Chapter 32: Go West

The battle ended blandly.

Compared to the effort put into devising the operation and deploying troops, it felt almost hollow.

“Your Excellency, the casualty recovery is complete.”

“How many died?”

“Approximately eight hundred. Quite a small number considering the scale of the battle.”

“Did we lose about one battalion? If only we could have taken out an entire corps in exchange… that would’ve been a profitable trade.”

The central army, not the existing left-wing unit, had faced off against the imperial army on the plains.

We had borrowed flags to disguise them.

This was a measure taken because we were uneasy about entrusting the vanguard to the existing units.

Their combat capabilities were somewhat usable, but their strength had deteriorated from long periods on the frontline.

The vanguard’s role is to endure the enemy’s full-scale attack while continuously drawing aggro.

What if they couldn’t hold and the formation collapsed? That would be a disaster.

In war, it’s best to minimize risk from the start.

‘I’ll accompany the existing left-wing unit with the main force.’

While the central army demonstrated the power of their line infantry and held the line, our main force was hidden between the hills.

Can 20,000 people conceal themselves as a group? Surprisingly easy.

On the battlefield, visibility is quite short, so even a low obstacle makes detection difficult.

Moreover, in the snowy field, the reduced visibility made camouflage not particularly challenging.

When all enemy attention was focused on the vanguard and they had no capacity to guard their surroundings, the main force finally moved.

Towards the exposed flank of the imperial army.

‘Bypassing the enemy focused on the front and striking from another direction. A textbook double envelopment.’

In this medieval fantasy world, battles are formation battles.

Units must tightly cluster together to fight as one mass.

But the common characteristic of all formations? Everything except the front is a weak point.

It’s a tactic specialized in frontal force-fighting, essentially abandoning the other areas to their own forces.

If you don’t understand, think of tanks in World Tank or Lightning.

They might withstand frontal attacks, but get stabbed from the side and they explode. Formations are similar.

Ambushing such units under the most optimal conditions, the result? Simple.

They melted away as quickly as the escape speed of the Fastest Lord Runjo.

“We have more prisoners than the original left-wing unit. Just imprisoning them will be a task.”

“Better than losing. We’ll solve this soon enough through a prisoner exchange negotiation. Just roughly accommodate them until then.”

In about three to four hours of battle, they killed about 3,000 enemy soldiers.

Prisoners numbered an incredible 15,000.

Many escaped, but… well, they can be ignored.

The snowy field is never kind to isolated defeated soldiers.

Probably half won’t make it past 1 km and will freeze to death? The other half might become frozen meat about 5 km further.

“By the way, how was it? Wasn’t my method correct?”

“…Yes. We never thought Your Excellency would be right. None of us believed it.”

“It’s okay, you guys. This is a tactic I developed first.”

Oh, by the way, I personally commanded this vanguard.

Since it was the first time deploying line infantry in actual combat, delicate management was necessary.

Unlike previous methods using spearmen and gunners, positioning requires considering each unit type’s pros and cons.

In contrast, line infantry is an army composed solely of musketeers.

Simply lining them up side by side by unit is sufficient.

But since no one but me knows this, I had to lead from the front.

What could those who’ve only learned formation tactics do if entrusted with this?

If it weren’t for me, they would’ve almost been cursing.

The opposition was extreme, and I suffered a lot.

With no time to persuade, I resolved it by shouting and pushing through with authority.

Even until the moment of departure, everyone’s faces showed they didn’t understand, but ultimately, this is how it turned out.

The fact that I was the pioneer was proven by the battle’s result.

The emotional residue from forcing my will is now completely resolved.

“Do you now understand how to handle the new unit composition?”

“I understand. But to practice, I’ll need time to study.”

“Learn slowly. Now I can do it, but later the day will come when you’ll command directly.”

Though they showed resistance to this unfamiliar tactic, they are still capable individuals.

They’ll learn on their own if left to it, and even conduct in-depth study.

Honestly, this isn’t an easy task. Adapting to and accepting the completely changed new era meta? In the 21st-century Earth, there were countless idiots who couldn’t do this.

Especially my former battalion commander.

Despite being in his mid-40s, he still didn’t know what an adjutant’s position was.

Damn.

I got so angry handling his mess and calming down the frustrated adjutant that I left the service.

I heard that a month after I left, he got chewed out by the division commander for completely messing up the settlement documents.

