<336 - A Ragtag Bunch>
Jaidas thought Oknodie was scheming with shallow tactics.
‘Being the top student, they must be trying to show off some genius stratagem or something.’
The same went for Hestia.
‘Out of the two remaining sweet roles, the knight Jaidas would want to steal the Falcon Cavalry, as it’s the most synergistic.’
But handing over the Border Defense Force was a major blunder.
‘The true worth of a knight lies not in charge and destructive power, but rather in siege warfare.’
With strong attack power, frontline resilience from heavy armor and self-healing, and divine skills to boost troop morale, there was no field where he couldn’t excel.
Such versatile traits were precisely why the knight class was often regarded as the pinnacle of classes and revered.
As long as he resolved to hold his ground, the Border Defense Force stationed at the fortress would never be breached.
━━━
【Turn 1 Begins】
━━━
[Battlefield Briefing]
The messenger of the main unit conveyed the orders of the main commander [Grachio].
“Cooperate with the units around the fortress to delay the enemy’s advance as much as possible, and once the enemy has crossed the river, lock yourselves in the fortress and conduct a siege.”
(Order deadline: 30 turns)
You are the commander of the Border Defense Force [Jaidas].
The Border Defense Force awaits your orders.
━━━
Choose or input this turn’s command.
[Move][Station][Scout][Messenger][Observe][Attack][Strategy][Special]
You chose to send a [Messenger].
━━━
Jaidas had already thought up a foolproof method.
He would occupy the surroundings just enough to prevent the fortress from falling and slow the enemy’s advance.
Without resorting to tactics or tricks, simply walking the king’s road seemed the safest bet.
Just by staying alive, he would accomplish the main unit’s directive and survive to the end.
“I shall send a [Messenger].”
Therefore, he actively made use of his advantages.
The target of the messenger was Oknodie’s Punishment Unit.
“I’ll assign a scouting mission to Oknodie’s Punishment Unit until they locate the enemy’s forces!”
A small dot representing the messenger raced on the map towards Oknodie’s position.
‘Not just Oknodie, but also communicate with the other units through the messenger to gather information.’
“Whoo hoo.”
“Jaidas is such a coward.”
“Thinking of bossing around other units while lounging at the back and sucking honey. Why did Oknodie allow Jaidas to choose such a sweet role?”
“Totally.”
“What a foolish choice. Is Oknodie not that knowledgeable in military strategy?”
Others in the [Surviving as a Commander on the Battlefield] lecture, all first-year students, anticipated Jaidas’s overwhelming dominance and jeered at him.
“There’s no option but to be cunning. This is the best strategy.”
The students agreed.
Even if they were in the same position as Jaidas, they wouldn’t have dared use a different tactic.
━━━
【Turn 4 Begins】
━━━
[Battlefield Briefing]
A messenger who made contact with the Regular Infantry Unit returned.
“The Regular Infantry will secure the eastern valley.”
A messenger who made contact with the Peasant Draft Unit returned.
“Our unit’s skill level is insufficient to go on reconnaissance.”
…
A messenger who made contact with the Falcon Cavalry returned.
“We will continue our ambush operation.”
A messenger who made contact with the Thunderbolt Celestial Divine Church Knight Order returned.
“We follow only the Command of God.”
…
The messenger sent to the Punishment Unit did not return.
It seemed something unusual had occurred.
━━━
But lo and behold.
Not a single unit complied with the request to cooperate with reconnaissance.
Even the messenger sent to Oknodie was completely silent!
Things were starting to go sideways.
Jaidas felt a creeping thought.
‘Oknodie and Hestia being uncooperative makes sense. Those two are in a contest of who can survive longer against me.’
But the fact that other units weren’t following orders was a very ominous sign.
‘Is this battlefield going to be a chaotic mess like reality, where nobles are running amok?’
━━━
Choose or input this turn’s command.
[Move][Station][Scout][Messenger][Observe][Attack][Strategy][Special]
You chose to [Observe].
━━━
[Observation Results]
The targets of observation are the commanders of each unit.
Information is provided immediately based on known knowledge.
Peasant Draft Unit Commander: Knight Shiso (affiliated with Viscount Triton)
Regular Infantry Unit Commander: Viscount Triton (affiliated with Count Bearbold)
…
Falcon Cavalry: Berserker Hestia (Mercenary Unit)
Otos Punishment Unit: Knight Otos, Chief Guard Oknodie (affiliated with Viscount Triton)
Border Defense Force: Knight Jaidas (affiliated with Commander Grachio)
…
Thunderbolt Celestial Divine Church Knight Order: Commander Bruynak (affiliated with the Thunderbolt Celestial Divine Church)
━━━
He had thought they were all allies of the same faction, but each unit had different affiliations.
Except for Jaidas, who is aligned with the blue forces under Commander Grachio, everyone else was linked to different factions.
