Chapter 124 - 10-11
Cloden Danforth exchanged looks with the Carossa female knight, Rusary Striga. Below them lay the Kosa army, proceeding with their defensive works.
Rusary, whose lustrous black hair overflowed from beneath her helmet, looked on in a daze.
"This isn't what was discussed."
Being a beauty, the female knight Rusary possessed an unintentional flair in her expressions of emotion.
"How could this be."
Every single expression she made was dramatic.
—She's cute in ways like this.
Cloden Danforth thought. Rusary was a haughty woman, and Cloden had clashed with her more than once. He often thought she would be better off taking a husband and living in luxury, yet Cloden was forced to admit that Rusary's assertions were usually lucid.
"It seems this is what war is like,"
Cloden said, returning his attention to the state of the enemy camp.
Predictions fail, and plans do not proceed in a straight line.
The joint operation between Dint and Carossa consisted of passing troops through a small mountain path in the Dwarf Mountains to launch a surprise attack on the inner side of the Twin Forts, right in the lap of the enemy base.
However, the enemy was in the process of building a wall between the mountains and the base region.
Having received such a report from their scouts, Cloden had come to observe the situation with the female knight. Observing while hiding among the vegetation covering the mountainside, it did not seem that the enemy had noticed this particular mountain path.
However, they likely felt the need to prepare for the possibility of Siddim soldiers entering from the mountain side. They were using prisoners to install a wall made of logs piled horizontally.
"What about large boulders? If we roll them and crash them in, the wall will break,"
Cloden proposed.
"That is a crude, all-or-nothing plan. Those logs will not break so easily. Rather than doing that, it would be more certain to artificially trigger an avalanche. We should just bury the height of that wall with earth and debris."
"You're going to gather that much debris here? We'd be in plain sight of the enemy."
"The same would be true for large boulders."
It was a reasonable point. "Then, shall we destroy it by hand? It seems quite dangerous."
"No, at that height, if we prepare long planks, we can build a bridge."
The mountain slope and the enemy wall were close. If they laid planks, cavalry might be able to pass.
"That's a good plan. Let's wait for night and try to get a bit closer."
"Understood. I'll take a nap first."
Rusary wrapped herself in her cloak and lay down on the spot. She seemed to fall asleep instantly, beginning to make snoring sounds through her nostrils. Seeing her like this, the woman named Rusary was undoubtedly a knight. She sought solutions to obstacles, napped amidst poor conditions, and pushed forward toward her goal while handling everything competently.
According to Ernes, the Carossa Administrator, Rusary had been engaged to Drac, the eldest son of the Necrat family. He had heard that during the Royal Army's eastern invasion, Drac Necrat fought in Ganlord alongside the knights of Carossa and died in battle. Yugis had once described the head son as "easygoing and kind."
If that were the case, they might have made a well-suited couple.
"Rusary."
Shortly after, Cloden called out.
Rusary woke sharply. "What is it?"
"Things have turned bad. The enemy is preparing to sortie."
"What!"
As Rusary raised her upper body, her long black hair swayed dramatically. Her white countenance and wide-open eyes appeared from amidst the disheveled hair.
—She's a woman one never tires of watching.
While she was first-rate as a knight, Cloden wondered if Rusary was essentially more suited to be a star of variety shows or theater.
"What do we do?"
"We sortie as well," Cloden said.
"Kuh."
With a picturesque profile, Rusary cast a sharp gaze upon the enemy camp.
"Is it finally beginning?"
This female knight likely had various thoughts and determinations. Her expressive power was more than enough to fully convey them.
—This one is interesting.
That was the final evaluation Cloden gave to Rusary.
Cloden and Rusary returned the way they came along with the guiding soldiers. It was the evening of the day the Kosa army mobilized.
At night, the Kosa army took up combat positions with a discipline that seemed to slide through the shadows. There was no sign of the idle atmosphere that had troubled the scout Zeal Andros; instead, there was a fearless quality, moderately relaxed after a break, and a silence as if they had regained their sharp edge.
