The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 64

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 64

At the point just before the operation begins.

Ars left the military camp and headed for the Elon Plains. This was to ensure Plan B in case the operation was read by the opponent.

For this, he needed to meet the commander of the Elon Plains. Namely, Kaien the Strategist, the great general of Alvard.

In addition to this, he also called Juras, who was on the left front line of the Elon Plains.

Juras, who arrived before Ars, was having a battle of nerves with the Alvard figures.

“Juras, what on earth are you plotting this time?”

“I’m not aiming for anything. I’m just going with the flow… Master Kaien.”

“I don’t want to be called a master by you of all people.”

“Why is that? It’s true that I received education from you at Fensillon Academy, even if it was only twice.”

“You’re saying nonsense. By that point, I already had nothing left to teach you. You knew that too, didn’t you?”

“Huh, even so, you’re special to me, master. …Because there are few people worth devouring like you.”

At these words, Kaien’s close associates, Gillias and Ushis, stood up abruptly and shouted.

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

“Watch your words!”

Kaien raised his palm to stop the two and laughed boldly.

“Devouring me, you say. That’s interesting. Go ahead and try it if you can.”

“I’m sorry, master. But you’re already in a one-sided situation.”

“What?”

“I’m saying you’re already in my grasp. You just haven’t realized it yet. Please look forward to the moment when you do realize it.”

“…”

If someone else had said such things, Kaien would have dismissed it as nonsense and moved on, but because it was Juras saying it, Kaien felt unease deep in his heart.

Gillias and Ushis also glared fiercely at Juras, as if they had goosebumps.

In the midst of this, Ars appeared.

Ars, who appeared accompanied by Eonia, saw the tense atmosphere and, seemingly convinced that Juras was responsible, let out a small sigh.

“You really… You came early.”

“Well, my situation was better than yours.”

Ars immediately turned his gaze to Kaien. Kaien was staring intently at Ars with sunken eyes.

‘Impressive.’

Ars was genuinely impressed.

Despite his age, Kaien exuded a clear and strong energy as if refined from steel. An upright energy that seemed to penetrate everything.

Ars greeted him with courtesy. “I’m currently in temporary command of the Calliper army. My name is Wade.”

“Hmm. I’m Kaien.”

“Yes, I’ve heard of your reputation. It’s an honor to meet the strategist, renowned as the continent’s best strategist.”

Gillias, who had clashed with Ars once before, was grinding his teeth.

Still, knowing it wasn’t his place to make a fuss, he didn’t show his anger, but he wanted to make one thing clear.

“Before we get to the main point. What exactly happened to Lord Rutger?”

“Who are you?”

“Don’t pretend not to know!”

“Ah, now that I look closely, you do seem familiar. Was your name Gulias?”

“You…! If you intend to mock me further, I won’t hold back either.”

“My, my. You’re someone who can’t take a joke, aren’t you? As for Rutger, he’s under my command. As you know, I received his oath of loyalty in return for curing his daughter’s illness. That’s the end of the story.”

To this, Kaien spoke softly. “Rutger wouldn’t have spoken falsely, so it seems you really did cure the illness. I’m surprised. Even I couldn’t figure out what the illness was. Can you tell me more about that illness?”

“Certainly.” As Ars talked about the illness, 

Kaien nodded his head, saying it was surprising. “So it was a curse brought on by elven blood. I didn’t expect that. I thought it was surely an endemic disease transmitted from the west, so I was looking for clues in the western region. But the answer was actually in the northeast.”

“What do you think about Rutger?”

“It’s the path he chose. As his master, I should watch over him, shouldn’t I?”

“He said he might aim for your neck.”

“That would be a joyous thing for me too. It would mean that after 40 years, a disciple has finally surpassed me.”

“You’re more daring than you look.”

This was a satisfactory answer for Ars. If Alvard had other thoughts, they might have harmed Estelle or Rutger unnecessarily.

At least Kaien and his subordinates weren’t thinking of doing that.

“Well, it seems the small talk is over, so shall we get to the main point?”

Ars pointed to the battlefield and explained Plan B.

If his strategy was read, they would abandon the Galarn Mountains and bypass the battlefield to strike the flank of the Svenner army positioned in the Elon Plains.

“You’re saying you’ll bypass with the entire army?”

“When it’s time to abandon, it’s best to do it thoroughly. I’d like you to attack Svenner in coordination with us.” Ars explained the tactics to devour the Svenner army based on the information obtained by Gaspar and the battle situation map held by the Alvard army.

As they listened to this tactical explanation, the expressions of Gillias and Ushis gradually hardened.

Especially for Ushis, the shock he received was not small.

‘This guy is amazing. I can understand why Julian was defeated.’

Ars not only grasped the intent of the opponent’s tactics at a glance by looking at the formation but also found its vulnerabilities.

“When our Calliper army strikes their flank, Svenner will respond by moving their army sideways. This is to make it easier to link up with the Tunkai army, which is likely to pursue our army. So, Juras. You’ll need to send a mobile unit to stab their other flank.”

