The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 25
This happened the day before hearing the news of the fall of the Beckavia camp.
Anton kneels and reports to Ars.
“As predicted, the enemy retreated through the Gariton Mountains. As per your orders, Commander, we pretended to chase them, disrupting their numbers and cutting off their scouts.”
It was the effect brought about by field battle.
The Beckavia army fleeing through the mountains couldn’t accurately determine the number of troops pursuing them due to the deep darkness of the mountains.
They might have thought the entire army was in pursuit, but in reality, only about 3,000 guerrillas were noisily carrying out the chase mission.
The rest of the army was quietly holding its breath on the outskirts of the Loharden intersection.
And only when Anton cut off the enemy’s scouts did Ars begin the full-scale operation.
“Well, shall we start the real operation now?”
“…”
The officers were looking at Ars with awe.
His ability to read situations rivaling Juras and his mysterious strategies.
‘This person is definitely not a simple mercenary.’
‘Who on earth could he be? Could it be that a well-known strategist is hiding his identity here?’
The officers thought this because Ars strategies were so exquisite and also vicious.
“Now, I’m going to divide the army into two. Anton!”
“Yes Sir!”
“Go to Gebson Castle and bring it down as promised.”
“I will obey your command.”
“I’ll give you 10,000 troops. Please depart immediately. Every minute and second is precious for us without supplies.”
With the pre-distributed individual rations, they could somehow manage for about a day, but beyond that, supplies were impossible without looting.
“I’ll leave right away!”
Anton first heads towards Gebson Castle, leading 10,000 troops.
Afterwards, Ars led the remaining 25,000 towards Caecilian Fortress.
The rest of the forces were deployed at key points for information warfare, cutting off the enemy’s intelligence heading towards Carrington.
As Ars and his army revealed themselves, an emergency was declared at Caecilian Fortress.
Military officer Berid Malon, who was guarding Caecilian Fortress with 2,000 reserve troops, muttered in disbelief.
“H-how did the Crossing army get this far…?”
This place was quite far from Carrington where the battle was taking place.
Malon knew about the result of the first engagement, but he hadn’t received any information about what happened afterwards.
“Surely reinforcements were supposed to come from the allied front…”
To Malon, Ars thrust forward the corpse of Casola Telltale as if to show off.
“Carrington has fallen! We’ve annihilated the reinforcements that were supposed to help you, so there’s no more hope for you!”
Upon confirming Telltale’s body, the morale of the Beckavia soldiers instantly plummeted.
Seeing that the enemy possessed the corpse of the general who was leading the reinforcements, they prematurely concluded that the reinforcements had been destroyed and the Battle of Carrington had ended in defeat.
Ars seized that timing to urge surrender.
“Make your choice! Will you be buried here with this shabby fortress? Or will you surrender!”
Malon, the commander of the fortress, was not in a situation to make a proper decision.
The sudden appearance of the Crossing army.
“When an unexpected situation arose, as if Kang Yu-gwan had surrendered in great surprise to the horsefly that came over Mamaki Mountain, Mallon’s judgment rushed to the extreme.”
“S-surrender is difficult!”
Surrender is difficult.
Ars raised the corner of his mouth at those words.
“Then I’ll give you 30 minutes. We’ll leave the north gate of the fortress open, so follow that path to Arandal. Arandal will be the city where this armistice will be discussed, so if you head there, your troops won’t suffer harm from our army.”
It was all a bluff, but at the mention of giving them a way out, Malon had to make a decision.
Resist or flee.
While he was pondering such thoughts, deserters quickly began to appear.
From the beginning, many of the reserve forces here were men who were too old or too young to be formally enlisted, so they quickly lost their will to fight.
Seeing the Crossing army preparing to attack from the south gate while leaving the north gate empty, they hastily evacuated the fortress and began to flee.
Malon, judging that a proper battle was difficult, evacuated the fortress and headed towards Arandal as Ars had suggested.
If they had held out in Caecilian Fortress, it would have taken at least half a day to consume in a situation without siege weapons, so Ars saved time with just a few words.
Having entered Caecilian Fortress without bloodshed, Ars began emergency supply distribution using the resources within the fortress.
