Ch.272272. Total War (1)

Despite numerous warlords and heroes appearing on the Korean peninsula, only the Cult of Immortality was known as Seorabeol’s true nemesis.

This was natural, as countless warlords who opposed Seorabeol were crushed before they could shine, hit by the “reincarnation truck” of Seorabeol and dragged to the “prison” of this world. Only a tiny minority avoided this fate through plea bargains.

In other words, the Cult of Immortality was the only force that had survived opposing Seorabeol for a long time. While Seorabeol officially denied the Cult’s existence, internally they recognized it as a powerful force that had seized hegemony over the Korean peninsula—their only true nemesis.

Since their enemy Seorabeol thought this way, naturally the Cult of Immortality held similar views.

“In this Korean peninsula, the only force that can stand against Seorabeol is the Cult of Immortality!”

The Cult directly persuaded warlords who opposed Seorabeol, and like a true nemesis, they closely monitored Seorabeol’s internal movements. And the methods Seorabeol used against the Cult of Immortality…

“The strategy used by the Cult of Immortality—though the formation differs since their troops are undead—wasn’t that originally General Jeong Dong-geon’s strategy?”

“That’s right.”

They had thoroughly analyzed and successfully made it their own.

Especially during the Ulsan War, they extensively studied the defensive tactics of Jeong Dong-geon, one of Seorabeol’s Three Heroes. When the Seorabeol-Yamato alliance, after seizing Incheon Harbor, attempted to advance into the city, what they encountered was a fortress city named Incheon thoroughly prepared for defense.

The entrances to the city were blocked by walls built from bones, buildings had been transformed into excellent hiding places for skeleton mages, and ghost fleets began appearing near Siheung and Gunpo to disrupt the allied fleet’s movements.

Even without support from Gangbuk, they coordinated with undead units stationed in Bucheon and Gwangmyeong, thoroughly urbanizing Incheon to deploy Jeong Dong-geon’s specialty: the “Come at me” strategy.

Naturally, from the perspective of the opposing Seorabeol-Yamato alliance:

“I understand why they copied General Jeong Dong-geon’s tactics. We can’t attack the fortified Incheon with just the troops stationed at Incheon Harbor.”

A frontal assault was absolutely impossible.

Although the expeditionary force was considerable in number, they needed even more troops to deal with such organically connected cities. The defensive line, fortified as it was, couldn’t be breached with their current weaponry.

“We need siege weapons. Something like undead golems.”

They needed siege weapons with overwhelming power that could breach the defensive line in one blow, like undead golems.

However, the fleet’s cannons lacked the range to attack Incheon, and the Seorabeol-Yamato alliance didn’t possess overwhelming siege weapons like undead golems that could move autonomously.

They did have the Hwarang and a mage unit that had joined this expedition, but:

“If we cast large-scale magic, we could destroy the defensive line. But… the magic needed to breach the defensive line requires time and magical power.”

“Perfect timing for the Death Knight Order to annihilate the mage corps.”

The magic possessed by the Seorabeol Magic Association might have had a chance to break through, but realistically, the Cult of Immortality would certainly counter them.

If there were signs of breaching the defensive line, they would use the Death Knight Order’s unique mobility to attack the mages. Then the Hwarang would have to be dispatched to face the Death Knight Order.

With the Hwarang occupied against the Death Knight Order, the remaining 6,000 troops and 200 drone units wouldn’t be enough—Incheon wasn’t a city that could be easily recaptured just by crossing one defensive line.

“This is dangerous. It seems the alliance is at a disadvantage in this continuing battle. Fortunately, we still control the sea, so our supply lines and reinforcements remain intact.”

“Shiro, do you think we can capture Incheon?”

Baek Seol-hwa had established headquarters at Incheon Airport and was listening to Takashima Shiro, the leader of the Yamato alliance, report on the situation in Incheon. After hearing the report, Seol-hwa asked for Shiro’s opinion.

Without being able to use the trump card of summoning a dragon god, the only option left was to attack Incheon head-on, but the absence of siege weapons made it too difficult to attack the already fortified city.

The Cult of Immortality, thoroughly prepared for defense, remembered their confrontation with Seorabeol at South Ulsan. Despite various adversities, Seorabeol’s military ultimately failed to recapture South Ulsan alone.

And now, with multiple cities coordinated for a determined defensive battle, even Baek Seol-hwa couldn’t think of a good solution.

“We cannot possibly capture Incheon with our current forces. After using reconnaissance ships to survey Gimpo and Siheung, it appears they’ve built a system where if any one location is attacked, each city can organically support the one under attack. Simultaneously, they gradually pressure the enemy to prevent proper attacks on their main base from other fronts. It’s truly maddening to be on the receiving end of this.”

“Yes. They seem to have thoroughly studied the General’s strategy.”

Shiro’s answer also confirmed they couldn’t attack with their current forces.

The Cult had thoroughly studied Jeong Dong-geon’s defensive strategy—the same one that had repeatedly blocked the undead waves at North Ulsan—and adapted it perfectly to suit their own needs.

Baek Seol-hwa wanted to ask the Cult why they had copied Seorabeol’s strategy so blatantly, but in human warfare, copying good strategies was simply the norm.

Of course, Seorabeol, now in the position of having to overcome this strategy, was in a difficult situation.

“First of all, is our victory condition necessarily the capture of Incheon?”

“No, it’s not.”

