Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Destruction of the Supply Bases
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In war, the importance of supplies hardly needs tiresome explanation.
Especially for an army of 400,000 strong.
“That can’t be…! The supply bases have been destroyed? All of them at once? How could something like that happen?!”
Duke Helian shouted in disbelief.
“The supply bases weren’t that poorly guarded!”
“Th-that… We haven’t received details yet.”
I was certain.
‘There’s definitely an inside man!’
Whether it was Svenner’s or the Western tribes’, I didn’t know yet, but either way, the tide of battle had completely shifted.
The allied forces, who had pushed forward on the offensive, could hold out without supplies for at most two days. They had no choice but to retreat.
The enemy would surely chase after the retreating allies, nipping at their heels to inflict damage.
“This is trouble. What now, Wade?”
“There’s only one option left.”
Both sides now had no choice but to steer toward ending the war smoothly.
The allies, stripped of their supply bases, couldn’t press the attack any further.
Even the Chimera Alliance faced too much risk to launch follow-up assaults.
Svenner’s grain stores had been raided, but with neighboring Albad and Kalliper providing supplies, they could still hold the front lines.
The key now was minimizing losses.
“We’ll have to handle the cleanup.”
To that end, I pointed to a spot on the map and issued march orders.
News of the army’s supply depots being destroyed reached the Albad-Bekavia allied forces pursuing the Svenner troops.
“What nonsense is this?!”
Gillas Melbourne flew into a rage, letting out a beastly roar.
Kaien, meanwhile, nodded in realization.
“So that’s what caused the unease. A worm had already burrowed into the heart of Bullrang. Well played, Jemuto.”
Kaien glared at the facing Svenner army, then turned and said,
“Gillas, we retreat. Relay the retreat order to Bekavia’s Sophia Veron as well.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Yussis, you take the rear. Jemuto won’t miss this chance. He’ll pursue us relentlessly.”
Just as predicted, Svenner’s 100,000-strong army, which had been retreating, suddenly reversed course and switched to the offensive.
They began chasing the allies’ tail.
Svenner’s supreme commander and one of the Ten Heroes, the Evil Brain Jemuto, directed the pursuit with cold precision.
“Target their officers. Disrupt their chain of command and sow chaos.”
His voice was utterly mechanical, devoid of any humanity.
His aides were the same.
An army built solely for war. For victory. That was Svenner’s First Army under Jemuto.
Even the Western tribal advisors dispatched to assist were unnerved.
‘What an utterly alien force. Now I understand why the tribal leaders acknowledged them and formed an alliance.’
Svenner’s soldiers dismantled the allies with mechanical efficiency.
The anomaly occurred two hours into the pursuit.
“…”
Jemuto stared intently at one spot.
Then he spoke.
“Reinforcements from the Galrarn Highlands? Mercenary Wade. Swift response.”
No sooner had he said it than the 30,000 Kalliper troops led by Als appeared on the flank, attacking the Svenner forces and rescuing the Albad allies from crisis.
In response, Kaien wheeled his army around.
“You arrived just in time. Gillas, detach 20,000. Coordinate with the Kalliper forces and drive them off.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Albad forces counterattacked.
Svenner responded in kind.
“General, what are your orders?”
“It’s as expected. Respond as planned.”
“Understood.”
Thus, Als and Jemuto were about to clash head-on—but the battlefield held one more variable.
“…!”
Even Jemuto flinched this time.
He whipped his gaze to the right side of the field.
“What army is that…?”
Suddenly, a cavalry force of 5,000 appeared.
The man commanding it—Juras—grinned like a devil.
“Come on, then. Show me what you’re made of, Jemuto…!”
Thundering hooves! A crash!! Juras’s surprise assault hammered Svenner’s right flank—an attack no one had foreseen.
Juras’s Crossing army had pursued Eourope northward. With their supplies burning, they should have been retreating under pursuit.
Yet they approached undetected, undetected by scouts.
“You anticipated my advance and lay in ambush here, Juras Pamillion.”
A twitch crossed Jemuto’s icy brow.
The Western advisors couldn’t easily accept the situation.
“How in the world?!”
The implication was clear.
Juras had known from the start that the supply bases would be raided.
“He read the insider plot!”
It made sense that Galrarn’s mercenary Wade hadn’t moved—they’d fought a massive battle and needed time to regroup.
But not Juras.
Even Als was startled by the move.
“Why the hell is that guy here?”
It was that unexpected.
“The Centum Infantry is shattered! Their Centum Infantry Commander is dead!”
“The Prion Archers are under attack! We can’t shake off the enemy cavalry!”
Juras’s guerrilla cavalry bored in with fierce assaults.
The Western advisors cautiously suggested,
“Shall we step in? They seem short-handed.”
“We’ll take the right flank and drive them off.”
Jemuto’s trusted aide and Svenner’s Chief of Staff, Hashikuran, replied instead.
“No need.”
He stated the obvious to Jemuto.
“Supreme Commander, we’ll prepare to retreat.”
“Very well. Handle it.”
The Western advisors’ eyes widened like rabbits’.
Retreat after barely fighting? Even if the tide wasn’t in their favor, they could repel the enemy with proper handling.