In contrast, the Siddim army was in a frantic state. In particular, around the command post on the hill south-east of the Caterpillar Marsh, people were running about, stumbling and falling.
Finally, the vice-captains of each unit gathered at the Siddim army command post. The confirmation of the operation took place around noon.
Yugis Necrat announced the analysis of the enemy's composition on the spot.
—Light cavalry are nowhere to be seen.
As Yugis spoke, everyone nodded.
"They are not seen, but they are certainly there. It is thought that the enemy general is hiding light cavalry as a reserve. Roughly speaking, the left and right wings are heavy cavalry. The center is infantry, but it is thick. I believe it can be called a columnar formation."
There is a standard tactic for this kind of formation.
Retreat the center to lure the enemy's columnar formation in. This creates a shape where the middle is concave. Conversely, the army's left and right wings advance to attack the flanks and rear of the enemy column. If they can achieve an encirclement in the flow of battle, it would be an ideal result.
It is crucial that the center is not broken through by the enemy, and the key to success is for the left and right wings to break through the enemy.
"I believe we should follow the standard tactic,"
Yugis concluded.
Haider looked surprised. "The possibility of a trap?"
"There is. Rather, I believe it is a strategy to bind our movements to the standard tactic. The enemy general's warfare has a habit. He provides the opponent with a strategy while deliberately not fixing his own army's strategy. He moves his powerful cavalry quickly according to the fluctuations of the situation to achieve victory."
"And so?"
"However, this time, the enemy's maneuver route is obvious."
It would be whichever side, left or right, collapsed first.
The reserve light cavalry would likely arrive with arrow-like speed from behind the central infantry. The army would meet them with crossbowmen.
"So the enemy intends to use the hidden light cavalry to perform an encirclement of our forces,"
said a man named Sibel. Originally a vassal of Dico Thora, he now served as the adjutant to Lauro, a vassal of the Danforth family. He was a knight with sideburns connected to his mustache.
"Does that mean the wings should first prevent the enemy from breaking through?"
"That is correct. There is no need to force a breakthrough. The enemy will use horse archers to take our rear. If that happens, it will no longer be a war. If we can lure the enemy by retreating the center, the left and right will end up moving forward even if they stay put."
"Crossbowmen alone are unreliable," Sibel said. "Won't the recruits be prone to fleeing?"
"The crossbowmen have already experienced actual combat. Their will to fight is high. That said, we should gather veterans in the center. I believe we should lure the enemy's heavy cavalry on the right toward the forest and on the left toward the mountains. The gaps between the wings and the center can only be filled with recruits. If the recruits flee and a gap is exploited, there is a risk of being broken through. We can only hope for their morale."
Yugis was actually more worried about the Royal Army infantry led by Lauro.
The Royal Army had a history of routing, whereas the militia—at least in the Western Army—had no instances of fleeing. However, he had no intention of pointing that out here and wounding the pride of the Royal Army.
"Regardless, I propose that we aim for the realization of the enemy's encirclement."
"Very well. However, this is a temporary response," Haider said. "As the staff officer aptly put it, the situation fluctuates. The response should change accordingly each time. Everyone, accept changes flexibly. I leave the field command to the staff officer."
There were no voices of opposition.
"Understood."
He was grateful for Haider's consideration.
Yugis repeated the policy once more, and the military council adjourned.
I cannot let Haider be shamed. Yugis thought as he walked with long strides.
When he saw the heavy cavalry in the enemy camp, Yugis had wondered if Geraha had given up on maneuvering after considering the terrain.
—No. It's his usual way.
Yugis was tense. It was the usual way. Heavy cavalry were somewhat rare, but the essence remained the same. It was Geraha's specialty: seizing the initiative before the opponent even realized it by adapting to their movements. The wars of Geraha that Yugis had watched in the south were decided in an instant. If Yugis lagged behind that speed, Siddim would lose.
A certain level of unified tactics was necessary for the army.
