Chapter 50：Beautiful Blümelein

"So the Porrish really believed that the battle swayed in their favour once the heavy downpour began?"

Michelle interrupted the knight as he was telling her the recount of the battle. Soon after the interruption, the knight gave his reply.

"Yes... According to the information we 'acquired' from our sources in Porrand along with the information that the Imperium of Drussia was willing to share with us, we can conclude that the Porrish army's morale improved considerably once the heavy rainfall began..."

Michelle gave out a short chuckle when she heard the knight confirm what he had just told her before she spoke up.

"That's understandable. I'm guessing that the Porrish believed that the heavy rain would make it a lot more difficult for the Drussians to utilise their heavy weaponry and even their muskets in general since handling weaponry is a lot more difficult when it's wet after all."

Erika cupped her chin as she analysed the information that she had received so far.

"At the same time, this rainfall would turn a lot of the grass and dirt into mud, making it a lot more difficult for the Drussian army, which consisted mostly of infantry, to maneuver while the Porrish cavalrymen would have been virtually unaffected."

As Michelle said this, a malicious smile formed on her face.

"How pitiable... That mud only served as the foundation of their grave."

Once Michelle finished speaking, she noticed a somewhat strange expression on the knight's face. He looked almost as if he was in a trance.

"What... what is it?"

Soon, Michelle's voice brought the knight out of his trance before he made his response.

"I'm sorry my lady but... I just feel that you've changed recently..."

"Is that so?"

The knight's looked around the room quickly for a split second before he answered her question.

"Yes... it feels like you're... more open with your subordinates and talk more than before..."

Michelle nodded her head in response to the knight's remark.

"Ah yes, I've realised this particular development too... It would seem that this Maxwell character has sparked something lying deep dormant inside me that has been slumbering for a long, long time."

Soon, a period of silence followed before Erika again spoke up with an irritated voice.

"Well don't just stand there gawking... tell me everything else that happened."

...

As Erika watched the Porrish continue to draw closer from the distance, she took this quick moment to once again survey the formation of the main Drussian army.

The formation of the Drussian army was actually surprisingly simple, which was mostly due in fact to how symmetrical their formation actually was. The left and the right flanks of the main Drussian army were actually exact mirrors of one another.

Each flank consisted of five Alpha Corps infantry battalions as well as four Alpha Dragoon Divisions, two of which were in the outer layer while the other two were either in the extreme left or extreme right depending on which flank they belonged to.

On the other hand, the middle consisted of three infantry battalions while the other two stood in reserve with Erika.

This left the left and right flanks each with 9000 men, 5000 infantry men and 4000 dragoons that could act as pseudo cavalry in a pinch, while the middle consisted of only 5000 men even if one also included the 3000 in reserve that stood with Erika.

Of course there were also multiple artillery units spread out equally amongst the Drussian formation but they were largely inconsequential in influencing the strength in numbers of a particular area.

With only 5000 men, with 3000 of which not even in formation, the middle could be considered the weakest area of the Drussian formations.

From the standpoint of any conventional army from that time period, making the middle of your army the weakest was considered to be an extremely foolish decision. Weakening one of the flanks to strengthen the middle or the other flank was understandable, however the same could not be said for the middle.

Especially when there were numerous heavy weapons placed out in the middle that needed to be protected and especially since the opposing foe they were facing, the Porrish, were utilising what was basically a glorified wedge formation to pierce a certain section of their enemy's formations.

As one would expect, the section they were going for was the middle.

If Erika had to guess, the Porrish were probably hoping to cut through the weakest section of the Drussian army and ignoring the rest of the enemy troops by using their superior speed to overwhelm the Drussian artillery, reserves and commanding officers in order to sow chaos.

In all honesty, Erika had to compliment whoever within the Porrish army came up with such a daring and risky strategy. After all, it was a very bold all or nothing that would basically end with the entire obliteration of one of the two sides.

It was just such a shame that this sort of plan would have only worked against a more primitive army whose achievements in musket warfare had only scratched the surface or was left mostly undeveloped.

Against the reformed Imperial Drussian Armed Forces, which utilised only the most advanced form of military warfare and doctrine, this sort of strategy was doomed to fail.

