Chapter 32
The battle ended anticlimactically. Almost absurdly so, considering the effort put into planning and troop deployment.
"Your Excellency, the casualty report is complete."
"How many dead?"
"Around eight hundred. Quite a small number considering the scale of the engagement."
"Roughly a Battalion lost? For a Corps destroyed....That's a profitable trade."
What faced the Imperial Army on the plains wasn't the original Left Wing Unit, but our Central Army. We disguised them with borrowed banners.
This measure was taken due to my anxiety about entrusting the vanguard to the existing troops.
Their fighting strength was decent enough, but their stamina had declined after being on the Front Line for so long.
The Vanguard's role is to endure the enemy's frontal assault and keep drawing their aggro.
What a disaster it would be if they couldn't hold and the lines collapsed, right?
It's always best to minimize risk factors in War.
'Keep the original Left Wing with the Main Force.'
Thanks to this, while the Central Army, showcasing the full might of the Line Infantry, held the line, our Main Force waited, hidden amongst the hills.
20,000 men concealed together?
Surprisingly easy.
Visibility on the Battlefield is quite limited, so even a slight obstacle makes detection difficult.
Furthermore, the Snowfield reduced visibility, making concealment even easier.
Then, when all the enemy's attention was focused on the Vanguard, leaving them no capacity to observe their surroundings, the Main Force moved. Towards the exposed flank of the Imperial Army.
'Strike from another angle, bypassing the enemy focused on the front. A classic Pincer Movement.'
Battles in this Medieval Fantasy world are battles of Battle Formations. Units must clump together tightly and fight as a single mass.
But what's a common characteristic of all Battle Formations? Every side except the front is a weak point. It's a tactic specialized in frontal assault and pushing power, so the other sides are left to allies and essentially abandoned.
If you don't understand, think of the Tanks in World of Tanks or War Thunder. They can withstand attacks from the front, but if they're hit from the side, they explode. Battle Formations are similar.
We ambushed them under ideal conditions, so what was the result?
Simple. They melted away as fast as the fastest Monarch, Runzo's, Retreat speed.
"Actually, we have more Prisoners than from the Left Wing. Just containing these guys will be a job in itself."
"It's a lot better than losing. It'll be resolved soon enough when we hold Prisoner Exchange negotiations. Just accommodate them until then."
In roughly four hours of fighting, we killed around 3,000 enemy soldiers. The number of Prisoners reached a staggering 15,000.
Several escaped, but...well, we can ignore them. The Snowfield isn't a kind place for isolated stragglers.
Probably half will freeze to death before they get a kilometer. The other half will become Dong-tae about 5 kilometers further on.
"By the way, how was it? My method was correct, wasn't it?"
"...Yes. I never imagined Your Excellency would be right. None of us believed it."
"It's okay, guys. It's the first tactic I developed."
Ah, for reference, I personally led this Vanguard.
It was the first time deploying Line Infantry in actual combat, so delicate management was necessary.
When using Spearman and Gunners as before, placement considering the strengths and weaknesses of each unit type is essential.
On the other hand, Line Infantry is an Army composed solely of riflemen. It's enough to just line them up by unit.
However, since I was the only one who knew this, I had to lead from the front lines myself.
What could they possibly accomplish if I left it to those who have only ever learned Battle Formation tactics their entire lives?
'Weren't they almost about to curse me out?'
There was so much opposition that it was a struggle.
There wasn't time for persuasion, so I resolved it by intimidation and asserting my authority.
Even up until the moment of departure, everyone looked unconvinced, but in the end, this is how it turned out.
The results of the Battle prove that I was the pioneer. The emotional resentment caused by forcing my will has also been resolved.
"Now you have a rough idea of how to handle the new organization?"
"I understand. I'll have to study it for a while to put it into practice, but..."
"Learn it slowly. I might be doing it now, but the day will come when you'll have to command yourselves."
They showed resistance to this unfamiliar tactic, but they're capable nonetheless.
If I tell them to, they'll learn it on their own and even do some advanced studying.
Honestly, that's not an easy thing either. Adapting to and accepting a completely different, new era meta?
Even in 21st Century Earth, there were tons of guys who couldn't do it. Especially my former Battalion Commander.
He was in his mid-40s, but he still didn't know what a Hyeongbokwan's job was. Damn it.
I left the Army because I was pissed off from cleaning up after his bullshit and placating the angry Hyeongbokwan.
I think the next month after I left, he got reamed by the Division Commander for messing up all the accounting documents.
