Chapter Thirty-One: Elegy of the Moris Empire (I)

The response of the English Empire and the Frankonian Empire to the Madrid Empire came as no surprise. After declaring war on Madrid, neither rushed to crush this foolish adversary; instead, the English Empire, as always, displayed its boldness by assembling one hundred thousand regular troops at the border. Their equipment was undoubtedly the finest in all of Europa: flintlock muskets, six-pounder smoothbore cannons, light cavalry, extra-long spears—every contemporary troop type was represented.

The Frankonian Empire, their ally, was less impressive in numbers. Even with advance preparations, they only managed to muster fifty thousand troops, including a force of ten thousand cuirassier cavalry comprised of military nobility, which created an intimidating presence. The remainder consisted of regulars and mercenary infantry; while the regulars were well-equipped with flintlocks and the like, the mercenaries’ arms were a hodgepodge. Though these mercenaries were seasoned veterans, aside from their formidable pike formations, those units armed with matchlocks and old artillery seemed rather lackluster. It was no wonder that the Frankonian Empire controlled only a third of the Gold Continent, while the English Empire claimed the lion's share; lacking industrial might, Frankonia simply could not keep pace with the times in terms of upgrading its arsenal. Nevertheless, their forces were more than sufficient for facing the Madrid Empire, whose so-called elite army of one hundred thousand still had at least half of its musketeers equipped with matchlocks!

The remaining hundred thousand troops were mostly conscripts, forcibly drafted by Madrid. Even the emperor knew these men could not be relied upon in battle. Such conscripts could only be counted on to maintain local order; if they were marched to the front, it would be a miracle if they didn’t turn coat for the pitiful wages Madrid could afford. In terms of finances, Madrid was nowhere near the wealthy English Empire, and even far behind Frankonia. The result of forced expansion was that the pay for these new troops was merely symbolic; their only benefit was barely enough food to keep them alive.

What the emperor of Madrid did not realize was that these conscripted local garrison forces had been thoroughly infiltrated by the powerful Germanic mafia. If anything happened to the ten thousand relatively loyal elite troops at the border, these new recruits would be the vanguard sending the emperor straight to the guillotine.

While the allied armies of England and Frankonia held a tacit stalemate with Madrid’s last reserves at the entrance to the Islesia Peninsula, the Morris Empire, eager for revenge, marched fifty thousand troops and ten thousand Holy Knights toward the border of Istanbul, where they soon encountered one another.

The last Defender Knight Commander of the Church of Light, leading the ten thousand cavalry, was shrewd. Taking advantage of the Morris Empire's eagerness for decisive battle, he lured the confrontation onto the plains near the Istanbul border, where the power of cavalry was exponentially increased.

Had Emperor Morris still been alive, he would never have allowed his loyal troops to engage the Holy Knights on the plains. The astute emperor understood such obvious truths. Yet because he always meticulously planned every tactic and strategy, his generals never had the chance to develop their own abilities, nor did he intend to cultivate any peerless commanders. The result was that Morris's generals became excellent executors, but not one was an agile-minded strategist.

They also knew the plains favored cavalry, but firstly, they believed their own army was elite and outnumbered the enemy five to one! Secondly, if they did not meet here, the Holy Knights would never foolishly charge; would both sides simply remain deadlocked? The generals of Morris Empire had no tactical acumen to devise a better plan.

Thus, whether out of confidence in their own troops or a desire to quickly annihilate the enemy and revive Morrisian morale, fifty thousand elite soldiers of the Morris Empire met the ten thousand Holy Knights as scheduled on the plains.

The Istanbul region was mostly hills and mountains, famed for its hardy infantry but lacking war horses. Thus, Morris's army included only a few cavalry units; the majority were well-drilled infantry.

Upon encountering the Holy Knights, the Morrisian troops shifted from column to line, forming Morrisian squares. Long pikes angled toward the sky, flanked by ranks of flintlock-wielding infantry. Each square maintained gaps between formations, advancing slowly on the Holy Knights’ array. When the armies were about two miles apart, the fifty thousand troops halted at the blare of the military band, and the artillerymen quickly deployed batteries in the gaps between squares. Six-pounders and three-pounders filled the spaces, making the formation even more solid, with a small number of cavalry patrolling the wings—not expecting to charge, but only to delay any enemy flanking maneuvers long enough for the infantry to adapt their formation.

Compared to the neat, brightly flagged, sharply edged squares opposite, the Holy Knights’ formation seemed rather ordinary.

The lone Defender Knight Commander simply divided his cavalry into two groups. The purpose of this division was quite ruthless: the first group, smaller and lacking battlefield experience, had but one virtue—zealous faith in the God of Light. They would sacrifice themselves without hesitation, and their task was precisely to die.

The Commander and the main force, comprised mostly of veterans—eight thousand in total—formed the second group. Though called the second group, their charge would differ from the first; their superb riding skills enabled them to launch organized waves of attacks, crashing against the enemy ranks like relentless tides. The infantry squares would soon feel their sting.

On the plains, any commander knew that cavalry should charge first; only a fool would send infantry against cavalry. That was not bravery—it was idiocy.

Clearly, the Defender Knight Commander did not consider the Morrisian generals fools. After a brief exhortation, extolling the teachings of the God of Light to inspire morale, he gave the order: two thousand fervent believers thundered toward the Morrisian squares. The battle was about to erupt!