General Oswald’s command thundered across the field: “‘All units, charge (Raga Horn)!’”
Without caring about the rain of arrows pouring down, the Urgalia army let out a roar and charged in.
Cavalry is a troop type that’s great at mobility, but it’s not suited for attacking bases. If you attack a stronghold where the Selseta Army is holed up, with moats dug around it, dirt mounds piled up, and wooden plank walls built, you’re going to bleed for it.
Especially the Selseta archer unit, which has many Treant (Shirukuu) participating as soldiers, is known as one of the top two elite units on the Northern Continent when it comes to archery skill.
The ones who know the Selseta archers’ skill best are the Urgalia army, who have tasted their arrow storms more than anyone.
But the charging Horned Cavalry (Rongāra) had no hesitation. Each rider had a flame of fanaticism in their eyes, becoming a death-seeking soldier who didn’t care about their life as they rushed in.
Under the orders of the King’s younger sister Mito, the Selseta soldiers kept raining arrows on the Urgalia army, while hiding their precious crossbow unit behind the wooden plank walls.
They would wait for the charging Urgalia soldiers to run up the dirt mounds and grab onto the plank walls, then unleash a volley from the crossbows at point-blank range.
Mito split 1,000 from the 5,000 standing army to form a crossbow unit. At that time, she gave each standing soldier three crossbows and assigned two farmer militia to assist them.
Crossbows boast powerful arrow force, but on the other hand, stringing them takes a lot of time and effort.
Mito had the standing soldiers handle the shooting, and in the meantime had the farmer militia string the next crossbow, thinking this would increase the crossbows’ rapid-fire capability.
That idea itself probably wasn’t wrong. But unlike trained standing soldiers, the conscripted farmer militia had little battlefield experience. With the earth-shaking hoofbeats of the Horned Horse (Ronga) and the sky-quaking roars of the Horned Cavalry (Rongāra) shaking their eardrums, a haze of unease rose from between the ranks.
Sensing this, Mito sought to encourage her allies with a voice as ringing as enemy general Oswald’s: “Do not fear! Mito Selsetia is present! Do not tremble! The King’s sister stands with you! While we remain, the Selseta flag shall never fall!”
It was nothing more than a declaration of resolve without anything concrete, but even so, the figure of the King’s younger sister in silver armor, standing at the front line and encouraging the troops, was enough to move the hearts of the officers and soldiers.
”Archers, maintain fire! Grant the enemy no respite! We shall drive these Urgalia invaders back! Victory to our homeland (Selseta)!” Mito called out, raising her voice even further.
When Mito raised her own sword high and roared, not only the standing soldiers but also the farmer militia, who had shown fear on their faces just moments before, shouted loudly with their faces red from excitement.
”‘Victory to our homeland (Selseta)!’” the soldiers roared back in unison.
Thus Mito restored her allies’ morale with a single shout, but naturally the Urgalia army kept charging during that time.
The moat had been made quite large in preparation for the Horned Cavalry’s charge, but the Urgalia soldiers, united with their horses, easily jumped over it.
The Horned Horse (Ronga), born in the mountains, can dig into mountain slopes with the claws of its front legs and run up steep cliffs. The dirt mounds that the Selseta soldiers built day and night were no different from gentle hills to the Horned Horse.
The Horned Cavalry that jumped over the moat came running up the dirt mounds as if bouncing.
The only defense left was the wooden plank wall made from Kino Forest timber. The Selseta soldiers hid behind this plank wall while desperately firing arrows to stop the Urgalia army’s approach, at least that’s how it looked to the Urgalia soldiers.
Naturally, the Urgalia army wasn’t just sitting there getting shot. The Horned Cavalry in the rear ranks calmly readied their bows on horseback while riding, and fiercely unleashed volleys at the Selseta Army—a bow technique known as cavalry shooting.
There’s no need to think about which is more accurate and which is more powerful, arrows shot from a firm foothold or arrows shot from the back of a violently moving horse.
On top of that, the Selseta Army is positioned at a high place. Which is more threatening, arrows shot from above to below, or arrows shot from below to above, there’s no need to think about that either.
But as a simple fact, the damage to both armies in the arrow exchange was not much different. The Horned Cavalry’s cavalry shooting was accurate enough to be no worse than professional archers, and the Selseta Army, which included conscripted farmers, could not overwhelm the moving Horned Cavalry with bows and arrows.
The Selseta soldiers’ attack weakened due to the supporting fire from the rear, and the Urgalia soldiers on the front line gained some breathing room. They clung to the plank walls as if this was their only chance.
Some tried to smash the plank walls with the horns of their Horned Horse (Ronga), some tried to climb over the plank wall using their beloved horse as a foothold, and others tried to jump over the plank wall using fallen ally soldiers and horses as a stepping stone.
It was the moment when the Horned Cavalry (Rongāra), which had continued unified action since the start of the battle, broke its stride for the first time.
