Chapter 423
(Kyle Calendar Year 515: Age 22)
Incomprehensible Movements
Translator : PolterGlast
The battle exchanged between the expeditionary force led by Takuhir
and others and the Holy Knights of the Istoria Orthodox Theocracy
had closed its curtains in such a one-sided manner. Caught in a trap and
bathing in fierce attacks, the six thousand cavalry of the Holy Knights
were driven into a corner and annihilated. Over a thousand of them died in a
form close to self-destruction, such as falling into the dry moats or being
crushed by the rearguard because their mounts took arrows and fell... However,
not a single person in the invading main force such as Lugner and the
others, nor the Istoria Orthodox Theocracy Army that had suppressed the
Royal Capital of the Cain Kingdom, knew that information.
・ Due to Golpa's operation to secretly defeat the enemy
army in detail and gradually reduce their numbers, and Takuhir's tactic
to ensure not a single soldier escaped using the Long Spear unit
・ Due to the speculation of Lugner and others who
thought of luring the eyesore Holy Knights out with bait and getting rid
of them
Unfortunate for someone, because these two meshed together
perfectly. In addition, the unit dispatched by Azel to monitor the
fighting of the Holy Knights from the rear had also been annihilated by
long-range attacks from the Long Spear unit.
「Reporting! The Holy Knights
pursued the fleeing enemy army and advanced towards the Vile Kingdom
territory. The battle results of the series of battles are unknown, but from
the lack of contact, it appears they continued the pursuit as is and advanced
toward their assigned post, the direction of the border with the Empire.」
「What do you mean, 'it appears'! Is
there no contact from the monitoring unit we dispatched?」
「Ha! Nothing...」
Azel was
irritated by this vague and half-baked report, but in the end, there was no one
who could answer his question.
「It probably can't be helped. The
boars must be frantically pushing forward, attracted by the smell of bait
(wealth). Therefore, the scouts you sent out probably have no leeway to report
because they are continuing to follow the boars, no?」
It was a vague report, but because it was close to what Lugner
expected, he deliberately didn't pursue it any further. As if he already had no
interest in the whereabouts of the Holy Knights he had gotten rid of to
the borders of the four countries as disposable pawns...
However, it was understandable for him to be so optimistic.
Firstly... He did not think a fighting strength capable of annihilating as many
as six thousand cavalry of the Holy Knights existed in the current Cain
Kingdom. To begin with, the three countries had lost their main domestic
fighting strength through the battle with the allied army headed by the Demon
Territory Dukdeom, and currently there was absolutely nothing that could be
called organized surplus fighting strength. Therefore, the defense of the Royal
Capitals of each country was thin, and they had been easily captured up until
now, backing up that fact. Even if the residual soldiers of the Vile Kingdom
rallied their fighting strength and attacked the Holy Knights, causing
them to suffer considerable damage, a few defeated remnants would return. In
that sense, no one had returned. Taking into account that even the monitoring
unit sent after them just in case hadn't returned, they were optimistic about
the war situation. Much less the fact that the Demon Territory Dukdeom Army,
which had fought against the military forces of the three countries, released
the prisoners, extended a hand to the three countries that were the invaders,
and dispatched soldiers—it was a story that was impossible no matter how one
thought about it, and something they couldn't even imagine.
Secondly... while Lugner and Azel excelled in schemes, they had no experience as generals commanding an army to
begin with, nor did they have the caliber for it. Originally, to assist them, Castro
had attached two experienced generals, but now those two were not fulfilling
their original roles. Because they were left behind as defending generals in
charge of holding the respective Royal Capitals of the Lute Kingdom and
the Vile Kingdom, which had been captured beforehand. Without even
knowing that they had already been defeated, the two grasped the progression of
events with their own biased judgments and the naive prospect that they had
been leading the battle thus far. The Istoria Imperial Kingdom itself,
which became the parent body of the Orthodox Theocracy, had lost those
with the caliber of generals through repeated campaigns, and was short on human
resources to begin with. Against the two who were Cardinals near the highest
rank in the Church and possessed a brilliant combat history of having taken
down the Royal Capitals of three countries, there were absolutely no generals
with the caliber to predict danger and submit opinions. Coupled with these two
circumstances, it cannot be denied that they had become 『bats in a
village without birds』. And then... they would run towards an even more reckless
decision.
