Scything (3)

It was understandable that the 15th Corps had been annihilated.

After all, the 15th Corps was an army with virtually no combat capability, effectively a refuge for nobles.

On paper, it had 10,000 soldiers, but most of them were noncombat personnel. Even the officers who had ties to the nobles did not question how they had been swept away in an instant.

But...

"What? Fifty thousand wiped out all at once?"

Losing an army of 50,000 in a single battle was nearly impossible. This was not 5,000, but 50,000.

Killing 50,000 people was by no means easy. Yet an army that large had been annihilated in a mere day?

The officers could not easily accept the report.

"...Could it be that the deserter simply saw it wrong?"

"This report seems like one we need to take with a grain of salt. How could 50,000 soldiers be annihilated in a single day?"...