The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 42
Ars stands his ground coldly while Julian persistently reduces the number of cavalry.
While this peculiar standoff was taking place on the Setes Plains, other battlefields were also in turmoil.
First, in the battle that took place in the northern Godin Valley, Kaien achieved visible results against Dunan, forcing the Calliper army to take a step back.
Dunan, who retreated, begins to hold out by building a fortress using materials prepared in advance.
Below, in the Moro Mountains, Gillias Melbourn launched an attack, but Calliper’s general Ironheart defended using pre-built palisades. He somehow managed to drive away the Alvard army.
As the northern front reached a stalemate, fierce battles were taking place in the Foldick Mountains where Rutger was defending.
The Foldick Mountains, where Wade first appeared in the past.
Just like then, Ushis Goldray, the 4th general of Alvard who was commanding the army, was facing a strange pressure.
‘What on earth is this!’
He felt as if all of his thoughts were being read.
“Report! The unit that was pioneering the western infiltration route was defeated by enemy ambush! The enemy has disappeared again!”
“Urgent news! The eastern infiltration route we had pioneered has been destroyed! It seems enemy guerrilla units are active!”
The Calliper army responds agilely to every move.
“Such a perfect defensive tactic. There shouldn’t be such a person in the Calliper camp!”
One name came to Ushis’s mind.
Except for Kaien, there was only one general who could employ such a high-level defensive tactic.
“It can’t be…”
It was a fact he didn’t want to believe.
“Surely it’s not you there, Lord Rutger…!”
***
Rutger was looking down at Ushis from the top of the mountain.
His eyes were filled with bitterness and lingering attachment.
Wary of this, Anton speaks in a low voice. “If you have any other intentions, I have my own thoughts as well, Lord Rosenberg.”
“Huh, did Wade give instructions? To dispose of me if I show signs of betrayal?”
“That’s not it. It seems our lord has decided to trust you.”
“Then it’s your own initiative? How… Admirable loyalty. To the point of being mysterious.”
“What… Do you mean?”
“I’ve been curious about something all along. Why did you pledge loyalty to Wade? At first, I thought you were simply a person planted by Crossing, but that wasn’t the case. Why do you serve Wade, even to the point of betraying Crossing?”
“I didn’t betray Crossing. We had such an agreement with Crossing from the beginning.”
“Agreement?”
“When the true master appears, we pledge absolute loyalty to him. That is the oath passed down in my family. Until that master appears, our family works for Crossing, and Crossing promised to let us go when that master appears.”
“I see. It’s your family’s mission. That was what was most precious to you.”
Rutger nodded. “Then let me ask one more thing. What would you do if the person you love conflicts with your mission? If you had to kill that person to keep your mission?”
“I will keep my mission.”
“You’re strong. Unlike me.”
“…?”
“It seems I can’t be that cold-hearted. More than my homeland Alvard. More than my own life… Because my beloved daughter’s happiness is more precious.”
Thud! Rutger struck his sword on the ground and ordered. “The enemy forces will soon try to climb the main hill! All troops prepare for battle! We’ll counter them fiercely!”
Rutger, the ironwall.
He was not showing even a single gap and not allowing the Alvard army to intrude even a single step.
* * *
The situation in the Foldick Mountains was being reported without fail to the Setes Plains as well.
“To think that Ushis couldn’t even approach by a single step. It’s surprising, even though Ushis is known for specializing in defense.”
Julian came to one conclusion while compiling the intelligence.
“It seems they’ve deployed a considerable number of elite troops in the Foldick Mountains.”
With this thought, the behavior principle of the Calliper army also made sense.
The Calliper army that was guarding their position like an iron wall no matter what, even if the cavalry became arrow fodder.
“It’s because the risk is too high to counterattack due to the low level of training of the soldiers.”
In other words, that camp has a high proportion of conscripts hastily recruited by Calliper.
Julian read the entire situation with just fragmentary information.
“Then this will be a fatal move. Hey! Use up all the arrows before noon! Don’t leave a single enemy cavalry alive, wipe them all out!”
The Madon army, shooting arrows since dawn. Due to this attack, the cavalry, which had only 700 horsemen, was completely annihilated, leaving only 50 behind.
After confirming this, Julian calls for one adjutant. “Summon Draken!”
