The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 320
The battlefield begins to become chaotic with the appearance of a dragon.
Unrest was also rising among the soldiers.
“Ars!”
Sophia, who joined at the midpoint, speaks with a harsh expression.
“The northern front is now in an unpredictable situation. Even our spies are unable to collect information.”
“Is it that serious? But if they have retreated…”
“They haven’t retreated. That Juras Pamilion character.”
Apparently, Juras had prepared one operational signal in case of any contingency.
“Indiscriminate charge…?”
“Yes, it seems the soldiers of Crossing launched an attack towards the Svenner camp even in the midst of confusion.”
“Hmph!”
It was remarkable that they managed to do such a thing in that situation.
In any case, the war situation has now fallen into a labyrinth.
Instead of retreating while accepting losses, Juras made the opponent fall into the same situation.
With this, the outcome was now uncertain.
The remaining problem was how we would move.
Sophia asks,
“Have you contacted Vandalin?”
“Yes, I have. But since this is such a sudden situation, it will probably take about half a day for them to prepare.”
“What will we do? Are we going to help the northern front?”
“…”
Now that the north is engaged in a fierce battle, the movement of the central forces is limited.
The central battlefield must carefully defend its lines and move cautiously depending on the outcome of the northern front.
In that case, our southern front becomes the key point.
If we gain the upper hand in the south, the opponent in the center will be pressured from top to bottom, causing the war situation to shake dramatically.
If we defeat the enemy in front of us and apply pressure, consequently, both the north and the center will be able to breathe.
‘What should I do…?’
While pondering this, the opponent began to move first.
“Reporting! The confronting enemy is preparing to advance! It seems their target is our positions!”
It appeared that the opponent, Rancia Galeron, was thinking the same thing.
From the beginning, the operation of surprise-inserting the dragon was for taking the offensive, so in a way, this was a natural movement.
“What is the scale of the enemy’s forces?”
“According to intelligence, they are approaching 40,000!”
Our forces also number 40,000. A battle of equal numbers, so it was sufficiently worth attempting.
“…Entire army, prepare for battle! We will respond!”
The northern and southern fronts. Battles ignited on both wings.
This was a crucial battle where the victory or defeat of the war hung in the balance.
* * *
Svenner’s army began to march.
Rancia Galeron, with Todolam Dorlen, and Svenner’s 2nd general Hasikuran as an adjutant, began their march.
While Todolam was originally someone who acted together with Rancia, Hasikuran was different.
The chief strategist and limb of General Zemuto.
He had already joined the southern army during the previous central front invasion.
This was a deployment by Zemuto to ensure overall military coordination.
Hasikuran appeared anxious, continuously looking toward the northern direction.
Todolam Dorlen smiles slyly and says, “Are you worried about your master?”
“….”
“Hmm, if your master has such capabilities, wouldn’t there be no reason to worry? Or is it that you don’t trust your master?”
“That is not the case. Lord Zemuto is an unprecedented military genius. However….”
There is such a thing as style.
Zemuto was the type who could only be satisfied if he created the entire strategy from start to finish.
He would only begin battle after excluding all possibilities of defeat.
Because he only fought battles where elements of his defeat were excluded, he inevitably became an invincible general.
But this battle was different.
Zemuto’s patience was wearing thin due to Juras’s malicious harassment.
Moreover, Svenner was the one launching the invasion.
Zemuto judged that Juras’s schemes had penetrated internally to an uncontrollable extent.
Thus, he used the dragon—his ultimate trump card—to eliminate Juras alone.
The problem was that this dragon was an unverified, uncertain strategic resource.
He had heard about its effects through rumors, but that was all. Having never been proficient in magic, he did not know the specific effects.
In this crucial phase, Zemuto—famous for his meticulousness—had employed an uncertain operation.
Hasikuran was troubled by this.
“If it really bothers you, dispatch a personal spy. Right now, focus on the battle before our eyes. You don’t want to be defeated by Ars Elaine again, do you?”