Even if they were old-fashioned, forms that everyone knew were best. Only then could each person move swiftly. As for them, it would be enough if they did not allow the enemy to break through. If they endured, an opportunity would surely arrive.
Shortly after the military council ended, the enemy center moved, and an exchange of bows and arrows began with their center. Siddim's center remained motionless.
The commander of Siddim's center was Aram Danforth. From the position of Auditor, he had become the Inspector General of the Eastern Army. It seemed to be a slight drop from the previous Eastern Governor, but through Haider's arrangements, he could at least participate in the war.
Placing Lauro of the Danforth family as the main axis of the left wing and Vimherik Bell of the Skyner family as the main axis of the right wing, Haider was political as usual.
At the rear command post of that center were Yugis Necrat and his cavalry unit.
He gazed at the enemy camp without dismounting.
"Staff officer," Aram spoke to him.
If the Necrat family were to return to Carossa, there was no harm in staying on good terms. There was also a calculation of self-interest. Furthermore, there was anxiety. After all, the enemy was right before his eyes.
—We must win.
Only by winning could the Danforth family secure a place in the East.
"Staff officer, what do you make of this?"
"The cavalry over there should charge at us," Yugis said, gesturing with his chin.
Behind the armored infantry deployed at the enemy's front were archers, firing arrows toward them.
Further behind those, one unit of heavy cavalry waited on each side of the infantry.
Indeed, they would come. There was no doubt they were there for that purpose.
"The moment we show a gap, they will come gouging in. I beg you to take care of the militia. Rather than being broken through, let us retreat and respond."
"Understood. The center will pull back when the opportunity arises," Aram asked in a low voice. "May I consider the Marsh Fort as the final line of defense?"
"No," the one-armed staff officer shook his head. "Do not consider that; I want you to retreat as much as necessary. In any case, endure so as not to be broken through by the enemy, and help the left and right wings find the opportunity to break through the flanks."
Aram swallowed to moisten his throat. "As much as necessary...?"
"It means you do not need to think about unnecessary things."
"Is that not rude? That way of speaking makes it sound as if you had no expectations of us at all."
Yugis opened his eyes wide. "If it sounded that way, I apologize. But the fact is entirely different. Retreating without creating a break is a difficult thing. It must be a retreat, not a rout."
"Are you saying we cannot do it?"
"I am saying it would be troublesome if you did not. Well, we have reserves here as well. If you flee, the Western Army will supplement you."
It was undoubtedly a provocation released to incite the will to fight. Even knowing this, Aram felt huffy. Aram was a man who had decided to defy Sedias Thora. He had even hijacked the Royal Army's reserves. He believed he had courage.
—As if I'd hand it over to the Western Army.
Aram thought something almost like an Easterner. I'll defend it to the death. The center belongs to Aram. It is Aram's achievement. I won't give it to anyone. I'll cling to it.
The anxiety that had covered his chest until a moment ago had vanished.
"The expectation the staff officer places in me is an underestimation of me."
As Aram left the spot with a puffed-up face, he heard a voice at his back.
"I am Yugis Necrat of Carossa, Excellency. Pleased to meet you."
The first to make a move was Lauro on the left wing, the mountain side.
Lauro's cavalry unit had somewhat light armor. Following the enemy's example, the cavalry spears were also lightened, and they were further equipped with arrows and bows.
Maneuvering as if to graze the noses of the enemy cavalry, they entered the mountains.
Even without being told by the staff officer, Lauro had intended from the start to lure the enemy into the mountains.
As for the enemy, they feared being circled to their rear from within the mountains. Naturally, they came to strike them down.
Lauro's cavalry unit was conscious of positioning themselves higher than the enemy. He had the soldiers dismount and hide behind cover. Mountainous terrain makes combat by cavalry difficult.
Sure enough, the enemy also dismounted and climbed up, pushing through the thickets. They had black hair and black beards. The armor they wore was also blackish. They held spears in one hand and shields in the other. Many soldiers used their spears as walking sticks.
"Attack!"
