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The border between the Rosyth Kingdom and the Equus Tribe is the reasonably high mountain range called the Alva Mountain Range.
The Rosyth Kingdom lies on its western side while the Equus tribe’s lands lie on its east.
It’s mutually used by both sides and is demilitarized.
In other words, there isn’t a clear border in the area. Well, this isn’t such a strange thing in the Adernia Peninsula.
The 3,000 cavalrymen headed by Ledus are crossing the Alva Mountain range.
There was no reply from the Rosyth Kingdom which meant that the demands were rejected.
Basically, the Rule of Force plays a huge part in Equestrian tribes. In other words, while what Ledus did is far from honorable, he’ll be recognized as chief so long as he wins against Muzio.
In any case, Ledus’ grandfather……..the previous Lord Equus’ father had also killed his lord, who was then chief of the tribe, and stole wife, daughters, and the position of chief.
Side with the Strong – that is how Alvans think.
Even if you say their blood is mixing with other cultures and are slowly Adernianizing, they are still the descendants of the flat-faced people.
Besides, Ledus also has the personal desire of making Rachaela his.
Although it’s not like he can’t already make her a forced bride through plunder right now….
It’s only Ledus who thinks that it’s more acceptable to give the freshly severed head of the previous husband rather than sheep as the bethrodal gift.
This makes Ledus look like a brute but it’s a relatively common way of thinking amongst Alvans.
To equestrian tribes, women and wealth count as legitimate plunder.
Stealing another’s wife (Netori) and getting one’s wife stolen (Netorare) are just everyday occurences. (TLN: *wink wink* ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))
There are three routes to the Rosyth Kingdom from the Alva Mountain Range. In order from the north, let’s call them Route A, B, and C.
First is Route A. The road here is dangerous and the most roundabout so it’s not normally used. However, if you got entangled in something complicated that would have you go escaping and hiding, then this is the most effective route. In fact, this is the route that Muzio and his entourage used to escape to the Rosyth Kingdom.
The next is Route B. It’s the shortest route to the kingdom. It’s also the route with the most even road surface. Therefore, a lot of merchants use it as well as envoys of the Rosyth Kingdom.
However, the routh is narrow so moving a huge army through it won’t go well.
The last route is Route C. It’s the route that Ledus and his army are currently traversing.
The road is quite uneven and the distance is the average of the other two. However, the road is quite wide so an army can march through it.
The Equus tribe, instead of using wagons and carts, have instead used sheep for transport – a walking supply train.
If the road was narrow, they wouldn’t be able to make the sheep walk so they had no choice but to go through Route C. It would be a different story if they had divided the army into several groups but…….doing so would be the height of sheer folly.
Naturally, the enemy should also know that.
“I dare say the enemy is already lying in wait at the mouth of this canyon. It would be disadvantegous for them after all to fight in the open fields.”
Ledus says to his grandfather walking beside him.
Ledus’ grandfather is a great warrior chief – a military commander with a long and distinguished service.
“I also think so. Lord Equus. We should be vigilant against an ambush, yes? This geography is ideal for an ambush after all.”
The Great Warrior Chief surveys the surroundings.
If they got pincered here, even if they are cavalry, they won’t be able to escape. It’s impossible to make use of cavalry’s mobility here.
“Lord Equus, a falcon report has arrived. The Rosyth Army has taken up positions blocking the path. They are 5,000 infantry and 300 cavalrymen strong. A lot of anti-cavalry measures have been spotted. We can’t confirm an ambush.”
“The person that read the report was Lydia who has openly become the leading sorcerer in the Equus tribe…….a spy of the Rozel Kingdom.”
Although Lydia’s true masters are Mari and King Rozel, the point of the coalition won’t be accomplished if they couldn’t give Ledus victory.
Therefore, Lydia is supporting him with all her might.
“I see…….Thanks. I’m expecting a lot from you.”
“Thank you very much.”
While snickering deep inside, Lydia gives a greeting and leaves.
