Chapter 349
Chapter 349
Iron Emperor — Chapter 349
Once night fell, Commander-in-Chief Gerard and Fleet Commander Jang Bogo, accompanied by the wizard who had come with them, began slipping away from the uninhabited island. It was only a small skiff, hardly built for speed, but with the enthusiastic(?) assistance of Gerard's eternal companion, Pale, they were able to return swiftly.
"Oh! We'll have to move like this more often."
"I never imagined feeling this kind of speed at sea!"
[Wretched humans....]
As Gerard and Jang Bogo, back aboard the flagship, voiced their genuine admiration for Pale's ability, Pale, having barely dragged himself onto dry land, left behind a single desperate remark and then collapsed from utter exhaustion.
"There is a slight side effect, it seems."
"That part is a bit unfortunate."
Gerard and Bogo each made a comment of regret as they watched Pale being carried away by the soldiers. A moment later, the two of them spread the materials they had produced during their reconnaissance across a table and convened a meeting with the commanders of each sub-fleet. Having witnessed comparatively vivid scenes with the help of the wizard and Pale, they were able to convey the results of their reconnaissance in fine detail.
Once Gerard and Bogo finished relating everything they had observed and felt during the reconnaissance, the assembled commanders sank into silence.
"I call you here to hold a meeting, and you're staging a group mutiny?"
"Urgh."
"Tch."
Unable to stomach their silence any longer, Gerard growled and snapped at them, but all that came back were groans and sighs heavy enough to sink the ground.
"To be honest, even after seeing it firsthand, I'm just as stumped. It's a daunting prospect."
Bogo, wearing a bitter smile at the sight of them, spoke as if to shield them. At that, the sub-fleet commanders, who had been frowning in silence, each began to chime in.
"See, Captain?"
"You think we don't want to speak up?"
"There's no answer to this one."
Gerard, who had been wordlessly observing their behavior, flopped down into his seat and let out a deep sigh.
"There really isn't one."
"You're admitting it, Captain?"
"I'm saying you bastards have nothing in your heads."
"......."
At Gerard's sneering, the former pirates could only hang their heads and grumble.
"Captain. For now, aren't both the Holy Empire and the Maritime Empire essentially enemies to us?"
When Black Whale Walter cautiously spoke up, Gerard's expression brightened as he welcomed the remark.
"That's right, Teolbo! Did you come up with something good?"
"Well, it's, I mean..."
Perhaps feeling pressured by the expectant look in Gerard's eyes, Walter hesitated briefly before continuing.
"That, if we attack them in turns..."
"Head down. Lie flat."
"Aye! Captain."
The instant Gerard's verdict was delivered, Walter dropped to the ground and pressed his forehead to the floor. By this point, the rest of them had clamped their mouths shut as if padlocked and were doing nothing but exchanging wary glances.
"A bottle of top-shelf wine for the man who proposes a good plan."
"......."
"A hundred gold coins."
"......."
Even with Gerard's attempts at coaxing them, the pirates kept their mouths firmly shut and only shook their heads. Gerard, who had been scowling fiercely, shot them a glance and then, as if resorting to a final measure, played his last card.
"I'll have a word with Pale and arrange a date with a Siren lady..."
"We make the Empire Coalition bastards and the Holy Empire bastards fight each other!"
"They already gathered here to fight. Rejected!"
"We poison the food stores of both the Empire Coalition and Holy Empire soldiers and take them all out at once!"
"That poison. Are you going to go administer it yourself?"
"No."
"Rejected!"
The moment his words ended, the pirates began firing off suggestions with bloodshot eyes, like a rapid-fire volley, and Gerard adeptly batted them back. Of course, almost all of it was hastily cobbled-together nonsense that reeked of improvisation.
"First we wipe out the Empire Coalition bastards, then we wipe out the remaining Holy Empire bastards..."
"Did I tell you, Teolbo, head down?"
"Aye! Captain."
After sending Walter back to his original position for forgetting his plight and rehashing an earlier suggestion, Gerard lowered his head and sighed.
"If we just watch until both sides are exhausted and then hit whoever's left..."
"Who just said that!"
The moment that tantalizing proposition reached his ears, Gerard snapped his head up and demanded. From one end of the room, Santare raised his hand.
"Oh, the former bandit! Explain in detail."
"Heh heh heh, here's the thing, see. Back when I was doing the bandit trade, there was this one time the boys from the neighboring mountain camp got into a brawl with some tax collectors, see. And that time, I secretly led my lads out and hid, and after the fight was over, I took down the winning side and cleaned out all the goods, see."
"Which side had won?"
Listening to Santare launch into a lengthy, gleeful explanation, Gerard cut in with a question, and Santare answered proudly.
"The lads from the next mountain over!"
THWACK!
"Ghk!"
The moment the answer left his mouth, Gerard's fist flew in and sent Santare sprawling. Gerard didn't stop there; he pounced on him and started stomping while shouting.
"You honorless little bastard! You swindle people in the same line of work?!"
"Guuugh!"
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The violence, finally triggered in Gerard, was only barely halted when Bogo intervened to stop it.
"Hoo, anyway, you lot are no help at all."
"Commander-in-Chief."
