25 – It’s good that the enemy is iron lol
A time of deep darkness.
At this time, most of the people except for the soldiers who were originally in charge of the guard duty were asleep,
The Imperial Army’s encampment was in a commotion as if it had stung a beehive.
“I… What is that?”
“west… no way… All of them are rebels?”
The rebel fortress located about half a day away from here.
There, now, through countless torches, the enemy’s movement was being captured in real time.
Despite the considerable distance, the army of the rebels is clearly visible.
the problem is,
It was the fact that the scale of the rebels visible to the Imperial Army at this moment far exceeded the level they thought.
A staggering number of torches covering the entire plain around the fortress.
Looking at them, which far surpassed the size of the rebels that had been initially expected, the general soldiers of the Imperial Army as well as the generals of the leadership began to be seized with deep fear.
“I… How much is that?”
“Even if you catch as little as 20,000… No, it seems to be 30,000.”
“No, does that make sense? Didn’t the enemy say that according to the report, the reinforcements totaled less than 10,000!”
“But… Can’t you see the general too? A light of that magnitude would surely be about that much.”
“Kuh… ”
In fact, even in the eyes of General Bagoin, the size of the enemies in front of him seemed to be about that.
But,
Despite seeing it with his own two eyes, the number of enemies that were so unbelievable that he had to fight against them began to feel complicated in his head.
‘Where on earth do you get troops like that… ruler… Wait a minute, come to think of it, I heard that many of the nearby settlers had joined the rebels just before we arrived, but no way… ?’
Scouts report that soldiers from numerous nearby settlements continue to join the rebels.
It was the result of the deterioration of public sentiment as General Neto plundered military supplies, and the fact that the rebels actively used this fact to incite the people, and it was clear that the number of rebels was increasing every minute.
The size of the growing enemy in this way certainly could not be noticed with mere skirmishes.
Because of this, General Bagoin came to the conclusion that, although absurd, this situation might not be entirely impossible.
‘Yes, but they are militiamen who lack combat skills… not good. If you are overwhelmed by the size of your troops in this way… A drastic revision of the existing strategy is inevitable.’
Originally, General Bagoin’s plan was to deploy his forces in all directions and attack settlements on the side of the rebels, slowly pressing the enemy from the outside.
His primary goal is to induce an all-out war in favor of his side by provoking them as much as possible, as he has superior power over his opponents.
But,
Now that the enemies were overwhelming them in terms of scale, the situation was bound to change drastically.
No matter how inexperienced the militia were, it was common for elite soldiers who had not mastered magic to be killed at once when they were shot.
If you clumsily deploy your troops against an overwhelming army, there is a risk of being cut off by the enemies who have deployed all over the place.
If the damage accumulated in that way, the weight of the balance, which already felt uneasy, would tip at once.
‘Above all, if we lose our troops here, the end is over, but the enemy continues to receive reinforcements. Even one defeat is fatal for us. damn… General Neto made things very complicated until the very end.’
General Bagoin already knew the story of Gandh, the native general, and was well aware that public sentiment was at its worst as it is now because of it.
But now, even if he executed Gandh, it would be too late to turn things around.
On the contrary, it was clear that doing so would only lower the morale of the native soldiers.
After all, now there is no way to turn the public opinion.
General Bagoin came to the conclusion that he had to see the decisive battle in a short period of time, even if it was too much.
‘It’s fortunate, though, that the enemy’s leader is that foolish General Gates. It’s really pitiful that you can only manage such a large army in that way.’
To be honest, if we secretly moved that large army of 20,000 to 30,000 and launched a massive offensive, we would have been in trouble in many ways.
However, the commander-in-chief there is General Horensho Gates, who is the second-in-command of the rebels, but is already well-known for his incompetence and useless stubbornness.
Apparently, he seemed to be deploying the military on a large scale with some lights brightly lit in the sense that he would proceed with the work smoothly and suppress the initiative.
Judging from the movement of the troops, it was probably to occupy the advantageous hills in this area and to solidify the defense.
But.
Thanks to his arrogance, General Bagoin was able to come up with a secret plan to reverse this difficult situation at once.
‘There is no point in forming a large army of idiots. Foolish rebels, I’ll definitely put an end to you right here today!’
