Chapter 59: Seventh Episode: Chapter 4 (2/2)
”General Murat, where are my knights?” Oscar allowed the excited Raytheon to jump and hop among the party.
Murat took in a breath. Where did this little prince obtain such frightening equipment?
This Major General guided his horse and stepped aside, behind him was the renowned Narcissus Red Tiger Assault Division. This division’s bravery and speed in the assault were known widely as Andrew.
”The Red Tiger Division has finished assembling. Please inspect, Direct Commanding Officer.”
Oscar led his horse to stand on a higher ground, ”My knights!” The youngster bellowed loudly.
”My knights, this is my first time entering the battlefield, but I believe that this is not your first! So I need to witness your name for bravery and viciousness. I know that my direct Division is Andrew family’s most well-known hero division; I want to know that you are my most loyal group of soldiers!”
”Andrew Haila!” The knights cried loudly.
”My command! Target: Traisen Front’s front lines! Let us attack!” Upon saying this, Oscar raised the Red Tiger war flag up high.
Murat signaled the Military Bugle Division to sound the bugle horn of war. The next moment, the Red Tigers set off. Initially, there was one row, and then there was an army, followed by the entire cavalry phalanx of three thousand soldiers. They had twenty-five men in a row, with their blood-red cloaks dancing in the wind, they marched mightily towards the burning Eastern lands; there at this moment, darkness had already descended and there at this very moment, an intense battle was ongoing!
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Nighttime had finally descended over the lands of the Andrew family. From the most Eastern national border all the way to the border of the Empire’s boundary stone, darkness had completely shrouded this rich land, which continuously produced heroes and blood.
At that moment, the Traisen Front had already exhausted their last disposable military strength. All the combat troops had already arrived at their predetermined positions and the unit that was confronting the Persians had already begun planning for the next day’s attack.
Werksan, a city situated deep in the middle area of the Traisen Front’s defensive line, was the Narcissus’ Eastern region’s largest city with merely a population of a hundred thousand. However, the battle reserves were as many as twenty thousand men.
Werksan’s city defense layout was based entirely on the designs of a stronghold. This huge city only had two city gates, located on the east and west respectively. Although the height of the city walls was far from that of Andrew Haila’s, if you stood beneath the city and gazed upwards, you would still have to hold on to the hat you were wearing.
The number of times the Persians attacked this city was beyond calculation as each time the Persians visited, they would plunge this huge city into an ocean of fire. The data and records that had once been kept could only serve as combustibles. Thanks to the second son of the Andrew family’s victorious march at that time; the Persians have regarded the capture of this city as a way to take revenge for the past. However, Figg Andrew Tibotty, whose own family members also referred to him as the crazed dog, naturally would not allow these dark brown colored pagans to get what they wished for. So up until today, not one of the huge tribes of the Persians at the border had been spared of suffering or deception as a result of Figg. Hence, considering the past achievements of this General of Andrew, even the Persians put together a saying, ”a true God’s doctrine and radiance can move all the people of the world, only the crazed dog of the Andrew family is an exception.”
It was 8 o’clock at night, General Figg, after switching 8 horses, finally hurried back to his Front. When he arrived at Werksan’s city gates, the city that was plunged into darkness and silence, suddenly came alive under the sound of gunfire. In each of its corners, it appeared as if none of the crowds were moving.
Figg rode his horse into the city. The soldiers and city residents who swarmed forth to greet him had the inner gate surrounded. The crowd did not produce a single sound. When the greatest assault expert in the history of the Andrew family passed through the streets, the military and civilians who turned up before him would kneel on their own accord; only through this could they express their respect and even belief for this General!
To the Traisen region’s soldiers and civilians, General Figg was indeed like a type of religion. They believed that as long as Traisen had Figg, wars were no longer wars; rather just General Figg conducting a game of cat and mouse on a sand tray.
Werksan’s city hall, the four-story-high, pillbox-styled building was the Military Command Center of the Traisen Front. ”Attention!” Following the word of command of the Deputy Commander of the Traisen Front, General Ziyat, all the flag bearers of the Military Command Center arranged themselves into neat lines at the plaza in front of city hall.
”Inviting Commander Figg Andrew Tibotty to take the Commander flag!”
Figg sighed. He and General Ziyat formed the perfect combination. One of them was good at attacking and another was a dedicated defender. Although the coordination between them could even be said to be flawless, at times, Figg nevertheless felt extremely fed up with his companion’s prudence and carefulness.
