The Strategist Knows Everything

A loud explosion is coming to my ear.

It would be the sound of coupling magic colliding with defensive magic. If you hit people, not defensive magic, and you decide the ground, the sound feels a little different.

That is proof that our allies are still alive. The sound you hear comes from me and from the left. The army on the left is on my side, and I can hear the clash between defensive and concatenated sorcery from there.

"Disadvantaged?"

Squeeze, I exhale loudly, and switch consciousness. Alarm drives judgment crazy. One judgment spreads the lives of many of my people. If you know it's unfavourable from the start, you can fight with a lot of readiness and mindset. Bad for a disadvantaged ally, but convenient.

When Knox left the castle, Dio left his coat with Micana. It came with a message that I would always give it back, like I did that day when I changed my coat with my feathers.

So I don't even float in the middle of a black horseback riding regiment that runs in a longitudinal march formation.

If you look at us now from above, the big black dots will look like they're moving. Everyone wears a black coat, so wherever they look, black accounts for a lot of the color proportion.

The place to run is the outer periphery of the forest. The place to go is a small fort. It's the smallest fort in the front-line zone where we are, but strategically, it will never be dropped by the enemy.

The front-line zone can be divided into three main parts. Left, right and center. And the front line in its center. That's the little fort we're headed to now. When dropped there, it takes the form of being wedged into the center, and the left and right contacts are almost severed.

The most fragile yet most important of the three frontlines, the fort. But no matter how many soldiers that fort can accommodate, two thousand is the limit. Considering the amount of food and weapons that could be saved, I had come up with an estimate that it would be five days at most for 2,000 people to be able to stand up.

So there are highly skilled soldiers and generals there, with more than two thousand troops. Endure until reinforcements arrive. That's what they do.

"It's our job to help them."

Thoughts leak out of my mouth. But there is no one to respond to it. Because it's the usual thing.

I confirm on the map on the screen that the outer perimeter of the forest is about to end and I need to decide whether to turn left or move forward. We were bypassing the woods. If possible, I didn't detour, I wanted to break straight through and head for reinforcements, but there was a reason I couldn't do that. Because a fierce and powerful beast, called a warcraft living in the woods, blocks our path. A warcraft rarely out of the woods, but there is no forgiveness for outsiders who step into the woods.

It is no place for reinforcements to wear out in the battle against the Warcraft. That's why I chose to detour. Of course, that's not the only aim. If you bypass the woods, poking the enemy's side is one of the reasons you bypassed the woods.

The enemy attacking the fort will be concentrating on the opponent in front of him. For this reason, we will be late in dealing with this one. Poke there.

"I'm sure they're expecting it."

That tactic is done once. And the enemy will know that, too. Better watch out for surprise attacks than Knox is on this front line. So.

"Divide the squad into two parts. The first to third squads join me in poking at the sides of the enemy army. Four, five, turn around behind the enemy."

Each troop leader moves out with a response.

Captain Ars of the first unit in the rear, Nicola of the third unit, breaks down the march formation and rendezvous with Erica's second unit in the center with my immediate 500 men.

Micana's 4th unit, which was leading the way, and Roy's 500-member 5th unit, accelerate at once to get behind the enemy.

There is a certain level of flatness in front of the fort, but the left and right are sandwiched by many woods, large and small, and besides the woods that we have avoided, there are many woods. I was checking the map on the screen before I got here, and I made a simple map and gave it to the head of the unit.

It's our first time here, but since we own the map, we know all about the location of the forest. And if we keep moving forward, there will be even smaller forests, and we will be invisible from enemy forces.

Move around the outer perimeter of that forest and Micana and Roy's squad will poke the back of the enemy. But the two squads are a thousand and five hundred. It is difficult to break through when the enemy's defense is complete.

That's why.

"Turn left! Poke on the enemy's side like this!

I give the order.

Of the total of five thousand knoxes, three thousand and five hundred follow me and drive their horses to the left.

Just because the forest is broken doesn't mean you can see the battlefield right away. But if you look at the sound of the horse's feet and the earthen smoke, those who notice will notice.