As Gerard continued to simmer with frustration and sigh, Bogo approached him with a meaningful look and spoke.
"What?"
"They gathered here to fight anyway, so the best thing in every respect is to just let them pound on each other. And all we have to do is maintain the balance, isn't that right?"
"......!"
At Bogo's remark, Gerard's eyes flew wide open and he clapped his hands.
"That's right! It was that simple, wasn't it!"
"Exactly."
"Then we strike the Empire Coalition fleet!"
"Huh?"
At the solution Gerard presented, the pirates gaped in disbelief.
"We might be similar in ship count, but if we engage directly, we're no match for them!"
When Black Whale Walter shot to his feet in objection, Gerard smirked and laid out his answer.
"Obviously we don't engage head-on."
"Even an ambush is a bit difficult. Even though there are plenty of islands around, our fleet is not exactly small in number."
"Nearly all the enemy have already disembarked, and most of their ships are empty. On top of that, most of the Holy Empire’s warships have been destroyed. The Empire Coalition may have secured command of the sea with today’s battle, but they still don’t know we exist. Understand?"
"Mmm."
It was a valid point. But Walter's expression still refused to relax.
Gerard paused to catch his breath, then laid out the reason they had to target the Empire Coalition fleet.
"There's no helping it. This is the best option. The reason we strike the Empire Coalition fleet is precisely to drive home the fact that they have no place to retreat. To put it bluntly, if things start to look even a little unfavorable in the fight, the Empire Coalition might think they can just flee out to sea. Why? Because they hold command of the sea."
At Gerard's explanation, Santare, who had been dumped like a corpse to one side, raised his head, frowned, and made an objection.
"There's no guarantee they'd necessarily do that."
"Empire Coalition or not, when it comes to a land battle, those two empires can't keep up with the Holy Empire. Even the orcs over the back hill know that."
"Even so, I'm not sure that's reason enough to go out of our way to hit them..."
Although Santare and Walter acknowledged Gerard's words, something still nagged at them, and their faces remained twisted in undecided expressions. Reading their inner thoughts, Gerard calmly continued his explanation.
"If that happens, the picture we want won't materialize. That's why we have to block the Empire Coalition's line of retreat. Once their retreat is blocked, they'll have no choice but to fight desperately."
"Hmm."
He was creating a scenario of a last stand made not by choice, but by circumstance. At this point, the captains each began to ponder. While they were mulling it over, Gerard added one more remark.
"As for the method of approach, we'll take advantage of the timber-cutting we did for camouflage."
"If we do it right, it just might be possible."
After thinking it over at length, Walter finally showed approval. The other bandits slowly nodded in agreement. Seeing their opinions begin to shift, Gerard drove the point home.
"If we crush the Empire Coalition fleet, in the end, this sea becomes ours. No one will be able to stop us."
The sea!
For men of the sea, there could be no persuasion sweeter than this.
"All right then, shall we discuss the finer details?"
With their eyes already starting to glitter, Gerard spread the sea chart out over the table and began crafting the detailed operation. By then, the thought of a date with Sirens had long since vanished from their minds.
Chapter 121 — Prelude to the Punitive Expedition
Even though the marching speed suddenly quickened, the Gauri army kept up without growing ragged. In the first place, they were traveling light, so stragglers were out of the question. The only thing circulating among the Gauri soldiers was quiet curiosity over why the previously leisurely pace had abruptly increased.
"The scouts are returning."
In the distance, a party of horsemen pierced the darkness and approached. Yeon Hwi-garam confirmed their identity, then informed Go Jin-cheon of the scouting party's return. At the head of the scouts, Eulji Uru was personally riding hard.
"Everything’s already prepared!"
"Is that so."
At Uru's words as he spurred his horse alongside them, Go Jin-cheon gave a slight nod and continued swiftly forward. The Black Armored Ghost Cavalry followed close behind, refusing to be left behind. After advancing a little further, a forest covered in dense thickets came into view.
There, roughly a thousand soldiers were moving in a flurry of activity.
"Whoa."
Approaching Jin-cheon, who had reined in his horse, was Risel, who had departed ahead of them, his face weary.
"You’ve had a hard journey."
"Are you all right?"
Noticing Risel's somewhat pale complexion, Jin-cheon inquired after his condition in a tone that was brusque yet laced with concern. Fortunately, aside from fatigue from drawing heavily upon his mana, Risel had sustained no notable injuries.
"I am merely a little tired."
"In any case, get some rest from now on."
After ordering Risel to rest, Jin-cheon stepped in the direction Risel had come from. As he passed by, each of the thousand-odd soldiers offered their respective salutes and then immediately returned to their tasks.
While the soldiers who had rushed all this way stood bewildered at the scene unfolding before their eyes, Jin-cheon's resolute voice rang out.
"The retreat ends here!"
* * *
"Gauri’s Yeolje has arrived at the appointed location, it is reported."
At Marquis Bels's words, King Alsein nodded, though his expression showed a trace of excitement. Beside him, Duke Baikal openly wore his own complicated feelings on his face.
"It appears he truly means to go through with it."
Duke Baikal spoke with a slight quaver that betrayed his feelings.
"At first I thought it was a rash act driven by grief over the death of General Eulji Buru, but reflecting on it now, that was not the case."