Lauro ordered after drawing them in sufficiently. Arrows flew all at once. The enemy were the ones surprised. It was fine up until they raised their shields, causing the colors to shift instantly. While keeping those shields up, they ran up without looking ahead. They possessed a boldness like monkeys.
There was no time to nock a second arrow.
"Charge!"
The enemy seemed to be a mixture of Kosa cavalry and Southern cavalry. Lauro's unit, now infantry, leaped right into the center of them. Several of the enemy's shields flew up like scattering petals. They had been knocked away by their spears. A delayed cheer rose simultaneously from both enemy and ally.
These were not the thick horse spears used by knights.
The lightened spears of Lauro's unit seemed ready to slice the enemy apart. They charged in a wedge shape, like a dense formation without horses. Meanwhile, the enemy also maneuvered lightly, like cavalry without horses. They showed a movement to split in two and surround them.
It became a melee.
At this time, the units of Eastern militia positioned to fill the absence of Lauro's unit were also fighting bravely.
Infantry gathered from the early stages of this war were commanding volunteers who had gathered spontaneously. Their spirit had already surpassed the peak of excitement. Stimulated by Princess Lucy, they had reached a state of mania. It was an exhilaration that seemed as if it would ignite if a spark were brought near. They did not feel the weight of their armor. Spontaneously, they began to march in place, and then simply began to advance.
As they drew closer to the enemy, their pace quickened, turning into a run.
Filling the gaps of the enemy cavalry heading for the mountains were the enemy's infantry.
Everyone present felt the frozen air shatter with a sound. Javelins were thrown by the enemy. The Eastern infantry did not flinch. The opponent had their spears thrust out. It was like a mountain of needles. They pushed their way through. They were not seeing illusions caused by excitement. They were awake to a frightening degree. Like their chilled limbs, their heads were also chilled. They had no distractions, like animals. They had no luxury to indulge in distractions.
Simultaneously with the collision, the enemy retreated. The Eastern infantry were pushing them back.
In the enemy center, enemy cavalry began to move for support. The cavalry Lauro had left behind immediately leaped out. The light infantry centered around the militia followed after.
The left wing entered combat all at once.
The situation on the right wing was similar.
The ones who began to run first were the enemy cavalry. Vimherik Bell, a vassal of the Skyner family, Count Belgau, responded to this. Just as the left wing had lured the enemy into the mountains, the right wing cavalry were to lure the enemy into the forest.
Vimherik's cavalry unit was clearly light. They could be called light cavalry. However, they did not have bows. Their intention was to stay dense with spears ready, maneuver lightly, and stab the enemy's flanks.
Intending to lead the enemy by the nose and guide them into the forest, Vimherik made his cavalry run.
The enemy cavalry responded.
While responding, their speed was uncharacteristic. They were heavy cavalry. They were sluggish. Their initial speed was slow. Only after their pace synchronized did they finally gain speed.
—Let's intercept.
With a frown of platinum eyebrows that stood out sharply on a healthily tanned face, Vimherik signaled.
Along the edge of the forest, Vimherik's unit advanced toward the enemy.
From there, they boldly changed direction and launched a surprise attack on the enemy cavalry in an arc.
The enemy panicked at this.
Unsure whether to advance or return, the enemy's density was disrupted. Vimherik's unit's stabs entered cleanly into the flanks of the enemy cavalry. The enemy cavalry's horses leaped up and down. The enemy was in a state of confusion. Vimherik's unit used their spears to knock the enemy off their horses and forced their way in.
Amidst the confusion, the enemy turned their horses and began to flee.
A voice rose.
It was a voice rising from allies at their rear.
Vimherik immediately moved to pursuit. Vimherik saw that the first step of the flank breakthrough had been taken. The various units of the right wing followed after. At this time, he did not even think it was a feigned retreat by the enemy.
In the center, the activity of the Royal Army was prominent.
The Royal Army's armored infantry were enduring the enemy's pressure well. The Eastern militia also fought bravely.
