NOVEL NEXT Chapter 248
Chapter 248: Childhood Friend – Tactics
When the lightning struck for the second time, a fleeting image of Lena appeared before Leo’s eyes. He really thought he was going to die, but he managed to stand up with his trembling legs and raised his fist.
“Waaaaa!! Swordmaster!”
“Charge! Charge! We have the Swordmaster with us!”
The roar of the soldiers erupted.
The soldiers looked at the Swordmaster with admiration. Moved by the sight of the unscathed Swordmaster even after being struck by lightning, they pushed through the heavy rain and charged at the enemy.
Fortunately, they did not notice that Leo was holding up his fists instead of using the sword, which was a much more effective conductor of lightning.
Thinking he should be a bit more careful, Leo swung his sword at a nearby knight. With a whoosh, the knight was struck and fell, and Leo kicked him to the ground.
– Splash!
“You damn bastard…!”
But the knight was not so easily defeated. He threw a muddy splash at Leo as he fell, and swiftly maneuvered through the pirates to escape.
What an annoying fellow. Fuming with anger, Leo raised his sword high.
Worried about another lightning strike, Leo was surprised when a white wave covered the battlefield. A powerful wave of energy surged, and Leo’s Aura Blade sliced through the knight trapped among the pirates, cutting him in half.
‘What was that?’
Though curious, he had no time to dwell on it. He was at the front line. Leo raised his Aura Blade high and leaped into the enemy ranks like a beast, believing that mingling with the enemies would make it difficult for the mages to target him.
“Follow the Swordmaster!”
The battle became a brutal melee. As Marquis Guidan’s elite soldiers pressed in fiercely, the pirates’ formation began to collapse. The knights of the Orun Kingdom fought in a retreating manner, just enough to keep the fight going…
“Wait, we’re on the same side… Ah!”
The mixed forces of the nobles appeared in the second line, cutting down the retreating pirates. The knights abandoned the chaotic first line and joined the mixed forces.
“Annihilate the remnants of the traitors!”
The mixed forces, in full formation, clashed with Marquis Guidan’s troops. Despite their numerical superiority, the Guidan forces staggered under the assault of the well-structured mixed forces.
This is why troops are divided into first, second, and third lines. It is not easy to reorganize formations during battle.
So Prince Algeo had used the pirates as bait, and Count Germin commanded his soldiers flexibly to press the front line. The somewhat weakened soldiers of Marquis Guidan were forced into a defensive position.
“…It can’t be helped.”
Leo Dexter, who was encouraging the soldiers at the front line and fighting, sighed as he looked ahead.
At this rate, they would lose.
Though he lacked {Tactical} abilities, he could see that the momentum had shifted to the enemy. To turn things around…
‘Damn it. He acted like everything was resolved, but where did that bastard Lev go?’
He would lead the knights to break through the enemy formation and take down the commander. Though he would not make it back, it would turn the tide of the battle.
But why should he do that when it wasn’t his turn? All he needed to do was leave the kingdom with Lena, who was in Marquis Guidan’s territory.
Since it wasn’t his turn, he wouldn’t get the ending, and in reality, he was already married. He was confident he would live happily for the next several decades with Lena, happier than anyone else in the world.
However, if he withdrew now, Lev would die. He would waste a precious opportunity.
[19/23]. It was absurd that a human life was worth less than just a number, but he couldn’t ignore it.
Leo, who had been cursing, steeled his resolve. Just as he was about to charge forward with his sword, a messenger ran up and shouted.
“Lord Leo! A message from Count Ogerton!”
“Good timing. Where is General Lev?”
“General Lev left to take command from Count Ogerton and seize the forest over there.”
“What’s he doing over there with the enemy right in front of us… I see. What did Count Ogerton say?”
The messenger conveyed Count Ogerton’s request. The Count asked Leo not to charge but to shape the front line into a ‘diagonal line.’
“A diagonal line? What does that mean?”
“He asked you to fight from the side farthest from the river. Since the terrain slopes, holding the higher ground will help us hold out.”
Would that really help? But Leo did not question it.
In a decisive battle, the outcome is influenced more by the general than by the soldiers or knights. The general’s strategy, the enemy’s formation, and the battlefield’s environment all determine the victory or defeat.
Leo understood this much.
But there was one concern. Count Ogerton was not a general.
As a noble with a territory and private soldiers, he was expected to be knowledgeable in military tactics, but his talent for magic had led him to study at the Mage Tower in his youth, so he likely wasn’t well-versed in military strategy.
‘…But he must have had some reason for making such a request.’
What should be done and what should not be done—at a time when the situation was developing rapidly, disrupting the command structure was not an option. Leo did not want to charge, but he thought it was for the best and changed direction.
Meanwhile, Count Ogerton at the rear command post was deep in thought. He observed the fierce rain and envisioned the course of the battle in his mind.
His vision was different from that of a typical general. Instead of viewing the army through the lens of military tactics, the Count saw the army as a living organism from the perspective of a mage. Although he was unfamiliar with military tactics, he knew more about human nature than anyone else.
Humans were creatures that could die from a little bit of burning, yet endure life even when pierced by an ice spear.
Confined in a dark room, they would quickly go mad, but if the floor was soft earth, they might endure. Conversely, when hung upside down, they endured surprisingly long if there were many of them.
The Count had more than two hundred slaves in his personal research. After countless experiments on human endurance and social behavior, he had become adept at identifying changes in soldiers’ mental and physical states.
‘It’s still manageable, but…’
The raindrops drained their body heat, and the mud drained their stamina. The reason the front line was starting to falter, according to Count Ogerton, was this very factor.
They were losing stamina from fighting the first wave. To recover from this…
‘If we can hold even a little of the high ground, it will help.’
