Chapter 67 — War and more war (4)

“Uak!”

These were cries that resounded in your ears.

A fatty, who had his neck sliced open, walked two steps and collapsed.

Clark trembled and stepped back.

‘Ho, how……’

He couldn’t believe the scene in front of him.

‘How are the bastards of Rinse kingdom………’

The bastards approached them while holding spears and swords.

It was revealed that they were the soldiers from rose troop, of the 7th corps of Rinse kingdom.

‘Why are you bastards over here!’

Clark wanted to yell like that.

‘I know that there aren’t any troops stationed over here………’

He was certain.

Because it was something he had studied over and over for more than a month.

‘It just seems like they already knew of our surprise attack.’

Clark grinded his teeth.

HIs teeth clashed without stopping.

His breath was clogged at the fear of not knowing if he was going to die.

‘Damn. I wanted to make Beno castle fall faster than anyone.’

He thought that Rinse kingdom wouldn’t have made any preparations.

But that wasn’t only Clark’s thoughts.

Everyone thought like that and thought that the battle would flow normally.

‘Wrong. We were wrong.’

Then, he felt a chilly presence when he was stepping back.

Clark stopped and turned around.

“Huk!”

He saw a spear that was right in front of his nose.

Clark couldn’t endure it and fell down.

“Are you the troop commander?”

The owner of the voice was someone with a spear.

Clark looked up while he was on the ground.

It was a childish face but had a somewhat rugged charm.

He was none other than Roan.

“Reveal your name and unit.”

Roan brought his spear to Clark’s forehead.

“Kugh.”

Clark frowned.

He had already resigned everything.

“I’m troop commander Clark of Pier troop of the 1st corps of Istel kingdom.”

Clark honestly revealed his unit.

‘It certainly was the Pier troop.’

The soldiers of rose troop who were surrounding him along with Roan smiled faintly and nodded.

“Did you know that we were going to attack?”

Clark regretted having asked that to Roan.

‘Someone who’s soon going to die has asked a meaningless question.’

He smiled bitterly.

“Let me know the name of the bastard who will take my head.”

Roan looked at Clark’s eyes fixedly and put strength into his wrist.

Swush.

The spear soared high to the sky.

“My name is Roan. I’m the vice troop commander of rose troop of the 7th corps.”

At the same time, the spear fell towards Clark’s head.

Clark listened to the sharp noise and closed his eyes.

Slash.

The spear instantly cut off his neck.

The body that lost its head slowly fell over.

Boom.

Roan shook his spear and waved the blood off.

The cries and yells in his surrounding had now calmed down.

‘The first battle is a complete victory.’

A smile appeared on his face.

The beginning of the war started off on a good foot.

‘At this point, the news of an infiltration attempt from Istel kingdom would have reached the eastern headquarters.’

Now that the situation turned out like this, even the stupid Benjamin wouldn’t be able to just sit still.

‘Even so, as Count Lancephil moved first, we could cover up some big holes we had in our defensive lines.’

Aaron reported this to Io instead of Benjamin, and Io lead the knights himself after confirming the situation and marched.

‘But it’s still lacking.’

To face Istel kingdom, he needed the forces of the eastern region and also an army provided by the palace.

‘We will hold until then.’

He didn’t need a complete victory like this one; to the point of completely massacring their enemies.

They just needed to tie their feet to not let them advance deeper in towards the kingdom.

But even so, it wasn’t that they had leisure in terms of time.

‘Byron kingdom would also have started advancing……’

Although they also crossed the boundaries, they were advancing while riding the eastern boundary.

‘It would be to join with Istel kingdom.’

Roan took in a deep breath.

‘The 3rd and 4th corps have to do well……’

He hatched a plan after having a conference with Aaron before the war started.

And that was that the 3rd and 4th corps had to face Byron kingdom in the north while the eastern region battled against Istel kingdom.

But of course, they didn’t have to battle with putting their lives on the line.

Their objective was pulling them into a deep part of the northern region.

There were two things he could gain by losing every battle.

‘I will make them be off guard.’