Yugis had said, "if we show a gap," but the enemy crashed in regardless of gaps. It was likely a philosophy of creating a gap if none existed.
Just by the enemy heavy cavalry approaching, there was a rumbling. It was the sound of hooves.
These would collide. A roar echoed. The sound resonated from the impact of horses and people clad in iron colliding. Countless soldiers were knocked back, their bodies lifted. The Royal Army infantry endured it. This could not be achieved without the training and equipment of the Royal Army.
Those who encouraged them, who were like a shield made of human flesh, were the Eastern militia protected behind them. To support the Royal Army infantry, they pointed long spears at the enemy cavalry through the gaps and did not retreat a single step. They were frantically stabbing the enemy. The warhorses the enemy rode were like maddened beasts. Against them, they did not flinch. It was a fierce battle to the point where one might think something had broken.
Amidst this, Aram Danforth received a report on the situation of Lauro's unit on the left wing.
"Are you saying they are being bypassed?"
The left wing, which had maintained the advantage, seemed to be struggling.
Aram decided immediately.
"Send reinforcements from the center. Prevent the breakthrough."
If they were outflanked from the wing, the center would not hold.
"How many!" The one serving as adjutant was Sibel, the captain of Sibel's unit. Despite having been resting after being wounded in the previous battle, he had returned to the battlefield without being fully healed.
"Take as many as necessary. If it's Lauro, he'll recover."
The number of troops in the center, which was already thin against the enemy, decreased further with this.
Still, they held on with spirit.
In the operation, the center was to create an enemy protrusion while retreating. However, they could not retreat now. If he ordered a retreat now, the front line might collapse. This equilibrium was precarious.
In the mountain combat, Lauro had the advantage.
The enemy were the first to give in during the melee. They glared at them warily and retreated slightly. Just as Lauro was about to order an advance, he happened to look at his allies' lines.
The number of enemy soldiers facing the Siddim left wing had increased about threefold.
They must have received reinforcements from the enemy center. The enemy center was so thick it almost looked like a columnar formation. It seemed the soldiers in the rear had moved to assist.
The Eastern militia were still engaged in a fierce struggle, but the situation was no longer one where they could aim for a breakthrough. The left wing was exposed to the danger of a reverse encirclement.
Lauro was confused for a moment.
He thought about whether to prioritize preventing the enemy from breaking through or breaking through himself.
What came to Lauro's mind were the militia.
Their brave fighting was moving. He had a feeling of wanting to protect them.
On the other hand, he also had a conviction that the excitement of the militia was ultimately only temporary. Once their excitement cooled, the left wing would likely be broken through easily. If a rout began, it might infect the entire army and lead to the collapse of the formation.
"Pull back!"
Lauro's unit sounded the signal for retreat with a horn and galloped down the mountain on horseback.
While receiving covering fire from archers, they retreated significantly and tried somehow to reorganize the formation. The enemy attacked relentlessly into that space. Lauro saw that he would have no choice but to request support from the center.
The right wing encountered an even stranger situation.
—Break through the enemy in front and threaten the flank and rear of the enemy center.
When he had scattered the sluggish enemy cavalry, the enemy center was certainly to the left of Vimherik. They had exposed a vulnerable flank.
Vimherik's unit galloped to get behind the enemy. The enemy center was long vertically, so the rear was far.
Suddenly he noticed the enemy center was staring straight at them. It was simple; the enemy soldiers who had been facing forward had changed their orientation. Vimherik felt an illusion as if the angle of the entire world had moved ninety degrees. They were not at the enemy's flank, but the front.
It had become a situation where they, rather, were the ones exposing their flank.
The enemy who had looked like a columnar formation now looked like a horizontal formation. The enemy was changing their formation.
—What?
Vimherik's unit stopped. The entire right wing stopped because of that.
The enemy center, which should have been to the left, was now for some reason right in front of them. It was moving.
—An oblique order.
When he realized that, a shadow fell over the grassland. The enemy's arrows covered the sky.
Yugis also noticed the change in the enemy's formation.
