Chapter 237: Deception, Encirclement, Annihilation. (1)
“Oh…”
Claude could only let out a hollow laugh. It was clear that they weren’t communicating. He had expected as much.
So what should they do now?
Ghislaine provided the answer.
“Come on, there’s no point in talking anymore, right? Let’s move on quickly.”
Claude gave up and pointed to a few places on the map, saying, “Yes, yes. I figured as much. As you anticipated, my lord, the nearby tribes have gathered along our route. They’ve sent warriors in all directions to confirm our movements. But they’re so basic that every time we move, we get spotted right away. Ah, such simpletons.”
Every day, Claude sent scouts to check the surroundings, organized the information, and updated Ghislaine.
Since the barbarians moved periodically, Ghislaine didn’t know their exact locations. That’s why he had to send scouts to confirm the positions of the tribes each time.
In truth, this was something the intelligence officer Lowell should be doing, but Ghislaine had brought Claude along after a long time.
Perhaps because they had traveled together in their past lives, it felt more natural to bring Claude than Lowell.
Besides, Claude was indeed an excellent commander and operational staff officer. He just seemed unaware of his own talent since he had been focused on housekeeping.
“Alright, our next target should be those guys. Can you predict how they will move?”
Ghislaine asked knowingly. It was about time to draw out Claude’s hidden talents. He planned to have Claude devise and lead operations when he wasn’t on the battlefield.
Claude scratched his chin a few times before responding.
“Well… it’s obvious in a situation like this. The other guys will just fight recklessly, but the chief of the Sound Wind tribe seems to be somewhat clever.”
“Those who wield their skills clumsily are always the most pitiful.”
“That’s true… but their numbers are overwhelming. They’re more than double ours. What will you do? Just hold them off?”
“I have a tactic I enjoy using.”
“Chase, ambush, annihilation?”
“Exactly. But this time, I think we should do it a little differently.”
“How?”
“Deception, encirclement, annihilation.”
“Pfft.”
Claude chuckled, shaking his shoulders.
“How can we encircle them when we’re outnumbered?”
Ghislaine laughed in response.
“Encircling doesn’t mean blocking all directions from the start. As long as we can block the crucial pathways, it’s possible. Now, let’s devise a plan. Those guys are strong, but they’re simple, so anything works against them.”
*
Kushtu shouted for the fortress to be taken, but not all the other tribe chiefs immediately agreed.
They know they’re weak in a siege war. They’ve tried to touch the fortress a few times and know it’s not easy to breach.
There was also resentment towards following others’ opinions. After all, everyone considered themselves the best as tribe chiefs.
“Why bother attacking the fortress! We can just kill them all when their main force goes out!”
“Right! Anyway, they only have a few hundred, right? Let’s go chase them down and stomp them!”
“But we don’t even have proper siege equipment!”
In the midst of the ruckus, Kushtu frowned. These foolish idiots don’t understand strategy.
He’s different from these guys. While he is strong, the biggest difference is that he knows how to use his head. That’s why his tribe, the Sound Wind Tribe, is now a major tribe fighting for supremacy in the North.
If it weren’t for the Perdium folks, the Sound Wind Tribe would have crushed the other tribes by now.
“Think about it. Their main force is only a few hundred, but each one is either as skilled as or better than great warriors. They’ve already killed over 2,000 warriors without a scratch. Can’t you even think about how much damage we’d take if we face them head-on?”
“We have over 5,000 on our side! No matter how strong they are, they can’t possibly defeat that many! You’re not acting like a warrior! Drop it!”
“Even if we win, more than half of our warriors would be gone, or maybe even more. Those are the knights of a kingdom.”
If they were ordinary knights, there’d be no fault in Kushtu’s words, but he didn’t know something. The Knights of Penris have strong destructive power but poor sustainability.
If they were to face an army of 5,000, they wouldn’t even be able to kill half before running out of energy. No matter how much they strained, half would be their limit.
