The Girl Who Bore the Flame Ring - Chapter 27: Crumbling Scales

Rain was heavy in the upper regions near the Trais river, and visibility was particularly bad. Amil looked down at the area where the Coimbran army was likely to be from atop his horse on a small hill. If he could confirm even the slightest traces of a light, he could know that the enemy was there. They knew that the river was swelling.

So it decided to rain here. Already my victory is unshakable.

He looked to Falid who was also on horseback, and received a nod. The time had come.

“Lord Amil…”

“Yeah… Gentlemen, with this battle, we will win our glory,” after his brief words he surveyed them all, and stated his honest opinion, “Wardka blood runs through my veins; blood that destroyed your country; blood that you hate, but my soul is with Bahar, and I believe that I can live up to my legacy.”

“…”

“Bahar was defeated at the hands of the Sun Emperor Bergis, but in that defeat, Bahar grew to become the most prosperous on the continent. And then, I believe that when your viceroy becomes emperor it will clear away that dishonour!”

“That’s right, Lord Amil is one of us!”

“Lord Amil is the one who brought us into prosperity!”

Halting the soldiers’ responses, Amil put up his fist before him.

“I promise to reward your loyalty when the dawn of my reign arrives. I will bring you even more prosperity, my brethren. I will never lie to you, as I am sure you all know well. I always keep my word, after all. Is that not so!?”

“It is!”

“Then lend me your power. Entrust your lives to me. Do we not all wish to put down the rebel Coimbrans and walk the glorious road together!?!? Shall we not win!?!?”

Amil stood in the saddle and flourished his sword, and all of the men responded in kind. A large number of the Baharan tri-sabre banners were flying in rows in the driving rain.

“Victory for Lord Amil!”

“Glory to Bahar!”

“Lord Amil is fit for the throne!”

Falid’s Black Sun Cavalry were arrayed before him, prepared for the attack. Their flags bore the flying dragon. Men and horses alike were fully equipt in black. The survivors of Operation Dawn formed Bahar’s strongest unit.

“Lord Amil, your orders!”

“All units, commence the assault! Kill all the traitorous Coimbrans!! Charge!!”

“We now let the world know of the strength of our Black Sun Cavalry! Bring glory to Lord Amil!”

At Amil’s order, Falid took the vanguard and commenced the attack. The Black Sun Cavalry had trained intensely for this very hour. Everything was to bring glory to Amil. Rebecca licked her lips as she rode beside him, tightly gripping her longsword, but she was not alone, all of the Black Sun Cavalry were lusting for blood.

The Baharan army thundered down the slope to the sound of beating hooves. The main body of the force consisted of cavalry. They had lost some men on the way who collapsed out of the saddle, but not a single man had wanted to rest, and so it had to be if they were to overrun the enemy position. Each man had strong convictions.

Falid led the charge, seeking out his objectives in the rain. Amidst flying mud and the neighing of the horses, they charged the Coimbran army. Most of the Coimbran soldiers were huddling in crude tents to avoid the rain. Having let their guards down, almost none of them were even armed. Only one Coimbran sentry noticed something was amiss, and turned to face them, raising his light.

“H-hey, you guys…”

A spear ran through his face, and he roared a scream. First blood went to Falid Alain. At the same time the trumpets, gongs, and war drums all sounded to intimidate the enemy.

Battle was joined along the Trais river, no, it was too one sided to be called a battle. Falid’s Black Sun Cavalry had already chewed their way through to the Coimbran centre and had split the vanguard from the rear guard. At the same time, Mills’ war wagons spread out to the Kanan highway, cutting off the Coimbran retreat. The Baharan wagons were twin horse carriages with iron armour. The soldiers could shoot their arrows, hidden within, and lining them up formed a fortification on the battlefield. Their weaknesses were in their high cost to produce, and their wide turning radius.

20 000 men led by Major General Barzek arrayed themselves downstream, south of the battle. Coimbran forces collapsed into chaos with their retreat cut off, as well as a pincer from both north and south. The officers simply ran about with no clear idea of what was happening, leaving the soldiers to decide how to fight or if to run. Naturally, they chose the latter.

“W-wait! Get back in line right now, and ready your spears! The enemy shouldn’t have many men, so calm down!”

“You’re saying that’s only a few! All I can see are Baharan flags!”

“It doesn’t matter, so get back in line! You’re violating orders!”

“Shut up! You’re in the way!”

“Hey, don’t push me! You’ll go into the river!”

“Just move already! I’ll kill you if you get in my way!”