Hashikuran addressed them.
“The general fights only battles he can surely win. Remember that.”
A war philosophy that might seem cowardly. But it was the driving force behind Jemuto’s undefeated record as grand general.
Once his plan was broken, Jemuto showed no attachment to the field.
“Retreat in sequence. Pull back carefully—don’t let them grab our tail.”
The Svenner army withdrew with nimble precision.
“Hmm, playing it safe, are you?”
Juras watched their backs with a meaningful expression.
“Then how about I hit them where it hurts.”
Juras lifted the corners of his mouth in a chilling grin. His men shivered at the sight.
*
*
*
With the supply bases destroyed, the allies began a full retreat, falling back to their starting point.
On remote fronts where resupply was impossible, they abandoned the lines entirely.
Eourope’s army linked with Svenner’s Second Army, seizing the leftmost Sepirant front.
Thus, the Chimera Alliance held the left edge, while the allies held the rightmost Galrarn Highlands, restoring parity.
If anything, the Chimera Alliance held a slight edge.
Sensing opportunity before the allies’ supply lines stabilized, they kept pressing attacks.
The situation was precarious enough that requests for aid reached my side.
So I led 10,000 troops to Juras’s front as a token gesture.
Not to truly fight.
More like a show of force.
If I moved like this to support, the enemy had no choice but to back off.
As I joined with my 10,000, the Eourope forces poised to attack fell back temporarily. I came face-to-face with Juras.
Juras sat calmly as if nothing had happened, but his officers were different.
Having endured brutal fighting, they sighed in relief at our arrival.
“They came at us relentlessly, huh? I didn’t know Eourope could be this tenacious.”
At my question, Juras shrugged.
“They had no choice. One of the prisoners we captured holds a very high position.”
“Prisoners? Who’d you nab?”
“Eourope’s First Prince, Romello Galas.”
“The First Prince…”
“That’s right. The heir to Eourope’s throne.”
Juras dropped the bombshell as casually as if he’d just returned from the bathroom.
“A prince… Eourope’s Eourope, alright. Launching these mad assaults with their prince captured. They must figure you might execute him otherwise.”
“They know I won’t. Forgot Crossing’s iron rule?”
“Take all prisoners as slaves, right…? But how’d you capture him? Snatching someone like that normally takes more than standard tactics. He must’ve had guards.”
“We were waiting for them to descend. Thinking they’d seized momentum with the supply bases down, they charged ahead without a care. So my pre-positioned ambush hit their unguarded rear and nabbed the prince.”
Come to think of it, Juras had acted like he knew about the insider plot. Hitting overconfident Eourope would’ve been child’s play.
“How’d you know about the insider scheme?”
“Then let me ask you—Wade, how did you know?”
“I… didn’t. I was just stuck there buried in military admin.”
“Liar. Admin or not, your best move then was pursuing and pushing them. With the Toonkai army annihilated, they had nothing left to stop you. Staying put means you sensed something.”
This guy. Couldn’t he just let it slide?
He was right, but I didn’t want to admit it.
“Kalliper didn’t offer terms good enough to go that far. Too much hassle, so I didn’t.”
Considering my nature, it was convincing enough—Juras seemed to buy it.
“Fine, I answered. Your turn.”
“Alright. But not now.”
“Not now?”
“Something even more intriguing will happen soon. Better to discuss it all then.”
“What scheming now?”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
“Tch.”
Juras calling it “intriguing” sent chills down my spine.
‘Is the game’s story kicking off?’
I could feel the situation escalating rapidly.
This guy was especially problematic. Juras seemed tangled in every event.
Unaware or not of my thoughts, he grinned and proposed,
“That all? If you’ve time, how about a game of chess? I’ve studied up since last time.”
A friendly overture, but I wanted no bonds with him.
“You studying? Hard to picture. Feels off, so I’ll pass. And I do have business.”
“Hm? What business?”
There was a reason I’d marched here with effort.
“How about some payment?”
“Payment?”
“Didn’t I come all this way to support you?”
“Haha, so that’s why. Fine. I didn’t request it, but you helped, so… What do you want?”
“Hand over your prisoners.”
Spoils from this war’s campaign.
But my captures were just Grandis, the Western advisor, and Toonkai’s General Kraus Faulkner.
Other officers we nabbed were mostly his cronies—bandits and highwaymen.
I had no desire to take them under my wing.
Grandis was the same. Despite torture after capture, he hadn’t cracked. Fanatical loyalty to the West. No way I’d make him a subordinate.
So I used this as leverage to trade with Juras.
“I hear you nabbed plenty beyond Eourope’s prince. I’ll give you my Western lackey in exchange for some Eouropean prisoners?”
“What about Kraus Faulkner?”
“Kalliper’s royals took him. They’ll torture him for the brutal executions and murdering Grand General Dunan, then parade him publicly.”
Juras pondered briefly, then nodded.
“Deal. Take who you like.”
“Generous as ever. Then, first…”
I didn’t yet know what useful talents Crossing had among their prisoners. Even if any, recruiting wouldn’t be easy.
So I opted for solid insurance.
“Give me Eourope’s First Prince, Romello Galas, the one you caught.”