Chapter 428
(Kyle Calendar Year 515: Age 22)
Defile Attack
Translator : PolterGlast
Around the time Takuhir and others recaptured the
Royal Capital of the Cain Kingdom, the five thousand cavalry led by
General Golpa were galloping eastward through the Vile Kingdom.
In order to get ahead of the thirteen thousand Istoria Orthodox Theocracy
Army troops that had already departed the Royal Capital on the Cain
Kingdom side and were heading east... Thoroughly familiar with the terrain
and making use of their speed to dash through, they arrived at the border point
with the Cain Kingdom near the Royal Capital of the Vile Kingdom
the next day, ahead of the enemy army.
「Listen up! To compensate for our
numerical disadvantage, we will carry out a surprise attack making the earth of
our homeland our ally. From here on, divide the units and lay in ambush!」
Beyond the border into the Vile Kingdom side, there
was a defile passing through a narrow forest with poor visibility, where a
large army could not deploy. Deliberately choosing that as the decisive
battleground, Golpa divided the unit he led into five units of one
thousand cavalry each, and laid them in ambush in various directions. Two units
moved to the exit side of the forest, and similarly two units moved to the
entrance side and hid themselves, but there were firm reasons why he
deliberately set the formation to one thousand cavalry.
·
At least
around one thousand cavalry were needed to suppress the head of the enemy army
emerging from the narrow defile.
·
Conversely,
if the group became larger than one thousand cavalry, they would not be able to
deploy freely even though they had exited the defile, and to begin with, there
were no places to lie in ambush.
·
Two units
would alternately attack from left and right only the vanguard (and rearguard)
of the enemy that emerged on the exit (entrance) side, thereby putting a lid on
the defile. And by attacking in turns, to prevent the enemy army from grasping
the total number of allies, and to keep them from realizing our numerical disadvantage.
「Listen up! Our objective is not to
win. It is to hold back the enemy army for even a little longer, and to whittle
down their fighting strength as much as possible!」
「「「「「Yeah!」」」」」
Against an enemy army more than double their size, Golpa
had prepared his resolve, not minding even if his own army became sacrificial
stones.
『To strike a blow against the cowards
who trampled our homeland.』
『To express gratitude to our
benefactors, and reduce their burden even a little by the time they arrive.』
『To protect our homeland, to seal the
movements of the enemy army even if we are annihilated.』
These thoughts were shared by the soldiers he led. They
raised the corners of their eyes and scattered to their assigned positions.
※
Exactly as Golpa instructed, each unit moved to the
forests in the rear where they could observe the entrances and exits to the
defile, and lay their soldiers in ambush. However... This operation, which
required instructions suited to the situation from someone observing the entire
battlefield from a bird's-eye view, inherently had a major flaw that could be
called fatal.
「Fufufu, normally with a deployment
at this distance, coordinating without being detected by the enemy would be a
very impossible story... but here we shall borrow the power of Mizel-dono.」
Standing on high ground where the highway passing through
the forest could be seen in its entirety, Golpa spoke to the young
tactical officer standing beside him. This man seemed to be from a special
forces unit under the direct command of the Archduke within the Demon
Territory Knights, and was part of the personnel entrusted by the Archduke
when the detached force went ahead. Just as Golpa said to Mizel,
normally the units are scattered at a distance where coordination is impossible
unless one raises a signal fire. If so, detailed and flexible instructions
would not reach them, and even if messengers were sent running, they would not
make it in time for responses suited to the war situation. However... what if
there was a means to solve that all at once?
「Of course. Following the command of
my lord, we shall become Kakka's
eyes and ears. Fortunately, the weather is fine today; our signals will
instantly reach even the units concealed on the other side of the forest.」
There were corresponding reasons why Mizel answered
confidently. For General Golpa's movement leading the detached force in
this battle, Takuhir deliberately had two hundred cavalry under Mizel's
command accompany him. Mizel himself had previously served in the Cadet
Knights Division, fought the Istoria Imperial Kingdom Army in his first
battle, and afterwards personally experienced the Dublin Tactic
commanded by Takuhir in the annihilation battle of the Burg
Forest. After graduating from the academy, he volunteered to join the mercenary
band (Demon Territory Knights), and was selected as a tactical officer
under the direct command of Knight Commander Weiss. His military
strategy was trained daily by Weiss, and after going on to experience
battles with the Imperial Army as well, he rose to prominence as the
commander of the unit managing wide-area communications devised by Takuhir,
and now leads a communication corps of two hundred cavalry. Under his command,
five experienced squad leaders capable of reliably relaying brought information
and operating on their own judgment were also entrusted to him. The
communication corps he commanded was a unit specialized in reliably
transmitting commands, equipped with several communication means such as signal
fires and balloons, in order to constantly maintain coordination with allies
deployed over a wide area.
