Chapter 378
(Kyle Calendar Year 515: Age 22)
Northern Front ⑮ – The Caliber
of a General
Translator : PolterGlast
While Yuka and the others were struggling in
"Another Battlefield" at Kusanagi, the prominent generals who
saw off Gale's remains being sent to the rear at the front lines also
had no time to immerse themselves in sentimentality. They immediately returned
to the front lines they were in charge of, and promptly readied their ironclad
interception posture. Because the offensive using the fanatical human shields
was nothing more than a calculated prelude of a full-scale frontal offensive.
『 Next
they will move. The regret of losing Commander Gale, we will make them
realize it and carve it directly into their flesh. 』
The generals, down to every single private, burned with the
unyielding heart of mourning, and especially the morale of the Second Army led
by Marquis Solis and the Third Army, of which Gale had been the
commander, was heightened to an extent that could be called abnormally
terrifying. And…… As if responding to their feelings, each front line violently
erupted into motion. Of the 20,000 in the Istoria Orthodox Theocracy
army on the right wing, 10,000 bypassed from the east side and made an
aggressive move to half-encircle them. In the center, the 13,000 of the Lute
Kingdom army advanced, showing a movement as if to solidify the right wing
of the unit led by General Golpa, and the Ville Kingdom army also
put 8,000 elite troops on the vanguard front lines, showing signs of
solidifying their left wing and shifting to a full-scale offensive.
※
At this exact time, the one setting up camp furthest on the
east side and confronting the sweeping semi-encirclement of the Istoria
Orthodox Theocracy army was Grand Commander Schulz, who was
participating in the battle leading 5,000 cavalry from the Royal Capital
Knights Third Army.
「 Grand Commander Schulz! The
enemy army has begun to aggressively move! Utilizing the advantage of numbers
doubling ours, if our lines maintain this stationary grid, we will be
flawlessly half-encircled by the enemy army! 」
「 Hmph…… send an immediate courier to
the Third Division Acting Commander, Mars-dono! Saying, we are still
barely under half the number of the enemy army; you should ruthlessly devote
yourselves to defense right now and make the 20,000 before your eyes your
objective precisely as a useless, idle force.」
Schulz's
suffocating concern was the catastrophic lack of military force in this
direction. The elite cavalry he leads are 5,000, and the Third Division led by Mars
deploying next to them has sent 1,000 shield troops to Kusanagi as
escorts for the refugees, so the actual operational unit is only a little over 3,000.
Because they are confronting an enemy army of as many as 20,000 with a number
of around 8,000 in total, by any chance they allow a single breakthrough, the
defense line will be cut to pieces, mathematically leading to the total,
instantaneous collapse of the entire left wing. Therefore, Schulz
himself was structurally forced to exert agonizing self-restraint, and had no
choice but to await the enemy army's breach in a defensive posture he
undesired.
「 Furthermore, emphasize this
saying…… be very careful to master your emotions and not run to imprudent,
reckless blunders out of mourning Sir Gale too much…… 」
Therefore, he meticulously did not forget to convey words
urging psychological admonition to them, refusing to let blind vengeance
dissolve their tactical formation.
※
Around the exact same time, the camps of the First Army and
Second Army also suddenly became frantically noisy. In the position confronting
the enemy army's front to absorb their macro-offensive, the First Army led by Marquis
Gorman and the Second Army led by Marquis Solis confronted them,
and the two heroes had set up a unified, high-level command post securely
nestled midway between their allied forces.
「 Report! The enemy army has
shattered their stationary formations
and begun to move! The respective Lute Kingdom and Ville Kingdom
armies seem to be executing an aggressive pincer-breach, violently driving
themselves between us and the Empire
army from the left and right flanks! 」
「 Is that so…… though
the enemy army's intent is obvious, how will Lord Solis (Darren-dono)
move? 」
Receiving the report, Marquis Gorman turned his face
to speak to his long-time comrade. Both share the supreme position of Marquis,
and this time both are in a delicate position appointed as commanders leading
an independent army. Who possesses the authority to take the absolute
initiative in the battle is a highly sensitive matter. Darren, who was
asked, flawlessly understands this underlying political friction as well, but
more than that, he could not hide his quiet astonishment at his old peer paying
profound consideration to respect his perspective.
