Volume 9 Chapter 1 (2/2)
A ht hand Carlos saw a thin wooden stick in his palm
”Pom-pom pom, pom-pom pom” Gardena stroke the table with the stick on the table then asked Cohen, ”Like this?”
His voice was gentle, Gardena was like an obedient student
Cohen opened his eyes He first shook his head then stroke the table a few times, ”Like this”
Gardena kept knocking the table until Cohen nodded Carlos gazed at the scene confusedly; he thought his brain is less than enough to co
”Carlos,” Cohen turned to his Staff Officer, ”Do I have everything I need?”
Carlos stood at attention, ”Yes, sir Everything's ready, sir”
”I have a map here Place the instrument on the locations marked” Cohen handed over a paper, ”Then cos to talk to you”
”Yes, sir”
Carlos exited the tent He started to put his hands on the placement of the instrument
”Sir,” A lieutenant asked Carlos confusedly, ”Why does Commander Cohen do this?”
”I… I guess Commander Cohen has come up with a way to win tomorrow” Carlos replied with a smile, ”It's an effective method Just do it”
”Yes, sir!” The lieutenant left joyfully, he said while leaving, ”Commander Cohen is awesome”
A hint of a bitter smile made by Carlos at the lieutenant's comment
”Is it really inevitable?” Looking at the night sky, Carlos' stomach churned An insuppressible sensation of both sorrow and pity surfaced, ”Even Co to avoid failure was preparing for breaking through for the essential people”
Anyone else but Carlos would probably cling that Cohen was able to turn the table However, Carlos was Cohen’s Chief Staff Officer, he knew exactly everything about the situation of both the enemies and their army
Although AUF have lost a considerable ao, their reinforce
Earlier tonight, one ion arrived This troop did not even set up their caround It looked like the enee a life-and-death ith them tomorrow The current peace was only to let the soldiers stock up energy for the battles the next day During the coe-scale siege structure weapons have taken into shape
As for the 9th Legion, soldiers were exhausted, supplies were depleted Even the life-barrier city as on the edge of collapsing The ene over 300, 000 troopers on their side The 9th Legion only had 40, 000 co to do except for letting a few breakthrough
Breaking through under such a circumstance was difficult Perhaps that hy Cohen intended to take advantage of the instruments
”However,” Carlos told hi at the busy soldiers at a distance, ”such an arrangement was a little nonsense I hope the enemy commander stays idiotic tomorrow”
When Carlos returned Cohen's tent, the two lunatics have finishedwith the sticks Undoubtedly, Carlos had decided to call theh it would mean disrespectful to Cohen, chances to call hi after tomorrow's battle, let alone it was always Carlos' special way to relieve pressure
During the later war council, Carlos called Cohen a 'lunatic' even louder (silently) because Cohen announced to everybody the tactics he will use tomorrow
”Abandon the wall!” Cohen put on his trademark smile, ”I've made my decision”
Actually, all other senior officers have known the news Carlos, on the other hand, who didn't catch it because the ave him,nearly fainted Other officers had various reactions
The tent quieted down after a good while
”Sir…” Since no one intended to talk, Carlos, who had the seniority, had to carry his duty He asked Cohen, ”Will it favor our side?”
”Sure will” Cohen nodded lightly at Carlos' reaction, ”According to the recons, the eneht Their catapults are ready and finished debugging this afternoon If we obstinately cling to the wall, their long-range catapults will bring us even less casualties”
”So, sir, what's your complete plan?”
”We will abandon the wall and enter the city ground built based on the streets” Cohen hinted the map, ”As for the enemies, ill their commanders do tomorrow?”
”A, they won't know that we've abandoned the wall Thus they will stick to their old plan to attack Such many troops will mean difficulty to reformat That is to say, even they find their old for, they wouldn't be able to make a timely adjustment And when the enemies are bewildered on the wall, we can kill them quickly”
“B, since we've abandoned the wall, their catapults and siege weapons will lose their effectiveness And our main force will pin down the enemies at this point” Cohen slame forces They will initiate a strike back when their morale is lowered”
”During the operation to is crucial! All of youmy direct orders will be punished without h a few of his most close people Not one of them didn’t lower their heads at Cohen's look Carlos saw it and he knew these people already knew they will be ae forces'
Tactics deploy part of the latter half of Cohen's speech The rest wasCohen always detested, he said it provocatively and naturally
While listening to thethe countercharge forces If he intended to boost his troops according to his method, he would have to be there to coone, his army will screw
How could Cohen not know that? 300, 000 against 40 000, however the result, most of the men here will be dead by then Cohen would let these men die with hope rather than die hopelessly Their pain will be much less this way
”Now, have Isession for the others and hiet prepared”
As the officers were leaving the tent, Cohen caught Carlos asking him to take a walk
”What's wrong, Carlos? You're feeling low, I can tell”
”Nothing, sir I'hts because he didn't expect that he was also on the withdrawal list The disconsolate feeling went away The ones ere included in the countercharge forces
”This is not you” Cohen walking while saying, ”Do you have a different opinion about my deployment tomorrow?”
