Volume 5 Release Commemorative Special Episode
The Former Master and Servant ③ Tactic Leading to Demise
Translator : PolterGlast
A week after General
Weiss seized the supply base of the Principality of Sura Army, the
effects began to show on the front lines. Even though they were dispersed
across three locations, the amount of provisions consumed by the
fifty-thousand-strong army deployed at the fortress line was enormous, and
without continuous resupply, it would soon run out. The Principality of Sura
Army deployed on the three fronts of the fortress line, upon receiving the
report that their logistics base in the rear had been seized due to an
unexpected enemy attack, had hurriedly begun to pull back their troops without
even coordinating with each other. Just as Weiss had predicted...
「No
matter how large the army, it is meaningless if they cannot deploy. The entire
army dismounts; eight thousand hide on the left and right of the bypath, and
two thousand act as decoys and deploy in the front. Block their exit!」
Even amidst the
enemy, due to Weiss's bold interception instructions, the Principality
of Sura Army, which should have been superior in numbers, was defeated in
detail one after another and routed. Having been repelled and reduced to nearly
half their numbers, they fled back to the fortress line that had run out of
food once more, but that was merely waiting for self-destruction. And when
twenty days had passed since Weiss suppressed the strategic point, a major
change also arrived in the offense and defense of the fortress line. The Third
Prince, who captured the exit of the fortress line closest to Big Bridge
with the fewest enemy soldiers, boldly advanced his army while pursuing them,
bringing his army all the way to the strategic point where Weiss was
holed up. And the master and servant met once more on the battlefield.
「Even
so, Denka, quite the bold
advance, isn't it?」
「Hahaha,
not as much as you. Besides, isn't it an action exactly as planned?」
「That
is certainly true, but I didn't expect you to bring along the entire army.」
Indeed, the number
the Third Prince led was twenty thousand, and it would not be an
exaggeration to say it was practically his entire army. With this, the defense
on the Empire's side would be non-existent.
「The
strategy the General formulated still has further to go. For that, we
will need more men, right?」
「However,
Denka, what about the defense
of the Empire's side?」
「Oh, I
struck down the ten thousand hiding in Big Bridge. We charged into the
fortress line chasing the backs of the fleeing ones, but they were in no state
to resist, after all.」
As a result of Weiss
seizing the supply base, it also had a major impact on the Principality of
Sura Army deployed in the direction of Big Bridge. To begin with,
even the units holed up in the fortress line were lacking food, and they were
no longer in a state to supply the front lines. Therefore, they had no choice
but to leave the marshland and retreat to the fortresses, but midway through
their retreat, they were subjected to a surprise attack by the main force led
by the Third Prince. Struck in the back and routed, they tried to flee
into the fortresses, but that also allowed the Third Prince's army
pursuing in parallel to invade.
「I crushed
one of the fortresses they were holed up in, and thanks to you, the other two
locations probably can't make a move, right?」
「However...
I believe a military force of about thirty thousand remains at the other two
locations at least? If they invade towards Ende...」
Here, Weiss
deliberately asked what was obvious. In response, the Third Prince
laughed lightly.
「Fufufu,
you understand too, right? Even if they have thirty thousand, without food they
cannot move. Even more so now, that number of thirty thousand becomes a
shackle.」
「Then
they are already at that point?」
「They've
left the fortresses and are desperately scraping together food, but it's not
harvest season now, after all. Even local procurement is not going well. Even
if there was an army capable of moving towards the Empire, I think the
five thousand men left in Ende can handle them well enough?」
「If you
understand to that extent, then I have nothing to say. Then what should Denka do from here on?」
When Weiss
answered so and smiled, the Third Prince also smiled fearlessly.
「Because
it is for this reason that I led the entire army here. I will cap this
strategic point with ten thousand. If so, an enemy force of over thirty
thousand will become idle troops. I will grant you an additional military force
of ten thousand, so will you bring down their Royal Capital with twenty
thousand exactly as initially planned?」
「Yes,
as Denka desires.」
After that, the
military force of General Weiss, which advanced with lightning speed
once more, scattered the remaining enemy army of over ten thousand in the Royal
Capital of the Principality of Sura, and captured the Royal Capital in
the blink of an eye. Thus, the Principality of Sura, which boasted hundreds
of years of history, was destroyed. By the tactic of a single outstanding
general...
