The great army of Horned Cavalry (Rongara) is racing across the Dalai Plains, their hooves thundering.
At the front flies the Emperor’s flag of the Urgalia Empire. A big white triangle is drawn on red cloth, and in the center, a black horse with its front legs raised is stitched into it.
They say the white triangle stands for the Urga Mountains, the homeland of the Urgal people. The black horse is the beloved steed of the Founding Emperor. And the red cloth represents the blood of friend and foe alike that flows on the battlefield.
It’s a flag that symbolizes the Founding Emperor, who gave his whole life to the battlefield.
At the head of the Empire’s army, racing forward under that Emperor’s flag, is General Oswald.
He’s a veteran general who has served the Urgalia Empire since the reign of Emperor Cassius, two generations ago. He’s around sixty years old now, but he sits tall and proud in the saddle, his white hair streaming in the wind as he rides his Horned Horse (Ronga). He looks absolutely hale and hearty.
Behind Oswald, twenty thousand Horned Cavalry (Rongara) follow. The sight is spectacular, beyond words. For allies, there’s no more reassuring sight. For enemies, there’s no more terrifying one.
Oswald narrowed his eyes in comfort from atop his Horned Horse.
”Good wind. Nothing beats an Urgal riding a Horned Horse (Ronga). Horned Cavalry (Rongara) buried in paperwork inside a room is worthless,” Oswald murmured with satisfaction.
As a general, Oswald knows full well how important paperwork is. But even so, compared to the joy of riding a horse across the earth like this, paperwork is endlessly boring.
The veteran of Urgalia curls his lips as he keeps talking.
”I still despise that Gregor, but I acknowledge gratitude for relief from paperwork,” Oswald added with a grunt.
Gregor is the name of Chancellor Gram.
Oswald and Chancellor Gram share the same position in one way: they’ve both served the Empire since the reign of the great Emperor Cassius.
But that fact never grew into friendship between them.
Chancellor Gram rarely shows his likes or dislikes, but it’s clear he holds a wall against Oswald. At least, that’s how Oswald felt.
Of course, Oswald dislikes Chancellor Gram too. The common people call Gram the “commoner Chancellor” with praise, but from Oswald’s view, everything Gram does is stuck to a hunger for power, and he’s not someone Oswald could ever feel fond of.
And this battle, too – Gram is surely scheming something behind the scenes. Just thinking about it cuts the pleasure of the blowing wind in half.
Still, he has no intention of holding back in battle just because he doesn’t like Gram. To raise the Emperor’s flag at the front and lose – that’s the deepest shame for an Urgalia soldier. He’d have no excuse to give to the great Emperor Cassius in the afterlife, or to the former emperor lying sick in bed.
And of course, none to the current emperor either.
Oswald remembered the face of the boy emperor who had invoked the Founding Emperor’s name to reject Duke Inselm’s opinion. The corner of his mouth lifted just a little.
Just then, his aide, riding beside him, called out loudly so as not to lose to the sound of hooves.
”General! Selseta Army’s camp spotted ahead!” shouted his aide, pointing forward.
Almost at the same time as that report, Oswald’s eyes also caught the Selseta Army’s camp.
It was a solid camp, just as the scouts sent ahead had reported. The earthworks were pretty high, and on top of them he could see sturdy-looking walls. He couldn’t tell from here, but they probably had a moat around the camp too.
So the Selseta Army’s goal really is to pin down the Empire’s main force here, Oswald decided in his heart.
They bring out the royal flag to lure the Urgalian army in, then hole up in a strong camp and drag things into a war of attrition. Meanwhile, other countries’ armies break through the eastern and southern borders and rush the imperial capital – and the Urgalian army would have no choice but to pull back.
Then the Selseta Army chases the retreating Urgalian army and, timing it with the army attacking the capital, catches them in a pincer from front and back.
If this plan worked out, it would definitely go down in the history textbooks and become a model for soldiers of later generations.
But for that to happen, the armies of each country would have to stay in close contact, build strong trust, and set up a clear chain of command.
There had been several times before when the neighboring countries suffering under the Urgalia Empire’s invasions joined hands. But they had never once overcome the points he just listed.
It’s just that hard for countries with different origins, different lands, and sometimes different races to work together.
The Kingdom of Selseta must know that too. And yet they went ahead with this plan, which means there must be some “something” different from before.
What is that “something” that made Selseta decide that cooperation between countries – which should be so hard – is possible?
Having thought that far, Oswald grinned boldly.
”We will determine the truth upon impact-Falcon Formation!” Oswald commanded with a grim smile.
”Understood, sir!” the aide acknowledged immediately.
The aide, having received Oswald’s order, picked up the horn attached to his saddle.
The next moment, the loud blast of the horn cut through the thunder of hooves and spread through the whole Urgalian army.
At the same time, three flags were raised at the front. These flags had no design like the Emperor’s flag – they were dyed in single colors: red, black, blue, and so on.
Both the horn and the flags were tricks for passing orders quickly. Fine details had to rely on messengers, but for big instructions, this was enough.
And in fact, the Urgalian army responded to Oswald’s orders quickly, shifting smoothly from a speed-first marching formation to an attack formation for the charge.
Normally, when you change formation, your marching speed drops, and sometimes cavalry end up bumping into each other.
Especially now – the Urgalian army was a huge force of over twenty thousand, and on top of that, it was a hastily put-together unit combining cavalry from the First Army through the Fifth Army. Some confusion was only natural.
But in reality, there was zero confusion from the formation change, and their speed barely dropped at all.
The group movement was so smooth, it was like the Urgalian army itself had turned into a single living creature.
Oswald had no way of knowing, but at this moment, in the Selseta Army’s camp, the king’s younger sister Mito felt a cold chill run down her spine as she witnessed the enemy army’s high level of training.
The Selseta Army’s camp kept growing bigger in the Urgalian army’s view.
Then, countless arrows flew from the enemy camp, drawing arcs as they rained down on the Urgalian army from above.
”Raise shields!” the frontline commanders shouted down the rank.
Commanders everywhere gave the order to defend, and the soldiers raised their shields all at once.
They were cavalry shields, so they weren’t that big. At best they could protect the face and neck. And there was no way to protect the Horned Horses (Ronga) the soldiers rode.
Even the Horned Cavalry (Rongara) couldn’t dodge thousands of arrows, and cries of pain from soldiers and Horned Horses rose up everywhere.
But the ones still safe didn’t try to help the dead and wounded who tumbled to the ground. They knew that doing so would only make the losses worse.
The Selseta Army’s camp loomed right in front of the Urgalian army, which had charged without slowing down.
Seeing it, a voice like a great bell burst from Oswald’s mouth.
”May the blessing of our mother Urga be upon us! All units, charge (Raga Horn)!” Oswald bellowed to the host.
’All armies, charge (Raga Horn)!’
The same battle cry rose from the mouths of every Horned Cavalry (Rongara) following Oswald, drowning out even the sound of hooves, echoing across the Dalai Plains and into the ears of the Selseta soldiers holed up in their camp.
To the Selseta soldiers, it was the roar of death they had heard more times than they could count.
Trivia:
- The Emperor’s flag design carries three layers of symbolism: the white triangle for the Urga Mountains homeland, the black horse for the Founding Emperor’s beloved steed, and the red cloth for the blood of both friend and foe on the battlefield.
- Oswald and Chancellor Gram both served since Emperor Cassius’s reign, yet that shared history bred distance rather than friendship, hinting at a deep personal or political rift.
- Selseta’s confidence in a multi-country alliance suggests they possess some new advantage or insight that previous coalitions against Urgalia never had, foreshadowing a larger strategic reveal.