Episode 237: Deception, Surrounding, Annihilation. (1)
“oh…….”
Claude couldn’t say anything and just laughed in vain. As expected, words don’t make sense. In fact, that was what I expected.
So what should we do now?
The answer was given by Giselle.
“Okay, you know there’s no point in talking any further, right? Let’s get on with it.”
Claude just gave up and pointed to a few places on the map.
“Yes, yes. I knew it. As you expected, the tribes near our path have gathered. They are sending warriors in all directions to check our movements. But since we haven’t mastered the basics, we are being caught as soon as we move. Oh, simpletons.”
Claude sent out scouts every day to check the surroundings, gather information, and then report it to Giselle.
The barbarians moved around periodically, so even Giselle didn’t know exactly where they were. That’s why he had to send out scouts every now and then to check the tribes’ current locations.
Actually, this was something that the spy officer Lowell should have done, but Giselle brought Claude along after a long time.
Perhaps because they had been together like this in their previous lives, it felt more natural for him to bring Claude with him than Lowell.
And in fact, Claude was an excellent commander and operations officer. Now, he seems to be unaware of his talents because he is busy with household chores.
“Okay, we should target them next. Can you predict how they’ll move?”
Giselle asked even though she knew it. It was time to slowly bring out Claude’s hidden talents. From now on, she planned to have Claude plan and lead the battlefield where she was not present.
Claude scratched his chin a few times and then said.
“Well… … . In a situation like this, it’s obvious. The other guys would just fight without thinking, but the central leader of the Sound Wind tribe is said to be quite thoughtful.”
“The ones who write clumsily are the most pathetic.”
“That’s true, but… …. There are still too many of them. There are more than twice as many as there are on our side. What are you going to do? Are you just going to block them?”
“I have a tactic that I like to use.”
“Pursuit, surprise attack, annihilation?”
“Yeah, but I think we need to do it a little differently this time.”
“How?”
“Deception, encirclement, and annihilation.”
“Pfft.”
Claude laughed, his shoulders shaking.
“How can we surround them when we are so outnumbered?”
Then Jiselle also laughed and answered.
“A siege isn’t about blocking all directions in the first place. It’s possible to block only the important routes. Let’s plan a strategy now. Those guys are strong, but they’re simple, so anything works out well for them.”
* * *
Although Kustuga called for the capture of the fortress, not all of the other tribal chieftains immediately agreed.
They know they are weak in siege warfare. They have been to the fortress several times and they know that it is not easy to conquer.
There was also a reluctance to follow the opinions of others, after all, as tribal chiefs, they all thought themselves to be the best.
“Why do you insist on attacking the fortress? When their main force goes out, we can just kill them all with this number of people!”
“That’s right! There are only a few hundred of them anyway. Let’s chase after them and trample them like warriors!”
“We don’t even have proper siege weapons, do we?”
In the midst of the chaotic atmosphere, Kustu made a face. These ignorant guys don’t know anything about strategy and tactics.
He is different from these guys. He is strong, but the biggest difference is that he knows how to use his head. That is why the Sound Wind became a great tribe in his generation and fought for supremacy in the North.
If it weren’t for the Ferdium guys, the Soundwind tribe would be trampling on other tribes by now.
“Think about it. Their main force is only a few hundred men, but each and every one of them is a knight whose skill is equal to or greater than that of the great warriors. They’ve already killed two thousand warriors without any damage. Can’t you imagine how much damage we’d suffer if we fought them head-on?”
“Our numbers are over 5,000! No matter how strong we are, we can’t win against a few hundred! You’re not a warrior! Get out of here!”
“Even if we win, more than half of the warriors will be gone? Maybe even more. That’s what a knight of the kingdom is.”
If they were ordinary knights, there would be nothing wrong with what Kustu said, but there was something he didn’t know. The knights of Fenris had strong instantaneous destructive power, but weak endurance.
