Ch.225Rotaring Punishment War (5)

“Grand General, your orders!”

“…Let’s wait.”

Meanwhile, the Empire’s Grand General is deep in thought.

The difference in skill between the Imperial and Rotaring armies is too great, so they must not fight while it’s raining. They should fight right after the rain stops, when Rotaring’s weapons are soaked with moisture and rendered useless.

But now the situation is too urgent to maintain these preconditions.

‘What happened to… the detachment?’

An hour ago, a massive fire broke out in the forest where the detachment was headed, visible even from the main force.

He urgently sent messengers toward the detachment to find out what was happening, but the messengers couldn’t reach them due to the massive wall of fire and had to return empty-handed.

If that fire consumed the detachment, things have gone wrong and they should retreat without delay… but what if it didn’t cause much damage? What if they even managed to break through the flames and successfully bypass the river?

Then if the main force retreats, it would result in losing the entire detachment. A detachment of 20,000 troops, no less.

‘…Right, at times like this, it’s best to observe the enemy’s reaction to determine what happened to the detachment.’

That fire is clearly man-made. It’s impossible to imagine a natural fire spreading so rapidly.

This means Rotaring knew about the detachment’s flanking maneuver.

By observing the Rotaring army’s reaction, he could make some inferences about what happened to the detachment.

If the detachment’s bypass was successful, they would anxiously pull back their front line; if it failed, they would simply remain in place and maintain their fortifications.

“How is the Rotaring army reacting? My eyes are dim, and with this rain, I can’t see well.”

“Hmm… Apart from setting up tents to place their weapons under, there’s no particular movement.”

“Any signs of retreat?”

“None whatsoever.”

“…I see.”

Then what needs to be done is simple.

If they remain still, they’ll slowly wither away.

“We must rescue the detachment in danger. All forces, move out!!”

“Yes, sir!!!”

It’s hard to imagine that a force of 20,000 would be completely annihilated, but if the Rotaring army is that confident, something must have happened to the detachment.

In that case, even if it means leading the entire main force, they must support the detachment. Especially since the fire would prevent them from performing at their best; if they don’t rush to rescue those 20,000 men, something terrible could happen.

Above all, the detachment was headed to a place where they could bypass the river, so moving toward them would still achieve the objective of reaching Dijon. There’s nothing to lose by having the main force move in the direction of the detachment.

“…They’re moving. We should prepare too. Send messengers to the reserves and His Majesty.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

And Simon, watching this entire scene from across the river through a telescope, decides to indulge in a bit of greed.

Although the Rotaring army is qualitatively superior to the Imperial army, they haven’t fully mobilized yet, resulting in a five-fold numerical disadvantage. But Simon isn’t someone lacking in ambition enough to miss such a good opportunity.

It seems the plan to roast the entire Imperial army has failed, but ironically, the rain has provided an even better opportunity.

The rain will make it impossible to use various firearms, but that hardly matters. The advantages of terrain and climate more than make up for it.

……….

Nearly three hours have passed since the rain began, but the Imperial army’s situation hasn’t changed much from when the fire was raging.

The rain may have prevented everyone from burning alive, but that doesn’t mean the Imperial detachment can survive safely.

“The bows are ruined!”

“Formation! Maintain formation!!”

“The spears…! Damn it, where are the spare weapons?”

“There aren’t any!”

“Use the trees as obstacles and hold out!! Our allies will surely come to rescue us, so hold out until then!!”

“We must repay the Lord who saved us from the terrible fire with rain!”

As soon as the flames disappeared, Rotaring forces poured into the position.

Although the detachment members are all relatively skilled, having been entrusted with an important mission, their skills are completely useless in the current situation.

Despite the numerical difference of several times, the Imperial detachment is in a half-burned state; everyone is extremely exhausted and clustered together too tightly to form a proper formation, making them helpless against Rotaring’s attacks.

Clang!

“What the—*cough*…!”

Above all, the attacking Rotaring forces are in perfect condition, leaving the Imperial detachment in a state where they can do absolutely nothing.

The pouring rain minimizes the friction of swords and spears, making it impossible for the Imperial forces to use their weapons effectively.

Imperial soldiers are dying in droves as their sword trajectories go awry after just a single exchange.

“What about retreat?!”

“There is none, all paths are blocked!”

“Ugh… We must break through by any means necessary! Gather all available forces and concentrate on a single point!”

The ring of fire has merely been replaced by a ring of iron; from the Imperial army’s perspective, the situation hasn’t improved at all.

Of course, they’ve gone from waiting helplessly for death to being able to do something, but being able to do something doesn’t necessarily mean the situation can improve.

The Imperial forces, looking toward that thread of hope, end up depleting their strength even more because of it.

“…I surrender.”

