Eastern Kazimierz, Red Pine Forest Town.
The name carried a pastoral poetic charm, but this place had always been a strategic chokepoint contested by armies since ancient times.
Crossing this vast red pine forest and the towns nestled within led to the flat central plains of Kazimierz.
Beyond that, there were no more defensible positions; the Grand Knight Territory would be directly exposed to the enemy's blades.
Bolesław, commander of the Campaign Knights' 7th Banner Team, stood on the makeshift defensive line outside the town, observing the east through binoculars.
The scars on his face were souvenirs from the last Higashi war, clashing with Ursus forces; now they twisted with his clenched jaw muscles.
His banner team was the mainstay of the eastern front army.
But at this moment, he felt like a mud mason abandoned at a dam breach, with the flood about to crash down already rumbling in the distance.
Sporadic frontline reports arrived—not so much reports as wails from routed soldiers.
"They have iron birds that fly and drop explosives from the sky!"
"Lances can't pierce their armored vehicles; our lines collapse on contact!"
Bolesław lowered his binoculars, rubbing his throbbing temples.
Most of the knights under him were still young, their faces bearing untempered pride and bewilderment.
They listened to the routed soldiers' cries with disbelief in their eyes.
The Commercial Federation's lords were still bickering over the border friction, unaware that the enemy's blades were already poised at Kazimierz's heart.
"Sir, are we just waiting here?"
A young adjutant couldn't help asking.
"We've sent out three scout teams; none have returned. We know nothing about the enemy."
"Then prepare for the worst," Bolesław said gravely.
"Pass the order: disperse and conceal by squad..."
But at that moment, dust clouds billowed on the western horizon as an army approached at astonishing speed.
The knights tensed immediately, gripping their lances tightly.
But soon, they made out the approaching banners—the Silver Lance Pegasus Knights!
Nearly eight hundred Silver Lance Pegasus Knights advanced across the open fields at speeds rivaling a cavalry charge, their steps perfectly synchronized.
Their armor was finer than that of ordinary Campaign Knights, and each carried the signature silver javelins on their backs.
The lead commander was a middle-aged male knight who rode straight up to Bolesław.
"Commander of the Silver Lance Pegasus Knights' 3rd Squadron, Galahad Kowal, here by order of the Grand Knight to coordinate defenses."
"Bolesław, commander of the Campaign Knights' 7th Banner Team." The old knight nodded in greeting.
"Welcome, Sir Galahad, but if I may speak frankly, you're too late. The eastern defensive line is effectively gone."
Galahad ignored his complaint and relayed the orders directly:
"The Grand Knight's command: delay the Leithanien main force at Red Pine Forest Town at all costs, buying at least seventy-two hours for redeployment in the Grand Knight Territory."
"We will shed our last drop of blood here to blunt the Leithanien offensive!"
Bolesław looked at his face, distorted by fanatical loyalty, and felt a chill in his heart.
He understood the Grand Knight's intent: classic trading space for time.
They, along with these eight hundred of Kazimierz's elite Silver Lance Pegasus Knights, were the chips staked on the table in this gamble.
"My men will follow orders," Bolesław replied heavily.
"But Sir Galahad, you should hear the routed soldiers' descriptions yourself."
"Our enemy is unlike any we've faced before."
"Glory will shelter us; knightly valor conquers any trickery," Galahad replied resolutely.
He turned to position his subordinates.
That confidence and pride seemed to infect the surrounding 7th Banner Team Campaign Knights, reigniting their fighting spirit.
Bolesław said no more, silently inspecting his lance.
Meanwhile, several kilometers away in the Leithanien field command post.
As commander of the Kazimierz offensive, Taylor stared at the model of Red Pine Forest Town on the sand table.
An intelligence staff officer reported:
"Report, Minister: large elite enemy forces detected assembling. Database match confirms Kazimierz 'Silver Lance Pegasus Knights.'"
"Silver Lance Pegasus..." Taylor repeated the name.
Pre-war intelligence manuals had special notes on this unit: individually powerful, highly mobile, devastating javelin throws—ace of aces in the Kazimierz military.
"Looks like that Grand Knight isn't completely hopeless; she knows to place her aces at key points."
Taylor smirked.
"They want to bottle us here, then play knight charges on the open plains?"
"Minister, adjust the plan?" an operations staff officer asked.
"No need; proceed as planned," Taylor waved.
"Order the air wing to work."
"Tell them: I want those knights tasting skyfire before our tanks even arrive."
He picked up the communicator, connecting to the 1st Armored Division channel.
"Leon, you hear me?"
"037 tank crew, Leon here! General, we're itching to go!" The young man's excited voice came through.
"Rein in your eagerness, kid," Taylor chuckled.
"Once the bombers clear the field, I want your tank first into Red Pine Forest."
"Remember: no lingering; tear their line, sow chaos."
"Our infantry will follow to mop up the stragglers."
"Understood!"
Hanging up, Taylor's gaze returned to the sand table.
His finger traced from Red Pine Forest Town's model straight to the marker for Kazimierz's capital, the Grand Knight Territory.
War's logic was simple: break the enemy's bones, and they kneel.
The Silver Lance Pegasus Knights were Kazimierz's hardest bone.
...
Precisely at seven a.m.
The Kazimierz knights on the line had just finished their cold hard rations when Galahad was delivering final pre-battle motivation at the front.
"...For knightly glory! For Kazimierz!"
His words unfinished, a scalp-tingling howl came from the horizon.
The sound grew nearer, shriller.
"What's that noise?" A young knight looked up uneasily.
Bolesław's pupils contracted sharply; his battle-hardened instincts screamed warning.
He saw, in the dawn light, a swarm of black dots appearing in the sky.
The dots rapidly enlarged into the "flying iron birds" the routed soldiers described.
They flew in tight formation, and upon reaching the knights' assembly area, nosed down in near-vertical dives toward their positions.
"Enemy attack—"
"Take cover—!!"
Bolesław's roar drowned in a chain of massive explosions.
Orange fireballs bloomed endlessly across the Kazimierz positions, hurling dirt, debris, limbs, and torsos skyward.
Bolesław's makeshift command post took a direct hit in the first wave, vaporizing him and his staff.
Ammo dumps, medicine, and rations ignited, belching thick smoke.
The knights' vaunted armor shredded like tissue before the bomb blasts.
Knights tore apart in the explosions, few intact bodies left.
Galahad thrown by the blast wave, struggled up to a vision of inferno.
His proud Silver Lance Pegasus Knights lay scattered by this unheard-of assault.
Terror seized every survivor.
Their prized martial skills, centuries of glory, seemed laughable, impotent before this heavenly wrath.
In just ten minutes, five squadrons of Stuka dive bombers completed carpet bombing runs.
When the howls faded, silence reigned amid the dead, broken only by survivors' moans.
Kazimierz's eastern army, including elite Silver Lance Pegasus Knights, had lost over a third before even closing with the enemy.
________________________________________
Get rewarded for helping with our community goals!
🎯 Reward for all: +1 bonus chapter at 50 Powerstones.
🚀 Tier Reward: Help us reach 20 members for +5 chapters on all stories!
👻 Join the crew by searching Ms. Medusa on (P). You know the spot! 😉