Assault

Sir Valas gave a heavy nod after hearing Reiner's order. His head, enclosed within a crimson gryphon helmet, spoke aloud, "As you command, my lord! We'll charge the enemy now!"

All the knights assembled together. Some squires even rode packhorses beside their masters. The five Crimson Gryphon Knights formed the spearhead of the charge, while Reiner's remaining sixteen knights followed behind them as the shaft of the blade.

This time, Reiner had committed every soldier he had, bringing out nearly his entire army. Aside from a small number of guards and squires, the castle had almost no defensive forces left behind.

The warhorses beneath the knights pawed at the ground, eager to charge, white vapor streaming from their nostrils. The horses wearing red iron barding beneath the Crimson Gryphon banners stood a head taller than ordinary warhorses. Even the mounts of inland knights could not compare. They looked exceptionally imposing.

The other knights' warhorses were fine breeds from the eastern nomads. Though slightly shorter at the shoulder, they were easy to raise, resistant to the cold, and had greater stamina than inland warhorses. They were perfectly suited to the frigid and resource-starved Northern Frontier.

The eager warhorses were reined in by the knights. They were all uncastrated stallions, their bodies filled with a combative nature. That made them the best choice for warhorses. Though they were somewhat harder to control, they would never show fear in battle and could kill enemies with their hooves.

"Morland Knights! Charge!" Reiner pointed his lance forward, his figure looking especially imposing amid the frozen, snow-covered landscape.

Upon hearing Reiner's order, the knights surged forward. The Crimson Gryphon Knights led the way, with the Morland Knights close behind. They did not start at high speed, moving only at the pace of ordinary soldiers jogging.

Under such thick snow, warhorses found running just as difficult as people did. After more than a month, the snow had been firmly compacted under its own weight, making rapid movement a mere fantasy.

However, warhorses were ultimately stronger than humans. After running over a hundred meters, they gradually picked up speed. The charge of twenty-one knights created an enormous din, the muffled thunder of hooves reverberating across the small battlefield.

The snow that had been compacted by its own weight was beaten back into its original state, becoming snow spray that drifted through the air. Countless flakes rose behind the charging knights like the tail of a meteor hurtling toward another planet.

A flurry of snow drifted into the Krad People's camp. They felt a chill run down the backs of their necks and could not help cursing the wretched weather. Thinking it had begun snowing again, they merely wiped the icy water from their necks and continued standing at the ready.

By then, the Morland Knights had reached the limit of movement in the snowy terrain. The red Gryphon Feathers on the helmets of the Crimson Gryphon Knights whipped violently in the gale created by their charge.

"Long live the Moreland Family!" the knights roared, shouting the battle cry used when charging. They possessed an unshakable determination to defend their homeland and claim their own glory through slaughter.

They raised the lances in their hands, pointing them at the completely unprepared enemies ahead. The Krad People still had no idea that disaster was upon them, and were only wondering where such a tremendous noise was coming from.

"Oh, ancestors, protect us! What is that?" It was only when the knights had charged to within roughly a hundred meters of the Krad People's flank and rear that the Krad People turned around and spotted them rushing over.

They had never seen warriors riding "strange reindeer" before. Whenever they had come to the Northern Frontier to raid in the past, the imperial lords had always gathered the residents and soldiers inside their castles for defense. The Krad People sometimes attacked castles, but they were repelled every time. Whenever there was no field battle, the knights in their eyes were merely elite infantrymen, no different from the warriors of their tribes.

Thus, they had no idea how terrifying it was for those riders to launch a charge atop warhorses.

Even so, the overwhelming might of the knights charging on their towering warhorses filled their hearts with terror. Panic and disorder immediately spread among the Krad People facing them.

The Krad People holding wooden clubs stared in horror at the enemies who had appeared in the distance. The knights, meanwhile, were brimming with confidence. As lifelong professional soldiers trained from childhood, most of them had undergone more than a decade of training and were highly skilled in every martial art. If not for the overwhelming numbers, they would never have regarded these Krad People, whose fighting ability was little better than that of serfs, as a threat.

The knights dug their boot spurs into the flanks of their warhorses, increasing their speed once more. With a thunderous crash, they were like a red-hot blade plunging into cheese, effortlessly smashing the enemy into disarray.

The Crimson Gryphon Knights at the front wielded steel lances weighing roughly ten kilograms. Only they, having obtained the Gryphon Bloodline, could bear such a tremendous weight.

Their immense strength meant they had no need to fear the recoil of their lances knocking them from the saddle. Thus, they used steel lances that would not break.

The lances pierced through several Krad People in succession. The warhorses beneath them likewise sent every enemy in their path flying. Those struck down either died instantly or suffered shattered bones, spitting blood and losing consciousness before being trampled into pulp by the galloping horses.

The charge of the Crimson Gryphon Knights drove the Krad People to the verge of collapse. They tore open a gap in the Krad formation, and the Morland Knights followed close behind, forming a wedge and widening the breach.

Once their wooden lances broke, the knights drew the Longswords or Morning Stars at their waists and hacked wildly at the enemies they passed. The thick furs offered no protection. With the suffocating force added by the horses' speed, the Longswords and Morning Stars still possessed unmatched power.

At that moment, only two unlucky Morland Knights had been knocked from their horses by the recoil of their lances. However, their thick armor and the snow beneath them provided ample cushioning. They had not even suffered a light injury, only feeling somewhat dizzy.

"Damn it! What happened?" The Highlander chieftain sensed the disturbance at the rear of the formation. The cries and screams from there had already drowned out the sounds of battle at the front.

Under the knights' charge, the Krad People fled in panic, wailing for their fathers and mothers. They no longer held any hope of defeating the enemy. The knights' charge had utterly broken them!

Blood gradually soaked into the white snow. The searing liquid melted a considerable amount of it, as if a clumsy painter had used red pigment to create an abstract work on a blank white canvas.

"Charge with me! Bury the enemy here once and for all!" Reiner shouted to the regular soldiers beside him.