Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading Chapter 57

The place the soldier, who was watching Transport Unit 2's return from afar, hurriedly arrived at.

It was a temporary tent where the Imperial Army cavalry had gathered.

As soon as the soldier arrived at the temporary tent, he looked for the Imperial Army Cavalry Commander, Riyad Sarkis.

Riyad, who was calmly eating soup alone in the noisy place, silently stared at the soldier running toward him out of breath and asked.

"Have they departed?"

"Pant, pant. Yes! The enemy supply unit has just departed to return to their base!"

"Scale?"

"Pant, pant. It's exactly the same as before, without a single discrepancy! Also, they seemed to have completely let their guard down, with their ranks and spacing completely disorganized!"

At those words, Riyad nodded.

"Of course. They probably think we're only after their supplies. Without knowing that what we truly desire is their lifeblood."

It was just as Roden had predicted.

The Imperial Army was not aiming for the supplies this time but was expecting a complete victory against the transport unit.

For that reason, they had increased the number of Imperial Army cavalry, which they usually did not operate with more than 40, to 80 for this ambush.

It was the maximum.

The number of ambush troops the Imperial Army could operate without being significantly pushed back on the front lines.

It was a part that showed how much importance the Imperial Army placed on this victory.

Riyad slammed the soup bowl in his hand onto the ground with a thud.

Then he spoke.

"Prepare for battle. Soon, we will turn this plain into a sea of blood."

***

And so, a few days later.

Riyad began to move in earnest, leading 80 Imperial Army cavalrymen.

And finally, they found Transport Unit 2, which was in the middle of returning to their base.

Riyad, who was observing Transport Unit 2's movements from a distance for a moment, slowly nodded his head.

"Just as reported. They're completely off guard. Foolish bastards. Carelessness on the battlefield is death."

In fact, Riyad knew better than anyone why Transport Unit 2 was off guard.

It was only natural, as the high command had aimed for this and entrusted the Imperial Army cavalry to Riyad.

But Riyad, knowing everything, deliberately criticized Transport Unit 2.

He thought that such words would help boost the morale of the Imperial Army cavalry.

Just as expected.

Some of the Imperial Army cavalry soldiers who were listening to Riyad's words from the side smirked.

After confirming that the cavalry's morale had risen, Riyad raised one hand and his voice.

There was no reason to delay this fight any longer.

"Form ranks! Everyone, charge!"

Riyad bravely stood at the head of the wedge formation, and the Imperial Army cavalry followed behind him, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Thudududu! Thudududu!

Perhaps because their numbers were double the usual, the sense of intimidation also seemed to be more than double.

If they clashed with the Imperial Army cavalry like this, it seemed that even the strongest unit would be shattered to pieces.

Perhaps for that reason, Transport Unit 2, which discovered them late, shouted in panic.

"It's the Imperial Army! A cavalry ambush!"

"Everyone move quickly! Raise your shields and prepare for the enemy's charge!"

"1st Archery Platoon, draw your bows and prepare to fire!"

However, for a panicked response, their preparations were swift.

The proof was that as soon as they discovered the Imperial Army cavalry, the infantry raised their spears and shields in perfect order to prepare for the charge, and the archery platoon nocked their arrows on their bowstrings.

What's more, the light cavalry was showing signs of a flanking movement to strike the side of the Imperial Army cavalry.

But Riyad was not flustered even after seeing this.

‘They seem to be better trained than I thought for a transport unit. But it's useless. They'll never be able to block the charge of 80 cavalry.’

Riyad decided to break through the rain of arrows and split the transport unit in half in an instant before the enemy light cavalry could strike their flank.

With 80 cavalry, it would be a piece of cake to break through the shield formation of the infantry, which seemed to be just over 30 men.

"Increase your speed! Pierce through the enemy in one go!"

And so, Riyad urged the Imperial Army cavalry, and their speed increased even more according to his command.

It was now impossible to stop the charge.

It was then.

Pshew-shew! Pshew-shew!

The arrows fired by the 1st Archery Platoon poured down on the Imperial Army cavalry.

It was not the weak rain of arrows they had seen before.

It was a dense and powerful rain of arrows, and some of the Imperial Army cavalry fell to these more than thirty arrows.

Hee-hing!

Of course, the number was not enormous.

But it was clear that the 1st Archery Platoon was doing its part.

What's more, the rain of arrows did not fall just once.

"1st Archery Platoon! Prepare to fire! Fire!"

Following the new 1st Archery Platoon Leader's command, the next rain of arrows poured down, and once again, some of the Imperial Army cavalry were taken out of the battle.

"Archery platoon, move! To the rear of the square formation!"

And so, the 1st Archery Platoon quickly fired their arrows, unleashing a total of three rains of arrows, and then retreated.

Thanks to them, the number of Imperial Army cavalry was reduced to 68.

