Chapter 122
Raimondo, the Duce of the Labria Republic, couldn't overcome enemies on all sides and surrendered to the orcs, but even now, after submitting to Caligo and changing sides, he hadn't let go of his pride as an elf.
He argued that if he had to follow Caligo anyway, he should be the best among them, and tried to forcibly gather troops to attack Malacho.
However, due to the sudden retreat of the allied forces, he couldn't achieve any significant results, so he actively rushed into this Rento attack.
He even declared that he would command it personally, and Caligo allowed this for unknown reasons.
Using a drug that strengthened his mind to command elves from afar, he ordered his soldiers to move quickly, and the Labria Republic's soldiers arrived at Adige much faster than Caligo's other forces.
Although Raimondo tried to secure some command under Caligo even if it meant recklessly deploying troops,
By the time they arrived at Adige, the distance was too far, and the elves who arrived could no longer hear Raimondo's instructions.
"It seems the enemy hasn't arrived yet."
"The last instruction was to secure and garrison."
"Garrison? He told me to keep advancing to Rento."
After sending scouts to temporarily secure the front, they gathered among officers and discussed Raimondo's last message, starting to exchange opinions on the spot about what to do next.
Unlike Raimondo, who had strong mental power, those who couldn't resist Caligo's influence at all exchanged conversations with inorganic expressions, when,
"...! Enemy detected. Location is the outskirts of Adige, forest on the right."
"In the forest on the left as well, the enemy has shown themselves. They're elves."
Reports that they had encountered the vanguard of the allied forces, the elves of the Este Kingdom, entered their minds.
"..."
"..."
At the news that the enemy was approaching, they immediately began to respond.
As Raimondo had urged earlier,
They started mental communication and quickly scattered left and right, actively attacking the Este Kingdom elves who had entered the forest.
-Swoosh! Swish. Rustle.
Unlike the battles of others that were noisy with shouts, the sound of military boots, and the metallic sounds of weapons, elves with relatively superior senses easily detect each other's signs.
Knowing this, elves learn to move quietly in the forest and don't even scream when arrows pierce their bodies.
Thus, the battle between elves in the dense forest of Adige was mainly filled with the sounds of movement in the forest and arrows cutting through the air.
It started with sporadic engagements between scouts, but the elves of the Labria Republic began to move actively, even with their main force.
"..."
"..."
At the enemy's more aggressive offensive than expected, the Este Kingdom's scout units retreated slightly faster than planned.
Perhaps because the decision to retreat was quick, they were able to quickly shake off the enemy's pursuit and retreat to a safe point.
"This position is dangerous too. Let's fall back further."
"Understood."
The main force on the flank of the imperial forces hidden in the forest also heard this news and began to retreat without any communication towards the imperial forces or dwarves.
"The elves have started engaging at the front!"
"Really? Stop here and form a square formation."
"Yes!"
The dwarves, who were supposed to advance forward and draw in the enemy elves, stopped in place as soon as they received the report that the engagement had begun.
Although it was still far from the planned stopping point in the operation, they had no hesitation in stopping their advance, thinking they could never face the elves in the forest without a square formation.
There was no exchange between the elves and dwarves, but,
"The imperial forces will handle it anyway."
"We can move when they enter combat."
Even the dwarves who had seen the imperial forces marching ahead of them, although they had now disappeared into the forest,
"Haven't we retreated too much?"
"We need to retreat this much to avoid being detected by enemy scouts."
"..."
"The humans will fight on their own anyway, can't they buy us enough time to launch an attack?"
And the elves who were certain that humans could never move faster than themselves,
Had exactly the same purpose of throwing the imperial forces under the bus and taking only the achievements, thinking they would move according to the original plan.
Although the commander had changed to Viktor, at least from the outside, it seemed little had changed from when the honest Gerhart was in command.
There was also a desire to check the imperial forces with the largest number of troops, so they waited for news that the imperial forces had entered combat, but.
"So, where are the imperial forces now?"
"About that..."
-Thud!