They were surrounded by enemy soldiers and faced with the rising rapids of the Trais river. None of them knew which was the best direction to flee in, but one after the other decided to jump into the river to avoid being surrounded. Grohl finally noticed that something was happening. He could hear the sounds of weapons and screams from all around, but had no idea of what was occurring. Though, he could tell, if nothing else, that it was a crisis as no matter how bad visibility was, he could still confirm the Baharan flags.

“What? What is this!? If it’s a surprise attack, hurry and repel them! If you pointlessly harm our reputation, the Baharan lords will waver!”

“I, I don’t know for sure, but the men on the front are fleeing! I fear it has already become a battle.”

“Stop messing around! Are you going to run from battle!? Send a messenger to get a detailed report on the situation!!”

“Y-yes sir!”

“And also, order all those fleeing cowards to return to their units! If they don’t comply, try them accordingly! We have fifty thousand men, so intercepting them should be easy!”

“Yes sir!”

His retainers rushed out, and in their place entered Cynthia and Dirk. They had been stationed near the headquarters and had been caught up in the confusion.

“Viceroy, the enemy spearheaded the attack with cavalry, and is laying waste to our camp!”

“Th-the enemy is both up and downstream, and is launching a pincer attack from north and south. If we do not deal with it quickly, this will become a rout!”

“Just how many of them are there!? How could so few cavalry get so far!?!?”

Cynthia raised her voice as she wiped the rain from her face, “It isn’t a small number no matter how we look at it. What I saw of the northern portion was no fewer than ten thousand men!”

“Ten thousand? Somebody should have spotted them coming, if there are that many of them! Just what are Wilm and Gaddis doing upstream!?!?”

“I-I don’t know, but…”

Dirk’s expression was clouded. To say it clearly, nobody knew what was going on. Even if they sent messengers, nobody would know where anybody was. The driving rain and roaring wind robbed them of both sight and sound, obfuscating their orders. Further chaos was created by the fact that they had been in a column formation for the march. Having been split up by the enemy while they were en route, each commander had to assess the situation individually, and the number of Coimbran officers used to such situations could be counted on one hand. To make matters worse, deserters had half driven the army into a stampede. Grohl hadn’t been told yet, but his headquarters were already unsafe. It may have been best to immediately escape, but there was no solid proof to back that reasoning up; only that the enemy voices were drawing ever nearer.

“Those fools! And they call themselves soldiers of Coimbra!?!? Send out the order to drive the enemy off at once! Dirk, Cynthia, gather the men around here and strike back!”

Grohl kicked the ground, sending mud flying just as a messenger crashed into the tent, out of breath.

“I-it’s terrible! M-major Generals Wilm and Gaddis have already withdrawn their men from the front! Only by raising Baharan flags and joining the enemy!!”

At those words, time stopped. The retainers froze, dumbfounded.

Even Grohl could only manage to stammer wordlessly, but the colour slowly drained from his face, and he managed to spout out in a rage, “Don’t say such things!”

“But, they’re clearly…”

“You’re still talking!! Commanders wouldn’t be so cowardly as to change sides, not even as a joke!”

“B-but… every unit under Lord Wilm has announced its surrender! At this rate, a large number of our forces will augment theirs!”

The messenger handed over a mud spattered letter, and Grohl took it and read. Its contents were as follows:

This war has no moral cause, and is merely a matter of Grohl Wardka’s personal grudge. For this reason he has betrayed His Majesty the Emperor, and is considered a rebel. His transgressions cannot be forgiven, and as such, his entire family should be punished. All sensible Coimbran soldiers should take up arms at once for our cause, so that together we can kill the true traitors as is their just due.

“W-what is this…”

Dirk explained his opinion as Grohl began to mutter, “I fear, Viceroy, that this can mean nothing but betrayal. If it wasn’t so, the enemy would have never been able to penetrate as far as here. Rather than protect the headquarters, Wilm and Gaddis’ corps have withdrawn.”

The letter was clearly sealed by Major General Wilm, and signed by Gaddis. Now that he thought about it, the officers closest to Wilm were nowhere to be seen. They alone commanded over five thousand men, and if they counted the conscripts, they would easily number over ten thousand. If they fought for Bahar, they would drive Grohl into a corner with no escape.

“No way, this can’t have happened. T-that a major general would b-betray…”

“Viceroy, collect yourself! If we don’t deal with it at once…”

Dirk desperately shook him, but he did not return to himself. In that time, reports of death after death came flooding in.

“Excuse me! Commanders of One Thousand Kils, Damashew, and Rostam have died in battle! They have been overrun by cavalry with a dragon banner, and each unit has routed!”

