Chapter 49：Beginning of Something Beautiful

After days worth of marching, the Porrish army finally came to a standstill as they faced off against the Drussian army atop a large grassy plateau, with sparse hills and inclines spread out amongst the fields.

Dark clouds that blocked most of the sunlight, if not all of it, loomed overhead. These dark clouds helped to create a sombre and oppressive aura, which reflected most of the Porrish soldiers' current confidence and morale.

However, that was not to say that the Porrish army had lost all hope.

Quite the contrary actually.

The reason that the Porrish had such high morale came from one thing and one thing alone.

And that was the fact that their very own king, King Stefan Heinen Naftes IV, was at the front of his army, ready to lead them all into battle.

"Why are they placing some of their cannons at the front? Aren't they aware that most of our forces consist of cavalry, which can easily overwhelm their cannons?"

Soon, the confused voice of one of King Stefan's royal knights entered Stefan's ears as they surveyed the Drussian formation.

It looked exactly like what was described during the 'Battle of Vlate Plains', the first victory won by the Drussians against the Paniards. Not only was that battle a milestone which signified the turning of the Panish-Drussian War, it also highlighted another aspect of the Drussian army.

And that was how enigmatic the leader of this Drussian army and now emperor of the Imperium of Drussia, Maxwell Von Galnus Dunnwal, actually was.

Not only did he lead his men to victory against the Paniards, but he led them to a crushing victory as well, with the casualty rate stacked heavily against the Paniards.

And now, Stefan was sure that he was going to learn first hand the truth behind the mysterious Maxwell's exploit, or at the very least, some small clue about it.

Soon, Stefan answered the knight.

"What does it matter? This doesn't change our battle plan, does it?"

During the battle of Vlate Plains, the Paniards stretched out their lines in order to match the Drussians in formation length, expecting that their superior technology and numbers would help them achieve victory.

Of course, they were proven to be wrong, and for that mistake, it cost them their lives.

Eerily, from the rumours, none of the Paniards ever returned to Espain and apparently, some even said that the prisoners of war who weren't executed just 'disappeared into thin air.' Whatever, it was, Stefan knew that he couldn't let the same fate befall upon his own subjects.

After a few short moments, the very same royal knight who had questioned the Drussian formation answered Stefan's question.

"No... I believe it does not."

The battle tactic in question was something exactly opposite to the Paniard tactics. Due to the army composition of the Porrish consisting almost exclusively of lancers, cossacks and winged hussars, it would make much more sense for them to take a more… direct approach.

With something like the enemy's square formation to watch out for, it would be best to avoid spreading their cavalry forces too thin. Instead, it would be best to concentrate all of the army at a single point.

In essence, it was the wedge formation, but rather than a single legion or squad of cavalrymen creating the formation, it was the entire Porrish army that would form this massive figurative spear, which focused all of its power on a single point.

From that single concentrated point that contained all of the power that the Kingdom of Porrand could muster, Stefan, along with with his royal knights, advisors and noble 'friends', hoped to pierce the Drussian lines, cutting deep into their formation.

From there, the plan was to overwhelm the Drussian rear and reserves, which included most of their artillery as well as most of their commanding officers. They could maybe even take the life of the perpetrator of this very war, Emperor Maxwell himself.

However, this plan was not without its faults.

First of course, was the casualty rate.

Stefan was sure that at least a tenth of his horses would be gunned down by cannon and musket fire before they could close the distance, but when one looks at the grand scheme of things, this was nothing more than a minor sacrifice that one needed to make so as to ensure the future of their nation.

From Stefan's calculations, even with the Drussian's apparently higher rate of fire due to their intense drilling and 'fire by rank' tactics, due to the sheer inaccuracy of a musket, only a few unlucky men would end up getting gunned down during the charge.

Even with something as terrifying as the canister shot, which was invented by the Shwedesh around half a year ago, a large amount of troops rushing at once would still be able to overwhelm it and take it down.

However, there was also another problem that Stefan had to worry about.

And this was referring to how the wedge formation always had a 'lead rider' at its concentrated point to lead the rest of the riders behind him. As one would expect, this lead rider had to not only be an exceptional rider but someone who could rally the men to him as well.

