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The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter41 Part 2

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 41 – Part 2

After successfully completing the cavalry archers’ surprise attack, at Calliper’s camp.

“Haaah…”

Eonia was kneeling dejectedly.

Ars hadn’t specifically told her to kneel, but perhaps out of habit from being scolded as a child, Eonia had unconsciously knelt down.

“I told you. Don’t make any sudden moves that deviate from the plan.”

“I’m sorry… I saw the enemy’s key officer and thought it was a good opportunity…”

“You fool. What if you had almost died because of that?”

“I have no excuse…”

“Listen well. Even if you kill the enemy commander, if you get hurt or die, I won’t be happy at all.”

“Lord Ars…”

“Just follow my strategy. Don’t make me worry needlessly.”

“Yes, sir!” Eonia quickly cheers up and smiles.

Ars sighs, wondering if she really understood.

Ilya, who had just returned to the unit, approaches Ars and says, “Don’t scold her too much. Eonia is doing all this for you, after all.”

“That’s exactly why I’m doing this. Her approach is wrong. More importantly, you’re back early. How did the requisition of war horses go?”

“About that…”

“It didn’t go well, did it?”

“Right, we were able to requisition bows, but we couldn’t gather many war horses. It’s all as we expected.”

“It can’t be helped.”

Due to the mountainous terrain of the Calliper Kingdom, cavalry was not well-developed. They only maintained the basics, with most of their forces concentrated on infantry.

Therefore, there were hardly any cases of strategically raising war horses in the territories.

When it came to horses, there were far more pack horses, including draft horses, than war horses.

Out of the 24,000 troops this time, the number of cavalry was 2,000. This was exceptionally high for Calliper’s army, as all available cavalry had been deployed here for the plains battle, while other fronts were entirely mountain combat.

“Then isn’t that troublesome? It seems you were planning to use tactics involving cavalry archers…”

“Huh? No, I had no such intention.”

“But seeing the success just now, it seemed like a good tactic.”

“The first time worked because it was a surprise, but it gets harder from the second time. Besides, the terrain isn’t wide enough to operate large numbers of cavalry archers.”

“Then why…”

“Did you order the requisition of war horses from other territories?”

To this question, Ars smiled while looking towards the Madon side. “It was just a test. We showed the enemy that we intend to use cavalry… Or more precisely, mounted troops.”

“Perhaps.”

“Yes. This way, it becomes difficult for the enemy to remain idle.”

***

As Ars said.

Madon soon took action.

Julian was gritting his teeth.

The cavalry archers’ attack was bad enough, but the letter that arrived through the captured scout afterward was even more irritating.

The letter, written by Ars himself, contained blatant mockery.

─Sorry if our kid scared you. I heard you crawled on the ground in an ugly manner. That’s not really true, is it? If it is, I’ll help make sure the rumor doesn’t spread elsewhere. If it becomes known that my opponent is such a fool, even I would be laughed at.

This content was wrapped in difficult words and expressions.

“This bastard…!”

Julian knew this was mere provocation, but he couldn’t help the anger rising within him.

He was extremely displeased that someone beneath him was getting cocky after having a bit of success.

His adjutant, Roughneck, said with a headache, “General. With Demonic dead, it will be more difficult to deal with the enemy’s cavalry archers.”

“Indeed.”

There was also a difference in their positions from the start.

Madon had to defeat the enemy and occupy this area. They couldn’t just sit still and be slowly eaten away by the enemy’s cavalry archers.

“Hmph, I’ll make sure they don’t dare act so recklessly.”

As Ars had said, the Setes intersection wasn’t that wide of a plain.

“All troops, advance! We’ll close the distance with the enemy!”

Thus, as Madon closed the distance, the space to operate cavalry archers disappeared.

Of course, they could deploy cavalry to Madon’s rear, but in that case, it would be difficult for the infiltrating cavalry to retreat.

From the start, cavalry archers are a unit that requires a constant supply of arrows, so they can’t be operated without a retreat strategy.

So, just by closing the distance, cavalry archers can no longer be used effectively.

At Grand General Julian Craig’s accurate reading of the situation. His adjutants exclaimed in admiration.

“As expected, you’re amazing.”

“We can see the enemy’s confusion with our own eyes.”

Having heard such flattery to the point of nausea, Julian ignored their words and kept his gaze fixed on the Calliper camp.

‘This blocks the cavalry archers, but… The problem is how to crush that.’

The formation Ars had deployed.

Ars had gathered 20,000 infantry in the center, then placed 1,000 cavalry units on each wing to maintain mobility.

The idea is that if Madon’s army attacks the central infantry, we’ll strike their flanks with cavalry on both wings.

‘It’s not an easy formation to break through…. The first priority would be to draw out the cavalry on both wings.’

