The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 323
Dawn of the second day of the battle.
After receiving a report on the unit’s status from officers in the command tent, I returned to my personal tent for breakfast.
Eo had prepared a meal there.
Mirabel was already hurriedly eating, and she even tried to eat my portion, so Eo sternly warned her.
Mirabel, scolded by Eo, hangs her head dejectedly. It was like a feeling of a daughter being scolded by her father.
Anyway, while I was eating, Ash appeared, poking his head into the tent.
“I’ve finished reconnaissance. The enemy seems like they won’t advance before noon at least.”
“Well, that makes sense. They’ve rushed in without even preparing their positions.”
“Whew…! Ms. Eonia, can I have some food too? I’d rather eat something better than military rations.”
However, since Mirabel had eaten everything except my portion, nothing was left.
Ash lets out a big sigh.
I finished my meal and said to him, “Ash, you’ll need to move actively today.”
“What now?”
“You know we’ve engaged in battle near Sophia’s side?”
“So?”
“Take this to Sophia.”
It was a letter detailing the operation overview. After examining the contents, Ash widens his eyes.
“Wait a minute. This is too dangerous…! Lysithea, who went to the outskirts, will be attacked immediately!”
“That’s why you should protect your wife. I’ll attach 800 cavalry to you, so move freely and provide support over there.”
“…Understood. Can I depart right away?”
“Yes, from this moment, you are to follow Sophia’s orders.”
Ash rushes out, seemingly forgetting about his meal.
Eo speaks with concern, “Is this okay? Wouldn’t defense be difficult without him?”
“The direction has changed.”
One cannot move passively to induce the mother goddess’s anxiety.
Moreover, this form is exactly what the enemy commander Todolam Dorlen wants.
‘I’ll try to pay him back in kind.’
I issued instructions to the officers before noon.
Specifically, the order for a full retreat.
* * *
The troops of Ars begin to retreat.
Todolam narrowed his eyes at this sight.
His adjutant Hasikuran shakes his head, not understanding.
“Why retreat at this moment…?”
Of course, a strategic retreat is entirely possible.
The Liande army, being in a defensive position, can choose to retreat to the rear fortress if the battle situation becomes unfavorable.
In that case, the central front would be threatened with losses, but strategically, the war could continue.
However, this was the story just before the battle’s start.
Right now, Sophia is rushing forward and engaging in battle with Rancia.
In this situation, with only Ars pulling back, Sophia becomes vulnerable.
If Todolam moves his troops to support Rancia, Sophia will be cornered.
“Let’s issue an advance order right now.”
“….”
Todolam remained silent at Hasikuran’s suggestion.
“Why are you hesitating? This is an opportunity!”
“…The opponent probably isn’t unaware of this.”
“That’s right. There might be a trap. But we can’t ignore military strategy’s principles either.”
“Military strategy principles… That’s something I don’t know.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t know about such things.”
While Rancia Galeron is a general specialized in eliminating variables according to strategy, Todolam was the opposite.
Instead of standard principles, he draws the big picture with moment-to-moment intuition and sense.
“More importantly, if we move our troops south, we’ll miss the enemy troops’ movements.”
Todolam instinctively felt he shouldn’t give Ars freedom.
Hasikuran sighs in frustration.
“But we can’t just let the retreating enemy go either. If we go too deep here, we risk being flanked.”
Hasikuran strongly advocated moving troops southward.
Since he was nominally in the highest position, his opinion couldn’t be ignored.
Todolam realized Ars had intended this.
‘Did he show a retreating movement to induce military division?’
The Svenner army currently lacks unity. Rancia and Todolam are merely guests.
If Hasikuran, the second general and chief of staff of Svenner, pushes this strongly, Todolam has no choice but to follow.
Otherwise, Svenner’s officers would abandon him.
‘Ars Elaine… Such a cunning guy. Disturbing our army with just one retreat order.’
There was no other way.
He had to follow Hasikuran’s opinion and move troops southward.
The Svenner army abandons the attack and heads toward support.
If left as is, Sophia would be in danger.
No matter what, that had to be prevented.
If the tens of thousands of troops led by Sophia were annihilated, the war would end in defeat, regardless of Ars’ tricks.
