Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: The Bandit King's Watchtower
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The 70,000 troops of Tunka and Caliper began their standoff in the Galran Highlands.
The next day, the Chimera Alliance declared war on Buran, and all eight fronts opened hostilities simultaneously.
This campaign, consisting of a total of eight fronts, had a notable characteristic.
The eight fronts were lined up almost in a straight row.
Thus, there were two absolute rules to follow: no two neighboring fronts could collapse at the same time. And the fronts at either end could not collapse.
If two neighboring fronts fell simultaneously, a massive gap would open, making it impossible to maintain the line. If an end front fell, the adjacent one would face a one-sided pincer attack.
The Galran Highlands, where Caliper's forces were positioned, was at the rightmost edge.
The neighboring front to its left, the Elron Plains, saw 90,000 allied troops from Albad and Bekavia facing off against Svenner's 100,000.
If Tunka swallowed this position, the enemy could flank the Elron Plains from the highlands, giving it tremendous strategic importance.
"General! Tunka's army has formed ranks. But their condition seems a bit off."
"Report in detail."
"The position of the enemy's main camp..."
Grand General Dunan was extremely wary of the foe.
Bandit King Kraus Faulkner.
He was a commander so brutal that he hadn't even made the list of the 20 warlords, yet his skills were said to rival the Ten Heroes—an utterly anomalous figure.
'Intelligence says he's adept at psychological warfare. But if I don't fall for mind games, that's that!'
Caliper's side just needed to hold defensively. The enemy was the one attacking to seize territory.
Dunan planned to make full use of that advantage.
But Kraus Faulkner's bizarre action right at the start of hostilities complicated Dunan's mind.
Kraus Faulkner's bizarre action at the outset.
It was building a watchtower on a neutral high ground.
Once the watchtower surpassed the height of the surrounding trees at six stories tall, it became visible from Caliper's camp.
They raised it even higher, hastily erecting a crude wooden tower about ten stories high.
'The speed is incredible.'
As expected of a bandit origin. With plenty of mountain bandit veterans in his ranks, they had considerable skill in constructing wooden structures.
Other officers, upon hearing the news, emerged from their tents to gaze up at the watchtower.
"What could be the purpose of that?"
Eo tilted her head and asked me.
"Even if they build a watchtower in this forest, they won't see much."
She was right.
It was spring now, with leaves densely unfurling, so even looking down from above, the ground was obscured by trees.
There would be some information to gain, but nothing significant.
"Rather, hasn't it given us a nice target?"
"Yeah... We can see it much better from here."
They couldn't see us well from the watchtower, but we had a clear view of it.
In that moment, a chill ran down my spine.
"...No way."
That was when it happened.
Ding-ding-ding-ding! Suddenly, the camp blared with alarms.
"Enemy raid! Guerrilla cavalry unit incoming! Everyone, assume intercept formation!"
Captain Purji jumped in shock at the raid report and had the soldiers form ranks.
"A sudden raid!?"
It was as sudden as Captain Purji said. A guerrilla strike right on the first day of hostilities.
"Archers, hurry to your positions..."
"No, Captain Purji! The enemy is cavalry! Archers are useless now. Quickly form the infantry phalanx!"
"...Infantry, form ranks!"
No matter how suitable the highlands were for stealth, they couldn't approach this fast.
In other words, they'd used something to boost mobility.
Clop-clop! Sure enough, they came charging with a 500-strong cavalry guerrilla unit crashing into our camp.
"Using cavalry in the highlands... Madmen!"
Captain Purji grimaced in dismay.
He was right; it wasn't a good tactic.
Horses tripped over roots, or riders tangled dodging trees, leading to pointless deaths among the cavalry.
But a few skilled riders infiltrated alone, racking up kills.
"Handling horses so adeptly... This must be Tunka's famed guerrilla cavalry!"
"They're certainly good. They're making full use of the highlands' advantages too."
The infantry couldn't form a proper encirclement due to the trees. And most archer support fire was blocked by trunks, failing to check the cavalry.
Thus, the lone infiltrators rampaged through our camp.
"Hyahahahaha!"
"Die!"
Finally, three cavalrymen closed in on our unit.
"Eo, Anton, handle the other two. I'll take one."
"Yes."
"Understood."
