Ch.167Psychological Warfare.

After long deliberation, a bad move.

This idiom means that the more you overthink something, the worse the outcome becomes.

A similar saying is “An imperfect plan executed immediately is better than a perfect plan executed an hour later.”

Both sayings urge quick judgment and action, because time isn’t only available to you but also to your enemies. On the battlefield where strategies are urgently needed, an imperfect plan that can be implemented immediately can counter a perfect plan that comes too late.

Whatever the case, a strategy is a strategy, and it’s possible to fight according to even a messy operational plan.

Moreover, having an operational plan means it can be modified, and if mission-type command systems are in place giving subordinate commanders discretion, they can respond to situations much more flexibly.

To explain with a gaming analogy:

In an RTS game, you’ve gathered your forces and are deliberating whether to split them for harassment or use them as one large unit to destroy the enemy base. But if the enemy starts harassing you first, you’ll end up having to split your gathered forces anyway, won’t you?

Taking control of the situation away from the enemy…

That was the true goal of an “imperfect plan.”

“…So, what do you think?”

“It’s a mess. Half of it is gambling, I’d say.”

“So… what will you do?”

“Follow it.”

And that maxim held true in this world as well.

While the Fahrenheit forces were in disarray over the Sword Master’s absence, Amurtat’s forces, having completed minimal preparations and reorganization, were ready to advance again.

“Issue orders to subordinate units. We will form an encirclement.”

“Yes, sir!”

“All units! Prepare to march!”

“All non-commissioned officers, confirm your unit headcount!”

The essence of this operation was to surround three cities with inexperienced recruits.

Since the Amurtat side controlled the entire coastline, the plan aimed to create just one line to complete the encirclement.

However, surrounding not one but three cities with mostly inexperienced recruits was essentially suicidal—at best, a gamble.

They only had about 100,000 troops under command, so encircling three cities would mean their encirclement line would have to be as thin as a spider’s web.

“But even a spider’s web can’t be broken unless someone brings a knife to cut it.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing.”

However thin a line might be, something is needed to cut it before it can break.

In the panicking Fahrenheit camp, would they be able to detect and respond to Amurtat’s movements in advance?

Sword Master Ignatz von Jäger believed they would not.

*

“Intelligence report! Amurtat forces are advancing toward the southern coast with an army of 100,000! They appear to be surrounding the cities!”

“What!”

“Encirclement…? With just 100,000?”

As Tiberius had predicted, the counterattack operation that had been under discussion was instantly disrupted by Amurtat, who had moved one step ahead of their enemy.

In its place on the map were predictions of Amurtat’s army’s path and support measures for the cities likely to be surrounded.

The passive nature of those who had lost control of the situation was clearly evident.

“The enemy is advancing straight from this point.”

“Then… could they possibly be planning to surround Wyben, Cherkal, and Veilum all at once…?”

“Reckless…! It’s impossible with just 100,000…!”

“No, we must not be careless. The enemy has cannons. Plus, there are enemy cities in the rear… if they coordinate an attack, conquering the three nations wouldn’t be difficult.”

“…Damn! What about the Sword Master? Has he joined that 100,000?”

“N-no. According to intelligence, he’s still at the supply base…”

At this, the strategists tore at their hair.

First, abandoning the vassal states was out of the question, so troops had to be sent no matter what.

But how many?

They couldn’t simply match the enemy’s 100,000 with their own 100,000. Since the enemy had nations remaining in their rear, they needed to send enough troops to deal with those as well, but large forces inevitably moved more slowly.

Yet while they debated around the table, the enemy continued to advance, and Wyben, Cherkal, and Veilum were being surrounded.

If they didn’t hurry to send troops, the encirclement line would be drawn, and reinforcements numbering over 500,000 would come rushing in.

Of course, since they wouldn’t pass through checkpoints, their marching speed would be slow, but the existence of such forces in the rear was a dead end for those who needed to send reinforcements.

In simple terms, it went like this:

The enemy sends 100,000 troops!

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Then we should send about 100,000 too!

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But the enemy has allies in their rear who can send reinforcements!

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Then we should send a bit more!

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But what if the Sword Master intervenes when our numbers are too high?

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Then let’s send knights who can break through the encirclement!

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Knights are too few, and siege engines can’t keep up with their mobility, so we can’t bring them!

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Let’s put knights at the vanguard and have soldiers pull siege engines behind them!

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But then we’d have to match the soldiers’ pace, so wouldn’t it be even slower?

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Then the knights can arrive first to draw attention while the soldiers arrive later!

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But wouldn’t the knights be swept away by gunpowder weapons even if they arrive first?

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Fuck, what are we supposed to do?!

…That’s roughly how it went.

When no conclusion could be reached no matter what they tried, Fahrenheit eventually prepared a large army of 400,000 and began to march to intercept Amurtat.

“Hurry! We must crush the Amurtat forces before the encirclement is complete!”

“Destroy Amurtat!!!”

*

Meanwhile, the commander of the forces advancing to isolate the three nations from the Fahrenheit camp halted the movement of troops after seeing that the encirclement line was about half complete.

“That’s enough for the encirclement line! Now for formation training!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Formation training! Gather by units!”

This bizarre behavior, which could only be described as sudden and out of nowhere, was actually part of Ignatz’s calculated plan.

Formations are used when engaging the enemy, and naturally, practicing formations and advancing in formation are indistinguishable from the outside.

Moreover, most of the 100,000 troops assigned here were rookies who had received training but no combat experience. Asking such rookies to form an encirclement line was unreasonable from the start.

They needed additional training, but with no time to spare, the order was to substitute actual marching for marching drills and to practice formations near enemy lines.

It was an absurd operation, but no one objected.

Because Ignatz was a Sword Master, and the deaths of 100,000 soldiers would be far preferable to the death of a Sword Master.

Besides, enemy scouts aren’t just for show.

They would be watching the formation training from afar, and not knowing the details, they would mistake the training soldiers for troops actually advancing in formation.

And as with any army, training always looks impressive.

“So, they’ve gone back?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well. I never imagined we’d receive orders not to capture scouts.”

“Is that what was on your mind? I couldn’t imagine formation training in enemy territory.”

“When you reach the level of Sword Master, I suppose ordinary perspectives like ours don’t matter.”

After allowing the scouts to leave with their good misunderstanding, the encirclement line was deployed very slowly, and each unit continued to take turns practicing formations.

Being in enemy territory created a subtle tension where it was hard to tell if this was training or actual combat, which greatly improved the quality of the training.

Also, seeing these troops constantly training, the three nations came to the conclusion Ignatz had predicted: that this was merely a show of force.

“They wouldn’t come all this way just to practice formations, and they wouldn’t deliberately avoid capturing scouts, so their goal must be encirclement rather than attack—clearly a strategy to force our surrender by displaying their strength.”

“Yes, that must be it. What madman would deliberately build a flimsy encirclement line and then conduct formation training? Unless they had some insane plan to bring poorly trained soldiers all the way here for training, it must be psychological warfare.”

While their thinking wasn’t wrong, their conclusions were completely off, creating a curious phenomenon where Amurtat’s eccentric behavior was dismissed as psychological warfare.