episode_0056

A towering stone structure on the territory of a semi-grand duchy power.

A fortress built with a deep moat and solid-looking stones.

Fort Huntington is a historic fortress that has been the first to be attacked whenever the Grand Duchy was invaded for centuries.

If you can somehow protect this place, it is a fortress that can block the supply of the Grand Duchy later, so it is always the place to aim first when the Grand Duchy invades.

Martin, looking at the fortress from afar, is lost in thought.

‘I told you to attack moderately first and then retreat, right?’

There were two orders issued by Agrippa, commander-in-chief of the Grand Duchy.

One, attack Fort Huntington, and two, when enemy reinforcements, presumed to be hiding in the forest, are seen, orders to retreat while preserving as many new soldiers as possible, using mercenaries as shields.

It is definitely a dense forest where cavalrymen can hide.

‘If the siege begins and everyone focuses on that area and then cavalry suddenly attacks the rear, there would be no worse situation than that.’

It’s mind-boggling to imagine the siege troops and wizards in the rear being slaughtered by the knights.

‘Then what should we talk about?’

The last confirmed enemy strength was 2,500.

With a force of 9,000, that small fortress should be easily captured.

However, the three soldiers sent to the enemy fortress are not contacted.

‘If there is no contact from not one or two, but five to seven people, then it must be assumed that there is something unusual going on in Fort Huntington and that something is being done to hide it.’

With that thought in mind, I look at the map and terrain and begin to place my soldiers one by one.

It would be a good idea to set up camp here.

When you see the order to be defeated here.

Perhaps the commander-in-chief and the archduke are planning to annihilate the enemies all at once.

With that in mind, place many spearmen around the wizard and siege weapons.

Don’t suffer as much loss as possible, intentionally lose the battle.

I felt a little offended by the two who seemed to look down on me a little.

Longevity exists to fight and win against the enemy in war.

No matter how ordered the Grand Duke is, there is no general in the Grand Duchy who would be happy about his own defeat.

War, victory, and honor.

As Martin, who reveres that, he cannot help but feel dissatisfied with his orders.

“Then, shall we try to inflict some damage to the enemies during the chase?”

With that in mind, I look closely at the camp arrangement in case of retreat.

‘Well, I told you to lose anyway. Didn’t I tell you not to counterattack when retreating?’

How many battles have there been where you attacked to gain victory when the enemy retreated and then retreated after suffering heavy losses?

With that in mind, I put various signs and words on the map.

“This might be a bit salty, right?”

***

“Hehe, there are quite a few enemies concentrated there.”

The general smiles as he sees the troops surrounding the fortress.

The number of troops outside is around 10,000.

However, by moving metallurgical mercenaries and troops to this fortress, they gathered quite a large number of troops.

We tried to thoroughly isolate the inside and outside of the fortress, fearing that it might escape through Sejak.

Even when food was supplied from outside, wagons were not allowed inside the fortress and they were thoroughly separated in various ways…

The enemy will think that there are about 3,000 of us guarding this place.

However, the number of troops here reaches 15,000.

Therefore, it is ridiculous that they are stretching out without realizing that they have lost the numerical superiority that they must have in a siege.

“General. What should I do?”

Let the adjutant step forward and ask the general.

He smiles bitterly.

“First, block appropriately. The moment they run out of stamina during the siege… we will disturb the rear with cavalry and launch an offensive.”

The adjutant nods as if he understood what the general said.

“Today… they will return to this land as corpses.”

The general smiled in satisfaction at those words.

“Am, he is a thief who covets other people’s land. Isn’t it obvious?”

-Boo!. Boom!

At that moment, a horn sounds beyond the castle walls.

Soldiers advancing escorting siege weapons to the sound.

And flame magic flies towards the castle wall.

“Wizard! Cast the barrier!”

As the centurion on the scene shouts, a transparent membrane begins to surround the castle wall.

and…

-pop!

A large firework begins to explode in the air.

“Crossbow, archer! Everyone fire!”

With those words, arrows begin to rain.

***

Martin saw the enemy’s defenses.

Hmm, it’s a defensive magic.

It is a magic that reduces damage and is good for long-term battles.

Of course, there is a way to destroy the enemy’s magic by using stronger magic, but this puts a burden on the wizards.

‘Now is not the time. To properly deal damage, you need to consider the magicians’ stamina.’

When checking the last intelligence information.

We confirmed that the number of enemy wizards was less than half of ours, and the enemy commander’s actions were extremely realistic.

Since offensive magic consumes more stamina than defensive magic, it can be seen as textbook behavior for the enemy commander to move like that.