”I say, Ziyat, I don’t want to have to face this sort of stuff each time I return; is it not just a handing-over ceremony?” Figg voiced his complaint loudly. Regardless, he still took the Commander flag that represented the right to command the troops.
”General, welcome back,” Ziyat responded to the Commander’s resentment with a straight face.
”Okay! Lighten up, will you!” Figg jumped off his horse. He stepped forward, resting his arm on his old friend’s shoulder. ”Hey, let me tell you a piece of good news, just this noon, Tracey and I officially got married. My journey in search of romance has finally reached an end!”
Ziyat, whose face seemingly lacked emotion, finally turned a little rosy. ”Attention! For General Figg’s wed...”
”Enough!” Figg covered his old friend’s mouth in annoyance, ”I say Ziyat, did some water get into your brain? Should this kind of matter be spoken of here? Do you even want my knights to dance like never before?”
Figg tugged Ziyat by the hand and led him into the city hall. There were still a lot of matters waiting for him to settle at his Command Center!
”Okay! My knights, omit the salutes, hurry up and tell me what has happened!” Figg sat down in the seat located at the very heart of the command post.
”Look, this is the current situation of the war preparation.” Ziyat handed over a piece of document to Figg.
Figg roughly scanned through it. He felt that the problem was not really serious, but his mind just could not calm down, it was as if... it was as if something was out of place somewhere. However, he failed to discover it from the war preparation report.
”The three-point assault had a little breakthrough, why do the Persians have no progress over so many years?” Figg, who felt that he ultimately did not gain anything, placed down the battle report dispiritedly.
”General,” one of the young officers requested permission to speak.
”Go ahead, Riley,” Figg nodded towards the staff officer named Riley.
”The Persians are en route to attack and deploying their armed forces, and these have been repeatedly verified by each of the war units. Look, this is the report.”
Figg took it over, ”Ah... The right flank is the Mirzai tribe’s cluster of infantries. They used four divisions to attack Celie and Wellington Fortress of the Piegerdom defensive line. Hehe, may they not be smashed by rocks! Ah... The Mogadishu’s have deployed four Cavalry Divisions and two Cavalry Brigades at the left flank? Are these numbers accurate?”
Colonel Riley nodded solemnly, ”Yes General, completely accurate! The military scout squad has already walked over every corner throughout the length of the battlefield and the messages they sent back completely match the battle situation passed on by the unit at the front.”
”Oh...” Figg perked up. Just a moment ago he was still in the excitement of his newlywed; it seemed that he had to put aside all his miscellaneous thoughts! The attack by the Mirzai and Mogadishu was definitely not normal. If the military strengths that were attacking the other fronts were taken into account, then this two huge tribes practically already made a general mobilization!
”Six cavalry divisions appeared on the left flank?” Figg placed the candlestick onto the garrison area on the map that was spread out over the table. He carefully compared each location mentioned in the report, marking them out with a red feather pen.
”There is no movement from the central cluster, and this was observed from the outer borders of the battlefield?” Figg mulled over it. This was not right, the two strongest, huge tribes, to his surprise, had yet to dispatch their central cluster after half a day of battle.
”How is our defensive line?” Figg lifted his head up from the map.
A few of the Military Staff officer in the Command Center stood up. Each of them reported pertaining to the garrison area of which they were in charge.
Figg started to carefully compare them. ”The preliminaries managed to contain the enemy’s attack stance, there were no dangerous circumstances arising in the defense of the fortress, and the enemies losing close to half of their divisions in an afternoon’s attack.” Figg felt that something was even more off!
”The cavalry unit on the enemy’s left flank launched two surprise attacks at the region of the plains to the south of the battlefield. My soldiers dispatched nine divisions to conduct a surround and intercept. By nightfall, the battlefield finally settled down.”
Figg signaled to Ziyat, ”Tell me the specifics.”
Ziyat took out his colt rod. This tiny horsewhip was no longer a suitable baton. The Traisen Front’s second in command started to point here and there on the map.
”The three divisions of the Cavalry’s First Army stopped two of the Mogadishu’s roving cavalry divisions at the southern part of the Piegerdom defensive lines and surrounding areas of Deruli Fortress; the three divisions of the third army broke into an intense fight with two of the of the mixed brigade surrounding the area of the riverbank at the southern defensive line’s Neliger valley. The third army did not appear to have a lot of advantage at the beginning of the battle and they suffered a great loss.”
”Which two brigades did the Mogadishu dispatch? I haven’t seen the report.” Figg fixed his attention on to the Neliger Valley area.
”I apologize, General, I am still not clear!”