The enemy's shape had been to place mobile cavalry on the left and right, with a long vertical line of infantry in the center. In the blink of an eye, that transformed. Yugis could not believe the sight before him. The enemy's shape was now what could be called a hook shape. The Great King had brazenly pulled it off.
The cavalry that had been on the right wing vanished, forming a right angle with the long vertical center and the horizontally extended left wing as the sides. Moreover, that hook formation was distorting.
They were maneuvering in total unison. Yugis was captivated. Is this acrobatics?
From their perspective, the enemy right wing on the mountain side was attacking upward, and the enemy left wing on the forest side was expanding. While opening the angle, they were pointing the tip of the wedge toward the center.
No matter how you look at it, the deployment was too fast. It was the same as if there had been no shape from the start. If this was done, things like "operations" became meaningless.
—This is bad.
Yugis felt a tremor that made the hairs on his neck stand up.
Their own formation was also distorting. With the left wing dropping and the right wing protruding, the horizontal line was tilting diagonally against the enemy.
If the distance they had filled by lining up horizontally became diagonal, the distance they had to hold became longer. It meant the sides were extending, and thus the Siddim formation became that much thinner. It meant the gaps were widening.
The change in their formation was not carried out intentionally. They were forced into it by the enemy. The enemy had pushed the left wing and retreated with the right wing, as if kneading clay.
—This is bad.
The enemy intended to move their thick center with discipline to pin down the Siddim center and their right wing, and break through with a fierce attack on the mountain side.
—Are they this strong?
First, the strength of the soldiers. They weren't weak either. Their morale had swollen to the limit and was exploding against the enemy. It was the intensity with which the enemy parried and bit back, and the enemy's calmness. On top of that, something like the sheer power of their command was, frustratingly, decisive.
And they were fast.
Was it not in the blink of an eye? They, or the enemy, moved, and the curtain rose on the battlefield. In the next instant, the enemy had already settled into a winning shape.
They will be broken through. If he moved the Siddim army center to the left wing, the center would be pried open this time. The right wing was on the verge of collapse.
Yugis closed his eyes tightly and shook his head. Still, he had to look up.
"Gallan unit!"
Yugis shouted.
"Yes!" The captain urged his horse forward.
"Sortie! Rescue Vimherik's unit on the right wing! Scatter the enemy infantry and create a path for retreat! I will take command. Dash!"
Yugis called his attendant. "Yes!"
"Messenger to the General! Lower the command post to Famana. Advise the Commander-in-Chief at Famana to retreat to Maslow! It is a retreat!"
Dash had a look as if he wanted to say something. For just a moment.
"Yes!" Dash turned his horse and snapped the reins.
With a gaze that seemed to slit the air, Yugis looked over the Gallan unit.
"Now is the time to show the results of your daily training!"
Flourishing the sleeve of his left arm, Yugis was the first to gallop his horse.
—There's a sharp one among them.
The Kosa Great King, Geraha Wolf, watched the enemy army retreat. The enemy were in a panic. It looked halfway like a rout. Only the rearguard, exhibiting a sacrificial spirit, showed the energy of leaping about.
It was the correct response. If things had continued, the Kosa army should have broken through the enemy lines.
Was the field command Yugis Necrat? It was possible.
This was no time to be impressed. Geraha ordered.
"Do not let the enemy escape. Force them to face us."
Geraha's tactical philosophy reached every extremity. In truth, detailed orders were unnecessary.
The enemy soldiers on the left wing, the forest side, should have been torn to shreds.
However, the enemy light cavalry who had attacked upward seemed to have escaped with the help of other light cavalry. He had received such a report. Geraha considered for a moment recovering by striking with the horse archers kept in reserve. However, he had a premonition and suppressed the impulse. It was the correct choice. A report arrived later that the soldiers on the forest side had suffered many casualties due to the support of the enemy's crossbowmen.
He had heard about the crossbowmen from Hazab.
—Just as I thought, they were deployed.