“It’s a quick decision! I’ll conduct a forced march! Karis! You’ll gather the straggling soldiers! Then, advance!”
Hasikuran took command and Svenner’s troops quickly advanced southward.
At dawn, Sophia and Rancia’s armies had already begun engaging in battle.
The cavalry of Todolam, which had been advancing ahead, could now pierce right beside them.
“Exterminate the vermin of Liande!”
The cavalry charging under Hasikuran’s command.
Rancia furrowed his brow at this sight.
Since this happened so suddenly, no reports had yet reached him.
In contrast, Ash had departed 3 hours earlier, so Sophia was already aware of this information.
“I’m not sure if this will work well… Entire army! Retreat to the fortress!”
Sophia began to withdraw her troops to the point where the fortress was located to avoid the enemy’s attack.
This was an incredible stroke of luck for the Svenner army.
The fortress entrance was narrow, so tens of thousands of troops could not enter at once.
Therefore, if they pursued from behind, they could disrupt the formation and achieve total annihilation.
Hasikuran faces Rancia and speaks.
“Now is the opportunity! Quickly chase and destroy the enemy!”
“…”
However, Rancia did not like this approach.
This was because there might be magical weapons in the fortress.
The situation had a very high probability of being Sophia’s bluff, but now his doubts had deepened.
The current situation seemed like a lure.
Even incorporating the Todolam troops positioned above.
Rancia wondered if Ars had created this formation to maximize the use of magical weapons.
“Magical weapons? Such a thing can’t possibly exist!”
Hasikuran shouted in frustration, but Rancia firmly countered.
“What’s the evidence that they don’t exist?”
“Well…!”
Hasikuran, being from the central continent, was not well-versed in magic. Even if told about magical weapons, he couldn’t quite grasp the concept.
However, since they had used dragons as a strategic magical weapon, there was no reason the enemy couldn’t do the same.
“Even if magical weapons could exist, the likelihood of this being a bluff is high! Moreover, none of our intelligence reports mentioned such information!”
“Hmm…”
At this point, Todolam chimed in.
“Even if magical weapons exist, they couldn’t possibly have enough power to completely annihilate our forces. Even if their power is extraordinary, once battle begins, their own troops would be caught in it. The enemy wouldn’t carelessly use such a weapon. Right now, pursuing is better. If we gain nothing here, we’ll end up falling into their scheme.”
Rancia nodded reluctantly.
“If anything happens, I’ll immediately order a retreat.”
“Very well. Advance!”
The entire Svenner army marched forward.
They only thought of annihilating the enemy attempting to enter the fortress, but they would soon realize how naive that thought was.
“What is this…!?”
The visibility slowly diminishing.
The surroundings had become difficult to perceive due to the fog.
“Could this be the power of a magical weapon…?”
When one of the officers said this, Hasikuran roared.
“How could this be a magical weapon! This is…”
The fog was caused by yesterday’s heavy rain.
Yesterday’s downpour was not limited to the area where Ars was encamped.
This area was the same.
In fact, this area, surrounded by mountainous regions, had experienced even more rainfall. Additionally, rain continued into the early morning, forming a dense fog.
“…No way.”
Todolam felt his mouth go dry at the hypothesis passing through his mind.
“Advance quickly!”
He urged the soldiers and arrived in front of the fortress.
Sophia was prepared in a defensive stance, ready to intercept.
There was absolutely no movement to enter the fortress.
Hasikuran couldn’t help but be surprised.
“An interception stance…!?”
The difference in military strength was crystal clear. In such a situation, taking an interception stance in front of the fortress.
“Let’s achieve total annihilation!”
He was about to immediately issue a charge order, but at that moment, Rancia raised a hand to stop him and looked at the mountainous regions on both sides.
With a crackling sound from both mountain areas, soon arrows began flying with a sharp whistle.
“An ambush…!”
Hasikuran didn’t think much of it, but Rancia was different.
“Ars’ Elaine army might have made a detour this way.”
“What!? That can’t be…!”
“He could have moved earlier than you. It wouldn’t be strange if he had already positioned some troops in advance.”
By positioning part of the troops in advance in these rugged terrains and having Ars’ main force join later.
In such a case, the Svenner army could find themselves in a difficult situation.
“…No, that’s not it.”
Todolam shook his head.
