Chapter 119
Chapter 119
Iron Emperor — Chapter 119
Chapter 32: Their Own Strategy Meeting
Initially, Gye Ung-sam was supposed to support Baron Gowin, but the plan changed drastically after they captured enemies along the way.
The original operation had been for a small group, including Baron Gowin's party and Gye Ung-sam, to infiltrate the unit using the magic ring previously employed by Mong Ryu-hwa's group, persuade Baron Gowin's existing loyalists, assassinate the command staff, and seize control of the entire unit.
But after the encounter with the North Roselin forces, Jin-cheon stripped the captured prisoners bare and dropped a single line.
"Change of plan. I'm going."
And when the commanders forgot their protests at the words that their supreme commander was heading into a dangerous position, he glanced back at them and added one more line, as if to suppress any objection...
"You got a problem? Then one of you can be Yeolje instead."
In the end, even Hwi-garam threw up his hands. But that also showed just how absolute their faith in Jin-cheon was.
The seven hundred disguised troops who had infiltrated first were a diversionary force. While Jin-cheon and Baron Gowin subdued the high command, they simultaneously overpowered Count Dinerd's private soldiers—the squad leaders—and control of the unit was rapidly established.
Of course, reaching that point so smoothly was thanks to the swift actions of Baron Gowin's men—Sir Rainman and the brothers Beskin and Ravin.
Ultimately, there was only one reason Jin-cheon pushed this ahead as a reckless blitzkrieg.
'A unit with grievances just needs its head cut off.'
Fortunately, Jin-cheon's crude, ignorant, yet most accurate plan proved effective. And because the nobles, following their ingrained habits, gathered in one place for their meal without fail, the teleport scrolls that had driven Siaron Risel to the brink of mana exhaustion for the first time in his life could be safely left unused.
Baron Nimial and Count Dinerd, who survived until the end, were loaded onto a cart together. Admittedly, after Jin-cheon entered the command tent, he summoned the two separately, and when they came out, they were half-corpses—but no one thought to pity them.
Once Gauri's main force of over ten thousand joined up, a large army totaling thirty thousand combat personnel and eight thousand support troops was formed. They had been waiting nearby as a precaution and only revealed their full might around the afternoon.
"Gowin."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
At Go Jin-cheon's call, Baron Gowin bowed his head.
"You will command the Hawk Corps."
"......Thank you."
It was an unexpected statement for Gowin. No matter how much he had sworn loyalty, he had not imagined his entire unit would be entrusted back to him as is. As if sensing that thought, Jin-cheon added a remark.
"Because right now, that is the most efficient option."
"Understood."
Gowin bowed his head once more.
The decisive benefit this reinforcement provided the Gauri army, beyond combat strength, was the eight thousand support troops transporting supplies.
Due to the lack of personnel, they had been forced to carry individual bundles of rations under the name of "physical conditioning," and had mobilized everything with legs to the point of using carts pulled by some thirty goats.
Ultimately, moving while simultaneously acting as their own supply unit meant the soldiers' accumulated fatigue could not be ignored.
Now a supply unit had arrived to take over and manage those burdens, and the soldiers' cheers seemed to pierce the sky.
Though the volume of supplies had increased, the Gauri army was fundamentally a wagon-based mobile force, so it posed no particular problem.
"Then I will go out and reorganize the command chain."
"Good work."
Gowin offered a military salute he was still unaccustomed to and exited the command tent. Jin-cheon looked at his assembled commanders and began to speak.
"The problem is......"
As Jin-cheon's expression suddenly darkened, Yeon Hwi-garam, Eulji Uru, Buru, and the others tilted their heads in confusion.
"Women."
At Jin-cheon's single word, thunder and lightning crashed through the commanders' minds.
They recalled the early days after arriving here, spending night after night in lonely agony, jabbing their own thighs with the tips of their swords.
Among the civilians sent over so far, women had outnumbered men. That had created a certain balance, but the addition of twenty thousand hot-blooded men and over eight thousand slaves was now heralding another gender-ratio catastrophe.
Gangsoe might not be human, but what had his frenzy looked like?
Of course, it had ultimately produced a favorable outcome, but human urges could not be dismissed either.
"For now, they will have their own homes. The best course would be to support their families' escape as much as possible once we execute the operation."
When Hwi-garam spoke as though there was no other way, Jin-cheon nodded. But then, the knight under Gowin who had been guarding the tent entrance carefully entered and bowed his head.
"You are?"
At that sight, Hwi-garam asked quietly, and the knight bowed his head again and spoke.
