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Vol 06 Chapter 188: The First Zoldias War IV

「Hey, you’re late.」

「It can’t be helped. Because of yesterday’s rain, the river swelled, and it took time to detour around it.」

Roswald shrugged his shoulders. Ron kept a thousand troops to defend the conquered territories while Roswald and Gram led nine thousand soldiers to join up with Bartolo.

On the way, they encountered trouble due to the rain, which caused the river’s water level to rise. This led to a detour around a normally passable river, causing them to arrive half a day late.

「You should have built a bridge on-site to cross the river.」

「That’s unreasonable…」

Gram gave a wry smile, but Bartolo was dead serious. It goes without saying that only Bartolo would be able to do something like that, no one else would even think about it.

「What’s the situation with the Zoldias army?」

「They were staying near the border, but they’ve started to move. We’ll probably engage by tomorrow morning. They seem to be quite desperate.」

The region Ron’s group had invaded had long been closely connected to King Zoldias’ Country. King Zoldias’ Country, with its low grain self-sufficiency, imported grains from surrounding small countries.

However, their allied countries were successively destroyed or annexed by King Rosais’ Country. Their prestige was utterly ruined. They had no choice but to take action.

「Well, even with a threefold difference in troop strength, there are times when you can win with ingenuity. But I’m not lenient enough to allow such things to work.」

Bartolo smiled confidently.

As Bartolo had guessed, the two armies faced each other on a relatively broad plain in King Evile’s Country. The location was near the border with King Zoldias’ Country, right at the boundary between the mountains and the plains.

The two sides faced each other across the river.

「General Bartolo, if you don’t want to die, I suggest you disband your army quietly.」

「You should disband first. We will not tolerate any more aggression against King Evile’s Country.」

「Aggression? How dare you, invader!」

Messengers went back and forth between King Zoldias and Bartolo. Negotiations, if you could call them that, were nothing more than insults being exchanged.

Neither side had any intention of backing down from the start.

「Advance!」

Bartolo and King Zoldias gave the order to their armies to advance almost simultaneously. The two forces clashed in the middle of the river.

The water was only up to their knees at most. Movement was somewhat hindered, but the impact was minimal, and the conditions were the same for both sides.

The seasoned Rosais soldiers, accustomed to repeated battles, faced off against the Zoldias soldiers, who were trained in the mountainous regions with strong legs and stamina.

The quality of the soldiers was equal on both sides. The ability of the commanders to give orders, at least in terms of tactics, showed no significant difference between Bartolo and King Zoldias.

With no significant differences in combat or tactics, the outcome of the battle heavily depended on strategic superiority—in other words, the number of troops.

With their superior numbers, the Rosais army gradually cornered the Zoldias army. The wings of the Rosais army slowly closed in, like a snake constricting its prey.

「It’s time. Retreat!」

King Zoldias ordered a full retreat. The Zoldias army began to flee at full speed.

「Don’t let them escape!」

Bartolo immediately ordered his entire army to charge. The sound of whistles echoed in the sky as the Rosais forces surged forward with renewed vigor.

However, that movement stopped abruptly. The rear guard of the Zoldias army held their ground, preventing the Rosais army’s pursuit.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Zoldias army scattered in a disorganized retreat. Observing this, the tribunes of the Rosais army laughed.

「Look at them!」

「Who called them brave? They are turning their backs and running away like cowards!」

「We didn’t need to be so cautious with them!」

The tension within the Rosais army eased. Yet, they did not relent in their attack, pressing on to defeat the rear guard and catch up with the fleeing Zoldias forces.

Every soldier and general in the Rosais army was convinced of their victory, except for Bartolo.

「Something’s not right. This is too pathetic.」

A true commander’s skill shows in a retreat. A skilled commander’s retreat is flawless, and a poorly executed pursuit can lead to significant losses.

The general assessment of King Zoldias’ military prowess was high. And King Zoldias had defeated King Evile, who was no fool, demonstrating his strategic capability. Bartolo himself, based on his own experience in battle, knew not to underestimate him.

An average commander would not have maintained the battlefield for this long after the initial clash. Despite having fewer troops, King Zoldias had put up a strong fight.

「The rear guard is strong… For them to fight so fiercely, they must have great trust in their commander.」

King Zoldias was a skilled commander. However, the current behavior of King Zoldias did not match Bartolo’s estimation of his capabilities.

Bartolo pondered this. Suddenly, the reflection of the river’s surface caught his eye.

The river was shallow enough not to impede the battle… despite the recent rain.

Roswald and Gram had mentioned that they had to detour around a river due to the heavy rain… In that case, the water level of this river seemed suspicious.

A possibility flashed through Bartolo’s mind. If he was correct…

「Priority order for the entire army, retreat!!」

「R-Retreat? B-but…」

「Just do it quickly!!」

Bartolo shouted at the messengers. The messengers, though confused, hurriedly ran to relay the retreat order to the entire army as instructed.

「Forget about setting up a rear guard. Just turn your backs and run as fast as you can!!」

The retreat whistle blew. The soldiers recognized the sound from training, but it had never been used in actual combat.

It was an emergency retreat order. It signified an urgent retreat without forming a proper formation or setting up a rear guard, and in some cases, it even meant abandoning weapons to flee.

The soldiers were bewildered. Why did they have to retreat so hastily when they were winning?

They doubted their ears. Yet, the whistle continued to blow without change.