「 I too share an identical
calculation as Marquis Gorman. They are probably merely executing a
calculated piece of deception, enticing us so that we move drawn by their
retreating motions. Blindly going out to strike is a piece of foolish idiocy.
We do not want our brave soldiers to fall prey as disposable meat-shield fodder
to their heavy ballista batteries. Therefore, if you would yield the strategic initiative to us, my Second Army
desires to execute a wide bypass around the left boundary of the battlefield
and hammer the completely exposed flank of the Lute Kingdom
army…… what say you? 」
The soldiers led by Darren have a near-unhinged, high
combat morale to extract vengeance for Gale. Marquis Gorman's
question was meticulously structured to generously accommodate that; beholding
the immense evolution of a man previously described as an arrogant, haughty
noble difficult to handle even by allies, he couldn't help but acknowledge his
magnificent transformation—the vast expansion of his Caliber of a General.
「 Magnificent. Then it would be
officially good for you, sir, to gallop and run through the battlefield as you please.
My First Army will firmly receive the enemy at the absolute center, and deliver
an ironclad guarantee to absolutely not let them breach and go behind us. 」
「 I give my deepest gratitude. While
my lines too will carefully monitor our parameters and refrain from stepping in
too deeply into an overextended penetration, we will attempt to execute
targeted counter-strikes to the enemy's offensive. I leave the safety of our
defense entirely to you. The single variable remaining on
our board…… is our right wing Empire Allied
Forces confronting the enemy's left wing, though…… 」
「 Indeed…… we will inevitably have no
choice but to support that as well. 」
With a slightly displeased face, Marquis Gorman let
out a soft grunt and looked at the places where the
Empire Allied Forces were deployed to his right hand. Veterans of
decades of bloodshed, both lords possessed a flawless, cold clarity and
understood it. The microscopic, hidden rifts and structural vulnerabilities
their own allied army holds…… how catastrophically that will affect the
battlefield once the iron flies. While holding a tinge of anxiety, and
dynamically weaving even that into their overarching operational matrices from
here on out, the two noble giants began to move swiftly.
Concurrently, on the opposite flank, the inner thoughts of
the Acting Commander of the Empire Allied Forces, Dlements, dealing with
the Ville Kingdom army on the enemy left wing, were complex. Because,
equivalent to what the two Marquises were thinking, he understood that their army
had three issues.
「 Kamin-kakka, I must humbly beg your indulgence to state this on the
premise of it being an exceptionally disrespectful and impolite story to your
station, but within the enemy's macro-calculations,
the specific coordinate held by our division represents their absolute, primary
target for a vital breakthrough. Consequently, we must brace our souls and
intercept them with an unprecedented, extraordinary resolve. 」
「 Save your breath, Acting Commander Dlements.
