The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 68
There’s no need to belabor the importance of supplies in war.
Especially when you’ve organized an army of 400,000.
“How could this be…! The supply bases were destroyed? And all of them at the same time? How could such a thing happen!” Duke Hellian shouted in disbelief. “The security at the supply bases couldn’t have been that lax!”
“W-well. The details haven’t been reported yet.”
I was certain.
‘As expected, there’s an insider!’
Whether it’s Svenner’s insider or the Western people’s insider is still unknown, but whatever the case, this has completely changed the war situation.
The allied forces that had advanced on the offensive can hold out for at most two days without supplies. They must retreat.
The enemy was likely to cling to the tail of the retreating allied forces and inflict damage.
“This is troublesome. What will you do now, Wade?”
“There’s only one option left.”
Now both sides had no choice but to move towards ending this war amicably.
The allied forces that lost their supply bases can no longer take the offensive.
The Chimera Alliance side also has risks in launching additional attacks.
Although Bülang’s provisions were taken, if the neighboring kingdoms of Alvard and Calliper provide supplies, they can still maintain the front line.
Now, the key was how to minimize the damage.
“It seems we’ll have to handle the aftermath.”
To do this, I pointed to a spot on the map and issued marching orders.
***
The news of the army’s supply depots being destroyed was also conveyed to the Alvard & Beckavia allied forces pursuing the Svenner army.
“What nonsense is this!” Gillias Melbourne raged and screamed.
On the other hand, Kaien nodded in understanding.
“So this was the source of the unease. There was already a bug hiding in the heart of Bülang. Not bad, Zemuto.”
Kaien glared at the Svenner forces they were facing, then turned and said, “Gillias. We’re retreating. Relay the retreat order to Sophia Veron of Beckavia as well.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Ushis, you take charge of the rear. Zemuto won’t miss this opportunity. He’ll surely pursue us fiercely.”
As predicted, the 100,000-strong Svenner army that had been retreating suddenly turned around and switched to the offensive, as if nothing had happened.
The allied forces began to pursue, nipping at the heels of the retreating army.
Aknou Zemuto, the commander-in-chief of Svenner and one of the Ten Heroes, was coldly directing the pursuit.
“Target the officers. Paralyze the command structure to cause confusion.”
His voice was like a machine. A voice devoid of any trace of humanity.
The same was true for his adjutants.
An army created solely to wage war. To win. This was Svenner’s First Army led by Zemuto.
Even the Western strategists dispatched to assist were appalled by this.
‘What an extremely alien army. I can see why the tribal leaders recognized them and formed an alliance.’
Svenner’s soldiers were skillfully crushing the allied forces as if it were a routine task.
The situation changed about two hours into the pursuit.
“…”
Zemuto was staring intently at a certain point.
Then he spoke, “Reinforcements from the Galarn Mountains? Mercenary Wade. A swift response.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Ars’ 30,000 Calliper troops appeared from the flank, attacking the Svenner forces and rescuing the Alvard allied forces from crisis.
In response, Kaien also reversed his troops. “You came just in time. Gillias. I’ll detach 20,000 troops. Coordinate with the Calliper forces and drive out the enemy.”
“Yes, sir!”
As the Alvard forces launched a counterattack, the Svenner side also began to respond.
“General. What are your orders?”
“This was expected. Respond as we prepared.”
“Understood, sir.”
Just as Ars and Zemuto were about to engage in a full-scale confrontation, there was one more variable on this battlefield.
“…!”
This time, even Zemuto was startled.
He swiftly turned his gaze to the right side of the battlefield.
“That… Whose army is that?”
A cavalry of 5,000 had suddenly appeared.
The man commanding that unit, Juras, smiled like a demon.
“Now, shall we see the measure of your capacity, Zemuto…!”
Boom! Crash!! Juras’s surprise attack hammering the right flank of Svenner was something no one had anticipated.