“Your Excellency?!”

“For nearly three hours, everyone has done their best, but the battle situation hasn’t improved. If we were facing flames, there would be no room for dialogue, but they are still human, so can’t we negotiate?”

And the heir to the Prince-Elector of Maisen makes a difficult decision after witnessing all this.

Though they were saved from the fire by God’s miracle, sadly, these are demons who blaspheme against God.

These demons, despite experiencing God’s miracle, not only fail to repent but are determined to kill us all.

Though I have no face to show the late Prince-Elector who has gone to God’s side, isn’t this a better choice than having everyone here meet a futile death?

“However… I don’t think they will accept our surrender. Above all, isn’t Rotaring known for killing all captured nobles without exception?!”

“That’s right. They didn’t even offer the customary invitation to surrender! They intend to kill us all!”

“For the sake of avenging His Highness the Prince-Elector, we must all fight to the end!!”

The knights and nobles strongly oppose the heir’s decision.

It’s inevitable, as Rotaring’s army has been extremely cruel on the battlefield thus far.

Since the days of the Duchy of Burgon, they’ve killed all captured Carolingian nobles, and even looking at the recent rebellions of Rotaring nobles, they didn’t accept the surrender of their own nobles and killed as many as they could.

If they treat their own nobles like that, it’s impossible to imagine how they would treat foreign nobles.

“…I apologize, I misspoke.”

“Not at all, given the dire situation, it’s natural for Your Excellency to consider all possibilities.”

The heir apologizes with great lamentation at the nobles’ persuasive objections.

Literally, in the current situation, there’s no way to avoid a future where everyone dies. The only path left for the Imperial detachment is to resist to the last man while inflicting damage on the Rotaring forces.

“Then, in honor of the late Prince-Elector who has gone to God’s side, until the very last—what’s this?”

The heir was about to declare a final resistance, raising his water-soaked sword, but stops mid-sentence upon seeing the strange behavior of the Rotaring forces.

‘Why are they pulling back?’

The Rotaring forces, who until just now were pressing forward as if to kill everyone, are now quietly retreating as if nothing had happened.

Not just the heir, but the knights, nobles, and soldiers are all puzzled rather than pleased by this scene.

No matter how they think about it, there’s absolutely no reason for the Rotaring army to pull back at this moment. When humans suddenly receive an unimaginable benefit for free, they tend to be suspicious and cautious rather than happy.

The forest, which until moments ago was filled with the sounds of metal and screams, now only echoes with the sound of raindrops hitting leaves and steel.

“Brothers!!”

“Ah, aah…”

And the Imperial detachment soon realizes why the Rotaring forces suddenly retreated.

In the distance, what they had been waiting for so desperately is approaching.

Everyone has slight doubts about how they arrived so quickly, given that the main force’s position was more than 3 hours away, but not a single person seriously contemplates this question.

Only relief at being alive fills the minds of the Imperial soldiers.

“Ugh… I’m sorry for arriving so late, we should have moved faster…”

“Haha… What are you saying? It’s rather surprising that you arrived so quickly. Moreover, we are the ones who should apologize.”

The knight from the Imperial main force apologizes in shock at the horrific situation where roughly half of the 20,000-strong detachment has perished, but no one in the Imperial detachment blames the knight or the main force behind him.

They are simply grateful that help arrived before everyone died.

“Normally, we should have attacked the retreating Rotaring forces as soon as we confirmed reinforcements had arrived, but we couldn’t do that.”

“What are you saying? It’s fortunate enough that you survived like this.”

“That’s—ugh… May I rest for a moment?”

“Of course, now that we’ve arrived, the numerically disadvantaged Rotaring forces won’t attack, and we’ll need to stay here for a while to deal with this disaster.”

The reunited Imperial army decides not to advance but to first sort out the casualties and address the situation.

According to the plan, they should march to bypass the river after joining with the detachment, but the Imperial detachment is in no condition to walk anymore. Since they can’t abandon them here, and with the rain falling and the sun almost setting, they decide to stay in this forest.

“Your Excellency…! The Rotaring army has crossed the river! We must quickly leave this forest and retreat in a direction away from the Rotaring forces!”

“…What?”

But the Imperial army cannot rest.

Simon’s army, which until just now was stuck on the other side of the river, has crossed and is advancing.

Everyone in the Imperial army is puzzled that a large force has crossed the river despite the strong currents caused by the rain, but there’s no time to dwell on that puzzlement.

“Your Highness!! Rotaring forces have appeared ahead. And their military banner… bears the emblem of the Rotaring royal family.”

“…”

Since all members of the Rotaring royal family are immature except for one, there is only one person who could be using a banner with the royal emblem.

The Imperial forces who have entered the forest all instinctively sense that something has gone terribly wrong.