Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 282



Only Krnovel

Episode 282. The Opponent (3)

The day after Isaac virtually declared war on the Olkan Discipline.

The war machine of the East has begun to move.

‘I expected it, but it’s on a huge scale.’

Isaac had already released parasite-infected animals from beyond into the mountains surrounding the Isacre territory to monitor the movement of troops.

When a crowd of people gathers to a certain level and starts to move, they start to move like waves rather than people. In particular, the movement of the Olkan army, which loots everything it touches, looks like a tidal wave approaching.

In reality, it’s not that different, since all that’s left is a wasteland.

The approaching army was estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands, and there was no sign of its continuation all the way to the horizon.

Since this force was not limited to the Isacre territory, but had two more branches to the south, it should be viewed as a migration of people rather than an invasion.

‘Even if we die, we’ll be reincarnated anyway, you damn bastards.’

Reincarnation not only allows us to forget the fear of death, but also prevents the cessation of knowledge. This is the most important thing for the Olkan discipline, which values ​​knowledge in ways that are not natural.

If we preserve knowledge, no matter how many talents we lose, we can quickly restore our original level of civilization.

At that moment, Atlan came into Isaac’s sight.

Atlan paused for a moment, then met Isaac’s eyes. He drew back the bowstring and shot the parasitic squirrel dead in one slash.

Isaac clicked his tongue as his vision cut off.

In fact, similar things have already happened several times. Parasites detected by shamans and kesiks have been eliminated from various parts of the mountain.

‘Now I finally feel like I’m fighting against faith.’

Up until now, Isaac had only tried to curry favor with other faiths or fought localized guerrilla warfare occasionally. The angels had either shown little interest in him or deemed him worth using, so they refrained from unleashing attacks on the believers.

But now it was different. Now, an all-out war was inevitable. The various tricks and strategies that Isaac had used so far would be stopped by a much larger number of priests and paladins.

Foodddddd… Isaac saw countless flocks of birds flying from the east of the mountain. As a huge number of troops advanced, all kinds of wild animals fled to the west. It looked like a harbinger of disaster. What was actually coming would not be much different.

The atmosphere of unease was also read by the people of Yeongji.

There were those who were burning with the will to fight, hoping to live up to the reputation of the Knights of the Holy Grail, but there were also many who were worried about whether they should evacuate even now.

Isaac crossed the middle of the square as if nothing had happened amidst the anxious gazes of the people of the territory. At that moment, Gebel followed him quickly. Gebel was still a swordsmanship instructor, but after seeing him cut down an orc cavalryman in half in one breath, everyone treated him like a second-in-command.

“Isaac, wouldn’t it be better to at least evacuate the children?”

“No. At that scale, the west is not safe. It would be better to send the children to the mines.”

Isaac has been diligent in guarding the Isacre territory, but the Gelliford Mountains surrounding the territory are vast. It is difficult for Isaac to keep watch over them all. However, there are also slash-and-burn villages and Barbary villages that are often hidden there.

That means that it would be difficult for a large force of Olkan Discipline to pass through, but it would not be impossible for a small mobile force to bypass it.

“With this number of troops, it wouldn’t be strange if Sahul Khan himself came and took control of the battlefield. Some of his troops must have already broken through the mountains to prepare to surround or attack.”

But we can’t just pull out troops to guard the mountain to stop that. We already have a severe shortage of troops.

As Isaac walked, more and more people followed him. The commander of the Knights Brient, Rottenhammer, and the captain of the Isacrea Territory Guard, Jacquelet, approached.

Isaac asked Jacquelet first.

“Jacklet, let’s go over again how many troops we have available.”

“Yes. There are 560 soldiers who were trained by the Gebel swordsmanship instructor, and 7,815 militiamen who were hastily conscripted this time. Among the militiamen, there are about 400 who know how to shoot arrows. There are quite a lot of them since they are from slash-and-burn families.”