“That’s just a bluff. An ambush with no substance. The troops currently stationed in the mountain regions probably don’t even number two hundred.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because his intentions are clearly visible.”
Right now, this form felt like Ars was deliberately provoking him.
Ars had repaid Todolam’s strategy of using rainy weather with fog.
The current problem lies in the difficulty of determining the scale of troops hidden in the mountainous area due to the thick fog.
Even if Ars main force climbs the mountain, proper reconnaissance won’t be possible because of the fog.
Therefore, Rancia, with his cautious personality, does not want to take risks.
Ars was aiming for exactly that with this strategy.
Todolam, who knew this too well, saw through it as a bluff.
“We must attack! Now is the opportunity, having seen through his scheme!”
Certainly, Ars’ strategy this time was too obvious and easy to read.
However, Svenner, with its divided command structure, was in a situation where it could not simply accept this one truth.
“No, we retreat now!”
Rancia, who had no desire to take risks, just wanted to withdraw and attack the Lysithea troops outside.
Because if Ars’ main force comes this way, they would have no capacity to help the Lysithea troops waiting to encircle them from outside.
The intention is to cause damage to those troops and use that advantage to take the initiative.
On the other hand, Todolam believes this opportunity must not be missed. Hasikuran remained neutral.
Hasikuran was feeling a shiver at Ars’ design.
Like playing on the palm of a hand.
Hasikuran clicks his tongue and says, “Lord Todolam, it seems best to retreat as Lord Rancia says. Even if we attack, we cannot completely annihilate the enemy troops prepared for counterattack. Time will drag on.”
“So what! We must destroy the troops in front of us! Retreating now is not the best strategy! We can’t even tell which direction Ars Elaine’s unit has moved!”
“Isn’t that why we should retreat? If the enemy’s main force crosses the rugged terrain and strikes our flank, the battle situation will rapidly deteriorate!”
“We must be willing to take such risks!”
However, according to the majority principle, Todolam’s opinion was dismissed.
Rancia begins to reorganize troops and retreat to their original position.
After about 30 minutes, a unit blocking their path appeared.
“We must tie down their feet!”
Lysithea, positioned on the outskirts, had gathered troops to block their retreat.
Lysithea, joined by Ash, stood at the forefront of the cavalry to block Svenner’s withdrawal.
Meanwhile, Sophia, who had been preparing for defense in front of the fortress, began to slowly approach.
The three commanders of Svenner finally understood Ars’ purpose.
The terrain they were in was a plains area flanked by mountains on both sides. In other words, if paths are blocked front and back, there would be no space to move troops.
“He aimed for our back!”
Rancia shouted.
Ars had made a detour not towards the fortress, but to the area where Svenner’s troops were originally stationed.
From there, they could squeeze the life out of them and launch a joint attack with Sophia’s army.
Lysithea was risking her life to hold them in place for this purpose.
“Damn! We should have attacked there earlier!”
Todolam, becoming irritated, raised his spear targeting Lysithea at the forefront of the cavalry.
Swoosh! An arrow-like spear cutting through the wind.
“Ugh…!?”
Lysithea, unable to react, suffered a critical wound piercing her left shoulder.
“Lysithea!!”
Ash screamed, supporting the falling Lysithea.
“Ash…! What are you doing…! Quickly take command of the troops in my place! This is crucial right now!”
“Krgh…!”
But it was already beyond the limit.
Todolam charged in, intending to reverse the battle situation at this moment.
Ash immediately issued a retreat order, embracing the wounded Lysithea and withdrawing.
“Capture them! They are the key officers!”
Todolam launched a fierce pursuit.
Splash! Ash stumbled on the muddy ground, his words getting stuck.
“Damn it!”
Ash was prepared to die and tried to confront Todolam, but at that moment, a flash of light flickered.
Clang! A lightning-like spear tip sent Todolam’s weapon flying.
Ash opened his eyes wide.
“Miss Mirabel!?”
“Withdraw and treat your wounds.”
“Yes!”
Thud! Thud! Thud! With the disciplined sound of military boots, troops began to appear.
Ars’ main force, which had made a detour, successfully arrived in time to surround Svenner’s troops front and back.
Hi guys, please check out the new novel I picked “I killed the Demon King. It was a mistake.”
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