The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 101
While Ash’s cavalry was striking Crossing’s main camp, Ars was positioned not at the main camp but at the frontline. There, he was leading 20,000 troops forward. This was similar yet different from what Juras had done.
If Juras had forcibly wedged in with overwhelming destructive power, Ars was creating a path by striking at the enemy’s weak points. This action was done in anticipation of the enemy cavalry attacking the main camp, but above all, it was to corner the enemy’s main camp.
‘Juras is undoubtedly aiming for the enemy’s main camp. Then we shouldn’t give the enemy main camp a chance to escape.’
Ars pushed his army up on the opposite wing from where Juras was advancing. This made Hanneman’s position awkward. Originally, Hanneman had planned to move in the opposite direction of Juras’s advance, but he couldn’t do so because Ars was pushing up from that direction.
As Hanneman’s main camp hesitated, Juras didn’t miss this brief opening.
“Hmph, to have already figured out how I move. As expected of Wade.”
Juras grinned and said softly, “Thanks to Wade, the path to the enemy commander has opened. Everyone, follow me.”
As Juras’s unit forced a breakthrough towards Hanneman’s location, Ars quickly pushed his army in the opposite direction to prevent Hanneman from escaping.
Hanneman couldn’t help but be astonished.
“How on earth…”
“Lord Hanneman! The enemy is converging here! Please give us orders!”
“Retreat in the opposite direction of their advance!”
“But new enemy troops are coming from that direction. According to the officers, the one leading them is the warrior with the ash-gray helmet! It’s Wade!”
“Ugh! Wade…!”
Hanneman felt intense pressure from Ars, who was counterattacking by exploiting the movement using Tunkai. However, the pressure he felt from Juras was much greater.
“How did that guy move so quickly! Where are the Five Dragons? What are they doing?”
“Th-that is! It seems they’ve all been killed. White Dragon, Red Dragon, Black Dragon, Blue Dragon, all of them…”
“You call that an explanation?!”
They were all strong warriors on par with Fischer. It was hard to believe they had been killed as if they were mere foot soldiers.
“It must be false information! They must all be alive!”
However, upon seeing Juras approaching him, Hanneman realizes that it wasn’t a lie.
“Uahahahaha!”
Swish! Crunch!
Juras, laughing maniacally, slaughters the soldiers. With each swing of his sword, Western soldiers lose their heads without knowing why.
Right behind Juras were the Red Knight Anton, 2nd General Nolak, and 3rd General Patty Hutt.
Anton was undoubtedly a top-tier warrior, Nolak was stronger than Fischer Partin, and Patty Hutt was also a fierce warrior on par with Fischer.
Although 5th General Kistler Fonte had died at the hands of White Dragon, the strongest of the Five Dragons, the Five Dragons were completely annihilated in return.
“Mon-monsters…!”
Hanneman finally understood why Zemuto had said those words.
Inhuman beings. Extraordinary monsters. That’s what he was referring to.
Crunch! After tearing through even the guards and reaching the front, Juras intimidates Hanneman, who falls on his backside, unable to even think of escaping.
“You, you bastard…!”
“…”
Juras’s gaze at Hanneman was cold and ruthless.
“– Boring.”
“Wh-what did you say?”
“I said it’s boring. You couldn’t even last 3 hours. This kind of fight doesn’t ignite any passion at all. Is this all you amount to? Is this all the blade of revenge you’ve been honing for 100 years can do? Apologize to me right now for having been wary of the likes of you.”
“What nonsense…!”
“I said apologize. You weak f*ck.”[1]
It was a gaze as if looking at an insect.
Hanneman couldn’t move at all, as if he was facing a predator.
Meanwhile, Ars arrives.
“What are you doing?”
Hanneman’s eyes widened once again upon seeing Ars.
“Wade…!”
“Oh, my. It seems my name has reached the West as well. Are you Hanneman Noiers? The descendant of the Erebonian Kingdom, I hear.”
“Ugh!”