「Even so, to attempt coordination
between units by such means... Archduke-heika and the army he leads always far exceed our imagination.」
Saying so with a wry smile, Golpa shivered anew.
Normally, there are no wide-area communication means on a battlefield other
than ambiguous communication means like signal fires, or sending messengers
running. But they say they can do it in an instant.
「That's right, because he is a person
endowed with wisdom unlike ordinary people. Although... because he never shows
such behavior normally, even we misunderstood and did not know Heika's true worth during our
student days, so...」
Saying so, Mizel also smiled wryly. Because he too,
as the vanguard of the 『Anti-Harem
Baron』 movement,
was opposed to Takuhir at every turn up until a certain point. While
that was happening, Mizel's subordinates came rushing over to them.
「Reporting! Light confirmed from the
relay point; it seems the vanguard of the enemy army will shortly cross the
national border and enter the forest!」
「Understood. Then Kakka.」
「Umu, then I would like to request a
communication informing each unit to prepare for battle. The operation is as
planned; first we strike from where the enemy army emerges from the forest!」
「Ha! Command to the communication
corps: convey to each unit to stand by until further instructions after
preparing for battle.」
At this time, Mizel had divided the two hundred-strong
communication corps he led into ten squads; assigned one squad each to the main
camp and the units scattered in various directions, dispersed two squads to
send out on reconnaissance, and deployed the remaining three squads at various
points in the forest as relays just in case. Each squad possessed multiple
highly polished large mirrors, and they were also equipped with portable
telescopes so as not to miss the light reflected by those mirrors. They had
also received training to transmit and read several predetermined codes through
light reflection patterns. Therefore, immediate communication was possible
through a relay of light emission signals, directly over several km, and if relayed, over a distance of a dozen km.
※
Meanwhile, the pace of the Istoria Orthodox Theocracy
Army, which was centered around infantry and accompanied a line of wagons
fully loaded with wealth, was extremely slow. It was around the time even they
had finally approached to within a little over half a day's distance from their
destination, the Royal Palace of the Vile Kingdom.
「It is a bit frustrating that our
pace is not advancing easily. Still half a day away, huh...」
「Hahaha, compared to the outward
journey, the baggage has increased even further this time. Even though we gave
some to the fanatics (Holy Knights), the wealth of the Cain Kingdom,
the wealthiest among the three countries, is massive. It can't be helped that
our pace is slow.」
Lugner laughed
and answered Azel's words. Basically, they do not trust Castro
and the soldiers they deployed. That is exactly why they did not let go of all
the wealth they had plundered in the two countries of the Lute Kingdom
and the Vile Kingdom thus far, but transported it accompanying the army
they led. Moreover, since it was harvest season, they could requisition food at
the villages and towns they stopped by, so much of the baggage train they led
was the massive amount of wealth they had thoroughly plundered up until now.
「But Lugner, I have anxieties
too. We have taken the Royal Capitals of each country, but still, some remnants
must remain, right? We too have left soldiers in various places, and currently
we are nothing more than thirteen thousand five hundred. We must quickly join the
unit in the Vile Kingdom.」
「Certainly... right. I sent
messengers to the Royal Capital of Vile just in case, but... Those
bastards, perhaps they're absorbed in plundering, they haven't sent any contact
at all.」
This is something they do not know, but the facts are
different. The Royal Capital of the Vile Kingdom had already been
recaptured, and because soldiers deployed by General Golpa were hiding
along the highways near the Royal Capital, the messengers they sent were either
completely captured or struck down without fulfilling their missions...
「Just in case, I think we should
create human walls with infantry units for the vanguard and rearguard, and
place Longbow soldiers in the center army to prepare a rapid response
posture, though?」
Arrogant from their victories thus far, Lugner was
optimistic, while Azel was cautious.