If you were to fight an army of perhaps 5,000 men, you would be exhausted before you could even kill half of them, let alone win. Even if you pulled out all your strength, you could only defeat about half of them.
But the other chieftains were also unaware of this fact, so they could not refute Kustu’s words and kept their mouths shut. If they lost their warriors, they would not be able to survive in this north. They had a line to protect as leaders of the tribe.
“Hey! Then what do we do!”
“… … I already told you.”
“You want to capture the fortress? Then what harm will there be?”
“Yes, yes. But it’s better than confronting the knights head-on. The fortress is small. The main force has been lost, so there are only weak soldiers. Imagine if over 5,000 warriors were to attack them. How would they stop them?”
“oh…….”
The other chieftains nodded. Thinking about it, it made sense. Never before had so many people attacked a fortress.
What if a small fortress is surrounded from all sides and the warriors advance quickly? Can a fortress with a weak main force and insufficient troops block all directions?
You can’t stop ten hands with one hand. Eventually, there will be holes everywhere.
The more I thought about it, the more appealing it seemed, an attack that could never be stopped.
“Okay, so what’s next? What are we going to do with those guys who went on an expedition?”
“What are we going to do? If we just sit there and build a fortress, what are they going to do? There are rumors that there is a lot of food in the fortress. Those who lose their base will have no choice but to flee to the kingdom. They won’t be able to supply anything.”
“Oh… … . As expected, you’re quite smart.”
“Yeah, let’s use our heads, our heads. Once we take the castle, there’s nothing we can do about those guys who have no siege weapons and are outnumbered.”
“That’s right! Those without homes have no choice but to wander!”
“Besides, if we breach the fortress, it will be very easy to enter the kingdom and pillage it. Are you still going to reject my offer?”
The chieftains thought for a moment and then nodded simultaneously.
“Okay, I will follow your plan! Gather all the warriors and capture the fortress!”
“Yes, that’s the best. If you have to fight anyway, think about the best advantage and move accordingly.”
Kustu said with a proud face. No matter how much he thought about it, he was the smartest person here.
‘Hehehe, fight in front and die. If I just capture the fortress, my warriors will eat up your tribe too.’
As they capture the fortress and obtain food, the Soundwind tribe will become stronger.
That is why they tried to occupy the fortress even at the cost of inciting other tribes.
If we can just capture the fortress, we will definitely be able to subdue the other great tribes that are currently at odds with the Sound Wind Tribe.
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
For Kustu, this was a golden opportunity: a chance to overcome difficult circumstances and leap higher.
He clenched his fists and his ambition burned.
‘I will definitely unify this North.’
* * *
“They’ve come out. They seem to have taken all the knights away. The number is similar to what we confirmed.”
Kustu and the chieftains sent out warriors in all directions to watch over the northern fortress for several days.
And I confirmed that hundreds of knights I had only heard about had gone out to battle.
Kustu nodded, looking at the map.
“Okay. These guys are moving in the direction they originally were moving. They’ll soon meet up with the Iron Wedge tribe. We’ll start moving too.”
After waiting for about half a day, the tribal alliance began to advance toward the fortress. This was in consideration of the time it would take for the main force of the fortress to return from fighting with other tribes.
In the meantime, the plan was to capture the fortress, which was short on troops, in one fell swoop.
“Move quickly! Let’s show our enemies our fear!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Drums made of animal skin and bones rang loudly.
To the sound of the drums, over five thousand barbarian warriors marched toward the fortress. It was extremely rare for so many tribes to unite.
They only brought ladders and no other siege weapons, but the number of troops was too great for a small fortress to hold back.
They were that angry, and they felt that sense of crisis.
“The time has finally come to capture that fortress!”
“Glorious warriors! Let us avenge our brothers!”
“Ohhhhhhh! Victory is ours!”
Following the shouts of the great warriors, warriors everywhere raised their shouts.
They are people who enjoy fighting from the beginning. Even with this many gathered, there was nothing to fear.
