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The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 124

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 124

The situation has grown.

Even I, who had anticipated it to some extent, was astonished.

“Why… Has it come to this?”

Dorofei couldn’t continue his words.

The only kingdoms not at war were the neutral kingdom Balas and Crossing, which had been observing. All other kingdoms had entered a state of war.

This put Bülang in a very awkward position.

The reason Bülang was able to treat us like a punching bag and invade with forced justification was that there was no force that could touch them anyway.

If any, there were only Svenner and the Western nations, but those two had been cautious since the last Chimera War.

They feared that if they started another war, an anti-Svenner alliance might form and they would face concentrated fire.

“They came to show off their strength and ended up poking a hornet’s nest.”

Bülang’s mistake was in presenting forced justification.

The most important thing in war is justification. A war without justification receives criticism from others and even lowers the morale of allies.

Bülang took that justification too lightly.

They did point to Calliper as the culprit behind the king’s assassination, but not a single kingdom believed this at face value.

Everyone thought that Bülang had created a forced justification to invade.

Europe, which had been eyeing the weakened Tunkai after the recent Beckavia War, didn’t hesitate to invade Tunkai as soon as Bülang made the first move.

This created a domino effect.

With things turning out this way, the West and Svenner no longer needed to be cautious. Given the situation, there was no chance of an anti-Svenner alliance forming.

“Ars, what should we do now…?”

“In the current situation, there’s only one thing we can do.”

Bülang’s army, which had deeply penetrated our southern territory, had now become a dead horse.

The royal family must have realized this too, as such an order was immediately issued.

An order to exterminate every single one of Bülang‘s invading troops without exception.

Until now, we had been taking passive moves.

It would have been our loss if we had engaged in all-out war and suffered troop casualties unnecessarily.

The difference in national power between Bülang and us was roughly 2-3 times. Although the size of our territory wasn’t that different after we occupied part of Madon’s land, in terms of population, food production, mineral resources, water resources, etc., we didn’t surpass Bülang in anything.

So we had been focusing on avoiding engagement, holding out in major fortresses, and evacuating villagers.

Bülang’s side also focused more on plundering rather than engaging in combat, and no proper battles had occurred even now, a week into the war.

That stance had completely reversed.

“All troops advance! Our target is the enemy’s retreating guerrilla forces!”

I led 6,000 troops rapidly southward.

Bülang, having divided their army into several branches, was inevitably slow in retreating.

An extermination order had been issued for their troops. A royal command had been given not to spare those who dared to plunder our territory.

“General! Enemy forces have been confirmed 10km ahead! The enemy doesn’t seem to have detected us yet!”

“How many?”

“Up to 3,000! And the number seems to be growing!”

“I see, so it’s a gathering point for retreat…”

If I were to lead my 6,000 troops there now, the enemy would surely flee and create a new gathering point elsewhere.

‘I can’t miss this opportunity.’

I looked up at the darkening sky.

“Alright, let’s give it a try. Gaspar! Brother Ferge!”

I split off 2,000 troops each to them and had them make a wide detour.

Then I personally led 2,000 troops straight towards the enemy’s nose.

* * *

Bülang’s military camp preparing for retreat.

Christian Peltz, who was commanding there, frowned at the report he received.

“You said forces moved south from Elton?”

“Yes! An estimated 2,000 troops have approached to a close distance.”

“Elton, huh…”

Elton and Holton were cities outside the range of guerrilla operations. If they were seriously aiming for the capital Alphensard, they would have to attack, but since there was no such intention at the moment, no troops had been sent in that direction.

Naturally, the intelligence network was shallow as well.

“The enemy commander?”

“According to our information, it seems to be a royal direct general named Ars Elaine.”

“Ah, yes. I know. Wasn’t it said that Calliper had appointed a cadet to be the 2nd general?”

It was such a shocking event that rumors had spread to other kingdoms as well.

Rumors that the king of Calliper had gone senile.

“Hmm, I see. Is that so.”

