Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 184

By the command of Lady Valiere, non-combatants such as sutlers and traveling entertainers were moved to the rear.

I, too, led two donkeys and somehow managed to reach the hill.

It can be said that we have reached a safe zone, but if Lady Valiere is defeated, we too will be robbed of all our possessions and likely starve to death.

Or perhaps we’ll be killed by the overzealous knights of Archbishop Mainz.

Amidst everyone’s distracted spirits, trying to glimpse the situation on the battlefield—

Suddenly, I noticed a young girl and a nun of the Cologne Sect deep in conversation beside me.

“The hill you mentioned is gentle in its slope, and it’s not quite high enough to overlook the entire army from here.”

“If it were truly high ground, Archbishop Mainz would have secured it first. This area is a plain, well-suited for the cavalry of the Mainz Monastic Knights to excel. They could also leverage their superior numbers. Unfortunately, the Archbishop is not incompetent.”

I did not know their names, but I was aware of who they were.

The child was, I believe, a retainer brought by a messenger from Princess Anastasia.

The other was a former mercenary captain who had just become a knight, now being taught literacy by a scribe of the Cologne Sect.

“I did bring a valuable communication crystal, but it seems pointless now.”

“Well, even if you were to inform Lady Valiere that you could see deep into enemy territory, there’s not much she could do. Our army isn’t trained well enough to change combat formations on the fly.”

The two seemed more educated than a mere horse lender like myself.

They conversed openly, hiding nothing from anyone.

“The main force of Lady Valiere’s army consists of mercenaries and the Black Knights. While many are skilled in personal and small unit combat, in a battle as sudden as this, it will likely revert to a primitive form—”

The child drew a horizontal line on the ground with a wooden sword she had hanging at her waist.

It was a simple diagonal line.

She probably simplified the battle formation, tapping the left end of the line with a stick.

“The forces are concentrated to the extreme on the left wing. Lord Berlichingen’s cavalry, the Black Knights experienced in mounted combat, and a line of noble messengers who left me out of the battle as a nuisance.”

The child puffed her cheeks as she scraped the ground with her wooden sword.

“The way for Lady Valiere’s forces to win is simple. If Lord Berlichingen’s cavalry can flank and collapse the enemy line, then we have a chance. If they can locate Archbishop Mainz amidst the chaos and defeat him, all the better.”

Such a simple plan, the child declared.

The scribe of the Cologne Sect frowned.

“It won’t be so easy. As I said before, Archbishop Mainz is not incompetent. He’s an elector with extensive battlefield experience. He’ll easily anticipate our moves, at least enough to guess our intentions the moment he sees us. His monastic knights are well-drilled and can easily adjust their formation in response, focusing their forces to counter ours and resist breakthroughs.”

The scribe took the wooden sword from the child and drew a single line.

He tapped the right end of the line, indicating a concentration of forces on the right to counter ours.

“As much as I hate to praise the enemy—Archbishop Mainz does not favor surprise tactics, nor does he allow his opponent any leeway to attempt them. He will likely try a straightforward push with his superior numbers, maintaining a solid frontline to crush us. He won’t even try to encircle us.”

It’s more likely that Lady Valiere’s forces will be attacked from the flank.

If it were me, I would keep a unit of cavalry ready behind our lines to respond immediately. I drew a circle on the ground.

“If Lady Valiere’s line breaks even slightly, then charge through that gap. Or if the battlefield becomes stagnant and morale drops, making it difficult for their lines to move, then rush the unguarded right wing and take their rear. That itself could present a chance to defeat Lady Valiere, given the surplus of forces.”

Such a simple discussion.

Even someone unversed in military tactics like me could understand this level of strategy.

The scribe, oddly competitive with the child, received a smile in response.

“That’s right. If it’s a battle we can win by playing normally, Archbishop Mainz will do just that, as Lady Sabine also mentioned. Honestly, if this battle were fought properly, there would be no chance of winning.”

The numbers are fewer, the equipment inferior, and the training doubtful.

These are the discarded, the remnants left behind.

There’s no way they could properly confront a knightly order and win.

The opponent is born into a standing army, trained from childhood, truly embodying violence.