The terrain sloped towards the river.
It didn’t seem significant enough to be a major obstacle, but on the scale of thousands, even a slight elevation could make a difference. A small advantage on the high ground would strengthen the force of downward strikes and weaken the enemy’s upward attacks.
That was why the diagonal formation was ordered.
With the Swordmaster at the higher ground (even without considering the Swordmaster’s personal combat effectiveness), the soldiers on the higher ground would be emboldened to push back the enemy, while the soldiers on the lower ground, positioned farther away, would fight in a formation where they faced downward from the higher position.
In theory, this would allow them to hold out.
In theory.
However, the Count could not ease his mind. Gazing at the enemy formation, he worriedly licked his lips.
Unlike the noisy chaos on their side, on the other side were soldiers waiting for battle in quiet anticipation. Expensive steel armor glistened as raindrops bounced off it.
These were the 12,000 heavily armored infantrymen of the Lognum royal family. Slow on their feet, but reportedly capable of matching two squads with just one of theirs.
When we grow tired, they will come out to finish us off. The knights mixed in the second line were also a significant problem, and it looked like this would be a long and arduous fight.
‘I have done all I can. Now, I have no choice but to leave it to the heavens.’
Count Ogerton hid his worries and continued to encourage his men.
Meanwhile, at the command post of the Orun Kingdom, a heated argument was underway.
“This is an absurd strategy!”
It was the Second Knight Commander of the Orun Kingdom. He was rejecting Count Geogis Germin’s orders.
“To capture the Swordmaster? That’s unthinkable.”
“Why not? There are two hundred knights here. Can’t we capture just one person?”
“It’s possible to capture the Swordmaster alone. But the Swordmaster is not alone right now. Even if surrounded by several knights, the risk is immense… It’s better to wait until all enemy troops are dead and no one is left to support him.”
“Ah, so you have no honor as a knight. To say you would wait for the right moment. I’m quite surprised.”
The Knight Commander gritted his teeth.
“Rash actions do not equate to honor.”
“Is it honorable to question the orders of the commander?”
“The command of the Order lies with the Knight Commander. And there must be a reason why Duke Algeo deployed us to the front line.”
“That was to intimidate them into surrendering. But if you wish to exercise independent command, I have no more to say…”
The Count, who had been clicking his tongue, now sneered.
“Are you perhaps afraid of the Swordmaster?”
“What…! How dare you…”
“I believe we need to silence that Swordmaster as soon as possible. As long as he is alive, the enemy will not crumble. Am I wrong?”
“That depends on what you focus on…”
The Count waved his hand, cutting off the Knight Commander’s words.
“It is for the commander to decide what to emphasize. But you refuse a viable strategy just because it seems difficult. So, you’re saying the Order will remain idle while the second line is decimated and the third line finishes off the enemy? If that’s the case, why have the Order at all? Just mix them in with the troops.”
The Knight Commander’s face reddened in anger.
There is a limit to how much one can endure.
How dare he look down on knights… Unable to contain his rage, the Knight Commander shouted.
“Damn it! Very well! I will personally take on the task of capturing the Swordmaster. But if the battle ends poorly, I will not let you off the hook!”
“That will not happen.”
The Knight Commander, glaring at the unyielding Count, turned his back, which turned out to be a great stroke of luck for Lev’s soldiers.
In the end, Leo Dexter was not captured. As the Knight Commander had feared, he did not stray far from the allied formation and instead took down the knights who charged at him one by one.
As the casualties mounted, the Knight Commander, growing anxious, ordered a full-scale assault. The intent was to quickly clear out the forces surrounding the Swordmaster, but…
“What are you doing? Do you think we don’t have any knights?”
With the addition of fifty knights from Marquis Guidan, Count Ogerton, and Marquis Drageen, the plan fell into disarray.
The Knight Commander, who had ventured too deep, was killed by Leo, and the two hundred knights were reduced to half and forced to retreat. Although the losses on Leo’s side were immense, morale soared sky-high.
“Long live the knights! Long live the Swordmaster! We’re almost there! Just a little more…”
– Thud.
The soldiers’ faces, previously bright with hope, hardened. The elite troops of the Orun Kingdom, heavily armored from shin guards to helmets, marched forward with heavy steps.
Clank clank. The sturdy armor clashed among the enemy ranks, and the exhausted soldiers of Marquis Guidan and Count Ogerton gasped for breath. What had been 15,000 soldiers was now reduced to 6,000.
It was a cheap price to pay for annihilating 7,000 pirates and 10,000 of the noble coalition forces, along with two knight orders. It was a great victory.
Yet the reality that it was not over still weighed on the soldiers. The cold from the rain chilled their bodies, and their mud-covered legs complained of pain beyond mere fatigue.
Even Count Ogerton, the commander, was visibly distressed. At that moment, from afar, hope peeked out behind the heavily armored infantry.
“I nearly drowned in the river, damn it!”
“Shut up.”
It was Lev’s 2,000 barbarian warriors who had been swept away by the river. They stormed from behind the slow-moving, heavily armored infantry, and Count Ogerton seized the opportunity.
Though surely surprised, a pincer attack from both the front and rear was strategically advantageous. Nevertheless, Count Ogerton’s expression remained grim, for he knew that this elite force could not easily be dealt with.
The 12,000 soldiers were still in perfect condition. The enemy knights still outnumbered them five to one. Now all they could hope for was…
‘Lev, how did it go in the forest?’
Count Ogerton glanced over to the forest on the Orun side. The forest where Lev had led 10,000 soldiers was eerily silent.
Depending on what came out of there, the outcome could change dramatically, and soon the result was revealed. Emerging from the underbrush was a soldier holding…
“Waaaaaaaah!”
An axe.