Immediately after making that conclusion, General Bagoin immediately issued a summons to the generals.
*
“gulp… ”
The appearance of an enormous army moving in front of your eyes.
Watching this, Franklin automatically had no choice but to swallow dry saliva.
‘I’ve known since I heard the story, but looking at it like this, it’s spectacular… It really looks like the troops have increased 2-3 times.’
The army filled the area and slowly dispersed to the nearby highlands.
But,
if you look closely.
Contrary to their appearance, I could tell that they weren’t something so massive.
Soldiers carrying small wooden fences on their shoulders one by one while moving at this moment.
At each end of it, there were several tightly tied torches, and the soldiers were also holding torches instead of weapons in their hands.
Soldiers holding at least 3 and at most 4-5 torches per person.
As a result of the camouflage in this way, the actual number of troops that were less than a few thousand was seen as a large army of tens of thousands at once, and their movements also felt like a large force was being deployed at first glance.
A rebel who literally creates a large army of tens of thousands in half a day and deceives the eyes of the enemy.
And all this
It was in the mind of the man standing next to Franklin at this moment.
“How are you, General? Doesn’t that sound like it?”
“Awesome… When I heard the explanation, I still thought it was long or not. Seeing this, even I can’t help but be fooled.”
At this moment, Franklin is expressing sincere admiration without maintaining his usual cool.
Seeing this, Cromwell put a slight smile on his lips, and Franklin also responded with a slightly blushing smile.
at that time.
“But… Wouldn’t the enemies be suspicious anyway? Aside from the sudden appearance of troops of this size, the fact that they dared to show the movement of troops in this way… ”
Director Benelita Arnold asks a question with some concern.
To this, Cromwell answered in a calm voice.
“Don’t worry about that, no one else will have any doubts knowing that our commander-in-chief is General Gates. Rather, they would be laughing at the general for revealing the size of the troops in this way. Especially if the opponent is the bagoin general.”
“Hmmm… fury… exactly. That’s it too.”
Benelita clears her throat slightly at Cromwell’s words about stealthily blaming General Gates.
Anyway, thanks to the commander-in-chief, who was helpful in a slightly different sense, I put aside my worries.
They slowly began to move forward, leaving behind the troops encamped at the place they had talked about beforehand.
“Then, let’s move on to the next step as well.”
“I get it. But is it really okay? Although it is said that only the elite who have been trained are selected, the number of troops given to you by Cromwell is considered too small.”
Concerned, Franklin asks another question to confirm.
Regarding this, Cromwell said with a little gratitude, feeling that she was thinking of him more than before.
“Don’t worry about that. Rather, it is much more efficient this way than giving a clumsy large army.”
“what… If you say so… Got it. then let’s do it like this But be careful. Leading this war to victory is important, but your safety is also for me… Hmmm… Because it’s very important to us rebels.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind. General. After this war, let’s have a drink like before.”
“… ”
Listening from the side like that, the conversation between the two seems to be a bit embarrassing and a strange flag is felt.
At this, Benelita let out a small sigh and spoke in a calm voice.
“Let me hurry. We have to finish the job before the bison gets into the pen.”
*
An urgent meeting of the Imperial Army immediately after the rebel movement.
Right after the short but intense discussion there,
General Bagoin, the commander-in-chief, declared to everyone in a serious voice.
“Then, at dawn, I will immediately march toward the enemy. Although the enemies are dispersed, nonetheless, be vigilant. The enemy is a large force twice our size, so we will have to break through the enemy’s center without hesitation and use the momentum to capture the fortress.”
“Yes General.”
“Leave it to me, General.”
A tactic that maximized the breakthrough power of the Imperial Army, made up of elite troops.
Now that troops are scattered all over the place due to General Gates’ foolish judgment.
They were prepared to put an end to everything in a short-lived showdown.
“good. So, let’s all get ready. Breakfast tomorrow will be at Fort Stanwick, the heart of the enemy!”
After those words, the generals start to scatter.
Seeing them like this, General Bagoin, with a deep smile on his lips, spoke in a quiet voice to the enemy commander who was standing opposite him.
‘No matter how much I hold tens of thousands of troops in my hands, you are no match for me. Gates… I’ll take this opportunity to slit your neck!’