The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 90
Joint military meeting of Beckavia and Calliper.
As she entered the military meeting, Sophia spoke as if testing the waters. “What do you think is the enemy’s intention?”
This was a question directed at General Delbadova, but indirectly also to Ars.
General Delbadova nodded. “Actually, our coming this far was planned.”
“It was planned?”
“We tried to understand their intentions from the moment the enemy attacked the Kalon Mountain. Why attack our stationary army?”
“You got the answer.”
“Yes. Elaine here made a guess.”
“Hmm? I see. Ars Elaine. Elaine… Hmmm.”
“Why are you acting like that?”
“It’s nothing. It’s just an interesting name I’ve never heard before. So? What was the intention?”
“Hmm, Elaine. You explain.”
This was an action to save face. He pushed Ars forward to ensure the credit wouldn’t go to himself.
From Ars’ perspective, it was an unnecessary gesture.
Ars sighed softly and explained while pointing at the map. “The enemy’s intention is simple. They plan to use an ambush force to break through the Bian Mountain you were guarding and surround Arandal located behind it.”
“Arandal!? What nonsense! There’s no such ambush force to begin with!”
“Of course it wouldn’t have been caught by the intelligence network. They would have been hiding quietly within Tunkai’s territory. Aren’t you currently focusing your intelligence efforts on the interior of your territory?”
“That’s right. But even if an ambush force came from Tunkai’s territory, they would be caught by the intelligence network while marching.”
“That’s why the ambush force will be composed entirely of cavalry. Even if caught by the intelligence network, they won’t fall behind in a speed battle.”
“No way…”
Just then,
“Urgent report! A cavalry force of 4,000 has suddenly appeared and is heading towards the Bian Mountains!”
“See?”
The Beckavian officers were at a loss for words.
“The enemy’s goal is to surround Arandal, cut off the supply source, and secure a good position to force us to attack. Now that your supplies are cut off, you have no other choice.”
“If you knew all this, why did you do this?”
“To turn it to our advantage.” Ars then pointed to a spot. “When the enemy organized a cavalry force targeting the Bian Mountain, there’s an 80% chance they hid them here.”
“Harbart Fortress…!”
“That’s right. In that case, this is the shortest marching route to the Bian Mountain. Knowing this makes it clear how their supply lines are formed and where their supply depots are located.”
Ars pointed to four locations.
“Instead of going to save Arandal, we’ll counterattack into Tunkai’s territory. We’ll plunder the enemy’s supply depots along that route to make up for our lack of supplies.”
It was a kind of chicken game. Ars was essentially saying, ‘Let’s see who gets more nervous’.
“In the end, the other side will have no choice but to be more urgent. They’re the ones who invaded, after all. If we attack Tunkai’s territory, the enemy’s supplies will be completely paralyzed. It’s certain that the Western forces, having come on a long expedition, are dependent on Tunkai for supplies. They can’t sit still when faced with the crisis of that being cut off.”
“What if they turn back to annihilate us? There won’t be a proper escape route. Are you saying we should all die after the operation succeeds?” This was a question from Vali Austin.
To this, Ars offered a simple solution. “We can escape through this point.”
“That place… Isn’t it the Kingdom of Alvard?”
“Looking at the diplomatic situation, there’s no way Alvard won’t accept us. Even if they don’t, it doesn’t matter much. Tunkai and the West chasing us won’t be able to enter Alvard’s territory either. We can enter Alvard’s territory briefly and then escape towards Beckavia. It would be a problem if Alvard mobilizes a large army to attack us, but that possibility is extremely low. Extremely.”
“That’s right. There’s no way Alvard would be hostile to us right now. Hmm, perfect. It’s amazing.”
“You’re too kind.”
“It’s not an exaggeration at all. This operation… It’s similar to the strategy Wade used in the war between Madon and Calliper. The situation greatly tilted when Wade marched into Alvard’s territory in reverse.”
“…”
“It might have been even more difficult than that. You had to figure out the location of supply routes and depots too. Of course, Wade achieved an incredible victory against Julian Craig’s forces before that, so it’s hard to compare directly… Excellent. Ars Elaine, was it? I think I shouldn’t say this carelessly, but I can see why they say a golden generation has appeared in Calliper.”
Continued high praise. Ars looked at Sophia, meaning to tell her to shut him up, but Sophia was staring at the map with a serious expression.
Then she said, “…No.”
“Princess? Why suddenly…”
“I said this plan won’t work!”
“Is there a problem?”
“Of course there is! Arandal will be in danger!”
What Sophia took issue with was that this was ultimately a chicken game.
Sophia worried about the case where the enemy would be stubborn.
“What if the enemy doesn’t retreat and instead plunders Arandal and massacres our people? Even if Beckavia wins the war after that, it will collapse! That’s the kind of city Arandal is!”
The second city of Beckavia and a city that accounts for a significant portion of the nation’s power. As she said, if Arandal falls, Beckavia, already weakened, would not be able to withstand it and would perish.