The weak cannot defeat the strong in this world’s system.

The child counted on her fingers, whispering each reason we would lose one by one.

“Well, with a battle like this, we are sure to win. Lady Valiere’s victory conditions are far too favorable.”

The child said this with an air of boredom, as if it wasn’t even worth pondering, plainly unamused.

“Victory conditions?”

“Essential conditions for ensuring victory are excessively met.”

Let me explain as someone who has dabbled a bit in military science, the child said. It might seem arrogant, but to this horse lender, the child in front of me does not seem foolish. Rather, I thought she might be smarter than someone poor like me.

“One factor is psychological. Archbishop Mainz’s knights originally came here to arrest Lord Berlichingen and conduct a heretical inquisition on the Cologne Sect. Their purpose was not to wage war. Their numbers were gathered merely as a backdrop for violence, expecting only minor skirmishes. They were under the mistaken belief that they were the strong, unilaterally exploiting others. Some of the older, stronger ones are fine, or real knights who, when it comes to war, can quickly resolve to commit violence as part of their job—”

How many true knights like my master are there on the opposing side?

Is there morale?

Is there spirit?

Is there honor?

Indeed, an orderly and disciplined troop, perfected in completion, could never be broken by the unreliable. That is the nature of an army. It is violence created from the culmination of rationality. But, are Archbishop Mainz’s knights truly perfected in completion?

“Conversely, Lady Valiere’s forces probably aren’t thinking of the consequences anymore. They aren’t afraid of retaliation for the violence they commit. Their instinct for self-preservation has been obliterated by the forces of oblivion. Lady Valiere has transformed them. By tapping their shoulders with a sword, by holding their hands, by speaking to them, she has formed the most primitive form of master-servant contracts with them.”

Lady Valiere has a charisma that surpasses anyone else when it comes to the sulky ones who have been abandoned by everyone else.

She demands obedience and recognition, and in return, fulfills the hopes of the sulky ones. That authority alone she has held since birth as the elector’s second child.

“She showed affection that even the sulky ones, abandoned by everyone, could understand. She could never abandon those whose hands she has held.”

That’s why it’s okay.

If it’s for Lady Valiere, who has noticed me, I would be willing to die, capable of fulfilling the master-servant contract. Countless true knights would think so. Thus spoke the child.

“So, you believe we can win?”

“Just spirit isn’t enough to win,” the scribe muttered hesitantly. The deacon who guided me the other day said we mustn’t forget to dream, but we also must not forget reality. It’s probably the consensus of the Cologne Sect.

“That alone won’t win a war. What we discussed are reasons why Lady Valiere’s front won’t collapse even if overwhelmed by sheer force. Reasons why they can resist self-preservation and fear. If they can continue their combat spirit, anything is possible. Frankly, if they can maintain their lines for a long time, this war can be won. If everyone in the army resists desperately, if they can protect Lady Valiere for a certain time, there’s a reason they can win.”

This is just praising that Lady Valiere has met the prerequisite conditions for waging a war under overwhelming force disparity.

Well, after all, priests of the Cologne Sect are dispersed throughout the mercenary groups, firing muskets at the front lines while shouting as combat Madonnas.

No one would be scared, right?

After a rather ambiguous assessment of whether they were praising the Cologne Sect or not, the child laughed.

“The second reason is simpler. The concentrated forces on our left wing will simply crush Archbishop Mainz’s knights.”

That fear will spread extensively, and Archbishop Mainz’s knights will abandon their fallen comrades and refuse to join the battle line.

Following their instinct for self-preservation, they will rely on Lady Valiere’s mercy after the battle ends.

Everyone will be stunned, then panic will set in, and weapons will slip from their hands.

As if everything was certain, the child finished speaking.

The scribe nun muttered doubtfully.

“Is that because your master, the messenger, is there?”

“Of course, that’s right.”

What else could there be?

As if saying what else is needed, the child puffed out her chest.

“I am sincerely praying that it happens, right here.”

The scribe clasped her hands and carefully knelt down as if praying to God.

As if to say there was no need for such actions, the child stared in the direction of the battlefield.

To me, it all sounded like the nonsense of a child.

And yet, I couldn’t help but hope that it would come true.