Chapter 282 - Episode 275: War of Attrition ①
"...We survived this time as well."
"...Indeed."
Noein nodded with a strained smile at Frederick, who muttered with sweat beading on his forehead.
Standing in the main camp of the Lordberg Kingdom's Western Army, the two of them looked out upon their own exhausted soldiers and the retreating soldiers of the Betumia Republic Army.
"Yuri. Inform the rear that the battle has ended and have them prepare for the aftermath."
"Understood."
Following Noein's instructions, Yuri headed toward the rear. Once the fighting ended, a mountain of new work awaited: clearing corpses, treating the wounded, and distributing water and food to the soldiers. From now on, it was the busy hour for the doctors, clergy, and laborers in the rear.
"From what I can see from here, today's casualties are roughly five hundred... though the losses of the units on the hill are unknown. As expected, the next one will be tough."
"It will likely be impossible to hold out with the current deployment. In the next battle, we shall retreat to lure the enemy into the gap between the hills, then attack from three directions—the front and both flanks."
That was the final strategy Noein had considered. If they could not stop the enemy with this plan, they would be crushed by sheer force; even if they did stop them, the same trick would not work twice. It would be a victory for that moment alone. Even so, they no longer had the luxury of holding back their strategies.
Nearly a month had already passed since the day the Western Army first engaged the enemy.
Two days after the battle with the enemy's slave units, the Betumia Republic Army's western invasion force launched another offensive. The Lordberg Kingdom's Western Army defended their positions steadily using the same method as before, but because their hand had been revealed, it was not as overwhelming a victory as the previous time.
In exchange for killing about three hundred enemies and leaving over two thousand with lasting injuries, the Western Army suffered six hundred casualties.
The following day, the Betumia Republic Army did not attack. Having already lost over three thousand soldiers and now burdened with an additional two thousand wounded, they seemed preoccupied with transporting them to the rear.
That night, Noein carried out a harassment operation disguised as a night raid. Mobilizing about five hundred soldiers in the middle of the night, they approached the enemy camp using torches with three-pronged tips to make it appear as if their numbers were tripled. They simply approached and retreated immediately without doing anything.
The next day, the enemy was still preoccupied with transporting the wounded. That night, Noein carried out the same harassment.
The day after that, the enemy showed signs of attacking again. It was thought they would launch an offensive the next day. That night, while pretending to conduct a night raid with the three-pronged torches, Noein had a separate detachment of beastmen with keen night vision carry out an actual night raid via a different route.
It was a minor operation, consisting of throwing as many pots of explosive fire-arrows into the enemy camp as possible before retreating quickly, but the enemy—who had assumed the night raids were mere bluffs—fell into great confusion, requiring another day before they could resume their offensive.
During the next enemy offensive, Noein worked his friend Viowulf to the bone, who had been freed from creating the charge paths in the hills. Utilizing the grace period of several days, he had Viowulf dig several large pitfall traps in front of the Western Army's positions, killing the momentum of the Betumia Republic Army's infantry charges. Thanks to this, the frontal battle proceeded in the Western Army's favor.
Furthermore, when the enemy's flank attack units tried to move backward through the charge paths in the hills, Viowulf collapsed fragile points that had been prepared alongside the roads for such an eventuality, burying the enemy in landslides and destroying the paths. After that, Viowulf continued to struggle in the battle of the hills, and having been worked like a horse, he fainted again from overusing his magic.
Because the Betumia Republic Army again struggled with transporting the wounded, several more days passed, and today, they faced another enemy offensive. In that battle, the remaining strength of the Lordberg Kingdom's Western Army, excluding non-combatants, fell below three thousand five hundred.
In contrast, the Betumia Republic Army's western invasion force had called for reinforcements from the rear and restored their strength. The difference in military power between them was more than fivefold. No matter how advantageous it was for the defending side, normally this would be the time to consider surrender.
However, in this particular battle, that option did not exist. Surrender meant the downfall of the kingdom, and for nobles like Noein, it meant death.
"That should be fine as a way of fighting. We can somehow endure the enemy's offensive until next time... but I am worried about the drop in the soldiers' morale. Even peasant soldiers will realize this is a battle with no way back. We must do something about that as well."