※
The unilateral battle against the Holy Knights, which
had reached the extreme of gruesomeness, ended. There were no sacrifices among
the Demon Territory Knights I led, and General Golpa's unit also
suffered only negligible damage. In the battle, the attacks by the Longbow
soldiers led by Geese and those who were Gale's subordinates were
mercilessly fierce, and the feelings of the seven thousand soldiers led by
General Golpa, whose homeland had been destroyed by cowardly means, were
even stronger. Therefore, when the battle ended, the attrition rate of the
enemy army was over ninety percent, and the survivors, including the wounded,
were under five hundred people. Of course, that wasn't the only reason. Besides
the tactical reason of defeating them in detail so as not to be detected by the
enemy army, I myself, having heard of the tyrannical behavior of the Holy
Knights, did not show any leniency whatsoever and prioritized annihilation.
Therefore, I deliberately did not issue a recommendation to surrender until the
final phase.
「I am struck with admiration at Archduke-heika's command. I can glean that the
army of the Demon Territory Dukdeom was fierce and strong even in Heika's absence.」
「No... General Golpa's command
was also splendid. I understood well why Alexis praised you.」
Here, I deliberately continued with words that differed from
my own emotions. Actually, I myself also hesitated a bit this time...
「General, I myself also launched a
merciless attack in this battle, but the battle is already over. Knowing that I
will be criticized as a hypocrite, I ask: from here on out, will you permit us
to respond according to our style?」
Considering the tyrannical acts of the Holy Knights
up to now, originally we would finish off the wounded soldiers and take no
prisoners. I think that is the common sense of this world. Even more so since,
within me, I recognize them not as adversaries but as war criminals. However...
contrary to my own feelings, I must admonish myself against responding
arbitrarily; I strove to be self-aware of that.
「Ha... we too are ones kept alive by
your mercy. Of course I will not say no.」
「Then we will treat the wounded
soldiers immediately and bury the corpses respectfully. I want to assign two
thousand soldiers to this.」
「Ha, we cannot do anything for the
wounded soldiers, but regarding the accommodation of the surrendered prisoners
and the burials, we would like to handle it. We cannot cause you trouble with
these duties, after all.」
Receiving the General's offer, we began to handle it, and a
while had passed. The General came running to me and the Commander once
again.
「Just now, a report came in from the
scout I had infiltrated! There are new movements in the Royal Capital of the Cain
Kingdom.」
「Tch, did they notice?」
「No, about that... Approximately one
thousand cavalry carrying baggage trains moved west, and over ten thousand
soldiers similarly carrying baggage trains left the Royal Capital and began
moving northeast.」
「Huh? What does that mean?」
I couldn't understand the meaning of the report at all. To
disperse their fighting strength at this point? What reason is there to abandon
the Royal Capital, which is advantageous for defense?
「Excuse me for interrupting. Does
that mean the enemy army abandoned the occupied Royal Capital and changed
direction? To the northeast... does that mean they are aiming for the Royal
Capital of the Vile Kingdom?」
「It is exactly as Knight Commander
Weiss says. I cannot grasp the details, but it seems to be a change of
direction leaving garrison soldiers in the Royal Capital. There are also
reports that the army that began moving northeast is around twelve to fifteen
thousand...」
「「!!!」」
In that case, the numbers don't add up. Did we misread the
total number of the enemy army to begin with? Considering past examples, there
is a high possibility that they left garrison forces in the Royal Capital of
the Cain Kingdom to proceed with control. Thinking like that, there
should be around five thousand soldiers remaining. In addition to that, we
completely annihilated six thousand, and one thousand is still moving west. In
other words, that alone amounts to about twelve thousand. Adding to that, if a
maximum of fifteen thousand soldiers are moving...
「We too felt suspicious and are
proceeding with the interrogation of prisoners upon receiving the results of
the intelligence. It is still unconfirmed information without backing, but it
seems there is a possibility that their total fighting strength that invaded
the Cain Kingdom exceeds twenty-five thousand...」
「「Twenty-five thousand!」」
The Commander and I couldn't help but raise loud
voices at the unexpected number. Even though there were some reinforcements,
rather than decreasing, their fighting strength had conversely increased
significantly! Up until now, they had been leaving soldiers in the suppressed Lute
Kingdom and Vile Kingdom. On top of that, if twenty-five thousand
soldiers had advanced, it means we fundamentally misjudged the enemy's fighting
strength.