"Your Excellency! The enemy has approached right next to our square formation!"
"What!"
The first news the dwarves encountered was an urgent report that enemy elves were rushing to attack them.
"Engage! Don't retreat!"
They were flustered by the situation not going as expected, but once they had encountered an enemy with superior mobility, there was no option to retreat.
---
The movements of the Este Kingdom and the Ecrini Kingdom were relatively secretive and sudden, but they were too pure and naive.
"Haha..."
"What's the matter?"
"They're very reliable allies. They never deviate from expectations."
"...?"
Just by asking Gerhart about the existing imperial army's formation and overall shape and imitating it, they moved as usual without any suspicion.
The dwarves stopped their advance almost immediately after the scout units began engaging, and the elves moved their main force even further back than those dwarves.
Now it was our turn to move.
Our scout units, moving according to my instructions, deliberately started making noise to draw the attention of the enemy elves, and,
"Let's begin."
"Yes."
The two main forces hiding in the forest, ready to march at any time, began moving towards the rear flank of the dwarf forces, that is, between the dwarf army and the elven main force.
Since we didn't advance as quickly as we did before coming to Adige after hiding our appearance in the forest, we were able to move to the appropriate position without having our tail caught.
While the elves and dwarves originally intended a W-shaped deployment with our two forces protruding forward, we ended up in a formation closer to a V-shape with the dwarves at the front.
Meanwhile, our scout units drawing the enemy's attention guided the enemy forces to the flank of the dwarves.
Perhaps Caligo wasn't directly commanding, the enemy fell for our lure in a half-disorderly state, slowly spreading from the vanguard units.
As I could constantly check on the mini-map that the enemy's main forces were following, there were no particular variables, so.
"The dwarves have entered combat!"
"Hmm. Let's prepare for battle too."
"Yes!"
As a result of going round and round, as per the initial plan, the dwarves ended up taking the enemy's attack first.
Rather, the forest here was sparser than the planned location, making it a better place to face elves.
We were checking the enemy trying to deeply penetrate to target the rear or flanks of the dwarves, when,
"It seems the elves are still not moving."
Even as full-scale battle was about to break out, the elves had barely moved their forces.
"Please gather the fast-footed ones and prepare."
"...Yes."
I prepared a second lure to make the Este Kingdom move, mobilizing scouts and some light infantry.
They moved deep into the forest, disrupting the rear of the enemy attacking the dwarves' flank.
And as they kept moving towards where the Este Kingdom's scouts or main forces were located, dragging the enemy that responded to this,
"They're finally moving."
The elves also began to move their main force.
"We'll advance both wings."
"Yes!"
With the dwarves acting as the anvil, the elves as the hammer, and us appropriately supporting both.
Although neither the beginning nor the process went according to plan at all, the result flowed according to our plan.
The dwarves of the Ecrini Kingdom, who don't handle firearms much as they're not very friendly with the Anchester Kingdom, but excel at producing high-quality metals and thus all their forces use high-quality weapons, withstood the enemy's attack.
The elves of the Este Kingdom, who originally had no special distinguishing features, moved through the forest with much more organic movements than the elves who had become rougher under Caligo's control, striking the enemy's weak points, and.
The empire's large number of longbowmen fired by unit, constantly inflicting losses on the lightly armed enemy.
"The enemy on the right is retreating! Victory is in sight!"
Although our imperial forces suffered almost no losses, the tide of victory quickly turned in our favor.
"How is it?"
"...I clearly understand what you said."
It was a great harvest just to make the officers believe that my assertion wasn't just superficial talk.
"The enemy is fleeing!"
"Begin pursuit! Don't let them escape!"
"Understood!"
Satisfied with the glimpses of awe, respect, and admiration in the expressions of some officers, I continued to command the troops.
Although the outcome was determined by our victory as we moved to secure Adige entirely, given that the enemy had certainly launched an attack with only elves,
Victory was victory.
"..."
For the imperial officers who had been taking the blame every time due to the dwarves and elves, today's victory would certainly not feel small.