Jaidas stubbornly clung to the goal of his team’s victory, but that was a foolish thought that missed the essence of the exam.
Should I say he fell into the common rookie mistake of misunderstanding the conditions to pass the test?
Winning on the battlefield.
Defending the fortress until the main force arrives.
These were the objectives set by the Supreme Commander, not the conditions to pass the exam.
In short, it’s called a ‘Challenge.’
If achieved, it results in bonus points.
Even if you accomplish the challenge, if you die along the way, it means nothing.
The title of this lecture is [Surviving as a Commander on the Battlefield].
Survival is the top priority.
Also, one must not lose the position of [Commander].
You must maintain a minimum force to keep your title and lead them.
These are the conditions to keep in mind during the turn-based war strategy exam.
If you lay this foundation, the options for strategies you can take will broaden significantly.
“Hestia is truly smart, being a current mercenary!”
Unlike the honor-bound knight Jaidas, who insists on a glorious victory, Hestia, despite possessing the berserker class, has somehow avoided death on the battlefield by deftly dodging doom.
You must only fight where it’s worth fighting; recklessly engaging in chaos on the battlefield can lead to disaster.
The enemy gathers around you while your allies wait until you fall, leaving you feeling wronged and desperate for survival?
━━━
【Turn 1 Start】
━━━
[Battlefield Briefing]
The commander of the regular infantry unit, Viscount Triton, has sent Knight Otos as a co-commander to lead the Punishment Unit.
“Collaborate with Otos to lead the prisoners and stop the enemy’s advance in the Western Swamp.”
(Mission deadline: Until turn 20)
You are the Chief Guard, [Oknodie], leading the prisoners and guards of the Punishment Unit.
Otos wants to discuss future plans.
━━━
Choose or input your command for this turn.
[Move][Garrison][Reconnaissance][Messenger][Observation][Attack][Strategy][Special]
You chose [Special – Talk with Otos].
━━━
[Special – Conversation with Otos]
Otos conveyed the intentions of Viscount Triton.
“In wartime, even food for the prisoners is too precious, so it’s fine if they die on the battlefield. However, if even one enemy crosses into the swamp, I’ll behead both guards and commanders.”
The viscount suggested granting a few days’ worth of rations to some prisoners and having them act as human alarm systems to alert of enemy approach.
You hear these inhumane reconnaissance methods.
Will you accept this proposal?
━━━
See?
Why bother keeping loyalty to these guys?
They don’t even see prisoners as people, let alone guards or the Chief Guard.
This is a [Trap].
Following Otos’ orders would let you sacrifice the prisoners and endure until turn 20 peacefully.
But at the end, whether you are killed by Otos or Viscount Triton when your value is used up, you are destined to lose your life.
If such cruel troop management becomes known, the commander would surely eliminate any witnesses.
‘If I were his loyal subordinate, it might be different, but given that Otos is the one delivering the information, the loyal one is him, and the one being used is me!’
A veteran player detecting such a trap won’t just surrender!
━━━
[Special – Conversation with Otos 2]
Before executing the proposal, you suggested boosting the morale of the prisoners who would become scouts by hosting a grand feast.
Otos grimaced at the thought of wasting food but, respecting you as the co-commander and Chief Guard, allowed the feast.
━━━
[Feast]
At the feast, Knight Otos gathered the prisoners he deemed brave and shared drinks with them.
These were soon to be discarded prisoners playing the role of scouts.
Will you toast with Otos and the prisoners or choose your own
━━━
“Of course, I’ll go for the special method!”
━━━
[Rebellion]
You conveyed the plans set by Otos and Viscount Triton to trustworthy guards and prisoners.
Enraged, they agreed to follow your lead as their Chief Guard and pledged to join the rebellion.
While Otos and his subordinates were drunk, you led the guards and prisoners in a surprise attack.
“Ugh, you coward! To ambush during the feast… Viscount Triton won’t let you get away with this…”
Otos and his underlings died.
The Punishment Unit now only answers to you.
━━━
Two turns followed.
You removed the bodies of Otos and his underlings, as well as all traces of the feast.
Then, you sent a false messenger to Viscount Triton in the name of Otos.
“We hosted a feast to boost the prisoners’ morale to funnel them into the swamp, and used too much food! Please send support!”
Viscount Triton clicked his tongue and sent supplies on turn 3.
As soon as the messenger questioned where Otos had gone, you promptly severed the messenger’s neck.