「Because it was such a large number,
initially we too suspected it was deceptive information, but subsequently
multiple testimonies were obtained, so we recently came to that conclusion.」
「I see... even though we struck down
six thousand by defeating them in detail, the enemy army's superiority still
remains unchanged. If we had stubbornly stuck to our initial operation in this
area, we would be in a predicament where the Royal Capital of the Vile
Kingdom is recaptured anew...」
It is exactly as the Commander pointed out. If that
happens... inferior in numbers against an enemy army larger than expected, we
would have to simultaneously handle the recapture of the Royal Capital of the Cain
Kingdom, the defense of the Royal Capital of the Vile Kingdom, and
the annihilation of the one thousand soldiers whose destination is unknown;
these three things at the same time.
「Damn it, how villainous... We can't
handle it all on our own.」
「This is also information obtained
from the prisoners, but the Holy Knights were given 『unrestrained pillaging』 of the border region with the Empire
as bait, and on their way to take up that post, they attacked us, it seems...」
Those bastards... not only did they conquer and destroy
three countries, but they had already made moves that far? If the departure of
our expeditionary force had been delayed, the borders of the three countries
would have been capped, and they would have been doing whatever they pleased.
「Takuhir-sama, in that case, I believe it is fine to assume that the
army heading west is following the ones we annihilated, aiming for the border
region. Incidentally, General, do you know the composition of the armies that
went in each direction?」
「Yes, the military force heading east
seems to be solely cavalry, but they hold a large-scale baggage train that is
slow of foot. The military force heading northeast is centered around infantry,
and similarly accompanied by a baggage train of a scale larger than necessary.
This is likely the main force of the Orthodox Theocracy Army.」
「Much of the baggage train is... the
wealth they've plundered so far, huh...」
「Considering Takuhir-sama's
point just now and the situation... it will be a bit of a busy story, but
defeating them in detail with a time lag is the only way.」
「I believe it is exactly as Knight
Commander Weiss says.」
「Our strength is that our main
fighting force is entirely cavalry. Either way, cavalry have no chance of
winning in a siege battle against fifteen thousand soldiers holed up, after
all.」
「Yes, I was thinking the exact same
thing. For that purpose, I would like to head out to suppress the enemy main
force with the five thousand cavalry entrusted to me by Archduke-heika...」
Um... I still haven't kept up with their conversation. How
are we going to solve this difficult problem? However, the conversation between
the Commander and the General seems to be proceeding based on premises
assumed between the two of them.
「To begin with, it is a
tightrope-walking tactic piling assumption upon assumption. In that sense,
General Golpa's unit will be in the most danger, though?」
「I am prepared for that. From the
start, we are in a position of borrowing your power to recapture our homeland.
Even in that sense it is a matter of course, and even more so if it's a
surprise attack or encounter battle, we will show you we can work to our
heart's content.」
The Commander and the General exchanged glances, and
both of them laughed with fearless smiles. However... as usual, I am the only
one who hasn't kept up at all, you know?
Here, we began to move to grasp the light of the future
through a dangerous gamble, a tightrope-walking, continuous defeat-in-detail
tactic thought up by the two of them.
◇
Composition of the Istoria Orthodox Theocracy Army
・ Expeditionary Force 20,000 men
(Soldiers who had infiltrated the ten thousand civilians also joined)
・ Home Country Reinforcement Unit
10,000 men
o
Of which,
invading Lute Kingdom from three locations: 6,000 men
o
Of which,
joining the Expeditionary Force Main Force: 4,000 men
・ Holy Knights 7,000 cavalry
・ Surrendered Soldiers from Three
Countries 2,000 men
Total
Invading Army 39,000 men
① Lute
Kingdom Royal Capital Residual Unit 5,000
men
・ Invading Army Main Force 3,000 men
・ Reinforcement Unit 2,000 men
② Lute Kingdom
Invading Detached Force 6,000 men
・ Reinforcement Unit 2,000 men × 3 directions
③ Vile Kingdom
Royal Capital Residual Unit 3,000 men
・ Invading Army Main Force 2,000 men
・ Reinforcement Unit 1,000 men
④ Cain Kingdom
Royal Capital Invading Unit 25,000 men
・ Invading Army Main Force 15,000 men
・ Reinforcement Unit 1,000 men
・ Holy Knights
7,000 men
・ Surrendered Soldiers from Three Countries 2,000 men
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