“The Baharan Lords that joined us have detached! They are now attacking under the Baharan flag!”

“Gail, Lapp, and Dolls corps have all ignored orders and retreated from the front! The front upstream has completely dissolved!”

“N-no way… this… can’t have…”

Northern commanders were killed in action and southern commanders were fleeing. Those whom Grohl had treated poorly were dying for him, and those he had favoured were betraying him. The power relationship between the cliques, and the politicking to maintain a harmonious government, couldn’t be prevented, but this was the result.

“I… I…”

“Viceroy, you need to decide what to do right now! You are the supreme commander!”

“T-the enemy has built a wagon fort along the highway! The retreating men are being shot to pieces! They’ve cut off our retreat!!”

Grohl fell to his knees on the spot in despair.

Clutching the mud, he let out a scream filled with all his various emotions, “Aaaaah, uaaaaa…”

Dirk stood when he saw it, and spoke in a stern tone, “Viceroy, we’re going to retreat as far back as possible, so you must calm down and stand. You need to survive to the end. Do you understand!?”

“D-Dirk…”

“I can’t say for sure, but I’m fairly certain that the enemy is numerous. My corps is still strong, so my men will do our best to buy you time! Please escape while we do!”

“T-then I shall join you! I still have almost one thousand men! I am prepared to fight to the death!”

“I-I too shall remain!”

“Lord Dirk, I will follow you!”

Cynthia and the remaining retainers volunteered to go, but Dirk shook his head.

“You officers are needed to accompany the viceroy and clear a path of retreat. I have three thousand regulars, and two thousand conscripts, for a total of five thousand men. Though it isn’t many, I doubt we’d be able to escape the cavalry, so we have no choice but to hold out as long as possible.”

“I-it’s still not enough!”

Cynthia objected, but was strongly refuted, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have time to discuss this. Hurry and somehow rally the men up the highway. If the rain stops, we’ll be able to see the enemy force clearly. That’s when we can decide on another plan!”

“U-understood. Senior Commander of One Hundred Cynthia shall escort the viceroy on his retreat!”

“Good, and send my apologies to Commander of One Hundred Noel. It seems she was right after all. I should have noticed the enemies lurking in our midst.”

Grohl raised his head, and gasped at Dirk’s words. Noel had been particular about rushing from the start to take Vesta, even going so far as to want to take it in a single strike. The one who had so vehemently opposed it, and even scorned it, had been Wilm.

Naturally, Grohl had gone with the opinion of his most trusted advisor, but Wilm had now been exposed as a traitor, which meant that, “This is all Wilm’s trap! Or is it Amil’s doing!?”

“I’m sorry, but…”

“It was his idea to stop by the river. The ones who complied were Gaddis and Wilm’s cliques… was even the doubt they casted on Noel a part of their plan?”

Grohl had doubted that she had taken the Rhine with so few men and had foolishly recalled her. He was the biggest fool in Coimbra. He had served himself up on a platter, vitals exposed to the enemy, and he was now being driven to his death as a result just like the battle of Kanan. The only difference being that Noel wasn’t there to help him this time, for he had foolishly redeployed her to Carness.

“What a thing it is. I, I walked myself straight into this?”

“Viceroy, let us quit this place! My men will lead the charge! Imperial guard, protect the viceroy!!”

“Yes sir!”

“Lord Dirk, I pray you the best.”

“You too, Senior Commander of One Hundred Cynthia.”

With a nod, Dirk drew his sword and left the tent. Cynthia forced Grohl up as he limply hung his head, and dragged him to the imperial guard, and began to head towards her men to take command. They had to open a path out of the killing ground.

Remaining by the headquarters, Dirk’s men desperately saw to holding their ground amidst the ferocious chaos. Most of his men were from the north and had high morale as they wanted to make the Baharans pay for the rebellion.

“Show them the strength of the north! We fight to the end! The bandits who burned your homes were with them!”

“L-lord Dirk! The enemy’s already here! Let us remaining men buy your escape!”

“Hahaha, I appreciate the sentiment, but it’s too late. Their main force is cavalry. So I’ll fight with my brothers to buy time!”

“B-but!”

“Say no more! In the first place, I’d never leave you behind!”

Dirk would show them his miraculous tenacity. They managed to repulse one of the enemy cavalry charges, but in the confused situation, no matter how much they fought, they didn’t have enough men, and the situation began to deteriorate. It had already been an hour since Cynthia and Grohl had left. The Baharan tri-sabre flags fully encircled the headquarters, and were laying siege, and had already cut Dirk’s men down to only a thousand. They had done well against an enemy numbering forty thousand.