But the other tribe chiefs didn’t know that either, so they couldn’t refute Kushtu’s words and fell silent. Losing warriors means they can’t survive in the North. They had a line they had to protect as leaders of their tribes.
“Damn it! So what are we gonna do?”
“…I already told you.”
“Take the fortress? But won’t we take damage anyway?”
“There will be damage, of course. But it’s better than clashing with the knights head-on. The fortress is small. Their main force left, so they only have weak soldiers there. Imagine if over 5,000 warriors swarm in. How can they block that?”
“Oh…”
The other tribe chiefs nodded their heads. Thinking about it, it made sense. They had never attacked a fortress with this many troops before.
If they surround a small fortress from all sides and the warriors quickly scale it? With the main force absent and troop numbers low, could they really block from all directions?
You can’t block ten hands with one hand. Eventually, there will be holes everywhere.
An attack that can’t be blocked sounds increasingly attractive the more they think about it.
“Alright, what’s next? What will we do about the ones who go out to battle?”
“What do you mean? If we just sit at the fortress, what will they do? There are rumors that there’s plenty of food in the fortress. Those who lose their base will have no choice but to flee to the kingdom. They won’t have supplies.”
“Oh… you’re actually quite smart.”
“Yeah, I mean, let’s use our heads, alright? Once we take the castle, those guys with no siege equipment and few troops can’t do anything.”
“Exactly! Those without homes will just have to wander!”
“Plus, if we breach the fortress, it’ll be super easy to raid inside the kingdom. Are you still gonna reject my proposal?”
“Entering the kingdom and plundering will be incredibly easy. Are you still going to reject my proposal?”
The Tribe Chiefs pondered for a moment and then nodded in unison.
“Alright, I will follow your plan! Let’s gather all the warriors and seize the fortress!”
“Exactly, that’s the best course of action. If we’re going to fight anyway, we should think about the strongest benefits and act accordingly.”
Kushtu said with a proud face. No matter how he thought about it, he believed he was the smartest one here.
“Heh heh, go ahead and die trying to fight up front. Once we take the fortress, my warriors will devour your tribe as well.”
If they secured the fortress and acquired food, the Soarwind tribe would become even stronger.
That was why he was stirring up the other tribes to seize the fortress.
If they occupied the fortress, they could certainly suppress the other major tribes currently in conflict with the Soarwind tribe.
To Kushtu, this was the perfect opportunity. A chance to overcome difficult circumstances and leap to greater heights.
He clenched his fist tightly and ignited his ambition.
“I will definitely unify the North!”
*
“They’ve set out. It looks like they’ve taken all the knights with them. The numbers match what was confirmed.”
Kushtu and the Tribe Chiefs sent warriors in all directions to monitor the North Fortress for several days.
And they confirmed the departure of hundreds of knights they had only heard about.
Kushtu, looking at the map, nodded.
“Good. They are heading in the direction they were originally moving. Soon they’ll meet the Steel Wedge tribe. It’s time for us to move.”
The tribal alliance, having waited half a day, began to march towards the fortress, considering the time it would take for the main force of the fortress to return after battling with another tribe.
In the meantime, they planned to swiftly seize the fortress that was lacking troops.
“Move quickly! Let’s show the enemy our fear!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The drum made of beast leather and bones echoed loudly.
In time with the drumbeat, over 5,000 Barbarian Warriors marched towards the fortress. It was extremely rare for such a large number of tribes to unite.
They had come without significant siege equipment, only ladders, but the number of warriors was overwhelmingly large for a small fortress to resist.
They were that angry, and they felt that much danger.
“Finally, the time has come to seize that fortress!”
“Glorious Warriors! Let’s avenge our brothers!”
“Oooooo! Victory is ours!”
Following the shouts of the Great Warriors, warriors from various places erupted in cheers.
These were those who enjoyed battle from the beginning. With this many gathered, they felt there was nothing to fear.