Unnecessary, delicate consideration is unneeded. Much less, what is still
enduring the disgusting atrocities of the enemy's invasion even now is the
ancestral sovereign soil where our Empire citizens
live. For that exact reason my banners have stood up. Please do not
hesitate—wield your authority and command as your tactical intellect sees fit! 」
「 Your words fill my soul with
immense gratitude, my Lord……! Then my direct legionnaires will firmly anchor
the front lines to receive the initial kinetic violence of the enemy army at
the front. Concurrently, could I ask the 5,000-strong force
under Your Excellency's direct lordship to maintain a flexible position to
execute devastating counterattacks while keeping the enemy in check from coming
around and squeezing our flanks? 」
「 Consider it done! 」
After a short exchange, the two Empire leaders rapidly move their
formations and readied their interception
posture. And each army respectively entered a total, unyielding battle-ready
posture with the enemy before their eyes. Stepping straight onto the absolute
tip of the vanguard lines anchoring the First Army, Marquis Gorman
raised his sword high into the sky, and his voice erupted into a roaring volley:
「 The exact fraction of a second the
enemy's vanguard closes within a coordinate of 200 meters, the First Army shall
instantaneously commence a full-scale interception utilizing the Estol
Bows! You shall hold your positions with ironclad endurance—never
pull back, and even if the enemy breaks formation to execute a retreating
motion, do not dare pursue! Leave the pursuit to the Marquis Solis Army,
and we shall solidify our defense grid into an unbreakable stone wall! 」
Marquis Solis, leading the Second Army, also stepped
out to the absolute front and unleashed a fierce roar to scold his
subordinates:
「 Listen well, men! They are
guaranteed to surely retreat in the near future. In order to invite our steel
into a fatal kill-zone. Riding on that opportunity, aggressively project your
momentum forward and violently strike their exposed flanks! To thoroughly
soothe Gale's burning regrets, do not permit a single one of those
invading bastards to return alive! HOWEVER! I command you to maintain your
focus—only the absolute threshold time to pull back your steel, do not dare
misjudge it! 」
Across the right sector, the Empire divisions likewise
initiated their maneuvers to meet the swarming forces
before their eyes.
「 Do not dare look down upon and
despise the enemy's brawn! Ensure your steel does not bring a single drop of
shame to the sacred honor of Lord Durul! The exact fraction of a second
their front ranks approach to 100 meters, all divisions execute a synchronized,
full-scale mass volley utilizing the
crossbows! Eradicate and intercept the invaders from our soil! 」
「 I—Intercept their breach! All
units, fire at will—! 」
Having already crossed swords against their vanguard once, Dlements,
who possessed a flawless, cautious grasp of General Golpa's true
tactical capability, raised his voice with meticulous precision, while Marquis Kamin,
experiencing a massive, full-scale frontal clash between tens of thousands of
regular troops for the absolute first time in his career, could not prevent his
register from rising into a slightly high, shrill pitch as he bellowed.
※
Moving with exceptional tactical fluidness, the combined forces of the Lute Kingdom (and remnants of the Cain Kingdom) army, and the Ville
Kingdom army rushed forward in a manner to aggressively execute a massive
pincer maneuver, sandwiching the central vanguard coordinates where General Golpa's
heavy ballista batteries were deployed projecting forward ahead of them from
the left and right, and violently slammed straight into the defensive lines of
the confronting forces. And the exact fraction of a second they entered the engagement
zones and projected forward towards their respective enemy camps, receiving a
terrifying, mathematically perfect mass volley counterattack by crossbows and Estol
Bows, they suffered catastrophic structural trauma, scattered into
disarray, and executed a rapid retreat. Against that retreating movement, the Marquis
Solis Army launched a devastating flank attack from the east side, and
the Marquis Kamin noble host drove their momentum from the west side.
Yet, regardless of how severely they were being compressed
from both flanks and driven straight back to the center of the plain, the
invading three-nation coalition armies had not suffered a single drop of fatal,
campaign-ending structural damage. Naturally so, because the underlying reality
was absolute: this entire retreating motion itself was a flawless performance
meticulously anticipated inside their strategy
beforehand.
「 Exactly as calculated…… their
resistance is exceptionally light. All units, maintain supreme vigilance and
pay attention to their destination of escape, the precise coordinate and
physical distance to the enemy army's central vanguard unit
under General Golpa! Do not dare permit a single horse to close within a
spatial threshold of 500 meters under any
circumstances! 」
「 Do not pursue too deeply! All
divisions, maintain a strict spatial margin and distance of no less
than 500 meters from the center of the enemy's artillery grid! Master your
momentum—do not allow the thrill of the hunt to sweep you away! 」
Though Marquis Solis and Marquis Kamin were
concurrently broadcasting remarkably identical, strict tactical orders from their respective command saddles, the physical
execution and movements performed by their respective soldiers were clearly
light-years apart. Across the western sector, Marquis Kamin was suddenly
pressed with the agonizing necessity of shouting until his vocal cords were
raw, desperately trying to forcefully re-assert control to enforce once again
what he had already heavily admonished his allies about beforehand. Because
aside from the elite retainers directly under the Marquis's control, the
remaining two-thirds of the Empire Allied unit
had completely abandoned their tactical formations and had begun chasing the backs of the fleeing enemy
soldiers in a disorganized, chaotic race, vying to be the first to slaughter
them. In the previous engagement executed north of Lorelei as well, these exact same noble units had successfully
overwhelmed the Ville Kingdom vanguard through a devastating surprise
attack and achieved an effortless victory. Therefore, it cannot be denied that
their minds had grown to utterly despise and look down upon the true brawn of
the invading coalition. Convinced that this was their ultimate, golden
opportunity to thoroughly shoot down and annihilate the invading army, they
rode on this chance for victory and relentlessly accelerated, completely
refusing to loosen their pursuing hands.
