A Great Victory

Listening to the sounds of fighting coming from ahead, Paul gradually grew tense.

The soldiers performed better than last time. None of them charged recklessly, because one company had been kept beside Paul as a reserve force, while Bryce and the other senior officers had also rushed into battle. Although Paul opposed senior officers personally fighting on the front lines, their presence had indeed raised morale considerably.

But the situation still gradually took a turn for the worse. His side was slowly revealing signs of weakness, and the two sides steadily moved toward Lakeheart Town.

Paul grew anxious. "Send in the reserve force."

Schroeder shook his head. "It's not time yet."

Just then, someone came to report that suspicious figures had appeared by the pier on the other side of the town, looking like another group of pirates.

Schroeder said, "Send the reserve force over there."

Paul sighed. "Fortunately, we kept the reserve force back just now. Otherwise, it would be bad news if another group of pirates charged into the town."

The company serving as the reserve force began running quickly toward the other side of the town.

The reserve force's transfer immediately caused trouble. The soldiers fighting ahead assumed that their lord was abandoning them and secretly retreating, so many of them immediately broke away from the battle and ran back this way.

"We haven't sounded the Retreat Horn! All of you, get back here!!!"

When Bryce and the other officers saw people running back, they shouted furiously while fending off the enemy. Some returned to the battlefield, but many others refused to listen.

His side's disadvantage became even more obvious...

Just then, the old knight Schroeder moved.

He spurred his horse forward and quickly closed in on a fleeing soldier. Drawing his sword, he swung it in one stroke.

It happened almost in an instant. No one clearly saw his movements. By the time Paul reacted, the deserter's head was already gone. After hitting the ground, it rolled round and round until it reached beneath his horse.

The headless body crashed to the ground, while the blood spurting from its neck quickly dyed the earth red.

The soldiers fleeing backward, along with Paul and the others, were stunned by the brutal display.

The old knight's eyes were wide with fury. The veins on his flushed neck bulged, and those standing nearby could almost feel something driving the air toward them.

"This is what happens to deserters!!!"

His mighty roar, like pealing thunder, rang across the battlefield and struck the hearts of everyone present.

"Provost Marshals, heed my order! Anyone who dares retreat will be dealt with like this. Kill without mercy!!!"

All the Provost Marshals froze. They looked at one another, unsure how to respond.

"Didn't you hear my order?" The knight turned and glared at them. His attendant Joyce immediately drew his sword and pointed it at the still-dazed Provost Marshals.

One glance from the old knight left the confused Provost Marshals terrified. Fear quickly reminded them what they were supposed to do after receiving an order from a superior. "Yes!!!" they shouted in unison, then raised their spears at the fleeing deserters.

If I disobey the order, I'll probably be the next one to lose my head.

"Let's fight the pirates!" someone shouted first. The routed soldiers returned to the front line and fought the pirates. Since retreating meant death anyway, they might as well go back and fight. Killing one enemy made it worth the price; killing two was a profit. If they were unfortunate enough to die in battle, their families would still receive a substantial compensation. Earl Greiman always kept his word.

The battle line finally stabilized. Although Schroeder's methods had given him quite a shock, Paul still breathed a sigh of relief.

The officers shouted loudly as they rallied the soldiers under their command. The companies gradually restored their formations. In terms of numbers, equipment, and organization, the army had already held a firm advantage over the pirates. Now that everyone was resolved to fight to the death, they immediately inflicted heavy casualties on the pirates.

The results of their earlier training now became apparent. Under their officers' commands, the soldiers formed spear formations by platoon and advanced slowly but steadily, gradually forcing the pirates back toward the water.

"All mounted men, rally to me!!!" Schroeder shouted as he and Joyce rode into the battlefield. After gathering all the knights, they first circled around and quickly withdrew from the battle. Then they turned their horses around and lashed them fiercely. Stung by the pain, the war horses charged desperately toward the mass of pirates.

The rapidly charging cavalry nearly split the pirates' formation in two. Large numbers of unfortunate men blocking the way were knocked down and trampled to death. This became the final straw that broke the pirates' resistance. The pirates, already showing signs of defeat, scattered in all directions and fled toward the shore. Some threw down their weapons and knelt, raising their hands in surrender.

"Double time!" Bryce ordered from the ground, having dismounted to fight on foot. The soldiers maintained their formation while quickening their pace and rapidly pressing toward the water.

