Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: The Betrayed General Betrays
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To sow chaos in the Brotan Kingdom Army, Victor proposed several tactics.
First, to disrupt the kingdom's scouting, he deployed additional scouts and reconnaissance troops from the 1st Provisional Legion. He began by sending envoys carrying messages expressing a desire for a truce to the advancing enemy forces.
"The Empire desires a truce!"
The envoys, selected primarily from elite scouts, approached the marching kingdom army under white flags and shouted their calls for a ceasefire at the top of their lungs.
"Get lost! There's no truce unless the imperial forces retreat beyond the Bildornu River!"
The kingdom army commanders knew they couldn't sustain such a large force for long, so they flatly rejected the proposal and drove the envoys away.
However,
"A truce?"
"No way... Are we really going to fight?"
"...I miss home."
The problem was that the soldiers who heard the shouts began to believe the Empire was considering a truce.
The kingdom soldiers, who had harbored hopes that battle might be avoided, saw their morale plummet when the commanders rejected the offer.
"I'm scared, so scared... Mommy..."
"Hey, snap out of it!"
Especially the recently conscripted troops were hit hard, making normal marching nearly impossible.
"It's disinformation. There's no reason for the Empire, which just dispatched reinforcements, to suddenly propose a truce!"
"..."
The commanders tried to persuade the soldiers, but quelling the doubt that had already spread was no easy task.
Moreover, the current kingdom army had massively expanded its soldier numbers overnight while keeping officer counts largely the same, weakening overall control.
"We'll stop here for the day."
In the end, they chose to slow their advance to preserve overall morale.
Morale could recover given time, but the kingdom army had to settle for a mere 15 km per day.
"While pursuing the enemy envoys, we secured a letter they dropped!"
"Bring it here! 20,000 in Roshel, 25,000 in Shene? They're concentrating forces mainly on the hard-to-defend Roshel and Shene."
On top of that, Victor deliberately leaked a fake operations plan with distorted troop deployment info to mislead the kingdom army.
"Suspicious. A mistake like this in such a critical situation?"
Count Gaston Chartier, leading the forces departed from Montfieu, doubted the plan's authenticity, as did the other commanders.
However,
"Enemy forces are flying Gerhard's legion banner!"
"Gerhard? Of all people..."
The news that Gerhard Weissilt was leading the reinforcements cemented Gaston's suspicions.
"There has to be something fishy. Increase the scouts!"
Gaston tried to gather more intel, but the kingdom scouts were constantly attacked and killed or chased off by the 1st Provisional Legion scouts under Victor's remote command.
In the end, he received reports of failing to grasp the situation properly.
"...Advance cautiously, watching for ambushes and traps!"
Worried about Gerhard's schemes—forged over decades of imperial renown—he opted to slow their already sluggish pace even further, prioritizing defenses against enemy raids over expending more elite scouts.
As a result, Gaston's advance became markedly slower than at the start.
This bought the Empire time, allowing them to reach the planned position about two days after departure.
Just as Victor intended.
"Prepare! We're setting up camp here!"
"Yes, sir!"
The 10,000 troops of the 2nd Army under Friedrich finished preparations swiftly before the kingdom army arrived.
As planned, they actively employed deception tactics to pin down Gaston Chartier's 25,000 troops for about two days.
Following Victor's advice, Friedrich built roughly twice as many barracks as usual and doubled the number of temporary cooking fires.
He then planted banners from the 10th Legion and 1st Provisional Legion across divided sectors to feign reinforcements' arrival. He had the same soldiers change uniforms and shift positions repeatedly.
Not stopping there, he dispatched small cavalry units in rotation, moving as if ready to strike first at any moment.
"Count Chartier, sir! We've spotted roughly 20,000 enemy troops ahead!"
When Victor judged Friedrich's preparations complete, he intentionally left gaps in scout deployments. The kingdom scouts, hampered by poor reconnaissance, fell for the ruse.
"...So the plan was real? Was dropping it really a mistake?"
"And Gerhard's command flag is planted at their camp! It looks like Gerhard himself is here!"
Everyone knew imperial troops outclassed the kingdom's in quality.
The news that even the enemy commander was the battle-hardened veteran Gerhard,
"Send envoys to Counts Etuall and Lefebvre! We're halting here to hold position!"
"Understood!"
"Fortify defenses thoroughly! The enemy could strike anytime!"
Count Gaston Chartier chose to keep distance and build a camp instead of attacking the seemingly equal imperial force.
The kingdom army roughly gauged the Empire's total fielded strength at around 50,000.
With nearly double the troops overall, Gaston figured pinning down a qualitatively superior enemy led by the capable Gerhard with matching numbers was already a win.
If Gerhard was here, he couldn't easily influence battlefields dozens of kilometers away.
They might see through the deception upon hearing of 35,000 imperial main forces at Shene, but Gaston—who couldn't communicate instantly with Shene-bound forces—would need days to learn it.
"Enemy forces have halted about 2 km away and are building camp!"
"...Success."
"Even we'd have been fooled for two days."
"Indeed. Legion Commander Victor, thorough doesn't even begin to cover it."
