“Holding back is far harder than going all-out, for certain. It’s much easier to let loose with all you have in you when the opportunity permits, but consciously holding back without affecting your own performance? That’s that hard shit. Seen masters who can do that, but I definitely don’t count myself amongst them.
Far too easy to hold back too much and mess up your own rhythm, or hold back too little and hurt the other guy more than you wanted to hurt them.” - Karl-Heinz Ferguson, former mercenary and later spearmanship instructor for the Free City of Levain, circa 182 FP.
“Aly, push a bit harder and pass a message to Mischka to hold back a bit more. Her platoon’s been consistently pushing a bit too far,” said Erycea after getting her little sister’s attention. The two were in the middle of their respective platoons, so she had to first gesture to get Alycea to come closer and then speak loudly to make herself heard over the din of the battle, but it sufficed for the time being. “Tell them to keep pace with Alvaro’s people, no more than ten paces apart, if they can help it.”
Alycea’s platoon was to the left of Erycea’s platoon, and since they neighbored Mischka’s platoon to their left, it made Alycea the best choice to use as a messenger in this case, since she would have to push a bit into the enemy lines to keep up with Mischka’s troops. Mischka had a harder time getting her people to hold back without making it obvious due to the physical qualities of her platoon members, as each swing or strike from one of them could easily cause gaps to form on the enemy formation.
If they left such gaps unexploited then anyone would realize that they were obviously holding back and neither Reinhardt nor Erycea wanted that, which resulted in the way Mischka’s platoon was constantly a bit ahead of their allies. They really couldn’t help it, as the majority of their training was to push hard and forcefully break their way into enemy formations after all.
In comparison, Alvaro’s platoon further left of Mischka’s fought with disciplined precision and held their line with near-perfect performance, something that highlighted the differing ways in which the two platoons approached battle. It was not that one platoon was objectively better than the other, just that they each had their own specialties and fields they were superior to the other in.
“Got it, Sis,” said Alycea with a curt nod. “I’ll pass on to Mischka to fall back to a shield wall for now. Any other message you want me to pass on?”
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“Not for the time being. If I and mine get busy helping out Wil to our right, I want you three to spread a bit thinner to cover where we used to for the time being,” said Erycea with a shake of her head. “Otherwise, proceed as Father instructed.”
“Understood,” replied Alycea with a salute before she turned away and started ordering her platoon to push harder.
As her little sister moved away together with her platoon to do as she was bid, Erycea turned her attention back towards the enemies her platoon was facing at the frontlines of the battle. The enemies they faced wore armor and used weapons that were most likely salvaged off the defeated former Posuin duchies, since it was not the distinctive style they wore before.
From that alone she could tell that they were likely the soldiers they defeated back east, even without recognizing any faces. Given the enemy’s predilection for uniform armament so far, she doubted that they would have brought more soldiers without equipment for such an invasion, and the only group of enemy soldiers missing their equipment she knew of were the escapees from the previous battle.
If she had the inclination – or orders – to do so, her platoon could have made very short work of such enemies. While the enemy fought with respectable discipline and cohesion, they were clearly still unaccustomed with their salvaged equipment, and performed worse than during the battle back in the east.
Erycea already had to order her people to pull back a couple times when the enemies before them crumbled a bit too easily despite their holding back. It was a rather frustrating feeling, the desire to let loose warring with the rational mind that knew to stick to her given orders.
Fortunately, at times, the situation does allow her to let loose.
A glance to her right showed Erycea that one of the nearby teams on the frontline held by the Silver Eagles were facing some trouble. Many of the mercenaries in that team looked pretty young, probably more recent recruits they got while rebuilding their numbers, and already several teams of their warriors – including one led personally by Wilhelmina – were helping them stabilize the situation.
As she saw the situation unfold, Erycea called Hakim and Malika over, the youngsters having long since grown into her second in command, if informally. She briefed them to take over command over the platoon and to keep the situation stable, not to push the enemies too hard, keeping in line with their fellows to their left.
Neither of them asked why as they knew exactly what Erycea had in mind, especially when she gathered her usual group of friends and formed a small unit. Together they headed towards the right of the platoon – other members filling in for the spots they vacated – and towards where the Silver Eagles were having a bit of a struggle.
Truth be told, the situation was not that serious. The Silver Eagles would likely manage to stabilize their lines after a while, even without her help, but it was an excuse Erycea could use to vent off some of her frustrations without compromising the battle’s situation, so she was all too happy to take it. Wilhelmina was unlikely to complain about the help anyway.
With her truncheons in hand, Erycea led her small group towards the enemies facing the Silver Eagles, and they crashed directly through the enemy lines from the side.