Receiving the report
of the great victory of the Third Prince's faction, which everyone had
thought impossible, the Imperial Capital Griffin seethed. The formidable
enemy that had invaded the southern part of the Empire for many years
and continuously plagued them was gone. Furthermore, having newly added the
vast territory of the Principality of Sura to the dominion of the Empire,
the Third Prince, who accomplished an unprecedented feat in the history
of the Griffonia Empire, attained an immovable position where everyone
recognized him as the Imperial Successor of the Empire. Behind
the scenes, it is said that the First Prince's faction was astonished by
the great victory of their political rival they hadn't even anticipated, and
fell into a great panic. However... at this point, the First Prince did
not have battle results sufficient to counter his political rival's
achievements, and he could not overturn that decision. And they began to
formulate a plan to play a move for revival.
※
Weiss, the
ever-victorious general who destroyed the Principality of Sura, had been
promoted all the way to Legion Commander leading tens of thousands of
troops due to his military exploits. He had now reached a position equal in
military affairs to the First Prince, who aimed to conquer the northern
part of the Empire. However, without growing arrogant from his success,
he looked even further ahead, entirely focused on countermeasures.
「Hmm...
this won't be the end. They will attempt a final resistance. There is only one
means left...」
Muttering so, he
stared at a map depicting his former homeland, the neighboring country to the
north that Margrave Goth
under the First Prince had struggled to conquer for many
years. For him, who had a sense of the land, bypaths not drawn on the map and
locations that would serve as strategic points floated into his mind one after
another.
「Margrave
Hastburg, who is famous for his bravery, guards the Southern Gate
Fort in the front, and if capturing it takes time, thirty thousand cavalry
of the Royal Capital Knights will come rushing... Even if we destroy
them and advance along the central highway... it would be a waste of time and
the lives of the officers and soldiers, huh. If we fight head-on... it's a
difficult problem.」
While calling it a
difficult problem with his mouth, a smile played on his lips and his expression
was brimming with confidence.
「They
already have their backs to the wall. They will likely try to pull our legs
while we are advancing our conquest. We, who have two enemies, to seal them as
well...」
Saying so, the place
he pointed at was a frontier mountain whose name wasn't even written on the
map. A place named Teigoon, towering beyond the Demon Territory said to be untraversable,
detouring west after exiting the national border...
「The
tactic that destroyed the Principality of Sura wasn't exclusively for
the south... The strategic point that became the keystone in the southern war,
in the case of the north... is here!」
The road on which he
himself once continued his journey of hardship floated vividly in his mind.
Together with bitter memories...
「The Royal
Capital Knights will be a formidable enemy, but... if we lure them south as
much as possible and leave them to those guys, and conduct a large-scale detour
operation just with us, the keystone will be Mount Teigoon. If we cap it using
the narrow pass that is
a natural stronghold, we can evade pursuit from both enemy and ally, huh?」
He had to be wary
not only of the enemy, but even of those who would become his allies. And just
as he predicted, it would be highly impossible for his allies who didn't know
the Demon Territory
to follow his line of march.
「We
leave the front to them, and if our main force heads north like a gale...
passing through Est, advancing along the backroads, until Kylar,
there is nothing to obstruct our march... nothing! With this... I can win!」
Saying so, Weiss
floated a fearless smile. After that... he let out a large sigh as if
remembering something.
「For Kira
and the other twelve who lost their lives in that land, I can finally erect
gravestones for them. The regrets from that time, by fulfilling them here, I
will offer this as a parting gift before their graves, I suppose...」
The tactic he had
once envisioned but considered impossible to realize had changed its shape and
destroyed the Principality of Sura. And now, he had obtained enough
power to make possible what he had judged impossible. With this, he would
advance on a route no one could even predict at a speed beyond prediction,
putting into execution a tactic worthy of his moniker, the 『Black
Hawk of the Gale』. And that decided Takuhir's
demise in his second life, becoming the dawn of a new world.
※
The second world that can no longer be called past history, and the world repainted as a new history—the land called Big Bridge became the turning point where the era shifted in both. It could be said that this land was truly the beginning of various karmas. In the second life, it became the starting point for the ruin of Takuhir (the Kyle Kingdom), and even in the third life, if he hadn't ridden a long distance and rushed to Big Bridge, the Third Prince's army would have been defeated, and the Westlights Demon Territory Dukedom would have fallen into a predicament at the hands of the victorious First Prince. However, now in the third time, Takuhir is trying to shatter the beginning of karma through his own decision and open up a new world. In order to seize a new future...
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