The Crossing army led by Juras had been moving north in pursuit of Europe. With their supplies burned, they should have been retreating while being chased by Europe.
The fact that they approached so suddenly without being detected by scouts meant only one thing.
“You were lying in ambush here, knowing I would push down. Juras Pamilion.”
Zemuto’s icy brow twitched.
Even the Western strategists dispatched couldn’t easily accept this situation.
“How on earth…?!”
The meaning of this movement was clear.
It meant that Juras had known from the beginning that the supply bases would be raided.[1]
“He had read through the plan of betrayal!”
It was understandable that the mercenary Wade from the Galarn Mountains hadn’t moved. They would have needed time to regroup after such a large battle.
But not Juras.
Even Ars was shocked by this unexpected move.
“Why on earth is he here?”
It was that much of an unexpected move.
“The Centum infantry has been devastated! The Centum infantry commander has fallen!”
“The Prion archers are under attack! It’s difficult to shake off the enemy cavalry!”
Juras’s guerrilla forces had penetrated and were launching fierce attacks.
The Western strategists cautiously spoke.
“Should we step in to deal with this? It seems they’re short-handed.”
“We’ll take charge of the right wing and drive out the enemy.”
In response, Hashikuran, Zemuto’s confidant and Svenner’s chief of staff, answered instead. “That won’t be necessary.”
He spoke to Zemuto as if it were obvious. “Commander-in-Chief. We’ll prepare for a retreat.”
“Very well. I’ll leave it to you.”
At his words, the Western strategists’ eyes widened like rabbits.
Retreating without hardly fighting? Even though they could repel the enemy if they handled the situation well, despite the unfavorable war situation.
To this, Hashikuran said to them, “The General only engages in battles he is certain to win. Remember that.”
A war philosophy that might seem cowardly at first glance. But this was the driving force that allowed Zemuto to remain an undefeated great general.
Once his plan was disrupted, Zemuto showed no attachment to this battlefield.
“Retreat in stages. Withdraw carefully so as not to let the enemy catch our tail.”
The Svenner army retreated nimbly.
“Hmm, so that’s how you’re going to play it.”
Juras was watching their backs with a meaningful expression.
“In that case, shall we give them one last hit?”
Juras raised both corners of his mouth eerily. His subordinates shuddered, their skin crawling at the sight.
***
The allied forces, which began to retreat en masse due to the destruction of their supply base, had no choice but to withdraw to their initial positions.
On remote front lines where supplying provisions was difficult, they even abandoned the front lines and retreated.
As a result, the army of Europe, in conjunction with the 2nd Army of Svenner, achieved the feat of occupying the Sepirant front line, which was located at the far left.
Thus, with the Chimera Alliance occupying the leftmost edge and the allied forces occupying the Galarn Mountains on the rightmost edge, the war situation became equal.
Rather, the Chimera Alliance was holding a slight advantage.
Thinking that this was an opportunity before the allied forces’ supply network stabilized, they kept engaging in battles.
The situation must have been quite precarious, as requests for support were coming even to my side.
So, I led an army of about 10,000 towards the front line where Juras was.
I didn’t really intend to fight.
It was a kind of show, you could say.
If I made a motion of going to support like this, the opponent would have no choice but to retreat for now.
So, as I joined with my force of 10,000, the European army that was about to attack temporarily retreated. In time, I came face to face with Juras.
Juras was sitting calmly as if nothing was wrong, but the other officers were not.
They must have fought a fierce battle, as they let out sighs of relief upon seeing our arrival.
“They seem to have attacked quite persistently? I didn’t know Europe was such a tenacious place.”
Juras shrugged at my question. “We had no choice. The prisoner we captured holds a very high position.”
“Prisoner? Who did you capture?”
“The First Prince of Europe. Romelo Gallas.”
“The First Prince…”
“That’s right. The heir to the throne of Europe.” Juras says this shocking fact as casually as if he’s just returned from the bathroom.