Rottenhammer then said:

“The Brient Knights, including the squires, number 24. And 70 knights from the Imperial Army have decided to join. They may not be knights, but they can ride horses and are quite skilled in swordsmanship, so they should be able to work together.”

Isaac nodded and summarized.

“With less than ten thousand soldiers and less than a hundred knights, we have to fend off at least a hundred thousand orcs. And those orcs who shoot cannons, ride horses, and are not afraid of death.”

It’s not a simple 10:1 ratio. Each orc is a veteran who has gained experience through repeated reincarnations, and their superior physical strength from their racial characteristics cannot be ignored. Honestly, Isaac thought that three militiamen would barely be able to deal with one orc.

Not only that, the Orcs will be reinforced to near infinite numbers, and there is also the morale boost of being commanded by the Khan and protected by angels.

On the other hand, this side? It’s just refugees fleeing religious madness and knights whose fortunes suddenly fell to the abyss due to the Emperor’s excommunication.

‘Even for a country like this, this level of difficulty is tough.’

Frankly, Isaac was a man who thought that the outcome of a war was already decided before the fight. He tried to objectively predict how this fight would end.

It wasn’t a very difficult question.

Isaac smiled and looked back at the others.

“This is a fight we can’t afford to lose. Let’s give it a try.”

***

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

The sound of the advancing orcs’ footsteps echoed like a heartbeat across the mountain. Manhojang Kraxal, who was in charge of the vanguard, did not bother to send out scouts. It was not because he was careless or underestimated the enemy.

Kraxal was rather a cautious orc.

He knew full well that numbers could be violence in themselves. The reason why the Koral Manhojang, who was tasked with capturing Soer, failed was simple.

Because there aren’t enough numbers.

“Left, it’s sticking out too much. Tell the 3rd Thousandth Division to stop being bored and to keep up their pace. They need to line up with the other 10,000th Division.”

Kraxal’s orders were immediately carried out at the sound of the adjutant’s horn. Once a satisfactory formation was formed again, Kraxal was satisfied and resumed his advance.

Now, the Olkan Discipline was not moving along the mountain path, but was ‘pioneering’ the mountain path in three directions. The central axis controlling the speed of the advance was the Manhodae of Kraxal. Naturally, the advance speed was terribly slow, but just the passing of this enormous number of orcs was turning the mountain into something like a pile of compacted dirt.

Watching the troops moving with momentum as if they were pushing a mountain, Adjutant General Baek Ho-jang spoke with concern.

“Isn’t that being too cautious? It’s good to reduce damage, but I’m worried that the Khan will be angry.”

But Kraxal just laughed.

“Caution? Can you still be cautious after seeing the humiliation you suffered at Soer?”

“But I heard that the enemy is nothing more than a small group of militiamen and a handful of paladins. They will be crushed if our forces rush in.”

“That’s how the thousand-horse commanders under the command of Koral Manhojang were destroyed.”

Kraxal thought Baekhojang’s words were contradictory, but he began to explain simply to show off his own experience and intellectual maturity.

“The enemy is just a handful, as you said. Yes, the basic principle of military strategy is that the side with more numbers will defeat the side with fewer numbers. The difference in individual skill can create some variables, but it is meaningless on the level of army vs. army. However, there are cases where the side with fewer numbers will defeat the side with more numbers. When is that?”

“… … I don’t know.”

“It’s no different. It’s just that the side with fewer numbers created a ‘situation where they momentarily gained a numerical advantage.’ This kind of rough terrain is an environment that easily creates such variables.”

Kraxal spoke as he looked out over the Gelliford Mountains that surrounded the Isacre territory.

The mountainous terrain itself was enough to make it a natural fortress.

There were signs that the road had been widened, as if carriages had been coming and going frequently recently, but it would have been difficult for a large army to invade. Thorough development was necessary to ensure that supplies and support were not cut off from the waist.

“Even with this large army before their eyes, the enemy’s fighting spirit does not wane at all, and instead, they build high walls. I heard that some of the enemies are very high-level. In this case, the enemy has only one strategy.”