“Of course.”
The two, who should have retreated due to Ars’ tactics, were grinding their teeth.
This battle’s configuration was perfect for taking revenge.
Svenner’s army had divided its forces into two branches to achieve a swift resolution.
The goal was to simultaneously collapse two key enemy strongholds and quickly push the frontline.
Each branch had 20,000 troops.
One side was led by Rancia Galeron, and the other by Todolam and Hasikuran.
In response, Ars assigned 20,000 troops to Sophia to position against Rancia’s army, and personally faced Todolam.
This was because the region Todolam was attacking had weak defenses.
The area Sophia was defending could utilize a stone fortress for defense, but this side only had wooden palisades.
Of course, even wooden palisades provide significant strategic advantages.
Moreover, there were first and second line palisades, allowing retreat to the second line if the first was compromised.
One might say it was ideal for buying time. For Svenner, seeking a swift resolution, this was an irritating situation.
Todolam pondered strategies to destroy the long, linear wooden palisades.
“If the palisades aren’t sturdy, cavalry could crush them, but….”
If the palisades were more solid, there was a high likelihood of losing cavalry uselessly.
Conventionally, infantry should be brought closer to slowly destroy them, but that would result in significant troop losses.
“What about using fire?”
This was Hasikuran’s suggestion.
“Fire?”
“From the past mercenary Wade…. The strategy Ars Elaine used in the Chimera War. Lighting fires in front of the palisades to raise smoke and obscure our movements.”
“Oh? And then?”
“Afterward, he would make a single-point breakthrough and establish a foothold from there.”
Todolam lets out a chuckle.
“What an eccentric. Using fire tactics as a trick to establish a position in enemy territory. Hmm, interesting.”
Todolam suddenly looked up at the sky.
Then closed his eyes as if meditating and feeling something.
Hasikuran tilts his head, wondering what he’s doing.
“Be quiet.”
Todolam remained standing with his eyes closed for about 30 minutes.
Then he raised the corners of his mouth.
“Seems doable. Everyone!”
Todolam ordered his troops to start gathering firewood.
The operation’s essence was similar to what Ars had done during the Chimera War.
It was a fire attack.
* * *
The enemy army moved busily.
Svenner’s army was cutting down nearby trees and preparing to dry them for firewood.
‘What are they doing? Are they planning to set a fire?’
The effect itself wouldn’t be bad. This region, though flat, was originally mountainous and had many trees in the camp.
Now that spring was in full swing, the trees were leafy, and grass grew on the ground.
If those caught fire, it would cause chaos for a short while.
However, if the enemy cannot cross that fire, it would be meaningless.
If we retreat behind the fire, the enemy cannot pursue. This would ultimately consume time.
“Shall I prepare the evolution work, Lord Ars?”
Eonia seemed pleased to have something to do and was excited.
“No, there’s no need to respond so seriously. If they set a fire, we’ll just retreat without firefighting.”
“Yes….”
Eo sticks out her lips sulkily with a sullen expression.
At that moment, Olaf, who was serving as my strategist, offers his advice.
“Isn’t it possible that they are aiming for a detour?”
“Hmm.”
“They might be setting fire to divert our attention and then make a detour to another region because they don’t want to deal with our wooden fortress.”
If that were the case, the most likely region would be the Madri Mountain range directly above us.
That area had uneven terrain and poorly constructed mountain paths, and we had not even established a proper fortress there.
If we were to fight there, we would likely be on relatively equal footing.
“However, I’ve heard that the proportion of cavalry in the enemy troops is quite high. If we enter the mountain range, we won’t be able to use that cavalry, right?”
“Well, couldn’t they convert the cavalry to pack horses and assign them to supply transportation? If we enter the Madri Mountain range, we won’t be able to end the battle in a short decisive engagement, so logistics transportation will become crucial.”
Something felt uncertain.