After looking at the battle situation like that, I quietly look at the forest.

‘Should we just burn the whole place down?’

If so, it would be a way to block cavalry attacks and take control of the fortress…

Martin sighs at the thought that he might be broken by Agrippa just because he won.

“Phew… It’s my friend. I can’t even win on my own.”

What should I do? He is a general and must obey the commander-in-chief’s orders.

I click my tongue as I watch the soldiers fall one by one from the arrows and burning oil raining down from the castle walls and trying to somehow break through or climb up the walls.

“He’s about the same age as my son…”

“What do you mean?”

Martin speaks in a bitter voice at the adjutant’s words.

“The soldier who just burned to death. He seems like he’s about as old as my son.”

The adjutant speaks as if he feels sorry for those words.

“Isn’t he a mercenary? Don’t be too heartbroken.”

“That’s true, though. They are the same people, so they can’t help but feel heartbroken.”

Watching this, Martin rubs his chin and gets lost in thought.

‘It’s almost time for the cavalry to move?’

It has already been deployed to war three times in three shifts.

Since the soldiers will be quite tired, I think I will move the cavalry slowly.

“From now on, the enemy will use cavalry. Tell the wizards to stop using magic and move to the base.”

***

The general who was watching the situation opens his mouth.

“It looks like the enemies are pretty tired?”

“We’ve been attacking for over four hours already, so it’s only natural.”

He continued speaking as if it was natural to see that.

“It looks like they will attack in 3 shifts, but we are blocking them in 6 shifts, so they will be more tired.”

The general ponders those words.

“In two hours, no, an hour, get up to attack the cavalry.”

As the adjutant nodded and twirled his hand as if he understood those words, the soldier next to him began to raise the flags on the flagpole.

And I look at the battlefield.

The general speaks as he sees the siege truck already on fire and the ladder truck engulfed in hot flames.

“What a pity…”

The adjutant answers those words.

“What do you mean?”

The general says while looking at the dying body.

“I am a soldier who lives for war, but it is truly unfortunate that so many young people die.”

“Only an enemy.”

“They are also citizens of the empire. You are an ordinary citizen of the empire like me who will die depending on the decisions of those above you.”

Perhaps soon the enemies besieging this fortress will be destroyed.

Even if you are lucky and survive, you may be conscripted and brought back.

“This is why I hate Ryan guys. You idiots who worship war without even knowing how cruel it is…”

That bitter voice rings hollowly.

***

The scene of such a cruel war.

A report comes to Martin.

“General! A cavalry team rushed out from the eastern forest.”

Since this was a situation he had already anticipated, Martin reacts calmly.

“Fend off the enemy with spearmen placed in the rear.”

But then the adjutant looks towards the forest to the east and says:

“Ah… it’s a big deal.”

Martin feels puzzled by the deputy’s trembling voice.

‘Why? ‘You probably already knew that the cavalry was hiding, right?’

Looking east, I saw an unusual number of cavalry.

how? Aren’t there about 3,000 enemies?

Considering that the current offensive is well prevented, I thought there were at least 2,000 people stationed on the walls.

In other words, Martin, who expected an attack of about 1,000 cavalry, turns pale.

‘It all happened… ‘I can’t believe there were so many troops hiding.’

“Retreat… You must retreat.”

When the deputy came forward and spoke, Martin bit his lip.

An unexpected number.

His plan to attack them in reverse was worthless in the face of so many cavalry forces.

In war, superiority in numbers is always important.

-Wow!

There is a sudden shout and the fortress gate goes up and soldiers start rushing out.

Enemies that appear to be full of energy flock towards the anti-aircraft forces, who are tired after suffering from a siege for quite some time.

-Ahh!

-Sa… help me!

What happened? How can there be this many enemies?

By any chance… was that what you were hiding?

Martin closes his eyes for a moment as he sees the endless stream of soldiers.

“Retreat!, Order a retreat! Order each commander to retreat to the retreat point!”

At those words, the adjutant blows his horn loudly.

-Boo! Buuu~! Boo!

At the clear signal of retreat, the soldiers and commander panicked and tried to run away.

Martin chews his lips and shouts as he sees the cavalry charging towards the rear as if they will not give them any chance to retreat.

Martin shouts, riding on a horse holding a spear.

“Knights form a wedge formation! And all infantry follow me! I will prepare a path of retreat.”

“My… Dammit!”

At Martin’s words, the knights hurriedly get on their horses.

“Everyone follow me!”

Martin, who saw the knights’ preparations coming to an end, stands at the end of the wedge and speaks.

“For you to return home safely today! Fight with all your might!”

So charge towards the enemy cavalry.