“We’ve suppressed the enemy’s right wing, so next is the center. I’ll give you two days to rest and reorganize the soldiers.”

“Yes!”

“Leave one regiment of the left-wing unit to build a temporary detention camp. The rest will move with us.”

“Where are we going? The enemy has already disappeared.” “Disappeared? They’re still overflowing in the east.”

Anyway.

Having captured numerous prisoners and reversed the numerical disadvantage, our task was set.

If we achieved victory through tactical double envelopment, now we needed to create a double envelopment across the entire front line.

And to put it resultantly.

My calculation was about half right.

No, precisely about 73%.

“The imperial bastards are sticking out their tempting asses!! Everyone, run and kick them!!”

“Don’t hesitate to attack! It’ll take those bastards ages to change their formation direction! If we push now, we can defeat them one-sidedly!!”

“What are those bastards?! When did they get behind–“

Smashing the imperial army’s central camp went smoothly.

It seemed news of the right wing’s collapse due to harsh natural conditions hadn’t reached them.

They weren’t on guard at all.

Thanks to that, we struck their back as easily as during training.

The problem came next.

We succeeded in breaking them, but failed to achieve the goal of total annihilation.

We ultimately allowed their retreat.

“The imperial army escaped? How many?”

“I’m not certain. It wasn’t scattered retreating soldiers, but an organized withdrawal… probably over several thousand in total.”

“How troublesome. We were doing so well, but failed in the final wrap-up.”

Honestly, I had some excuses.

With their deployed forces approaching 40,000, we couldn’t suppress them in one go.

Even while attacking from front and back, it was difficult to completely prevent the units that regained their senses from reorganizing and retreating.

No matter how excellent and combat-capable line infantry is, this is an era without even machine guns.

There are limitations to the killing power possible with muzzle-loading muskets.

“Which direction did they go?”

“East. The imperial fortress and defense lines are certainly on the opposite side from us.”

“…. Looks like they went to pick up their allies.”

Looking at their escape route, their purpose was clearly evident.

As expected, when I contacted our right wing, the units facing off had simultaneously withdrawn.

With the situation turning unfavorable, they were just trying to salvage whatever troops they could and hole up in the rear.

“Shouldn’t we launch an additional offensive?”

“Crossing an unknown snowy field? Relying on a few captured maps and prisoner testimonies? Moderate your delusions.”

“…It was a slip of the tongue.”

Here, it would be best to press our momentum, but unfortunately, that option was blocked.

Until now, the northern front battlefield had been within the kingdom’s territory.

To counterattack, we’d need to cross into imperial lands, but we lacked information about that side.

It was a region with practically no human exchange before the war.

We know less than a hundredfold of what we know.

Where the rivers are, how many mountains exist, or which nearby cities or villages are located.

A campaign is difficult, and establishing supply lines is even more challenging.

If we decide on an offensive on the spot, it would be strange if we didn’t end up as frozen or freeze-dried jerky.

“They’ve probably established defensive facilities as thoroughly as we have, right?”

“If the commander had any sense, they certainly would have.”

“No good. The battle stops here.”

Of course, given enough time, we could pioneer a path… but there seemed no compelling reason to do so.

The cost-effectiveness was poor.

The financially strapped kingdom government would hardly support the budget required.

“Let’s change the plan. Stop the northern front here and focus on maintaining the status quo.”

“Without finishing it?”

“Yes. The imperial bastards will need quite a while before they can counterattack.”

Therefore, I chose to halt the operation.

Though the conclusion was rough, we’ve already destroyed and captured over tens of thousands of enemy soldiers.

This effectively neutralizes more than half of their northern army.

Their force recovery will take ages.

While we solved our issue by sending part of the central army due to simple troop shortages, they can’t do the same.

Investigating defeat responsibilities and reshuffling personnel will take at least several months.

At least during that time, we needn’t worry about anything happening on the northern front.

“Mauer, I’ll hand over about 5,000 troops. Reinforce the defense line and focus solely on border patrol. Can you handle that?”

“Leave it to me.”

The central army of 14,000 (1,000 died in combat) will head west. Having come this far, it would be a waste to return empty-handed.

My gaze turned westward.

Toward the battlefield where armies totaling hundreds of thousands are still clashing.

“We’ll depart in a week. Each unit will reorganize and prepare for march.”

…Until now, I didn’t know.

What shocking truth awaited me, awaited us, there.