Ars says, “What are you talking about?”
“There’s no way the enemies would be doing such a leisurely thing. If we stay put, all our supplies will be cut off.”
“But they might try to plunder Arandal for supplies!”
“Even if that’s the case, it can’t last long. Rather, they’ll be wasting time and isolating themselves. Crossing’s troops won’t leave them alone. The enemies will surely abandon Arandal and return.”
“But what if they attack Arandal anyway?”
“…It would be a sad affair. But that won’t happen.”
“We don’t know that for sure!”
For Sophia, the most important things were the lives of the citizens and the survival of the nation. Winning the war was ultimately for those purposes.
Ars was arguing that if they won the war, those issues would be resolved automatically, but Sophia wanted to secure the nation’s survival first and then win the war.
“Princess. Think rationally. As he says, the enemy army doesn’t have time to surround Arandal. It’s likely they’ll retreat.”
“Likely, but not certain. As long as that’s the case, I can’t agree to this plan!”
Sophia doesn’t budge despite Austin’s persuasion.
Irritated by this, Ars speaks harshly. “Then what? Are you saying we should charge at an opponent who’s prepared? To save Arandal?”
“If that’s what we have to do, then yes.”
“What about the countless soldiers who will die in the process? If we follow my plan, the soldiers can preserve their lives, and Arandal will be safe too!”
“Even if there are sacrifices among the soldiers, the certain safety of Arandal is more important to me.”
“Hah! This is pointless.”
Ars turned his gaze to Vali Austin. He was implying that as the Commander-in-Chief, Austin should disregard Sophia’s opinion and make the decision.
However, Austin didn’t have that much power. He was Commander-in-Chief in name only, while Sophia held most of the military authority in reality.
This was because Beckavia had recently lost several capable generals. If Karl Maxman, who had been the Grand General, were still alive, he would have ignored Sophia’s opinion and proceeded with the plan, but Maxman was killed by Wade in the Three Lions War.
“…I’m sorry. We will go to rescue Arandal.”
“Oh, come on.” Ars let out a disbelieving laugh and then snapped at Sophia. “You are incompetent. And yet you’re called the genius princess and the military commander. You should be ashamed.”
“Say whatever you want.”
Even though Ars openly rebuked the princess, none of Beckavia’s officers dared to argue or get angry.
This showed just how dire the situation was.
* * *
After the military council meeting.
I sat on a rock to get some fresh air. Dorofei approached me.
“Are you feeling a bit better?”
“Phew! Anyway… Why are there so many trolls around me?”
“Trolls? What’s that?”
“It’s just a thing.”
In the Battle of Foldick Mountain, there was the fat general who only cared for his own safety. In the war with Madon, there was the Saleon faction that started the war on their own. In the Chimera War, there were Dunan and his subordinates.
“At least General Delbadova was reasonable this time. Who would have thought we’d have problems from another side.”
“Haha…” Dorofei laughed bitterly and then spoke as if he had made up his mind. “I can understand Princess Sophia’s thoughts too. It’s too late to say this now, but I think we should have told Beckavia about this plan first.”
“You mean we should have sent a messenger? If they were caught by the enemy, everything would have been for nothing. Even if the content wasn’t discovered, the mere fact that we sent a messenger to Beckavia would have aroused the enemy’s suspicion. That’s why we decided not to send one.”
“Yes… I know that… How should I put it. The best solution we came up with isn’t the best for everyone. I regret that we thought we were so right that we didn’t try to listen to others’ opinions. I wonder if we could have tried to communicate a bit more.”
“Well, that’s kind of why this happened.”
As an extreme example, if we had consulted with the lord of Arandal about this plan, he might have strongly opposed it.
How one perceives it clearly differs depending on the situation they’re in.
Now, Sophia is just in that situation.
Dorofei sat down next to me and sighed deeply. “What will happen now?”
“What else can we do but go to rescue Arandal? There’s no other way.”
It was difficult to abandon the Beckavian army and escape from here. As the enemy knows well that our supplies are cut off, they will try to prevent us from fleeing by tying us down.
At that point, we’re finished. The morale of the army will hit rock bottom, and deserters will appear in droves.
So, joining forces with Beckavia to defeat the enemy and rescue Arandal was the best option in the current situation.
‘Or Juras could take some action.’
Speaking of Juras, he was oddly quiet. He had only divided his army into three and was in a standoff, not doing anything to finish off the enemy.
‘Is he moving under the surface?’
Whatever it was, the chances of help coming our way were low.
From Juras’s perspective, he would think that I would march towards Tunkai to cut off their supplies. It would be hard for Juras to predict that Sophia would interfere with the plan.
If we had enough time, we could consult with Juras and overcome this situation, but we don’t have that time now without supplies.
We need to break through this difficulty on our own.
‘I miss my vassals again.’
If they were here with me, I would have felt more secure.
Standing alone was more challenging than I had expected.
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Ars realized why they always say good help is hard to come by.