"Now that we've suppressed the enemy Right Wing, next is the center. I'll give you two days to rest and reorganize the Soldiers."
"Yes, sir!"
"Leave one Regiment of the Left Wing Unit to build a temporary prison camp. The rest will move with us."
"Where to, sir? The enemy is gone now."
"Gone? There are still plenty of them to the east."
Anyway.
Having captured a large number of prisoners and reversed our numerical disadvantage, our course of action was clear.
If we had achieved victory through a tactical pincer movement, then this time, we needed to create a pincer movement across the entire front line.
* * * * *
And as a result, my calculations were about half correct. No, more accurately, about 73%.
"The Imperial bastards are showing off their luscious asses!! Everyone, charge and kick them!!"
"Attack without hesitation! It'll take those bastards ages to change their battle formation! If we push now, we can crush them unilaterally!!"
"What the hell are they doing?! When did they get behind us--"
Shattering the Imperial Army's central formation went smoothly.
It seemed the news of the Right Wing's collapse due to the harsh environment hadn't reached them. They weren't on guard at all, were they?
Thanks to that, we were able to smack them in the back of the head as easily as a training exercise.
The problem was what came next.
While we succeeded in breaking through, we failed to achieve our goal of annihilation. We allowed them to retreat.
"The Imperial Army retreated? How many?"
"I'm not sure of the exact number. It wasn't a scattered rout, but an organized retreat.... Probably several thousand in total."
"This is troublesome. We messed up the finishing touches after doing so well."
To be honest, it wasn't like there weren't excuses.
Because they had deployed nearly 40,000 troops, it was impossible to subdue them all at once.
Even if we diligently surrounded them from both front and back, it was difficult to prevent the units that had regained their composure from regrouping and retreating.
No matter how excellent and powerful the Line Infantry are, this is an era without even machine guns.
There's a limit to the killing power achievable with muzzle-loading muskets.
"Which direction did they go?"
"East. Their fortresses and defense lines should be on the opposite side of us."
"....They went to fetch their allies."
Judging by their escape route, the objective of the fleeing enemy was clear.
Sure enough, when we contacted our Right Wing, they reported that the opposing units had withdrawn en masse.
With the situation turning unfavorable, they gathered their remaining forces and holed up in the rear.
"Shouldn't we launch an additional offensive?"
"Across the snowfield where we don't even know the way? Relying on a few captured maps and prisoner testimonies? Keep your delusions in check."
"....My apologies."
Pressing our advantage here would have been ideal, but unfortunately, that option was blocked.
Until now, the Northern Front battlefield had always been within The Kingdom's territory.
To counterattack here, we'd have to cross into Imperial territory, but we lacked information about that area.
Before the War, there was practically no human interaction in that region.
Where are the rivers? How many mountains are there? Where are the nearest cities or villages? We knew far less than we didn't know.
It was difficult to launch an expedition, and even more difficult to establish supply lines.
If we rashly decided on an offensive on the spot, it wouldn't be surprising if everyone ended up as frozen fish or freeze-dried jerky.
"I wonder if they've built solid fortifications like we have?"
"If their commander had any sense, they surely would have."
"This won't do. We'll halt the battle here."
Of course, given enough time, we could pioneer a path, but... there didn't seem to be a reason to go that far. It wasn't cost-effective.
There was no way the cash-strapped Kingdom government would provide the necessary funding.
"Let's change the plan. We halt the Northern Front here and focus on maintaining the status quo."
"Without finishing it?"
"Yes. It'll take a while for the Imperial bastards to counterattack anyway."
Therefore, the course of action I chose was to suspend operations.
Even though the finishing touches were sloppy, we had crushed and captured tens of thousands of enemy soldiers. This effectively neutralized more than half of their Northern Army.
It would take them ages to recover their strength.
We simply lacked manpower, which was solved by sending part of the Central Army, but that wasn't the case for them.
Determining responsibility for the defeat, reshuffling personnel... even at the shortest estimate, it would take several months.
At least during that time, we wouldn't have to worry about anything happening on the Northern Front.
"Mauer, I'll give you about 5,000 men. Reinforce the Defense Line with them and focus on vigilance. Can you do it?"
"Leave it to me."
"The remaining 14,000 of the Central Army (1,000 died in battle) will go to the Western Region. It'd be a waste to go back now that we're out here."
Instead, my gaze turned westward.
Towards the battlefield where hundreds of thousands of troops from both sides were currently clashing.
"We depart in a week. Each unit is to reorganize and prepare for the march."
* * * * *
.....I didn't know until then.
What shocking truth I, we, would encounter there.