「Right, that would be good. In
battle, the most reliable ones are them (Longbows), after all. Moreover,
while other soldiers are consumables, they cannot be easily replenished.」
For them, their greatest striking force was the two thousand
Longbow soldiers, and with that attack power, they could easily deal
with the remnants of each country. They too placed absolute trust in the battle
results raised by the Longbow soldiers in the battles thus far. At the
point they crossed the national border and entered the defile of the forest,
they changed their formation and proceeded in a long column spanning several
kilometers. Unaware that this formation would later become a great disaster...
※
The defile part of the forest spreading along the highway
was approximately 5 km long. Forests were scattered before
and after it as well, but in places the thickly growing trees changed into
woods or grasslands, and there were partially places where soldiers could
deploy. Golpa, who was intimately familiar with the terrain, hid
dispersed soldiers near such places and waited for the 『time』.
And... When the vanguard of the long-stretched enemy army column was about to
pass through the defile part, Golpa made his decision.
「Now! Order the unit hidden on the
east side of the exit to commence the attack! Make use of the advantage of
cavalry and begin hit-and-run attacks only on the vanguard part! After that, a
new unit from the west side shall launch an attack! An iron hammer upon the
invaders!」
At Golpa's instruction, out of the two thousand
cavalry hiding at the defile exit, five hundred from among the one thousand
cavalry positioned on the east side suddenly revealed themselves, and assaulted
the vanguard of the Orthodox Theocracy Army! Running at full speed
through the part where the forest broke off, they divided and harvested the
enemy soldiers in the long column, then ran off to the west side. However...
without a moment's delay, this time five hundred cavalry lying in ambush on the
west side assaulted them and ran off to the east side; next, the remaining five
hundred cavalry who were originally on the east side, and then the five hundred
cavalry on the west side, assaulted in turn, sequentially swapping positions
and repeating it endlessly. By doing so, the intent was to create an illusion
as if a seemingly infinite enemy army was launching wave attacks. In this form,
the infantry of the vanguard group that exited the defile were whittled down
one after another.
※
Lugner and the
others were in the center army of the column, but they could not hide their
irritation at the battle that suddenly began ahead. Because in the
long-stretched army column, they could see nothing of the vanguard's situation
from their position, and only the clamor of battle echoed like the roar of the
tide.
「W-What is going on! What is
happening at the vanguard!」
「E-Enemy attack!」
Lugner became
even more irritated at those words.
「I know that much! What I am asking
is the total number of the enemy army and the war situation! From here I cannot
understand anything!」
Around the time his angry voice resounded, a messenger
finally came running from the vanguard.
「Ahead, where we exit the defile, we
are receiving wave attacks by an enemy cavalry unit. Their number,
approximately five hundred! They are repeating hit-and-run attacks with an
intensity that doesn't even allow catching one's breath!」
「Only five hundred?」
「No, the enemy is attacking in units
of five hundred cavalry, but the actual number is unknown! I believe it is at
least no less than several thousand.」
「Tch, those annoying bastards! Push
soldiers forward from within the forest as well and overwhelm them with
numbers! If they repeat hit-and-run attacks many times, they will eventually
run out of breath. Line up the infantry as a shield, push out the Longbow
soldiers, and annihilate them.」
It was when the Longbow soldiers of the center army
began moving forward as he said so. This time, clamor of battle erupted from
the rear, and simultaneously a soldier with a changed complexion rushed in.
「R-Reporting! Fresh hands from the
rear of the forest as well! A group of about five hundred cavalry is skillfully
coordinating and launching wave attacks on the very rear! The rearguard has
begun routing into the forest.」
「Kuh... even though they are merely a
motley crew of remnants!」
「It cannot be helped, as the majority
of our army is closed off in the forest and turned into idle troops.」
「Then Azel, what do you say we
do!」
「First, the commander must calm down.
Our overwhelming superiority remains unchanged.」
「Certainly... right. Then if you have
a plan, I leave the command to you.」
「Ah, leave the utilization of the Longbow
soldiers to me. Messenger! Urgently convey the following to the entire army!
·
The rearguard soldiers shall fall
back into the forest, create a deep formation to draw the enemy army in, and
lure them.
·
Of the Longbow soldiers sent
forward, allocate five hundred to handle the deep formation in the rear.
·
Push the infantry out beyond the
defile ahead and deploy them in a semicircle; have the Longbow soldiers
deal with them from inside that.」
By this command from Azel, the Orthodox Theocracy Army, which was on the verge of crumbling due to the surprise attacks, somehow managed to recover its posture, and began to show movements to transition from defense to offense. The fierce battle between both armies would welcome a new turning point from here on.
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