For this battle, that lead rider would be none other than Stefan himself.

After a heated debate with his council, Stefan was able to convince them that the one leading the Porrish men into battle should be the king himself.

Not only could he rally the men extremely well under the pretext of 'fighting for their king', Stefan was also quite the exceptional horse rider. If there was only one person who could possibly lead the Porrish army, the answer could only be Stefan.

But this was not without any risks. As the lead rider, Stefan would be the first to charge into action and would most likely be the first target for the Drussians to aim at.

In other words, this could cost Stefan his life.

But yet again, when one looked at the bigger picture, they would understand that this was yet another risk that needed to be taken to secure Porrand's peace and prosperity.

With this in mind, Stefan gave what he knew was most likely his last order as the king of Porrand.

"Let us waste no more time!"

Stefan thrust his sword into the air as he made his proclamation and promise.

"Today, I shall fight among you, not as your king, but as a fellow friend fighting to preserve the future of our great nation! Remember this! Remember that we are not fighting for glory or petty lands but to defend Porrand and its peoples from those who seek to do harm against them!"

Stefan's speech riled up those around him, as more and more men seemed to turn enthusiastic and eager to fight for something they actually believed in.

"What do the Drussians fight for? They fight for meaningless greed and ambition! What reason do they have to win?! They have nothing to protect! Nothing to fight for! To me my warriors! Together we shall crush the Drussians who seek to do harm against our beloved homeland!"

Once Stefan concluded his speech, a sort of 'miracle' happened.

It started raining.

It started raining heavily.

And as it rained, Stefan suddenly felt the urge to once again shout out as loud as he could as he once again thrusted his sword into the air.

"See! With the heavy rain, the enemy's firepower should be weakened! This is proof that God himself is on our side! For the weather itself has swayed the battle into our favour!"

Soon, Stefan lowered the angle of his sword to point it at his target before he spurred his warhorse in action, charging towards the enemy. And with that,the fight for Porrand finally began.

Within moments, a massive 'spear' made of horses formed as it set upon a collision course with the Drussian invaders.

It was at that decisive moment that the fate and future of the Kingdom of Porrand was forever sealed. When one looked at it from the context of the situation as well as from Stefan's perspective, one could understand why Stefan had made the choices that he did.

In essence, he chose to do what he believed was best based on the information he was able to work with.

The only problem with this was that the conclusion that he arrived to was completely wrong.

...

"How predictable..."

That one comment was all Erika needed to say to display her impression of the Porrish army's actions.

Of course, Erika received no response to her remark. The only ones who were accompanying her were her own personal guard after all.

The other commanding officers were sent to the left and right flanks to ensure that the plan was properly followed as well as to deal with any unforeseen circumstances that may threaten the Imperial Army's chances of victory.

On the other hand, Maxwell himself was at the rear-most end of the army with three Omega Corps infantry battalions and four Omega Dragoon Divisions guarding him, all of whom were ready to arrive at the main force's aid should there be any unexpected developments in the battle.

As for the main force itself, it was composed of fifteen Alpha Corps infantry battalions and eight Alpha Dragoon Divisions along with a multitude of auxiliary divisions from both Army Corps to man the dozens of heavy weapons that the Imperial Army had deployed.

Since Maxwell remained at the extreme-rear of the army, he had ceded most command of the battle to Erika, basically making her the sole commander of this entire battle until she was superseded by Maxwell himself.

With this thought in mind, Erika could not stop the smile from forming on her face.

The last time she was in charge of most of the battle operation like she was now was when she was sent to deal with the Ostrians with nothing more than a single dragoon division and a couple dozen artillery divisions during the original Drussian-Panish conflict.

Of course, Erika led her men to a flawless victory and suffered next to no casualties while the Ostrian army had been decimated, but there was still a single problem with the outcome of that particular operation.

And that was the fact that Maxwell was completely unable to witness Erika's great achievements.

But now... things were different to before.

This time, Maxwell was right behind her, waiting for the results of the battle.

With that smile still on her face, Erika said something to herself as she watched the Porrish army draw closer.

"Just you wait, my beloved Maxwell... I'll show you something truly beautiful."