The 35,000-strong army stationed at the camp could not all mobilize the moment the order was given.

Additionally, the cavalry—essential for any pursuit—was preoccupied with tending to the horses and unable to depart immediately.

“The enemy is trying to escape! Attack! The cavalry will join as soon as they’re ready!”  
“General!”

It was close to noon.

Impatient to act, Gaston led a force of about 20,000 infantry, who were the first to be ready, and marched them toward the Imperial Army.

“Running away?”  
“If they’re just retreating scum...!”

The Kingdom soldiers, who had been flustered by the sudden order to sortie, felt a surge of confidence at the idea of chasing down a fleeing enemy, rallying behind Gaston.

“The enemy camp is in turmoil. Horses are running between the tents, and the soldiers are still organizing their supplies and dismantling their tents.”  
“...I see. Yes, yes! Bébys and Auguste made their mistakes, and now it’s the enemy’s turn. That’s how it should be.”

Matthieu reported the Imperial Army’s response to the Kingdom’s advance, and Gaston, leading his soldiers from the front, repeatedly assured himself that the enemy’s delayed retreat was just another mistake.

“The enemy cannot stand against us! Let’s show them the strength of the Kingdom of Brotan!”  
“Waaaah!”

Suppressing any lingering sense of foreboding, Gaston boldly declared the attack, and the Kingdom forces charged toward the Imperial lines with battle cries. The Imperial Army, seemingly caught off guard, hastily fled, leaving their supplies behind.

“No rear guard?”

Gaspar, who was leading the remaining soldiers from the rear, found it strange that the Imperial Army, despite retreating, lacked a rear guard.

“We’ll collect the supplies after we deal with them! Keep moving forward!”

Having personally seen the Imperial soldiers fleeing with only the bare essentials of their gear, Gaston wove through his troops, encouraging their advance. Since Gaston’s forces didn’t stop, Gaspar had no choice but to follow.

“The enemy’s strength is estimated to be around 10,000.”  
“10,000? Ha.”

Though he had anticipated as much, Gaston was still shocked that less than half the camp’s expected number of soldiers had appeared.

“Chase them! Their numbers are only 10,000!”

Emboldened by the realization that the enemy was barely a third of their size, the Kingdom soldiers rushed forward without hesitation, rapidly closing the gap between them and the retreating Imperial infantry.

“...Hmm.”

Gaston noticed that, despite retreating, the Imperial Army’s pace was strangely slow, and there were no stragglers, which seemed unusual.

“General! An enemy cavalry unit has appeared ahead! Approximately 500 men!”  
“Cavalry?”

Gaston’s spirits lifted at the report of a small enemy cavalry unit.

“Haha, they must really be desperate.”

Gaston, believing this was proof of the Imperial Army’s mistake, was actually encouraged by the appearance of cavalry rather than reassembled infantry.

The retreating Imperial infantry were still in disarray, and the cavalry seemed to be sacrificing themselves to cover them.

This, he thought, confirmed the Imperial Army’s desperation.

“Is our cavalry ready?”  
“Yes! The cavalry under Sir Gérard Leaux, 2,000 strong, is approaching.”  
“Tell him! Engage the enemy cavalry first!”  
“Yes, sir!”

With his own cavalry deployed to handle the enemy’s, Gaston pressed the advance.

“Don’t stop! We’re getting close!”

After several minutes of pursuit, the initial gap of nearly a kilometer between the Imperial and Kingdom forces had shrunk to a few hundred meters.

“Cowards! Stop right there!”  
“Fight us!”

The Kingdom soldiers cheered as they closed in, believing they could finally catch the slower-moving Imperial forces.

But then—

“General! A cavalry force of several thousand is approaching from the left!”  
“What?”

Matthieu’s urgent report froze Gaston’s expression.

Following Matthieu’s gaze, Gaston saw a large force of cavalry kicking up dust as it charged toward the Kingdom soldiers.

“Reinforcements?”  
“What? What should we do?”

The Kingdom soldiers, who had confidently charged ahead, slowed at the sight of the enemy cavalry.

“Where would the Empire get extra cavalry?”

Gaston, certain that the Imperial Army hadn’t pulled troops from their camp overnight or split their forces during the retreat, didn’t expect them to have additional reinforcements. He turned back to Matthieu, feeling unease.

“They’re carrying Gerhardt’s flag! They appear to be reinforcements!”  
“Reinforcements? Bébys, you fool, even to the very end...!”

The cavalry appeared from across Apitelo Lake, from the direction of Sheyne. If they were indeed reinforcements, it was easy to deduce they were Gerhardt’s forces that had engaged Bébys.

Just as Gaston was about to curse Bébys for not holding out longer, a thought struck him.

“...Wait.”

Sensing something suspicious, he moved to the front of the formation and closely observed the approaching cavalry.

Not ready to abandon his last shred of hope, he noted, “They’re not wearing armor, only saddles. And their speed... it’s too slow for Imperial cavalry.”  
“What do you mean, sir?”

Pointing toward the cavalry, Gaston explained to Matthieu.

“Look closely. Despite all the dust, their actual numbers aren’t that high.”  
“...”

“Yes, yes! Even Gerhardt couldn’t send a proper reinforcement!”

As if struck by revelation, Gaston clenched his fist.

“...Really?”  
“Count Delon, don’t you see? This is another deception! They’re trying to stop our pursuit!”  
“Ha...”

