"Brothers-in-arms!　His Majesty the King has just given us an edict!　They want me to subdue those foolish Cilicians!

　Bartolo declared to the soldiers.
　The soldiers cheered loudly.
　Their eyes were gleaming and full of motivation.

　''I hear it's all the rage in the streets to have a clarification of the law, or a strike, or something like that. But!　We don't care about any of that stuff!

　'Yes, yes, yes!
　It's not our business!

　The soldiers agree with Bartolo.
　They had been training with Bartolo for the last six months.

　They hadn't thought about the clarification of the law, and they hadn't participated in any strike meetings.
　We were kept out of the mosquito net.

　They had been kept out of the mosquito net, and their minds were focused on training and warfare.


　"Come on, we'll show them what we can do. Let's go!
　

　And so Bartolo went down to the south.



　And about two days passed since then.

　'Oh!　Mr. Roseward!　You did a good job catching up to me. I was actually worried about you because you didn't have any cavalry!
　My brother I received an order from His Majesty to go ahead and join General Bartolo. I'm going to go ahead and join General Bartolo and if you would be so kind as to leave me alone.

　Rosward puts his arm around his own shoulders and struggles to turn away from the entangled Bartolo.
　Bartolo has always smelled of alcohol.

　By the way, he is not drunk.
　Bartolo is a man whose personal space is very small by nature.

　You can think of it as being drunk from birth.

　By the way, do you think the Equus cavalry will come?
　No, Your Majesty has no intention of asking for help in putting down a civil war.
　Haha, that's a good decision. After all, the Equus people are people who plunder other people's territory without permission. Having people like that rampage through our country is just awful.

　There is a friendship and an unshakable trust between Muzio, Chief of the Equus Clan, and Almus, King of the Kingdom of King Rosais.
　But there is no trust between vassals like Bartolo and others.

　In the first place, a king who cannot rule a civil war without using the power of another country cannot be called a king.
　And inviting other countries to join a civil war is a very dangerous act.

　Almus must know that very well.

　'Three hundred cavalry and three thousand infantry. ........But the enemy's troops.......
　'Well, I'd say it's around 8,000 to 15,000. The Cilician cities that revolted have a population of about 20,000 to 30,000. It's a war of independence, and all the men will be fighting with weapons, right?　And considering the reinforcements from the surrounding Cilician cities, that's about it.

　He was about three times more of an enemy.
　Rosward looked uneasy.

　But Bartolo patted Rosward repeatedly on the back in amusement.

　The more powerful the enemy is, the more worthwhile it is. To begin with, there's no way they can gather more than 10,000 of them. We just need to destroy each one of them.

　That's why Bartolo didn't wait for reinforcements to move.
　He would crush the rebels before they could unite.
　To do so, swift action was essential.

　'Lord Bartolo!　We've got hostile shadows ahead!　The number is estimated to be around 4,000.

　Bartolo smiled when he heard from the scouts.
　A smile of triumph.





　'Virgal. You take the right, I'll take the left.'
　Yes, sir. By the way, my troops look a little different than usual.

　A former Germanic slave and Rosward's second in command.
　Virgal asked Rosward something that had always bothered him.

　The armament of Rosais' army, as Virgal knew it, was a round shield and a long spear.
　With these, they would assemble a phalanx and fight.
　But the heavily armed infantry led by Bartolo was armed completely differently.

　A large rectangular shield so large that it covered their entire bodies.
　And a short sword.

　Can they really fight with this kind of armament?

　''Well that guy was full of himself, so it should be fine.
　Are you sure?　Isn't that guy Goodengden? He was drinking heavily just now, too...
　That was business as usual. He's not just a drunk. He's a good drunk. It's all right, maybe, maybe...

　Gradually, Roseward is getting more and more worried.
　But Bartolo is a commander.

　'Anyway!　Believe me. General Bartolo!
　Hey, I'll do my best.

　The two of them quickly took up their positions after such an exchange.



　The enemy was in a typical phalanx a dense formation of spears and round shields.
　Its appearance could be described as a walking fortress.
　When viewed from above, it could be seen that the left and right sides were thickened.
　It is probably a countermeasure to Bartolo's diagonal formation.

　There are also two hundred cavalry on each side, for a total of four hundred cavalry on each side.


　On the other hand, Rosais' army led by Bartolo had a completely different formation.

　It was a centurion, a combination of ten ten man squadrons consisting of about eight men, for a total of eighty men.
　The two combined companies of one hundred and sixty men were used as the basic unit, fifteen of which totaled two thousand four hundred men.

　These are divided into three groups: the front, middle, and rear rows. A certain distance was placed between the companies.
　Six hundred light infantry were placed in front of the front line.

　There will be a total of three hundred cavalrymen, one hundred and fifty on each side.
　The cavalry of Rosyth's army seems to be less than that of the rebels.


　'What shall we do?　General.
　"For now, let's get the enemy's cavalry off the battlefield.

　The general leading the rebels answered his second-in-command by playing with his beard.
　Immediately the gong is formed and the rebel cavalry leaps out.


