Ch.336336 – Ragtag Bunch

<336 – Ragtag Bunch>

Jaydas thought Oknodie had played a shallow trick.

‘Being the top student of her year, she probably wanted to show off some genius strategy.’

The same went for Hestia.

‘She probably planned to steal the Falcon Cavalry, which would have the best synergy with Jaydas the Holy Knight, from among the two remaining cushy positions.’

But handing over the Border Guard was a huge mistake.

‘A Holy Knight’s true value isn’t in charging and destructive power. Rather, siege defense is our specialty.’

Strong offensive power combined with heavy armor and self-healing for frontline sustainability, plus divine skills to boost troop morale—there was no area where they weren’t helpful.

These versatile characteristics were precisely why the Holy Knight class was considered and revered as the best class.

As long as he was determined to hold out, the Border Guard stationed at the fortress would never be breached.

━━━

【Turn 1 Start】

━━━

[Battlefield Briefing]

A messenger from the main force has delivered orders from Commander <Gratio>:

“Cooperate with units around the fortress to delay the enemy’s advance as much as possible. Once the enemy crosses the river, hole up in the fortress and focus solely on defense.”

(Order valid until Turn 30)

You are Border Guard Captain <Jaydas>.

The Border Guard awaits your orders.

━━━

Select or input your command for this turn.

[Move][Garrison][Scout][Messenger][Observe][Attack][Strategy][Special]

You have selected <Messenger>.

━━━

Jaydas already had a winning strategy in mind.

Occupy just enough vision around the fortress to prevent it from falling and slow the enemy’s advance.

No need for clever tricks or petty schemes—just following the proper path would be safest for him.

Simply staying alive would fulfill the main force’s directive, so he would survive until the end.

“Sending a [Messenger].”

He would actively use his advantages.

The messenger’s destination: Oknodie’s Penal Battalion.

“I’m assigning Oknodie’s Penal Battalion the role of search party until they locate the enemy forces!”

The small dot representing the messenger scurried across the map toward Oknodie’s position.

‘I’ll communicate with other units through messengers as well, just gathering information.’

“Booo.”

“Jaydas is such a coward.”

“He gets the cushiest position and then tries to order other units around. Why did Oknodie let Jaydas choose such a sweet position?”

“Yeah, really.”

“What a foolish choice. Is Oknodie not that knowledgeable about military strategy after all?”

The other first-year students taking the “Surviving as a Commander on the Battlefield” course jeered at Jaydas, anticipating his overwhelming advantage.

“Call me opportunistic if you want. This is still the best strategy.”

The students had to admit it.

If they were in Jaydas’s position, they wouldn’t have chosen any different strategy either.

━━━

【Turn 4 Start】

━━━

[Battlefield Briefing]

A messenger who made contact with the Regular Infantry has returned.

“The Regular Infantry will defend the eastern valley.”

A messenger who made contact with the Conscripted Peasant Unit has returned.

“Our unit lacks the skill for reconnaissance missions.”

…

A messenger who made contact with the Falcon Cavalry has returned.

“We will continue our ambush operations.”

A messenger who made contact with the Thunderbolt Heaven Church Holy Knight Order has returned.

“We only follow the directions of God.”

…

The messenger sent to the Penal Battalion has not returned.

Something seems to have gone wrong.

━━━

But what was this?

Not a single unit properly cooperated with his request for reconnaissance.

Worse yet, there was no word from the messenger sent to Oknodie!

Things were starting to go wrong.

Jaydas had a sinking feeling.

‘I can understand Oknodie and Hestia being uncooperative. We’re competing to see who can survive longer.’

But the fact that other units weren’t following instructions was a very ominous sign.

‘Could it be… that this battlefield is like reality, where nobles create a complete mess?’

━━━

Select or input your command for this turn.

[Move][Garrison][Scout][Messenger][Observe][Attack][Strategy][Special]

You have selected <Observe>.

━━━

[Observation Results]

The observation targets are the commanders of each unit.

Information is provided immediately based on your existing knowledge.

Conscripted Peasant Unit Commander: Knight Siso (belonging to Baron Triton)

Regular Infantry Commander: Baron Triton (belonging to Count Bearvold)

…

Falcon Cavalry: Berserker Hestia (mercenary unit)

Otos Penal Battalion: Knight Otos, Head Jailer Oknodie (belonging to Baron Triton)

Border Guard: Holy Knight Jaydas (belonging to Commander-in-Chief Gratio)

…

Thunderbolt Heaven Church Holy Knight Order: Order Commander Bryunack (belonging to Thunderbolt Heaven Church)

━━━

He had assumed they were all allies in the same faction, but each unit had different affiliations.

Apart from Jaydas himself, who belonged to the Blue Army’s Commander-in-Chief Gratio, everyone else had different loyalties.

The regular army, including Baron Triton’s Regular Infantry under Count Bearvold’s command.

Conscripted forces like the Peasant Unit and Penal Battalion led by knights dispatched by Baron Triton.

Independent forces with their own affiliations, like the Thunderbolt Heaven Church Holy Knight Order or the Falcon Cavalry.

Jaydas recalled the most miserable battle in his memory.