“Won’t we be caught before that?”

“You can do it well without getting caught, can’t you?”

“You’re being forceful. Well, fine. Clearly, if we fight this way, we can benefit. However… It doesn’t mean we can completely make up for the lost part of the Galarn Mountains. Moreover, on the opponent’s side is Zemuto. We can’t rule out the possibility of an unexpected counterattack.”

“That’s probably true.”

“So, Wade. I need to hear about the strategy you’re planning. The eccentric act of cutting down all the trees. The meaning it holds. I’ll make a decision after hearing that.”

“Understood. My plan is…”

When the full extent of Ars’s strategy was revealed, the tent fell silent for a moment. Gillias and Ushis were at a loss for words with blank expressions, while Kaien’s eyes sparkled, saying it was amazing.

On the other hand, Juras suddenly burst into laughter.

“Hahahahahahaha! How interesting. It’s really interesting! This is why I’m head over heels for you! Good. Very good, Wade!”

“Ugh.” Ars took a step back from Juras, genuinely disgusted by that gaze mixed with affection and madness.

In the end, the Alvard side decided to approve Ars’s Plan B. Afterward, discussions began on the movements to be taken if Plan A succeeded.

* * *

Day 13 of the Chimera War.

The battles that began on 8 fronts each showed different aspects.

Some entered a lull, while others engaged in fierce combat.

In particular, the 2nd Army of Bülang, to which the game’s protagonist Cassius Lloyd belonged, fought a bloody battle with Svenner’s 3rd Army, resulting in 70,000 casualties.

Commentators predicted that this battle would be the largest in this war, but on the morning of Day 14 of the war.

A battle worthy of going down in history begins in the Galarn Mountains.

“Advance guard, move forward!”

As Calliper’s advance guard moves in.

Ars deployed 10,000 troops in a wide lateral formation. This in two layers. A total of 20,000 troops were positioned.

With the trees that had been blocking between the soldiers gone, they were able to form an orderly formation.

The remaining 20,000 troops were waiting at a distance from the advance guard. The other 8,000 troops were waiting in the rear forest area where they could still hide as trees hadn’t been cut down.

“To think they’d really attack…” Klaus felt an inexplicable unease as he looked at Calliper’s formation.

He, the embodiment of cunning, instinctively sensed that there was something else, but he couldn’t rationally figure out what it was.

Grandis says, “Not a bad move. You see, Klaus? In this situation, we conversely can’t attack.”

“I suppose so. That place where the trees are gone is no longer a mountainous area, but has become a plain.”

While the enemy was forming ranks and concentrating their strength, the Tunkai army couldn’t do that because of the presence of trees.

Even if they could defend, when advancing for an attack, their formation would inevitably be disrupted due to the trees.

So tactically, all the Tunkai army could do now was to counter the enemy’s movements from their position.

The Calliper army, holding the initiative of attack.

Grandis smiled, saying it was interesting.

“Now, let’s watch them struggle.”

Step! Step! Calliper’s advance infantry moves in.

They soon came within arrow range.

“Fire! Make them regret stupidly cutting down the trees!”

Whoosh! Arrows fly.

The Calliper infantry responded as if they had been waiting for this.

The front 10,000 troops crouched down, setting their shields on the ground, and the 10,000 troops behind them stuck close, raising shields above, forming shield pairs to prepare against the arrows.

Thud thud thud! Most of the arrows were blocked by the shields, rendering them ineffective.

The Calliper infantry advances slowly in step. Tunkai’s soldiers were hiding among the trees, ready to counterattack.

And at this moment, the sense of unease Klaus had been feeling intensified.

‘Wait… Why are we fighting in a place like this in the first place?’

This was a neutral area located further forward than Tunkai’s original formation, where that cursed tower had been built.

‘No, this was inevitable.’

Because they knew the enemy would use fire tactics.

That’s why they had to set up defenses from the area where logging hadn’t been done.

To prevent the fire from spreading unpredictably with the wind if the enemy started fires, they had to block the fire tactics in advance.

‘Wait. Inevitable… You say?’

Klaus’s expression changed dramatically as he finally realized the psychological warfare Ars had set up, but he was left speechless by the Calliper army’s subsequent actions.

The advance infantry, just before entering enemy lines, set up their shields to fortify their position and then began piling up the kindling they had prepared.

Having cut down trees, they were able to secure a lot of dry firewood and leaves, so the amount of kindling was beyond imagination.

“They’re really going to use fire tactics…?”

“What did I tell you?”

Whoosh! Flames rise in a lateral line, just like the infantry formation.

Klaus tilted his head but gave instructions to deal with it. “Front-line soldiers, retreat to the designated area!”

Since precautions had already been taken, the fire couldn’t easily spread.

Even if it did spread, they were prepared to extinguish it.

In reality, the fire couldn’t catch onto the trees and was only emitting thick smoke.

“Wait… The amount of this smoke…! Could it be!”

“Oh ho. So that’s what it was.”