They had to be defeated at some point, but they were a bit troublesome. Crossbowmen hide prone in the grass and aim at them. They are hard to find.
What about the enemy soldiers on the right wing, the mountain side?
Geraha admitted they were stronger than expected. However, Geraha saw that the manic strength of the enemy soldiers would not last long. If he attacked steadily, they would crumble. The enemy's casualty rate was high. Or, if they could endure here, there was no need to obsess over it. He could just break through the center that extended to the left and right.
Regardless.
If whoever was commanding the enemy had not ordered a retreat, he should have been able to create a perforation somewhere.
The enemy had built positions with trenches and protective fences in the hilly region. If they retreated, they likely intended to reorganize their formation behind those positions.
However, his cavalry and infantry had closed in on the enemy.
Without giving them a gap to reorganize, he had broken through the protection of the positions.
He, too, was somewhat excited.
The stage of war shifted in an instant to the wetlands of the Caterpillar Marsh, where miasma rose.
What made Geraha click his tongue was that the enemy used the wetlands well.
The cavalry maneuvers they excelled at were hindered by the mud.
He had thought they would counterattack anticipating that.
They should have. Since he had the stomach to decide the battle with heavy cavalry. His sluggish cavalry would sink into the marsh. However, the enemy used the time he spent struggling with the mud, that gap, for their retreat. They had fled, leaving the Marsh Fort behind.
It was precisely because of this marshland that Geraha had moved horse archers to the rear.
The Kosa army laid planks one after another on the parts with little moisture.
Paving the road to solidify the footing. The one who advanced the preparations was Kirikiri. A vast number of planks were brought in. There were no infantry or cavalry. Regardless of race or rank, they ran about, and together they paved the wetlands. The paving was completed in about half the expected time.
"The Marsh Fort, what shall be done with it?"
Kirikiri, who had been taking the lead in the paving work, approached Geraha's horse.
It was called a fort, but it was a large-scale position formed of earthworks and logs. The area around the fort was not paved because the enemy's arrows could reach it.
"This fort is fine as a temporary response. Do not allow enemy soldiers to sortie. More than that, Kirikiri-don, I may have you work further ahead."
"Did you say Famana? Gehehe."
"By my intuition, the enemy will deploy behind the town. Kirikiri-don, how long to take that town?"
"It is not simple. But if there are enough personnel, one day."
There weren't many personnel. It seemed best to besiege and neutralize it. If they dawdled, they might lose. It was about speed. The enemy was overwhelmed by their speed.
It was almost sunset. Both the enemy soldiers and his own were now operating on will alone. They were exhausted. Once the excitement faded, they would likely collapse. Still, they could not stay in the marsh and risk an enemy night attack. Geraha ordered further advancement.
The wetland region and the territory of Famana were separated by a forest.
There was a possibility the enemy would attempt a counterattack on the forest road. However, it was not a particularly large forest. They likely understood that they could not break through or stop the march here.
As expected, the Kosa army left the forest without receiving any resistance.
It was near sunset. A weave of colors from red to purple to dark tones intersected, coloring the surface of the earth lonelily. It was a plain covered in slightly overgrown grass. Seeing them emerge from the forest, an enemy figure that seemed to be a scout hurriedly turned their horse and vanished to the north.
His own scouts, who had been confirming the safety of the path ahead, returned and delivered their report.
The enemy's deployment was exactly as Geraha predicted. Geraha decided to pitch tents on the spot.
With arms crossed on horseback, he tilted his head right and left, thinking. In the end, he called for Kijimute. "Sorry, but could you bring Hilboro here?"
"Yes!"
"Tell him I wish to speak with the Princess."
"—Is that all?"
"That's all."
He would leave the rest to Hilboro.
Hearing the deployment of the Siddim army, Geraha bet that he could win. Not a great victory, not an overwhelming victory. It might be a difference of a paper's thickness, but still, thinking precisely, he could win. To be honest, among the opponents so far, Siddim was the toughest. Part of it was unfamiliarity with the terrain, but more than that, the will to fight of the soldiers was abnormal. They were being stirred up by a woman. Was the Princess of the Alish family a witch, a saint, or a fierce woman? What was she?
