Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 180



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Episode 180 Devil in the Fog (2)

It may not have been the intention, but it is the winner who decides how the loser is treated. The commander’s question implicitly contained an attitude that concluded that this battle was Isaac’s victory.

“It’s only natural that it would have been an impossible victory if it weren’t for the Holy Grail Knight. “Wasn’t it the Holy Grail Knight who predicted the ambush?”

“Yes, but it was impossible for me to do it alone.”

It is true that the Sword Master is powerful and cannot be dealt with by ordinary soldiers, but he is not invincible. Even if just ten knights who knew how to use advanced swordsmanship rushed at you, you would be in trouble. If he had been able to pass or compete well without losing his morale, Isaac would have been the one at risk.

In fact, Isaac thought that the real practical use of the Sword Master was in assassinations rather than on the battlefield. His extremely trained senses make it easy to avoid enemies, and his unrivaled physical ability makes it impossible for anyone other than the same Sword Master to deal with him.

The reason why Elil banned assassination, calling it a cowardly act, may have been to prevent the sword masters from running rampant.

Ethelred asked curiously at Isaac’s words.

“Is winning burdensome?”

“no. “Rather than winning, I feel more uncomfortable about this battle itself.”

Ethelred looked even more puzzled at Isaac’s words.

Morse had judged that there was little chance that the main force would be attacked. It was the same for Isaac. He believed that there might be an attack that caught the enemy off guard, but that he would not make an attack that would consume nearly half of his cavalry.

If Isaac had been attacked when he was alone, he wouldn’t have worried at all. But this is the main unit with about 30,000 people moving around. If Georg is not an idiot, there must be a reason for such a bold gamble.

‘This isn’t good.’

If Isaac’s worries were true, the closer the Aldeon army approached the holy land of Elion, the more dangerous the very existence of the Kingdom of Elil could become.

When Isaac suddenly stood up and moved, Ethelred followed him.

“Where are you going?”

“Well, there are some things I need to check.”

Isaac went to see the foreman who had earlier asked how to dispose of the body. He checked the condition of the bodies to be buried and gave instructions to the foreman that he could not understand.

The foreman checked several times to see if the instructions were sincere, but Isaac repeated the instructions.

This little instruction will give you the answer.

***

As the strength of Georg’s cavalry was greatly reduced due to Isaac’s activities, the enemy changed their strategy. As expected, they chose to go ahead of the vanguard and join Elil Fortress.

The vanguard advanced in triumph, but could not continue in triumph.

“… … “You filled up the well and burned the food warehouse?”

“yes. “It seems like all the residents have already been evacuated.”

Morse, who was in charge of the vanguard, asked with a devastated face when he saw that the village where he had planned to provide intermediate supplies was empty, and began to look around. Because the vanguard aimed to arrive at Elion Fortress before Georg’s cavalry, the only supplies they had were preserved food. The plan was to purchase or conscript the necessary military supplies from within Georg’s territory, but the first village was in ruins.

“Does this look like something Georg’s cavalry did? Are they already ahead of us?”

“well. Looking at the traces, it appears to be from at least two days ago. There’s no way Georg’s cavalry is two days ahead of us… … .”

“It looks like Lyanna came out of the fortress and cleaned things up.”

Morse ground his teeth. But he had no choice. He moved his army again and released his scouts. The answer that came back was, as expected, a report that the nearby village was also in a state of ruin. He had heard that a village a bit far away was safe, but he had to take a big detour to get there. Then there was no point in intentionally leading the vanguard in a hurry.

“No, burning down the village and filling up the well. Is Lyanna crazy? Are you going to go to war for a day or two?”

Morse became angry as he encountered an empty village for the third time. Of course, it is a common tactic to carry out a clear-air operation against enemies coming from a long distance. However, the war did not start recently, and they fought each other several times during the long civil war. Even the expedition to Elion was not the first.