Having made this assessment, Julian divided 4,000 archers in half and deployed them on both wings. In front of them, he positioned 4,000 infantry to block the cavalry’s charge. After deploying about 6,000 on each wing, he approached within arrow range.

“Good, fire!”

Arrows rained down on the Calliper cavalry positioned on the wings.

Neigh! Neigh! The horses hit by arrows became confused and reared up, while soldiers began to fall and die or get injured.

The Madon army started pounding both wings.

Eonia, seeing that, shouted in anger. “Lord Wade! We must send the cavalry to charge immediately!”

If the cavalry charges, the enemy will have to regroup their forces.

Because they have deployed many troops on both wings, if the Calliper army sends their cavalry on both wings to charge and tie up our forces, while advancing their central army, the Madon side would also have to retreat and deal with the danger to their center.

But Ars didn’t do that.

“That’s what the enemy wants. Just leave it.”

“But at this rate, the soldiers will…” Eonia’s face crumpled, as most of the cavalry soldiers were from Kuravel.

General Feradin, who was in charge of leading the Kuravel soldiers like Eonia, also expressed his frustration.

He was a elderly man who had been the third general of the Kuravel Holy Kingdom in the past.

“If this continues, the soldiers’ morale will drop.”

“So?”

“So… Don’t we need some kind of countermeasure?”

“You… Feradin, is it? In your opinion, what’s the most important thing in the current battle situation?”

“Well…”

“It’s maintaining this position. Our goal is to defend this area. Making rash moves in response to the enemy’s provocation would be the real mistake.”

It was harsh, but logical.

“The enemy is firing arrows because they judge the cavalry deployed on both wings to be troublesome and want to draw them out. Are you saying we should move according to the enemy’s intentions?”

“That’s not what I mean. But we can’t just keep taking arrows like this…”

“We can. That’s the best move right now. As long as we have cavalry deployed on both wings, the enemy won’t be able to easily come in.”

“Hmm…!”Ilya, who had been watching, spoke up. “Then why don’t we pull back the cavalry on both wings?”

“If we do that, we might end up getting our flanks pierced by the enemy cavalry instead. It’s better to leave them as they are.”

A gloomy atmosphere settled over the group at Ars’s cold directive.

As Ars maintained his non-response, Julian narrowed his eyes.

“Hmm, so this Wade fellow was that type of commander.”

One who fights only decisive battles and will stop at no sacrifice or means for the sake of victory.

His current judgment of exposing the cavalry to arrows wasn’t bad strategically. Calliper was on the defensive after all. Rushing out to attack carried a big risk.

Moreover, while many war horses had died, not many soldiers themselves had been killed. They were also protecting themselves with thick leather armor and shields.

Madon’s archers were also shooting from maximum range, worried about a sudden cavalry charge and counterfire from Calliper archers, so the power of their arrows wasn’t very strong.

In fact, more soldiers were probably dying from being trampled by panicking horses.

“He’s frighteningly cool-headed.”

This was also the most difficult type to defeat. Because no provocation or lure would work on him.

“General. We’re about to run out of arrows. Shall I order them to stop firing?”

“…”

Julian closed his eyes tightly, deep in thought.

“General?”

“No! Pour everything we have. And tell the rear supply units to bring all the arrows they have!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Wade… You seem to have learned military tactics properly, but you’re still a novice. You’re overlooking the most important thing. I’ll show you what the difference in class is, what war really is.” He smiled confidently, as if he had found a sure way to victory.

* * *

Madon’s offensive arrow continued.

The target was still the cavalry on the flanks. The cavalry soldiers began to receive concentrated fire.

The solution Ars came up with was even more cruel. “Put blinders on the horses so they don’t run wild. If they can’t see the incoming arrows, they’ll be less likely to panic. If a horse tries to run wild, order the soldiers to immediately stab its head with a dagger and kill it.”

He also provided the mounted soldiers with stronger and denser armor and shields.

Thanks to this, the number of soldier deaths decreased noticeably, but the rate at which warhorses died became incredibly fast.

Partly because Madon had fired all their arrows, the total number of warhorses, which had been 2,000, had fallen to 700 by the third day of the battle.

And on this third day, Ars called Iliya and gave some instructions. “Then I’ll leave it to you, Master. This time, please move as stealthily as possible.”

“…!”

Upon hearing these instructions, Ilya’s eyes widened, then she nodded heavily.

This was the moment when Julian’s strategy and Ars’s strategy, the secret moves they had each prepared, intersected.


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The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road

The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road

Score 9.2
Status: Completed Type: Author: Released: 2022 Native Language: Korean
I ended up possessing Ars Elaine, a supporting character in the game. Struggling to prevent my death, I pave my way.

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