Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Luring the Enemy
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That evening, when the battle between the 1st Army and the kingdom forces broke out...
Friedrich, who had been commanding the 2nd Army's feint operation toward Montfieu, called an emergency meeting and gathered his officers.
"What is it?!"
"An emergency? What the hell..."
Standing beside Friedrich, who had convened the meeting, was a scout still catching his breath.
The officers of the Empire Army could tell from Friedrich's tense expression that something serious had happened.
"We've received a report of enemy reinforcements spotted. Explain in detail."
"Understood."
"!"
"Enemy reinforcements...!"
"Quiet. Speak after the scout finishes."
As soon as Friedrich mentioned the enemy reinforcements, the officers erupted in surprised murmurs.
Friedrich silenced them first, and the scout cautiously began to speak.
"This morning, we confirmed that around 10,000 enemy troops advancing toward Triel had split off and were moving to the rear."
"What..."
"10,000? Damn it..."
"Based on their direction and confirmed marching speed, they are likely to link up with Gaston Chartier's forces around noon tomorrow."
At the news that enemy reinforcements would arrive in just one day, the Empire officers groaned and fell deep into thought.
"Once they join up, it'll only be a matter of time before the enemy moves!"
As one officer who had stood up after hearing the scout said, the enemy was currently holding back only because they believed their numbers matched the allies'.
The moment they regained numerical superiority, the kingdom army was likely to move without hesitation.
"We got word from the 1st Army earlier."
"Yes. They said they encountered forces led by Bevis Lefebvre."
Moreover, it hadn't been long since the report of contact with the enemy from the 1st Army arrived.
"Is there no way to stop their reinforcements from joining?"
"Their numbers are large, and they're taking a safe rear route. Blocking the join-up will be difficult."
"...What about our side sending reinforcements at the right time?"
"The kingdom army can't compare to the Empire, but with numbers equal to ours, they're not an opponent we can ignore."
"Agreed. Bevis Lefebvre is a seasoned veteran in the kingdom. General Gerhard will surely win under his command, but sending reinforcements on top is another matter."
"Hmm..."
It seemed difficult to execute the original plan of having the 1st Army swiftly join before the enemy moved and attack Gaston's kingdom forces together with the 2nd Army.
"..."
The officers fell silent for a moment, glancing at Friedrich,
"...Legion Commander Victor also said that if the enemy moves faster than expected, we should immediately retreat to Roselle."
"Right. We need to preserve our forces for the counterattack with the 1st Army."
"..."
One staff officer from the 8th Legion cautiously mentioned retreat.
Emboldened by this, the other officers explained to Friedrich why they should retreat.
"The 2nd Army's role was to pin down the enemy's 25,000 so they couldn't support Bevis's forces. Even though the 1st Army and enemy have clashed, they haven't moved yet, so we've already achieved our objective."
"Sigh... Fine. The 2nd Army will retreat to Roselle."
Friedrich, who had been furrowing his brow while listening to the officers' persuasion, let out a long sigh and decided on the retreat, but
"However, we can't just retreat without doing anything."
His idea of retreat differed slightly from what the other officers had in mind.
"The 1st Army's victory news will reach the kingdom forces too. They're hoping for battle, but if their morale drops from defeat news, it's a different story. And if we suddenly retreat in the midst of that?"
Friedrich saw this situation as a similar opportunity to crossing the Bildorny River, so he stood up and raised his voice.
"Legion Commander Victor's plan aims to annihilate most of the enemy expeditionary force. They might figure out our true numbers and switch to offense, but if we retreat quickly and safely, they might hesitate to pursue out of fear of ambushes, counterattacks, or lures."
"..."
Friedrich, who had admired Victor's plan of swiftly defeating the enemy in detail through rapid maneuvers—even if it involved some risk—continued.
"If we let them go without striking now, they'll regroup, strengthen, and come back. This is our chance while the enemy is out with unstable forces. We'll maintain formation, start retreating when they begin to move, and induce pursuit."
He proposed a bold strategy of essentially using the 2nd Army as bait to firmly tie down the kingdom army.
"That's dangerous! Their numbers are three times ours; anything could go wrong during retreat!"
"We don't even know when the 1st Army can join. If they're delayed, even Roselle Castle is at risk!"
"Danger? To gain great rewards, you must take risks."
The officers knew that retreating right in front of the enemy was incomparably more difficult than a normal retreat, and they voiced the risks, but Friedrich—who had pushed through the Bildorny River crossing despite everyone's objections—didn't easily yield this time either.
"But..."
The staff officers tried to explain how dangerous Friedrich's proposed strategy could be, but
-Flutter.
"Legion Commander! Commander Friedrich! Breaking news!"
"Hm?"
"A great victory! Under Legion Commander Victor's command, the Empire's 1st Army has completely routed the forces led by Bevis!"
The messenger who had rushed in first announced the 1st Army's victory.
"They also said they'll assemble reinforcements as quickly as possible and depart tomorrow morning!"
"...A great victory?"
"Sending reinforcements the very next day..."
"Victor commanded? Wasn't the 1st Army under Gerhard?"
