The 9Th Class Swordmaster: Blade Of Truth [EN]: Chapter 358

229. The Great War (2)

Having been joined by the main force of the Second Army and with their numbers bolstered, the Imperial Army crossed the upper reaches of the Fourine River and slowly began to fell the lush forests.

“Come on, come on! Move it, move it!!”

“Tie the cut trees together and use them to dam the river!! Sharpen the ends of the remaining trees and send them downstream before blocking the river!!”

“Yes, sir!!”

“Understood!!”

The Imperial Army, momentarily stalled by Carryl’s surprise attack, began to cut down the forest, establish a base there, and slowly expand their territory.

Tiren’s strategy for attacking Tatur was unprecedented.

He planned to cut down all the trees growing in the forest from the upper reaches of the Fourine, block the river, and simultaneously sharpen the remaining tree trunks like stakes to send them floating towards Tatur.

Tatur’s strength lay in the fierce waters of the Fourine River.

However, by blocking the river itself and sending sharp tree trunks to damage Tatur’s walls, the accumulated tree trunks would block the walls, making it difficult to exit from the inside and easier to attack the walls from the outside, using the accumulated trees as footholds.

It was a simple idea, but one that no one dared to attempt.

A force of 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers could not even begin to execute such a plan. But turning the forest into a plain and blocking the river so it could be crossed on foot was only possible with hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

Even as he watched the spectacle of the massive army at work, Tiren’s expression remained uneasy.

“Something troubling you?” Kwell asked Tiren, who was overseeing the operation.

“The terrain is worse than I expected, which has caused significant delays. I now understand why Tatur has remained a free city for so long.”

“Hmm.”

Kwell nodded at his response, while Elliot and Mart, standing behind him, looked puzzled as they observed the forest turning into a barren plain thanks to the cleanly felled trees.

“The forests along the Fourine have been neglected for so long, so it’s inevitable that clearing them would take time. But aren’t we eliminating the unfavorable terrain through this operation?” Elliot asked first.

“Yes. Blocking the Fourine’s current at the upper reaches will solve the problem. I think your plan is the best course of action right now,” Mart added, agreeing with his assessment.

“The problem isn’t just the trees. If you look here, the path to Tatur is surprisingly obscured by many hills that were hidden by the trees. And these hills are interconnected, forming an entrance.”

“Hmm…?”

At his words, the two looked ahead.

“Even so, they’re much lower than the Empire’s canyons. Even if they deploy ranged units, we can counter them sufficiently. Moreover, the entrance is large. We can leave a defense force behind and quickly pass through with the main force to strike their rear,” Mart said.

Tiren, however, gave a faint, bitter smile. Sensing the meaning in his expression, Kwell asked, “Are you saying the rear is a bottleneck?”

Tiren nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. The problem is the lack of information. The entrance appears wide and simple, but we can’t determine the number of hills hidden by the trees. If the terrain behind them is divided into narrow paths that are difficult for a large army to advance through… then the original plan to create a plain and expand the area will be useless.”
Tiren drew a circle around the entrance to the hills near the Imperial Army’s base and then drew several narrow paths branching out behind it, like the neck of a bottle.

“If the paths are narrow and divided like this, we could be ambushed.”

“Hmm…”

“If the plain we create by blocking the Fourine’s water becomes a bottleneck, providing the enemy with an avenue of approach, then our efforts will not only benefit us.”

“Narrow paths mean there are restrictions on the number of troops that can move, negating the advantage of our large army,” Kwell said, studying the map with a serious expression.

“What if we push through quickly before the enemy arrives? The key is to pass through this bottleneck entrance, right? If we avoid being ambushed, each path could become a one-on-one fight.”

“That’s right.”

“Ultimately, the paths created by the maze-like hills are limited. To take advantage of our large army, we must quickly pass through one of these paths and target the enemy’s rear,” Tiren said, agreeing with Mart while continuing to explain his plan.

“But the enemy will likely anticipate that. The paths that can’t be blocked by troops are likely to be trapped with magic.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Occupy the hills.”