If they couldn’t capture Incheon with their current forces, they had to proceed differently. When Shiro asked if capturing Incheon was the victory condition for this expedition, Seol-hwa answered that it wasn’t.

What the Seoul Alliance had requested was merely the occupation of Incheon Harbor, not the capture of Incheon itself.

In other words, the Seorabeol-Yamato alliance had already achieved their victory condition by occupying the harbor, but:

“Occupying Incheon Harbor was the Seoul Alliance’s request, but they said to judge the situation afterward.”

“That’s troublesome. But if our victory condition is just occupying Incheon Harbor, then we don’t necessarily need to capture Incheon.”

“Correct. Capturing Incheon wasn’t even mentioned.”

If that was the case, the answer was relatively simple.

If the enemy was committed to defense, then the Seorabeol-Yamato alliance would also:

“Let’s settle in here. We’ll greatly increase our supply lines through our sea control, strengthen the connectivity of the harbor we’ve occupied by inspecting Incheon Bridge, and while we’re at it, occupy all the nearby islands.”

“Are you saying we’ll counter with the same strategy?”

“Yes. If our goal isn’t to capture the city, there’s no need to advance further. We just need to prepare to defend against their attacks.”

They could simply abandon the idea of capturing Incheon.

If they built a fortress at Incheon Airport and Incheon Harbor and openly committed to defense, what could the enemy do?

Both sides would be in defensive positions, and in such a situation, it wouldn’t be easy to check the opponent.

The defensive line built by Jeong Dong-geon boasted maximum defensive power when the enemy attacked, but conversely, if the enemy didn’t attack, it was reduced to a “now what?” level of simply standing firm.

Of course, from Seorabeol’s perspective, constantly facing massive undead waves, this was the best option. Seorabeol’s forces were limited, and Jeong Dong-geon’s role as required by Seorabeol was precisely that, so no weaknesses were exposed.

“Indeed. For undead to launch a large-scale attack, they would have to remove the barriers blocking the way, which could collapse their defensive line.”

“The most frightening thing would be a charge by the Death Knight Order, but if we build a fortress at the harbor and prepare countermeasures, there’s nothing to fear.”

Moreover, Seorabeol’s main troops were Awakened, while the Cult of Immortality’s main troops were undead, which meant the Cult would inevitably be slower in switching between offense and defense.

For mindless undead armies to attack, they would have to dismantle the barriers blocking their path. The attacks of the intelligent Death Knight Order were threatening to the alliance, but if they built fortresses to prevent charges and prepared countermeasures, there was nothing to fear.

Furthermore, since they planned to hole up in one place, build a fortress, and focus solely on defense, the Death Knight’s unique mobility couldn’t be utilized at all—a disadvantage for the Cult of Immortality.

“But to hold out for a long time, we need food. Can the food supplied through our supply lines be enough?”

“That’s not a problem. I hear Ansan City is Kim Su-ho’s territory. If necessary, we can get food supplies from Ansan.”

If they built a fortress and stationed troops at Incheon Airport and Harbor, they couldn’t avoid massive food consumption, but fortunately, Ansan, a Seoul Alliance territory, was nearby.

They could move the fleet to Ansan to receive food supplies, and as for the rest:

“And let’s use the Hwarang to buy time until we finish building our fortress. They’ll notice something strange as time passes.”

It was about buying time through the Hwarang until the Cult of Immortality noticed Seorabeol’s strategy change.

The weakness of this plan was that if the Cult of Immortality figured out Seorabeol’s intentions before the defensive fortress was built, they might immediately remove their barriers and switch to a large-scale offensive.

The core of the strategy was to build defensive fortresses to prevent the Death Knight Order from properly using their mobility, but if the prerequisite defensive fortress didn’t exist, the troops stationed at the harbor would suffer heavy casualties from the Death Knight Order’s charge.

Therefore, they needed to continue their offensive through the Hwarang to prevent the Cult of Immortality from noticing Seorabeol’s strategy change.

“Of course, the Cult of Immortality isn’t stupid. They’ll soon figure out my strategy. But until they understand my strategy and switch to offense, assembling the defensive fortress is our top priority.”

“I’ll go to the front line myself. Shiro, please take command here.”

At Shiro’s words, Baek Seol-hwa declared that she would buy time herself and entrusted the command to Takashima Shiro, the leader of the Yamato alliance.

At this declaration, Shiro looked at Seol-hwa with some surprise and spoke.

“Are you sure? Officially, you are the commander-in-chief of the Seorabeol-Yamato alliance. If you get hurt, the soldiers at the front will be shaken.”

Since she was the commander-in-chief of this expedition, he firmly stopped Seol-hwa, thinking that the alliance’s morale could drop if something went wrong.

“Haha. I’m more comfortable fighting on the front lines with the Hwarang than being a commander.”

“Normally, it’s common sense for the commander-in-chief to be in the safest place.”

Unfortunately, in this apocalyptic era, strategies that diverged from conventional wisdom were also valid.

The alliance commander-in-chief wasn’t a powerless figure who needed protection, but rather meant the strongest Awakened in the alliance. For such an Awakened to rarely appear on the front lines and only command from behind?

“Isn’t that strange? That the most powerful Awakened does nothing and just receives protection safely? Sometimes I need to show my face like this to maintain discipline.”

“Haha. I suppose that’s true.”

Rather, because she was the strongest Awakened, she needed to go to the front lines herself and demonstrate her power to avoid being underestimated by the enemy.