Rebirth in a Ruined Nation! The Life of a New Strategist Starting From Now - Chapter 20

The Battle of Hakusha Plain (3) – Enmity

“Their commander is Frankurlt. I can’t just stay silent,” Wickharlt-sama declared resolutely.

“I understand your feeling, but we’re outnumbered. Our enemies have 7000 soldiers, while we only have close to 6000 soldiers. The Hakusha Plain is also not suitable for a battle since it’s muddy and slippery. There’s also the risk of crossing the river…which I don’t think needs to be explained.”

Wickharlt-sama shook his head in response.

“If we strike right now, we can win.”

“How?”

“One of the local thugs sold us information that a landslide occurred on the mountain road that connected Gorber Kingdom and Hakusha Plain, trapping the Gorber Kingdom’s army. We can win if we strike now.”

“Information from a thug? Can that kind of information be trusted?”

“Of course, we’ve already dispatched a scout to verify the information. According to the scouts, Frankurlt army dispatched around 1000 soldiers to their rear, where they are most likely removing fallen stones. In short, their attention is now drawn to their rear. This is the best time to cross the river because their attention is elsewhere. We have also confirmed that the Frankurlt army is now further back than when they originally arrived in Hakusha Plain. Furthermore, we can catch the Gorber army by surprise if we, the smaller army, cross the river to attack them. We have a chance.”

It sounded like a great plan, but it was actually riddled with flaws.

First, the information was dubious. General Wickharlt said that the Gorber’s soldiers that were being moved to the rear were most likely clearing fallen rocks, implying that the General was unsure if those soldiers were genuinely removing fallen rocks.

Second, the plan to cross the river was also quite risky. Even though the Frankurlt army’s attention was currently focused on their rear, there was no way they wouldn’t station a scout along the river to monitor our movements. The Gorber army would attack us with all their power the moment we attempted to cross the river.

Finally, in the future I knew, I remembered that after General Wickharlt and his soldiers safely crossed the river, the river suddenly overflowed, closing the General’s line of retreat. Yes, it was the General army that ended up being trapped, not the Frankurlt army.

In other words, the whole thing was a trap set by Frankurlt for General Wickharlt.

But did the General not notice it? No, he may have noticed, but he dismissed it because of his feelings for the late General Nisol.

“Wickharlt-sama, Luzel-dono is right. That information is suspicious. It will be better if we make our move after a further  investigation of that information,” One young captain advised the General.

“We will miss this opportunity if we wait! What will you do if they complete the road restoration in the time we waited?” an old captain retorted.

Hm?

Normally, in this type of situation, the young hot-blooded captains would urge the general to attack the enemy while the experienced old captains would advise the General to wait, but this time, the roles were reversed.

Ah, I see. The old captains were all the comrades of the deceased General Nisol, which was why they ignored the questionable information and continued to push for attacking the Frakurlt’s army.

Then stopping General Wickharlt would be difficult. First, the General appeared to be on the side of the old captains. Second, he would disappoint the seasoned old captains if he didn’t attack the Frankurlt army here. Did the General think he should at least try to attack once regardless of success or failure, in order to gain the heart of the old captains?

Even in the countless books I’ve read, it wasn’t uncommon for the young commander to go to a reckless battle in order to get the trust of his subordinate.

After all, it has been just 2 years since General Wickharlt was appointed as the General of the 6th Division. He might have yet gained the full trust of his men.

But I couldn’t just sit there when I knew they were all going to die.

“Excuse me, may I speak?” I raised my hand.

“Go ahead.”

I took a deep breath and began speaking after receiving permission from the General.

“How about attacking tomorrow?”

The captains all look skeptical after hearing my statements.

“What’s the point of waiting for a day? Will you accept responsibility if Gorber’s army cleans up the fallen rock in that day?”

The other captains nodded as the old captain beside the General remarked.

“But, if they could clean the fallen rock with just a day, we can’t say that the Frankurlt army has lost their path of retreat.”

“That’s…”

“Am I mistaken? Even if there was a landslide, if the damage was minor, this may be Frankurlt’s ploy to lure us in. Have you confirmed the extent of the damage caused by the landslide?”

“No…Our scout never got that close to the Frankurlt army.”

“But what’s the connection between the severity of the landslide and waiting for a day?”

Good. General Wickharlt’s question meant he would at least listen to my explanation.

“Think about it from the standpoint of the Frankurlt army. If this is a trap, don’t you think they’ll make a move since they believe their strategy has failed because we stayed still for a day? If there is indeed a landslide, the Frankurlt army must be impatient after a day, making it easier for us to make a move. Either way, acting tomorrow will yield a better result.”

What I said was a lie. I knew the river would overflow tomorrow, so I just wanted to buy some time until that happened. The plan to cross the river would be discarded once the river overflowed, and because there was a if we crossed the river yesterday, our path of retreat would be cut off, excuse, there shouldn’t be any disagreement from the old captains’ faction.

That’s why I needed to find whatever reason I could to buy time until tomorrow. The situation would change when the river overflowed. Unlike before, Rays-sama might even make it in time, and as a result, the Frankurlt army might retreat.

Hearing my words, General Wickharlt crossed his arms and frowned before looking up at the ceiling.

?

In the camp of the Frankult army.

“That greenhorn still didn’t make any move?”

“Yes. But it should just be a matter of time until he makes his move.”

The aide responded to the question asked by the white-bearded General Frankurlt. The General didn’t think luring the 6th Division was a bad idea, but because his army and the 6th Division were separated by a river, gaining information about the enemy’s state was difficult.

Earlier, the General was notified that an enemy reinforcement had arrived. There were approximately 1000 cavalry reinforcements.  

They must be the advance party, the General thought.

The reinforcements used the 10th Division banner. Rays Stein was a difficult opponent, so the General intended to put an end to matters before Rays arrived.

“Let’s give them another push.”

Frankurlt stood up, then he ordered his aide.

“Bring me that thing.”

?

T/N: Just in case anyone is confused why here it’s said ‘1000 people’ while Luzel said ‘700 people’, Luzel knew the exact number of his troop since he is their captain, while the Gorber army’s side don’t, so they are estimating the number of people of being 1000 people.