The Empire's Hive of Chaos – A Massive Rebel Force Unveiled
The time wrapped in a heavy darkness.
Most of the soldiers not assigned to the watch duty had already fallen asleep, yet the Imperial army camp was alive with noise, as if it had been stabbed by a thousand bees.
“W-what... what is that?”
“S-surely... those many things... are all rebels?”
In the rebel stronghold located half a day’s journey from here, countless torches lit the night, capturing the movements of the enemy in real time.
Despite the considerable distance, the rebel army’s scale was clearly visible. The problem was that the size of the rebels now visible to the Imperial eyes far exceeded what anyone had imagined.
Countless torches blanketed the entire flat plain around the fort, far surpassing the scale originally expected. The ordinary soldiers of the Imperial camp, as well as the high-ranking officers, were seized by a heavy wave of fear.
“J-just... how many are there?”
“Even if we estimate conservatively, at least two to three thousand... no, more like ten thousand.”
“That can’t be right. According to the reports, the enemy said they only had about ten thousand including reinforcements!”
“Still... you can see it with your own eyes, General. A light of that scale must mean a force of that size.”
“Hmph...”
In truth, even Grand General Burgoyne himself found the scale of the enemy before him roughly in that ballpark.
However, despite seeing it with his own two eyes, the sheer vastness of the enemy numbers made the Grand General feel his mind spinning.
‘Where in the world did such a force come from... Wait, just a moment. I heard that quite a few of the local settlers had already joined the rebels before we arrived. Is it possible that...?’
According to the scouts’ reports, the sight of soldiers joining the rebel army continued to emerge from numerous settlement villages nearby. This was the result of General Neto’s looting of military supplies, which worsened the civilian resentment, and the rebels’ active exploitation of that situation to stir up the people. It was clear that the rebel numbers were swelling by the moment.
Such an ever-growing enemy force could not be grasped through simple scouting alone. Therefore, Grand General Burgoyne reached the conclusion that, though absurd, this situation was far from impossible.
‘Even if these are untrained militia with insufficient combat power... it’s not good. If we are overwhelmed in troop numbers like this, major revisions to our existing strategy will be unavoidable.’
Originally, Grand General Burgoyne’s plan had been to deploy troops in all directions and attack the settlement villages that had sided with the rebels, slowly pressing the enemy from the outside. Since the Imperial forces held a numerical advantage, the primary goal was to provoke the enemy into a conventional battle that would suit the Imperial side.
However, with the enemy now overwhelming them in scale, the situation had changed drastically. Even if these were untrained militia, a single shot from their rifles would kill an unseasoned regular soldier just as easily.
Attempting a shallow deployment against an overwhelming army would risk being cut off at the weak points, and the already fragile balance would tip further under accumulated losses.
‘More importantly, losing troops here would be the end for us, but the enemy continues to receive reinforcements. A single defeat would be fatal. Damn it... General Neto really complicated matters to the very end.’
Grand General Burgoyne already knew about the native soldier Gande and understood how his execution had pushed the civilian sentiment to its lowest point. But even if he had Gande executed now, it would be far too late to reverse the situation. Moreover, doing so would only further erode the morale of the native soldiers.
With no way left to salvage the civilian sentiment, Grand General Burgoyne concluded that they must force an early decisive battle.
‘Still, it’s fortunate that the enemy commander is the foolish General Gates. To command such a large force in such a way... truly pitiful.’
Honestly, if they had secretly moved two to three thousand troops and launched a major offensive, it would have caused no small headache. But the overall commander of that place was General Horatio Gates, the second-in-command of the rebels, yet a man whose incompetence and useless stubbornness were already well known.
From the way he was advancing his troops, it seemed he was deliberately illuminating the night with torches to dominate the situation and, in the process, suppress any discontent. Judging by the movement, he was likely occupying and fortifying advantageous high ground in the area.
Thanks to that arrogance, however, Grand General Burgoyne was able to devise a countermeasure that would immediately reverse the difficult situation.