“Haa, haa, f-fix the lines! Form a wall!”

“Black Sun Cavalry, take to the front! We will win this battle with our own hands!”

With that, he saw the enemy cavalry charge. The Baharan troops opened a path for a strange looking cavalry unit flying a dragon banner. They were clad in all black. Coimbran heads flew in all directions as they charged straight for the location of Grohl’s banner.

“What strength. They might truly be the best troops in the empire, but I still need to buy time. Everyone, target the horses!! Lower your spears and kill their mounts!!”

Dirk readied his blade and strengthened his stance as he spoke. To destroy the cavalry, first one needed to kill the horses, and kill the men when they fell. Unfortunately, it didn’t go so well. The soldiers positioning their spears to kill the horses were stabbed by the cavalry first. There were even those who had their heads taken by longswords. Closing in on Dirk was a black demon in black armour on a black horse: the commander of the cavalry with a long spear and fiery red hair. He expected an immediate attack, but the man suddenly stopped his horse and called out in a loud voice.

“I assume you are the enemy commander! I am the commanding officer of the Black Sun Cavalry, Falid!! I shall take your head!”

“You fight well; a worthy opponent! I am Commander of One Thousand Dirk of the Coimbran Army. Have at ye!”

“Die!!”

Dirk raised his left arm and feinted, intending to rush in with his shield deflecting the spear. He would use the sword in his right hand on the horse. Confirming Falid’s movement, Dirk immediately swung his sword, but it didn’t reach. His blade was stopped before the horse’s throat. The spear had found its way into his right shoulder, and it seemed like he was about to drop his sword.

“Gh… B-but I’m not done yet!!”

Dirk quickly pulled back and took up his sword with his left hand.

“Coimbra, Coimbra will not be defeated!!”

Dirk mustered his last strength and prepared cut his enemy down, but that didn’t happen either. Falid used all his strength to knock aside Dirk’s weapon and thrust his spear at his defenceless neck. His body collapsed on the spot without power, and his head fell away with a grimace.

There are guys like this even in the famously pathetic Coimbran army. I really can’t let my guard down if I can’t completely destroy them.

After Falid silently admired the fight, he stuck his spear through the head. The corpse would also be put up on a pike, but it was necessary for raising morale.

“I have slain the enemy commander Dirk!! The Black Sun Cavalry has taken the Coimbran command tent! Burn the traitor’s flag and give a cry of victory!!”

Falid raised his spear and the cavalry gave a ferocious war cry as their morale soare. The Black Sun Cavalry wasn’t satisfied with simply capturing the tent, and having resolved himself, decided to commence the pursual of Grohl. If the Coimbran forces wanted to avoid the wagon fort that Mills had set up along the highway, they would have had to have taken a rugged side road. The Coimbran army had sacrificed many men by not advancing any faster than anticipated. Those who had been faithful to their mission were already dead. Morale had plummeted so rapidly that enough men had fled or surrendered that it could already be said that they were no longer an army.

The fifty thousand they had sent from Coimbra had been cut down to only five thousand, and though the majority of them hadn’t even fought, the number of dead exceeded twenty thousand. As expected, the majority of the dead were northern Coimbrans who were ready for a rematch. The seeds of a deep resentment had been sown, and the northerners were probably never going to forget the betrayal of Wilm and Gaddis.

The crushing defeat that Coimbra suffered at the battle of the Trais river, would receive the moniker of “the battle of crumbling scales,” as the honour of the Coimbran scales was lost. The scales had tipped in favour of Bahar, and they let the world know that it would most likely never return. Having recreated the strategies of the Sun Emperor, Amil became successor to the throne in both name and substance. For his magnificent service, Falid and his Black Sun Cavalry became famous as the best troops of Bahar. Grohl was recorded in history as a great fool; a terrible man who’s own misgovernment sparked an uprising which he blamed on Bahar, and unsatisfied, had aimed to obstruct Amil’s ascendance to the throne, ending it all by attacking another province in the same empire over a personal grudge.

Justice went to the party with the loudest voice, and the winner was always the loudest, though if roles of victor and defeated were reversed, the situation would probably be rather different. Unexpectedly, the world was proceeding just as Noel had predicted, though she wasn’t likely very happy about it herself.

Author’s Note:

I fought hard to make a map of the continent.

I worked hard, but this is the limit of my ability.

Noel didn’t get a turn.

Right now she’s playing around under house arrest.