Eliza Chapter 195 – The battle of Tave riverside, part 1

The Rindarl soldiers surrounding Fort Droyan seem to have finally noticed that there was something different about the color of dawn in the direction of Eris today. A report just came in for us now that it’s morning that there seems to be a commotion in the enemy army on the other side of the Tave River.

Well, of course. This much is only natural.

After all, the Rindarl army was making use of a large number of slave soldiers. The enemy was making use of slave soldiers as literal meat shields, filling the moat with them, as well as forcing them to be the first to climb over the fort walls using ladders. The slave soldiers would have almost zero morale to begin with, and if the Rindarl soldiers controlling them fell into disorder, it would greatly shake their entire army’s chain of command.

It seems that there’s already a large number of slave soldiers that are escaping and surrendering to Arxia, so it should only be a matter of time for us to break the enemy’s encirclement of Fort Droyan.

It’s clear that the enemy armies across the Tave River from us are being commanded by nobles from Densel for the army and Parmigran for the navy. Although our forces at Fort Droyan are fewer, they’re skilled at archery and swordsmanship, and they’ve been holding out the best they can with the terrain advantages that come from fighting a defensive battle.

Rindarl’s main strategy seems to be focusing on keeping Fort Droyan suppressed so that they can move the bulk of their main forces across the Tave River, using Eris as their main base to launch attacks from.

Wiegraf observed that their intention was most likely to shift enough soldiers for their attack on Fort Droyan to keep up a constant attack, day and night, fatiguing our soldiers there and keeping them suppressed. It should also be clear to the enemy that Arxia’s soldiers’ morale has declined as well due to having to constantly be in a state of war on the frontlines for the past eight months.

From the standpoint of crushing the enemy’s strategy, ambushing Eris which basically served as their logistical supply base would have the absolute best effect. Next, we’re going to aim for the enemy’s confusion upon hearing the news and crush their navy on the Tave River. If we succeed, that will deal a fatal blow to the Densel forces.

…It takes time and money to build navy ships. It also takes quite a considerable amount of time to train personnel to crew their ships. And, the ships and personnel are from Parmigran.

Before commencing my attack, I received a personal message from General Commander Rolentsor stationed at Fort Drofy through a red messenger pigeon.

It basically said: “annihilate the enemy on the Tave River. Destroy all their ships. Make the Tave River flow red with their blood.”

I couldn’t help but exclaim out loud how dangerous this all sounded, which caused Mefuri who was waiting by my side to glance at me.

 

We commenced our attack as soon as we confirmed the enemy was in confusion from receiving the news about Eris so as to not miss our opportunity.

Once again, I’m separating from my Kaldia army, and heading for the embankments of the Tave River with only Rashiok and Vedwoka. My rank in this battle will be as a guest commanding officer under Ergnade who’s also leading his Jugfena knights from Fort Droitros in order to join this attack.

When the horn blew to signal the start of our attack, our knights that were organized into their formations charged the enemy troops that were waiting for us by the edge of the Tave River. According to reports from our previous fights with them, whenever we approached the Tave River, three ships would appear soon and begin firing their “short-tubed fire arrows” (guns) and normal arrows at us.

As soon as we confirmed their ships’ arrival and that they were equipped with those “short-tubed fire arrows,” our knights began running sideways while shielding themselves.

“Rashiok, let’s go! It’s our turn!”

The Jugfena knights made a path for me and my draconis in their formation. As Rashiok and Vedwoka rushed through the path and jumped out from the front row, I heard a huge uproar from the enemy army.

The incoming projectiles of bullets and arrows that almost immediately rained down upon us were all blown away by the wind magic of the two draconis. The strong gusts blowing in from the side seemed effective enough to even neutralize the bullets of their primitive guns.

…It seems that Vedwoka’s wind magic is even stronger than Rashiok’s from before he lost one of his wings. It’s a little regrettable that Vedwoka can’t understand complex orders like Rashiok can, nor will she allow anyone else other than me to ride on her. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to raise and train her for such purposes.

“It, it’s Kaldia! It’s Kaldia of the crimson eyes!! It’s the dragon-riding monster who drinks blood and eats human flesh!!”

A draconis would naturally draw attention in the midst of our warhorses. Especially all the more so that we were charging at them.

Rather than approaching the Rindarl army’s dense formation of spears that was waiting for me, I had the two draconis suddenly make a sharp change of direction. Since the enemy here is composed of only infantry and archers, it’s quite easy for us to flank them and charge them from the side with the high speed and maneuverability of the draconis.

“Devour them, Rashiok! It’s hunting time!!”

In response to my voice, both draconis howled. The enemy was clearly taken off guard by our speed, and unable to change direction quickly enough, they collapsed under our attack as screams rose around us.

Rashiok dexterously avoided the enemy spears as he forced himself into their formation. Bracing myself for impact, I didn’t even have to swing around my heavy halberd as I used the momentum from Rashiok’s charge to slice through everything in my way.

Rashiok’s huge body was also capable of crushing several people under him at once, and desperate screams resounded every time that Rashiok jumped up then crushed more enemy soldiers under him anew.

Now that the enemy was in total chaos, the Jugfena knights took this opportunity to refresh their attack. They took advantage of being on horseback to have their warhorses trample over Rindarl soldiers, breaking bones in the process. Other enemies would be speared to death, and a mountain of enemy corpses instantly started piling up.

“Ahhhhh!!”

Even in such a situation, of course there were still enemies that were able to calmly try attacking me with their spears or swords, but there was too much of a difference between the reach of my halberd and their weapons. Combined with Rashiok’s speed, I was able to easily crush enemy skulls with a force not possible by human hands alone.

Splitter splatter, blood was gushing out everywhere almost as if it was grape juice, sending the enemy soldiers closest to me into an even more terrified frenzy.

And so, just like that, the two draconis and I successfully passed through the enemy’s army.