188 Episode 188: The First Zoldian War

"Hey, it's late."

"It can't be helped. The river was rising due to the effects of yesterday's rain, and it took time to get around."

Rosward shrugs.

Rosward and Gram joined Bartholo with 9,000 troops, entrusting a thousand troops to Ron to protect them.

On the way, there was a problem that the river increased in volume due to the rain, and the river had to bypass a river that could normally be crossed, but arrived safely in half a day.

"Build a bridge locally"

"I'm so crazy ..."

Gram smiles, but Bartolo is very serious.

Of course, Bartolo is the only one who can do or try to do that.

"How is the Zoldias Army?"

"It's moving near the border. It's going to be a battle tomorrow morning. That must be a lot of hurry."

The area where Ron and his colleagues attacked had long had a close relationship with the kingdom of King Zordias.

The king of Zoldias, a country with low grain self-sufficiency, had imported grain from neighboring small and medium-sized countries.

However, friendly nations were successively destroyed or annexed to King Rossais.

The face is crushed.

There is no choice but to move.

"Well, even with a three-fold difference in strength, you can win if you devise it. But I'm not sweet enough to allow it."

Bartolo laughed inappropriately.

As expected by Bartolo, the two sides faced on the relatively large plains of the kingdom of Evil.

It is located near the border with the kingdom of Zoldias, just on the border between the mountains and the flatlands.

Both are facing each other across the river.

"General Bartolo, if you don't want to die, we recommend you calmly disband the army."

"You are the first to break up. I will not allow any further riots to the kingdom of Evil."

"What a rage. Invaders !!"

The messenger goes back and forth between King Zoldias and Bartolo.

Negotiation ... In fact, it's just a buzz.

Both sides have no intention of giving up from the beginning.

"" Advance start! ""

It was almost at the same time that Bartolo and King Zordias issued a march to all troops.

Both troops crash in the middle of the river.

The water volume is only about half of the way from the toe to the knee.

The behavior is somewhat impeded, but has no major effect, and the conditions are the same for both.

Losaith soldiers who have been used to fighting.

Zoldias soldiers with well-trained legs in mountainous areas.

Both are of the same quality.

The commander's ability to issue orders, at least in terms of tactics, is not much different between Bartolo and King Zoldias.

If there is no difference between battle and tactics, the superiority of the strategy will greatly influence the situation of the battle.

That is, the number of soldiers.

The Rosais troops, who are superior in troop numbers, gradually drive the Zoldias troops.

Both wings slowly close as the snake tightens the result.

"... It's time. Withdraw!"

King Zoldias orders the entire army to withdraw.

The Zoldias army begins to flee.

"Can you escape!"

Bartolo sends an assault order to the entire army without emptying.

The sound of the flute resounds in the sky, and the Rossais forces gain momentum.

However, the movement stops for a moment. The Zoldias palace has stopped, preventing the Rosais from pursuing.

In the meantime, the Zoldias flees apart, saying that they have no formation or sloppy.

Watching the situation, the 1,000-captains of the Rossais Army laughed.

"What, they!"

"What a brave one, a wimp that runs away with his back to the enemy?"

"I didn't even have to fight this carefully!"

The tension thread of the whole Losaith army is loosened.

Nevertheless, the Rossais army does not slow the attack, but destroys the palace and tries to eat on the back of the Zoldias army.

Everyone in the Rossais army, the generals, was convinced of the victory.

Only, except Bartolo.

"... It's weird, it's just too bad."

You can tell if you are a great general or not by a retreat.

The retreating battle of a great general has no chance, and if you chase poorly, you may suffer damage on the contrary.

In general, King Zoldias has a high reputation for military genius, and his defeat in King Evil, who is by no means a fool, has also emerged.

Bartolo himself proved to be an indisputable opponent of the actual response.

An ordinary general cannot maintain the battlefield for so long after the first crash.

King Zoldias did his best, albeit with a small army.

"Shingari is also strong. In order for him to fight so much, he must trust the commander."

King Zoldias is a great general.

However, the abilities of King Zoldias in front of him and Bartholo's estimates of King Zoldias are inconsistent.

Bartolo indulge in thought.

Suddenly, Bartolo's eyes reflected the surface of the river.

The river water is so shallow that it does not hinder combat.

… Despite the rain.

Ron and his colleagues said that heavy rain had required them to bypass the river.

… Then, the amount of water in this river is strange.

One possibility emerges in Bartolo's mind.

If it is correct ...

"Order the entire army! Withdraw!"

"That, withdraw ?? But ..."

"Be good!

Bartolo yells at the messenger.

