C81: The Road to King (21)

“It’s not this way. It’s over there!”

He hurriedly pointed to the west instead of the east, where Lunan Castle was located.

“You think Narja’s army is coming from the west? Are you sure you’ve seen Narja’s uniform?

“No, no, I was too far away to see the color of their uniforms.”

I came to check if Fran might have acted crazy, but he didn’t. It wasn’t the Narja’s troops that should be arriving here. Still, to be sure, I tried to scan for troops in the distance.

[Aintorian Territorial Army]

[Strength: 20,000 men]

[Soldiers: 15,000 infantry, 5,000 archers.]

[Morale: 90(+5)]

[Training level: 95]

Needless to say, they were on our side. It was my troops from Aintorian. The Aintorian Territorial Army that I had worked so hard to raise! They were my elite troops that I had finally managed to increase from 20,000 to 30,000, including the Iron Cavalry.

The fact that their morale was +5 was proof that Yurasia was among them. The positive effect on morale is the halo effect of a general with a command value of 95 or higher.

“Are you sure you’re scouting with your eyes open? They’re on our side.”

“What? It’s…….Where the hell did they come from?”

“It’s the Aintorian Territorial Army.”

“Are you sure? I didn’t know they were coming!”

Voltaire’s vassals were jumping with joy.

There would be no allies coming from elsewhere at the moment. However, if I showed off that I was still alive and well here, and let them know that Elheat was with me, it was certain that some of the territories between Aintorian and Voltaire Castle that had not yet been hit by war would come to fight.

Still, considering the efficiency of vacating Aintorian and sending all the troops over here, it would be a part of the strategy. What I need to gain from this war is part of the strategy for acquisition.

“Open the gates at once and welcome my army.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll go with you.”

***

As soon as the Aintorian troops arrived, they immediately supplied the refugees with grain.

I started to influence people’s minds. It was a very important step in order to gather the armies of other territories under me.

“Eat a lot.”

Grain rationing, this was the first way to manage the people. If I gave it to the people with my own hands, the people who received it would feel grateful.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Most people express their heartfelt gratitude. However, there are many different kinds of people, and there are many different kinds of refugees as well.

“Is that all?”

There was always someone crazy enough to say such a thing in front of the nobility, even during the war.

“That’s it. Please think about the people behind you. There’s an overflow of refugees and not enough grain to go around.”

When this happened, Yurasia was next to me and strongly reminded them. Then the people who were being sarcastic fell silent, unable to say anything. Yurasia’s high level of charm attracted people.

Elheat, who had recovered to some extent, also joined in the rationing. He had decided to donate all the assets of his domain, but it was meaningless. His territory was in the southern part of Lunan, and it was impossible to bring in supplies from there right now. Rather, it was just a territory that would eventually fall into Narja’s hands.

“It’s better to take it easy and rest…….You’re not fully recovered yet.”

“I’ll be fine. I can’t be the only one resting.”

“Don’t worry about the rations.”

I replied, thinking that he was worried about the food for the soldiers, but Elheat shook his head.

“That’s not what I meant. I admire you.”

“What do you mean? – Anyway, you should get some rest. I intend for you to be active on the battlefield. I don’t want you to lose your strength here.”

“Hahahaha! That’s also true. All right, I’ll do that!”

The refugees passing through here are part of the population flowing out of northern Lunan and Lunan’s royal capital. The refugees must have flowed in two directions, south and west of Lunan.

Those who were headed to the south would have heard the rumors about me spreading to Lunan, so I had to be even more careful. On the contrary, it was an influx that could not go on forever. Yes, there was indeed an end. So the best thing to do here would be to give it a good amount of time, win the hearts and minds of the people, and then retreat.

“Yusen.”

“Yes, my lord!”

That’s why I needed to move a little.

“I’ll take a squad and leave Voltaire Castle for a while.”

“Leave Voltaire Castle?”

I explained to Yusen my first strategy in this war.

***

Narja’s 150,000-strong army was marching towards Voltaire Castle. 　Fran had ordered his cavalry to march at the same speed, without dividing them. The scouting party he had sent was returning to the main army, which was marching.

“You’re saying Erhin has left?”

“Yes. When Aintorian’s troops met up with him at Voltaire Castle, he led the Iron Cavalry out of the castle.”

Fran furrowed his brow at the news. Why had they suddenly left? It was also strange to hear that a large force had moved from Aintorian. It meant that he had vacated Aintorian. What was his plan?

Fran unfolded the map. He would have troops left to defend Aintorian, but this would make it extremely easy for them to attack Aintorian.