If the villages had been burned and the wells filled every time, there would have been no villages left in the Elil Kingdom by now. Even turning a blind eye to civilians who cooperated every time the occupying force changed was an act of ‘magnanimity as a generous knight.’

But what Georg was doing now was something he did not think about the future at all. As if this war were the last.

“Delfric!”

When Delphric and Reina, who were searching the abandoned house, came out covered in ash, Morse called them over. The sight of the two knights covered in ash and mud was quite depressing because it seemed to show the entire atmosphere of Aldeon County.

“What is the supply situation now?”

“It’s close. Drinking water is still not a big problem due to the rain, but food is in short supply.”

“Is it really not enough?”

“Well, if you can get Georg’s army to surrender in two days, there won’t be a problem… … .”

In general, a siege was something that lasted from as little as half a year to as long as several years unless something major happened. Of course, Morse, who had no intention of fighting for more than a month, let alone such a long war, realized that his vanguard strategy was poor.

***

Instead of insisting on a foolish strategy and wasting his troops, Morse chose to admit his mistake, beg for forgiveness, and be forgiven. It was a secret that allowed him to survive even during the reign of the previous king, who was a tyrant.

“Your Majesty Ethelred, I apologize for the failure of the operation due to lack of conviction. “I will immediately resign from my position as commander-in-chief and serve as a regular soldier to pay for my sins.”

A day later, Ethelred welcomed Morse, who returned with the vanguard, with a bitter smile. Of course, no one truly accepted Morse’s apology.

From the beginning, the vanguard’s first purpose was to pull Georg’s cavalry away from the territory. That was already a success, and the second goal was to create a siege network to surround Elion Fortress as soon as possible, but it failed when there was no supply. No one expected Georg to go to such extremes, so there was nothing they could do. Morse made a wise decision.

“Get up. General Morse. “If not you, who would I trust with my troops?”

“I am just grateful for the great grace.”

After the play, they discussed ways to deal with it. Delfric saw that the situation was more serious than he thought.

“I couldn’t see any bodies in the ruins. Usually, when you burn down a village, the residents tend to get angry or rebel, but even though they set the fire in a hurry and left, there were no bodies. “It means that cooperation from residents is going well.”

Ethelred immediately understood what he meant.

“Then there may be more soldiers in Elion Fortress than expected.”

“They are conscripts, but the only advantage our troops had was their numerical superiority, so it might be a bit close.”

I don’t know if the scattered nobles would rejoin, but if the residents in Georg’s domain were gathered together and cooperating, the situation would not be good. Even if Aldeon’s army won, there could have been stories of massacre like in Salt Ain.

Reina, who participated in the meeting, spoke on behalf of the other soldiers and knights.

“The prolonged rain is also a problem. There is no epidemic, but since you can’t wash and dry it properly, it’s only a matter of time. “More than anything, everyone was on edge because of the rain and fog.”

“You’re nervous?”

“yes. There is a story that Georg wolves were seen wandering around in the fog.”

The purpose of showing up without attacking is to get on Aldeon’s nerves. Since they had already attacked the main unit and suffered heavy losses, it seemed that they had switched to a tactic of reducing metallurgy and metallurgy. It was a fairly effective tactic since the Aldeon army was an expeditionary force and it was rainy season.

Raina burst out in anger.

“No, they say they will return the sacred object, so how can they stop it? What about the people who support it? Georg Wolves pretend to be noble and pretend to be the best believers, but it is truly disgusting!”

The others smiled bitterly at Raina’s words.

In fact, no one knew that returning the sacred object was an excuse. Because the real purpose was to subdue traitors.

The moment the messenger returned with his head cut off, the return of the sacred object lost its meaning.

“I don’t see a solution to the problem other than rushing.”

Morse narrowed his eyes and muttered. As the situation became like this, it seemed like the reason Georg’s cavalry rushed out and shook the Kingdom of Elil in the beginning was a strategy to attract the Aldeon army. Morse had no choice but to admit that the person currently commanding Georg’s army was a level above him.

Then Isaac opened his mouth.

