The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 295
Having led my troops to the south, I tried to find every possible way to rescue Olaf, but no suitable method came to mind.
I concluded that the spies of Crossing infiltrating enemy territory had likely already been killed.
This was because not only was Olaf’s whereabouts unknown, but the captured soldiers and officers had also been subjected to brutal torture and execution.
Therefore, the prediction was that Olaf had also been executed.
“Such a…”
As I was reading the report in my tent, Julia and Meissen entered with a sense of presence.
“Sister…!? I, I’m sorry. It’s difficult to talk right now. Later…”
“No, there’s no need to hide it.”
Sister Julia began to shed tears endlessly. She seemed to have already heard the approximate information.
“Olaf is already dead…? Is that right?”
“…”
“Uwaaaaah!”
She collapsed and started wailing. Meissen also lowered her head with tears in her eyes.
I was at a loss for how to comfort them, my vision going dark.
Along with that, anger surged towards the one who had executed Olaf.
‘Tetora Anistri… That woman…’
A crazy woman who had once committed civilian massacres. Although I had given her a beating before, it seemed the bad blood wasn’t over yet.
‘This time, I’ll end it for good.’
For Olaf’s revenge.
I let out a deep sigh and stroked sister Julia’s back.
But then.
“Huh? Why are you all like this?”
“Olaf…?”
The man we thought was dead appeared with Gaspar, looking relaxed.
Sister Julia and Meissen looked as if they had seen a ghost.
“How did you…!”
“I luckily escaped alive. Well, it’s more like inevitability than luck. More importantly, were you crying because you thought I was dead?”
Sister Julia embraced him emotionally. Meissen also smiled with teary eyes.
Only after their reunion did I learn the details.
“Aggert!?”
“Yes, he was apparently still with the Alliance. He was accompanying someone named Calvern.”
“Calvern…”
“It might sound strange, but whether Aggert is following him or he let me go, this Calvern guy is definitely our enemy, right?”
“Superficially, yes.”
I also had many questions about Calvern.
Calvern was a great hero leading other races against humans, but he had the contradiction of being human himself.
I was thinking that his true intention might be harmony between different races and humans.
“But why is he becoming an enemy by becoming part of the mother goddess’s clan?”
“Well, we won’t know unless we talk to him directly. I don’t think he’s eager to talk either.”
“That’s right. If he wanted to talk, he would have contacted us from the beginning.”
“Yes, so the plan is to capture him in the war and then have a conversation.”
“I hope it goes well. From my perspective, he’s my life-saver.”
“So we owe him a huge debt.”
“More importantly, Ars, is the operation decided?”
Olaf’s expression changed.
He seemed to want to make up for his previous capture.
He looked down at the battlefield with a venomous gaze.
“I’m still considering. Whether to attack before the enemy secures their supply route, or to develop in a defensive direction.”
“Hmm, what do Rutger and Sophia say?”
“Rutger wants defense, Sophia wants to attack.”
“Since Ars is neutral, I can decide by majority.”
Olaf points to one location.
“Luden Mountains. If we can surprise and occupy this area, we can temporarily block the enemy’s supply plans.”
“Luden Mountains…”
“If their supply plan is disrupted, the enemy will respond. They might try to reclaim Luden Mountains or bypass the supply route.”
“They will probably try to reclaim it. Bypassing Luden Mountains to establish a supply route would be inefficient and have many uncertainty factors.”
Olaf nodded.
“Give me 5,000 troops. I’ll occupy the area and build wooden fences to create a defensive wall. I’ll try to hold out for at least two weeks.”
“Defending in a mountainous area is suicide. The enemy will build a siege and wait for our food to run out. That would turn the 5,000 troops into dead troops.”
“Ha, who do you think I am, Ars? I’ve prepared contingencies. Well, precisely, I did this with Sophia.”
“If you’ve prepared something…”
Just as they say, speak of the devil.
Sophia, hearing that I had come to the Renova region, took the time to visit my military camp.
She was also surprised by Olaf’s safe return, her eyes wide like a rabbit’s.
“Olaf! You’re safe! I thought you were definitely dead!”
“I owe my life to Aggert.”
“Aggert? How surprising.”
Sophia also agreed that more conversation would be needed about Calvern, maintaining a neutral stance.
I asked her about the Luden Mountains.
“Ah… The Luden Mountains are a kind of insurance. North, central, and south. I prepared for a scenario where one of our three strongholds might be breached. If Olaf fails to defend, the enemy is likely to establish a supply route by sea. In that case, the Luden Mountains become a key point in the supply route.”
“How meticulous. So what measures have you taken in the Luden Mountains?”
“I’ve hidden food.”
“Food…?”