A territorial war where four baronies rose up against a single large county’s exploitation.

Jaydas had joined the battlefield believing the coalition had the upper hand, but he faced a deadly crisis from the county’s forces, which were clearly at a disadvantage.

‘All the baronies dreamed of monopolizing post-war gains and failed to cooperate properly.’

The unit in charge of logistics didn’t send supplies.

The strongest barony fighting on the front lines retreated due to lack of food.

Two other baronies, initially in cahoots with the logistics barony, later used the failure to send supplies on time as an excuse to open a path for the enemy’s advance.

The barony guarding the supply depot was invaded by the enemy’s main force and burned down instantly.

The remaining two baronies seized the opportunity and launched reverse fire attacks that burned their own allies as well.

Jaydas was caught in that chaos.

-Avoid our own fire arrows! Stay by the water source and protect your armor and surrounding ground with water!

-The enemy is surrounded by our forces. If we hold out a little longer… No, what are those bastards doing? Where are you going! The enemy is right here!

But soldiers from one section of the encirclement deserted.

Some fool had left to capture the count’s island alone amid the chaos.

The barony fighting alone against the county’s army was defeated, and the barony that occupied the count’s island soon followed in defeat.

Jaydas barely escaped with his life from this terrible civil strife. He realized that at his current level, he couldn’t survive such treacherous battlefields.

He sought out Gift Academy, which led him to the current test.

“How cowardly, Professor Raregrills. Making us stand on such a shameful battlefield!”

Through observation and information exchange via messengers, Jaydas understood the specific reasons why his orders weren’t being followed.

As expected, the cause was vested interests.

Even if they won this war, all credit for the border region would go to Commander-in-Chief Gratio.

Count Bearvold and his follower Baron Triton, who provided over 70% of the frontline forces, had nothing to gain.

Hired mercenaries and the Thunderbolt Heaven Church, fighting for their name, were cautiously navigating between Commander-in-Chief Gratio’s faction and Count Bearvold’s faction.

-The church cannot allow its precious lambs to become sacrificial lambs by acting rashly when the chain of command is not clearly unified.

With such discord among allies, not just enemies, there was no way this could be a proper war.

No matter how hard Jaydas tried, he was isolated, and his concerns became reality when the enemy appeared.

━━━

【Turn 11 Start】

━━━

[Combat Briefing]

The enemy has begun advancing simultaneously from two directions: the eastern ravine and the central plains.

There is still no word from the Penal Battalion and Village Militia responsible for the western swamp area.

To protect the fortress as per Commander-in-Chief Gratio’s instructions, you must delay the advance from at least one direction.

However, considering the unstable command structure of our forces, there’s a possibility that if you leave your position, the enemy could break through the front line and advance to the fortress in one go.

━━━

“Damn it. If I hadn’t known this information, I could have at least taken action.”

His experience of wandering through the line of fire had instilled fear in Jaydas.

He wasn’t afraid of dying in honorable combat against the enemy.

He was even willing to accept his inadequacy as a commander if defeat came from his lack of strategic ability.

That’s why he came to the academy—to learn what he lacked.

Recognizing his own shortcomings wasn’t frightening.

‘But this is just wrong.’

Jaydas recalled the coalition of four baronies he had last experienced.

He had no desire to suffer again the calamity of being caught up with groups all dreaming different dreams.

━━━

[Garrison]

You have decided to defend the fortress.

The Border Guard is skeptical of your decision.

Decide whether to tell them the truth about the conflicts between units or demand silence and obedience.

━━━

Jaydas preferred rational choices.

The soldiers deserved to know why they had to remain at the fortress.

━━━

[Morale Drop]

The soldiers have learned the truth.

Disappointment in the uncooperative allied units and pessimism about being unable to leave the fortress have significantly lowered the Border Guard’s morale.

While trust and loyalty to you as commander remain, the drop in unit morale will greatly affect combat effectiveness.

━━━

“Damn it. What am I supposed to do then!”

The defensive forces in each area were eventually breached one after another.

The markers for Hestia’s cavalry and Oknodie’s penal battalion completely vanished from the tactical map.

In the end, there was nothing Jaydas could do until the fortress fell and the Border Guard was annihilated.

But if the fortress was conquered, everywhere else must have been defeated too.

“I’m the last one, right?”

“No. You’re the first to be eliminated.”

This would be impossible in a normal engagement.

Jaydas realized his ominous premonition had become reality.

“Cowards. Making us lose a war we could have won just to survive!”

“Eliminated participants should observe the status of the remaining participants.”

Even without the instruction from Assistant Gratio playing the role of allied commander-in-chief, Jaydas was dying of curiosity.

Where were those people who never showed their faces even as the fortress fell, and what were they doing?

“Ah.”

Hestia’s cavalry never deployed and instead retreated to the rear.

She had adopted a survival-first strategy.

Oknodie went even further.

When Jaydas saw her screen, he let out a deep sigh.

“The marker… it’s the enemy’s color.”

Knight Otos, the co-commander of the unit, was gone, and Oknodie had become the sole commander, leading a penal battalion that had tripled in size.

She was advancing with enemy forces—toward the retreat path of the remaining allied units.

This girl had, incredibly, committed betrayal.