Chapter 165

It’s the 16th day of the autumn moon, approaching the middle of autumn.

In the Throne Room of the Royal Castle of the Kingdom of Hydra, a ceremony was being held to appoint the general of the army that was about to depart for the Kingdom of Rapier.

“―――Count Harkis Kasar.”

“Ha!”

“I entrust you with my sword and appoint you to lead 18,000 troops and 300 dragon cavalrymen to defeat the forces of the Rapier Kingdom.”

“Yes! I accept the appointment of general!”

Harkis, the head of the Count of Kasar, is a battle-hardened general known as the ‘ever-victorious general’ in the Kingdom of Hydra.

When the current King of Hydra, Zasar Hydra, who has just entrusted his sword to Harkis, ascended to the throne, the land of the Kingdom of Hydra was less than half of its current size. It is mainly due to the many victories won by General Harkis that the kingdom has grown from that to a vast territory.

But Harkis―――the man in charge, was also aware that the many heroic deeds and victories he had achieved in his life were not due to his talent.

Harkis has always understood the strategy of Kamil Bayar, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hydra, and has only moved the army to carry out its intentions without fail.

Of course, moving an army is not an easy thing to do. I have some pride in the art of warfare itself, in the strict control and operation of soldiers.

He knew very well that his talent in devising military strategies was far beyond that of Prime Minister Kamil.

“………”

So Harkis waited patiently for the words of the king after his appointment.

It was the words that Prime Minister Kamil would give me after this that I had to keep in mind.

“General Harkis.”

“Yes!”

The words of a youthful girl echoed in the audience hall.

Prime Minister Kamil is an elf, so there is no sign of aging in her appearance.

She still looks like a girl, with a hint of youth in her features, but she has been the Prime Minister of this country since Harkis was a boy, so she must have reached an appropriate age.

“Please take a moment to describe your plans for the march.”

“Yes. Over the next two days, we will march our troops to the border of the Rapier Kingdom, and from there, over the next two days, we will march to the city of Luster.”

“Yes, very well, even though we have a large army of over 18,000, it is still possible for us to advance more quickly under General Harkis’ command and reach the city of Luster in half the time. ―――This time, however, please make sure to take a total of four days to advance the army to the city of Luster.

Also, this time, we have left six-wheeled stone-throwers that have already been assembled with the infantry troops, so we will be moving while towing them. For the stone throwers to roll smoothly, please make your way to the city of Luster through the streets. Is that correct?”

“Yes. Even though it is… would still like to hear your reasoning.”

In war, soldiers always respect speed.

The more time it takes for the invading army to move, the more time it gives the opponent to gather enough defensive forces and fortify their position.

Harkis didn’t understand the Prime Minister’s daring intention to order the army to march slowly.

It was also difficult for him to understand why he was being asked to drive a stone thrower that had already been completed at the time of his departure.

A stone-thrower takes less than half a day to assemble, so the usual practice is to load the parts onto a wagon and transport them to the site for completion. I don’t understand why we are being asked to tow a completed rock thrower to the site.

“That’s a fair question, and I’ll answer it. This time, what we want to get out of the Rapier Kingdom is their total surrender, or ‘subjugation’.

However, there is no way that they will accept subjugation with half-hearted warfare. So it is necessary for our army led by General Harkis to completely ‘crush’ the defense forces of the Rapier Kingdom.”

“Oh, my God, you wanted a confrontation that badly…”

Harkis had a vague idea that the invasion would be good if he could get a few cities ceded from the Kingdom of Rapier.

However, Prime Minister Kamil told him to win ‘total surrender’ from his opponent. He was reminded of how naive he had been in his assumptions, and he steeled himself once again.

“To extract surrender, we need to convince the Kingdom of Rapier that it will not be able to defend its land unless it comes under our subjugation. Therefore, we need to kill the enemy soldiers efficiently and damage their military power irreparably.

But the hard part is that we must be willing to ‘undermine our military power’. If our military power is severely damaged in this war, the neighboring countries will not stand idly by to see the opportunity.”

“That’s true.”

The Kingdom of Hydra has several hypothetical enemy countries to the north. If there is an opportunity to seize the fertile land of this country, there is no way that the opponent will stand by and watch.

In addition, we have been able to build friendly relations with the southern countries to a certain extent, but that is only possible if the Hydra Kingdom possesses a strong military force. If the threat of the military is reduced even a little, there will be several countries that will immediately take off the mask of smiles that they have put on so far.