At this exact juncture, the initial structural defect Dlements
had begun to say—and which Marquis Kamin had privately recognized and
understood inside his tent—had anew violently manifested upon the reality.
The first structural defect: The massive discrepancy
regarding technical weapons. In the two years that had rolled past since the
definitive conclusion of the Great War against the Empire, Viscount Durul,
who endeavored to form a friendship with Takuhir, and his veteran
subordinate soldiers, all flawlessly possessed the
absolute highest-tier, modernized latest model crossbows for which they
received direct technology transfers from Kusanagi. On the other hand,
the noble coalition of the Empire Allied Forces spearheaded by Marquis Kamin
possessed absolutely zero access to such revolutionary, high-tier military
weapons, and their long-range archers were entirely of the old-world,
traditional organization, their percentage proportion among the total active
manpower also being catastrophically small. Therefore, realizing they lacked
the tactical brawn, Dlements had been structurally incapable of
deploying the Marquis's army, which did not have effective long-range
counterattack means, to anchor the front defense. And, subconsciously
recognizing and feeling that their old-world armaments lacked the capacity to
make an effective counter-strike from a stationary grid, the noble troops had
instinctively thrown their bodies forward, unconsciously projecting and
allowing themselves to be smoothly dragged out into the open plain by the
enemy's performance.
The second structural defect lay in the raw caliber of the
commanding general. Marquis Kamin's current position was ultimately that
of an emergency coordinator rallying the various fragmented forces of the
northern frontier nobility, not their absolute sovereign alliance leader.
Although his private household commanded the single largest power among them,
nearly two-thirds of the active troops were forces led by independent local
barons and counts who merely stood up in response to the emergency call,
steering their retainers according to their own agendas, and not his own
subordinates. In addition, the underlying political speculations of the
participating individual nobles were completely fractured and not monolithic
either, and there are many who dream of success in life by hoarding a
monumental mountain of military merits in this specific campaign to secure high
promotions. Because the common soldiers are not completely fascinated with nor
harbor a deep, foundational devotion toward the Marquis either, and because Kamin
completely lacks the official legal 【Crown】 (sovereign investiture) required to forcefully make them
submit and obey his command upon the field, he was simply not worshipped or
revered as a general possessing the ultimate caliber to bind their wills by the
force he led.
The third structural defect…… its horrific metrics will
become violently clear across the plain later.
※
Standing proudly atop a towering, makeshift wooden
observation watchtower hastily assembled over the crest of a low, strategic
small hill, General Golpa effortlessly surveyed the macro-parameters of
the shifting battlefield. And then…… Beholding the sight of his allied forces executing their pre-calculated retreating motions,
smoothly siphoning the pursuing enemy forces
straight towards his own elaborate defense camp established on the front lines,
having received the anticipated counterattack, the old veteran let out a massive, slow sigh.
「 Good grief…… from the looks of it,
the kinetic intensity of the offensive on the eastern flank is exceptionally
severe and not ordinary. The Cain
Kingdom army isn't executing a calculated performance at all—those
spineless bastards are genuinely, desperately sprinting and fleeing for their
miserable lives. Well, since the enemy's eastern vanguard isn't aggressively
advancing either and has rigidly frozen to maintain their grid, the Cain units don't seem to have reached
the point of annihilation, but…… the Lute Kingdom army is, well, about
so-so, but their internal coordination alongside the Cain Kingdom army has been a completely wretchedly fractured mess. 」
Saying so, turning his head to evaluate the western sector
this time, a cold, deeply satisfied smile slowly washed over his weathered
features, and he offered a slow, appreciative nod.