Now this supply is mine!
You ambushed near the swamp with the supplies.
Viscount Triton, suspicious of the missing messenger, sent a person but only found an empty grave, as reported by the scout you left behind.
Before the viscount could approach us, you disguised as enemy scouts from another direction, attacking the viscount’s scouts near the front line.
Now’s the chance while Viscount Triton, caught without eyes all around, nervously holds his ground!
━━━
【Turn 8】
━━━
[Battlefield Briefing]
While blinding and restraining Viscount Triton, you approached the Peasant Draft Unit led by Knight Shiso.
Knight Shiso was startled by your sudden appearance.
“How did you end up here? The Punishment Unit meant to guard the Western Swamp has come all the way to the Central Plains. Where’s your co-commander, Knight Otos?”
What will you tell this clueless knight?
━━━
Choose or input your command for this turn.
[Move][Garrison][Reconnaissance][Messenger][Observation][Attack][Strategy][Special]
You chose [Strategy].
━━━
“The enemy’s high-tier units have frozen the swamp, and a great army is advancing! Knight Otos has fallen on the front line, and Viscount Triton is urgently requesting rescue, so let’s move together!”
━━━
[Strategy – Deceit]
The oblivious Knight Shiso asked to see Viscount Triton’s order.
Of course, you have none.
What will you do now?
Should you buy time to forge an order, or will you try to charm him with words?
Taking too long or using shabby excuses might raise Shiso’s suspicions.
━━━
[Strategy – Deceit 2]
Surprisingly, you perfectly forged the official document.
Have you ever seen a Viscount Triton order before?
“Viscount must really be in danger. Let’s hurry!”
The naive knight Shiso trusts you completely.
As he turns his back to you, what will you do?
━━━
“Let’s ambush and kill Shiso!”
━━━
[Strategy – Deceit 3]
Knight Shiso is dead.
The confused conscripts hear about the wicked plan from Viscount Triton’s faction to turn them into fodder for the battlefield.
Empathizing with your predicament, the Peasant Draft Unit accepted your leadership.
━━━
You’ve steadily absorbed the nearby commanding factions of conscripts, killing them off one by one, and before you knew it, it became turn 11. The enemy’s main force began to march.
Starting with 1200 prisoner infantry, my unit has now grown to 6420 troops, absorbing 2200 peasant soldiers, 1700 slave soldiers, and 1320 conscripts.
At this point, even a bunch of conscripts can’t be underestimated!
━━━
【Turn 13】
━━━
[Battlefield Briefing]
Following the messages the enemy commander left in the swamp and the plains, they’ve come directly to your stationed location.
“Chief Guard Oknodie, are you the one who started a rebellion leading the conscripts who were wrongfully persecuted in our country to join the righteous forces?”
You can block the way with concealed troops to ambush or surrender as is.
What is your choice?
━━━
Choose or input your command for this turn.
[Move][Garrison][Reconnaissance][Messenger][Observation][Attack][Strategy][Special]
You chose [Special – Display].
━━━
[Special – Display]
The enemy commander was shocked upon seeing your troops, who have set up ambushes blocking all escape routes.
“Is this a trap!?”
You chuckled and replied that it’s just a performance to showcase our worth.
While the enemy commander’s face flushed, he reassessed your value even higher.
“That’s extraordinary strategy. I see it’s not because the subordinates of Viscount Triton are all inexperienced. I will relay your abilities to my lord without omission.”
While the enemy commander remains cautious, he also feels fear.
The chances of your value being accurately relayed increased significantly.
━━━
After that, the flow of battle shifted dramatically.
If everyone had teamed up to delay, they could have easily spent 30 turns on that battlefield, but my unit’s active betrayal made the front line break through instantly.
Viscount Triton, uniting his forces with Count Bearbold, retreated from the front while the fortress was isolated and fell.
Understanding that the front line had tilted heavily, Hestia and the Thunderbolt Celestial Divine Church Knight Order retreated from the battlefield.
Thus, the exam concluded.
“Jaidas is dead. Hestia retreated. The only commander left on the front line is Oknodie. The winner of this match is Oknodie.”
“This is unfair! Betrayal? Such actions cannot be accepted on the front lines!”
“Why not? The condition to pass this match is not to win honorably but to survive as a commander. Unless you realize this difference, it’s best to give up on your grades for the second semester.”
With the declaration of the end of the match, rewards poured in.
was achieved along with the rewards for completing the challenge!