　This is intercepted by the Rosais cavalry, led by Rosward.
　I'm not sure if I should say that they are the Kingsguard, or if I should say that the Lossies Cavalry were evenly matched with the enemy, even though their numbers were less than the enemy.

　However, their objective was not to destroy the Lossies cavalry.
　It was to dislodge them from the battlefield.
　With the guidance of the rebel cavalry, the Lossies cavalry is slowly being led away from the battlefield.

　'Shit, we're being led...'

　Roseward clicks his tongue as he slashes down on his enemy.
　But against an enemy that is superior in numbers, it's all he can do to fight evenly.


　''Well, the stage is set. All troops assault!　Break through the center of the enemy!

　The rebel phalanx roared and charged at Rosyth's army.






　'Hmm, so you've done your research. So you're imitating General Clue.

　Bartolo muttered as he sipped his drink.
　So far, the same trend as the previous battle is continuing.

　If things had remained the same up to now, Rosais' army would be defeated.
　If things had remained as they were until now.

　'None. "Absolutely," he said, "and to think that the same approach would work twice. This is very unpleasant.

　Bartolo threw down the now-empty bottle.

　'Order the light infantry, the front and the heavy infantry in the middle line. Commence spear throwing!

　The trumpets were blown and the light and heavy infantry began to throw spear after spear in their hands.
　The spears rained down on the rebels like rain.
　The rebels raised their round shields to the sky and received the spears' attacks.

　''Kuk, it's too heavy to be of any use!

　The spears stuck into the round shields have bent tips and hang down to the ground, making it difficult to pull them out.
　The round shields that have become unusable are thrown down to the ground one after another.

　The soldiers who have lost their round shields lose their sense of security and stand on their feet.
　It's no wonder that the defense that covered half of their bodies is gone.

　But the fight continues.

　The two armies clashed at the same time as the light infantry, who had finished throwing their spears, dropped backwards.

　''Never mind the spears. Hit the body and ram it in!

　With the support of the centurions, the heavily armed infantry of Rosais' army, relying on their shields as they were trained, thinned out against the rebels.
　Instantly, the battle became crowded.

　'Hey, our spears can't hit them in this way. What in the world do we do now........

　The rebel centurion screamed and fell to the ground.
　He was bleeding from his neck.
　The one who killed him was a young man in his late teens, a heavily armed infantryman from the Lossies army.

　His prize was a dagger.

　Between the dagger and the spear, the spear is far superior in reach.
　However, once you're in the flesh, it doesn't matter.
　The dagger is easier to handle now that the battle has become crowded, so the dagger is more advantageous.


　"For now, it's just as I was trained.

　Bartolo is in a good mood and starts drinking a new drink.
　This is the tactic Bartolo has created.

　He enlarges his shield to prevent the enemy from attacking him.
　He then thrusts his dagger into the body of the enemy that seems to protrude from the shield.


　As time passes, both armies begin to show signs of fatigue.
　It's not unreasonable.
　They are holding heavy weapons in their hands and are engaged in a life-and-death battle.


　''Take turns with the front and middle ranks.

　The trumpets are blown.
　Quickly, the front line of Rosais' army drops and the rear line fills the hole.

　Immediately, the Lossies army began to push the rebels.
　The rebels are taken aback by the enemy's instantaneous energy.


　The ability to swiftly replace the troops is one of the features of Bartolo's new tactic.


　Phalanxes that form dense formations are difficult to replace soldiers.
　This is because if the soldiers fall back, the formation collapses at once.

　Therefore, they have no choice but to fight to the death.
　If they were to fall, they would be trampled by their allies.

　However, the new tactic allows them to quickly change lines because of the open spacing between the companies.
　If he judged that his troops were exhausted, he could quickly replace them with healthy ones.

　In addition, the front line of Lossies' army was made up of new recruits from their late teens to their twenties, and the middle line was made up of veterans in their thirties.
　The middle row was made up of veterans in their thirties.

　The veterans, who had been looking at the newcomers in the front row with a sense of urgency, were greatly excited when their turn came around, and they began to push the enemy with great vigor.

　''General Bartolo, there are some troops that are sticking out a little too much...''
　Well, that's good, isn't it?　Momentum is important, right?

　In addition, Bartolo directs the heavily armed infantry on both wings to squeeze both sides of the phalanx a little more.
　It's a trick that can be done because of the new tactics that are superior in mobility.

　Gradually, the phalanx begins to disintegrate.
　Once this happens, the rebels will be pushed, trampled and crushed by their allies.

　Many soldiers threw out their weapons and fled the scene.
　The rest must be left to collapse.


　'Bring in the rear line. Give chase.

　The old soldiers in the back row are brought in.
　They are armed with a relatively light shield and a short spear.

　They cannot be defeated by the younger ones.
　Perhaps because of this feeling, the old guard attacked the rebels' backs like a lion freed from its cage.



　About 1,000 dead in the rebel army, about 500 wounded, and about 1,500 who have escaped.　
　Lossies, about 130 dead in action, about 300 wounded.

　Thus, Rosais' army won a great victory.