@Samhill its basically her over inflated ego and pride whenever someone complements gospel, its one of those things to help readers see emotions in characters.
pretty sure they didn't need to kill them all on the field, just rout them, capture them, either execute or ransom/enslave them while they were captives.
pun fact: daggers have killed more knights and heavy infantry than any other weapon, as their goal is to knock their opponent down or disable them then drop their weapon and jam their dagger into the eyes through the visor slit.