I Became The Tyrant Of A Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 370

The next day.

The dawn of the second day of the war.

Thud- thud- thud-

Amidst the resounding drumbeats, a ceremony was being held at the forefront of the goblin army, arrayed before the forward base.

Seven selected goblin janissaries knelt before the Goblin King, who personally painted special patterns on their faces with red pigment.

《Now, you are ‘Amirs.’》

The Goblin King declared after painting the patterns on the faces of all seven janissaries.

Then,

Whoosh-!

Dark green light erupted from the bodies of the seven janissaries, their muscles growing larger, and their eyes becoming sharper.

The Goblin King nodded and approached the five hundred goblin soldiers lined up behind them.

In front of the five hundred soldiers lay the armor worn by the janissaries. It had been stripped from the bodies of the janissaries who had died.

《Wear it.》

The goblin soldiers immediately donned the armor.

A moment later, the Goblin King declared, looking at the five hundred goblins who had finished putting on their armor.

《Now, you are ‘Janissaries.’》

The patterns engraved on the janissaries’ armor emitted a green light, and the newly appointed janissaries roared in unison.

This was the Goblin King’s power and the special ability of the goblin army: ‘Promotion.’

Due to the army’s characteristic of using lives as ammunition, the consumption of officer units was also extreme. This ability allowed them to endure that consumption.

Simply by having the Goblin King paint a pattern imbued with magic, the corresponding goblin was forcibly promoted to the next tier unit.

From a regular soldier to a janissary, from a janissary to an amir….

Units forcibly promoted in this way were definitely weaker than existing units of the same rank, with restrictions on various stats, but what did it matter?

They would die on the battlefield anyway, and they could just promote another one.

This was the goblin way.

《Let’s go.》

The Goblin King, after looking back at the path covered in snow overnight, exhaled a breath from behind his mask.

《We have a long way to go.》

As the king flapped his cloak and mounted his mountain goat, the soldier at the front blew a long horn.

Boo-ooo-ooo-

Thud- thud- thud-

The goblin army’s march resumed.

And now, there would be no stopping them.

***

“Hoo-…….”

I exhaled a long white breath, observing their march through a telescope.

Winter was unleashing its final cold, and the snow that had fallen overnight was still scattering white powder in the air even in the morning.

And the goblin army was passing through this harsh weather without any sign of difficulty. They didn’t seem particularly troubled.

The snow-soaked road had frozen solid in the sub-zero temperatures.

It would have been better if it had turned into a muddy mess, which would have slowed down their march a bit, but unfortunately, the soil was not like that, and they were still disgustingly fast.

‘It would be nice if they froze to death…….’

The ecology of monsters was far from that of normal creatures.

They might receive buffs or debuffs from the weather, but they wouldn’t freeze to death just because it was snowing.

And because they were not normal creatures, there was another aspect that differed from conventional warfare. That was,

‘Supply.’

Supply is the foundation of war. Replenishing food, equipment, and ammunition is essential.

Soldiers cannot fight if they don’t sleep, eat, and drink. That’s why I’m paying special attention to logistics.

But monsters are different.

They are not naturally occurring life forms but creatures born from the nightmares under the darkness of the Lake Kingdom.

They do not require supplies such as meals or sleep.

Well, some, like the Blood Clan, do need to consume meat or blood to sustain themselves.

But that’s because cannibalism is the most efficient way for them to replenish their magic power.

To make a long story short… in the end, tactics such as ‘striking supply lines,’ which are one of the most effective means in war, do not work well against monsters.

“But, it’s just that they are relatively ineffective… it doesn’t mean they are completely ineffective.”

As I chuckled and muttered, Lucas and Evangeline, who were standing on either side of me, also chuckled.

“Ptooey!”

Quilan, who was rubbing his muscular arms with both hands, belatedly opened his eyes, as if the falling snow was cold.

“Huh? What, what’s so funny? Let me laugh too!”

“Look over there, Quilan.”

I reached out and pointed to the rear of the goblin army.

“Our prey is coming.”

At the very end of the winding, tens of thousands of greenskins, a unit pulling dozens of carts covered with white cloth could be seen.

A supply unit.

Even if a monster army doesn’t need food or sleep, other elements require supplies.

For example, equipment.

From arrows, bows, swords, and spears, to saddles for horses, and even spare wheels for tanks.

In addition, there were mountain goats ridden by cavalry and giant oxen used by tank crews, and so on…….

The other monster armies so far were armies that fought with their own bodies and abilities.

Therefore, there was no need to operate a supply unit to carry equipment.

But the goblin army is different.

They overcome the weak bodies of goblins by using tools, and they fight by employing tactics according to the king’s orders. Their strength lies in their strength as an army.

That’s why a supply unit exists.

“As a guerrilla, one should prioritize attacking the enemy’s supply unit.”

I smirked, looking at the appetizing supply unit of the goblin army.

Supply units are relatively weak in combat power, but the damage they can inflict when destroyed is significant.

You can achieve maximum effect with minimum firepower. It was the most suitable prey for us, who had set out with a guerrilla concept.

I looked to the side. This time, the heroes of the vanguard were deployed.

Lucas’s party, Evangeline’s party, the Punishment Unit, and the Dragon Blood Knights of the Dusk Bringer. Four in total.

