Chapter 206: Acquiescing to the Imperial Army’s Retreat (6)
Currently, the forces that have crossed the river are approximately 240,000. I divided them into 8 groups of 30,000 each.
In terms of proportions, it’s the typical Imperial Army ratio of 40,000 cavalry, 150,000 infantry, and 50,000 archers.
I deployed them all in the same ratio. Since the cavalry, infantry, and archers were scattered evenly when forming the encirclement, it was easy to gather them in similar proportions.
It took about 30 minutes for the deployment to be completed. Until then, the Imperial Army quietly watched us. To be precise, they would have been listening.
“Deployment of all troops complete.”
“Good. Then I will issue the operation order. From now on……”
I explained the outline of the operation to Kun. And Kun’s eyes widened. Not only him, but the others were also surprised, their eyes wide with astonishment.
Kun stammered, opening his mouth.
“Ri, Risel, a, a, a, are you serious?”
“Of course. Ah, tell them to get the timing right.”
“Really?”
“Kun, I don’t like repeating myself.”
The Guard warrior looked at me with a bewildered expression, then soon started shouting with a resigned look. The difficult-to-understand Guard language spread through the air.
“Sispa, prepare the horses.”
“Yes. Yes?!”
“Didn’t you hear me? Horses. Bring the horses. Our horses. We left them before we came.”
Sispa looked at me with a dazed expression, then showed the talent of draining the blood from her pretty face. I considered clapping, then said.
“Didn’t you hear me? Bring the horses.”
“B, But General-nim, surely, again……?”
“It’s a risky operation. If I don’t step forward, who will follow? If I, as the General, put the soldiers in danger and just sit back sipping tea with a smile, even a passing dog would laugh.”
“General-nim!”
“Yes, I am the General. Do I really have to say it’s an order?”
Sispa looked at me, bit her lip, then sighed deeply and saluted. She said with a pout.
“I will report it to the higher-ups.”
“Suit yourself.”
“Haa, I will carry out the order.”
While Sispa went to fetch the horses, the orders were relayed, and I could hear the commotion rising from the entire army. I quickly said to Kun.
“I will not accept disobedience. Shut up and do it. ……Tell them that.”
“Understood. Kak Jitasar Bima Hahijar!”
As Kun shouted with a dissatisfied expression, Levidian approached with a troubled look.
“Risel, are you doing that again?”
“What?”
“Why are you always rushing to the front instead of staying put in the back like a proper General should?”
“Because that is the path General Arisein has chosen.”
I said it refreshingly, and Levidian shook her head. She seems to have given up on trying to stop me since she has heard what I felt before.
Aila came down to the ground and stretched, and Al checked his weapon. Joey also took out his brutal greatsword and began inspecting it.
“General-nim, I have brought the horses.”
Sispa handed me the reins of five horses with a completely resigned voice. I smiled brightly and said to her.
“Good work, Sispa.”
“Yes. General-nim, you must return safely. The Kingdom Army needs you.”
“I know. Besides, I have no intention of dying for the next few decades.”
I mounted my horse, and the others did the same. And we moved our position. The location is where the cavalry is lined up ahead.
While coming forward from the rear of the Kingdom Army, a funny thought suddenly occurred to me.
“Kun, shout what I’m about to say in the Common Tongue.”
“Then the Imperial Army will hear it too?”
“That’s the point.”
“What is it?”
Kun asked with a somewhat cynical attitude, a look of reproach in his eyes as if to say, “Do you, a person of your stature, really need to start this kind of squabble?” I decided not to find fault with his attitude.
I said.
“At the vanguard of the Kingdom Army stands the General, Arisein Uck Herduke! He will be the first to meet the enemy! Lae Katros!”
I rode my horse, shouting the same words for the third time. I galloped without hesitation. The Kingdom Army cavalry behind me, finally realizing that the person galloping in front of them was the General, spurred their horses even harder.
The air in front is turbulent. The air of the battlefield, felt on my skin, is taut with tension.
I gallop into the air that feels like the string of a stringed instrument, ready to resonate with the slightest touch of a bow.
