The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 317
Liande’s extraordinary operation became known to the Svenner military camp on the morning of the 6th day, as Ars had anticipated.
Rancia Galeron was listening to the report with wide-open eyes.
“Is this really true?”
“Yes! It is reported that Liande’s scattered military forces did not move to any front lines but returned to the homeland and conducted agricultural and construction work!”
Realizing he had been tricked, Rancia’s face turned red.
In contrast, Todolam Dorlen burst into hearty laughter.
“Hahaha! Didn’t you just get completely outsmarted? How quickly he understood your tendencies and struck you from behind!”
“Shut up!”
“Ars Elaine… He’s quite something.”
Svenner, who had poured all their efforts into intelligence to track Liande’s whereabouts, was mocked as Liande’s army returned to the homeland and leisurely farmed.
Considering they could have gained significant advantages if they had advanced during that time, Rancia had effectively been completely defeated.
“What will you do now? Will you advance now?”
“…Not now. The troops have likely already returned. There’s a high possibility they’ve reorganized an ambush unit.”
“Aren’t you missing an opportunity?”
“Even so, we cannot move rashly.”
“Oh, you’ve completely fallen into the opponent’s scheme.”
Psychological warfare defeat significantly impacts the situation.
Now, whatever decision Rancia makes will feel influenced by Ars.
Even if that’s not the case, the surrounding officers cannot help but think so.
“We’ll have to modify the existing operation, won’t we?”
“Can’t be helped.”
“…..”
After a moment of silence, Todolam looked at Rancia and continued speaking.
“Attach 30,000 troops to me.”
“What do you plan to do?”
“You know my tactics. You just need to keep this Ars Elaine guy’s feet tied down.”
Rancia nodded after deep consideration.
Thus, Todolam Dorlen led 30,000 troops and secretly crossed to the central front.
This news was immediately conveyed to Liande’s camp.
“Reporting! The enemy has divided their troops into two and is advancing! One military force is quickly crossing to the central front!”
“Ohh….”
Ars narrowed his eyes, thinking the situation was getting interesting.
“Are they trying to decide the battle in the center?”
The Svenner military, which had distributed troops to left, central, and right positions, consolidated their troops from the right position and dispatched 30,000 troops to the nearby central front.
From Ars’ perspective, this was a difficult movement to counter.
They were in the process of disbanding and then re-assembling the troops.
While they could respond if the opponent attacked, countering a detour was challenging.
‘Rancia Galeron doesn’t seem like he would move like this. Perhaps it might be Todolam Dorlen himself who is moving.’
A legend called the guardian deity of the Erebonia Kingdom. A famous general known to have fought countless battles with Rancia Galeron.
Sophia clicked her tongue nervously.
“We must chase quickly! If the central front collapses, we’ll have to retreat greatly!”
“Perhaps. Right now, this is essentially striking our only vulnerability.”
“Then…!”
“Still, it’ll be okay. The wings aren’t ours alone.”
If their response is delayed, the other wing must respond.
Ars was looking towards the north.
Where Juras was located.
* * *
Stationed at the northern battlefield, Juras was continuously laying schemes against Svenner’s general Zemuto.
It was an internal spy-based officer assassination.
Just as Rancia Galeron had moved his troops to hunt officers, Juras was executing that operation using the weapon of spies at his disposal.
In the Svenner camp, officer corpses were emerging frequently, and an equal number of spies were being exposed.
As a result, Svenner’s command headquarters was filled with a chilling atmosphere.
“W-wait, could Dorian, the military commander, have been a Crossing spy? He’s a man who has been active in the military for 20 years…!”
Svenner’s officers trembled.
General Zemuto had his eyes tightly closed, lost in thought, and his strategist and second-in-command, Hasikuran, was swallowing hard.
Hasikuran speaks, “Keep the military camp’s lights bright even at night! Moreover, officers must move in groups of 5, no, definitely in groups of 5!”
They had to be extremely careful, not knowing how many spies might remain.
The situation was such that there could even be spies among the officers in this command headquarters.
Thus, the officers’ tension was inevitably high.
“…Don’t panic.”
These were Zemuto’s words.
“This is the true skill of Juras Pamilion. It’s about instilling doubt in the enemy. Only fools get agitated knowingly.”
“However, it is true that the enemy’s spies are active day after day. Currently, the number of deceased officers exceeds 30. We must also consider ways to fill those gaps.”
At that moment, Hasikuran nods and responds.
“What about using people from the west?”
“People from the west?”
“The remaining forces of Tetora Anistri. Among them is Casper Milias. He considers Ars Elaine a lifelong enemy. The likelihood of him being a Crossing spy is low. I believe his abilities are sufficient, and it would be good to give him commanding authority and treat him favorably.”
All the officers nodded their heads.
Currently, the West’s position had become incredibly low due to Guderian’s betrayal.