While this may have worked against the older and smaller violet army, Erika was certain that there was no feasible way that the Porrish forces could even scratch the Drussian positions, let alone pierce their lines.

Not at the speed they were charging in right now at least.

For they were charging into what they perceived to be the easiest area to overwhelm, the middle.

However, that idea was far from the truth.

For the middle was where most of the gatling guns were placed.

In other words, the middle was a death trap.

There were simply no other words that could be used to describe it.

Once the Porrish passed the point of no return, there could only be one fate awaiting them.

Death.

Unbiased and unprejudiced death.

However, before the Porrish cavalry could cross into the firing range of the gatling guns and by extension, the Drussian infantry, there was another firing range which they had to go through first.

And that was the firing range of the artillery.

"Order the howitzer divisions to enter 'fire mode 1'."

The sound of horns blowing soon followed Erika's command to relay her orders to the numerous artillery divisions spread out evenly amongst the Drussian army's positions.

Once the sounds of the horns faded away, the entire Drussian army stood in complete silence with not a single sound being heard before-

Boom!

The sound of a single howitzer being fired was heard amongst the vast silent field and soon-

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

One after another, a series of howitzer shots repeatedly echoed themselves across all the Drussian positions.

However, this was not the best moment of the battle.

That was what came soon after.

Soon, Erika directed her attention towards the charging Porrish cavalry.

After a few seconds passed, the moment that Erika was so eagerly anticipating has finally arrived.

At first there was just one of them.

A single 'star' that formed after exploding out of nowhere in the air atop the Porrish cavalry.

But soon, that one single, lonely star was soon surrounded by similar beautiful stars in the skies, all of which illuminated the dark sky created by the sombre weather.

From what Erika knew, this should be the Porrish people's first encounter with airburst rounds which probably led them to the foolish decision of attempting to confront the Imperial Army, believing that they would use the same outdated 'round shots' used by other nations.

As for Erika herself, this was not her first time witnessing such an amazing scene, it wasn't even her first time witnessing it in a live action scene against a real opponent.

Yet she was still mesmerised by its beauty.

With starry eyes, Erika was unable to keep her mesmerisation within the confines of her own mind as she mumbled something quietly to herself.

"So... so beautiful..."

Although the heavy rain drowned out the sight of blood and the screams of pain, Erika knew that that the Porrish army had suffered a considerable amount of casualties. There was no doubt that their morale must have taken a massive blow.

Nevertheless, they still continued to follow through on their charge, it seemed that their resolve had remained undeterred.

Since 'fire mode 1' gave each artillery unit autonomy, this would allow the leader, the artillery captain of each unit, to discern when and where the howitzer would fire to maximise the damage done. As such, there were no periodical volley shots of the howitzers firing simultaneously.

Instead, it was a constant barrage of beautiful stars that exploded in the air before sending death and destruction to everything below it in its wake.

And to make matters worse for the Porrish, the shrapnel and bodies created by the howitzers has caused significant changes to the muddy and rough terrain, causing them difficulties in their charge.

Those who were unlucky enough to survive being knocked off their horse were trampled by their own comrades.

It was truly a sad sight.

However, to someone like Erika, this scene in front of her was not a sad sight.

Rather, it was something worth of praise, something that she could only describe as beautiful, as twisted as that sounded.

To her, this sight could only be described as a beautiful piece of artwork.

An artwork which emphasised the true beauty of being the one in command of an army during large scale battles such as this one.

Like how each brush and stroke on a canvas had meaning in creating a beautiful piece of art, each unit's placement and orders had a major role to play in creating a truly marvellous piece of art.

It was because of these beautiful moments created by the 'artwork' made by the respective commanders of each army that Erika dedicated herself wholeheartedly to the art of warfare.

Or at the very least, it was one of the main reasons.

However, that was not all that this battle had to offer.

There was still one more thing that Erika was just as, if not even more, excited to see in action.

If Erika had to make a comparison, she would describe this 'sight' that she was excitedly awaiting as the 'climax' of the battle, like the climax at the end of any story that thrilled anyone who read it.

It fact, Erika would argue that this climax was the only thing that would stick out in this already memorable battle.

With a smile on her face that Erika had unconsciously formed some time ago during the course of the battle, Erika gave her next order.

"Order the gatling guns to enter fire mode 1!"