Regular troops including the Regular Infantry Unit under Count Bearbold, as well as the Peasant Draft and Punishment Units led by knights dispatched by Viscount Triton.
Independent troops like the Thunderbolt Celestial Divine Church Knight Order and Falcon Cavalry boasted their own affiliations.
Jaidas recalled the worst defeat he had ever faced in battle.
An uprising in the territories of four barons, unable to bear the pillaging of a single great count.
Jaidas thought he was part of the alliance, but he faced death from the clearly weaker forces of the count.
‘All the baron territories were dreaming of monopolizing and thus could not cooperate properly.’
The logistical unit failed to send supplies.
The strongest baron fighting on the front lines retreated due to lack of food.
The other two baron territories, scheming with the baron in charge of logistics, opened a path for the enemy under the pretext of logistics failing to get through in time.
The baron responsible for the granary faced the enemy’s main force and was incinerated in an instant.
The remaining two baron territories took that opportunity and launched a flaming attack that burned down their own troops too.
Jaidas was swept up into this hellish internal chaos, barely preserving his life, and realized he would not survive in such a perilous battlefield at his current level.
After finding the Gift Academy, he now faced the very exam of survival.
“It’s cowardly, Professor Raregrills. You make us stand in such a disgraceful battlefield!”
Through gathering information via observation and communication through messengers, Jaidas also realized the underlying reasons behind the disobedience of orders.
Once again, the root cause lay in vested interests.
Even if they won this war, the spoils of the borderlands would all belong to Commander Grachio.
In reality, Count Bearbold and Viscount Triton, who made up more than 70% of the frontline forces, would gain nothing.
The mercenaries hired or those who came under the name of the church, Thunderbolt Celestial Divine Church, were caught between Commander Grachio and Count Bearbold’s faction, being cautious.
– The precious lambs of the church cannot be sacrificial pawns in a situation with unclear command authority.
With the enemy showing disorder even among allies, it was only natural that a proper war could not occur.
No matter how hard Jaidas tried, he was isolated, and as the enemies appeared, his worries soon became reality.
━━━
【Turn 11 Begins】
━━━
[Battle Briefing]
The enemy launched a simultaneous advance toward the eastern canyon and central plains.
The Punishment Unit and Village Watchmen assigned to the western swamp remain silent.
To follow Commander Grachio’s orders to defend the fortress, at least one front must be stalled.
However, considering the unstable command structure among allies, there was a high possibility that the front line would be breached in an instant if the commanders left their posts.
━━━
“Ugh. If only I hadn’t known this information, I might’ve been able to fight.”
The experiences wandering through the crossfire instilled fear in Jaidas.
He was not afraid to fight the enemy outright.
If he lost due to his lack of strategy, he could willingly accept his shortcomings as a commander.
He had come to the academy to learn his deficiencies.
Realizing his shortcomings was not a fearful thing.
‘But this is different.’
Jaidas’s last experience with the coalition of four barons.
Engaging in a catastrophe where everyone was entangled in their own different dreams was something he’d reject as a repeat.
━━━
[Station]
You decided to defend the fortress.
The Border Defense Force harbored doubts about your decision.
Decide whether to reveal the truth about the conflicts among the units to them or enforce silence and obedience.
━━━
Jaidas preferred a rational choice.
His soldiers had a right to know why they must remain at the fortress.
━━━
[Morale Decrease]
The soldiers learned the truth.
Disappointment regarding the uncooperative allied forces and despair over being unable to leave the fortress significantly lowered the morale of the Border Defense Force.
While their trust and loyalty towards you as their commander remained, a drop in unit morale would greatly impact combat power.
━━━
“Damn it. Then what are we supposed to do?!”
The defense forces from each direction were eventually breached one by one.
On the tactical map, the markings for Hestia’s cavalry or Oknodie’s Punishment Unit had completely vanished.
Ultimately, there was nothing Jaidas could do before the fortress fell and the Border Defense Force was annihilated.
But if the fortress fell, then all other places must have lost as well.
“Am I the last one?”
“No. You were the first to fall out.”
That should have been impossible under normal combat conditions.
Jaidas realized that his ominous premonition had come to fruition.
“Cowardly bastards. To make a war they could have won a defeat just to survive!”
“The eliminated participants will observe the state of the remaining contestants.”
Even without the direction of the supervising instructor Grachio, Jaidas was dying to know where those guys, who didn’t even show up while the fortress was being besieged, had been.
“Ah.”
Hestia’s cavalry hadn’t even deployed and had retreated to the rear.
She had entered wait-and-see mode, hoping to survive.
Oknodie took it a step further.
The moment Jaidas saw her marker, he let out a deep sigh.
“The marker… it’s the enemy’s color.”
The joint commander leading the forces, Knight Otos, was nowhere to be seen as Oknodie, now the sole commander, led an army three times the size of the Punishment Unit to advance.
Heading toward an escape route for the remaining allied forces, this child, shockingly, had betrayed them.