This time, even Grandis’s mouth was kept shut.

As the murky smoke rose widely horizontally, the movements of the Calliper army couldn’t be seen at all. Even from the temporarily erected watchtower, the enemy’s movements couldn’t be observed.

Grandis laughed heartily. “Hahaha! The enemy already knew I would respond like this. I had been wondering how they would attack after deploying fire tactics. So this is the method they’re using. Klaus, the current fire tactic is a deception. Now the enemy will aim for one point to infiltrate our area and try to form their formation.”

“As expected…!”

Due to the smoke being too fierce and rising too high, the Tunkai army couldn’t tell where the breakthrough point was.

It was then.

Bang! Tunkai’s formation suddenly shattered.

From Calliper’s perspective it was the left, from Tunkai’s perspective it was the right formation.

“Urgent report! Calliper’s forces have entered the right military camp!”

“Are they trying to occupy the high ground on the right…!”

It wasn’t much of a high ground, but from the perspective of infiltrating and establishing a formation, it was the most ideal position.

“Tch! We’ve been hit.”

Tunkai’s army, which had spread its formation widely, couldn’t immediately respond to this single-point breakthrough. If they had been able to see the enemy’s movements, they would have responded quickly, but the smoke made that impossible.

Grandis lavished praise on Ars.

“Indeed, a trick worthy of being called divine! But it’s just a suicide mission! Klaus, reorganize the troops. We’ll go devour them right away.”

“Tsk! Understood.” Klaus didn’t like Grandis acting as the commander-in-chief all of a sudden, but since the judgment itself was correct, he began to reorganize the soldiers on the right as instructed.

As he said, the enemy’s choice to infiltrate this formation was suicidal.

It was obvious that it would take time for them to establish their formation, so all they had to do was surround and annihilate them before that.

However, before that happened.

“General! The enemy is charging down!”

“Already!?”

Calliper’s army, charging out quickly before even establishing their formation.

“The numbers!”

“The view is obstructed so it’s hard to confirm, but it looks close to 10,000!”

“Hmph, are they trying to buy time!”

They had dispatched troops urgently, anticipating that the Tunkai army would reorganize their formation.

“Counter-attack. It’s not much of an attack.”

But with a crunch! The Tunkai soldiers who went to block were swept away by Anton’s force, causing the formation to collapse momentarily.

Grandis narrowed his eyes as he looked at that position.

“Indeed, is that the warrior who blocked Lexit? Klaus, do you know anything about his identity?”

“There was no information in the intelligence. I think he might be one of Wade’s hidden subordinates.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter either way. He’ll die here anyway. Lexit. Go.”

Lexit, one of the Three Great Generals, gripped his weapon as if he had been waiting for this.

He had lost to Anton in their last duel due to losing his weapon, but this time was different.

“I’ll kill you! Uooooh!”

“Come on!”

Clang! Lexit enters into a one-on-one battle with Anton.

Anton responds as if he had been waiting for this.

The two begin to exchange hundreds of blows, vividly demonstrating what the highest level of martial arts looks like.

As a result, the frontline becomes deadlocked with them as the focal point.

“This is dragging on unnecessarily…” Grandis licked his lips and urged Klaus. “Isn’t it time yet, Klaus?”

“Just a little longer!”

30 minutes passed like this.

Klaus finally finished reorganizing the army. “I’ve finished organizing the advance force for now!”

“Good, push forward all at once.”

20,000 advance troops begin to march towards the high ground where the enemy is positioned.

If the remaining 20,000 rear troops follow up with an attack, the Calliper army won’t be able to withstand it and will collapse.

As Tunkai’s advance troops push forward.

“They’re coming…! We can’t hold any longer! Everyone retreat!” Anton, confirming the advance of Tunkai’s soldiers, signals to the camp and begins to retreat.

“You think I’ll let you escape!” Lexit tried to chase after them, but with ping ping ping! Eonia provided support with arrows imbued with aura, allowing Anton to create distance and retreat.

“Tch!” Lexit frowned in displeasure.

He felt ashamed of struggling against Anton.

He had thought that only the other members of the Three Great Generals could match him. So this match was nothing short of humiliation.

To him, Galtan, a close aide of Klaus who had come up leading the advance troops, said, “Brother, Lexit was it? The boss has entrusted you with the command of these troops. He says to pursue the enemy with these forces and sweep through their camp. Apparently, if we push straight up, we can paralyze their command structure.”

The enemy, who has just established their formation, will have difficulty dealing with Lexit’s army pushing up. If the advance troops stir up the enemy camp and paralyze their command structure, the rear troops can push up in the meantime and end this battle in victory.

“But he says if you get surrounded and taken out, it’s all for nothing, so be careful.”

“Good. Follow me. I’ll slaughter all the enemies!”

“Hahah! You’re scary, brother.”

Lexit, leading the troops, aggressively enters the enemy formation.

His target was clearly Ars, who would be on the high ground.

And at this moment.

The strategy laid by Ars begins to bare its teeth in earnest.

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