“There was an iron mine in that mountainous region. It’s now an abandoned mine, but we’ve stored provisions there. The plan is to buy time if things get urgent. With abundant groundwater, there’s no issue with drinking water, so thousands of troops could be stationed there and survive for two months without additional supplies.”
“Indeed…”
Olaf takes over and continues speaking.
“If we station five thousand troops there for nearly a month, the enemy will become anxious. We can take advantage of that gap and reclaim the lost southern territories.”
“…What do you think, Sophia?”
“Although we’ve already been outmaneuvered, I believe this could at least be a medium-level strategy. Right now, what the enemy wants is for our armies in the north and central regions to move south. In that case, Svenner’s army stationed in the west would push forward. So it would be ideal if the north and central regions remain stationary, and you reclaim the southern territories with your remaining troops.”
“…”
“Ars? What’s wrong?”
“No, I’m just a bit moved.”
In past wars, I had to think about and execute operations alone, but now I have reliable staff.
“So we’ll proceed with this method?”
“…No.”
“You were just nodding along, and now you’re saying no?”
“The numerical strategy was well done. But it’s likely at a level the enemy can counter.”
“You read my mind?”
“Perhaps. Still, it’s not without effect. Just by engaging in this numerical strategy, you’ve gained a significant advantage.”
“…?”
Sophia and Olaf look bewildered, not understanding.
They furrowed their brows after hearing my operational overview.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the western military camp located in the south.
Tetora Anistri was looking at the map with narrowed eyes.
Beside her, Casper Millias was explaining the operation in a sycophantic manner.
“The enemy will surely target the Luden mountainous region. They intend to occupy it and disrupt our supply routes.”
“…And?”
“Yes! We should wait for them to occupy it. They likely think we’ll attack, but we don’t need to do that. We just need to surround them and wait for their food supplies to run out. Then we can capture their entire military force.”
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“There must be some measures in place. There will be another way to secure food supplies. Don’t you have any other information about the Luden mountainous region?”
“Other information…”
“Never mind. There’s probably a hidden underground facility. They’ll have food there.”
This was Tetora’s intuition. The intuition that the enemy wouldn’t be so foolish.
Casper, well aware of how sharp her intuition was, continues speaking while clicking his tongue.
“Then, I’ll immediately search for and burn those hidden food supplies.”
“Stop. Then they won’t come in.”
“What do you mean?”
“Occupy the Luden mountainous region.”
“But that will make our supply routes vulnerable.”
“Who do you think I am?”
“You are the great Tetora!”
“Supplies from the homeland have already begun. By sea.”
“By sea…?”
They were piercing through and occupying the southern territories like a needle.
Naturally, supply routes would be a major issue.
Tetora had been aware of this from the beginning. She had long anticipated that the Liande army would target the supply routes.
That’s why she had already planned supplies via marine routes.
“The moment they deploy troops to the Luden mountainous region, we’ll advance to the Renova area. Then they’ll be like dogs chasing chickens.”
“I see! By taking advantage of the enemy’s focus on land routes…! As expected of Tetora!”
Tetora believed the psychological warfare she had been waging with Sophia was now a psychological battle with Ars.
Thus, she thought she had won the psychological battle with this move.
Upon hearing that thousands of Liande’s special forces were heading to the Luden mountainous region, she was confident of gaining the upper hand and began preparing to advance to Renova.
During this process, several objections came in.
Hasikuran, the second general of Svenner commanding the central and northern armies, demanded speed control.
His request was to first surround the army in the Luden mountainous region and then observe the enemy’s movements.
Moreover, Special Operations General Calvern also instructed to secure land-based supply routes, but Tetora didn’t listen.
“Cowards.”
Tetora personally led an army of 70,000 and advanced north.
She advanced to the doorstep of Renova.
There were no risks of ambush in this process.
This area, the former Bülang region, had many plains.
Renova was at the center of those plains.
Thus, there were no spaces suitable for ambush.
Therefore, Ars directly confronted Tetora’s army from the front without using any cunning ambush tactics.
The number of troops was also 70,000.
Tetora finally felt a sense of unease.
“What is this?”
In this situation, there were no strategies or tricks. No ambush troops, no special forces attacking from the rear.
It was a pure contest of strength. Only tactical battles would occur between combat.
“No way…”
Tetora couldn’t believe it.
After conducting psychological warfare from the beginning until now, Ars had chosen a simple frontal battle.
“Entire army!”
Ars stood at the vanguard, raising his spear high.
The 5,000 cavalry at the front let out a roar.
“Charge-! Trample the enemy!”
Troops rushing in without any reconnaissance.
Ars began pushing forward with pure strength, as if saying war was something far more simple.
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