As Gaston's forces halted per Victor's plan, the 8th Legion officers couldn't hide their admiration.
The officers knew individual deception examples from training, but also that botched attempts often led to greater risks.
For deception to succeed, preparations had to align perfectly with enemy conditions—and Victor's scheme, fresh upon arriving at Roshel, fit flawlessly.
"Will our names end up in the textbooks?"
"...If we win this battle, maybe."
Some officers even buzzed excitedly that their battle might become a tactical manual case study.
"Notify 1st Army of the deception's success and dispatch additional scouts."
"Yes, sir!"
Friedrich calmly prepared for contingencies, scouted retreat paths, and awaited word from 1st Army.
Meanwhile.
"They're blocking Arde Pass!"
"Hmph. Annoying pests."
Count Auguste Etuall's forces from Anyak advanced a day further than Gaston's before clashing with Triel's imperial forces entrenched at Arde Pass.
"Numbers?"
"Around 10,000."
"...Tch."
The numbers favored them overwhelmingly, but Arde Pass was narrow, limiting troop deployment.
The disciplined, high-morale imperials, using fallen trees for defenses, looked threatening even to Auguste with 30,000 troops.
"Message from Count Gaston Chartier! He encountered 20,000 imperials under Friedrich and Gerhard near Lake Apitel and has halted to hold!"
Soon after, news reached Auguste that Gaston's Roshel-bound force had been intercepted and stopped.
"Gerhard?"
"Yes! They confirmed his 10th Legion banner!"
"Hm."
Tensing at news of Gerhard's famed reinforcements—even known in enemy Brotan—Auguste carefully assessed the situation.
No one survived unscathed underestimating Gerhard.
"Pushing to Triel right now won't be easy."
Though tasked with taking Triel, it seemed impractical.
Attacking imperials holding a narrow pass would turn into a war of attrition—unfavorable for the kingdom's lower-quality troops.
Moreover, these hastily conscripted masses only shone in overwhelming numerical pushes.
Mass casualties could shatter morale and dissolve the army.
"...Defeat isn't an option."
He wanted no part of a loss's blame.
"We can't break them easily, but they can't exit Arde Pass without risk either. General Gaspar Ferrand."
"Yes."
"I'll give you 10,000. Link up with General Gaston Chartier."
Figuring the outnumbered imperials wouldn't sally forth easily, Auguste reinforced the Roshel front instead of forcing an attack.
If Gaston took Roshel, alternate paths to Triel would open, allowing them to envelop the pass defenders.
"Rendezvous point?"
"Hm."
Auguste pondered options at Gaspar's question.
They hadn't located the Empire's remaining 20,000, but defending key points limited imperial movements to predictable paths.
"Probably defending Shene, but..."
They might simply split into 10k, 20k, 20k as Gaston's message suggested, but Gerhard's reputation nagged at him.
"That Gerhard might be scheming something. Swing wide to the rear for a safe link-up."
"Understood!"
Auguste ordered Gaspar's force to join via secure rear routes.
A day or two delay was preferable to losing troops to Gerhard's ploys.
"Send word to Count Chartier! General Gaspar's force will join him—launch the offensive together!"
"Yes, sir!"
Even against Gerhard, 35,000 kingdom troops upon Gaspar's arrival should crush the imperials without tricks.
Supply strains eased somewhat by splitting forces.
"...Perfect."
If other commanders won with his reinforcements, Auguste could claim credit; if they lost, he could shift blame for failing despite aid.
Auguste praised his own decision.
"We'll build camp too."
"Yes, sir!"
To eliminate even the slim chance of imperial counterattack, he mirrored them by fortifying with the pass.
The entire force began marching.
Judging Gerhard's authority and the troops' trust in him more vital than my micromanagement for infantry forced marches, I left the main body to him.
"Vice Commander, what's wrong?"
"Enemies hiding over there. Let's check it out."
"Yes, sir!"
Instead of the slower infantry, I took a small cavalry detachment ahead for fine-tuning.
With minimap ensuring safety, I led from the front in minimal armor to set an example.
"How did you know?"
"Caught a glint off their weapons. They're scared we're coming and slipped up."
"..."
Though we moved fast to minimize reaction time, hiding our full strength was key to luring the enemy from Saint-Touar sufficiently.
Spreading fake intel and chasing off their scouts nonstop served that purpose.
I mainly used the minimap to flush hidden enemy scouts, circled their flanks to threaten raids, and controlled their pace.
The later they arrived, the less fatigue from our forced march—but too delayed, and Friedrich holding with fewer troops risked danger.
As always, perfect timing was crucial.
"Time to link up."
"Understood."
After a day riding with cavalry, I rejoined Gerhard's main body at the right moment.
"...You personally checked the scouts."
"Yes. Per our scouts, the enemy advances 18 km to 13 km daily. At this rate, we'll meet here."
"Hm..."
After rejoining, we adjusted march speed considering ideal clash point, army condition, etc.
About two days after 1st Army began marching.
"Enemy!"
"...They're here."
Count Bevis Lefebvre's 35,000 kingdom troops versus Gerhard and Victor's 35,000 imperials.
The massive 70,000-strong clash unfolded on the plains beside Lake Apitel.