Anyway, the enemy is Albion. The army of Albion, an army that surrounded the Quartet by great powers and remained constantly aware of the invasion, boasts a high degree of sophistication, albeit scarce of experience in battle. No soldiers, no generals.

"It's troublesome when it comes to trouble."

"Even so, I wonder if we can lose being reinforcements to the Empire."

Nicola pulls a horse at me, and she calls out.

The roles are solid in the case of Captain Ars, Erica and Nicolas. The vanguard is Captain Ars and Nicolas for the Chinese army. And at the rear, Erica's troops hit. And I want to be in the middle of the unit because it's easier to give instructions and understand the situation. That's why Nicolas sent me a horse.

"Right. Well, I'm sorry to lose any battle. At first, pioneer the second squad and take on the enemy's combined magic. Then the second squad went backwards. Assault the first squad in the first formation as a vanguard."

"Got it."

When Micah isn't around, my deputy becomes Nicolas. Simply because they are good at adjusting and giving instructions.

To operate Knox efficiently, I thoroughly reminded the Force Leader and the soldiers of the five formations. The first formation resembles a formation of sharp arrows. A formation used for a single-point breakthrough assault that, from the top, would look like a longitudinal two-sided triangle. The difference with the formation of sharp arrows is the role of the vanguard. The main attack of the Fung Arrow formation will be a breakthrough force placed at the vanguard, but the main attack of the first formation will be the Erika and Magic Squads in the rear.

The role of the vanguard's first unit is to make way, and the role of the central third unit is to get the second unit inside and protect it. And it is the purpose of the first formation to activate combined sorcery in the central part of the army.

Because we all know that, the first unit led by Captain Ars is more aware of moving forward than breaking the enemy and never breaking down. They are shields before they are swords.

And the third squad is the first to stay away from the second squad. It also acts as a shield, but more than that, it is most required to maintain the formation in order not to hinder the concentration of the second squad.

And the second squad is even required to concentrate and activate the combined magic quickly.

Knox combines my immediate units and consists of six teams, but I assume all of them if they split up. When a team leaves or is destroyed, it is well assumed and exercised, so the whole team does not run upset to the soldier to the extent that it is divided into two parts.

Having confirmed that the condition of the soldiers remains the same as usual, I order the enemy, who has finally begun to see me, to hand over the sides with a fan removed from his nostalgia.

"Assault!"

■ ■ ■

The number of Albion's troops deployed in front of the fort was about seven to eight thousand. Half of them had attacked the fort, but half of them were behind them, alerting their surroundings. We stormed the rear army.

The commander of this army had as many as half of the soldiers waiting backwards, probably because he was wary of ambushes and simply because the fort was small enough to be attacked by all soldiers. The forest next to the fort is in the way and the army cannot deploy next to the fort. A few troops would be able to get there, but because the fort is small, it's easy to get around the fort. Because of the fast response, it is difficult to ambush a small number of people.

It was a two-step operation considering that, but I would say it was the right one.

Three thousand and five hundred, led by me, defended the enemy's combined magic, cut straight into the line, and slowed down the march in the middle.

"Was it because I expected to respond quickly? Or simply because you are highly skilled."

"I really don't like both of them."

Nicola answers my whining discipline, while sending reinforcements from the center to the side and going to make the replacement smaller. That didn't do much damage, but we were losing enough momentum to break through the enemy forces.

"Well, it doesn't matter."

"Yes, because it was originally planned to stop in the center. There's nothing wrong with being stopped."

Saying so, Nicola looks back.

In the rear, Erica would already be in the final stages of combined magic. As soon as they cut us to the center.

"You guys are losing"

The sound of the explosion echoes at the same time as the words. At the same time, the sound of crossing the ground mixes with the sound of people blowing up and reaches my ear.

It's the sound of a coupling witchcraft I'm used to hearing when defensive witchcraft couldn't prevent it. More to the point, it's the sound of combined magic taking people's lives.

Erica's diverse explosive magic has a variety of effects on the battlefield. The blast did not strike directly. The soldiers are also involved, and the sound of the blast paralyzes the enemy's ears. And the sight of Consolidated Magic striking directly uproots the enemy's morale.

