Ch.191191. Guerrilla Forces (1)

After sending the orc prisoners to the rear through the mage tower’s soldiers, our guerrilla force resumed what could be considered our main purpose: guerrilla activities.

Members of the Transformation School’s Body Modification Research Society.

Eight intermediate mages and twenty lower-ranked ones, plus 320 troops directly under the research society.

From the Pantheon, 100 lower priests and 5 intermediate priests of the War God Chronima the Bloody Sword, along with 10 intermediate holy knights.

From the special infantry company dispatched by the Dwarf Kingdom.

100 dwarf warriors (lower-ranked) and five intermediate warriors, plus one multi-legged dwarf combat vehicle.

About 500 elite soldiers in total, and around 30 intermediates from various military branches.

Even with just these forces, we essentially possessed all the capabilities required of a guerrilla unit, but our guerrilla force was further augmented by my direct troops.

Three types of natural construct entities possessed by animal spirits, 100 units each with different combat styles.

40 elite mounted marksmen who, when limited to the purpose of guerrilla warfare, I was confident could become more powerful than any other military branch.

A total of 11 intermediate magical beasts (my animal friends excluding Hydra, plus Minerva), and two high-ranked druids commanding them all.

Though slightly lacking in infantry numbers, this force—capable of easily overwhelming the army of a small nation—was running wild in the enemy’s rear, waging guerrilla warfare.

The typical guerrilla tactics involve thoroughly avoiding direct confrontation while focusing on sabotage, and if necessary, engaging in combat only after setting booby traps and launching surprise attacks.

Since guerrilla forces typically operate under the premise of being at a disadvantage, they keep their equipment light for mobility, focusing on disrupting rear areas or capturing supply lines rather than direct combat—gradually wearing down the enemy through guerrilla warfare.

However, with our level of military strength, things are different.

The reason guerrilla forces typically focus on guerrilla operations while avoiding combat is because the benefits gained from rear disruption outweigh those of reckless fighting…

So what would you call a guerrilla force capable of facing regular combat units equipped for full-scale warfare?

…Actually, we decided to call ourselves a mobile force.

What could be as fast as a guerrilla unit organized for special operations yet capable of openly defeating any decent combat unit if not a mobile combat force?

A mentally deranged unit where everyone is either mechanized or mounted on vehicles that don’t tire, allowing them to run endlessly without worrying about physical fatigue, and yet somehow includes two high-ranked individuals.

To put it bluntly, we currently function as part of a modified “anvil and hammer” tactic, where we freely rampage as the hammer while the anvil (main force) holds the line.

We spread wolf and crow animal spirits widely across the plains for reconnaissance, and when an enemy warband is discovered, we immediately concentrate our forces to annihilate them.

“Go, my friends!”

Due to the characteristics of orcs as a species, we tie up the intermediate warriors leading the charge with my animal friends, while sending in the “expendable” bear spirit constructs to collapse the orcs’ loose formation.

Then the War God’s priests charge in on horseback through the broken formation to hunt down the remaining orcs, while the mage tower’s soldiers and dwarves join from the flanks, pouring in gunfire.

If there are enemy mages, Sophia disrupts their casting with simple celestial magic, attempts to reverse their mana flow, and if that fails, simply guns them down with “Starlight Bullets” enchanted with guaranteed hit effects.

At this point, the infantry in the rear gradually begin to flee.

It might sound strange that battle-crazed orcs would flee from combat, but from the orcs’ perspective, retreating from an unfavorable situation is simply “common sense.”

After all, if they die, they won’t be able to enjoy exciting battles anymore, right?

Even the boldest orc isn’t completely fearless of death, and thus even the most daring orcs feel the terror of being unable to fight anymore when facing imminent death.

…This makes them sound quite insane, but since orcs actually are insane, let’s move on.

Anyway, as orcs begin to regain their sense of reality, they gradually turn their backs and start to flee, but since our goal is annihilation, we can’t just leave these orcs who would obviously join other warbands.

