Rebirth in a Ruined Nation! The Life of a New Strategist Starting From Now - Chapter 18

The Battle of Hakusha Plain (1)

There was an area called ‘Hakusha Plain’ in the Rudek Kingdom’s southwest region.

It was a grassy plain with a calm river running through it. 

Hakusha Plain was a rather unpopular region. The area was filled with wildflowers and plants.

The term ‘beautiful’ was an apt description of Hakusha Plain, but when rain fell on the upper stream of the river, Hakusha Plain changed dramatically.

Rain would cause the river to flood, and it would paint the entire plain with the earth’s brown color.

Although the plain was fertile, a frequent flooding made it impossible to raise crops, leaving the land rather deserted.

Rather meant the plain was not completely deserted. Several huts have been constructed a short distance away from the plain.

At least one out of every two people who lived in those huts were bandits. The fact that Hakusha Plain was a bandit nest made people even more hesitant to enter the plain.

While waiting for the river to flood, the residents of those huts entertained themselves by gambling, drinking, and lounging.

When the river overflowed, they would rush to the flooded plain.

Their goal was gold.

In the past, it was said that when people visited the plain after the flood receded; they found some gold.

White sand (Hakusha) was the name given to the dazzling sand that held gold.

(T/N: white sand in Japanese is Hakusha)

People began to refer to the plain as the Hakusha Plain.

However, perhaps because the gold was drying up, it was said that there has been no gold found in Hakusha Plain in the past 20 years.

Despite that, there were still greedy people who came to the plain and waited until the plain was flooded in hope they would find some gold, without regard for their own safety.

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“There is some movement from the Gorber army in the south.”

Rays-sama informed us with a solemn look as the captains and I were gathered in the office.

“Then, are we going to the battle?” One of the captains raised a question.

“Yeah. The 6th Division that was being stationed in a nearby fort  would serve as the vanguard, while we would serve as the rearguard. Make the necessary preparations!”

“Yes, sir!” The captains all responded in unison, then they exited the office. 

Other than the usual Lapilia-sama, Grantz-sama, and me, a captain named Luzel also remained in the office under Rays-sama’s order. 

“Since you asked me to remain, that means you want me to go first as an advance party, right?”

Captain Luzel’s unit was a unit centered on cavalry and because of their excellent mobility, the unit often became the 10th Division’s advance party.

“This is still not definite information, but I heard the Gorber army was using the bull in front of innumerable blades of grass’ banners.”

“That’s Frankurlt Drew army’s banner…” I muttered without thinking, then Rays-sama said, “As expected, you know it.”

“Then, do you know why I was concerned about the banner?” Rays-sama added.

Of course.

Since the opponent was Frankurlt Drew, that means the upcoming battle was the Battle of Hakusha Plain.

Frankurlt Drew was the commander that successfully gave the Rudek Kingdom a major blow by killing General Nisol, the former leader of the 6th Division, two years ago.

He used a very cunning tactic to isolate the 6th Division’s main camp, then he killed Nisol-sama. Although the battle was fought on Gorber territory, making Gorber have an advantage, this incident still shocked the entirety of Rudek Kingdom.

The kingdom withheld the details of that battle in order to not dampen the morale of the army. Officially, it was announced that Nisol-sama died because of the injury he sustained in the battle.

The current leader of the 6th Division, Wickharlt-sama was appointed after the death of Nisol-sama.

When Nisol-sama was still alive, it was said that Wickharlt-sama was his beloved disciple of some sort. Wickharlt-sama became the new general of the 6th Division partly because Nisol-sama said he was going to make Wickharlt-sama his successor after Nisol-sama retired, and partly because of the support of the other members of the 6th Division.

That was why for Wickharlt-sama and the 6th Division, the Frankurlt army was their bitter enemy.

Of course, Wickharlt-sama must be an excellent commander. There was no way the Kingdom would appoint an incompetent person as a general just because he was the former general’s favorite, but could Wickharlt-sama keep his cool against the person who killed Nisol-sama?

In the future that I knew, Wickhart-sama failed to do so. Provoked by the Frankurlt army’s action, Wickharlt-sama ordered the 6th Division to cross the river.

Frakurlt knew that rain was going to fell down on the river’s upstream. The rain caused the river to flood, which caused a part of 6th Division that has crossed the river to become isolated.

Realizing that they were isolated, Wickharlt-sama and his army attempted to escape. In the end, although Wickharlt-sama survived despite losing his right eye and right arm, he lost many of his elite soldiers.

The 6th Division became severely weakened after this incident and the battle in the Hakusha Plain continued to rage for a long time.

“General Frankurlt was a cunning man. I knew that Wickharlt-sama was an excellent general, but considering the 6th Division’s history with General Frankurlt… I am afraid that General Frankurlt might taunt Wickharlt-sama to dive into an unfavorable battle.”

“Then what do you think we should do?”

“If I was General Frankurlt, I would attempt to provoke Wickhart-sama by using the incident with Nisol-sama, and tried to isolate Wickarlt-sama in order to kill him. That’s why the best thing we should do right now is to ask Wickharlt-sama to restrain himself.”

“Luzel, What do you think?”

“To be honest, I never expected for you to be this knowledgeable, Roa. My job is to go first and persuade Wickhart-sama then.”

“Yeah. I’ll also follow you as quickly as possible. Roa.”

“Yes?”

“You go with Luzel. Who knows, you might be able to help with something, so go as my proxy. But immediately leave when the war broke out, understood? Luzel, take care of him.”

“Understood,” Captain Luzel said while bowing.

In the blink of an eye, my second military expedition has been decided. 

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T/N: I completely forgot to post this on Monday. Sorry!