“Knowing the difference between a real opening and a feint is often the difference between success and failure in battle. All too often, it would have taken too long for the commander in the back to decide on such matters personally, and as a result, those at the frontlines could only rely on their own judgement on whether to pounce upon a perceived opening or otherwise.
Situations like these are amongst the major reasons why most militaries allowed lower ranked officers at the frontlines to make their own decisions when they felt it was the right approach to take. Much in the same way that the general at the frontlines need not ask for the permission of the monarch far away in the capital, so too do the officers at the location of the actual fighting need not ask for permission from the general.” - Adelind Veskar, military analyst from Knallzog, circa 591 FP.
Reinhardt breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed the enemy troops finally withdrawing from their attempt to cut off the Free Lances’ forward elements under the pressure from his increased offense and the resistance his people were giving. It was a maneuver that could have ended in disaster for the mercenaries had it succeeded, as if his forward elements were isolated and surrounded, the enemies would be able to drag them away to be annihilated piecemeal.
Fortunately things never came to that, partly due to the dogged persistence of his people under the pressure. Erycea’s platoon on the left flank never even broke despite how the offense on that flank was concentrated against them, and while Alycea’s less experienced soldiers on the right faltered, they still slowed the enemy down enough to let the others react in time.
While Reinhardt had a good idea of the general situation, it was not until the reports from messengers reached him that he had a clearer idea on the details. Most of the damage had been to Alycea’s platoon – of which only a quarter or so of their original numbers were still up and fighting at the moment – and the back end of Elfriede’s platoon. The fatalities incurred were light, given how the situation looked at first, if he was to be honest.
Mostly thanks to good practice of pulling back the injured before it got too dangerous, even under such pressure.
The Free Lances continued their push, though it was hard for them to press deeper into the slowly retreating enemy formation since the enemies in question were wary of their prowess by now. Still, Reinhardt ordered his mercenaries to keep the pressure up, unwilling to let the enemies go after the provocation that was their attempted decapitation strike earlier.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
He saw such an opportunity just as the enemy army shifted to a full fighting withdrawal.
“Astrid, Alvaro, I want your platoons to commit into an assault. Don’t overdo it, but don’t hold back either,” commanded Reinhardt through his artifact. Despite the intensifying rainfall, the enchantment of the artifact ensured that his voice reached their intended recipients clearly. “Arne, Grün, support them with your platoons as well, get them to pay attention to the sides.”
Under his command, the Free Lances mounted an assault against the sides of the enemy line ahead of them, Reinhardt also shifting more of the ranged support to Astrid and Arne’s side since they were a bit lower on manpower compared to the other side. It was already difficult to maintain formation during a fighting withdrawal, so the additional assault gave their foes more problems to think about as well.
When Reinhardt noticed movements from the enemy formation’s core regions towards the sides, likely troops being shifted to act as reinforcements for the beleaguered areas, that was when he made his move. He immediately ordered those on the sides to further intensify the assault to make sure that the enemy would not be able to extricate themselves easily or quickly, before giving the decisive command.
“Mischka, take Friede, Ery, and Aly with you, head straight for the head!” he yelled into his artifact.
Moments later, Mischka’s platoon, which had been resting for a bit after the failed charge early in the battle, surged forward with renewed strength as they made another push straight down the center of the enemy formation, headed straight for where they suspected the enemy general was situated. Elfriede’s platoon tailed Mischka’s platoon closely during the advance, while Erycea’s and Alycea’s covered their sides and rear.
As the enemy center had just thinned their ranks to send reinforcements to the sides and those reinforcements were unable to turn back immediately to return to the center, the push went through with its typical brutal efficiency. The enemies did manage to hold them back enough that Mischka’s platoon alone was unable to reach their target, but they still managed to get close enough to allow Elfriede’s platoon to take over and do the job in their stead while they fought off the enemies defending against them.
From above, through the bird’s eye view provided by the artifact, Reinhardt could only make out how Elfriede along with a few of the best of her people slipped into the enemy formation while the rest of the platoon wildly charged at the enemies as a distraction. He could not track their movements any further from that far away, so all he could do was to wait for their return and to have faith in their skills.
Around a quarter of an hour later, he noticed some commotion at the center of the enemy formation’s rear. Not too long thereafter, several figures slipped back into the mercenary formation, as Mischka’s troops simultaneously relaxed their assault a bit. Reinhardt knew what those movements meant, and signaled for the rest of his troops to similarly back down from the assaults they were mounting, allowing the enemy to catch their breath and distance themselves.
He knew that when Elfriede’s group returned like that, it meant that she likely came back with the head of an enemy general or the likes, and looked forward to the results once she reported in.