”Crossbow unit, commence attack! Fire!!” Mito commanded sharply, her voice echoing over the ramparts.
At the same time, a loud bell sound rang out: GOOONG! Of course, that was the signal for the crossbow unit. Mito had prepared another communication route in case her voice was drowned out by the battlefield noise.
The crossbow soldiers, who had been hiding behind the plank walls like clams until then, stood up all at once and fired their crossbows at the noses of the Horned Cavalry (Rongāra) that had approached so close.
The arrowheads of the Holy Kingdom-made crossbows are iron, and they have the penetrating power to pierce even plate armor. The fired arrows easily pierced the lightly armored Horned Cavalry, spreading countless deaths in the blink of an eye.
Blocked by the ally soldiers and horses falling one after another, the movement of the following Horned Cavalry stopped.
It was a perfect target for the Selseta Army.
”Maintain the attack! Fire!!” Mito ordered, unwilling to yield the advantage.
The loud bell rang out again.
The Urgalia soldiers fell one after another under the continuous fierce fire. Some tried to block with shields, but the Holy Kingdom-made crossbows pierced the Urgalia soldiers along with their shields.
Seeing the Horned Cavalry (Rongāra) fall like dominoes, cheers rose from the Selseta Army. In the long history of battles between Selseta and Urgalia, there had never been an example of the Horned Cavalry suffering such one-sided damage.
We’ll whittle down the enemy’s forces as much as possible here!
Mito screamed inwardly as she began to order a third volley: “Commence-“
But before Mito could finish her command, a horn sound rose from the rear of the Urgalia army. Furthermore, three flags, black, black, black, were raised near the Emperor Flag.
Directly following that signal, “Fall back!” an Urgalia officer barked.
”Fall back! Fall back!” the frontline soldiers bellowed, turning their mounts.
The Urgalia army, which had been fiercely attacking the Selseta Army’s position with a momentum that even demons would avoid, easily turned their horses around and fled.
It wasn’t an orderly retreat. Without caring about those killed or wounded by crossbows, they literally fled without looking back.
Mito was momentarily stunned by their spectacular fleeing, but soon came to her senses and ordered the third volley.
”Maintain the attack! Third volley, fire!!” Mito commanded, recovering her composure.
In response to Mito’s command, crossbow arrows rained down on the backs of the retreating Horned Cavalry for the third time.
This also achieved no small results, but it didn’t match the first two volleys. Still, there was no doubt that they had driven back the Horned Cavalry (Rongāra) that had attacked.
”Your Highness, we won!” an officer called out, bowing.
”What a magnificent command! His Majesty the King will surely be pleased!” a nearby soldier added excitedly.
In response, Mito nodded with satisfaction, but inwardly she was biting her lip.
It’s true the enemy retreated. They had also killed a considerable number of Horned Cavalry.
But at the same time, they had let the enemy know about their trump card, the crossbows.
Crossbows are powerful, but they have weaknesses in range and rapid-fire capability. And with General Oswald, he would probably notice that the crossbows with such power are Holy Kingdom-made. Naturally, he would take countermeasures.
From now on, they probably couldn’t expect overwhelming results like in this battle.
Mito glanced at the western sky so her subordinates wouldn’t notice. That’s the direction where Selseta’s royal capital is.
If the main force of the Selseta Army led by her brother the King were here, she could have used the trump card crossbows in a more decisive moment.
Originally, Mito had planned to build three layers of defensive walls, lure the Urgalia army deep inside the walls, and then use the crossbows. If she had done that, she wouldn’t have let the enemy escape so easily like now.
But what’s here is only the 15,000-strong advance party. If she had saved the crossbows, the defenses would have been broken through in the first battle.
So the decision to use the crossbows was not wrong. It’s not wrong, but…
(It’s also suspicious that General Oswald, known as a fierce warrior, retreated so easily. He probably knew we were hiding something. Forming the entire army with only Horned Cavalry (Rongāra) and making a lightning attack after a long march from the imperial capital. If they win, great; if they lose, they can expose the enemy’s scheme, that’s the judgment… damn, he’s tough.)
Though they won the first battle, looking at the whole war situation, it was the Selseta Army that was cornered.
Mito looked at her allies’ officers and soldiers celebrating victory, and kicked the ground once with her iron boot.
Trivia:
- The three black flags raised near the Emperor Flag suggest a pre-arranged signal system within the Urgalia army, implying Oswald planned the retreat before the battle even began.
- Mito’s tactic of assigning two farmer militia per standing soldier to reload crossbows mirrors real medieval logistics, where untrained conscripts often slowed elite units rather than helping them.
- The detail that Horned Horses can run up steep cliffs with their front claws explains why the Selseta dirt mounds were nearly useless, a worldbuilding hint that Urgalia’s military doctrine is built entirely around terrain-ignoring cavalry.