One of the advantages of high ground is the overwhelmingly wide field of vision. Just by looking down, you can grasp the enemy’s movements at a glance.
“Did they pull back their main cavalry?”
“Yes. About fifteen thousand troops have left the main camp and disappeared.”
The massive army of Ai-shan, advancing towards the barrier. The news that nearly half of their forces had vanished reached Ludwig’s ears just hours after Or-han had mobilized his troops.
Ai-shan’s cavalry moved cautiously under the cover of night to delay detection by the Imperial Army, but it was only a brief delay until dawn.
As the morning sun rose in the eastern sky, the bright sunlight illuminated Ai-shan’s camp, revealing the barracks that had been reduced by nearly half.
“Are they retreating? Or is there some problem in their rear?”
“No, that’s unlikely. It’s too early for that.”
Ludwig, seated at the head of the military conference room, dismissed his aide’s speculation.
“If the situation on the Great Plains had been unstable enough to shake their rear, they wouldn’t have advanced this far in the first place.”
If they had been fighting for three months, it might be different, but the full-scale defensive warfare had only just begun a few days ago. It was too early to hope for chaos in the enemy’s rear.
Ai-shan, the strongest warrior nation in the grasslands ruled by Or-han, was not a disorderly country that would rebel just seven days after launching an offensive.
“…Then they must be planning to target somewhere outside our sight. Are they trying to bypass the barrier through Dane’s border like they did nine years ago?”
Unlike nine years ago, if Ka`har now passed through Dane’s territory to target the Empire, the Empire would struggle to counter them.
Back then, the Empire was at peace, and the Imperial Army was strong, able to mobilize four legions to stop Or-han’s forces…
‘But now, it’s impossible. We can’t leave the western border undefended, and the remaining two legions are already stretched thin dealing with monster problems.’
If, by any chance, Or-han’s forces reached the Empire’s territory through Dane, Ludwig would have no choice but to pull troops from the barrier to stop them. A battle with less than a thirty percent chance of success.
‘If they reach us, that is.’
But the likelihood of that happening was low.
“Or-han is unlikely to try a strategy that failed once before. Dane’s strength is vastly different from before, so it won’t be easily breached.”
Thanks to Heinrich’s tactics, all the Dane people in the border regions were either killed or taken as slaves, and upon hearing this news, Dane’s main forces halted their war with Panam and rushed to the eastern border.
They vowed to burn all the Ka`har to death.
For Ka`har to break through Dane’s main forces, which boasted over a thousand magicians, would require significant time and heavy sacrifices.
Moreover, unless Or-han had spies in the Imperial military, how would he know that the Empire now lacked the strength to mobilize four legions?
From Or-han’s perspective, bypassing the barrier to advance would mean, after all the hardships of defeating Dane’s main forces, facing the Empire’s four legions. Unless he was senile, he wouldn’t choose such a route.
Thus, Ludwig wasn’t overly concerned about the Dane front.
The Dane front, that is.
“Then…”
Finally reaching the same conclusion as Ludwig, the aide broke into a cold sweat and looked at him.
Ludwig exhaled a puff of smoke and nodded, affirming the aide’s speculation. If they weren’t retreating or targeting Dane, there was only one answer.
“They must be planning to divide their forces and target a weakly defended area.”
For Ludwig, this was the worst possible scenario.
If he evenly distributed troops across the entire barrier, each soldier would have to defend several meters. If he only defended key points, the enemy would attack the undefended gaps.
To counter Ka`har’s dispersed siege tactics, Ludwig would need to deploy a similar number of troops precisely where they attacked.
An impossible task.
‘Infantry can’t catch up with them, and cavalry can’t defend the walls. The Imperial cavalry wasn’t trained for defensive warfare. How can soldiers who don’t even know how to use bows defend the walls?’
This must be what they mean by “knowing but still falling for it.” It was a strategy that sharply exploited the barrier’s only weakness: “it’s too long.”
The Empire in its prime could have handled it. They could have deployed an additional legion as a reserve to defend the battlefront. But now, the Empire was already stretched thin with just two legions.
In other words—
‘…There’s no way to stop it.’
That was Ludwig’s conclusion.
‘With conventional methods.’
It was also the moment his strategy was put to the test.
======[ Ha-shalleur]======
Or-han had come up with a bizarre strategy of sporadic mobile siege warfare. To counter this, Ludwig summoned the key figures of the defense force to the command center for a military meeting. Including me.
“If the problem is the difference in mobility, shouldn’t I just step in?”
I flicked the cigarette I was smoking and asked.
I understood Ludwig’s explanation. If Ka`har starts poking at various points along the barrier with small forces, the Imperial Army won’t be able to keep up and will be breached.
But if I step in, it’s a different story. I can move faster than Ka`har’s cavalry and easily slaughter a thousand men single-handedly.
If I ride Cascador or fly along the barrier, picking off the scattered enemies one by one, it shouldn’t be too hard to stop them.
But…
“That won’t do.”
Ludwig shook his head.
“Or-han won’t overlook your absence. He’ll likely launch a full-scale assault with his war chiefs.”
“…That’s true.”
It was a point I had to concede. Just as I could sense Or-han’s presence, he would immediately notice my absence.
If that flying bastard took advantage of my absence to raid our main camp, our forces here would struggle to stop him. Even if we succeeded, the losses would be immense.
“This is troublesome. Even if we try to use cavalry for defensive warfare like them, our cavalry numbers only seven thousand. And they’re only trained for mounted combat…”
Frederick, the 3rd Legion Commander of the Imperial Army, clicked his tongue and muttered. As he said, it was an extremely troublesome situation.
To defend the barrier, we need infantry and archers, but they’re too slow. The fast-moving cavalry is too few in number and unsuitable for defense.
To block Or-han’s scheme, we need infantry with mobility comparable to cavalry, but such a unit doesn’t exist…
Wait.
Now that I think about it, it might not be impossible.
“Commander Frederick. About the Imperial cavalry, are their horses strong? I mean, not the riders, but the horses themselves.”
“Of course. Given that we have to face Ka`har, we’ve selected only the finest warhorses the Empire has to offer. Speed, strength, stamina—nothing is lacking in these high-quality steeds.”
“That’s good.”
Frederick tilted his head, not understanding the intent of my question, but he gave me the best answer I could hope for.
“But, why do you ask…?”
The eyes of everyone in the room turned to me. Eyes filled with curiosity, as if wondering if I had some brilliant strategy. They didn’t expect much, but if I had something in mind, they wanted to hear it.
“The problem is that cavalry can’t fight properly, and infantry is too slow, right? So, why not disband the cavalry and use their horses to transport infantry? If we load infantry onto wooden carts, we can move them much faster than marching.”
I’m not sure how realistic this idea is. In the world I came from, loading soldiers onto military trucks was a given, but trucks and carriages are vastly different modes of transport.
But then again, the horses here are different from Earth’s horses too. Maybe because the environment is different, the creatures here—whether horses or people—are much tougher than on Earth.
Even a fruit vendor in the market could probably take down four or five Earthlings of the same age.
“Transporting infantry… by carriage?”
“Like a tank? Tank units are already obsolete. I’m not sure how effective this would be.”
“It’s different. If it’s just for transport and not combat, we can minimize the weight of the carriages.”
The gathered commanders discussed the feasibility of my proposal.
It wasn’t a brilliant strategy, just a rough idea, but it didn’t seem entirely impossible.
“Even if we lighten the load, it would be hard to match the speed of cavalry… but it might be worth considering.”
Even Ludwig said that much.