That day, while keeping vigilance on their surroundings, Ledus signals to make camp and set the Yurts to let his men rest.
This in order to prepare for tomorrow’s decisive battle…..
“Muzio!! Come out you fleeing coward!! Or perhaps you’re scared to come out? And you call yourself an equestrian!!”
Ledus faces towards the Rosyth Army and shouts. After that, the Ledus Army’s soldiers, too, follow suit, provoking Muzio and the Rosyth Army with a large voice.
As if unable to stand the taunting, Muzio takes some soldiers and breaks from the formation.
“The coward is you!! To attack in the night when all is asleep, can you even call yourself an equestrian tribesman? Oh good lord, I’m so embarrassed to be your brother. Even if you had no confidence in yourself, to think you’d use such means. It was probably also you who was responsible for the sick horses! To go so far as a coward!!”
As if to support Muzio’s words, the Equus cavalrymen headed by Muzio as well as the Rosyth infantrymen start jeering.
A smile appears in Ledus face.
“Alright, then we shall do a one on one battle!!”
Ledus declares so and advances forward alone without his army.
As such, it’ll become impossible for Muzio to not oblige.
This war is not just about winning. This is about Muzio showing his own strength to the tribe.
Unless he does that, he’ll be make fun of as a powerless fool without the support of the Rosyth Army.
“What will you do, Older Brother? Shall we have a match with the bow and arrow?”
“No, let’s go with your specialty – a bout of swords. If I use the bow, you’ll definitely lose after all.”
Muzio declares confidently. Ledus licks his lips.
“I won’t care if you regret it later!!”
The two kicked the belly of their favorite horses and dashed forth into battle.
Their two swords violently clashed against each other.
Both of them aren’t wearing any stirrups so the only thing supporting their bodies are the muscles of their legs. You can see from this intense battle how excellent these two as warriors.
The sounds of iron violently clashing reverberate throughout the canyon.
Both armies hold their breaths as they watch over the battle.
“You’re good, huh, Older brother.”
“Same goes to you.”
The two perform the dance of battle, drawing close, striking, and separating.
This goes on for a while.
“HAAAAA!!”
Ledus’ sword strongly strikes Muzio’s sword.
The vibrations are transmited through the sword greatly jolting Ledus’ arms.
“Tch, it seems I’m at a disadvantage at one on one.”
Muzio declares so, turns his back, and runs at full speed. In other words, he’s escaping.
It’s Ledus’ win.
“Wait!! You’re turning your back even though you’re an equestrian!?!”
Ledus chases after Muzio in order to strike him down. The 3,000-strong Equus cavalrymen follow him.
They rapidly draw close to the enemy formation.
Ledus worries a little bit.
(Should we assault just like this?……”
Ledus sees an anti-cavalry wall before them.
It’s not that tall. Or rather, accurately speaking, it has a low chance of stopping Equus cavalrymen. It’s probably just at a height enough to stop cavalry of agricultural peoples.
If you just overstretched yourself a bit, you’d be able to jump over it. Naturally, it’s to be expected that they’d be attacked with spears and arrows should they get stuck on the wall……
Ledus looks at the soldiers behind him once.
“Oooooooooo!!!!!”
The soldiers are following him straightforwardly. Their morale is sufficiently high.
This is the moment he should just believe in his soldiers and their horses.
“Let’s go!!!”
Ledus, who has entrusted everything to morale, assaults the enemy positions. He collects his force and raises his horse’s neck up.
His favorite horse, recognizing its master’s intentions, forcefully kicks the ground.
They jump over the wall and begin cutting down the Rosyth Army’s infantry.
The soldiers, negligently thought that the wall will completely stop the enemy, are easily cut down.
“Surround them!! Surround and ki-gguah!”
Blood springs forth from the body of a man that looks like a centurion. It was the Great Warrior Chief who cut him down.
“Don’t go too deep.”
“Thanks, grandfather.”
One after another, relying on the momentum, Ledus’ cavalrymen invade the enemy’s formation. There are some of them who made mistakes, but they only numbered a few. As expected, this kind of wall won’t be able to defend against Equus cavalry men.