But what was more important.

‘We have to make the supply line as long as possible.’

If they pulled Byron kingdom deep inside their territory, they could only get further away from their provisions.

This was because of the speed difference of the troops and the movement speed of the supplies.

Because of that, the supply line gets longer and their military forces becomes thinner.

That was the point Roan was aiming for.

‘If the warriors of the north attack them there………’

Byron kingdom would fall in chaos.

No, it wasn’t only chaos.

‘A troop without supplies can’t continue doing war.’

Supplies were that important in a war.

But of course, it wasn’t an important plan.

The moment one of his small plans deviated, Rinse kingdom would have brought a tiger to their den.

‘They have to accomplish their respective roles well.’

Then, a familiar voice was heard from his back.

“Roan. It’s a complete victory. Complete victory.”

As he turned back, he saw Gale and Keniss approaching him.

They were slightly inspired at the complete victory.

“Where do we have to move next?”

Gale asked while looking at the battlefield.

Roan replied in a low voice.

“We have to wait until the information squad arrives.”

“Ah, information squad. Right. Right.”

Gale let out a low exclamation and nodded.

He looked at Roan’s face.

‘Information squad…… Was there a person that made that and even used it in a war?’

When he first heard that Roan wanted to make an information squad, he couldn’t easily understand it.

Because he thought that just using the patrolling guards were enough.

On top of that, he thought that it was nonsense to make a non battling squad when they were already at a disadvantage in numbers.

But when they made the information squad as per Roan’s opinion, they could only get amazed at their role.

‘Although they can’t figure out all of the information, they are able to grasp their movements.’

Having waited in ambush beforehand at the moving route of Pier troop was also because of the strength of information.

He looked at Roan with amazed eyes.

‘He’s looking at me like that again……’

Roan smiled awkwardly and looked away.

Nowadays, whatever happened, he always looked at him with those eyes.

Amazement, respect, awareness.

But of course there was envy, annoyance, and jealousy mixed in at times, but those were scarce.

Roan was receiving an overwhelming support from everyone.

‘Anyways, it seems like it was a good thing to make an information agency.’

In the first place he was planning to utilize Chris and his staff to gather and analyze information.

But for a normal person, that wasn’t a soldier, to roam the battlefield was one of the most dangerous things to do.

Because of that, he chose soldiers that had good eyesight and were nimble to make an information squad.

‘Mister Pens is leading them well.’

The squad commander wasn’t a soldier, but a staff of Chris’s agency, Pens.

‘After this, I will have to make Chris’s travel agency a formal information agency.’

The significance of information will be seen the more time has passed.

Before that, he needed a more systematic organization.

‘The time to start the agency has come.’

The best information group that grabbed all the information in the continent in his past life.

The agency.

The time came to make the first step.

*****

Chris was fruitful in gathering information about Istel kingdom because of the use of the agency and information squad.

Fortunately, their movements weren’t that different to Roan’s memories.

Roan’s memories and the information gathered together.

The two things were combined and made a more precise and valuable information.

Because of that, the 7th corps and the other three corps could set up a defensive line before hand in Istel Kingdom’s attack line.

After four days of having set up wooden fences and strong barricades, did the people of Istel kingdom appear.

Their numbers were as much as 80,000.

Compared to that, the amount of the four troops were as much as 30,000.

“Amazing.”

Aaron was astounded.

Even the other corps commanders gulped down dry saliva.

What was fortunate was that the location of their barricade was good.

No, precisely speaking, the location of Istel kingdom’s camp was bad.

They could only take place somewhere in the empty plain because Rinse kingdom had already set up their barricade.

“It’s just like Roan’s information and the report of the information agency.”

Aaron glared at the end of the plains with a satisfied expression.

He was amazed once again at Roan’s ability and quick eye.

Then, Mendel appeared with an urgent expression.

“Corps commander.”

Aaron and several corps commanders had turned their head and looked at Mendel.

Mendel continued saying with a stiffened expression.

“30.000 soldiers of the eastern army arrived at the Nerf region.”