The messengers run unknowingly, but as ordered, to inform all troops of their retreat.

"You don't even have to prepare a lord. Show your back at a glance!

The withdrawal whistle sounds.

The sound of a whistle that I had known in training, but never used in actual battles.

Emergency withdrawal order.

An emergency withdrawal order, with no formation for withdrawal, no lord prepared, and in some cases, even if you let go of your weapon, escape.

Soldiers are puzzled.

Why do we have to withdraw so quickly that we are winning now?

Soldiers doubt their ears.

But the sound of the whistle continues to sound.

The soldiers begin to withdraw, confused.

It was the result of training, and also because of his trust in Bartolo, because their self-confidence was deeply questioned by the enormousness of their enemies.

For some reason, Zoldias soldiers did not pursue.

When about two-thirds of the Rossais Army came out of the river ...

A strange sound resounds on the battlefield.

It grows gradually.

Bartolo shouts.

"Run! Move to the hills! The soldiers behind throw away weapons!"

I don't know what's going on.

But good things are happening.

The soldiers instinct sound a horn.

The Rossais troops move uphill at a stretch.

Immediately after all troops move to the hills ...

Flash floods washed the battlefield.

"He said," I'm glad that my country is upstream of the river and I'm blocking the river ... "

Bartolo drank alcohol with trembling hands, wiping cold sweat.

The sake spilled and stained Bartolo's clothes.

"What should we call Bartolo Pompeius ...?"

King Zoldias muttered unfortunately.

And with a little bit, I was able to wash away 10,000 of the Losaiths.

"He was a terrible opponent. If he did, he would be surrounded and destroyed before the dam was destroyed."

That's why I regret not being able to beat here.

"What should you do? King Zoldias. The same plan will never work again?"

An aide of King Zoldias asks with anxiety.

God gave King Zoldias an unparalleled military talent, but no political talent.

It is therefore this aide who controls all the politics of King Zoldias's country.

Of course, in the war, you can't rely on an aide you can rely on.

"I can't help but stay inside. Fortunately, our country is like a fortress .... If we have the ground, we can win steadily.

"But do you climb the mountain?"

King Zoldias nodded to his worried aides.

"Coming. Maintaining 20,000 troops for a month would be a tough race, too. Unlike our country, rosaith is an agricultural nation. If it were, then we would have to keep soldiers on the battlefield forever. It's not going to go .... Rosais will always be sitting up. "

"I'm back, Bartolo"

I worked for Bartolo when I returned.

The war with King Zordias has ended in a draw.

Nevertheless, the Zoldias army also returned deep into the country and was temporarily returned.

It is in the form of a natural truce.

"In the first place, 20,000 soldiers will dissolve .... I will replace them."

The soldiers were fighting for a month until today.

But they are also farmers.

Agricultural land will be damaged if it is tied to the battlefield for a long time.

… I hope that a standing army can be made like Nobunaga, but there is no equivalent to a samurai in Japan, and the standing army costs money and cannot prepare a large army.

There is nothing I can do about it.

Well, I personally consider conscription to be a better military system than standing army.

Standing troops take time to regroup if their stocks are defeated and annihilated, but conscription can be replenished as much as the population allows.

What is needed for the war is not a permanent army.

An undefeated army.

If you lose ninety-nine times tactically, you can win the hundredth if you do not lose strategically.

"Bartolo, is there something next?"

"... I can't say anything. You have to wait for it to come down."

But I don't know when he's going down next time ...

Do you still attack?

No, short thinking is not good.

That's right ... first of all ...

"Call Alexios. Let's hear his opinion."

It might offer a different perspective from Bartolo.

"I heard, General Bartolo. It was dangerous."

"It's absolutely ... if it's one step behind, everything was flushed. In a double sense."

Bartolo talks to Alexios with a sigh.

And he looks at Alexios.

"That man is dangerous. It's better to avoid attacking the country."

"Okay, I haven't said anything yet."

Alexios smiles fresh.

And turned to me.

"I read the report, and I looked into it myself ... this was a normal war ... like the enemies and nations that the Majesty and General Bartolo have ever confronted and defeated Is a decisive victory. "

Oh ... don't say anything interesting.

So what is this?

"This battle is a castle attack. The kingdom of Zoldias is the strongest fortress in the world, surrounded by several high walls and with many traps inside the castle ..."

Alexios smiled inappropriately.

"Surround the surroundings, cut off information and supplies, attack from all sides, apply psychological pressure to the enemy, and attack at a stretch in the weak place ... If there is a royal road strategy to attack the castle, there is no kingdom of king Zoldias I guess. "