It resonates. The instrument called the battlefield resonates. Following the trajectory of my straight charge like a bowstring, the sound follows. As if trying to catch up, the Kingdom Army cavalry spurs their horses.
The legs of my horse, Finder, kick the ground as if refusing to yield to anything, and his mouth and nose exhale rough breaths. Even this animal could feel the tension, pricking at my heart that was already pounding in my chest.
Soon, I saw the barricade. I urged my horse to jump over the sharp barricade, set up at an angle to stop the cavalry’s advance.
“Haat!”
The neigh of the horse mingled with my voice. And as the horse and I became one, cleaving through the air, I swung my sword-bearing hand.
The conductor goes.
Begin the performance.
Music for the master of war!
“Enemy!”
“Who is it! Is it Arisein?!”
“I don’t know!”
The Imperial Army pointed their spears at me and shouted at each other. And then they shut their mouths at the heavy sound of hooves coming from behind. It must have been because they saw the giant shadow galloping from behind.
“Robin―!”
A booming voice. At Joey’s command, the monstrous warhorse, Robin, let out a fierce roar. And a sound like the amplified creaking of a collapsing floor resonated.
The Imperial Army was thrown into disarray at the sight of Joey and Robin, who trampled the wooden fence and entered.
“Uh, Uwa! It’s a monster!”
“It’s a demon!”
“Puhahaha! Joey, they call you, a Shrine Knight, a demon! Haha!”
I laughed loudly and galloped through the enemy lines. And Joey followed behind me. I hear his voice.
“Get out of the way! Those who want to live, get out of the way!”
Hearing his voice, I ran at full speed through the heart of the enemy lines. I trampled the encampment, jumped over trenches, sometimes struck down enemy soldiers, and ran through the Imperial Army’s camp.
“Enemy! Uwaak!”
“Stop him! Catch him! Arisein is there!”
“Capture the enemy General!”
The air of the battlefield whispers to me.
The enemy formation is collapsing.
The cavalry that charged in wedge formations from eight directions and the infantry that followed have penetrated deep into the enemy lines. And they run, looking only ahead, not caring about their sides or rear.
The Imperial Army will immediately pursue the rear of the Kingdom Army that has shown its back, but they will be overwhelmed by the shower of arrows that begins to pour down right after.
The order I gave was not just a charge. It was an order to rain arrows on the spot where the charge unit had passed.
Countless arrows pour down on the very spot where the infantry passed, with a very short time difference.
It’s like stabbing the backs of our own troops with arrows.
It’s a cruel tactic that doesn’t care about the life or death of our allies who might still be fighting.
However, I believe in the rigorous training of the Kingdom Army.
Their training was harsh, and if they can’t land arrows where they want, when they want, on a day like today with no wind, they are not qualified to be archers.
Of course, I also believe in the speed of the Kingdom Army, who are charging forward with all their might, not wanting to be turned into arrow skewers. Uhahaha!
“Relay to all troops! Charge south!”
“Sebi Lae Katros!”
Kun translates my shout and sends it up to the sky. The surrounding Imperial Army seems to have finally noticed. Because the source of the sound was right next to them.
“Here! The enemy General is here…… Keok!”
“You know too much.”
Al, who kicked the screaming Imperial soldier, made a joke with a face devoid of laughter. Well, maybe it wasn’t a joke, but let’s not worry about it.
The Kingdom Army, which had invaded from eight locations, will now launch a beautiful, angled charge towards the south. It’s time for eight avenues to open up within the Imperial Army.
What are the Imperial Army leaders thinking right now?
Will they think of confronting the Kingdom Army, which includes the General, or will they give up their position to the Kingdom Army that has penetrated deep into their lines and retreat as originally planned?
Don’t keep me waiting too long. Now is not the time for contemplation. Make your move quickly. And show me!
“General-nim! General-nim!”
As soon as I heard the shouts of the cavalry chasing after me from behind, I spurred my horse once more. I get further and further away from them, and their screams fade away.