Draken, a pureblooded beast-man. He was the one who shook the intelligence network and commanded the night raid when Madon attacked the Saleon faction.
“Well, Craig. Is it finally my turn?”
Draken showed his teeth and smiled eerily. Julian frowned at this.
“Coincidentally, that’s how it turned out. I need you to run wild.”
“The plan? Is it enough to just stir things up?”
“No, this operation is more delicate than that. Draken. From now on, I’ll give you 3,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry. Divide those forces into several groups…”
Julian’s strong move.
An exquisite strategy that surpasses Ars’s defensive strategy.
“Plunder all the surrounding territories. This will bring this battle to its final act.”
This report was immediately conveyed to Ars’s camp as well.
“Urgent report──! The enemy has formed a guerrilla force of about 5,000 and is bypassing the battlefield! Their target seems to be the surrounding territories!”
At this, Feradin stands up abruptly.
“Which surrounding territories are you talking about!”
“Rosbel, Ribel, Bonia, Rotos, Twiran, and Noyers are likely to be targets!”
At this, Eonia’s eyes widened.
“Ri, Ribel…!”
Eonia fidgeted restlessly, watching Ars’s reaction.
The expressions of other officers also hardened.
“General Wade. Shouldn’t we also divert our forces to block them?”
It was the advice of an officer from Calliper but Ars still remained silent.
On behalf of Ars, Feradin speaks with a gloomy expression. “We don’t have enough mobility for that.”
“If it’s about mobility…. Don’t tell me!”
“Yes, because the cavalry that could follow the enemy and buy time has been completely wiped out.”
“Did the enemy aim for this and pour arrows into the cavalry!”
“That’s how it seems.”
Julian judged that it would be difficult to break Ars’s defensive strategy by conventional methods. He found a breakthrough from a different direction.
This method of bypassing forces was cleverly striking at the Achilles’ heel of the Calliper army.
That was the morale of the army.
Currently, the Calliper army’s morale was low due to the cavalry becoming arrow fodder.[1]
They were maintaining morale by distributing horse meat from the slaughtered horses daily, but this incident dealt a decisive blow.
The Calliper officers were in an uproar as if their feet were on fire.
“If this continues, there will be great confusion among the conscripts!”
Because those conscripts were from these surrounding territories.
If their families and hometowns were put in danger, their morale would inevitably hit rock bottom.
There was a high possibility of the army collapsing from within as deserters increased.
Julian was demonstrating the ability of a general who looks at war, not just battle, showing the difference in class.
An ingenious strategy that surpasses strategy. Feradin couldn’t help but admire it.
“Julian Craig, was it? Truly remarkable. When I heard that Madon had entrusted the position of grand general to a young green brat, I was puzzled, but now I understand. He certainly had the ability to do so…!”
“This is no time for admiration! General Wade! Please don’t just stay silent, say something about countermeasures!”
The officers looked at Ars as if clinging to him. Even Eonia was at a loss for what to do and was just pacing anxiously.
“…Haa.” Ars sighed softly. “To think that even at this point, not a single person has grasped the true intention of the operation. Perhaps I’ve surrounded myself with too many military officers. Well, most of the people here aren’t my vassals anyway…. It seems I need to recruit more strategists.”
At this, Eonia bit her lip tightly.
‘I should have understood Lord Ars!’
But there was nothing she could do about not knowing.
Ars continued speaking. “Countermeasures have already been established. Everything is going according to plan. Prepare the entire army for battle. From this moment on is the decisive moment. Follow the instructions swiftly.”
“Yes sir?”
The officers widened their eyes at the order to prepare for battle.
“At this time? The sun will set in 4 hours. It will take more than an hour just to prepare for battle! If we really engage in battle, there’s a high possibility it will lead to a night battle!”
“It’s alright. It will be decided before that.”
“Mo, moreover, the army’s morale is too low to engage in battle!”
“Who? Whose morale is low?”
“What…?”
As soon as the order to prepare for battle was given, the soldiers moved in perfect unison. There was no sign of low morale due to the bypassing of forces among them.
Seeing this, Feradin was astonished.
“Co, could it be…!”
Even Eonia unconsciously swallowed hard. “I can’t believe it. To think you predicted this far from that point…!?”
The reason for Eonia’s astonishment.
It was simple.