“It’s guerrilla warfare.”

“Yes. When the enemy is a small force, especially in mountainous terrain like this, guerrilla warfare is incredibly effective. If you send out scouts, they will definitely be defeated. I’ve seen Atlan Keshik fight like that in my past life.”

Kraxal muttered, shaking his shoulders as if he was shivering.

“With a great archer like Atlan Keshik, a strong body, and the blessings of the ancestral gods, it would be impossible to catch him in this mountainous terrain. If we approach him normally, our numbers will be meaningless in this rough terrain.”

However, if they advance in formation like this, Isaac’s side will not be able to engage in guerrilla warfare. Guerilla warfare is about attacking weak points, but if they are in formation, they will show consistent defense and attack power no matter where they are attacked.

***

In fact, Isaac could not find a way to break through this thick and ignorant advance. To descend on Nel without attracting attention was nothing but a spectacular suicide.

However, the advance of the Olkan Discipline was not a method that could be maintained steadily. The Gelliford Mountains, which had caused the Gertonian Empire to give up its expansion, were not an easy place.

And Isaac added a little seasoning to it.

No matter how great the Kraxal was, he could not foolishly order his men to climb up the steep rock cliffs and advance.

Eventually, some of the terrifyingly rough terrain was ordered to be bypassed.

“The enemy!”

And the only clear path across that terrible terrain was lined with Isaac’s castle, where a few archers were harassing them with halfhearted fire.

“Just destroy it.”

At Kraxal’s command, four orcs quickly shouldered the cannons and loaded them with explosives. The archers who saw this quickly ran away. Soon, the castle walls exploded with a loud noise. Kraxal, who was watching the castle walls pouring down with rain, made a bewildered expression.

“Again? Are you really going to block our advance with this insignificant obstacle again?”

The castle, which had been destroyed by cannon fire, had become a steep hill that was difficult to climb. It seemed that the enemy had focused more on creating terrain that could cause landslides along the slope when destroyed than on building a solid castle.

Since the terrain here was already steep, a falling boulder could easily crush the head of an unlucky orc at the bottom of the mountain. Kraxal had no choice but to stop and give instructions to proceed cautiously.

He was lost in thought as he watched the orcs clearing the way.

‘Is this the only resistance you could put up against the Khan’s army?’

These castles had already been encountered three times on their way. Each time, Kraxal prepared a cannon and destroyed them, thinking that they might be some kind of trap. However, nothing happened, and only obstacles to buy time continued to appear.

Kraxal wondered if he had been too cautious in his strategy, but then realized that perhaps this thought was intended to make Isaac let his guard down.

“Increase the density of troops to open up a transportation route. After passing through, immediately prepare a defensive posture for the passage of follow-up units.”

“Cracksall Manhojang.”

At that moment, someone approached him and spoke to him. It was Kima, the shaman general who assisted Kraxal’s unit.

He advised Kraxal with a serious expression.

“I think it would be better to hurry the advance.”

“… … Hurry up?”

In response to Kraxal’s question, General Kima nodded heavily.

Kraxal’s strategy was a strategy he had devised after consulting with Kima. Now that he was changing his words, Kima couldn’t help but be embarrassed.

However, there was no Manhojang who ignored the advice of the general shaman. The ancestors who were in contact with Urbanus helped the shamans with completely different perspectives and abilities.

“I felt a strange energy several times immediately after entering the mountain range. It was too weak to be harming the soldiers, and too irregular to be spying. But look at this.”

General Kima took out a leather pouch and showed it to Kraxal. Kraxal frowned as soon as he opened the pouch and saw the foul smell and bugs swarming inside.

“It looks like it was stored incorrectly.”

“No, this is the military rations I packed the day before yesterday. There are bugs and rats boiling all over the supplies. Not the infected rats I caught a few times, but real rats and real bugs. The decay is accelerating.”

At that moment, Kraxal remembered the blind spot in numbers.

That the overwhelming number of soldiers also means overwhelming attrition.