovereign.
Of course, I also deployed volunteers from the diplomatic delegations within the Royal Castle to prevent such danger.
The envoys’ retainers were foreigners by nature. In a crisis, they might flee, but they had no reason to cooperate with those seeking to seize Her Majesty from within.
Even if some wished to cooperate, retainers from other countries had also volunteered for the duty of guarding the Royal Castle, providing sufficient deterrence.
“Then...... you must achieve victory.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. In that case.”
“I shall bring you news of victory.”
After bidding Her Majesty farewell, I stood before the departing forces gathered at the training grounds.
Then I closed my eyes.
Not yet.
I had left the gates and roads wide open to lure them in, but it seemed that some time remained before they approached the battlefield I had marked.
Even if variables arose, such as the bastards diverting their route of advance, I had chosen six more battlefields where we could fight. It would not matter if they were delayed.
They were invading with almost no supplies or baggage train, so their weapons and barding were not especially heavy.
Once they entered the operational range our horses could reach at full speed, I could annihilate them in a single battle.
“Hmm.”
“Grand Duke?”
“It is nothing. Until the next bell rings, remove your armor and rest the horses.”
Some of the enemy forces were heading for the harbor of a satellite city of the Royal Castle instead of the Royal Castle itself.
It was an understandable move.
No matter how well maintained the Kingdom’s roads were, it would be more advantageous to receive supplies from Imperial ships in the Empire’s southern seas and the Kingdom’s western sea than to supply an army overland from the Duchy of Feltkirch, which lay across mountains.
They would reach the Royal Domain quickly through lightning warfare and maneuver warfare, seize a port city of the Royal Domain through force of numbers, and receive supplies by sea.
Then, if necessary, they could even attempt a siege.
The problem was that they seemed to be heading toward an ordinary beach, slightly off from the port.
Was that not near the secret warehouse of the late Count Tranquia, the former Minister of Finance?
As I tracked them, I heard the Duke of the East ask a question.
“Sirs.”
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“Why in the world is your lord acting like this?”
After preparing to depart, I had merely stood still with my eyes closed. The Duke of the East, unaccustomed to this, had asked.
“He is always like that.”
“Can I take it that he sees too grand a picture?”
“Well...... that is one way to see it.”
I opened my eyes.
“It is time to march.”
At those words, the Northern Cavalry immediately formed ranks and shouted.
“Yes!”
“We accept the order!”
“A ford one hour away at a warhorse’s pace will be our battlefield. The five echelons will act according to my banner. And you, Duke of the East.”
“Speak.”
“You will lead the volunteers and the Royal Castle Guard. Just charge. I will cover you.”
“There is a battle worth fighting here, and I understand that you have foresight. But should we not respond according to the situation? You are simply telling me to charge? That is......”
There were roughly five hundred additional cavalry who did not fit with us.
We would not be able to coordinate well with them.
I had intended to simply send them charging and use them as bait if necessary, but I could not satisfy the Duke of the East’s reasonable concern.
So I changed my order.
“Then remain with me. The first echelon of the Northern Cavalry and I will mainly charge. If you are with us, we will be more powerful.”
“Can I trust you?”
“You can.”
I answered with my eyes closed.
Once again, I could see the enemy’s state of armament.
It was sufficient.
“Very well. Let us go.”
***
“Just as my wife said. Still, I thought there would be at least one engagement.”
“We are in the Royal Domain now. The Dragon’s Eye will likely hold out. He has fewer than five thousand troops.”
“Do we not lack provisions for a siege?”
“Do not worry. I know of a food store sufficient to endure for one hundred days. If we continue to hold out using it, support will surely arrive by sea from my natal family.”
“......Very well.”
Grand Duke of Feltkirch nodded at the operation devised by his wife, Imperial Princess Elined.
Until only a few years ago, she had been the Kingdom’s Queen. She knew the circumstances almost as thoroughly as an internal informant.