“Therefore, we must aim to ‘minimize the damage to our forces’ and ‘maximize the damage to the enemy forces’.”

Prime Minister Kamil put it so simply. It was not difficult for Harkis to imagine how difficult it would be.

In the end, war is a battle of numbers against numbers. To unilaterally inflict damage only on the opponent’s army, you need to have a lot of military strategy.

“To efficiently wear down the enemy’s army, you have to get them to agree to a ‘field battle’. Since that is our objective, we are in great trouble if we are ‘besieged’ this time.

Therefore, I dare General Harkis to take four days to march his army slowly, giving the enemy enough time to gather a sufficient defense force.”

“I see.”

If they can’t gather enough troops, they will choose to siege the city.

If they are going to capture a city where soldiers are holed up, there will inevitably be many dead. This is why she dare to give the enemy enough time to gather troops and increase the possibility that they will choose to fight in the field.

“The reason why you have to tow a completed stone-thrower is to show off your presence. We have six stone-throwers, so there’s no point in fighting a bastion war… By advancing the army with this message, the opponent will be forced to choose ‘field battle’.”

“Hmm… Does it work that way?”

“Yes, it will. If we choose to siege, the city closest to the border, the city of Luster, ruled by Count Mikhail, will be damaged by stone-throwing.

King Raven has in the past forcibly taken over the silver mine, which was originally in the possession of Count Mikhail, and he is aware that he is hated by Count Mikhail. Therefore, if they repeatedly lose points that he did not actively defend the city of Luster from the invasion of the enemy, he would be very worried that Count Mikhail’s heart would finally leave the country.

Therefore, King Raven will be forced to ‘repel the invading army without causing any damage to the city of Luster’ this time. If that happens, of course…”

“So the defense forces of the Kingdom of Rapier will be positioned in front of the city of Luster and will respond to a ‘field battle’ settlement.”

“That’s right.”

Well, if that’s the case, then the enemy won’t choose ‘siege’.

Harkis agreed with what Prime Minister Kamil had said.

Now all he had to do was to use his military skills to limit the damage as much as possible and inflict catastrophic damage on the enemy army, which was not allowed to retreat from in front of the city of Luster.

It had been a while since his military skills had been put to the test, and Harkis’ heart quivered with joy.

“And this time, Count Mikhail, who rules the city of Luster, has already been recruited.”

“―――What?”

“Count Mikhail is an ally of our country. When our army and the Lapeer Kingdom’s army face each other in front of the city of Luster, he will attack the Rapier Kingdom’s army with 2,000 soldiers from his back.”

“Oh my god…”

I thought it was a simple field battle, but it seems that the enemy has already decided to turn on us.

The Hydra Kingdom has almost twice as many soldiers as the Rapier Kingdom, and they also have several advantages, such as the ability to attack from the air with dragon cavalry. So even if we simply fighting in the field, we’re not going to lose.

In addition to that, if they can pinch the enemy army, their superiority will be overwhelming.

If it is arranged to that extent, there may not even be a need for Harkis to be the commander. If it’s just a matter of crushing an army confused by a pincer attack, anyone with a little command experience can do it.

It may not seem worthwhile, but it’s not bad to have another ‘winning battle’.

In addition, if the Rapier Kingdom is surrendered, the results of the war will be extremely significant.

In addition to the fact that the promotion is very promising, there is no doubt that Harkis’ nickname of ‘ever-victorious general’ will become even more unassailable.

“Is that clear? Never march your troops ‘too fast’ and ‘show off your stone throwers’. These two things must be observed during the march.”

“Yes! Certainly, yes!”

With sincere admiration, Harkis bowed his head to Prime Minister Kamil.

Up until now, Harkis had always obeyed the orders of Prime Minister Kamil, and as a result, he had always won the glory of victory in every battle and continued to receive the highest evaluation as a general.

Therefore, as long as he complied with Prime Minister Kamil’s instructions again this time, everything would go well. He had no doubts at all, and he truly believed that.

*

“―――I see, that’s quite an idea.”

Yuri, who had sent her invisible messenger beast into the castle of Hydra Kingdom and had seen and heard all the information, smiled as she understood the enemy’s aim.

No matter how clever the military strategy is, it is meaningless if it is exposed.

The Empress’s fingertips, which were making the ‘ever-victorious’ lose their mind, had already reached Harkis’s throat.

(TN: RIP General.)