It’s already too late to reorganize.
The Rosyth Army’s infantry and cavalry have already broken formation and escaping.
“What, these guys aren’t that of a big deal huh. Let’s go! Aim for Muzio and King Rosyth’s heads!”
Ledus raises his voice and dashes forward. The cavalrymen follow suit. One by one, they cut down and kill the Rosyth soldiers.
Victory and defeat have already been decided.
The Ledus soldiers, believing certain victory, have begun thinking about plundering property.
Amongst them, just one person is making a worried face.
It’s the Great Warrior Chief.
“(Things are going too well……)”
The enemy has Muzio who is an Equus tribesman just like them. He should have noticed that the height of the wall isn’t enough.
Furthermore, the enemy’s resistance is too weak.
And also, their banner.
They’ve lost this much so it won’t be strange to see soldiers abandoning banners but not even one banner has fallen.
“Lord Equus! This is strange! The enemy’s retreat is going too well. The possibility of this being a trap is high! I suggest we retreat at once.”
“Don’t be stupid! What kind of trap could there be in this situation? We’ve received reports from sorcerers that there won’t be an ambush yes? If they do have some of a number we’d overlook them, then it should be a number that we can just ignore. There’s no way I could let go of this chance to win!”
What he said was quite plausible.
To the bitter end, the strangeness is no more than just the Great Warrior Chief’s intuition. There’s a high chance that it’s just a misunderstanding.
There’s no way they could move an army just because of an old man’s intuition.
“If you say so then……”
The chief sticks close to Ledus as much as possible in order to protect him should something happen.
Just like that, they run through the formation.
After a little while they come out of the enemy formation and begin slashing at the back of the retreating main body of the Rosyth Army.
At that moment…
“Thi, this is!”
The smell of oil stimulates the senses of the Great Warrior Chief.
But it’s already too late.
The light infantry of the Rosyth Army as well as the Equus cavalrymen headed by Muzio who had just been retreating a while a go changed course.
And then they fired off fire arrows.
The arrows ignite the oil that covered the ground.
“tch, such trickery!!”
Ledus curses as he calms down his horse.
But this much won’t be a problem. A blaze won’t be created just by wetting the ground with oil. Oil is something that disappears in the blink of an eye after burning after all.
There isn’t any lumber in the area to fuel the flame.
Even the oil is just at a quantity where you’ll just notice it if you come close to the ground where it is scattered.
They won’t be able to pass through the places burning since horses are afraid of fire but……
The area that the fire covered isn’t that big. It’s enough to just go around it.
“Hahaha, idiots!! Do you think this small of a fire could stop us!?”
*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*!
Thunderous roars rock the area. The ground had suddenly exploded.
The explosions spread in a chain engulfing the area in smoke.
The explosions themselves aren’t that big of a deal but a number of unlucky cavalrymen got blown off.
However, the combination of smoke and the sound of explosion was more than enough to light the fire of terror inside the horses’ hearts.
“Uwaaaaa!!!”
Ledus favorite horse is startled and became restive. He calms it down and then surveys the surroundings.
Thirty percent of the cavalrymen has fallen from their horses while forty percent are clinging to their raging horses with all their might. The remaining thirty percent, just like Ledus, have somehow calmed their horses down.
It’s at that moment when the fire nation attacked. (TLN: Lol jk.)
It’s at that moment when the Rosythian hoplites and cavalrymen began their assault.
The Equus cavalry’s momentum has completely disappeared.
“Run away, Ledus!!! If this keeps up, you’d get killed! I’ll buy you some time somehow so escape!!’
The Great Warrior Chief shouts. He has completely forgotten to speak politely to Ledus as he himself is utterly confused by the mayhem.
“kku, I understand!”
Ledus complies and positions himself to escape.
However, an arrow almost grazes his ear as he tries to escape.
“Oioi, equestrians don’t show their back, right?”
Muzio prepares his bow as he said so.