New chapter of May Our Village be Happy is out (2/2 chapters)

Sniping the Main Camp

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“I see, the enemy has a wind magician.” (Mika)

Mika murmured this as he watched the battle that had finally begun from the top of a small hill.

On their side, one of the lords who had joined the engagement had brought a fire magician as a powerful asset, while the enemy evidently had a wind magician providing support.

As the name implied, wind magic that stirs the air was not well suited to direct assault but it had many practical applications.

One typical use was defense against long-range attacks. Arrows and hurled stones that travel on curved paths might have their force dissipated by strong winds. In truth the wind magician placed at the rear of the enemy formation, alongside archers and stone-throwers, was raising gusts with their art in order to disrupt the allied force’s long-range attacks.

It was impossible for a single person to shield the entire front line, and they did not seem capable of stopping the fireballs produced by fire magic. Even so, they were turning aside a considerable number of arrows and stones. As a result, the effect of our long-range attacks was somewhat lacking.

Overall, the situation was balanced for the moment. If the battle dragged on the enemy would press their numerical advantage and their hired mercenaries. Before that occurred we needed to neutralize the enemy main camp and drive the army into rout.

“Now then, it is time to begin.” (Mika)

Mika said that and moved to execute a surprise attack. Once the main forces entered the mêlée, the enemy would not be able to execute fine maneuvers. Even if Lord Mortimer became aware of their presence, it would be difficult for her to detach a significant force from the main body to respond. They could fight the enemy main camp alone.

Mika already wore gambeson underarmor and leather armor. He pulled a hood made of the same material as the underarmor over his head and then donned a helmet upon that. Fully equipped, he activated mind magic and lifted the ballista.

Cradling a repeating crossbow in his hands and holding the ballista with magic arms, he moved across the small, wooded hill so as to approach the enemy main camp as closely as possible. When he reached the tree line in a position where the trunks would not block her view, he drew the ballista’s string and prepared to fire. He placed the ballista in front of her and took aim at the enemy main camp.

Dimitri stood guard and two villagers accompanied Mika around him. Dimitri continued to watch their surroundings and protect Mika from behind. The two villagers had set a large shield upon the ground and assisted with the ballista attack. Jeremy helped with the ballista’s firing preparations and Fugo handled the loading of the bolts.

“All right, load. Use wooden bolts.” (Mika)

Fugo placed a bolt, nearly as long as a spear, upon the ballista.

They would use wooden bolts this time, made in the Valentine territory and sharpened to a fine point. There were only a few bolts with iron heads available, and these wooden shafts were employed to make up the shortage. A direct hit upon a human would still be grievous and as a deterrent they possessed sufficient force.

“Here I go. Fire.” (Mika)

Mika pulled the ballista’s trigger.

With a heavy sound as if the air itself were snapping, the drawn string unwound with the power of a torsion spring and the bolt was launched with tremendous force. The shaft, longer than Mika’s height, flew through the air and sped toward the enemy main camp more than two hundred meters away.

As he watched the bolt strike, Mika and Jeremy hurried to prepare the second shot. Given the distance, they could not expect a reliable hit. They must rain bolts in rapid succession so as to strike fear into the enemy.

The bolt fell to the left front of the enemy main camp at a distance of about 10 meters. Those within the camp took notice of the attack and suddenly became agitated.

A knight sitting on a warhorse beside a woman in military dress who appeared to be Lord Mortimer turned to face them while moving the horse to shield his lord. The other bodyguards also looked their way. It was unavoidable, but it seemed their position had already been revealed.

“Alright, load.” (Mika)

Mika ordered and Fugo set the next bolt in place with speed. Mika made a slight adjustment to the ballista’s aim.

“Firing.” (Mika)

Immediately after the second shot, Mika and Jeremy again hurried through the firing preparations. The bolt that flew through the air fell this time at the rear of the enemy main camp, closer than the first. The enemy must have even heard the arrow cleave the air.

As Mika confirmed that, he prepared to adjust the aim of the ballista that had a third bolt loaded when enemy bodyguards from the camp sallied forth to eliminate them. Two knights and four soldiers had come out.

“The enemy is coming. We will intercept them. Ready the shields.” (Mika)

At Mika’s command, Jeremy and Fugo hurriedly picked up the large shields placed upon the ground and stood before Mika. Dimitri gripped his battleaxe and round shield and prepared for close combat. The chance of a rear assault at this point was exceedingly low, yet he did not cease to remain vigilant.