Among the approximately 23,000 troops in this Calliper camp, there wasn’t a single conscript from Calliper.
* * *
Thump! Thump! Thump! The Calliper army advances in step.
Seeing this, Julian frowned. His adjutants couldn’t hide their sneers, calling it a foolish act.
“Those fools have finally lost their minds!”
“They don’t know their place, crawling out like that! Hahaha!”
However, Julian thought differently. “No, this might be the only way out for the Calliper army.”
“The only way out?”
“If they stay still any longer, the army will crumble from within. On the other hand, if they enter battle right away, they can fight somehow.”
Moreover, since Madon had detached 5,000 guerrilla troops, the forces were now almost evenly matched at 25,000 versus 23,000.
“Then…!”
“Well, no need to worry. Even so, our army won’t collapse against such rabble. If we hold out until sunset today, the battle will be solidified as our victory. I’ll form a defensive formation! Move quickly!”
The Madon army began their defense.
Julian copied Ars’s defensive formation exactly.
He densely deployed 23,000 infantry in the center and placed 1,000 cavalry on each wing.
“Let’s see you break through the formation you once deployed.”
However, seeing this formation, Ars lightly sneered. “What a foolish thing to do.”
The Calliper army closes the distance.
And when the distance between the two armies narrowed to about 100m, the Calliper army began to act strangely.
“Move! Run at full speed!”
“There must be no stragglers! Move quickly!”
The officers shouted at the top of their lungs.
Because the entire force moved in such a way, chaos erupted in the Calliper camp, and soldiers began to get tangled up.
Seeing this, Julian thought that the demoralized Calliper had lost control, but it was the opposite.
Ars controlled the officers with remarkable concentration, establishing a definite order amidst the disorder.
And at this moment, Julian feels a sticky anxiety for the first time.
‘What is this? This eerie feeling.’
The movement the Calliper army was taking now was madness. Tangling up troops in disorder while closing the distance with the enemy?
If there had been arrows left, they would have immediately fired a volley, inflicting severe damage.
But the Madon side had no such arrows. They had used them all to deal with the cavalry.
‘Did they predict the situation would turn out like this? No way. There’s no way they could have.’
That’s when it happened.
Rumble! The Calliper formation, which seemed tangled, split into two streams like unraveling thread, and bang! struck both wings of the Madon army.
Having already built up speed within their formation, the charge was swift.
Neigh! The Madon cavalry was surprised by the unexpected charge.
Julian bit his lip. “Tch! So that nonsense was to prevent the cavalry from having a chance to charge.”
Just as Julian had agonized over dealing with the cavalry, Ars had also decided to deal with the cavalry on both wings first.
So he intentionally tangled the army to hide the path of the charge, then gathered the center of gravity on both sides to strike both flanks at once.
The cavalry, which needed to charge to gain power, lost that power when they were attacked first instead.
“General! I’ll send infantry to support the flanks!”
“No! If we do that, the center will become vulnerable! They’re trying to disperse our main force’s attention to both sides and then break through the weakened center!”
There were still about 3,000 troops remaining in the front.
Julian thought that the fierce commander who had shot an arrow at him would be among these 3,000 troops.
“So you’re aiming to behead me for a sudden reversal, are you? Not a chance! Tell the cavalry on both wings to temporarily retreat to the rear and prepare for a charge! The remaining central infantry will concentrate their strength!”
If they could hold out by concentrating power in the center, and then the cavalry that had regrouped charged from both wings, they could conversely defeat the enemy.
Of course, for this to happen, the central infantry had to buy time.
Julian estimated that time to be 30 minutes at most.
He thought there was no way they couldn’t endure that long.
“The enemy will press in from both sides! Everyone, hold on!”
However.
“Checkmate.” Ars muttered like that and then shot an arrow with a purple cloth tied to it high into the sky.
Then boom! boom! The Calliper infantry at the front line began to take defensive positions as if they had been waiting for this.
Instead of pressing in on the opponent from both sides, they raised their shields and formed a straight defensive line. As if to protect something behind them.
“A defense…!?”
Why on earth were they doing such a thing?
To Julian, who was harboring such doubts, Ars delivered a death sentence.
“Fire everything!”
Footnotes:
1] Fodder basically means feed.
TL NOTE:
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Julian learned real quick why you shouldn’t underestimate Ars/Wade.