Despite their confusion, the soldiers began to retreat. This was a testament to their training and their trust in Bartolo. Moreover, deep down, they harbored doubts about the inexplicable incompetence of the enemy.

For some reason, the Zoldias soldiers did not pursue the retreating army.

When about two-thirds of the Rosais army had climbed out of the river… a strange sound resonated across the battlefield.

It gradually grew louder.

Bartolo shouted.

「Run!! Move to higher ground!! Soldiers at the back, drop your weapons!!」

No one knew what was happening, but they knew it wasn’t good.

The soldiers’ instincts screamed at them. The Rosais army rushed to higher ground.

Just as the entire army reached the high ground… a flash flood swept through the battlefield.

「Those bastards… They must have dammed the river upstream, taking advantage of the fact that it’s in their territory…」

Bartolo wiped the cold sweat from his brow and took a trembling sip of his drink. The liquor spilled, staining his clothes.

◇

「Truly, Bartolo Pompeius is a formidable opponent…」

King Zoldias muttered regretfully. Just a little more, and they could have wiped out all ten thousand of the Rosais soldiers.

「He was a terrifying adversary. Had we made a mistake, we may have been surrounded and annihilated before breaking the dam.」

That’s why it was so frustrating that they failed to defeat him here.

「What will you do now, my king? The same tactic won’t work twice.」

King Zoldias’ advisor asked anxiously. The gods had given King Zoldias exceptional military prowess but had not blessed him with political acumen.

Thus, all the political affairs of King Zoldias’ Country were managed by this advisor. However, in times of war, even this reliable advisor was of no use.

「We’ll have to hole up within our borders. Fortunately, our country’s terrain is like a fortress… As long as we have the advantage of the land, we can win, whether they come with twenty thousand or thirty thousand men.」

「But will they really climb the mountains?」

King Zoldias nodded in response to his worried advisor.

「They will. Maintaining an army of twenty thousand for a month would be challenging even for a powerful country like Rosais. Unlike our country, Rosais is an agriculture-based country… which means they can’t keep their soldiers tied to the battlefield indefinitely. King Rosais will surely make a move.」

◇

「Welcome back, Bartolo.」

I greeted Bartolo as he returned. This war with King Zoldias’ Country ended in a draw.

However, since the Zoldias army retreated deep into their territory, I decided to temporarily retreat our army as well. It turned into a natural ceasefire.

「For now, we’ll disband the twenty thousand soldiers… and rotate them out.」

The soldiers have been fighting for a month. But they are also farmers. Keeping them tied to the battlefield for too long will damage the farmlands.

If only we could create a standing army like Nobunaga did… but that is impossible, we don’t have a warrior class like the samurai, and maintaining a standing army is expensive and limits the size of the forces we can deploy.

There’s no helping it.

Personally, I believe that conscription is a better military system than a standing army.

If a standing army is defeated and wiped out, reformation takes time. In contrast, conscription allows for endless replenishment as long as the population permits.

What is needed in war is not an invincible army. It’s an undefeatable one.

Even if you lose ninety-nine times tactically, as long as you don’t lose strategically, you can win on the hundredth attempt.

「Bartolo, do you have any plans for what’s next?」

「…It’s hard to say. We may have to wait for them to come down.」

But we don’t know when they will descend again… Should we attack?

No, rash thinking won’t do us any good. For now…

「Bring Alexios here. Let’s hear what he has to say.」

He might offer a strategy from a different perspective than Bartolo’s.

◇

「I’ve heard the story, General Bartolo. That was close.」

「Indeed… If we had been a step slower, everything would have been washed away, in more ways than one.」

Bartolo sighed as he spoke to Alexios, then looked at him intently.

「That man is dangerous… We should avoid invading their territory.」

「Now, now, I haven’t said anything yet.」

Alexios flashed a charming smile and then turned to me.

「I read the report. I also did my own research… If you approach this like any other war—like the battles Your Majesty and General Bartolo have faced and won before—you won’t achieve a decisive victory.」

Oh? That’s an interesting statement. Then what is this?

「This war is like a castle siege. King Zoldias’ Country is surrounded by multiple high walls and filled with traps, making it the world’s strongest fortress. Therefore…」

Alexios smiled confidently.

「Surround them, cut off their information and supplies, attack from all sides, apply psychological pressure, and then strike when they are weakened… With the common castle siege tactics, King Zoldias’ Country won’t be able to endure.」

AN:

Despite the small-scale battles, the territory has grown quite a bit.

Incidentally, the Zoldias War will be quite a prolonged conflict.

I made some adjustments to the General Ranking:

S (Legendary, in the realm of monsters) Currently none (In the next two thousand years, only three generals, kings, or emperors from Romalia will earn this rank. Including foreign ones, it would be five or six… Regardless, those who achieve this rank will be featured as examples in war textbooks for the next two thousand years.)

A (Generals who will leave their names in history)

• Xerxes Emperor (in his prime)
• Great King Etzel (husband of Marilyn from five hundred years ago)
• Bartolo
• Kuryuu
• Alex’s father
• Alex
• Kepka
• King Zoldias ←new!
• Xerxes Emperor (currently)

B (Normal great generals. In every era, there are one or two per country)

• Tonino
• King Ferme

C (Fairly competent generals)

• Roswald
• Ron
• Gram ←promoted
• Raymond

D (Can command. They have experience and education, but lack talent. They will not improve)

• Almus
• Abraham
• Former King Rosais
• Various other patricians and kings

E (Useless)

• Aldo