Part III: The Imperial State Edition
Chapter 1: The Front Line
Translated by : Hiro02
Edited by : SevenTails
I hear a loud explosion.
It was the sound of consolidated magic colliding with defensive magic. If it had hit people or scooped the ground instead of the defensive magic, it would have sounded a bit different.
That was the proof that our side was still alive. The sound I heard came from my left, where the army on my side was.
“We’re outnumbered?”
Muttering, I exhale heavily and switch mindsets. Carelessness leads to disorientation. A bad judgment can kill many of your companions. You can fight with your own determination and preparedness if you know you’re at a disadvantage from the beginning. It’s bad for inferior allies, but it was still good.
When Nox was leaving the castle, Dio-sama had left his coat with Mikana, together with a message to be sure to return it, just like he did that day when he exchanged his coat for haori.1
That’s why I am never in the middle of the black cavalry trotting in a forward march.2
If you looked at us from above, you’d see a big black dot moving. Since everyone wore black coats, it accounted for a large proportion of the colour of wherever you looked.
We were planning to run through the outer periphery of the forest, heading to a small fort. It was the smallest fortress on our frontlines, but from a strategic point of view, it cannot be defeated by the enemy.
The front line was roughly divided into three main sections. Left, right and center, and the fort was in the center. That’s where the little fort we’re heading was. If it fell, a wedge would be placed in the center and the connection between the left and the right sections would be lost.
It was the most vulnerable fort of the three frontlines, but also the most important one. A problem was that the number of soldiers it could accommodate was limited to 2,000 at most. It was only acceptable, and considering the provisions and weapons which could be saved, I had estimated that two thousand people would be confined for at most five days.
Therefore, highly skilled soldiers and generals were stationed there, and even if there were two thousand soldiers, they have a lot more than that. Endure until reinforcements arrive, that was their job.
“It’s our job to help them.”
I accidentally mutter, but no one responds to it. It’s the usual thing.
I check the map on the screen to see that we are about to arrive at the end of the outer periphery of the forest and now I need to decide whether to turn left or go forward. We were bypassing the forest.
I was thinking to go straight through the forest and head for the reinforcements, but I couldn’t do that; violent and powerful beasts known as demonic beasts hindered our path. They barely leave the forest, but there is no mercy for outsiders who step in.
We can’t afford to be a reinforcement if we’re worn out from fighting against these beasts, so I choose to take a detour. Of course, it wasn’t my only aim. If we were to take a detour, we could go around the fore and attack the enemy’s flank.
The enemy attacking the fort will concentrate on the opponent in front of them and will therefore be delayed in their response towards us. It’s our objective.
“I guess they are expecting that too.”
I’ve used that tactic once and the enemy knows that. As long as Nox is on this frontline, they will be careful of surprise attacks during the assault on the fort.
“Divide into two groups. First to third units, together with me, will attack the enemy’s flank. Fourth and fifth units will attack the enemy’s rear.”
Each unit’s commander begins to move after replying.
Captain Ars of the first unit and Nicola of the third unit, who were in the rear, left the march and joined Erica’s second unit and the 500 men directly under my command.
Mikana’s fourth unit, which was in the lead, and Roy’s fifth unit of 500 men accelerated at once to get behind the enemy.
There was level ground in front of the fort, but it was sandwiched by small and large-sized forests to its right and left. There were many other forests besides the ones we avoided. I checked on the map before coming here, so I made a simpler map and handed it out to the unit commanders.
Although it was the first time we were here, we knew the entire location of the forest thanks to the map. If we continued to move forward, we would arrive at a smaller forest and would be invisible from the enemy.
Moving along the outer periphery of the forest, Mikana and Roy’s forces will attack the enemy from behind, but the two troops only add up to 1,500, and it would be difficult to break through if the enemy defense is strong. So…
“Turn to the left! Attack the enemy’s flank!”
I issued the order.
Three thousand and five hundred of Nox’s five thousand followed me to the left.
Just because the forest cut off sight, it didn’t mean that you couldn’t see the battlefield right away. The sound of horses and dust clouds would make it noticeable.