Receiving Frederick's suggestion, Noein placed a hand on his chin and began to think.
"You're right. In that case... for now, we will distribute meat to the soldiers again. We'll buy as many cows and pigs as possible from nearby villages and towns to serve to the soldiers. If they fill their stomachs with meat, their moods will brighten for the time being. On top of that, I'll spread some good news."
"Good news?"
"Yes. I'll spread the word that reinforcements will arrive once we survive the next battle. I'll tell the soldiers that this is the time to persevere, and that they must endure because the situation will improve soon."
"...I see. I hadn't heard anything, but just when did you arrange for reinforcements?"
To Frederick's joking question, Noein replied with a flimsy smile.
"Of course I have no prospect of reinforcements. If I tell the soldiers this to maintain their morale, we can survive the enemy's next offensive. That is all. We've reached that stage now, haven't we?"
"Hahaha, true. We struggle with all our might and simply await fate... I'll tell the nobles to spread the story of reinforcements to the soldiers. And the arrangements for the meat as well."
Saying so, Frederick called over the messenger soldiers who were in the main camp.
.....
Several more days passed, and the Betumia Republic Army began the next offensive—the final offensive the Lordberg Kingdom's Western Army would likely be able to endure.
"Is everyone ready? Once we engage the enemy's lead group briefly, we retreat. At that time, there will be cover from the flanking hills, so trust your allies and retreat calmly."
"""Yes, sir!"""
At the front line of the Western Army's positions, Noein called out to the subordinates surrounding him.
Today would be a harsh battle, engaging the enemy while falling back. Therefore, Noein intended to stand at the front himself, leading two golems.
The Western Army was so cornered that they had to count their own general as a combat asset.
The overall command for the retreat was entrusted to Frederick, who had received specialized education in unit command within the Kingdom's army.
"...They're coming, prepare for combat!"
Shouting at the top of his lungs, Noein had the golems take their positions. Matilda and Yuri flanked him, Pence and the Guard surrounded them, and the Claymores, along with the crossbow units including the Arqvist territorial Reserve Corps, lined up to the left and right.
It was quite a spectacular battle line, but the scale of the approaching enemy far surpassed it. Ten thousand in the front, and three thousand on each flank. A force of sixteen thousand, excluding the guards of the enemy main camp and encampments, pressed forward to swallow them whole.
The sound of the Ballistas firing large scatter-arrows echoed from the rear, and the arrows flew over Noein's head, scattering. The Ballistas, which were cumbersome to move, were scheduled to retreat simultaneously with this volley. No further cover could be expected from them.
A volley of arrows from the enemy archers flew back. In response, Matilda, Yuri, Pence, and the Guard huddled around Noein and raised their shields. Great-shield soldiers protected the golem users, and the crossbowmen hid behind log shields.
The bow attacks were merely for harassment, but even so, casualties were not nonexistent. Crossbowmen who failed to hide behind the log shields and infantry in the rear who failed to raise their shields fell.
Meanwhile, the enemy units that had continued their charge finally closed in before Noein's eyes—and collided with the golems guarding the front line of the Western Army's positions.
In that instant, blood sprayed from the lead group of Betumia soldiers who were punched away by the golems, and limbs and heads flew through the air. Still, the enemy's momentum did not stop, and soldiers who slipped through the gaps of the twenty-plus golems, including Noein's, pressed forward.
Then, a volley of crossbow bolts flew, and the movements of the Betumia soldiers hit by the scatter-bolts stopped. The following Betumia soldiers also fell in heaps from the volley of the crossbow unit's second row.
Just as the third row of the crossbow unit fired their bolts, Noein screamed.
"Retreat! Crossbow units, fall back to the rear flanking hills! Claymores, retreat while continuing combat!"
Amidst the clamor of the battlefield, Noein's voice was far too thin. Yuri repeated Noein's instructions in a booming voice, which was then transmitted by other officers one after another, and the Western Army's vanguard began to move.
The retreat battle to lure the enemy into the narrow pass thus began.