Chapter 285 - 217: Big Sis, It’s Too Cold
At Selas’s command, two hundred forty Grassland Warriors and sixty Citizen Cavalry let out a thunderous war cry. Spurring their horses into a frantic gallop, the very earth trembling beneath their hooves, they merged with the more than one hundred and fifty grassland riders already battling on the front lines to form a mighty cavalry force!
Ratifa, who had retreated from the formation in exhaustion, stared wide-eyed as the mighty cavalry force joined the fray.
’This is a Baron’s army?! It’s normal to have plenty of grassland horses, but this many warhorses? Could it be that in Henry’s fief, any horse can become a superb steed?’
’What a joke!’
The target of this newly-minted batch of Grassland Warriors and Citizen Cavalry was the Inferior Horned Beasts’ front line. Despite it being their first time on the battlefield, the Cavalry began to slice through the enemy’s formation with astonishing speed and flawless coordination.
They needed to break apart the swarming "ants" of the massive Inferior Horned Beast horde, relieving pressure on the infantry and increasing their capacity for sustained combat.
Their tactic was simple but incredibly effective, especially against the Inferior Horned Beasts. The Cavalry used their speed and mobility to carve the enemy’s formation into isolated pockets, which they then destroyed one by one.
Though the Inferior Horned Beasts were ferocious and fearless, they seemed clumsy and powerless before these well-trained Cavalry.
The Cavalry’s lances and sabers glinted coldly in the sun, each swing claiming the life of another Inferior Horned Beast.
Gaps began to appear all along the Inferior Horned Beasts’ line. They attempted to counter-attack, but the Cavalry’s nimble maneuvers caused their strikes to miss again and again.
As time wore on, the Inferior Horned Beasts’ resistance grew steadily weaker.
On the snow-covered ground, the bodies of Inferior Horned Beasts piled up like mountains, their blood staining the earth crimson.
For the Inferior Horned Beasts, the battle was nothing short of a merciless massacre.
’Curse them! These Southern Barbarians and their four-hoofed beasts, trampling our ranks! Slaying our warriors! Utterly detestable!’
Though they were numerous, their fate was sealed under the highly effective, combined assault of the cavalry and infantry.
Of course, when it came to efficiency, no one could compare to Henry. By himself, he had slain at least eight to ten thousand Inferior Horned Beasts!
The reason for such a wide margin of error was that the numbers were simply too great. The kill log on his Personal Attribute Panel was scrolling so frantically that it was impossible for Henry to keep an accurate count; he could only estimate.
The Cavalry were the hunters, and the Inferior Horned Beasts were their prey. It was a hunt devoid of mercy, governed only by the law of survival.
As the last Inferior Horned Beast fell, the sounds of battle gradually faded from the field.
The Cavalry gasped for breath, their warhorses equally exhausted, but with their courage and strength, they had brought the battle to a decisive close.
The din of the battlefield was gradually replaced by a profound silence.
The sun had long since set, leaving a final, blood-red afterglow to illuminate the land that had just witnessed such a fierce battle.
The battle had raged from afternoon until nightfall, lasting for hours. It was as if the heavens themselves were stirred by the conflict, and the sun and moon had lost their light.
The gasps of soldiers and the whinnies of warhorses gradually subsided, giving way to the biting-cold air.
The cold brought a quiet stillness, tamping down the thick stench of blood that hung over the battlefield.
A hint of relief appeared on the soldiers’ exhausted faces. They knew that, for tonight at least, they could make camp and rest here, rather than having to drag their weary bodies onward in search of a place to bivouac.
No one was thinking about how many Inferior Horned Beasts they had slain, or how much renown they had earned in battle.
All they wanted now was to rest.
The Auxiliary Soldiers and serfs got busy, clearing the battlefield and collecting the bodies of the fallen. They also gathered the Inferior Horned Beast corpses into piles for burning. The pyres provided some warmth, though the smell was far from pleasant.
The Auxiliary Soldiers and serfs had gone from shock and terror to lingering dread, and finally to outright numbness. There were simply too many corpses—so many that when they looked up, their world consisted of nothing but bodies below and the sky above.
Piles of Inferior Horned Beasts burned furiously, sending plumes of thick smoke into the air as flames writhed against the night sky. The surviving soldiers stared at the scene, lost in a quiet daze.
Claude distributed firewood, and soon large bonfires were blazing, providing warmth for the soldiers and driving back the surrounding darkness and cold.
Smoke from cooking fires rose from the makeshift hearths set up by the supply corps. Soldiers gathered around the bonfires, sharing simple food and water.
The Northern Lands were unlike other regions; the climate was too unforgiving. Henry had not been able to bring a wide variety of foodstuffs, so there would be no feast for the soldiers to celebrate their victory.
For the soldiers, simple food and hot water were enough to soothe their weary bodies.
They sat around the bonfires, gnawing on hard bread and salted flatbread and drinking steaming water.
The food quickly replenished their spent energy, bringing a small measure of warmth and comfort. The soldiers ate ravenously, eager to finish their meal and get to sleep, to finally give their exhausted bodies the rest they craved.
Some were so tired they felt dizzy, their limbs weak, running on nothing but sheer willpower. Their eyes betrayed a deep-seated exhaustion, but still they carried on.
Ratifa stood outside a camp tent, sitting on a rock. In her hands, reddened by the cold, she clutched a piece of buttered bread drizzled with honey, her gaze vacant as she stared at the burning pyres of Inferior Horned Beast corpses.