Hanneman felt deeply humiliated. He had always been in a position to command others. He was revered. Most people looked up to him.
But these two before him were looking down on him as if it were natural.
What was even more humiliating was that Hanneman himself understood this. These two were indeed worthy of doing so.
Hearing Ars’ words, Juras smirks.
“You’ve done your homework quite well. There were no records of you accessing intelligence reports, did you perhaps seek out an information broker?”
“Just to pass the time.”
“It’s obvious why you went to an information broker for something you could have easily learned by asking our intelligence department. It’s because of Ilya Anfei, isn’t it? Then you must have also heard that Guderian Chester is part of the Three Great Generals.”
“That’s why I don’t like how you talk as if you know everything.”
“Heh, well, I could even tell you about Ilya Anfei’s past if you’d like?”
“Ah, please just shut up already!”
The two casually chat while the enemy’s commander-in-chief sits defeated.
Hanneman felt an unknown fear towards the two.
‘These guys are monsters! I shouldn’t have come here!’
Squeak, Hanneman retreated, pushing against the ground with his palms.
Ars, seeing this, gave Juras a look asking what he would do.
Juras spoke to Hanneman as if he had no interest at all.
“I’ve lost interest in you now. Get lost, you small fry.”
“…!”
Hanneman stood up with a trembling body and staggered away.
Soon, his adjutant supported him as they left.
Along with him, the forces of the West and Tunkai also began to retreat.
Ars then says, “This is unexpected. I thought you’d pretend to let him go and then stab him in the back.”
“What do you take me for?”
“Someone who’s certainly not in their right mind.”
“Oh, come on. Well, that might have been fun too, but now is the time to look at the bigger picture. It’s better to let that guy live. Wade, you’re aware that the Western forces are divided into three factions, right?”
“Vaguely.”
“If he dies now, his faction will be entirely absorbed by another leader. It’s better to let him live and send him back than to allow that.”
“Well, in that state, he’ll no longer dream of advancing to the continent, so he’ll clash with the other leaders who are advocating for war.”
“That’s how it should go.”
Ars looks at Juras as if he’s fed up.
‘This was his goal from the start.’
To lure the opponent to Beckavia, thoroughly crush their forces, and create cracks in the cooperative relationships among the Western forces.
‘From that perspective, it’s natural that he didn’t like my plan. My plan would have resulted in most of them returning alive….’
Ars coolly admitted that this time, Juras was one step ahead.
“Shall we start the cleanup then?”
It was necessary to pursue and inflict damage on the retreating enemy forces, and above all, it was important to restore the interrupted supply lines.
“Wade, I’ll leave the restoration of the supply route to you. You’ll need to coordinate with Beckavia on that part, so it’ll be faster if you do it. It seems you’ve become quite close with the genius princess?”
“It’s not like that. Anyway, I understand.”
This battle between the Western and Tunkai allied forces of 130,000 against the Crossing and Beckavia allied forces of 130,000.
The Western alliance suffered a crushing defeat, with 60,000 of their 130,000 troops either killed or captured. In contrast, the Crossing alliance achieved a great victory with losses of only 20,000.
* * *
I, who began dealing with the aftermath of the war, first requested Sophia to restore the supply route.
Sophia nods, saying she knows.
“Since the Veratorium supply depot has collapsed, it’ll be faster to procure food from the capital, Fortvia. I’ll handle that part quickly.”
“It’s not that urgent. We seized a few of the enemy’s supply wagons during the pursuit. We have about a day’s worth of leeway.”
“…”
Sophia is silent for a moment, then says, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For opposing your strategy back then.”
“Let’s consider that as if it never happened. Looking at these war results now, it’s clear that Juras was right.”
“Even so. I’m sorry, Wade. …But there’s one thing I want to say. If the same situation comes again, I will make the same choice.”
“Isn’t that contradictory? You say you’re sorry, but you’d make the same choice next time.”