“A prince… Europe is really something. Launching such a fierce attack while their prince is held captive. What if you executed the prince in the process?”
“They probably know I won’t do that. Have you forgotten? The iron rule of Crossing.”
“That all prisoners are to be taken as slaves… But how on earth did you capture him? It would be difficult to capture such a figure through normal means. Surely he had an army protecting him.”
“We were waiting for the enemy to come down. They seemed to think they had gained the upper hand by destroying the supply base, so they came down without thinking. So we used the troops we had in advance to strike their empty rear and capture the prince.”
Come to think of it, Juras had been acting as if he knew about this plan of betrayal. If that was the case, it would have been easy for him to surprise Europe, who mistakenly thought they had the upper hand.
“You, how did you know about the plan of betrayal?”
“Then let me ask you as well. Wade, how did you kno?”
“I… Didn’t know. I was just staying there because I was busy with military administration.”
“Lies don’t work on me, you know? Regardless of military administration, the best course of action for you at that time was to pursue the enemy and push upwards. With the Tunkai army already annihilated, the enemy didn’t have the strength to stop your army. Yet you were waiting there, which means you must have sensed something.”
This guy. Would it hurt him to just let it slide?
Everything he said was true, but I didn’t want to admit it.
“I wasn’t guaranteed good enough conditions from Calliper to go that far. I didn’t do it because it was bothersome.”
This seemed convincing enough considering my personality, as Juras appeared to accept it.
“Well, I’ve answered, so it’s your turn to answer.”
“Alright. But not now.”
“What do you mean, not now?”
“A more interesting event will occur soon. I think it would be better to talk about everything at once when that time comes.”
“What are you plotting now?”
“You’ll know soon enough.”
“Tch.”
I felt a chill down my spine when Juras mentioned an interesting event.
‘Is it because the game’s story has started?’
I could feel the surrounding situation rapidly intensifying.
This guy was especially problematic. Juras seemed to be involved in every event.
Whether he knew my thoughts or not, he smiled and suggested, “Is that all you needed? If we have time, how about a game of chess? I’ve studied a bit since then.”
He made such a proposal as if to have a chat, but I didn’t want to build a friendship with this guy.
“I can’t imagine you studying. It’s unsettling, so I’ll decline. And I do have business.”
“Hmm? What business?”
There was a separate reason why I had marched all the way here with difficulty.
“I’d like some compensation.”
“Compensation?”
“Didn’t I come all the way here to provide support with difficulty?”
“Haha, so that was your purpose in coming here. Well, alright. I didn’t request support, but it’s true that you helped… What do you want?”
“Hand over the prisoners.”
The prisoners I had decided to take as spoils of this war.
However, the prisoners I had captured were only Grandis, the strategist of the West, and Klaus Forkner, the general of Tunkai.
I had also captured other military officers as prisoners, but they were all close to Klaus and many were former bandits or highway robbers.
I was reluctant to bring such people under my command.
The same goes for Grandis. Since his capture, he hadn’t opened his mouth despite any torture. He had a very strong loyalty to the West. There’s no way I could make such a person my subordinate.
So I decided to use this as an excuse to exchange with Juras.
“I heard you captured quite a few prisoners besides the prince of Europe. How about I give you the pawns of the Western people I captured in exchange for the European prisoners?”
“What about Klaus Forkner?”
“The Calliper royal family took him. They’ll probably torture him and then publicly execute him for the crimes of brutally executing prisoners and murdering General Dunan.”
Juras thought for a moment and then nodded. “Alright. Take whichever prisoner you like.”
“You’re generous as always. In that case, first…”
I still didn’t know what useful talents were among the prisoners Crossing had captured. Even if there were, it wouldn’t be easy to recruit them.
So I decided to take one sure insurance.
“Give me Romelo Gallas, the First Prince of Europe you said you captured.”
Footnotes:
1] Juras!!!
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