“The horses haven’t fully recovered, so they’ve removed their armor to lighten the load. After such a large battle, the cavalry couldn’t all be in top shape, so they’re using dust to make it look like there are more of them! What we’re seeing are just the exhausted cavalry from the previous battle, and their main forces are still far off!”  
“Then...?”

“Look again! At a glance, it seems like many, but judging by the spacing, there can’t be more than 3,000!”

Unable to hide his excitement, Gaston explained his reasoning to a bewildered Matthieu.

Before Matthieu could respond,

“It’s a ruse! Don’t be afraid! They’ve only sent a small cavalry force; they still don’t have half of our numbers! Charge!”  
“...Ughhh!”  
“Waaah!”

Feeling he was on the verge of victory—or at least trying to convince himself of it—Gaston shouted, raising his sword to embolden the soldiers, who had hesitated at the mention of reinforcements.

Just as the soldiers surged forward—

“...General.”  
“What is it?”

Matthieu called out in a trembling voice.

“Over there, look...”

With a pale face, Matthieu pointed to where the enemy cavalry had appeared.

“I told you, they’re exhausted...”  
“Behind them!”  
“...”

At Matthieu’s near-scream, Gaston looked again at the spot he was pointing to.

“...Damn it.”

He cursed as he saw the enemy infantry, bearing Gerhardt’s banner, advancing toward them. At least 3,000 strong, they were heavily armored yet moved swiftly toward the Kingdom’s forces.

“Infantry? How?”

Although he’d deployed all his scouts, most of them had already perished, making it impossible for the remaining Kingdom scouts to detect the size of the Imperial reinforcements from the rear.

Now, Gaston thought he saw the main Imperial force following just behind those thousands of infantry.

Panicked, he looked back at the fleeing Imperial soldiers, who were now reorganizing and preparing to counterattack while the Kingdom army hesitated.

“Could it be?”

The unexpected appearance of infantry reinforcements and the Imperial forces, now poised to strike, shattered Gaston’s composure.

To Gaston, who had dreaded Gerhardt’s strategies, it felt as if everything had unfolded according to his plan.

“No...”

Filled with a crushing sense of guilt for leading the Kingdom of Brotan to its downfall and overcome by the collapse of his confidence, he could no longer think straight.

“Retreat.”  
“What?”

His mind was focused solely on escaping this crisis.

Though he couldn’t understand how this had happened, he knew that if Imperial reinforcements had arrived, the Kingdom’s advantage was gone.

Their forces were exhausted from chasing the fleeing Imperial soldiers, and they now stood little chance against the combined Imperial forces.

If this army were annihilated, the Brotan Kingdom would be finished.

“All units! Retreat and form ranks! Stop the attack!”

Desperately shouting, Gaston rushed forward, blocking the soldiers from charging any further.

Convinced he had fallen into Gerhardt’s trap, he didn’t realize that they were over 20 kilometers from where Bébys and Gerhardt had fought, making it impossible for Imperial infantry to arrive on time.

“Retreat?”  
“Weren’t we attacking?”

The Kingdom soldiers, who had just been advancing, were now confused by the sudden reversal. Despite Gaston’s desperate commands, they struggled to form proper ranks.

“For the Empire of Dragonia!”  
“What? Enemy reinforcements!”  
“Run!”

The Imperial Army’s charge shattered any remaining hope. Confusion quickly turned to terror.

“Regroup! Form up!”  
“Don’t block the path; move!”

Fear spread instantly, and the Kingdom forces fell apart before their officers could reest

ablish order.

“All of you, reform... Ack!”

The Imperial cavalry, under Viktor’s command, charged at Gaston’s position, knocking him from his horse.

“General!”  
“Ugh... ah…”

The last hope of the Brotan Kingdom crumbled.

“Ahhh!”  
“I’m here... ugh!”  
“Save me!”

Gaspar watched the soldiers stumble, trampling each other in panic, and muttered quietly,

“...We’ve lost.”

With a sigh, he sheathed his weapon.

---

“...Hmm.”

To be honest, I’m not a genius, so I hadn’t expected things to go this well.

When Friedrich suddenly proposed a lure tactic instead of a quiet retreat, I decided to send 5,000 cavalry in decent shape to support him.

Though Gerhardt’s main force had already left, it would still take a day for them to arrive for battle. Even the reinforcing cavalry hadn’t fully rested, so they had abandoned their armor to ease the burden.

Some of the cavalry even dismounted, disguised as infantry.

The plan was to make it appear as if the main infantry force had already arrived, stalling the enemy’s pursuit.

Initially, my only intention was to delay the enemy.

With so many conscripts in the Kingdom forces, a single delay could buy enough time for Gerhardt’s main force to arrive.

“...Remarkable.”  
“It looks like we’ll finish this before General Gerhardt even arrives.”  
“...”

This wasn’t the outcome I had expected.

However, there was no harm in the soldiers looking at me with admiration, so I didn’t avoid their eager gazes.

“Commander, what are your orders?”

It was uncertain whether Friedrich’s lure tactic had made the difference or something else. Either way, the result was that an opportunity had arisen, so the reason didn’t matter.

Since the Kingdom soldiers were now dissolving after I took down what seemed to be their general, there was only one thing to do.

“Coordinate with Friedrich’s 2nd Corps and crush them.”

“Yes, sir!”

After sending the officers into the battlefield, I closed my eyes and quietly took command of the reinforcements.