"Sir Hegel Siluman."
After Sir Siluman gave his introduction, Jin-cheon folded his arms and looked at him.
"If you have something to say, speak."
At Jin-cheon's curious question, Sir Siluman answered with an awkward expression.
"In truth, the twenty-thousand-strong unit has been moving across battlefields for so long, and was practically treated as expendable, so almost none of them have families. At most, perhaps one in ten."
"......."
At a loss for words, Jin-cheon and the Gauri commanders sank into contemplation over the dilemma they now faced.
"Hey, you!"
"Yes."
From one side, Uru tilted his head and threw a question at Sir Siluman as if something struck him as bizarre.
"So all those bastards packed together outside are eunuchs? Does that make any sense?"
At Uru's question, Buru shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"Uru, you know the first thing but miss the second. Hands exist, you know. Hands!"
"Aha! I get it now."
"......."
Listening to their exchange, Jin-cheon brought a hand to his deeply furrowed brow and sighed.
"If you don't know, just keep quiet......"
Buru, who had been blustering to Uru with a triumphant air, trailed off as he sensed the sudden killing intent. Quietly exercising self-restraint, he muttered one more thing.
"Why'd I go running my useless mouth......"
Sir Siluman, who had been the target of the earlier question, cautiously interjected.
"Well, it is not hands......"
At Sir Siluman's words, Uru's eyes flew open in shock and he blurted out.
"Then it's feet?"
"......."
Silence descended once again.
Jin-cheon spoke in a voice that conjured visions of hell.
"Both of you, go outside and report on the unit readiness status."
Looking at Jin-cheon's expression—one that made it clear he regretted that their ranks now prevented him from simply beating them—Uru and Buru scrambled to their feet, offered a salute, and practically ran out of the tent.
In the tent they had abandoned, Jin-cheon shook his head and added one more remark.
"One of these days, I'm going to have to set aside a day just for them."
At his mutter, Hwi-garam gave a bitter smile. Jin-cheon's gaze returned to Sir Siluman.
"Continue."
"Yes."
"Could it be that the men do such things with each other......"
But at Jin-cheon's carefully posed question, the tent fell silent once more.
After Sir Siluman left a few pieces of information and exited the tent, Jin-cheon folded his arms and kept nodding his head.
"There are similarities to our own unit."
"Mm."
A brothel village!
That was exactly it.
Much like the Gauri army, a kind of brothel settlement existed, composed of women from the impoverished lower classes. Though they were the lowest stratum, to these soldiers, those women were their hometown, their mothers, and their wives.
The soldiers who could not promise themselves tomorrow and the women who lived under ordinary people's scorn shared the same pain. Even if it did not apply to all of them, Jin-cheon understood them and had no thought of condemning them.
After all, it was the rotten seed of a broken ruling class.
"We're bringing all those women with us."
"Understood."
Hwi-garam smiled at Jin-cheon's words. Then, as if a thought had just struck him, Jin-cheon added one more thing.
"And contact the main camp. Tell those Stone kids that if they fail to produce a fixed quota of accessories every day, they don't eat. We'll use the money from selling those to sweep up every female slave we can find, using disguised merchant companies."
"Understood."
Unable to hold back his laughter, Hwi-garam offered a brief moment of condolence for the sorrows of Hwain Stone and the other two dwarves, who would surely wail upon hearing this decision.
The Stone group was being increasingly exploited by Jin-cheon, who was learning a little more about this world every day.
"Is Risel's condition alright?"
"He should have recovered by now."
Afflicted with the aftereffects of churning out teleport scrolls like a slave, Risel had spent the journey here lying comfortably(?) in a wagon. At Hwi-garam's reply, Jin-cheon nodded as if relieved and had Hailon, who was seated at one end of the tent, summon Risel.
A moment later, when a haggard-looking Risel stepped into the tent, Jin-cheon rose from his seat himself, approached, and clapped him on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry for pushing you too hard. Are you alright?"
"Huk!"
Jin-cheon's worried words went right to Risel's head like wind to empty sails. Seeing Risel's eyes wide open like a startled rabbit, Jin-cheon clicked his tongue and sat him down.
"Tch. Do I look like the sort of man who would work a patient to the bone?"
At those gentle words, Risel steadied his startled heart and caught his breath.
"Haa...... hahaha. Not at all. Thanks to Your Majesty's concern, my body is already fully healed."
"Is that so!"
"Huk!"
Seeing Jin-cheon answer instantly as if he had been waiting for that exact response, Risel sensed the bleakness of his own future.