If the fortress could be captured, it would be a good idea to sweep away a few poor territories in the northern part of the kingdom while we’re at it. They were small territories, so they wouldn’t have many troops.
They weren’t called barbarians for nothing. They didn’t think about the aftermath.
“Woooooooooooo!”
The warriors’ shouts erupted, and the air around them seemed to tremble.
The barbarians wearing skull helmets were intimidating in their own right. As thousands of these barbarians swarmed in, the soldiers remaining in the northern fortress began to feel nervous.
Even though they were skilled at fighting barbarians, they had never faced so many barbarian warriors at once.
Zwalter also couldn’t hide his tension as he watched the barbarians rushing towards him.
‘Is this really a good choice? Is this even possible?’
I couldn’t figure out where things went wrong. Even though everyone around me was against it, my son, who had always succeeded, pushed on like always and pretended not to win. I had come to have faith in my son.
But when I actually stood before the great army, I began to lose confidence in whether that was really the right thing to do.
It wasn’t just Zwalter. Randolph, the knights and soldiers felt the same way.
‘This is so much talk. I can’t stand it for even a day.’
‘We can never stop it in the fortress. Even if we do, we will suffer damage close to total annihilation.’
‘They’re so scary when they get together.’
Apart from the hatred that had built up over time, fear was slowly growing. If that number of people were to cling to the fortress like ants, there would be no way to stop them.
The difference in numbers was that overwhelming.
This is why the Kingdom and Ferdium gave up on subduing the barbarians. If you touch them, they will gather together and attack. It would be better to let them continue to fight among themselves and only stop the few who occasionally cross over.
If the barbarians band together and break through the fortress, the entire northern part of the kingdom will be hit by a frost.
Zwalter swallowed dry saliva and shook his head to get rid of his distracting thoughts. Now was the time to somehow stop the barbarians.
And that too with minimal damage.
“Light the signal fire and start the catapult attack!”
Black smoke rose from all over the fortress. It was a signal to Jiselle, who had gone out on an expedition.
Squeak.
Thump! Thump!
Two catapults stationed in the fort attacked the advancing barbarians.
Kwaaaaang! Kwaaaaang!
The group of savages running towards them with their bare bodies were shaken. However, the damage was not that great.
As expected of great warriors, they dispersed as they saw the direction in which the stones were flying. The formation was a little disorganized, but that was all.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the distance got closer, the catapult became less effective. Zwalter gritted his teeth as he tried to gauge the time.
‘It’s so strong. It’s approaching faster than I thought.’
The barbarians were not afraid of being attacked and were running madly, confident that if they could just cling to the fortress, they would win.
“Woooooooo!”
“Now, raise your shield!”
“We have to go up in one breath!”
As they moved out of range of the catapults, the barbarians raised their shields above their heads. It was time to block the next arrow attack.
They also set up crude wooden ladders in front. They had made these ladders to the heights they had estimated while fighting the northern fortress.
They didn’t notice that there were hardly any archers on the walls. They just charged blindly toward the fortress before them.
Zwalter shouted loudly, glaring at the barbarians running towards him like a pack of dogs.
“Open the gates!”
Squeak!
The gates that had never been opened while fighting against the barbarians began to slowly open.
The savages stopped one by one and looked puzzled.
Opening the gates of a place that is no better than an empty castle? Is this welcoming? Or surrender? Either is fine… … .
The shouts from the barbarian warriors’ mouths suddenly stopped at the sight they had never imagined. Silence fell over the battlefield.
Breaking the momentary silence, the chieftains and warriors shouted from all over the place.
“That’s better! Just throw away the ladder and run in!”
“Those guys are scared and about to surrender!”
“Surrender is not acceptable! Kill them all! Don’t leave a single one alive!”
As the warriors gathered their courage and prepared to charge, one warrior muttered.
“Those guys… … why are they coming out?”
Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!
From the castle, Zwalter and the knights of Ferdium who had remained in the fortress were rushing out.