Meanwhile, Anton, who headed towards Gebson Castle, was in a different situation from Ars.
While Caecilian Fortress was a military fortress where ordinary citizens didn’t live, so it could be captured just by making the soldiers flee, Gebson Castle was different.
The population inside the castle was 80,000, the lord was leading the castle, and there were 1,000 trained private soldiers.
If the lord mobilized the castle people for a do-or-die siege, it would not be an easy situation for this side either.
Anton acted according to Ars instructions.
He showed it to the soldiers and people of Gebson Castle.
Rumble! Hundreds of carts advancing all at once.
They were filled with intestines that were nauseating just to look at.
Swoosh! They spread them out all at once at the entrance of the castle.
“Th-that…!”
“M-monsters! Those aren’t human!”
“Kyaaaaa──!!”
The people of Gebson Castle were in a state of panic.
They thought those intestines were from humans.
In reality, they were collected from livestock, but since intestines generally look similar and people don’t often see human intestines, it was impossible to tell from a distance that they were from animals.
“Ugh, uweeek!”
“I-I’m not staying here!”
Just seeing this horrific scene was enough to make the soldiers on the castle walls flee inside.
Lord Antasian had turned pale.
Anton addressed Antasian as if delivering an ultimatum.
“Choose. Will you repeat the tragedy of Carrington here at Gebson Castle? Or will you preserve your lives…!”
“Ca-Carrington has fallen?”
“Why else would our army be here?”
That made sense. Antasian knew about the devastating defeat in the initial battle, so it wasn’t strange that Carrington’s army had been defeated.
‘But it’s odd. Even considering that, it’s too fast…!’
He felt suspicious about that point, but Anton acted quickly to eliminate any room for such thoughts.
“I’ll assume the proposal is rejected. All troops, prepare for battle! Let’s show these fools the bloody festival that took place in Carrington!”
Woooah!! The difference in morale was clear.
Antasian hurriedly tried to stop Anton.
Regardless of other circumstances, it was clear that if they fought against 10,000 regular troops with Gebson Castle’s current forces, even if they won, the number of casualties would be beyond imagination.
He, who cared for the domain’s people like his own family, wanted to avoid such a situation at all costs.
“Conditions, tell me the terms of surrender!”
“…It’s simple. We’ll open the north gate, so lead all the citizens to Arandal. If you do that, you should be able to preserve your lives until the armistice.”
“Is, is that all?”
“Well, we should take some spoils. Leave behind valuables and food. If you don’t comply with this, we’ll send a pursuit team.”
“Kugh! …We’ll do as you say.”
“We’ll enter through the south gate in 30 minutes. It would be best to flee before then.”
With that, there was no choice left.
The citizens of Gebson Castle streamed out through the north gate towards Arandal, and Anton’s army of 10,000 entered the castle without bloodshed.
After entering the castle bloodlessly, Anton quickly began to gather valuables and food.
In the case of Gebson Castle, being located in a granary region, there was a large amount of stored food.
Anton loaded this food onto hundreds of carts that had been emptied of the spilled intestines and shouted.
“From now on, we’ll conduct a forced march!”
The forced march he proposed was so harsh that even the officers clicked their tongues.
They had to move without rest for two whole days.
Moreover, they had to pull carts full of food, so stragglers were inevitable.
This issue was resolved with the valuables obtained from Gebson Castle.
“Those who complete the forced march will be equally rewarded with the treasures obtained here! Everyone, gather your strength and follow!”
And so, Anton’s troops began to move diligently towards the point Ars had designated.
* * *
The fall of Caecilian Fortress and Gebson Castle.
After hearing the detailed report, Sophia’s eyes widened as she shouted, “Send word to Arandal immediately! Tell them to lock the city gates and prepare for a siege!”
The enemy’s intention is simple.
The second city of Beckavia.
They aim to end the war by capturing Arandal.
“It’s a strategy to plant a worm in the heart! Sending people from Caecilian Fortress and Gebson Castle to Arandal was to plant spies among them! We must not accept any refugees! McCauley! Concentrate all intelligence forces around Arandal!”
“Princess, but the enemy is short on supplies. Do you really think they’ll attempt to advance north to Arandal?”