Therefore, to sweep away these deserters in one go, we typically position at least one intermediate-ranked fighter in the rear…

‘…My lady, you may fire.’

[Yes, if you say so—!!!]

This time, Lady Dorthea took on that intermediate role.

Riding the celestial horse Pegasus, an intermediate magical beast, and flying through the sky, she finished the incantation of her charged spell the moment the enemies came into view, and simultaneously swung the sword in her hand, pouring a massive crimson torrent down to the ground.

The cross-shaped red light flashed once before pouring down in the form of slashes—this energy torrent, eerily resembling the texture and color of blood, was actually composed of divine power.

Of course, the power of an area attack spell cast by a holy knight, who inevitably lacks mass firepower, would be almost meaningless against opponents of the same rank, but her targets were merely fleeing stragglers.

Thus, this blood-colored energy swept away all those miscellaneous soldiers, and watching this, one couldn’t help but think:

‘…Is she really a holy knight of a benevolent deity?’

It feels like the smell of blood is vibrating all the way here—it seems somewhat strange that someone using such power would be classified under a benevolent deity.

※ ※ ※

This happened after we annihilated an orc warband centered around mounted cavalry.

‘…That was pathetic.’

After blasting off the head of a boldly charging orc intermediate berserker with my staff, I sat on the fallen orc’s body when my disciple—who recently joined as my 11th animal friend—approached me.

[Master, what should I do with this?]

“The head? …Just burn it. They don’t even flinch when they see severed heads anyway.”

There was a time when we tried to break their morale by cutting off heads and mounting them on poles, but when we saw the orcs become even more frenzied at the sight, that idea completely disappeared.

[Understood, Master.]

So now we simply burn the bodies to prevent undead from arising. When I gave the order, my disciple picked up the head and was about to leave when…

[…Master, I have a question.]

“What is it?”

[In battles between high-ranked individuals, can lower-ranked individuals truly make a meaningful difference?]

The disciple finally voiced “that question” which has been passed down continuously since the rank classification system was established.

Well, from an uninformed perspective, it’s certainly a reasonable doubt.

The difference in combat power between ranks is so “absolute” that the topic of “whether lower ranks are meaningful in battles between higher ranks” has consistently received much attention.

And to get straight to the conclusion… they are meaningful. They truly are.

Even if it doesn’t seem so, lower ranks can actually have a significant impact on battles between higher ranks.

“Disciple, among your techniques, you have one that enhances physical abilities, correct?”

[Yes, I do.]

“Well then, if a high-ranked warrior who received your physical enhancement technique fought against one who didn’t, which one would be more likely to win?”

[…Ah! I see!]

The most representative example is support, especially buff magic.

While a high-ranked magic user would provide stronger buff multipliers, that doesn’t mean spells cast by intermediate magic users are meaningless.

Though the enhancement ratio is relatively lower, it’s still sufficient to bring about meaningful changes on the battlefield.

Additionally, in combat between warriors, which includes ordinary soldiers, lower ranks can be plenty helpful.

“Let me give you another example. Disciple, could a properly trained lower-ranked warrior withstand an attack from an intermediate warrior?”

[…Yes. They’d retire immediately afterward, but they could somehow manage one hit.]

“Right. Then if another intermediate warrior counterattacks while the lower-ranked one is taking the hit?”

[…Ah!]

Well-trained soldiers, commonly called elite troops, can withstand at least one attack from an intermediate knight, and using gunpowder weapons or cold weapons filled with mana to their limit, they can deliver attacks powerful enough to make intermediate knights “pay attention.”

No matter how superhuman a knight may be, they will still die if they’re wounded somewhere, even if it takes a bit longer, so they can’t do everything alone.

“Is that explanation sufficient, disciple?”

[Yes! Thank you, Master!]

And right after this explanation ended, as I watched my disciple leave my room with a bright smile…

‘…Perhaps it’s time to prepare to end this.’

Thanks to our vigorous troublemaking, I began preparing to completely finish this war whose tide had gradually begun to turn.