“I guess that’s the kind of person I am. A princess who must prioritize the survival of the kingdom, yet a strategist who must command troops ruthlessly… That’s my contradictory position.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem like we’ll be working together in the future. So I won’t say much.”
“We’ll see. That’s uncertain.”
“…?”
“Then, I’ll look forward to the day we meet again.”
Sophia leaves, leaving behind meaningful words.
I shrugged it off and headed towards where Olaf was.
It was then.
“Sir Wade!”
A mid-ranking officer of Crossing comes running hurriedly.
“If possible, could you help us for a moment?”
“What’s the matter?”
“Well, among the prisoners we’ve captured, there’s one that’s difficult to handle.”
“Hmm? For such matters, couldn’t you assign it to other senior officers?”
It’s strange that he’s asking me, a guest.
The officer scratches his shoulder, looking troubled.
“The Commander-in-Chief and other senior officers are handling matters at the front, so it’s difficult to ask them to come here. Usually, General Kistler would take care of these things, but sadly, he fell in the last battle…”
“Then I guess it can’t be helped.”
The group of Juras who went to pursue the enemy forces didn’t have time to focus on managing prisoners.
“Lead the way.”
“Yes, sir!”
Mentioning prisoners reminded me of the previous Chimera War.
With the thought of recruiting if I saw any decent individuals, I decided to head to the prisoner management facility with Eo.
The number of enemy soldiers captured by Crossing in this battle was as many as 23,000. This was because Juras and Ars quickly destroyed the enemy’s main camp.
When the main camp in the rear retreated early, the soldiers left at the front had no choice but to surrender.
By proportion, about 17,000 were from the Western forces, and about 6,000 were from Tunkai.
The problematic prisoner was from the Tunkai side.
“…”
A woman glaring at the guards with murderous eyes.
Her demeanor and sharp aura clearly indicated she was no ordinary person, but she showed no intention of revealing her identity.
“Come on. Don’t just glare, reveal your identity!”
“Speak up already!”
Crossing was famous for taking all prisoners as slaves, but they would exceptionally exchange prisoners for those who could pay a ransom.
As this woman was obviously a high-ranking prisoner, the guards were interrogating her about her identity, but the woman didn’t say a word.
As the guards started to get angry, she instead spat out harsh words.
“Filthy creatures. Tunkai’s wrath will devour you someday.”
“Ha! As if that would ever happen. Svenner aside, Tunkai against our Crossing? Even a passing dog would laugh!”
“That accent of yours… It’s an Alvard accent.”
“So what?”
“Hmph, I just found it amusing to hear a turncoat say our Crossing. Your words, lacking in belief and pride, don’t reach me.”
“You bitch…!”
The guard’s eyes changed.
“I should teach you a hot lesson to make you come to your senses. If you won’t reveal your identity, fine. I’ll treat you just like the common prisoners. Then I can enjoy myself too.”
The guard starts to undo the belt at his waist. Despite this, the woman doesn’t panic, but rather sneers.
Her eyes were already looking behind him.
It was Ash, who had infiltrated disguised as a guard.
‘Lysithea…’
Ash was looking for an opportunity to rescue the woman, Lysithea. Now was the chance.
Especially now that Juras Pamilion and other senior officers were at the front.
‘I’ll have to deal with them quickly the moment they focus on Lysithea.’
As the situation was busy with prisoner management, even the guards were distracted. If he could deal with the two in front and escape in the confusion, they could surely get away.
Ash gripped tightly the dagger hidden in his bosom. There was no need for mercy towards those trying to violate Lysithea.
But it was then.
“That’s far enough.”
Ars appeared, stopping the guard who was trying to violate Lysithea.
Footnotes:
1] Juras actually used a Korean derogatory word, Songsari which basically means weak or powerless to his aspect that he cannot function without other people.
TL NOTE:
Schedule: @5PM UTC Everyday
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you would like to support me or read up to 30 chapters ahead, you can do so via patreon.com/ChibiGiant. OR by unlocking chapters.
