Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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>Translator: Lord First
>Chapter: 113
>Chapter Title: The One Who Travels to a Conflict Zone for a Vacation (5)
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*
Let us turn back the clock two days, to when Ivan was briefing the state council members on the "Feint East, Strike West" operation in the command center.
"..."
The moment the operational overview concluded, everyone in the command center stared blankly at Ivan's face.
Although Ivan was not adept at reading dwarven expressions, this one could hardly be called favorable. It clearly contained the sentiment, 'Are you out of your mind?'
"I have so many questions."
A muscular dwarf with the title of Military Administration Director raised his hand. When Ivan nodded, the dwarf looked at him with a reluctant expression.
"Is the very first step of this plan even feasible?"
"Of course."
"You intend to reach the exact opposite side of the mountain range within two days?"
"I've done it before."
Ivan calmly looked down at the dwarf's face.
Andgrund was located beneath the colossal Sky Mountains, which stretched across the Northern Front.
The Sky Mountains themselves served as a natural barrier. To reach the demon territories, one had no choice but to pass through the lower canyons of the range.
While some parts of the mountains were connected to the Great Gate constructed by the Krasilov military, that location was too far from their current position. It was unusable for this operation.
And this was a "Feint East, Strike West" operation. Infiltration and a strike from the rear were essential. This meant they had to move to the opposite ridge of the mountain range to commence the operation.
Traveling underground, the distance was not impossible to cover within two days on foot. Except for the part where they had to cut through enemy territory.
To avoid the notice of the hostile dwarf faction and infiltrate their rear, Ivan's plan was simple.
He would exit to the surface, climb the mountain range, and strike the enemy from behind.
Even if it wasn't the highest peak of the Sky Mountains, the route on his operational map required them to traverse a snowy cliff with no trails, making a beeline for the location known as the Northern 5th Gate.
It was treacherous terrain that would make even the most skilled dwarven scouts shake their heads, and the idea of crossing it in two days was enough to cast doubt on the plan's validity.
"You said you've done it before...?"
"How do you think we infiltrated Aviditas's fortress?"
*
Day 1 of the Andgrund "Feint East, Strike West" operation.
-Wooooosh—!!
The clouds were spread out below, making for a clear day. Except for the fact that it was brutally cold.
Lucia, who had never in her life looked down upon the clouds, moved her frozen jaw with great effort and mumbled.
"I'm seriously going to die!!"
Ivan didn't bother to reply. He knew that someone who was truly about to die wouldn't have the energy to speak.
He answered by pulling Lucia, who was on his back, up more securely.
"Can't you hear me?! Let's just rest for a bit!!"
"We can't."
"Why!!"
Ivan responded not with words but by raising his hand and waving it in front of Lucia's eyes. In his leather-gloved hand was a ticking pocket watch.
"Seriously, you're really going to cross this in two days? And we have to go down a long way after that. D-do you know? Humans get something called altitude sickness..."
"Surround your lungs with mana to enhance their oxygen-capturing ability."
"What does that...?"
"Altitude sickness is a phenomenon where blood oxygen levels drop when active in an oxygen-deprived atmosphere. The moment you feel a headache, apply mana reinforcement to your lungs and force yourself to breathe deeply."
"I'm going crazy! I never learned how to do that!"
"You'll die if you don't."
Symptoms of oxygen deficiency during a rapid ascent. Normally, an acclimatization or training period would be necessary, but that wasn't the case for Lucia.
Not only could she use mana reinforcement, but she had also learned blood sorcery directly from Enrique. This meant she had a degree of expertise in spell systems based on blood.
She was more than capable. The route had been chosen based on his faith in Enrique's teaching methods, not Lucia's ability. Ivan silently struck the cliff with his axe and continued his climb.
-Wooooosh—!!
At a height where a fall would cause a fatal heart attack before impact, where the sound of dislodged pebbles couldn't even be heard, Ivan silently climbed the cliff, axe in hand.
Lucia, who had been chattering for a while, soon clamped her mouth shut and desperately began to circulate her mana. The onset of a headache seemed to have frightened her.
Excellent.
Ivan hurled an axe with a rope attached over the cliff's edge, lodging it firmly, and pulled himself up to increase his speed.
This was his most recent experience among all his endeavors. Climbing the Sky Mountains to approach one of the Seven Dragon Generals in the demon territories.
It was the last mission he had received, just before the Annihilation Squad was disbanded, just before he decided to retire.
So, fortunately, the motions were still familiar to him.
*
"Then, my second question. I may not know how you humans plan your operations, but are you familiar with the saying? The first casualty of war is the battle plan. That is..."