This was because approximately half of the Svenner forces had defected to Liande’s immediately after Guderian’s betrayal.
It was a situation where trust in the entire West had significantly diminished.
However, precisely because of this, they wanted to gain Svenner’s trust.
This was because if the war turned into a defeat, they would clearly be purged during the post-war process.
“If we are given preferential treatment and assigned roles, we will fight with our lives on the line.”
Currently, due to the immense fear of spies, all officers had agreed. There was a perception that the West would be free from spies to that extent.
However, Zemuto was cautious.
“…How coincidental.”
“What do you mean?”
“The situation is very curious. It feels like the circumstances have been arranged to make us employ West’s personnel.”
“Are you thinking that the West is colluding with Crossing? If that’s the case, you can rest assured. Casper Millias, I can guarantee, is not a spy. He will help us by risking his life.”
“…Then Hasikuran, I’ll leave this matter to you. In exchange, thoroughly verify the people around this Casper as well.”
“Understood.”
After the meeting ended, Hasikuran headed towards where Casper was.
Casper was overjoyed upon hearing the news.
“It’s an honor! Even if this body is crushed, I will certainly drive away the enemy!”
“I believe in that part. But you know about the sinister events happening recently, right?”
“Of course.”
“Make sure to keep only those you can trust by your side.”
“In that regard, there’s only Pedro.”
“Can you truly trust this Pedro?”
“If he is a spy, strike my neck. I will accept it with a smile.”
“…Very well. Then attend the next operational meeting.”
“I will follow the order!”
Thus, Casper and Pedro representing the West began to attend military meetings.
Svenner, who extensively reorganized the military camp, made Juras smile.
“Finally, a worm has entered the enemy’s heart.”
Anton, who had joined the camp under Ars’ orders, shook his head repeatedly.
“Juras, you really… Could it be that you used Casper Millias with this situation in mind?”
“Not at all. It’s just how the flow has turned out. More importantly, Anton, what is Ars trying to do?”
“Well…”
Juras laughed for a long time after hearing Ars’ deceptive strategy.
“Dissolving troops and sending them to farm in that situation. He is indeed interesting.”
“If the enemy general chooses to advance, won’t they be in an extremely dangerous situation?”
“He has calculated that it won’t happen. Even if they do, he has probably thought of ways to deal with it. However…”
“However?”
“If the enemy makes a detour through the central front, it could become troublesome. Looking at the fact that he sent you, he seems to have left that part to me.”
Juras quickly reorganized his troops, saying it would be good entertainment.
He began to directly move 20,000 troops to the center.
This was one day before Todolam Dorlen would move 30,000 troops to the center.
* * *
Undoubtedly, the core of this war was the central front.
It was the area where the former Fensillon Empire’s capital Platon was located and where key strategic points were lined up.
The number of deployed troops alone demonstrated its importance.
Svenner had deployed 150,000 troops in the center, and the Allied Forces had deployed 120,000.
Although the Allied Forces were 30,000 short, they had the advantage of defense and could also organize a militia by mobilizing citizens if necessary, so their military strength was roughly equal.
Particularly, the militia’s combat power was substantial.
Normally, when arming ordinary citizens, maintaining morale becomes extremely difficult, often rendering them worse than useless, but this war was different.
The citizens of the Balas region were steeling their resolve for a desperate resistance.
This was due to the war with the West that occurred years ago.
At that time, Tetora Anistri, who confronted Ars, had raided the village and conducted a large-scale massacre, causing the local public sentiment towards the West and Svenner to be at its worst.
As a result, the militia’s morale was not low. They had no choice but to fight because their families would be massacred if they were defeated.
Svenner was struggling with this resilience.
The central front’s commander, Calvern, was moving cautiously.
In such a situation, the circumstances began to change rapidly when Todolam Dorlen brought 30,000 troops up from the southern region.
Todolam decided to head to the Hallion Crossroads, the center of supply lines, judging that he would cut the central region’s backbone.
The Hallion Crossroads was a vast plain serving as a connection point with the west, and if this was severed, the supply line to the front line would instantly be cut off.
This was a situation where if Calvern pierced that gap, he could achieve a great victory.
Todolam was convinced he had seized the initiative and conducted a forced march to the Hallion Crossroads.
This was a move that could be a critical strike now that Ars could not respond.
“…Surprising.”
Todolam blinked as he saw Crossing’s army already stationed at the Hallion Crossroads.
“He’s already made his move. Ars Elaine…!”
Todolam then smiled eerily.
“Well, it was somewhat predictable.”
And that was precisely what had made him a legendary commander.
He had led most battles to victory with such predictable movements.
“Pheew! Haa…!”
Todolam deeply inhaling the air and staggering as if intoxicated.
“Shall we dance a bit?”
He did not hesitate and launched an attack with all his troops, directly confronting Juras.
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