Cedric "No, if we retreat, Wilaric's army will be wiped out, and as we run, we will suffer severe casualties. Right now they are waiting, but as soon as Wilaric's army is defeated, they will attack us from all sides so we can't wait any longer. We must move, now."
The crept out slowly, separating themselves and forming 7 separate units, 4 of the group forming an arrow formation with gaps between them and the 3 in the inside the formation backed up slowly towards the other army, with Torric, Darviz and Silgard leading the charge.
The infantry of the enemy started moving forward, and the arrows continued pouring down. Cedric noticed something (wait I overestimated the enemy, ofcourse that was it I am really dumb i should have figured it out sooner) he shouted "The units with me regrouped and charged forward, the arrows, they can only hit the middle ground!! Torric! Drarviz! Silgard charge you don't have to stay in formation anymore they can't reach you!!" confusion spiralled through the team but all the soldiers decided to listen to their commander.
The infantry of the enemy started pouring in, 100 vs 60. They were vastly outnumbered, but their soldiers were better trained; the bandits had no armor and dull weapons. It was surprising they could push Wilaric's well-equipped army, even with their numbers it shouldn't be possible for ill-equipped and barely trained mere bandits to do so.
Torric's team rushed forward to engage with the enemy, as the sun sets it brought along with it a ray of crimson matching the blood stained snow, Torric team almost in contact with the enemy and simultaneously the enemy infantry and Cedric's units were moments away from making contact "stay in group of 3 everyone of you, quickly don't get separated" Cedric ordered. They all engaged at the same moment, just as Cedric's units destroyed the first wave, the difference in strength became quite noticeable.
Another wave was annihilated. Just then, from the back, the enemy popped out with long spears over 30 feet long. It was as though they planned this all along. The enemy force held the spears tightly, three men back to back, wielding them. Their formation is packed. They thrust them against Cedric's unit, a single spear impaling multiple people at once.
On the other side, Torric and his unit were outflanked by a detachment that seemed to have awaited them all along, blood spilling all over the ground, heads and limbs dropping down like it was a butcher house. Torric, Silgard and Fenric fought fiercely, holding their ground, but Draviz froze. He fell on the ground, his hands trembling, his eyes rolling left and right uncontrollably, his eyes wrinkled like a puppy as tears started dripping down his face.
Just then, he saw Torric on the ground brawling with an enemy soldier as large as him, both stood at 6'5+ and were built like tree trunks. The enemy soldier managed to get on top, pushing his blade onto Torric's neck, but Torric managed to resist; he was struggling to hold on. Aware of Draviz's presence, he called out for help but Draviz couldn't move he watched, horrified by the sight. Torric called out, "Draviz!! Quick!! Or we all die!" Draviz gathered his courage, he let out a scream so loud it matched the roaring of the sky, he grabbed his sword, and as he continued screaming, he slashed the enemy with a fatal blow, ending him."
The Twilight arrived as the bloodshed continued, the moon glowed beautifully as people lost their breath slowly. And as nightfall approaches, the battle seems to be concluding. Cedric commanded the units to scatter. The long spears were pointing at them once again, as both the enemy and Cedric's units caught their breath, they realised something, if Cedric's unit suffered another round of the thrust, it would be over. The spears surrounded them, ready to unleash their venom. "So we are really getting done by a group of bandits." Varron swallowed hard, tightening his grip on his spear and placing his foot firmly on the ground. "Cedric, take care of my daughter".
Varron charged in with his shield on the spear formation. He brushed aside a few of the spears, but the other spears pierced through him. As he roars, bloodied and wounded, he looked like an injured bear on a rampage, with the spears impaled on him. He moved forward violently, and he stood there with 8 of those spears penetrating him. The bandits and Cedric's own unit were in awe of his resilience; a normal person would have fallen as soon as one of those spears struck them, but Varron was different. No wonder he survived countless battles.