Peltz assumed that Ars had moved south, unable to control his youthful spirit, to achieve military merit.

“What should we do?”

“They’re not even worth paying attention to… But they are bothersome.”

If Ars’ army chased the tail of their retreating forces, it would become troublesome. Judging this, Peltz decided to deal with them in advance.

“Prepare for battle! We’ll defeat them and drive them away!”

He left 500 troops at the assembly point and attacked Ars’ position with 2,500 troops.

Seeing this, Ars shouted as if he had been waiting, “Don’t engage, withdraw!”

Seeing this, Peltz was convinced that Ars’ goal was to tail them.

In a retreat operation, there is a huge difference between having a pursuing force and not having one.

Even if the pursuing enemy’s forces are fewer.

‘The time for other units to arrive at the assembly point is tonight… The time to retreat to the final assembly point was midnight. It would be troublesome to be pursued in that situation.’

Being pursued, and moreover in a night battle? He couldn’t predict what kind of chaos might occur.

Therefore, Peltz decided to drive Ars’ forces as far away as possible.

After about an hour of pursuit, having chased the enemy forces to a sufficient point, Peltz issued the order to return.

“This should be enough. We’re returning to camp!”

It was then, as they were about to return to the assembly point.

“You fool.”

Such a sneer flowed, and simultaneously.

“Attack!”

With Eonia’s command, Calliper’s units attacked from both sides.

“An ambush!?”

Peltz’s eyes widened.

While pursuing Ars’ forces, he had been sufficiently cautious about ambushes. He kept scouts at a distance, constantly watching for approaching forces from the outside. Yet, to be ambushed like this.

‘Something’s not right!’

If it wasn’t forces approaching from the outside that ambushed them, it means these were ambush troops waiting at close range.

But he had been cautious about ambushes too. Above all, an ambush operation has the prerequisite of luring the opponent to a predetermined point.

He had decided to return without any particular criteria. For that to coincidentally be the enemy’s ambush point was too contrived.

“Could it be!”

Peltz finally realized what trap Ars had set.

There was no ambush by external forces. There were no troops lying in ambush in advance.

Then what were these armies piercing both sides?

They were the vanguard troops that Ars had spread out as wings during the retreat.

The forces spread out on both sides formed a parallel line with the rear guard that was linked, retreating together, and when the opposing forces decided to return and slowed their pace, they suddenly closed in like folding wings, surrounding both sides.

So there was no way it could have been detected by intelligence. This was neither an ambush force nor an army coming from outside.

It was merely a tactic.

If it had been daylight, he might have noticed. He would have been able to see with his eyes.

But in the current situation where visibility was limited as the sun had set, it was difficult to grasp.

“Damn! You’re quite good! But…!”

If one knows what the enemy’s tactics are, the countermeasure is simple.

“Don’t panic! The enemy has no reinforcements! We have greater numbers! Concentrate your strength and strike back!”

As he said, because there were no reinforcements, Ars’ side had fewer troops.

However, the preparation for night battle determined the advantage.

“Confirm the markings between each other! That will be your light in the night battle!”

While Calliper’s soldiers quickly distinguished friend from foe by checking each other’s markings, Bülang forces were inadequately prepared for night battle.

This difference grew larger as time passed.

Bülang’s soldiers started to become confused. This was also because Ars had created an atmosphere of fear.

The Calliper officers under Ars’ command kept making gestures as if support had come from outside, saying things like ‘We arrived just in time!’, ‘It’s not too late! Attack the enemy together!’, ‘We’ve come to help, let’s defeat the enemy together!’ and so on.

Unable to visually confirm this, Bülang’s soldiers thought that reinforcements had really arrived and became terrified.

“No, no! Didn’t I say there are no enemy reinforcements! Don’t panic!”

At the point where confusion had already set in, it became uncontrollable. As deserters started to appear, discipline crumbled.

Eonia thrust into the gap that was created.

“Haaah!”

Kwakwakwakwak! Sharp spear strikes aimed at Peltz.