「 As for this side…… the parameters
are rolling forward precisely about as expected and in accordance with our
grand strategy. Rather than wasting breath laughing at the sheer, uncoordinated
carelessness and idiocy of the enemy Empire noble units, I suppose I should
honestly offer high praise to the exquisite, masterful cleverness and deception
executed by our vanguards. Though I should say it's a monumental blessing and
fortunate that my theoretical prediction regarding their psychology was
entirely correct. 」
The mastermind who was actively directing the tactical
vectors across the western plain to deliberately lure out and invite the Marquis
Kamin army was fundamentally not the short-sighted King Ville. The sovereign King himself had pulled back his vessel
to a secure coordinate in the rear with an elite detachment of 1,000 royal
knight escorts, and the operational strings of the ones taking command were
entirely pulled by the master subordinate officers the General had personally
hand-reared and trained across decades of service. They had masterfully and
cleverly simulated a panicked retreat to lure out the greedy enemy army, and
showing themselves being swept away by momentum, retreated to lead them straight
into the mouth of the beast.
「 Sir……
It is about time. 」
「 Right…… the pieces have fallen into
place. Issue the absolute directive to our western forces: deliberately draw
their charging columns in until our optimal effective range of 300 meters and
unleash total hell fire, and in response to that, command our embedded vanguard
units to instantaneously execute a violent, full-speed turnaround to go on a
devastating counter-offensive to crush their broken formations! As for our eastern forces—it
matters not if their salvos fail to achieve high accuracy; command them to fire
at their maximum elevation angle! The 200 units of our absolute highest-tier,
state-of-the-art modernized batteries should still probably be more than
capable of inflicting a highly satisfactory, fair amount of structural trauma
upon the enemy's lines. 」
Having been officially entrusted with the macro-command of a
truly staggering, industrial-scale actual force of as many as 1,300 heavy
ballista units, General Golpa had executed a remarkably bold deployment
scheme perfectly customized to match the coalition's strategic operational
movements.
Across the absolute far east—the sector held by the most
formidable tactical nightmare thought to be the most difficult enemy, Marquis Solis—he
had concentrated a massive battery of 500 units composed of their crowning
jewels: 200 state-of-the-art, next-generation modernized units flawlessly
blended alongside 300 specialized upgraded models owned by the Ville Kingdom.
Deployed directly projecting across the central spine front confronting the
unbreakable stone wall of the enemy were a precise pool of 300 traditional
ballistas owned by the Lute Kingdom. Anchored across the western sector
to receive the greedy, overextended Empire nobility was a devastating grid of a
total of 500 units: mixing 200 specialized upgraded models of Ville alongside 300 standard units owned by the Lute Kingdom. He had ruthlessly
concentrated the absolute apex of his long-range firepower mostly across the
two flanks, and made the central front confronting the enemy intentionally the
thinnest to serve as an operational vacuum.
「 Report! Eastern sector batteries,
preparation of target-locks for each platform complete! 」
「 Report! Western sector—the charging
enemy Empire noble units have officially entered our optimal effective
kill-zone! We hold a perfect green line to go! 」
To the reports brought in near-simultaneous synchronization
signaling the definitive closure of the trap, General Golpa quietly
lifted his right hand and, with absolute, chilling composure, violently swung
it down through the air, and a colossal, thunderous massive copper gong
announcing the launch resounded and erupted across the ridge. From the left and
right flanks of the old general's central camp fortress, a truly cataclysmic
mountain of a total of 1,000 heavy ballista spikes was simultaneously,
violently unleashed into the sky and fired
all at once.
And with that single, bone-shattering discharge of iron, due to this, the macro-momentum flow of the entire northern warzone battlefield would once again violently, catastrophically reverse and turn on its head.
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