When the pirates saw the guards chasing them, they immediately pushed their boats away from the shore, jumped into the water, and scrambled aboard.

"Now's our chance."

Seeing that nearly half the pirates were no longer onshore, Paul immediately ordered the signalman to sound the Charge Horn.

"Dee~ dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee~ dee~ dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee~"

The bright sound of the military horn rang across the battlefield.

"Charge!!!"

In the eyes of the retreating pirates, the territorial guards suddenly seemed to have been injected with stimulants. They abruptly sped up, abandoning their formations as they charged toward them with eyes blazing.

"Move aside!" "Let me on first! I'm going first!" "Fuck off!"

For a time, pleas and curses rose one after another across the lake.

No one knew where the bearded leader had gone. With no one to lead them, the pirates naturally had no thoughts of turning the tables. All they could do was shove and curse at one another, terrified that they would not make it onto the boats.

When they saw the soldiers reach the shore, the pirates already aboard began rowing, and all the boats drifted farther and farther away.

"Wait for me!!!" "May your sons be born without assholes!" "Drop dead!"

The pirates who had jumped into the water but had not yet made it aboard cursed their companions for abandoning them. Some desperately swam after the departing boats.

Some underlings remained onshore. After resisting for a while, they were either killed or surrendered.

At that moment, a squad of soldiers rushed to the shore. They were the Firearm Soldiers sent to beat the drowning dogs.

Six musketeers had already loaded their ammunition. They raised their guns and fired toward the pirate boats, while the other soldiers pulled out Bamboo Fire Tinder and began lighting the Hand Grenades.

Although the Smoothbore Gun's accuracy was rather poor, the boats had not yet gone very far, and they were packed with people. As a result, the volley achieved excellent results.

As white smoke rose from the Matchlock Guns, four pirates on one boat suddenly erupted in sprays of blood. The tremendous kinetic force carried by the Lead Bullets sent two of the wounded pirates straight into the lake, their fates unknown.

Of the remaining two, one had been struck in the chest and immediately had barely any breath left in him. The other had been shot in the arm. All the strength seemed to be drained from his body in an instant, followed by an overwhelming wave of pain.

"Aaaah~~~!!!" He began shrieking miserably with all his might.

The people beside him immediately examined his injuries. They had never encountered anything like this before. The enemy had neither fired arrows nor used crossbows, so how had they wounded him? They tore open the wounded man's clothes, then sucked in breaths one after another.

"Witchcraft! Magic! It has to be black magic! That damned noble used evil black magic!"

Then something even more spectacular happened. Round objects came flying from the shore, each trailing a rope that fizzed and burned. Anyone with common sense could tell that they were certainly nothing good, so the pirates strained themselves to row faster.

The first Hand Grenade was thrown quite accurately, landing directly above one of the boats. There was a tremendous boom, and it exploded before it had even fully fallen. The pirates closest to the blast were blown into a bloody mess, and the entire boat erupted into chaos.

If the muskets had failed to attract much attention because there were too few of them, the commotion caused by the Hand Grenades was another matter entirely. Although nearly half of them fell into the water, the rest were more than enough to make the pirates feel as if they had been thrown into hell. Hand Grenades exploded one after another, sending shrapnel and iron nails flying in all directions. Explosions and the pirates' ghostly wails rose and fell across the lake.

"Blow these bastards to hell!" Makarov laughed loudly as he threw a Hand Grenade onto a pirate boat. Today's victory had swept away the gloom of their previous defeat, and he had finally vented his anger.

The pirates endured the explosions and rowed desperately. At last, they escaped the firearms' range.

Just then, the reserve force that had gone to the other side of the town sent someone to report. The other suspected group of pirates had merely watched for a while. Presumably, after seeing that the reserve force was larger and had been prepared in advance, they had not attacked. After seeing the bearded leader's defeat, they had also vanished immediately. The reserve force was therefore ordered to continue standing guard.

After winning a great victory, all the officers and soldiers were extremely excited. Cheers rang endlessly across the battlefield, and the pessimism that had long weighed upon the army finally dissipated. After watching the enemy disappear from sight, the earl ordered them to clear the battlefield and had the Provost Marshals publicize two orders: all spoils were to be turned over to the public, and prisoners were not to be abused privately.

At old knight Schroeder's suggestion, two cavalrymen set out in the direction the pirates had retreated to scout the enemy situation and guard against a possible counterattack.