Nerf region was one day away from here, Bink region.

“Ah……”

The corps commanders exclaimed and put on relieved expressions.

But Mendel’s expression was still hard.

And Aaron didn’t miss that.

“It seems like something happened.”

“That……”

Mendel chewed his lower lip and hesitated.

And then, spoke with a slightly agitated expression.

“The eastern army set up a camp in the region of Nerf.”

In that instant, the corps commanders frowned.

“What?!”

“What did you say?”

They had expressions as if they couldn’t believe it.

For their allies to set up a camp in a region that was a day away from this place, that already had a camp set up.

It was something they couldn’t understand at all.

“Commander Aaron. If the eastern army set up a camp in the region of Nerf, shouldn’t we also fall back?”

“Oho. Do you think that makes sense? Will the enemies just sit still while we retreat over to the region of Nerf?”

The commanders discussed among themselves and pondered.

And Aaron was also the same.

‘Benjamin Doyle. You really are a pain in the ass.’

Benjamin had big ambitions, but was too frightened.

He certainly would have gotten scared at the 80,000 soldiers of Istel kingdom and set up a camp in their rear.

‘Retreat? Or protect this place? Whatever we do, it isn’t a good situation.’

Then, Mendel’s voice was heard.

“How about calling Roan?”

“Roan?”

Aaron turned his head and looked at Mendel.

Mendel swallowed down dry saliva and nodded.

“Yes. If it’s Roan, won’t he have something good?”

“Mmm. Right. If it’s Roan………”

Aaron touched his chin and nodded.

“Good. Call him.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Mendel deeply bowed and left.

The commanders that were discussing looked at Aaron.

“Who’s Roan?”

“I hear that name a lot……”

“Ah! Is he the soldier that received a corps commander level badge……?”

At those words Aaron nodded.

“That’s right. Ale gorge battle, Pedian monster subjugation tactic, Int’s forest battle, Prely river inundation tactic, Slen battle, and the invasion of Istel kingdom and Byron kingdom. These distinguished merits were all accomplished by vice troop commander Roan.”

“Ah……”

The commanders exclaimed out loud.

‘So he’s outstanding in strategies and tactics?’

‘They say his spear skills are also amazing.’

‘There’s a rumour that he went toe to toe with Viscount Baker.’

The commanders glanced at each other and had a smile mixed with expectation.

After a while, the door opened and Roan appeared.

‘This childish youth is that Roan?’

‘He’s much smaller than what I thought.’

‘I heard that he was young, but he’s a complete greenhorn.’

The smiles on their faces disappeared.

An uneasy look appeared again.

‘I was also like that at first.’

Aaron looked at them and bitterly smiled.

‘But they will soon be amazed at Roan’s abilities.’

Just like him from the past.

“Did you call me?”

Roan saluted towards Aaron.

After Aaron nodded, he told him the truth that Benjamin set up a camp in the region of Nerf.

Roan bowed with a composed expression.

‘Benjamin Doyle. You are making things really difficult.’

However, he had kind of expected that the scaredy cat would have set up a camp at their rear.

‘The problem is whether Istel kingdom set up a camp in the region of Bink, just like the analysis of the information squad.’

The result.

‘Fortunately, it’s like we guessed.’

Then, there was no need to worry.

“The situation isn’t good. Do you have a good method to deal with them?”

This was Aaron’s question.

Roan replied as if he was waiting for it.

“We have to prepare for a night raid.”

At that instant, Aaron and the other commanders all frowned.

“Night raid?”

“Did he say night raid?”

“Are you telling me that Istel kingdom will launch a night raid?”

They all laughed.

‘They say that rumours tend to be excessive………’

‘The merits he had accumulated until now would all have been a bluff.’

The commanders looked at Roan and shook their heads.

Then Philip Hass, who was the commander of the 5th corps and the one with the most experience, clicked his tongue.

“Tchtchtch. Look. Don’t you know that it has already been nine days since they crossed the boundary?”

“Yes. I know.”

Roan bowed.

The person who had reported that Istel kingdom had crossed the boundary was right himself.