If they could just capture the fortress, they might as well sweep away a few of the poor territories in the kingdom’s north. Those territories would have minimal troops.
The term Barbarian didn’t come about without reason. They didn’t think about what would come afterward.
“Uooooooo!”
The warriors’ roars seemed to tremble the very air around them.
The barbarian warriors, wearing skull helmets, were intimidating just by their appearance. As thousands of such barbarians approached, even the soldiers remaining at the North Fortress began to feel the tension.
Though they were used to battling barbarians, they had never faced so many at once.
Zvalter couldn’t hide his own anxiety upon seeing the approaching barbarians.
“Was this really the right choice? Can we proceed like this?”
He couldn’t pinpoint where things had gone awry. Even when everyone around opposed, his son, who had always succeeded, pushed through as usual, and he had pretended to concede. He had grown somewhat trusting of his son.
This happened.
However, now that they faced the great army, their confidence began to wane, questioning if it was indeed a good decision.
It wasn’t just Zvalter. Randolf, as well as the knights and soldiers, shared similar feelings.
“Tremendous numbers. We won’t last even a day.”
“We can’t hold them off from the fortress. Even if we do, we’ll suffer near-total annihilation.”
“So that’s how scary they are when they gather together.”
Despite the accumulated hatred, fear began to creep in. If that many of them swarm up the fortress like ants, there would be no stopping them.
The sheer difference in numbers was overwhelming.
This was the very reason why the kingdom and Perdium had given up on suppressing the barbarians. If provoked, they band together and charge. It was better to let them fight among themselves and just fend off the occasional few that dared to cross over.
If the barbarians gathered and breached the fortress, the entire northern region of the kingdom would be in for a chilling disaster.
Swallowing dry saliva, Zvalter shook his head to clear his thoughts. Now was the time to defend against the barbarians, and with minimal damage, at that.
“Light the signal fires and begin catapult attacks!”
Black smoke began to rise from various spots in the fortress. It was a signal for Ghislaine, who had gone out to battle.
Creeeak.
Boom! Boom!
The two catapults stationed at the fortress targeted the incoming barbarians.
Kaboom! Kaboom!
The wave of unarmed barbarians staggered for a moment. But the damage wasn’t significant.
As they were exceptional warriors, they scattered instinctively upon seeing the stones hurtling toward them. Their formation was a bit disrupted, but that was it.
Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!
As the distance closed, the catapults were proving less effective. Zvalter gritted his teeth.
“That momentum is overwhelming. They’re closing in faster than I anticipated.”
The barbarians charged in a frenzied rush without fear of being attacked. They were sure that once they clung to the fortress, victory would be theirs.
“Wooooo!”
“Raise your shields now!”
“We must ascend in one swift motion!”
Once out of the catapults’ range, the barbarians lifted their shields over their heads. Now it was time to defend against the incoming arrow attacks.
They propped up their crudely made wooden ladders. These ladders had been made to match the height based on estimations from previous fights with the northern fortresses.
They didn’t realize that there were almost no archers on the castle walls. They just charged blindly towards the visible fortress.
As he eyed the pack of barbarians charging like a pack of dogs, Zvalter shouted out loud.
“Open the castle gate!”
Creeeak!
The castle gate, which had never opened before while facing the barbarians, began to creak open slowly.
The barbarians stopped one by one, looking puzzled.
Opening the door to what was almost an empty castle? Is this a welcome? Or surrender? Either one would be fine…
The warriors’ cheers that had been erupting from the barbarians suddenly halted, giving way to a hush over the battlefield.
Breaking the moment of silence, the tribe chiefs and great warriors shouted from all around.
“This is actually better! Drop the ladders and just run in!”
“Those guys are scared and trying to surrender!”
“We won’t accept surrender! Kill them all! Leave not a single one alive!”
Just as the warriors were about to rally and charge again, one soldier muttered.
“Why are they coming out?”
Waaaaaah!
From within, Zvalter and the knights of Perdium who remained at the fortress burst out charging.
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