"Good."
Laura nodded.
She wanted to rush out immediately to check on her liege lord's condition, but Laura held back, knowing this was the most critical juncture of the battle. Now that she knew he was safe, she could exercise patience.
"Your Highness, our cavalry on the right flank is routing!"
"It's fine. This is the expected sequence."
The adjutant's urgent report snapped Laura's attention back in an instant. The outcome of this battle hinged on this very moment. Would the Helvetian mercenary company break through the center first, or would the Republic's cavalry seize both flanks first?
"The left flank is still holding. Don't panic. The cavalry will buy us time."
"Yes...!"
"Tell the retreating units to flee as far as they can. They should be able to buy us a little more time."
If the Republic's cavalry seized both flanks before they broke through the center, the Imperial army would suddenly find itself surrounded on three sides and subjected to concentrated fire. That was precisely why the enemy had used the militiamen as sacrifices to reinforce the center. Meanwhile, Laura's side had deployed the Ogres to force part of the knight order into the center.
One step forward, one step back. A fierce offensive-defensive battle was unfolding. The line teetered on the edge—seemingly about to break, yet never quite giving way, a precarious tightrope act. Just when the center finally seemed to break through, Elisabeth immediately deployed her detachments to plug the gap.
"Our abilities at commanding units seem evenly matched... But our tendencies are complete opposites."
Laura smiled.
Laura de Farnese fundamentally handled her units on a large scale. Each regiment held roughly twenty-five hundred to three thousand troops—never fewer than two thousand, no matter what. Elisabeth, on the other hand, clearly used regiments of fifteen hundred at most.
In other words, Laura preferred heavier, more powerful blows. Elisabeth, while sacrificing some raw power, maneuvered her forces with speed and precision. Shock power or mobility. The eternal dilemma of military strategists clashed fiercely on this plain as well.
About an hour after the battle began, the tide shifted.
Elisabeth had concentrated her forces through the opening that Daisy had temporarily torn open. The Republic's Sword Masters charged in unison like a pack of ravenous wolves. This ferocious assault made Laura break into a cold sweat.
A gamble!
Elisabeth must have judged that if the battle continued as it was, the Republic would be at a disadvantage. She had dispatched the Sword Masters on the spot to change the course of the battlefield. Laura, in turn, immediately poured her reserves into the center.
"Mobilizing the militia was your fatal mistake."
The goddess of victory had dealt her hand in Laura's favor.
When the Sword Masters charged all at once, their power was indeed formidable. They widened the gap Daisy had created even further, ultimately breaking through the Empire's first line. But even in this dire crisis, Laura responded with composure.
First, Laura did not pull back the first line. Instead, she advanced the second line forward to intercept the Sword Masters.
"This current charge is certainly sharp and terrifying."
Laura issued a ceaseless stream of orders, her eyes glinting coldly.
"But the forces backing the Sword Masters are weak! Militia cannot collapse our Imperial battle line. A gap may have opened, but that is all! Even if they pierce through, they will never bring us down!"
Laura's judgment proved impeccably correct.
The Sword Masters were blocked by the Empire's second line and lost their breakthrough momentum. The mages and archers poured fire onto the Sword Masters, even at the cost of friendly casualties. The special assault team composed of Sword Masters began to falter.
"All units, advance! Push them back! Press forward at all costs!"
Laura herself rode her warhorse up and down the lines, waving her banner.
Her adjutants scrambled after her, drenched in sweat. Once Laura took this stance, no one could stop her. She shuttled between the first and second lines, shouting, "Advance! Advance!" It was an order so bold it bordered on the insane.
No matter that their breakthrough momentum was spent, the first line had still been pierced by the Sword Masters. Pulling troops back to reorganize and catch their breath would have been the sensible move. Yet here she was, screaming for them to advance!
"Obey the Duchess's command!"
"You green recruits, forward! Push them back!"
But the Helvetican mercenaries obeyed without hesitation. For better or worse, the Helvetican mercenary company was becoming Laura de Farnese's personal army. To them, the orders of their revered Commander-in-Chief were absolute.
Thousands of soldiers moved forward as one. The Republic's militia could hold no longer. They had been the same militia that held firm against the Ogres' rampage, but battered and wounded, it was impossible to withstand the momentum of seasoned warriors.
Advance, advance, advance without end!
"Squeeze the enemy's center from both flanks! Do not worry about your backs! Your Commander-in-Chief fights alongside you!"
Laura's warhorse reared high on its hind legs. The blue hydrangea banner cut through the wind, fluttering brilliantly. Amid the battlefield saturated with magic and arrows, she alone held her head high.
There lay the drama of absolute power.
"Long live Her Grace the Duchess!"
"The Goddess protects Her Grace!"
The Helvetic mercenaries pressed the militia even harder. The militia began to crumble steadily.
As a result, the Republic's special forces found themselves isolated deep behind enemy lines. There was no supporting force at their backs. The special forces' remarkable charge had failed to turn the tide of battle, and they were simply being whittled down bit by bit.
Several Sword Masters pulled out instantaneous-charge grimoires, but the mages had already formed anti-magic barriers. They had no choice but to endure the barrage desperately. Before long, as their grim fate became sealed, the Sword Masters let out one final war cry and charged.
"For the Republic!"
They perished to a man in a blaze of glory.
At this point, Consul Elisabeth sensed defeat.
"So we've fallen for it."