Are you saying we should fight at Voltaire Castle? What exactly is your goal? It was easy to isolate Voltaire Castle. If he surrounded it with a 150,000-strong army, the castle would be too low to hold for two days.

Istin, Lucana, Lamp, and the other generals, Valdesca’s vassals, and the nobles of Narja who had joined the war faced each other. Fran’s face became serious as he began to worry.

“General, do you want me to organize a pursuit party?”

Lamp posed a question but Fran shook his head.

“No, we will march as planned. The sooner we get to Castle Voltaire, the better.”

It looked like they were trying to break our morale with a surprise attack or to cut off supplies. But since they had captured Lunan Castle, there was no supply problem. It was really foolish for Erhin to go cutting off supply with that many troops.

It would only mean that he would have to sacrifice the main force of Voltaire Castle to himself. Of course, that would never happen. So the only thing he could think of was a surprise attack. However, what was completely unexpected was why he was holding out in Voltaire Castle.

Whether it was Voltaire Castle or Aintorian Castle, it didn’t matter where the battlefield was because the plan was to isolate and defeat them, but it was frustrating to understand why he was fighting in that lowly Voltaire Castle.

“I’m not going to give Lunan’s army in the Bridget area time to enter the war. Even if reinforcements come, our army has more troops than his, but we don’t need to waste our troops on him, so we’re going to have a quick battle.”

According to his information, there are about 50,000 troops in the Bridget area. Moreover, the moment the entire army arrives, Lunan will lose control of Bridget. It means that they will be divided on all sides, and all of Lunan and Bridget’s territories will be ownerless. In any case, the overwhelming advantage was Fran’s.

Furthermore, he had no intention of allowing Erhin to join up with Bridget’s reinforcements. He had prepared a strategy that could be immediately used to finish the battle at Aintorian!

“It’s best to surround and destroy them.”

“Sir, do you still intend to keep the Fourth Army hidden?”

“The moment they retreat to Aintorian, the Fourth Army will be on the move. I don’t think they’ll stay in Voltaire Castle for long.”

There was no way to know what kind of strategy he had in mind. There was nothing in Erhin’s favor, whether he was in Voltaire Castle or Aintorian. Nor was there any terrain over here that was advantageous to him. Rather, if he wanted to take advantage of the terrain, he should fight in the area around the barrier or in Lunan Castle.

“There is no need to be nervous. We’ll keep marching.”

“Yes, my lord!”

“They’ll probably surprise us with 5,000 cavalrymen. Do not forget to be thoroughly prepared!”

At Fran’s command, the advance of Narja’s 150,000-strong army continued.

***

The structure of the Aintorian army is deformed. The ratio is very wrong due to the fact that the cavalry is the most numerous. They specialized in attacking rather than defending. Moreover, they are not suitable for siege warfare. It is a unit that is only powerful on the plains, not in sieges and sieges. Even so, rather than training infantry, I forced myself to train a cavalry force of 10,000 because I did not want to be isolated.

In this situation, a siege would be disadvantageous. It’s not just a matter of defending one place at a time. Even if I return to Aintorian, I will be isolated in the end.

I think I can manage to hold out for a year. As long as I have enough food to last me a year, I’m confident that the walls of Aintorian will be able to hold out for quite a while, if not longer than Lunan Castle.

With the destruction of Lunan, the dream of unifying the continent would fade into the distance with nothing gained and nothing accomplished. So the point of this war was exactly 10,000 iron cavalrymen.

Of course, I am not trying to use any great strategy in the current situation. But since I couldn’t just sit back and watch them advance, I was going to make them suffer as much as possible while slowing down their advance. The more I did so, the more refugees would pass through Voltaire Castle, and the more rumors they would hear.

Narja’s 150,000-strong army was not without cavalry. However, Fran had them all marching at the same speed to prevent them from being attacked individually. In other words, they were moving at the same speed as the regular infantry.

I had the iron cavalry stand by nearby, while Zint and I climbed a nearby mountain to get a better idea of the enemy’s forces. With an army of 150,000, their advance would naturally be conspicuous. It was not a scale that could be marched in hiding.

Their formation was complex, cavalry at the front, behind them, infantry and in the middle, a supply corps and another cavalry corps to protect it. Just by looking at their marching arrangement, it was clear that they were moving in packs. The atmosphere was filled with the desire to move as one.

As they had embarked on a war of conquest, they were organized around an infantry force for siege warfare. There were 100,000 infantry and 50,000 archers and cavalry. However, moving in herds like that was rather vulnerable to surprise attacks. The opportunity to destroy them individually doesn’t only arise when the enemy moves individually.