Mika turned the already loaded ballista toward the approaching enemy and took aim at one of the soldiers. He pulled the trigger. The bolt struck the soldier’s torso. He had been running toward them to close the distance, but the bolt drove him backward with violent force. It passed through his chest and plunged into the earth. The soldier impaled upon the shaft lay motionless.

Having confirmed the ballista’s first tangible result, Mika switched weapons. He set the ballista upon the ground and used magic arms to levitate the repeating crossbow into the air. The remaining two knights and three soldiers advanced toward them in a loose formation. Mika peered above the shields Jeremy and Fugo had arranged and aligned the crossbow so that its aim matched her line of sight.

His priority was the mounted knights. He took aim at the knight on the right from his perspective and released the first shot. The high-velocity bolt struck the enemy knight. The immensely powerful blow from the large crossbow was not stopped by mail and the shaft lodged in the knight’s shoulder. He was unceremoniously thrown from his mount.

Mika drew the string of the crossbow with magic arms and targeted the next prey. He aimed at the other mounted knight and fired a second shot. That bolt missed, but the enemy knight was plainly shaken and his momentum for the charge faltered. The three soldiers displayed hesitation and refrained from further advance. Mika thought it likely that their plan had been for one or two men to close in and then dispatch the mind magician, and they had not expected bolts from a crossbow with such rapidity.

Mika felt some pity for the enemy caught in an unexpected storm of bolts yet he did not relent in the assault. Firing several bolts at intervals of one per second, one of them struck a horse and the rider was thrown down with his mount.

Next, Mika fired at one of the soldiers. The bolt penetrated his leather armor and struck him in the abdomen. He dropped his weapon and collapsed. He fired again at the soldier who had been approaching from beside him. The first bolt missed but the second struck the soldier in the face. He fell without a cry and did not move again.

His final bolt struck the mounted knight who had stubbornly risen even as his horse fell. At that moment a knight remaining within the enemy camp cried out loudly. Whether he ordered a withdrawal or not, one surviving soldier and the knight who had first been struck by a bolt but remained alive retreated.

“Oh, they are fleeing.” (Jeremy)

“They must have judged that further charges would only result in annihilation.” (Mika)

Mika answered while he replaced the crossbow’s magazine and Jeremy voiced his joy at the enemy’s retreat. After the civil strife the Mortimer Household’s standing force should have been depleted. It made sense that Lord Mortimer wished to minimize losses among her knights and regular troopers. She would call off a fruitless charge.

With the enemy bodyguards withdrawn, the immediate threat to Mika and his companions dissipated. The enemy main body was locked in mêlée with the allied main force and an army with low discipline and a disordered command could not presently muster a detachment and dispatch it toward their position.

“If there are no more who approach, we shall resume sniping with the ballista.” (Mika)

They had routed a well-equipped group of professional soldiers that included two knights while firing from a distance. The repeating crossbow’s effect in personnel combat had proved substantial. Thinking so, Mika retrieved the ballista and prepared to fire with Jeremy, who kept the shield on the ground. Fugo loaded bolts and Mika took aim. The wooden shafts, though imprecise, still fell roughly near the enemy main camp.

“They are falling back as intended.” (Mika)

After the second bolt, Lord Mortimer and her remaining bodyguards began to withdraw. The enemy evidently did not wish to continue exposing the fate of the lord whose house and lands were at stake to the chance of a sudden bolt strike. Mika did not stop firing. He continued to launch bolts from the ballista until the figures in the enemy camp were concealed by the shadow of the northwest woods.

Perhaps a withdrawal order had been given. Following the commander’s retreat, the wind magician, archers, and other troops in the rear of the enemy main body pulled back. The soldiers fighting in close quarters at the front had not yet noticed the disorder in their camp but once they perceived their comrades fleeing behind them the entire force would rout.

The victory was now almost certain. All that remained was to hasten the enemy rout and increase the damage they suffered by firing into the flanks of the enemy main body. Mika relaxed a little at that thought when Dimitri pointed toward the southeast side of the battlefield.

“Mika-sama, something is wrong with our main camp.” (Dimitri)

At his word Mika turned and saw that indeed the state of their own main camp was strange. From Mika and the others, who had moved to the northwest to snipe the enemy main camp, the allied main camp itself was not directly visible. However, several banners of the various lords that were visible beyond the allied main body had fallen. As Mika watched another banner toppled.

“Very well, we must go and see. Perhaps our main camp has been struck by a surprise assault.” (Mika)

Mika sighed quietly at the thought that if that were so they would have to assist though he would prefer not to engage in close combat.

 

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