Dragon Knight Chronicles ~ From a mere mercenary, rise to success through tactics! A small harem with the princess and the lord's daughter!? I'll also develop my territory! ~ - Chapter 122

Chapter 122   One-Winged Siege

In early August of the Unified Calendar, Year 568—

The Cade Alliance army marched northward, absorbing the forces of local nobles along the way, with the goal of confronting the Levin forces stationed near Saizeria Castle.

There were many conscripted peasants and mercenaries gathering for this campaign. One reason was that the enemy they faced was the demons—a common foe to all humans. Another reason was the strength of the Cade army.

In the Owen Alliance Kingdom, military mobilization was calculated based on the harvest yield of Ishtar wheat, but it wasn’t only the wheat-eating populace that was counted. Charcoal makers from the mountains, hunters, beggars, and even lower-ranking nobles from abroad seeking temporary income were all included in the calculation of military strength.

By the time the Cade scouts pinpointed the location of the Levin army, the Cade forces had reached 20,000 pure combatants.

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Around this time—

I was stationed safely at the main camp as a guest commander under Don’s orders. Between our forces and the Levin army lay only a narrow, shallow river.

A messenger on horseback burst into Cade’s main camp.

“Reporting in! The enemy is estimated to number around thirteen thousand.”

“Well done.”

In this case, “around” was truly just an approximation. After all, our enemy was not human. It was a horde of creatures, both large and small, that could hardly be categorized as an ordinary army.

“Expand the wings! Form the Crane Wing formation!”

“Yes, sir!”

With Don’s command, more than a dozen mounted messengers scattered from the main camp. The Crane Wing formation was a strategy where the army spread out its left and right flanks in a wide, horizontal line. The key purpose of this formation was to place high-attack units on the outer wings and attempt to semi-encircle the enemy from both sides.

“Reporting in! The enemy has also spread their forces into a horizontal line in response.”

“Understood, well done.”

According to the messenger, the enemy extended their wings as well, likely to prevent themselves from being encircled. However, for the battle-hardened Don, this was within expectations.

“Send a messenger to Veroverma on the right wing! Tell him to break through the enemy’s left and attempt a one-sided encirclement. This will signal the start of the battle!”

“Yes, sir!”

Although Cade was renowned for its dragon knights, its cavalry units were also famed for their strength. This time, the Cade army had concentrated almost 4,000 cavalrymen on the right wing. The logic was simple—concentrating forces on one wing was far more effective than splitting them between both wings.

“Charge!”

“Attack!”

The sound of gongs and war drums signaled the charge, their thunderous roar echoing through the mountains.

The enemy’s front line, however, was composed of enslaved humans forced into battle. These poor souls wore no armor, wielding only short swords and small wooden shields. Their clothing was nothing but ragged scraps, making them a pitiful sight.

Behind them stood monstrous orcs, towering over two meters tall. These brutish creatures held thick whips, ready to strike down any human who dared to flee.

“Ignore the foot soldiers! Ride through them!”

“Yes, sir!”

With a cavalry force of 4,000, the impact was devastating. The well-trained warhorses trampled the enemy soldiers underfoot, while many of the mounted knights skewered the orcs with their long lances. Veroverma’s cavalry unit tore through the enemy’s left flank as if slicing through silk.

However, at that moment, a dark shadow appeared in the eastern sky.

“Griffins! It’s griffins!”

Griffins, a powerful creature combining the features of a lion and an eagle, were fierce monsters. Their bodies exceeded 10 meters in length, soaring through the skies, and, unfortunately for Cade’s cavalry, their favorite prey was horses.

A swarm of nearly 100 griffins descended upon the knights and their horses. The horses panicked, ignoring their riders’ commands, throwing many knights off and bolting away in terror.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

“Secure a path and fall back!”

Faced with the aerial assault, even Cade’s formidable knights were forced to halt their attack and withdraw. But the enemy pursued the fleeing knights relentlessly.

Levin’s enslaved soldiers had been promised freedom if they killed three of Cade’s warriors. Many of Cade’s knights, having lost their horses and weighed down by heavy armor, became easy prey for these desperate slaves.

“Crossbowmen and archers, support the knights on the right wing! Drive off the flying beasts!”

“Yes, sir!”

Don reacted swiftly, ordering his forces to repel the griffins that had pursued them so close to their own camp. Yet, killing the massive and powerful griffins was no easy task.

As Cade’s attack faltered, Levin’s monstrous forces seized the opportunity to counterattack. Ominous flute music echoed through the air, accompanied by eerie drumbeats.

“The enemy is focusing their assault on our right flank!”

Levin’s forces, sensing weakness, concentrated their attacks on Cade’s right wing, where the cavalry had been crippled by the loss of their horses. It was a natural strategy.

Meanwhile, Cade’s left flank had also engaged in battle, and the entire front was now under heavy assault from Levin’s army.

“We have no choice. Send the reserve dragon knights to support the right flank!”

“Yes, sir!”

At this point, Don decided to send his precious dragon knights to support the right flank. Without this move, the right flank would have been breached, and Cade’s forces would have faced an encirclement on one side.

… But the enemy’s true intentions were different.

“The enemy has shifted their main offensive to the center!”

“What?!”

As Cade’s army had lost its reserves, the enemy deployed their own reserves to strike directly at the center of Cade’s forces.

This central assault force was not composed of enslaved humans but of powerful monsters like ogres, towering over 3 meters tall, and trolls, hulking at 4 meters. These were creatures rarely seen in human territories.

“Don’t retreat! Fight!”

“Hold the line!”

Cade’s frontline commanders shouted, but the central force of Cade’s army was heavily comprised of mercenaries. These fighters were quick to recognize a losing battle, and while they excelled in winning fights, they tended to flee when the tide turned against them.

Levin’s central attack was devastating, and the frontline units were all but annihilated. The only force left to protect Don and me at the command center was the unit led by Viceroy Domel.