The Night Attack Turns to Bloody Despair
"You didn't respond at all, and that's why you lost!"
“What... what does that even mean? Retreat? Leaving all the meat we've caught behind and going back? We could finish them off right now if we attacked...”
“General's order. The enemy's reinforcement has launched a surprise attack, so we must retreat immediately.”
“No... reinforcements? How much could they be? It's Cromwell over there! We can't just leave that rat in the trap and go back!”
Neto's sudden retreat order delivered through the adjutant.
Richard reacted with violent defiance, simultaneously considering the consequences of insubordination in his mind.
Cromwell, whose aura was depleted and could no longer block magic, was now vulnerable.
If they pushed just a little harder, they could kill the bastard for sure.
For Richard, Cromwell was a far more important target than George, the rebel commander, so she had decided this was the perfect chance to eliminate him.
“Go tell the general! We can't let that backstabber who will haunt us in the future be left alive! I won't return until I finish off these bastards!”
Richard, showing a fierce stance, prepared to order the soldiers to charge.
However,
“We can't do that, Richard!”
William replied to her with a voice heavy with cold fury.
“Are you planning to defy General Neto's order? After stabbing me in the back, now you're going to disobey your superior's instructions?”
“Stabbing in the back? You didn't listen to me and charged in alone and failed! Where did...”
“If you had just responded properly back then, the battle would have ended long ago! Thinking of your comrades as shields and abandoning them, I was stupid to consider someone like you a friend!”
William began expressing hostility toward Richard in a heated tone.
Although his own reckless actions had been foolish, at this moment his mind saw Richard's fault in sitting idle while his soldiers were beaten to a pulp as dozens or even hundreds of times greater than his own “small” mistake.
“I did warn you! The one who ignored it is you! Now what? If you're stupid, you should have listened. Instead, I kept my troops intact, so this opportunity is still here!”
“You bastard...”
With hundreds of his own soldiers injured and fallen, all because she had not helped, William raised his staff and pointed it at Richard's neck.
“! You... you bastard... what kind of thing is this to your comrade?”
“Comrades like you are no longer needed! You dirty traitor! I'll kill you right here and go, paying for the lives of my subordinates!”
“Stop it both of you! This is not the time to fight each other! The general's order is to immediately carry out the retreat, or he will enforce it by military law!”
The adjutant's decisive words cutting through the worsening atmosphere.
Richard and William ground their teeth but had no choice but to step back one pace.
Since he had issued the threat of military law, they had no choice but to obey no matter how dissatisfied they were.
So the two began retreating while glaring at each other.
Damn it! In the end I have to leave Cromwell behind... This opportunity won't come often, but General Neto made such a stupid judgment...
Richard, unable to shake off the lingering attachment to the end, looked at the rebel army shouting victory and Cromwell at its center with a cold gaze.
*
“Retreat! All troops move west quickly!”
The imperial army began retreating hastily under Neto's order.
But because the order came so suddenly, the soldiers were unable to act quickly and stood in confusion.
They had prepared for battle and couldn't dismantle the tents and pack up in time, and moreover, from the east and south the rebel army was rapidly pushing this way.
“T-the rebels are here!”
“Stop them! Discard the baggage and block them now!”
The imperial soldiers threw away their baggage and hastily swung their weapons.
But the clumsy counterattack made without even forming a proper formation posed little threat to the rebels.
What effectively blocked the rebels was the mages and warriors within the imperial army.
Thanks to being able to handle mana, they could exert one hundred times the power of one person, so even if few in number they could be quite threatening to the militiamen.
Thanks to the high-level troops' performance, the imperial army carried out the retreat order while minimizing damage.
Watching this, Franklin, after ordering to stop the pursuit, clicked her tongue with regret.
Tsk... If we had even a little more mage on our side, we could have wiped out about 30% of the enemy. The difference in power was really too big.
The rebel army had an extremely large disadvantage in both quantity and quality of troops.
Nevertheless, only about 600 imperial soldiers died in this battle, while among Franklin's 500 subordinates, only about 20 casualties.
Moreover, about 40% of the enemy's camp was turned to ashes, seriously damaging supplies.
This was more than enough to call it a great victory, and Franklin raised her sword as a sign of victory, feeling a bit of regret.
“Uwaaaaa!!!”
“We won! We defeated the imperial army!”
A miracle victory that just a few days ago people had been thinking about death.
The rebel soldiers cheered in joy,
Franklin also began to show a deep smile on her lips.
However, at this moment,
the smile on her lips was not just a smile related to the joy of victory.
Indeed... indeed, it's Captain Cromwell! It really all happened as you said! No matter what, the one I recognized is different!
So, feeling the hot emotion for that man burning again in her heart.
Franklin was seized with a strong desire to see Cromwell's face, the protagonist of this war and her idol, as soon as possible, and gave orders to the soldiers.
“Then some will stay to clean up the situation here, and the rest will go north to check on the situation of our allies. Follow me.”
“Yes, General.”
So, pretending to be calm, while feeling a burning feeling, Franklin urged the horses to move as if the soldiers following her couldn't keep up.
*
“Kheueok!”
“Kueuk!”
After barely succeeding in retreating, the imperial army reorganized their camp.
There, General Neto was giving kicks to the two officers in front of him with a distorted expression like a demon.
“You bastards! You call yourselves generals? William! No matter how much you are blinded by the prize, you can't do that. You made such a stupid mistake with the troops? About 300 soldiers died because of you! Almost half of my subordinate troops lost! Are you a person with thoughts or without?”
“Cluck... Ki... Please kill me, General!”
William lying on the floor, body trembling.
At this moment, instead of the pain from the kick, the feeling of humiliation was more painful in his heart.
Then, Neto's gaze turned to Richard, who was also lying on the floor.
“And Richard... while William was being beaten like that, you just sat there with your hands off? Watching popcorn while your comrade was being beaten like a dog?”
“I... I just wanted to avoid meaningless sacrifice! If there had been a little more time, I could have brought Cromwell's head...”
“Because of your dragging out the work, I didn't think that the enemy's reinforcement would turn our camp upside down! That's why I was fortunate to retreat quickly. If it weren't for your shitty judgment, we would have been killed! You bastard! I won't forgive you, but where do you have the cheek to mock like a dog!”
“...”
Neto general venting anger and pouring curses on Richard.
Watching this, Richard had no choice but to feel her stomach boiling.
You made the shitty judgment! If the reinforcement was really an overwhelming army, we wouldn't have ended up with this much damage!
The rebel army that attacked appropriately and then stopped.
That meant the reinforcement was not that big, and it simply meant that General Neto was scared and messed up.
However, at this moment, since he wouldn't eat it if he said that, Richard just held back his curses tightly here, and started thinking about what would happen next.
Yeah, watch and see. Not only did you waste the perfect opportunity, but you dared to humiliate me like this? You trashy superior. I'll replace you right away!