"I am."
"And you still drew up a plan like this?"
The dwarf said grumpily, tapping Ivan's operational summary.
A plan scheduled by the hour was absurd enough to be laughed off as fantasy, but this one had a timetable meticulously detailed down to the minute.
The operational map was packed with various tactical symbols, movement paths, and projected engagement routes. Not even a first-year at a war college would pull such a prank. It was the work of a fantasist who had never even run a basic wargame.
Ivan nodded.
"Is it too much for you?"
"...Too much?! Are you saying this makes any sense?!"
"Enrique and I can do it. The only variable is you."
"I don't know if that's confidence or arrogance, but you should know this. This map was drawn up before the civil war! The actual terrain could be completely different!"
"These are underground tunnels. While additional shafts might have been dug, the tunnels marked on the map cannot be easily demolished. Especially not dwarven structures."
"...That is true. Especially since you destroyed the Earth-Web Excavator... I suppose so."
"In that case, your tactical map is the easiest to predict among all field maps. It corresponds to an artificial structure with an extremely small margin of error."
*
Day 2 of the Andgrund "Feint East, Strike West" operation.
Lucia scowled, turning the map this way and that. She bit her lip as she stared at the spinning compass.
"Senior, don't you think we took a wrong turn? There isn't supposed to be a fork here...?"
"You're right."
"But..."
"Look."
Ivan slammed his axe into one of the forking paths. With a sharp crack, one of the tunnel's support pillars split wide open.
Running his finger along the crack, Ivan spoke quietly.
"The construction method here is different from that tunnel."
"...I'm afraid I'm not well-versed in dwarven civil engineering..."
"This is good to know. A tunnel with support pillars means it was made by hand. Do you see how that other tunnel has no support pillars?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. But why does that matter?"
"It means that tunnel was dug back when they had the Earth-Web Excavator. The excavator uses a compression drilling method. It doesn't place support pillars, as the tunnels won't collapse unless there's an earthquake."
Lucia's mouth fell open at Ivan's words.
"Then this tunnel is..."
"It means this tunnel was excavated recently. It wouldn't be on the map. Any other questions?"
"If I keep learning from Master, will I start thinking like you, Senior?"
"It's entirely possible, even without a master of Enrique's caliber."
Ivan nodded firmly.
It was a line of reasoning any properly trained agent could follow. It was simply a matter of experience.
Ivan could never be as good a teacher as Enrique. That was, unfortunately, an area where even Ivan, with his knowledge of 21st-century advanced education systems, could not compete. He had no special talent for teaching.
But even so, if there was one thing Ivan could offer, it was 'experience'. Just as he had taught the children of the other Hero's Party members, he was skilled not in imparting special techniques or knowledge, but in instilling 'experience that was close to actual combat'.
Therefore, he watched the nodding Lucia with considerable satisfaction before moving on.
After this mission, Lucia would become a good rival for the new Hero's Party, one who could stir their competitive spirit.
*
The dwarf, who had been staring at Ivan's face, asked cautiously, his bravado clearly diminished.
"But this whole operation... doesn't it ultimately mean you'll be used as bait?"
"It does."
"Do you think you can make it back alive?"
"Is that a question of importance to you?"
"...My apologies. I misspoke. If even the slightest error occurs in your plan, if the operation doesn't unfold as you predict... must we still adhere to this timetable?"
If Ivan were to sustain an injury during his rear infiltration that rendered him unable to carry out the mission, should they still follow the plan?
The dwarf's question was met with a firm nod from Ivan.
"Even if not only my part but Enrique's operation fails as well, this plan must be followed."
"Why is that?"
"Once the operation begins, Enrique and I will have no way to contact you."
Improvisation and clever tactics on the battlefield must ultimately be executed under a thoroughly prepared grand strategy.
Even if a field commander alters the direction of an operation based on their discretion, headquarters must maintain the original operational stance to preserve the overall framework. Only then can the units in the field respond in a timely manner.
The dwarf gave a short nod at Ivan's words.
"In two days, we will advance according to the schedule."
"I'll see you back here in a week."
"May you return alive."
Ivan left without another word.
*
Andgrund "Feint East, Strike West" operation, Day 2, 19:30.
-Clack.
The dwarf at the very front silently drew and loaded his long rifle. It was like the opening note of a marching song.
-Clack, clack, clack.
The chorus followed. Behind him, the sound of heavily armed infantry loading their weapons echoed throughout the vast square, filling it to the brim.
*Rumble*, the great gate opened. The northern gate of Andgrund, which had not been fully opened once since the civil war began, was now unsealing.