Peltz hurriedly raised his weapon to block the attacks.

“Oh ho, not bad. To be able to block this attack.”

“Kuk! Who are you!”

“I am Rania! The most loyal vassal of Lord Ars!”

Peltz gripped his weapon tightly.

To turn this battle situation around, he needed to take out the enemy’s core officers.

“I don’t know what winch is here, but I’ll make you regret appearing before me carelessly!”

“Hmph, I’ll praise your spirit!”

Surprisingly, Peltz engaged in a battle that was close to a draw with Eonia.

He was one of the most skilled in the Bülang military. Though not a general, in terms of individual combat ability, he was in the upper ranks.

However, today the situation was not favorable.

Unlike Eonia, Peltz had to pay attention to commanding his troops as well, and ended up giving an opening.

Thud! Peltz retreated, bleeding from a spear wound in his shoulder.

He gritted his teeth as he observed the already tilted battle situation.

“This won’t go any further. Retreat!”

He began to withdraw towards the assembly point with the help of his subordinates.

“Ah! Wait!”

Eonia, who wanted to gain military merit, tried to chase after him, but Ars held her back.

“That’s enough. We’ve already taken measures against them anyway. Right now, dealing with the surrounding troops is the priority.”

“Ugh… Yes.”

The Bülang soldiers were retreating in disarray.

Ars began the task of taking them as prisoners.

* * *

Peltz, who had fled, hurriedly returned to the assembly point with about 400 troops.

There, a force of 2,000 had just joined.

“Commander Peltz! Where did you get such an injury…!”

“We fell into the enemy’s trap. Ars Elaine… He was not someone to be underestimated…!”

“We’ll prepare for the enemy’s pursuit!”

“That part is fine. The enemy will also take time to clean up. Instead, let’s retreat quickly. We need to withdraw before they get organized. If we get our tails caught, we’ll suffer even greater losses. Let’s go to the final assembly point quickly!”

“Yes! I’ll issue the retreat order immediately!”

However, Ars was not so naive.

A pair of feral eyes glared at the Bülang army preparing to retreat.

“Kuhah! The youngster has set up a delicious meal. Let’s see how tasty it is. Men, attack!”

Gaspar and Ferge’s forces descended upon the troops at the assembly point. A total force of 4,000 attacked the assembled troops.

For Peltz, it was enough to make him fall over in shock.

“When on earth!? D-Don’t tell me I’ve been played like a fiddle…?”

Ars had made himself bait to draw in the enemy, preventing them from noticing the forces that had been sent to flank them.

In fact, the outcome of the previous battle didn’t matter much, win or lose.

The main force was this flanking troops, after all.

“Uooorah!”

Gaspar rampaged wildly.

He possessed unrivaled ability in field operations.

Outflanking the enemy while avoiding their eyes was child’s play for him.

Now, they even outnumbered the enemy.

“Aggert! I’ll take on the enemy commander! You clean up around me!”

“Got it! Master Gaspar!”

Gaspar headed straight for where Peltz was.

Gaspar’s individual combat power was about 87, not particularly high, but this was entirely due to aging and lack of self-management.

In his prime, he had a combat rating of 95, comparable to Ilya. That experience and dignity as a strong warrior still remained.

If he set his mind to it, he could hold against even stronger opponents.

Just look at how he once engaged in over 400 exchanges with Ilya in the past.

Gaspar had intended to face Peltz to tie down the enemy commander, but when he saw Peltz’s shoulder injury, he changed his mind.

“Kuhaha, the newbie girl has seasoned it nicely. Uoorah!”

“Kuhuk!?”

Splash! Blood spurted as Gaspar’s great sword cut through.

With the death of their top commander Peltz, the Bülang soldiers rapidly lost their will to fight.


TL NOTE:

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The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road

Score 9.2
Status: Completed Type: Author: Released: 2022 Native Language: Korean
I ended up possessing Ars Elaine, a supporting character in the game. Struggling to prevent my death, I pave my way.

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