The enemy is Albion anyway. Albion’s army, which was surrounded by great powers on all sides and always conscious of invasions, has little experience in warfare but has highly skilled soldiers and generals alike.
“Talking about troubling…”
“But as a reinforcement from the Empire, we can’t afford to lose.”
Nicola pulls up to me and says so.
Captain Ars, Erica and Nicola have firmly secured roles. The spearhead would be led by Captain Ars, followed by Nicola and Erica’s forces at the rear. I preferred to stay in the middle of the units because it was easier to give instructions and grasp the situations. Nicola brought me to her horse because she knew that.
“Well, I don’t want to lose any battles. At first, the second unit will spearhead the enemy and counter their combined magic. Then, they will move to the rear while the first unit will charge using the first formation as the spearhead.”
“Yes, sir.”
When Mikana isn’t here, Nicola becomes my deputy. It’s simply because she is good at coordinating and giving instructions.
In order to operate Nox efficiently, I made the commanders and soldiers memorize the five formations thoroughly. The first battle formation is similar to that of the spearhead formation. It is a battle formation used to attack a point and looks like a vertical isosceles triangle from above. The difference from the spearhead’s formation is the role of the spearhead. The main attacker’s role of the spearhead’s formation is the breakthrough, while the main attackers of the first formation would be Erica and the other magicians in the rear.
The role of the spearhead’s first unit is to make a path, while the third unit protects the second unit inside. The first formation invoked the power of combined magic in the center of the army.
Because they knew of this, the first unit led by Ars was more conscious of moving forward and never breaking formation than defeating the enemy. They are shields before swords.
Firstly, the third squad should keep them away from the second squad. They also served as a shield, but it is most important to maintain formation so as to not interfere with the second squad. The second squad requires concentration to invoke the consolidated magic as soon as possible.
Nox consists of six units, all of which are under my direct orders. Since the training was carried out assuming that a unit would leave or be defeated, the soldiers would not be upset if the whole unit was split into two.
When I confirmed that the soldiers were doing as told, I pointed at the enemy, who just began to see me, with a fan I pulled out of my pocket and ordered.
“Charge!”
■■■
The number of Albion troops deployed in front of the fort was between 7,000 and 8,000. Half of them were attacking the fort, while the other half was on standby at the rear. We charged at the rear army.
The reason why that army’s commander had half of the soldiers in the rear was probably that he was wary of a surprise attack, or simply because the fort was too small to be attacked with all the soldiers. The forest next to the fort was on the way and the army couldn’t be deployed beside the fort, only a small number of troops could go through there. Because the fort was small, it was easy to move inside of it and quickly respond, making it difficult to surprise attack.
It was a two-step strategy, but it was correct.
Three thousand and five hundred men, led by me, blocked the enemy’s consolidated magic, cut into the enemy’s camp, and halfway through, slowed down their march.
“Is it because I expected them to respond quickly? Or simply because they are highly skilled?”
“I really don’t like either of them.”
Nicola, responding politely to my muttering, while sending out reinforcements from the center to the flanks, making frequent changes. That didn’t cause much damage here, but it was no longer strong enough to break through the enemy forces.
“Well, it doesn’t matter,”
“Yes. It was originally supposed to arrive at the center. There is no problem if it’s stopped though.”
Then Nicola looks back.
In the background, Erica was already in the final stages of the consolidated magic. We opened a way to the center.
“You guys are losing.”
The explosion echoes with her words. At the same time, I heard the sound of people blowing and screaming on the ground.
It was the sound of the consolidated magic that I was used to hearing, not being prevented by defense magic. More importantly, it was the sound of consolidated magic taking human lives.
Erica’s various explosive magic techniques have many effects on the battlefield. The blast engulfed the soldiers that weren’t directly hit, while the sound blast deafened the enemy. Just the sight demoralized the enemy.
Albion’s army, which was exposed to consolidated magic while unprotected, fell into chaos. This tactic was used before, but unlike before when it was improvised, it was now a definite tactic. Whether you knew about it or not, it was difficult to deal with.
Soldiers were retreating from all around us to keep a little distance and regroup. You could see the commander yelling, trying to get the army back to its feet from a distance.
But that’s the end of it.