Philip continued saying as if he was rebuking.

“An army consisting of 80,000 appeared in Bink region nine days ago. It’s quite a fast, no, a movement speed so fast you can’t even imagine it.”

“Right.”

The other commanders all nodded.

Phillip looked at Roan’s eyes fixedly.

“This means that they slept and ate the least amount possible and moved night and day. It means that it’s an amazing forced march. But they attempt a night raid the moment they set up a camp? Do you think that’s possible?”

He was making fun of him.

The other commanders also laughed.

“Hahaha. It seems like he doesn’t know about these things as he hasn’t faced a war this big yet.”

“Now that I see it, the merits he accumulated were all done while facing the ignorant monsters.”

They were pouring out cynical remarks.

But there wasn’t any change in Roan’s expression.

He pointed at the end of the plains with his finger.

The camp of Istel kingdom.

“Look at their camp.”

At those words, they stopped laughing and turned to look at the camp.

80,000 soldiers had set up camps while scattered about.

“Even if their number is amazing, the structure of their camp is too sloppy. This is just like they set it up however it turned out.”

Roan’s words were true.

Although it was difficult to set up a camp because the numbers were big, even taking that into account, their camp was excessively unsteady.

Aaron mumbled as if he thought of something.

“That feels like they just camped down temporarily.”

At those words Roan nodded.

“That’s right. They aren’t thinking of staying in that place for long.”

Then, Philips said.

“Ho! Did you judge that they will make a night raid just by looking that? Just with that one reason?”

He clicked his tongue and shook his head.

Even the other commanders didn’t falter.

However Roan’s expression was still composed.

He gave Aaron a pile of papers.

“Will you look at this?”

“What’s this?”

“Information about the generals of Istel kingdom.”

At those words Aaron looked at the paper with a surprised look.

‘When did he………’

There was information written about important commanders on it.

But of course, it wasn’t minute and detailed information.

Their outlines, outer appearances, descriptions, and temperaments.

There also was information written about what merits they had achieved.

‘Although I couldn’t gather internal information, it was made up with the stories of the citizens as the background, but just with that, it became amazing information.’

It was information Chris and his agency gathered themselves while they were preparing for war.

For this they roamed pubs, plazas, slums, brothels, and also markets.

The newly made information that squad soldiers roamed these places and received the role of checking how well this information matched with the reports.

“Commander Aaron. Why are you that surprised?”

“Let me see.”

The commanders stuck themselves next to Aaron.

“Oho!”

“This is really amazing.”

The commanders gulped air.

Roan said as if he was waiting for it.

“The commander in charge of leading the army is Looter Beil. You will know if you see the reports but he……”

The commanders all turned to look at Roan.

“He has a really strong fighting spirit. Looter Bale has already tried surprise attacks and night raids along the Aimas alliance.”

At those words everyone nodded.

The report was certainly written like that.

‘Even in my past life, Looter Baile decided to go with a night raid when he first met with Rinse kingdom.’

Although the time and place were different, Looter was a commander that had that tendency.

The tendency of the commander and the structure of the camp.

On top of that, Roan’s memories.

The possibility for a night raid was plentiful.

“Hmm.”

Philip smacked his lips and cleared his throat.

He had a somewhat uncomfortable look.

“Then, you are saying that we have to prepare for a night raid, right?”

Anyways, preparing for a night raid wasn’t that big of a thing.

On top of that, if they prepared for it but nothing happened, there wasn’t that big of a loss.

‘If I keep insisting here but they do make a night raid………’

They would rather face large losses.

The commanders all turned to look at Roan.

Roan matched their sights and shook his head.

“No. We have to prepare for one more thing.”

At those words, Philip frowned.

“We have to prepare for one more thing?”

“Yes.”

Roan replied shortly and took in a deep breath.

He wanted to bring the flow of this battlefield to Rinse kingdom.

Roan continued saying while looking at the faces of the commanders.

“We have to prepare for a counter raid.”

End

Translator: Subak

Proofreader: st8_lupe.