He pointed to the beginning of the hills, like the entrance of a bottle, on the map.

“In a battlefield with no information, the first thing we need is to understand the terrain. To do that, we need a place where we can overlook the entire army. The Free Army needs this as well.”

“A battle for the hills, you mean.”

“What’s the first place you have in mind?”

“This place,” Tiren said, pointing to a spot.

* * *

“The troops are moving.”

“Are we ready?”

“We are,” Kaila Chang replied, the warriors of the Chang family gripping their swords with tense expressions.

“As expected, a cavalry unit is gathering to break through the bottleneck. Judging by the complete exclusion of infantry and mages, it seems they’re planning a reckless breakthrough, regardless of the cost.”

“Of course. Tiren wouldn’t have any other ideas in his head,” Carryl said.

‘Tiren, you never change.’

Carryl thought of his name, somewhere far away…

‘In your past life, as a chancellor, you stood on the blood of so many soldiers. You ruthlessly carried out strategies that even condoned the sacrifice of our own troops for the sake of victory.’

As if reminiscing about the past, he conveyed his unspoken words to him.

‘You were so cold, you were called the Iron Chancellor. Because of you, I fought countless terrible wars… but you didn’t even blink an eye. It wasn’t just because you hated me, a mere foreigner. It’s because you didn’t value the lives of soldiers who weren’t nobles.’

The reason he could devise and execute such ruthless tactics wasn’t simply because Tiren McGovern was a cold person.

‘It was because Bran Gaunt was there.’

Tiren would devise the strategies, and Bran Gaunt would directly command the battlefield. That was the Empire’s way of war in his past life.

But because Bran Gaunt died because of him, Tiren now had to go to the battlefield himself.

“It’s easy to disregard human lives when you’re just moving pieces on a map. But in the slaughterhouse that is the battlefield, where hundreds, thousands die every day… I wonder if you can still maintain your composure,” Carryl muttered in a low voice, his eyes gleaming.

“Kaila, deploy the troops as instructed and await orders. In this battle, your Chang family will play the most important role.”

“Understood.”

“And Kwell’s 7th unit will be lured to the innermost path on the right. Ganes, lead the Wyvern unit and drop rocks to block the entrance the moment the cavalry unit passes through the bottleneck. Then, assist Kaila in striking the cavalry’s rear.”

“Understood.”

“Remember, the Wyvern unit’s goal is not to annihilate the enemy. Your primary mission is to strike the magic corps [magicians] the moment they’re deployed to break through the blocked entrance.”
Ganes nodded at his words.

[Heh heh… this is going to be fun. They think their main goal is to break through and pass through that hill, but you’re thinking beyond that.]

Carryl smiled faintly.

“The remaining troops, except for Kwell’s elite soldiers, are just bait. Tiren is sacrificing them to allow Kwell’s cavalry unit to break through and cross the hill. Because they are the most powerful force in the Imperial Army.”

[But that’s why you’re completely excluding him and annihilating the remaining troops to inflict damage. Furthermore…]

Alun said, humming as if singing a tune.

“Kwell is obviously aiming for the highest hill in the central interior. And to get there, he has no choice but to go through the lower path on the right. We’ll give them the hill. We’ll gain something bigger.”

[Heh heh… you’re targeting the main camp that Kwell has abandoned. This is truly a brilliant move.]

At Carryl’s words, Alun said,

“Tiren, please don’t be consumed by the horrors of the battlefield.”

Carryl said quietly.

[You’re worried about him even in this situation?]

“No.”

At Alun’s question, he raised one corner of his mouth and said,

“If he doesn’t fulfill his role due to defeat in the war, it won’t do.”

[His role?]

“Before the oracle is given, I will find the remaining two artifacts. Tiren needs to be the guide who finds those artifacts.”

[You’re already thinking ahead this far? Even with the great war of a million soldiers clashing before your eyes?]

Alun said, letting out a dumbfounded laugh at Carryl’s words.