The loud grinding of cranks reverberated through the expansive underground cavern. It was done for all to hear, with audacious intent.
It is difficult to evade the notice of dwarves underground. And right now, their enemy was also dwarves.
Similar events were unfolding simultaneously across the wide front. Dwarves preparing for an all-out war drew their guns, axes, and hammers, dragging cannons as they began their advance.
Towards the north, towards the rebel's main force. From all across the vast domain of Andgrund, the caverns beneath the mountains.
"To become the bait..."
Military Administration Director Legri Groeldi watched his legions marching down the main thoroughfare and smiled bitterly.
The Spider's plan was simple. An idea anyone could conceive. A type of plan that involved creating a diversion and launching an offensive from another direction.
What made his plan 'special' was the point that went one step beyond that "Feint East, Strike West."
Enrique, rescuing the scribe's son.
>Ivan, assassinating Aviditas's minions.
>The main dwarven army, feigning a frontal advance.
The fact that all three were bait for each other, and at the same time, the core objective of the operation.
You cannot deceive the eyes of dwarves underground. Whether it was Enrique or Ivan, the moment their operation reached an irreversible point, their location and objective were bound to be exposed.
A perfect stealth attack and retreat was an impossible mission from the start. Therefore, they moved with the assumption they would be discovered.
It didn't matter who was discovered. Whoever it was would become the bait to support the operations in the other directions.
The enemy would be plunged into deep contemplation. What could their true objective be? Ivan in the rear? Enrique infiltrating from the flank? The army advancing from the front?
Wrong. All of them were core objectives, and at the same time, the operations in every sector served as bait for each other. The individual operations existed on a tactical level, but they were also fiercely intertwined on a strategic level under a precise timetable.
No matter which option the enemy command chose, the operations in the other areas would proceed as planned. It didn't matter who failed. Conversely, if the confused command made a misjudgment, all operational objectives could be fully achieved.
However.
'Enrique, infiltrating from the east, has an escape route close to our lines, but...'
Ivan, infiltrating from the north, would be isolated in demon territory even if he managed to retreat. It was, in other words, the most perilous position.
The Military Administration Director thought with a bitter expression.
With men like that swarming on the human side, perhaps the demons of that era never stood a chance.
That must be why the great Demon King and the self-proclaimed godlike Seven Dragon Generals lost the war. Perhaps they had backed the wrong side. So he thought.
-Ruuuumble—!!
Andgrund was shaking. The rebels had also begun to respond to this rapid advance. The two armies would soon begin to face off in various locations throughout the under-mountain caverns.
In any case, all we have to do is hold out.
For the next five days, all they had to do was constantly remind the enemy of the tension of war and adhere to the timetable.
The Director looked at the timetable Ivan had written and thought.
"He should be entering the main road directly beneath the 5th Gate by now."
If this entire operation finally succeeds, and if he even manages to return alive at the end of it all...
How, then, should the Spider be recorded in the annals of their people?
As an outside hero who ended a long civil war and restored the domain beneath the mountains?
Or as a nightmare who had killed, and could kill, the most dwarves among the living?
The Director found it hard to gauge whether he wanted Ivan to succeed and return alive, or to fail and perish.
Just like all the other dwarves remaining in the command center at that time.
*
-Ruuuumble—!!
Inside the tunnel, which was vibrating as if in an earthquake, Enrique looked at her pocket watch and let out a smirk.
"You sly dog. I wonder who taught you that."
From the very beginning, two copies of the operational plan had been prepared. One for the dwarves, and one for Enrique and Ivan—for the 'outside world'.
She tied a letter to a pigeon, sent it flying out of the tunnel into the sky, and dusted off her hands.
Feint East, Strike West. Ivan had said it meant to make noise in the east and strike in the west. A similar tactical concept was already well-known. A traditional feint operation.
But Ivan had announced that the operational summary consisted of creating diversions from three directions simultaneously. He wasn't wrong. That was how the operation would proceed 'inside the underground'.
And 'outside the underground'. In other words, the operational name in 'our world' was.
"Hammer and Anvil."
Such an extreme traditionalist.
The skill of conducting a double operation with a tactical outline that might be found in a basic war college curriculum was a hallmark of the stodgy old Annihilation Squad.
Enrique chuckled and snapped her pocket watch shut.
In one week, when the iron on the anvil is sufficiently heated, the hammer will fall.
The minute-by-minute timetable had been prepared for that very moment.
What was it he used to say? That catchphrase of his.
"A good agent never formulates a plan with only a single objective... was that it?"
What kind of field agent even thinks like that? Enrique cackled and walked into the shadows of the tunnel.
*