“War is not a puzzle game.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Isaac.

Isaac decided to apply the idea he had been harboring for a long time to Aldeon.

“There is no need to try to solve problems when our enemies present them. “We must become the enemy’s problem ourselves.”

***

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow

Sporadic spring rain pounded the leaves of the dense forest of Georg’s estate. Although the raindrops were not heavy, the drizzle of spring rain in the morning and evening was enough to get on the soldiers’ nerves. That was the same for Georg as it was for Aldeon.

“The wild boars are coming soon. “Hurry up!”

The knight of Georg’s army had his soldiers fall down another tree that would block the road. Now the twentieth tree. Now, if this was rolled down the hill and blocked the road, the Aldeon army, which operated the transport wagons, had no choice but to delay for a long time or take a detour.

Of course, the route to be detoured had been flooded by changing the direction of the river.

“shit. “I’d like a bowl of warm soup.”

Georg Knight raised his visor, rubbed his face nervously, and muttered. He hadn’t even been able to change his soaked underwear for three days already. If there was any consolation to him, it was that they would soon return to Elion Castle and enjoy a warm bed and fire. On the other hand, the Aldeon boars will continue to shiver as they are exposed to this rain.

To maximize the effect, it was necessary to delay the battle as much as possible.

“Now, let’s drop the trees…” … .”

While Georg was giving instructions to his soldiers, he stopped when he saw a person walking down the hill. Since the Aldeon army had not yet been seen, the knight, who thought they were soldiers who had lost their way due to the fog, got angry and approached.

“Hey! “If you don’t want to mess around and get crushed by a tree, get the hell out of here!”

“Oh, yes. sorry.”

The soldier stepped aside as if embarrassed. Georg Knight was about to pass on without thinking about it, but suddenly he felt that people around him were becoming more popular. Besides the soldiers who came up from the bottom of the hill, other people began to appear through the fog. For a moment, a shiver ran down his spine, and the knight hurriedly pulled out his sword.

“It’s an attack!”

“Oh, you figure it out quickly.”

The soldier who had retreated shyly from the bottom of the hill suddenly jumped up. Knight Georg was startled by the speed and drew his sword and took a defensive stance.

It was a foolish decision.

bang! The sword wielded by Delph Rickhild shattered Knight Georg’s sword, helmet, and head all at once, digging into his chest. It was the essence of Aldeon’s swordsmanship, swinging with the power to cut the enemy to pieces.

Another knight Georg screamed and shouted.

“Aldeon pigs!”

“Georg you bastards!”

Reina responded in the same way and slashed with her sword. The knight fell down, hitting his head in the mud. The effect of the surprise attack was significant. In a situation where they couldn’t tell who was a knight or a soldier because of the fog, Georg’s knights were unable to properly block Aldeon’s powerful blow.

After organizing the knights, the soldiers surrendered in an instant. There were not many conscripts who were willing to risk their lives in the fight for ‘higher men’. Delphric simply accepted the surrender and sent in his rearguard units.

Similar things were happening all over Georg’s territory.

Instead of concentrating his troops and marching them, Isaac divided his troops sporadically and formed a wide front line like a wide net. It was a different approach from previous battles, where he would unite as one unit and crush the enemy with great force or engage in large-scale rotations. The foggy rain, which had previously been a hindrance, moderately obscured their appearance, and was enough to pierce Georg’s army’s weak points.

Georg’s army, which was overwhelmingly outnumbered, was unable to take advantage of ‘their own land’ as before.

Of course, Georg’s well-organized army also came through the gaps in the army’s reduced density. But even there they encountered unexpected problems. The problem was that it was impossible to tell whether the soldiers beyond the fog were in fact peasants who had been conscripted yesterday, or monster paladins who had slaughtered angels from across the sea.

As Georg’s knights were annihilated several times after raiding several seemingly weak soldiers, strange rumors began to circulate within Georg’s army.

There is a rumor that the devil is hiding in the fog.