“Let’s launch a second charge with the third unit as the vanguard. Nicola, you know what to do, right?”
“All I have to do is attract the enemy’s attention, right?”
When I nod, Nicola smiles lightly and prepares to move the troops forward.
Of the 500 men under my direct control, 100 are messengers. They relayed my instructions quickly, so as soon as I gave them, they moved.
Captain Ars’ first unit, who was in the vanguard, retreated towards us, while the third unit stepped forward and replaced them in the attack.
“We still had room to spare?”
“Only you Captain Ars, everyone else is tired.”
“You don’t want to break through, do you? I know. If that’s the case, Nicola is better qualified than I am.”
However, Ars was not satisfied with the fact that he had been deprived of the opportunity to play an active part and roughly wiped the blood from his cheeks. Although he was covered in blood all over, he only had a slight stain on his cheek.
I laughed bitterly at his appearance.
“Yes, but there is still something for Captain Ars to do. Please retreat to the back.”
“? Ah, I see, is that your next target?”
Ars asks and begins to give instructions to his men. The first unit at the spearhead retreated and the third unit and second unit moved forward. After that, Nicola gave me the signal that she was ready, so I gave her the command to charge.
“The goal is to attack the enemy general!”
I swung my fan forward and Nox began to move forward.
Nicola led the way because she had the best understanding of tactics. We had good morale. Mikana and Roy were the ones to attack the rear, while Nicola, who knew this, wasn’t upset by the sudden orders.
After delivering a blow to the rear army, which had not yet recovered its position, I ordered Nicola, the spearhead, to retreat. In response, Nicola carried it out immediately without even sending a confirmation message back.
The rear forces were suddenly confused by the sudden retreat, but when they saw where we were going, they began to chase after us. Originally, Nox’s role was to reinforce the fort.
Although we defeated the rear forces, the frontal forces continued to attack the fort, although confused. We were going to attack the frontal army, while the Albion’s rear army was chasing us.
Suddenly, Mikana and Roy surprise attacked Albion’s rear army. Roy, who often has the strength to beat the enemy, and Micana, who was the fastest in Nox, often worked together. Micana always seems to be greatly dissatisfied with it, but the two units were used to working together so they wasted no time.
They were probably able to locate the enemy’s general from a distance. Mikana and Roy instantly closed into the general’s location, where he was rebuilding the rear forces. The rear army, which was still being attacked in the background, fell into chaos again. There is no one to reorganize the army this time.
“I will leave the rear forces to Mikana and Roy. I’ll kick the ones attacking the fort away.”
“Don’t we need to anymore?”
Erica asks and talks to me with a look of reluctance. The union of defensive magic and combination magic is certainly a great drain on the magician, but Erica is not such a weak magician as to be daunted by this.
That’s not the reason for the lack of motivation.
“Do your best for a little more. We’ll let them rest in the fort.”
“Oh? You’re generous. Don’t forget your words.”
We’ve been horse-riding all the way here. Erica even complained that she wanted to take a bath all the time. There was no particular reason. Erica simply wasn’t happy with the long marching and lacked the motivation.
The battle was so overwhelming that she could show such an attitude.
Six months have passed since we left Verris. We, Nox, fought as an independent army at the Empire’s frontlines and as reinforcements for forts in various places.
The enemy was Albion’s Imperial Army, but just as the Empire’s army has never been involved in warfare, Albion’s Imperial Army had never experienced war, and they were not the kind of enemy that we, Nox, would struggle with.
”It’s about time Albion’s side makes another move. It’s a good thing that we’re able to get a good idea of what they’re looking for,” I muttered in my mind as I led a battle that was already turning into a sweeping battle.
(1) The haori (羽織) is a traditional Japanese hip- or thigh-length jacket worn over a kimono. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haori
(2) Something like https://media.defense.gov/2012/May/22/2000149627/-1/-1/0/120519-F-HA794-019.JPG
————————–
Join us at discord for fast updates: https://discord.gg/vca9Sx9xX2
For fast updates read on our website: https://www.zetrotranslation.com/
Lastly, to help our dear TL / ED, you can download the chapters at https://zetrotranslation.com/downloads/
————————–