He needed to see the true nature of the enemy general. He had commanded a battle of this scale. If he had a conviction, Geraha was willing to hear it.
Yugis Necrat was showered with criticism from all sorts of people.
—We could have fought more.
The gazes of the soldiers who seemed to say so pierced him all over.
The only ones not criticizing were Dash, Haider, and Zeal.
At night, in the tent where the military council was held, Yugis was pressed for an explanation.
"It is not a retreat," Yugis said. "This is this kind of maneuver."
Since he had made the judgment while feeling a leaping terror, this was somewhat of a forced after-the-fact justification. However, Yugis believed he could not let go of the battlefield here.
How much this retreat—no, maneuver—had made the enemy general feel unpleasant was something probably only Yugis understood. If he hadn't been able to decide then, Famana and Maslow would have surrendered by now. Even the Commander-in-Chief's person would have been in danger.
Unless they were someone who understood the value of this retreat, he could not leave things to them.
"It is true that I seem to have lost the trust of the soldiers. However, if the captains of each unit support me, I can still take command."
Everyone was tired. The military council seemed likely to drag on. Aram Danforth spoke.
"I believe it is about time we heard the Commander-in-Chief's opinion."
The gazes of everyone present turned toward Laicanel Thora in the seat of honor.
Laicanel was attending the military council as the Princess's proxy.
"To tell the truth," Laicanel said. "The opinion has already been decided. The Commander-in-Chief has left all judgments to me. I intend to support Yugis from the start."
Yugis looked at Laicanel in surprise.
"Perhaps you all do not understand the significance of the fact that the Siddim army was formed."
Laicanel continued in a tone like a military instructor's lecture.
"It means that Delroy, Malfa, or Ganlord, Saranti—a system to cover the military expenses already exists. The Commander-in-Chief, simply by being present, is virtually performing a silent recruitment. Siddim—and this is no exaggeration—can wage war for the next ten years."
Yugis thought that was an exaggeration, but Laika likely had his own calculations. Yugis listened in silence.
"Some may feel unpleasant if a member of the Thora clan points it out, but the Necrat family seems to be held in special affection in the East. The common folk have an understanding of Carossa that is almost admirable. Yugis's existence can be a motive for people's spontaneous determination. On top of that, Yugis's knowledge of the enemy army. Rather than knowledge, it could be called an obsession. I believe this is first-class even on a global scale."
While listening, Yugis turned his sullen face away.
This is no joke; he is the heir of the hated Thora family. He didn't even know if he was being praised. He didn't want to be seen blushing with joy at such words.
That said.
Yugis had a consciousness that the Western Army was created together with Laika. This man had certainly stood up for him. He had believed in Yugis.
"There is no one but Yugis. Of course, this is my opinion. A pure opinion of my own, without any coordination with the Commander-in-Chief. In the end, I intend to follow General Skyner's judgment."
Laicanel spoke nonchalantly.
Haider stopped Lauro from saying something.
"Staff officer, how much confidence do you have in the chances of victory you mentioned earlier?"
"Fifty percent," Yugis said. "The enemy cannot take Famana today or tomorrow. If that is the case, the enemy will consider the encirclement of Famana. I believe the enemy general, due to our retreat, has become intoxicated by the speed of his advance. —That sounds good, but I place importance on the fact that we could not respond to the opponent's speed. Rather than taking time to conquer, he will prioritize speed. Winter is also near. The enemy will drink the poison called Famana."
Haider nodded. "Very well. I shall continue to entrust you with the field command. However, there will be no next time. I want you to be prepared for that."
"Understood."
With that, the military council ended. Yugis chewed over the determination Haider had shown in the depths of his eyes. They were in the middle of a war, but depending on the case, Haider might step down as general. If that happened, Laicanel would become the general.
He had to be the one to command. He knew that.
But how could they win?
Yugis tilted his head.