But it was also true that we couldn’t think of anything else.
“Very well. Let’s prepare based on that plan.”
If the enemy sets fire, we’ll quickly retreat and prepare to move to the Madri Mountain range.
While we were preparing for this, the enemy began to take unexpected actions.
On the third day of the war.
The enemy began to fully implement their fire strategy.
The enemy infantry, approaching with precise steps, pushed prepared firewood carts into our wooden fortress and set those carts on fire.
Whoosh! It seemed they had coated the carts with special oil, as the carts burned fiercely, causing the firewood to blaze intensely.
Although we had moistened the wooden fortress just in case, the fire spread quickly.
“Retreat!”
I immediately ordered the troops standing at the first wooden fortress to fall back.
Black smoke rising high into the sky.
This made it impossible to track the enemy’s movements.
If we were to detour to the Madri Mountain range like this, it would go according to Olaf’s prediction, but…
“Shoot!”
Ping ping ping! Fire arrows covering the sky.
However, their timing was quite ambiguous.
If they had intended to hit us, they should have shot the fire arrows immediately, but they began shooting only after we had moved behind the second wooden fortress.
As a result, the fire arrows stuck into the ground, trees, and wooden fortress without causing any casualties.
However, there was an effect from the fire.
A conflagration began as fire caught on the ground, trees, and the barracks we had left behind.
Moreover, the second wooden fortress also started to burn.
The second fortress was originally smaller and more dilapidated compared to the first, so it quickly caught fire.
‘What is this?’
If they had intended to make a detour, they could have just burned down the first wooden fortress and left.
Even doing just that would have prevented us from catching the tail of the enemy troops making a detour.
I couldn’t understand the reason for targeting the second wooden fortress.
In any case, the enemy couldn’t directly attack us.
Olaf was also bewildered by the enemy’s strange actions.
“Ars, let’s move our troops to the Madri Mountain range anyway. That’s the only troop movement the enemy can make.”
“…Wait a moment.”
Something was bothering me.
The enemy’s actions were similar to what I had done in the Chimera War.
Using fire strategy as a decoy to execute another major operation.
It could be a detour to the Madri Mountain range, but it didn’t seem that simple.
‘The fact that they specifically targeted the second wooden fortress might mean that their original purpose was to destroy the fortress itself.’
There was some logic to choosing fire strategy to destroy the wooden fortress and directly strike our army.
The problem was how to suppress those flames.
‘Unless they use magic…’
At that moment, something flashed through my mind.
‘Could it be?’
I quickly looked up at the sky, but the smoke from the fire obscured my view.
As I stared blankly at the sky, Olaf asked, “Ars, what’s wrong?”
“Olaf, how much rain has fallen in this region at this point?”
“Well, not much, I suppose. But it’s a fertile land where ponds don’t dry up all year round.”
Gulp! I involuntarily swallowed hard.
If my speculation was correct, I understood the principle behind the enemy’s actions.
Sure enough.
Plop! Plop! Droplets began to fall.
It soon became a downpour drumming against the ground.
Though it was a brief shower, it was enough to extinguish the fire.
The Svenner troops did not miss this opportunity and threw themselves into firefighting efforts.
“Prepare to extinguish the fire!”
I tried to reoccupy the second wooden fortress after putting out the fire, but I was already a step too late.
Thud! Thud! The enemy cavalry had already approached and was demolishing the second wooden fortress.
At the forefront, Todolam Dorlen stood laughing triumphantly.
‘I’ve been completely outsmarted.’
Who could have imagined it would rain at that exact moment?
The wooden fortresses we had painstakingly built were now useless.
However, I thought this was more calculated than mere coincidence.
“Entire army, prepare for battle!”
Now we had no choice but to engage in a full-scale battle.
As if they had no intention of waiting for us to prepare our stance, the enemy immediately charged.
Rumble! Two thousand cavalry rushing forward.
As rain continued to pour, the battle between the two armies began.
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