He had been uncertain at first, but with no obstacle appearing in their advance thus far, his trust in her assurances had gradually grown.
She had devised a strategy of ‘Princess Aisia’s rightful succession claim’ and ‘advancing directly on the capital with only minimal provisions while avoiding battle,’ thereby avoiding hostility against the Kingdom’s full strength.
And it worked.
Indeed, the Dragon’s Eye, Regent of the Royal Domain, was cowering in the Royal Castle as though he possessed no forces with which to respond.
Or perhaps the advance had been too fast for a response to be possible at all.
Other than that, there had been no movement from the Duke of the East, who ranked second in the line of succession and could challenge Princess Aisia’s claim, nor from the Eastern Army under his command.
Perhaps the speed of their advance had left them chasing a mirage.
“Did they truly leave land like this undefended?”
“They either lack the troops or lack the composure to do otherwise.”
The Grand Duke of Feltkirch surveyed the area and gave a derisive snort.
The area they were currently passing through was wetland, blocked side by side by a river and a ford.
The split river flowed in the shape of a Y, forcing an army of ten thousand to cross water twice in sequence.
Downstream, they only needed to cross once, but the river was so wide that they would need to build a bridge or use boats. They had made no preparations for either.
Upstream, there was a road branching from the Octagonal Crossroads, which connected Palatina, the Royal Capital, to the Kingdom’s northeast, as well as a bridge linking that road.
Naturally, it was best to maneuver across this bridge.
The bridge was sturdy and wide enough for five horses to pass abreast.
“It would have been troublesome if they had formed a square before the bridge and blocked us.”
“Still, the Dragon’s Eye will surely employ a sharp strategy in a siege. The scouts reported almost no military movement, so let us move quickly.”
The current Regent, the Dragon’s Eye, was widely known for his military achievements, and foreign assessments of him were similar.
‘He does not fight battles he will lose.’
Even the Dragon’s Eye would currently find it difficult to choose any course other than defense behind the walls.
His best move would be to block the Empire’s maritime support bound for the harbor near the Royal Castle with the Royal Fleet, occupy a strongpoint between the Royal Castle and the harbor, and hold out from three bases: the Royal Castle, the harbor, and the harbor stronghold.
“The Dragon’s Eye has made things difficult for us often enough, but without support, he appears to be ordinary after all.”
The Grand Duke of Feltkirch mocked the Royal Domain and the Dragon’s Eye for failing to block this place.
Because large forces had to cross two bridges in succession, the terrain inevitably split them temporarily.
If they were ambushed while crossing the bridges, they would be defeated in detail.
The Kingdom must have known the advantage of this terrain as well, so there was a small fortress between the two rivers.
It had been a fortress under the Lion Unit’s administration, but it was now practically empty.
Only a single squad of the Royal Castle Guard, fewer than ten men, trembled there without even managing to draw their bowstrings.
Even by eye, there was little space for troops to hide. And even if hidden troops existed, they could not stop the advance.
Leaving behind a small screening detachment, the Duchy’s forces began crossing.
“If they had stationed even a hundred men here, they would have been troublesome.”
“Let us go and teach them ourselves.”
As Grand Duke of Feltkirch and Imperial Princess Elined surveyed the battlefield with such mockery, the vanguard had completed roughly half of its crossing and begun to reform.
Then they heard a sound that shook the ground, distinct from the slow hoofbeats approaching before the bridge.
“Impossible!?”
At the same time as that thought, they saw it.
“NEEEEEEIGH!”
“!?”
The horses flew.
More precisely, horses that had collided with something were flung away, flailed through the air, and fell into the water.
The people riding them were flung somewhere as well.
Cavalry bearing banners with a dragon crest whose one eye was shut charged at a terrifying speed unimaginable for horses outfitted in full barding, crossing the river and colliding with the nomad cavalry who had successfully crossed.
Not only were they impaled on lances, but the force of the impact sent the horses of the light cavalry flying through the air.