The 8th Legion officers buzzed in surprise at the fact that they had achieved a great victory against an equal force under Victor's command, not Gerhard's, but for Friedrich—who already knew Victor's abilities to some extent from the strategy meetings and successful feint— the most important part was that reinforcements would depart tomorrow.
"So that's how it is. We'll need to revise the plan."
Instead of being surprised like the other officers, he looked around at them with a triumphant expression.
"We're not retreating—we're luring. We'll draw the enemy near Lake Apitel and crush them together with the 1st Army's reinforcements!"
No officer objected to Friedrich's words, uttered with confident conviction about the site of the 1st Army's battle.
"First..."
They began pondering schemes to lure out Gaston's kingdom army.
The next morning.
"Bevis, Auguste... those incompetent fools...!"
Gaston Chartier gnashed his teeth, recalling the reports delivered by the messengers from Bevis and Auguste who had arrived yesterday.
Auguste, who had given up attacking despite leading 30,000 against a mere 10,000; Bevis, who had suffered a crushing defeat against a similar-sized force.
Especially shocking to Gaston was Bevis's defeat against 35,000 Empire troops.
Scouts under Victor's orders had intercepted Bevis's messengers right up until moments before engagement, so Gaston only learned the enemy had over 30,000 troops when he received the defeat report.
Even after hearing that Gerhard led those Empire forces, Gaston realized the deception too late—the messenger arrived when it was far too late to move his troops.
Since his army was mostly conscripts, engaging in a night battle would be suicidal, so even knowing the Empire force he faced was at most 10,000, he had no choice but to wait until the next day.
Gaston had no way of knowing Victor had intercepted Bevis's messengers, so he resented Bevis for not sending word immediately upon contact.
"What will you do?"
"Hm..."
Gaspard Ferrand, who had joined with reinforcements this morning, asked Gaston, who was tearing his hair out.
"Viscount Mathieu Delong. What's the Empire Army's movement?"
Gaston asked Mathieu about the Empire Army's status in a half-resigned tone.
In his mind, it wouldn't be surprising if their camp was already empty.
There was no reason for the Empire forces, having completed their role of pinning 25,000, to stay.
If they retreated without giving him any opening, Gaston planned to preserve his forces and withdraw, even bracing for punishment for lack of results.
The original goal was retaking the Bildorny River basin, but with Bevis's forces smashed, losing Gaston's too could make it hard for Brotan Kingdom to even defend against the Empire.
To him, protecting the kingdom mattered more than any punishment.
However,
"No particular movements."
"...What?"
At Mathieu's report that the Empire Army was still in place, Gaston shot up from his seat.
35,000 had fought Bevis, 10,000 blocked Auguste, so at most 10,000 Empire troops remained before Gaston.
If they stayed put, the kingdom army still had hope—that was Gaston's thinking.
"Is that true?"
"Yes. They're maintaining defensive posture just like yesterday."
"Hm..."
Pondering the Empire Army's intent in continuing the feint despite mission complete,
"...Gerhard commanded the battle with Bevis, right?"
"Yes."
Recalling the report of Gerhard appearing near Shené, he gave a small smile.
"Heh. Heh heh..."
"...General?"
"Keep monitoring them for now. Report any anomalies immediately."
"Understood."
"We'll stand by."
Gaston issued orders to Mathieu and awaited his report.
Not long after,
"The Empire Army is moving supplies to the rear and recalling scouts. They're hastily dismantling tents and reallocating some troops."
Signs of the Empire Army preparing to retreat were confirmed.
"An opportunity. This is our chance."
Gaston judged this as a gap arising from the Empire Army blindly following distant orders from Gerhard.
They had made such mistakes before, blindly following the commander's orders. Frustrated by his own troops' sluggishness and pressured to show results, he clung to this slim possibility instead of letting them retreat peacefully.
"Prepare to advance immediately! We must attack before they finish retreating!"
Believing that crushing them now was the kingdom army's only chance to maintain numerical superiority, Gaston urged his officers to prepare the assault.
"They might send reinforcements..."
"Reinforcements? Nonsense! Bevis fought 30km from here. Unless he surrendered on sight, no reinforcements can arrive today!"
Gaspard voiced concern over possible reinforcements, but Gaston firmly denied it.
By his years of war experience, troops fresh from intense battle couldn't cover 30km the next day.
"It's suspicious they're suddenly showing such a gap."
"This could be a trap from Gerhard's Empire Army!"
"Gerhard isn't here! A trap? Our forces outnumber theirs three to one. We can break through any ordinary trap with sheer power!"
Losing composure in urgency, Gaston ignored his staff's objections.
"...Understood."
The kingdom officers, seeing Gaston's eyes glazed with desperation, stopped arguing and obeyed.
"Still uneasy? Mathieu! Use every scout to uncover their intentions! This is our last chance!"
"Yes!"
Gaston ordered all reserved scouts deployed for contingencies, then mounted up as soon as the troops were ready to depart.
"Charge! Crush those Empire bastards!"
Around 1 p.m., he swung his sword toward the Empire Army, still appearing to prepare for retreat.