Chapter 13 Pelosonian War (IV)
"Longbow unit, fire!!!"
At Hercule's command, the longbowmen let loose arrows towards the approaching vanguard of Darios's army.
It's said that one longbowman could shoot five to six arrows a minute. But for the elves who had handled bows since time immemorial, shooting ten arrows a minute was child's play.
There were 5,000 longbowmen present, so 50,000 arrows were raining down every minute. Not all arrows struck of course, and even among the ones that struck, only a few caused fatal wounds.
The longbows excelling in long range and rapid fire rate were vastly inferior to crossbows in terms of penetrating force. The arrows managed to pierce the mercenaries' armors and shields but were unable to inflict lethal damage.
But…
Even if only 1% of those arrows managed to strike body parts that couldn't be concealed by armor, like the face…
Every minute, 500 soldiers would die.
500 in one minute.
1000 in two minutes.
1500 in three minutes.
In addition to that were the soldiers who were injured in the limbs and became unable to fight, as well as the ones demoralized from the incessant arrow rain…
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Even if it was 28,000 soldiers, they would be forced to stop dead in their tracks.
…Or so Hercule thought.
"They're unexpectedly tenacious."
The mercenaries were steadily advancing forward while trying their best to evade the arrow storm. Hercule was puzzled by how the mercenaries who were only in it for the money could be fighting so desperately…
"I see. It's because of their rear."
He recalled that the rear was made up by Darios's elite subordinates. If the mercenaries tried to run away, Darios's crossbowmen would likely shoot them down.
Crossbows had very high power, anyone who got shot would die for sure. Pressing forward was still preferable to being shot down by your own allies.
Darios's trick was to make use of the mercenaries' mentality.
But it was nothing more than a trick.
Even if the mercenaries made it to the top of the hill… they would be impeded by the fences, stakes, and ditches there. And before they could pass through those obstacles, the longspear unit would be there to welcome them. The mercenaries would die one after another from arrow fire and spears and break ranks.
"I guess it's about time."
Hercule called for Garphis.
"Is it my turn?"
"Yes, lead a cavalry charge through there."
Hercule pointed at a portion of the fences, stakes, and ditches where enemy troops were stuck in a deadlock. Of course, his cavalry weren't so skilled that they could just jump through obstacles.
However…
"I understand, Your Majesty. So it's like that, eh?"
"It is indeed… How close can you manage?"
"10 meters should be no problem."
（※This world does not yet have a uniform system of measurement. Not only countries, different ethnic groups and regions also use different units. But that makes it too troublesome—ahem, too complicated for everyone, so I will strictly use meter, gram, etc. Please just think that it's been conveniently translated to Japanese. Read with your mind's eye please) [TL: note from the author]
"You sure?"
"Your Majesty knows who I am, yes?"
Hercule smirked and pat his chief vassal's shoulder.
"I'm counting on you, Garphis Galeanos. Show them the power of the clibanarii."
"Your wish is my command."
Garphis walked away from Hercule, towards the clibanarii unit led by himself. Then he gave the order with a blaring voice.
"Gentlemen, prepare to charge. That is all. Get on your horses!"
After receiving Garphis's concise order, the soldiers promptly climbed onto their horses. Their only job was to charge. There was no need to think about anything else.
"Carolina, you are to follow behind me… Just accompanying me is fine for today."
"I understand, Father."
Carolina also got on her horse and followed behind Garphis.
Having done extensive training, the clibanarii heavy cavalry formed a triangle with Garphis as the vertex in a blink of an eye.
Then…
"MOVE OUT!!!"
""OOHHHH!!!!""
Following the path the infantry and archers created for him, Garphis headed straight ahead. Fences, stakes, and ditches came into his view.
The mercenaries were dumbfounded upon seeing the clibanarii charging towards a fence.
The distance to the obstacles was gradually shrinking.
And then…
"Should be about time," murmured Hercule as he observed Garphis from high up.
"Asmodeus, when Garphis comes within ten meters of the phantom obstacles, cancel the illusion."
"Understood, Master."
A lovely female voice rang out inside Hercule's head. The voice that only he could hear belonged to his contracted spirit, Asmodeus—one of the 72 Demons, the great spirit of nightmares.
"Payment will be a dream one week later."
"Thanks… I'll be looking forward to it."
And thus the illusion vanished…
"CHARGEEE!!!"
When he got to the ten-meter mark and confirmed that the obstacles had disappeared, Garphis promptly accelerated with vigor.
Seeing the obstacles abruptly disappear and the clibanarii charging straight at them, the mercenaries fell into panic. Because they were sure the clibanarii couldn't charge with obstacles in the way, it took them far too long to react.
Having confirmed that the mercenaries were in pandemonium, Garphis raised his lance straight above and shouted.
"AMON!!!"
One of the 72 Demons. Garphis summoned his contracted spirit, the great spirit of fire, Amon. A snake of scorching flame started to coil around his lance. He pointed the flaming lance towards the enemy and broke into a rush.
The flame flew off and burned the surrounding mercenaries black in an instant.
The flashy flame wasn't actually as destructive as it looked, but… just instilling terror into the mercenaries and making them flee was more than enough.
Their battle formation had totally collapsed. The clibanarii, including Carolina, charged into the fray one by one.
"ELIGOS!!!"
Carolina also summoned her spirit. One of the 72 Demons, the great spirit of armament, Eligos.
A glittering silver lance appeared in her hand. The lance that was as light as feathers to their owner, yet felt as heavy as an anchor to the ones on the receiving end of her attacks, blew away her enemies leaving them pulverized.
The 28,000 strong vanguard of Darios's army was beginning to crumble.
"Well, it's just about what I expected."
Even though the mercenaries were screaming and scrambling away, Darios was perfectly calm. The advance guard composed of expendable mercenaries proved useless. They broke ranks because of arrow fire and were being annihilated by the clibanarii cavalry.
But that was all within his expectations.
He did hope to defeat Hercule with brute force, though, so he couldn't deny that the situation was a little disheartening…
Without revealing a hint of discouragement, Darios issued his second command.
"Tell the commanding officers to move the mercenaries to the sides. Barbarian cavalry stay on standby. Crossbow and longspear units, move forward."
Heeding's Darios's directions, the mercenaries hurriedly moved to their left and right. Since they could neither defend against the frontal stampede nor escape to the back, their best hope of evading the cavalry charge was to flee aside.
The following development was thus.
The hole penetrated by the clibanarii was immediately closed up.
As a result, the clibanarii led by Garphis Galeanos was isolated from the main body of Hercule's army.
Then…
"The enemy cavalry exhausted from the long charge will become easy targets for the crossbow unit, and the longspears will deter them from charging further. Then the barbarian cavalry will annihilate them with a pincer attack from both sides."
The Lemurian Empire's strongest units, clibanarii, and longbowmen, were both difficult to replenish with fresh troops. And as a requirement, they must be elves—members of the ruling class.
If Hercule lost this force, let alone continuing this war, it was easy to imagine the trouble he would have in future political management.
"Shutting down the enemy's strength while capitalizing on your own and targeting your enemy's weak point. These are the basics of warfare… Now then, this is my last move. How will you respond, Emperor Hercule?"