”I don't, sir”
”Good, stay in the counter forces!” Cohen said, ”I've enough people for myself”
”Sir, I'm your Staff Officer” Carlos paused then said firh I can't do anything”
”Why go so far? You know there's a position for you in the counter forces”
”Sir, I have to reject your deployment” Carlos said in an unshakable voice, ””As an assistant help sent by the royal eht to stay away from the counter forces”
”fuck!” Cohen cursed, ”YOU'RE ALL LIKE THIS!”
”Sir,” Carlos revealed a victorious shtly different from the others I will stay with you closely from now on”
”Your choice!” Cohen was frustrated then glanced Carlos He i s to be happy about!”
A sound of uproar ca his players This oldhis best for the battle tomorrow
”Carlos…” Cohen pondered for a , isn't it er on the battlefield?”
”Sir, you can't blah” Carlos replied carefully Before the big war, he tried not to stiht it was indeed Cohen's fault
”You're wrong” Cohen shook his head, ”My speculation on the war situation has been staying on the tactical level I didn't do enough on the strategical level I had focused tooht after Guildford showed
”Sir, you didn't have a choice The HQ would never allow us to retreat Besides, AUF are well-prepared We're tensely surrounded No ain” Carlos lowered his voice, ”As for the mistake you mention, do you want to hear a story of a minor officer?”
Cohen nodded
”There was once a little boy of a low fauard riders that passed in front of his houards all mounted on fine horses, wore shi+ny ar white feathers How glorious! Since then, this little boy had been drealorious officer” Carlos said slowly, his eyes misted, ”He knew the difficult path to become aHe learned everything needed Finally, as he wished, he graduated from the DC Royal Academy and became a second lieutenant”
”What then?” Cohen asked with curiosity
”Later on, the lieutenant exterminated a hundred local bandits with 2 teams of soldiers One after another, he made countless plans He had considered every aspect then left with 200 soldiers” As this point, Carlos dimmed his face, ”At the place, the bandits didn't show up as they expected He and his soldiers undertook one after other unforeseeable accidents The battle situation varied Finally, he went panic Two hundred soldiers ca men with dreams The boy took these soldiers as his brothers, but…”
”I understand,” Cohen tapped Carlos' shoulder, ”nevertheless, it's my fault and my responsibility”
”Stopwith your head You've outperformed everyone’s expectations” Carlos came clear the real reason Cohen chose to stay, he persuaded, ”You're a co ability has stunned everybody During the days of the war, how many casualties have you averted? It's my honor to be your Staff Officer”
”So what?” Cohen laughed bitterly, ”If I've left an army of soldiers here in the canyon Even a fewup like this today”
”Sir, I disagree Since AUF have made such an effort to carry out such a plan, they wouldn't let us escape easily” Carlos lowered his voice, ”Even if we arrived his before the refugee block, what about the other side of the canyon? What bizarre things will be waiting for us? We ht be executed for no reason They didn't attack at first because they feared that we , their purpose was to wipe us out instead of driving us here”
”Itthis now”
”No, sir, it does” Carlos looked at Cohen, ”Sir, you know, tomorrow's battle won't see any prisoners You should let ht armor”
”In your pinky little dream”
”Sir, remind you not,” Carlos touched his nose and said, ”since the 2nd Lord of Death, each of therade war captive I heard, those captives had to kneel under the Asmodian elder princess' feet and be demonized After the cerereat devotion…”
”What will you do if you were captured?” Cohen asked expressionlessly, ”Tell me the truth”
”Me?” Carlos pondered, ”I ht kill myself”
”I would rather not!” Cohen said with a hint of a devilish smile, ”I will steal her first kiss, touch her ass I will iettable memories”
Carlos' mouth reazed at each other for a second then burst into laughter
”Okay, let's drop it” After the laugh, Cohen told Carlos quietly, ”Actually, I want to stay with my brothers here What's your purpose?”
”Staying alive is satisfying for the others, I'm a soldier without a choice” Carlos wiped the tears froh earlier then replied with the same lowered town, ”One one hand, I'ed by His Majesty On the other hand, I'd love to die like this At least, I will die with a nice reputation Then finally, I love staying with you”
”So then, you don't have anything to say about tomorrow's operation?”
”I do! I'd revoke a few's position Then put thee forces In this way, they will not act recklessly This purpose does not work on me”
”Audacity man Carlos, you've become a qualified rascal already”
”Easy, I'm no better than you”
”Hehhe, how about a drink? I have a bottle of fine wine It'll be a waste if we forget it tonight”
”Sure, and what are we cheering?”
”How about a rascal meets another rascal”
”Anything you say”
This chapter was originally published on Wuxianation, any despicable reposts or copies without proper citings are strictly prohibited