Chapter 23: Talents Only I Can Recognize. Hidden gems (6)

“A surprise attack?”

Chief of Staff Hayna said in surprise.

“Yes, ma’am. The newly-appointed commander got him to confess.”

“How is that…..?”

Hayna was dumbfounded. How could he take an enemy scout captive and get a confession as soon as he was appointed?

“It is true that he has captured an enemy scout. He must have been lucky.”

Lucky him……..Hayna was so confused that her head started to hurt. The enemy forces were already advancing on Ganen Castle. A surprise attack on a supply base under these circumstances was not something that could be dismissed.

Duke Ronen, the general-in-chief, was preparing for a decisive battle at Bern Castle, leading his entire personal army, the only elite force in the Royal Army of Lunan. He was determined not to give up Bern Castle. In such a situation losing a supply base would be a huge blow.

Hayna was a relative of Duke Ronen but not a direct descendant. For this reason, she did not refuse to take the position of chief of staff in order to increase the honor of the Berghins, who were scorned in the aristocratic society of the Lunan Kingdom because of their descent.

She didn’t want to be treated poorly in the aristocratic society anymore. Therefore, failure was truly unacceptable, especially in the situation where she took on the heavy responsibility of protecting Linon Castle while Duke Ronen was away. That fact was a heavy burden for Hayna.

“Bring that prisoner to me right now. I’ll interrogate him myself.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Hayna, who had given the order to Hadan, immediately retracted her previous statement.

“No, wait!”

Looking at the map again, Hayna began to worry. Ganen and Bern castles won’t fall anytime soon. If that was the case the supply base was the top priority right now.

“I’ll go with you. I’ll lead half of Linon Castle’s forces and move to the supply base!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Hadan nodded. But after a few moments of pondering, Hayna changed her mind again.

“What if Linon Castle is ambushed using the attack on the supply base as a decoy? No, Linon Castle’s troops and those high walls can hold up well enough. So for now, the supply base is more…….”

Hayna bit her lip as she thought of all the things that could go wrong.

“Hadan return to the supply base now. You are not to go outside the fortress. Tell your commander to do the same. No matter what happens, stay inside the fortress and prepare for an attack!”

“Yes, ma’am. But our supply troops won’t be able to hold out…….”

“If there really is an attack, I’ll come with reinforcements. I’ll take half of Linon Castle’s troops and set them up halfway between the supply base and the castle. You can hold out long enough for them to rush from the midway point.”

If they attack Linon Castle as a decoy, we’ll return immediately, and if the supply base is really attacked, we’ll go to the rescue immediately. It was a good strategy, Hayna was pleased with herself.

“And send that captured soldier to the camp. I’ll interrogate him myself.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll return to the supply base!”

***

For the enemy to make a surprise attack on the base, they would have to use the detour route from Ganen Castle. That’s why I entrusted the reconnaissance mission to the centurion Givens had mentioned, Jido. I ordered him to lead 200 soldiers to stand by at the front of the detour route and signal any enemy movement as soon as he saw it.

Excluding those 200 men and the troops that are out to resupply, I currently have 4,800 men that I can use. All of the centurions on Hadan side were eliminated from the operation to prepare for this surprise attack. They were ordered to defend the fortress separately and I led 4,800 troops to the detour route.

If we fought at the fortress, we were sure to lose. There was a risk that the fortress would fall before help could arrive from Linon Castle. Rather than let that happen, I needed a strategy that could catch the enemy by surprise and defeat them all at once!

I decided to use the waist deep river that flowed in the middle of the detour route. If I could reduce the water volume in the river to ankle deep and then pour in all the water stored, I could wipe out at least several hundred enemy soldiers.

This strategy would be useless against a large number of enemies but there was no way they could mobilize such a large force for a surprise attack. The key to a surprise attack is to advance quickly.

If they had such a large force, we would have to retreat into the fortress immediately but the invading army of the Narja Kingdom was not of such a scale.

Of course, it is impossible to wipe out a wide area of enemies with a water attack. Not only is the river not that big, but it is impossible to store that much water. I don’t have enough manpower, time, or a river with enough water.

My goal here was to use the water I had accumulated to raise the river level and temporarily divide the enemy. I would then charge in and sweep away the enemies who had crossed the river and then attack the rest of the divided enemies.

As we accelerated our march, a river appeared in front of us before we knew it. It was a path that the enemy soldiers would have to take to get to the supply base. Of course, it was upstream of this river that we would set our trap.

“We’re going upstream to block the channel. Follow me.”

At first I gathered the centurions in front of the river and explained the plan. At first they were all a bit confused but then they accepted that it was a strategy with a high chance of success and meekly followed it, so I led them all upstream.

“This looks good. Block the river here immediately.”

The order was given and 4,800 people began moving at once. Fortunately, there was no sign of smoke in the sky. If the enemy moved, Jido, who had been sent in advance, would’ve sent a smoke signal.

As we proceeded to check the sky, a soldier from our army came running from afar. It was Hadan, my second-in-command.

“Commander! This is no time for such tricks. This is an order from the Chief of Staff. Don’t make any rash moves and stay in the base!”

Hadan proudly proclaimed the orders of the Chief of Staff.

You want me to stay in the base? That’s the worst possible strategy, it’s not too late to return to the fortress after the mission fails here. However Hadan words began to upset the centurions even more since the “chief of staff” was mentioned.