“They must have resupplied at Gebson Castle! That amount should be sufficient! They can also resupply additionally as they move north!”
“We haven’t received any intelligence yet that they’re heading towards Arandal.”
“No, they must have done so. It doesn’t make sense otherwise.”
This was rather an opportunity.
Sophia could barely contain her excitement at the chance for counterattack she had finally grasped.
“Our army will also head to Arandal! Begin preparations for the march immediately!”
Arandal gets ready and holds out, while she catches them from behind.
Thus, Sophia’s army stationed in Carrington sets out for Arandal, one step behind.
Confident that she had perfectly read Ars scheme.
***
Day 6 of the war.
The battle on the northwestern front was intensifying.
Juras had mobilized all his troops for an all-out attack, and Kaien of Alvard was countering with inspired defensive tactics.
“Indeed, it’s the legendary strategist… There are no openings at all.”
Juras laughed, saying he couldn’t handle it.
Other officers, to put it mildly, were intimidated.
“To think there would be no openings to this extent… Kaien the Strategist!”
“Gillias Melbourn and Ushis Goldray. Their timely judgments are also frightening. Has the void left by Rutger Rosenberg been filled now?”
Gillias and Ushis, well-known as Kaien’s disciples.
These two acted as Kaien’s left and right arms, respectively in charge of offense and defense.
Against this exquisite harmony, the Crossing army was losing at various points and failing to establish tactical footholds.
“Hah! You’re 100 years too early to aim for Alvard, you Crossing trash.”
Gillias, leading the allied forces, sent a taunt before heading towards Kaien in the central army.
“Master, we’ve driven away the enemy forces that were targeting our right flank. They’ve retreated significantly.”
“…Hmm.”
Despite the continued news of victory, Kaien’s face showed some dissatisfaction.
“Master? What’s the matter?”
“I find it strange that that cunning snake is using such a reckless method.”
Juras was not the type to make such attacks unless in special circumstances.
He was the kind who would create favorable situations for himself and make the opponent attack.
“Isn’t that because you’ve overestimated him, Master? Besides, it was Crossing that initiated the attack. If they had intended to stay holed up, they wouldn’t have declared war in the first place.”
“No, something doesn’t feel right. Find out about the developments on other fronts immediately.”
At this time, information was reaching Kaien a day late.
This was because Juras, while launching his full-scale attack, had skillfully cut off intelligence as Ars had requested.
Therefore, the news of the fall of Caecilian Fortress and Gebson Castle only reached them now.
“Caecilian Fortress and Gebson Castle have fallen…?”
Gillias narrowed his eyes.
As for Kaien, his expression showed he was at a loss.
***
Sophia, who had started moving north in pursuit of the Crossing army heading towards Arandal.
Having arrived at the Gashal Gate, one of the gateways to Arandal, she was receiving a soldier’s report with a bewildered expression.
This was because the Gashal base, which should have been captured, was perfectly intact.
“What? The Crossing army? We haven’t seen them at all!”
“But, but the refugees must have passed through here!”
“Yes! But the Crossing army did not pass through.”
Strange. This is too strange.
‘Without passing through the Gashal Gate, they can’t threaten the major cities of Beckavia.’
There’s only one answer.
‘They diverted their troops in this situation?’
Then where did they divert to?
To this, McCauley Coon says, “Perhaps they returned to Carrington? Expecting that we would leave our position.”
“That’s wrong. Even if they did, there’s not much the enemy can gain from it.”
Even if the enemy goes to the empty Carrington, all they can gain is slightly better terrain.
Anyway, since Carrington is a gently sloping plain area, the effect of securing terrain isn’t that significant.
If that were the case, Beckavia’s side could simply return to Carrington and face them again.
“Then where on earth did they divert to? We’ve concentrated our scouts in this area, so if they had headed into our territory, they couldn’t have avoided detection.”
“Not our territory…? Ah, aah… Aaah!” Sophia finally realized where the Crossing army had diverted to and let out a scream.
She immediately turned her gaze to one place.
To the battlefield in that direction. Towards the northwestern front where Kaien and Juras were clashing.
TL NOTE:
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I was outsmarted too…nooo
Ya got baited Sophia.