These men, who came running to protect the General, must be foaming at the mouth. But I haven’t achieved my goal yet!
I ride my horse. All the sounds I hear and the sights I see around me are of the Imperial Army.
They might be mixed with those of my friends and Levidian, but I couldn’t hear them because of the realization that I was right in the middle of the enemy lines.
After running for a while like that, I finally found it. It was a place where the tents were larger than the others and where more Imperial soldiers were concentrated.
It’s where the commander is!
“Joey, clear the way!”
I shouted, thrusting my sword forward. My sword gleamed gold in the bonfires scattered here and there, the torches held by the soldiers, and the campfires someone had lit.
“Understood!”
With Joey’s loud cry, the massive body of the warhorse passed by me, leaving behind the remnants of a storm-like wind.
The charge of Joey and Robin was more powerful than the charge of any living creature. Like a wild boar descending a mountainside, like a rhinoceros running for no reason, like a nail being driven into a tree, Joey single-handedly collided with the concentrated formation of the Imperial Army.
“Uwa!”
“Help me!”
The result was the pathetic screams of the Imperial Army. They honestly admitted that their flimsy spears couldn’t stop the charge of the warhorse, and vigorously flung themselves before it.
Joey drew a figure-eight with his greatsword, widening the path he was taking by several times. Into the path that Joey had opened, I drove my horse.
Kwaang―!
The sound of Joey throwing his greatsword and smashing the wooden fence was deafening. The enemy staff, who finally emerged from their tents, were horrified by the giant shadow pulling out a pillar-like greatsword.
Among them, there was one particularly calm face. I called his name out loud.
“Baius Extoria!”
“Arisein!”
I rode my horse past Joey and stepped forward. Baius was looking at me with an expression like someone who had just bitten into a whole lemon.
I said to him.
“Go and tell Artshever! I’ll be there soon!”
He widened his eyes, then, as if he realized that it meant to retreat while leaving the initiative, he made a face like someone who had just put a handful of salt in his mouth.
He said.
“You, who have come this far…… I should just let you go?”
“You should. Baius, where is Silvan?”
Levidian, who had approached me at some point, calmly raised her sword and aimed it at him without a single pant. And seeing my friends appearing behind her, Baius frowned.
“I’ll go and tell him. Silvan, let’s go!”
“Hmm.”
Silvan emerged from the shadow of the tent. He looked us over, paused his gaze on Aila for a moment, and then turned around. Then Al spoke.
“Hey, do you remember me?”
“Hmm……? Yes, you are……”
“Wait. Out of respect for my friend’s wishes, I’ll let you go today.”
At Al’s words, Baius nodded. He said to the officers who were looking at us and him in bewilderment.
“Operation failed! All troops, retreat to Pelasion at full speed!”
“General-nim!”
“Didn’t you hear me? If anyone can catch them, go ahead and try!”
Baius irritably swung his arm and walked away silently, turning his back. And the officers, their faces showing frustration, hung their heads.
Letting the enemy’s supreme commander, who has reached the heart of our camp, go free? It’s unheard of, common sense-wise. But the fact that they don’t have the ability to capture him is also a bitter truth.
The tales of my exploits and those of my friends have already spread widely among the Imperial Army. This is because we also hear stories of skilled officers in the Imperial Army, although not as many.
The General who appears in the middle of the battlefield, stands at the forefront of the Kingdom Army, and cuts through the enemy ranks, and his companions who make it possible for him to do so. They know how difficult it is to face them.
Moreover, the Kingdom Army is already running rampant through the Imperial Army. If they stay put, they’ll be doomed.
“Retreat…… Send the retreat signal!”
As soon as the retreat order was given, I commanded.
“Kun, allow the retreat of the Imperial Army. All troops, to the second assembly area.”
Kun nodded happily.
It’s unheard of for commanders to negotiate a ceasefire in the middle of a battle, but I did it.
I took out my pocket watch and checked the time. 2:00 AM. The battle that started in the middle of the night ended at dawn.
Now, since the battle is over, shall we take a break?
For about 2 hours.
Artshever, let’s meet later.
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