‘Even gathering riffraff into an army would be useless. You foolish rebels, I’ll settle this with you here and now!’
Having reached that conclusion, Grand General Burgoyne immediately issued orders to the officers.
*
“Swallow...”
Watching the moving massive army before his eyes, Franklin could not help but swallow dryly.
‘I knew about it from the stories, but seeing it like this... the general is truly a general. The force has clearly grown two to three times its original size.’
The troops were spreading slowly across the plain, filling it and heading toward the nearby high ground.
However, upon closer inspection from nearby.
It was possible to realize that these were far from the enormous force they appeared to be.
At this moment, the soldiers marching were each carrying a small barricade on their shoulders. At both ends of the barricade, several torches were tightly bound and placed, and the soldiers themselves were holding torches instead of weapons.
Each soldier carried at least three, up to four or five torches. With such camouflage, the actual few thousand soldiers appeared in an instant as a force numbering in the tens of thousands, and their movements gave the impression of a large army deploying.
In short, the rebel army had created a force of tens of thousands in half a day to deceive the enemy’s eyes.
And all of this had come from the mind of the man standing beside Franklin at this very moment.
“How is it, General? Does it not seem convincing?”
“Magnificent... When I heard the explanation, I was still somewhat doubtful. Now that I’ve seen it with my own eyes, even I might fall for it.”
At this moment, the usual cool-headedness left Franklin as she genuinely admired the scene.
Watching her, Cromwell’s lips curved into a faint smile, and Franklin, her cheeks slightly flushed, answered with a smile of her own.
Then.
“Still... no matter what, the enemy will surely suspect. Even if the sudden appearance of such a force is understandable, displaying troops in such a movement...”
Sub-Commander Benellita Arnold voiced her concern.
In response, Cromwell answered in a calm voice.
“Do not worry. If it were anyone else, suspicion might arise. But knowing our overall commander is General Gates, they will not suspect it. On the contrary, they will likely mock the general for openly revealing the troop scale. Especially if the opponent is that Grand General Burgoyne.”
“Hmm... indeed. You’re right.”
Sub-Commander Benellita Arnold gave a small cough in response to Cromwell’s subtle jab at Gates.
With the overall commander of their side being reliable enough to ease those worries, they began to move after leaving the deployed troops at the pre-arranged location.
“Then, let us proceed to the next stage.”
“Understood. But are you certain it’s safe? Although we selected only the trained elite, the number of troops given to you, Cromwell, seems too few.”
Franklin asked once more with concern.
Feeling that she was thinking of him more than before, Cromwell answered with a touch of gratitude.
“Do not worry about that. Giving a shallow large force is far less efficient than this approach.”
“Well... if you say so... I see. Then we shall proceed as planned. But be careful. Winning this war is important, but your safety is... hmm... very important to the rebel army.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind, General. After this war ends, let us drink as before.”
“...”
Two people conversing side by side, feeling a slight embarrassment mixed with some odd flag, had a strange air about them.
Benellita sighed softly to herself and said in a calm voice, “Let us hurry. We must finish our work before the buffalo enters our camp.”
*
Immediately after the rebels’ large-scale movement, an urgent Imperial army meeting was held.
After the short yet intense discussion ended,
Grand General Burgoyne declared in a serious voice to everyone,
“Then, we will advance on the enemy at dawn. Although they are scattered, vigilance is still essential. The enemy has a force twice our size, so without hesitation, we must break through their center and seize the fort with the momentum.”
“Yes, General.”
“We entrust it to you, General.”
A tactical breakthrough optimized for the Imperial elite army. Due to General Gates’ foolish judgment, the troops were scattered in all directions. They had resolved to end everything with a short, decisive battle.
“Very well. Then prepare yourselves. Tomorrow morning’s breakfast will be at the heart of the enemy—Fort Stanwix!”
With those words, the officers scattered in all directions.
Watching this, Grand General Burgoyne smiled faintly and said in a quiet voice to the enemy commander positioned opposite him,
‘No matter how many troops you hold, you will not be my match. Gates... on this opportunity, I will cut off your head!’
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