I only brought powerful infighters who could go into the enemy lines and stir things up.

In addition,

“Please, Junior.”

I brought only Junior to cast a simple wind buff magic.

Junior, whose complexion was not good due to overexertion yesterday, smiled as if nothing was wrong and held up his magic staff.

“This much is easy!”

As Junior waved his staff, the blessing of the wind was bestowed upon our warhorses.

This would prevent their hooves from sinking into the snow, and the speed of the horses would increase, making hit-and-run tactics easier.

“Thank you, Junior. Go back first.”

“Yes. See you later.”

Junior returned through the teleport gate first, and I nodded, looking around at the remaining heroes.

“Let’s make a mess.”

The vanguard heroes hadn’t been able to fight properly until now.

They had only been standing guard at the forward base defense line, or yesterday, they were used as bait units and were also mobilized only for the defense of the entire unit.

But today is an attack.

It was time for them to unleash their pent-up anger on the enemy.

My heroes, who had all drawn their weapons, smiled menacingly.

At the forefront, I, who had drawn my staff, took the lead and spurred my horse.

“Charge! Smash their supply unit-!”

***

At the forefront of the goblin army.

Kaley-Alexandre, who was holding his injured left arm, which was still burning hot even in the winter cold, and pretending to be fine as he led the way on his mountain goat, was approached by a goblin amir, who came running in a hurry.

《Kirek, Great Kaley-Alexandre!》

《What is it?》

《We are under attack, Kirek! Humans have appeared!》

A strange light flashed in Kaley-Alexandre’s eyes.

《I see, they’ve come.》

《There are about twenty humans on horseback! Kirek, there are no mages!》

《Twenty, huh…….》

《What should we do? Should we immediately turn the army around and surround them?》

Kaley-Alexandre immediately shook his head.

《No, ignore them.》

《Huh?》

To charge at thirty thousand with only twenty.

It must be a unit made up of the human side’s elite—heroes.

They would be composed only of those who were confident in hit-and-run tactics. There was no need to get caught up in their pace.

《Do not slow down the march speed towards the north. Have the surrounding units counterattack, but do not pursue them deeply.》

The goblin amir blinked, as if he didn’t understand.

Kaley-Alexandre chuckled. It seemed that his fellow goblins had difficulty understanding not immediately slaughtering the enemy in front of them.

《Our goal is the human wall. And the human’s goal is also their wall.》

Goblins seek destruction.

Hans seek protection.

Although their goals are different, their target is the same.

In the end, it’s a fight to see whether they can cross the walls of Crossroads or not.

《What they fear is us reaching the wall as quickly as possible with as many troops as possible.》

There was no way the human side wouldn’t attack during the three days it would take to reach the wall.

Kaley-Alexandre had predicted it, of course. And the answer he came up with was simple.

《Let them attack. The humans will continue to attack us throughout the march anyway. We will endure the damage. Prioritize the march.》

If they were going to take damage anyway, it was better to maintain a rapid march rather than getting caught up in the guerrilla’s deceptive tactics and wasting time without gaining anything.

No matter how much the human heroes rampage, the scale of the guerrilla is only in the tens.

The maximum damage they could inflict was limited.

Kaley-Alexandre was willing to sacrifice thousands of lives in his army if he could reach the wall on time.

Goblins wage war with lives as a resource.

If maintaining the march speed also cost something, there was no reason not to pay it.

《Of course, we can’t just sit back and take it…… Tell the cavalry to search the area where they appeared. If they find a teleport gate, destroy it and return.》

《Yes!》

Then another goblin amir appeared. The amir, who had run in a hurry, reported to Kaley-Alexandre.

《Kirek, Great Kaley-Alexandre! Reporting! The humans have begun attacking the rear of our army!》

《The rear, you say…….》

《It’s the supply unit, Kirek!》

《Indeed.》

From behind the mask, a faint smile formed on the lips of the cunning Goblin King.

《You’re moving by the book, Ash.》

***

We smashed the supply unit at the rear.

As expected of an army led directly by the Goblin King, the troops guarding the supply unit were well-trained. They held out tenaciously.

So it took some time to deal with them all. But in the end, they were crushed by the attacks of my twenty elite heroes.

After defeating all the hundreds of guards who were protecting the supply unit.

“…….”

I glared at the enemy’s main force, which was moving away, with dissatisfaction.

The goblin army didn’t care whether the supply unit at the rear was shattered or not.

They were still heading north, as if they couldn’t see behind them.

I was a little bewildered, as I had been planning to run away if they came to intercept us.

‘Why?’

No matter how important the march is, is there a reason to move forward even while abandoning the supply unit……?

“My lord!”

Then Lucas called out to me. I quickly looked in his direction.

Lucas had removed the cloth from one of the carts they were pulling and was looking inside. I, who had ridden my horse next to him, opened my mouth slightly.

“This is…….”

“……Yes.”

Whack-

Lucas, who had completely removed the cloth covering the cart, gritted his teeth.

“It’s an empty cart, my lord.”

“…….”

The cart was empty.

“Open the other carts too!”

“Yes, sir.”

While dealing with the remaining goblins, my heroes hurriedly looked through all the carts.

They were all empty, or even if they were loaded, it was just a few odds and ends.

“……It was bait?”