But the momentum of the Imperial Army cavalry was still fierce.

In the first place, even though their number had decreased to 68, it was impossible for the 3rd Infantry Platoon, with just over 30 men, to block them.

For that reason, Riyad, who was leading the Imperial Army cavalry from the front, had a confident expression.

‘Let them be shattered in our hands like this!’

But it was then.

Havier, who was watching this scene calmly, suddenly raised his voice.

"Reinforcements, come out now! Come out and raise your spears and shields!"

At the same time, a group of men poured out from the supply wagons, which were thought to be carrying prisoners and the wounded, holding spears and shields.

"Waaaaaaah!"

These soldiers, who seemed to be at least thirty men, filled the gaps in the 3rd Infantry Platoon and built an even stronger square formation.

And so, Transport Unit 2's shield formation became twice as thick and sturdy.

Seeing this, Riyad's eyes widened.

‘Don't tell me… they predicted this situation?’

That was right.

This was it.

Roden, who had already predicted this situation, had proposed an operation like this to Havier.

An operation to counter-crush the Imperial Army cavalry's highly probable ambush with reinforcements hidden in the supply wagons.

Naturally, the ones hiding in the supply wagons were troops from the main battalion.

Just as the Imperial Army cavalry had formed additional troops for this ambush, Transport Unit 2 had also spoken with the main battalion commander and received reinforcements.

Of course, the process was not entirely easy.

The main battalion commander was highly skeptical of Havier's opinion that the possibility of an Imperial Army cavalry ambush was high.

But Havier patiently persuaded the main battalion commander.

And on the condition that he would send them back immediately if there was no Imperial Army cavalry ambush by the midpoint of their return to the main base, he was finally able to receive the reinforcements.

Havier thought as he watched the shield formation, which was much more solid than usual.

‘If the ambush had been delayed a little longer, I would have had to send the reinforcements back to the main battalion. What a relief.’

But it was not yet a stage to be relieved.

It was only because of the reinforcements that the numbers of Transport Unit 2 and the Imperial Army cavalry were barely matched.

Riyad, who could no longer slow down and stop the charge, also pinned his hopes on this point.

‘If the numbers are the same, there's no way our army will lose!’

That was why Riyad raised his voice once more.

"There's nothing to fear! Increase your speed!"

At the same time, he imbued his magical spear with 3-star aura.

This was one of the many reasons why Riyad was recognized as the most outstanding cavalry commander in the Imperial Army cavalry.

When the shield formation was at its strongest.

If Riyad, at the head, succeeded in a single point breakthrough with his 3-star aura like this, it would become much easier to break the formation.

It was common for the shield formation to collapse with a roar as soon as the 3-star aura broke through one point, like a dam breaking.

‘On the other hand, the enemy can hardly block this attack. Because it's impossible to predict where the magical spear imbued with aura will pierce the shield formation. Therefore, the victor of this battle is… us!’

And so, with Riyad at the head, the Imperial Army cavalry finally clashed with the shield formation.

Kuuuuung!

At the same time, Riyad was aghast.

"!"

Riyad's magical spear, imbued with 3-star aura…….

Riyad's magical spear, which could easily pierce even steel armor…….

had been completely blocked by the shield held by a mere soldier.

"Keuk! What is this…?"

Riyad unconsciously muttered as he barely endured the shock of the collision with his entire body.

In the meantime,

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

The Imperial Army cavalry, who were charging together in a wedge formation, successively clashed with the shield formation on both sides.

And surprisingly, there were almost no places where the Imperial Army cavalry's magical spears had pierced the shield formation.

The few places that were pierced were where the reinforcements were holding shields, not a single place where the 3rd Infantry Platoon was holding shields.

As a result, unlike Riyad, who had endured the shock of the collision with his entire body, the rest of the Imperial Army were unable to withstand it and were either thrown from their horses or pierced by spears and lost their lives.

And subsequently, the light cavalry, which had flanked them, struck the side of the Imperial Army cavalry.

Kuuung!

It was an attack that the Imperial Army cavalry could only be helplessly subjected to.

"Kraaaaaaah!"

"Help me!"

Havier did not miss this timing and gave an order to Transport Unit 2.

"Attack! Leave no enemy behind and finish them all!"

And at the same time as this order was given, someone slipped through the shield formation like a flash and mounted Riyad's horse.

Hee-hing!

Riyad's horse went wild at the sudden weight, and Riyad, too, was flustered and tried to draw his sword to attack behind him, but he was a step too late.

The person who had mounted the horse had instantly cut Riyad's throat with the Mithril Alloy Sword in his hand.

"The enemy commander is dead!"

The one who had cut Riyad's throat was the only person in Transport Unit 2 who had expected the Imperial Army's charge to be so easily blocked.

It was Roden.