Cedric takes a deep breath, his eyes sharp like a wolf, his voice thundering through the entire hill, "Now!! Everyone charges! Give it your everything, we will not let Varron's sacrifice go to waste!" They poured in through the opening Varron created, the tide turned equal again, and it was back to chaotic brawling. Just then, reinforcement from the Milaric army and Torric unit pour in, annihilating the bandits. Torrice and his unit had managed to create an opening on the enemy lines and managed to free the Wilaric army from the encirclement, turning the tide to their favour. They won swiftly after they were freed. The commander in charge of the bandits fled but was slain, and the remaining surrendered along with the person who made Cedric draw a step back just with his gaze.
Darkness swallowed the sky as the battle ended, hundreds dead and many injured, their blood painted the ground red. The Milaric army had lost over 70 men, leaving them with 80, and Cedric's army lost a similar number of soldiers, 75 in total; they were left with 65 soldiers. The bandits lost 380 men; the remaining 40 were restrained. What had begun with a simple expedition of 300 soldiers to slay a mere band of bandits for battle experience and stop their petty crimes ended with a trained army losing half their force.
No one had expected such a force of bandits to be present in the hills of Drouca of Dravem. General Rolith had organised this military expedition, believing it would be a simple task. The man who was able to cause this much damage to a force of organised soldiers with regular bandits was not the commander of the bandits; it was their strategist, Syleic, the same man Cedric met eyes with on the battlefield.
Under the light of the moon, on the Back of the mountain, Drouca sat the remaining force of Wilaric and Cedric, with campfires and a victory that tasted too bitter. Cedric takes a deep breath. "Wilraic, how did your force manage to get cornered?" Wilaric put down his drink and rubs his mouth "At first we were only engaging with 50 Bandits, we thought we will wiped them out quickly with our entire force but little did we know they were luring us in on the edge of the cliff and suddenly 250 bandits appeared and surrounded us with spear so long we couldn't move an inch, many of us sacrificed to keep the army from getting annihilated"
Cedric tilted his head, eyes furrowed, his hand folded. "Was it all the doing of this brat here ?" Syleric smirked but kept quiet. Wilaric replied, "It seems like it." Cedric confusedly replied, "But you said there were only 150 of them, and why did you chase 50 of them with your entire force? That's foolish!" Wilaric replied with a heavy voice "we encountered a bunch of them on our way up but we slain them all, though their casualties seem to be way higher than we expected we just thought our arrows had landed perfectly coincidentally but it seems like they had placed their own and other deceased bandits that they likely fought with in the hill previously, so we charge in thinking it was their only remaining force. And the intel on their numbers was wrong because they intentionally concealed their numbers until now."
Cedric looked at Syleric (22, Male, 5'10 Square jaw with slick back hair and a cold, intense gaze) who sat there on the ground and stared back at Cedric expressionless. "You really did a number on us, huh? Syleric, how did you manage to conceal 250 men, and how did you even manage to organise this many bandits? Most of all, how did you make them work together? Syleric stared but said nothing. "I guess you are mute. Well, whatever."
Wilaric stood up, with a sharp tone, "People who survived this ruthless battle! Let's send off our death comrade with another shot! Worry not, for we will meet them in heaven someday."
The soldiers raise their cups with a grim face, "Aye".
The next day, after they had descended from the hills and departed, Cedric's remaining force made a proper burial for their fallen comrades and sent them off with prayers. Cedric spoke, "Many have fallen in this battle. I am grateful that they served under me and made this victory possible, and I am distressed at the sight of their lifeless body, but I believe they are now in a better place."
Cedric swallows and take a deep breath looking at the sky "I cannot speak for all since i didn't know each of them well it is a shame on my end as their commander, however i knew Varron and Kaedric well they were both really courageous individual and fought honourably till their end, specially Varron who sacrificed his life to save us, i would have been amongst them if it weren't for Varron and I will be forever indebted to him for that, may God guide their soul to paradise."
The story of the great battle at Drouca hills spread all over the Kingdom of Dravem, it went "The Coalition army of Captain Cedric Alveryn and Milaric Rouiz defeated a horde of 700 bandits with a force of 300 soldiers, drastically reducing the number of bandits and along with it reducing criminal activities" though the story was exaggerated the officials didn't correct it and infact play along the narrative, as it boosted the morale of the tiny kingdom and made the people put faith in the military again. The number of recruits surged in the following weeks, and Cedric and Milaric were labelled as heroes in the Dourac district.