Having eaten multiple combined sorceries defenselessly, the Albion army went into havoc. This tactic also went before, but unlike before it was improvised, it is now going as a definite tactic. I know, but it's gonna be hard to deal with.

Soldiers are retreating from around us. You'll be willing to keep your distance from us and get back on your feet. I can see a general trying to rebuild his army, raising his voice from a distance.

But that's life.

"Pioneer the third squad into the second assault. Nicola, you know what I mean?

"You just need to draw the enemy's attention here, right?

When I nod, Nicola smiles lightly and gets ready to move the troops forward.

Of my five hundred direct reports, one hundred are missionaries. They're conscious of communicating my instructions quickly, and they move as soon as I give them.

Captain Ars' first team, who was at the vanguard, is coming down to me. The third squad will step forward instead and the squad replacement will be completed.

"I still could afford it though?

"It's just Captain Ars. Everyone's tired. And."

"You're saying breakthroughs aren't the purpose, right? I know. If that's the case, Nicolas would be better suited than me."

While saying that, is it uncomfortable that they took the place of their own activity, Captain Ars wipes the blood back on his cheek abusively? However, because it is dyed with blood as it returns through the body, there is only a slight trace of blood on the cheeks.

I smiled bitterly at the way it looked.

"Yes, but I still have something for Captain Ars to do. Please move backward."

"? Uh, I see. Let's move on to our next goal."

Captain Ars says so and begins to give instructions to his men. The first squad of the vanguard falls backwards and the third and second squads form a row up. Afterwards, Nicola sent me a ready signal, so I'm going to hang the order for the assault.

"The goal is the enemy general! Assault!"

Saying so, I wave down my fan.

Following that, Knox starts accelerating again.

Nicolas was at the vanguard because he had the highest level of understanding of tactics. Now we are the Yang Dynasty. Fate strikes backwards Micana and Roy. Nicolas, who knows that, is not upset by sudden orders.

After a blow to the rear army, which has yet to regain its position, I ordered Nicolas, the vanguard, to reverse it. And in contrast, Nicolas executed it immediately without even sending a confirmation order.

All of a sudden the rear army showed some confusion to us when we flipped, but when we saw where we were going, we started chasing after this one. Originally Knox's role was to reinforce the fort.

The rear army slapped, but half of them were attacking the fort, still attacking the fort while confused. We were about to attack the back of it. And Albion's rear army was chasing us like that and trying to poke us in the back.

Then.

An ambush unit led by Micana and Roy attacked the rear army of Albion, whose momentum had gone completely forward. Roy and Knox, who have the strength to overthrow enemies, often have Micana's troops assembled the fastest. Micana always seems very dissatisfied, but the two troops are used to working together in two squads, thanks to which there is no waste.

They must have been able to confirm the location of the enemy general from a distance. Micana and Roy are immediately approached by enemy generals who were about to rebuild their rear armies. The rear army, which was slammed in the back, and for which the general was targeted, once again falls into havoc. Now there's no one to rebuild.

"The rear army leaves it to Micana and Roy like this. We'll kick the Fort's assault squad."

"Do we not need it anymore?

Erica calls out with a look she doesn't seem willing to say so. The streak of defensive and concatenated sorcery does exhaust the sorcerer considerably, but Erica is not a nasty sorcerer to that extent.

That's not why I'm unmotivated.

"Try harder. I'll give you a priority break at the fort."

"Oh? That's generous. Don't forget that word."

I came all the way here on horseback. Erica was jerking off every time she wanted to take a bath.

There is no hard reason. Erica was simply unhappy with the long march and unmotivated.

And this battle was so overwhelming that I could put such an attitude on the surface.

Six months away from Velis. We at Knox fought as independent guerrillas on the front lines of the Empire and as reinforcements to fortifications everywhere.

The enemy is the Imperial Army of Albion, but just as the Imperial Army has always had nothing to do with the battle, neither has the Imperial Army of Albion experienced the battle, and we are not the kind of enemies that Knox struggles with.

It will be time for the Albion side to hit another hand. And as I directed the battle, which was already turning into a sweep battle, I murmured so in my heart.