She murmured the words with such dispassionate calm that even Kurz Schleiermacher, standing right beside her, was taken aback. Elisabeth even allowed a faint smile to linger at the corners of her lips.
"Our attack briefly split their center in two. To seize on that as an opportunity for encirclement and charge at us so boldly — the militia is now surrounded on three sides. There is no hope."
"Our elite troops are still intact. One could say we are now evenly matched."
"No. It is finished."
Elisabeth shook her head slightly.
"Why would they accept enormous casualties to encircle the militia on three sides? To funnel the militia toward their only escape route — the rear. And standing in that rear are the very elites our Republic prides itself on."
"Then..."
"Yes. Our own army is now blocking the militia's retreat."
Elisabeth stretched with a long, languid yawn.
It was a maddeningly composed gesture. Because of it, the adjutants around her failed to grasp that the Consul had just foretold their army's defeat. Elisabeth spoke in the Kalmar tongue.
"The militia will do everything in their power to fight their way back. Eventually, the ranks of our elite troops will descend into chaos as well. Those retreating and those trying to stop the retreat will clash with each other. The enemy will seize that chaos to surround even the elites."
"...I see. That is a grave matter, Consul."
"Yes. A grave matter."
Kurz Schleiermacher's eyes narrowed to slits.
"What course of action do you intend to take?"
"There are three options before me. The first is to rally the routed militia and contain the chaos as much as possible. Well, that's out of the question. It's far too difficult to simply quell the confusion of a full retreat."
Kurz nodded. The first option was indeed out of the question. Pure armchair strategizing. It would only deepen the chaos without achieving anything.
"The second is to retreat together with the militia entirely. Hunker down in Munich and weather a siege, if need be. The problem, however, is how to manage the retreat while fending off the enemy's pursuit. The losses would be considerable."
"Yes. At best, it's only a second-rate option."
Kurz Schleiermacher already had a premonition of what the third option was. His gaze sharpened.
"Consul, what is the final option?"
"To execute the militia."
Elisabeth said it simply.
"Rain arrows on the retreating militia and level our spears at them. The militia will be thrown into a panic, unable to advance or retreat. In the end, the desperate militiamen will charge — reasoning that they'd rather die by the enemy's swords than by our own spears."
And just like that, the chaos would vanish.
A suicidal charge would not accomplish anything truly significant, but it could at least serve to bog down the enemy. Not only would the chaos caused by the rout disappear, but it would also drain the stamina of the Helvetika mercenary corps.
"This is the best course of action."
A stratagem that killed two birds with one stone.
A stratagem obtained through the merciless slaughter of one's own citizens.
"...Which option will the Consul choose?"
Kurz Schleiermacher asked quietly.
Kurz had always detested those in power. The reason he had pledged his loyalty to Elisabeth was that he was curious whether she could truly achieve the impossible balance between power and nobility — two elements perfectly at odds with one another.
A noble ruler was a contradiction in terms. An impossibility. But he wanted to see how that contradiction would play out. He wanted to know what destination Elisabeth von Habsburg, the human being, would ultimately reach. That was the driving force behind Kurz Schleiermacher.
If that ending amounted to her degenerating into just another tyrant, then Kurz would no longer feel any allure in remaining at her side. It would be more fitting to execute Elisabeth with his own hands.
Since meeting Dantalion, that creature, the Consul had been corrupted.
If it were the Consul of old, she would never have mobilized the militia in this battle. If those who ruled the nation were the ones in power, then those who defended it must be as well. That was how she would have thought — and she would have evacuated every civilian other than the volunteer soldiers to safety……
'Well, you've already abandoned your convictions under the pretext of confronting Dantalion. Even if you die by my blade now, you'll have no grounds for excuses.'
Kurz Schleiermacher steeled his resolve. He had not lived his life this long because he wished to serve a dictator blinded by victory. Assassinating the Consul at a moment like this would mean his own death as well, but in the end, all humans were going to die, weren't they? Kurz was a lighthearted sort.
"Of course we sacrifice the citizens."
Elisabeth smiled.
"I'd like to make that decision, Kurz, but it seems you're the kind of man who remains half-hearted to the very end. You marched onto the battlefield ready to throw your convictions to the dogs, yet when the moment actually comes, you simply can't bring yourself to act like that man."
"……."
"The reason I first asked the militia to make that sacrifice was because I believed we would win. Now, because of my miscalculation, they've been backed into a corner. I simply cannot bring myself to order them to raise their arrows and spears against us."
Elisabeth gazed up at the sky.
"We're retreating to Munich. The enemy won't let us slip away easily. It's going to be a grueling fighting retreat."
"……."
"General Schleiermacher. You might die. Will you follow my decision?"
Kurz Schleiermacher shrugged.
"See, this is why I say you're impossible to work for. Unless a man happens to get his kicks from being beaten down like me, who in their right mind would serve the Consul? Well, at least make sure my pay gets a proper raise. The tavern girls in Munich are eagerly awaiting my return, you know."
"I'm sorry, but that won't be possible."
Elisabeth furrowed her brow.
"Our republican government is drowning in chronic deficits. Just be grateful you've got enough to eat and keep your mouth shut, Captain of the Guard."
Elisabeth and Kurz locked eyes. A moment later, as if they had rehearsed it, both burst out laughing at the same time.
From the republican main camp, a flag was raised. A purple banner and a black banner fluttered in the wind.
That was the signal for a general retreat.