I gripped my spear in a javelin throw stance. Thunk!
"Hup!"
Swoosh! I hurled it at the charging rider.
"Eh...? Gahk!"
Pierced through the heart by the spear, the enemy tumbled from his horse vomiting blood.
Eo and Anton's side was even simpler.
"Hah!"
Twang! Eo nailed one through the brow with a single arrow, then ping! stole Anton's target too.
She flashed a rotten grin at him. "Heh!"
"...Playing for keeps, are you?"
Anton shrugged nonchalantly, but inwardly his competitive fire was lit.
Eager to make up for his fourth-place war record from the last conflict, he was brimming with drive.
He bisected the next three cavalrymen in half—literally—not letting a single one reach the regular soldiers.
Then he spread three fingers at Eo, signaling he'd nabbed one more.
"You...! Think you're winning!?"
Eo fumed, eyes blazing as she hunted more enemy riders.
"Wow, incredible... As expected of continent-renowned elites."
Captain Purji marveled repeatedly, then snapped to and said to me,
"Als, since we have some breathing room, we should support the other units."
"With the highlands, moving everyone would just disrupt our formation. Better send about 100."
"Right. I'll go. Hold the line here."
Captain Purji took 100 soldiers to aid elsewhere. Just in case, I assigned Anton as his guard.
The situation was gradually stabilizing.
After all, 500 cavalry against 70,000.
The enemy lost over half and began retreating.
Eo remarked,
"Such idiots. Wasting elite cavalry like this."
"No, not really."
"Huh?"
"This attack has seriously dented our army's morale."
Many soldiers hadn't truly believed combat would erupt.
In that sense, this strike made the reality of total war hit home.
"Just for that, they sacrificed 500 cavalry?"
"No, that's secondary. The real goal is something else."
"The real goal...?"
"Just a guess, but I think this is it."
If my hunch was right, Kraus Faulkner was a demon fitting his moniker.
*
*
*
Caliper's forces effectively repelled the first-day raid.
General Dunan packaged it as a victory to boost morale.
He butchered the dead and captured horses, distributing meat to the troops and holding a small feast.
This lifted spirits somewhat, but the enemy's true malice emerged then.
It was during Caliper's modest feast, deep into the night.
"Wait! I haven't... yet!"
Screams echoed from the highlands.
The direction was toward the watchtower.
Its top was lit, visible clearly even at night.
A Caliper soldier, apparently a captive, knelt there, with a house-sized fatty looming behind him.
One officer muttered at the sight.
"Kraus Faulkner...!"
Bandit King Kraus bellowed in a raspy voice.
"Caliper's little darlings! It's execution time—enjoy!"
Flutter-flutter! Birds startled skyward at his shout.
Kraus tortured the captive alive, then slaughtered him.
"N-No! Spare me! General Dunan! Willis! Please! Graaaah!"
The screams pierced the silent highlands.
Caliper soldiers stared up in horror.
There was no countermeasure.
Launching a night attack was impossible. Assaulting the watchtower risked ambushes.
"Eo, can you hit him from here?"
"Too far, I think."
"...Then nothing to be done."
This was the enemy's true intent.
To display the captive's execution. For that alone, they built the watchtower and sacrificed 500 cavalry.
Convinced it would lead to victory.
"Ymir, could you prepare some earplugs?"
"Yes, young master. Right away."
Appetite gone, I returned to my tent, plugged my ears, and slept.
The next day.
At dawn, as the sun rose.
Rumble! A cart delivered to our camp.
It bore their executed corpses, sewn haphazardly like scarecrows.
The body parts mismatched randomly, from different people fused together.
Their heads, especially, glared with resentment, eerie.
"Damn bastards!"
"Urghhh!"
General Dunan barred regular soldiers from the cart and left disposal to veteran officers.
Just before sunset.
Ding-ding-ding-ding! Another cavalry guerrilla raid hit the camp.
"Kill 'em all!"
"Don't let a single one escape!"
Enraged Caliper troops intercepted and repelled them, but we took losses too.
Twenty more went missing.
Their fates were obvious.
Kraus Faulkner's execution show began anew.
I tried earplugs and sleep, but Captain Purji burst into my tent urgently.
"Als, summons from HQ tent. Hurry over, they said."
General Dunan had called me to an emergency staff meeting.