”What did you say?” Figg raised his eyebrows. When he was in a fight, he was not fond of sparing them any honor, ”My second in command, you are saying that in a situation of battling it out for half the day and suffering such a great loss, we still do not know which bone we are gnawing at?”
Ziyat nodded indecently, ”General, please listen to my explanation, I have dispatched three additional military scout groups for General Leo Rustang of the Third Army, but the opponents do not have a war flag, nor do they use any military unit numbers to shout orders during the attack, so...”
”That’s enough!” Figg waved his hand, ”Ask Leo to be more alert, I certainly do not want this to be the end for him. Furthermore, command the general reserves that have assembled at the rear of the battle lines to draw close to Neliger Valley. Take note! Draw close slowly! Although it may cause Leo to undergo a little more suffering, at the very least it will allow us to avoid stepping into the traps set by the Persians.”
”Yes, I feel that the two mixed brigades of the Mogadishu are highly suspicious, they may well be the Great King of Mogadishu’s private armed forces, as in the center cluster of the Persians, the Mirzai and Mogadishu have both raised the Commander flag of their two Great Kings.”
”Mmm, yes, there is this possibility!” Figg nodded in agreement, ”but do you think there is a need to carry out a defensive battle at Neliger Valley? Although this is the gateway of the southern plains, even if it is breached, it will not have a huge impact on the overall war. Our stronghold at the southern lines can completely counteract their attack and this has already been proven over the past few hundred years! Don’t tell me that no one told this to the Great King?”
Ziyat nodded his head, ”lastly, another thing worth mentioning is the second army led by General Hyman Kuperman. Right around evening, General Hyman launched a bold surprise attack; they have broken up two of the enemy divisions during twilight. According to General Hyman’s hawk eagle’s air message, he is hunting down one of the divisions.”
Following Ziyat’s explanation and his previous understanding of each of his war units, Figg had already completed his battlefield operation on the map, ”My knights, take a look! This should be more concrete.”
The Staff officers in the Command Center circled. A vast picture was spread out before them. About more than ten red, fiery arrows were scattered on the vast battlefield at the southern defensive lines. They were like a vicious beast, opening its ferocious mouth.
”Can anyone tell me where the problem lies?” Figg spread out his hands.
”General,” a young staff officer stood out.
”Little Griffith, please speak!” Figg looked at his youngest war Staff officer subordinate and smiled. He always felt that this young lad would become a remarkable high-ranking military officer, given some experience.
”General, fellow staff officers, has everyone noticed? We are already stabilized on the battle lines, yet over here...” Little Griffith pointed to a land of territory on the map, ”Our general’s red arrows have already crossed over the Median line, and this has formed a vacuum of armed forces at the area from the Front’s headquarters to the southern war zone.”
All the officers came to an apprehension from the situational appearance on the battlefield. Although the defensive lines were tentatively stable, a vacuum zone of armed forces that should not be present had nevertheless appeared at the rear of the Front. Coincidentally, this zone lied outside all the red arrows on the map.
”And this is not the worst problem yet,” The little Colonel Griffith continued on, ”the Persians still have no movement from the central cluster; if they were to suddenly advance towards the middle section of the defensive line, then our reserve squadron will have to rush over there. If they were to advance towards the south, then a need arises to command the First Army and the combined reserve squadron to retaliate, and just like this, on the premise of being unable to put to use our mobile cavalry unit at each stronghold, the two mixed enemy squadrons may be able to break through the Third army’s defense. However, if we mobilized the mobile cavalry units at each stronghold, then the central cluster of the Persians would instead choose to execute an annihilation at the strongholds which defensive strengths have been cut. So...”
”So the worst case scenario is that we now already have no more soldiers to dispatch!” Figg took over from little Colonel Griffith’s speech. He looked at the young Staff, satisfied.
The faces of all the officers present turned pale. Of course, All the three armies under the Front had already gone into the battlefield. Other than the reserve squadron and the mixed brigade directly under the second son of the Andrew family, they had no more soldiers to dispatch from Werksan all the way to the southern war zone! To have no soldiers right when the Persians were about to launch their attack? This predicament would be devastating!
”Report!”
All the officers glanced towards the direction of the door. A communications official was seen standing in the doorway and on his shoulder perched a hawk eagle covered in wounds. It was probably an emergency battle report from the front lines; this communications official even saved the time of placing the hawk eagle back into its next!
”Reporting General, an emergency report from the Commander of the Front under the Cavalry’s Third Army, Leo Rustang!”
”Proceed!” Figg had already risen from his seat.
”The enemy troops before us have already broken through my army’s defense line and defeated the first Division of my army. The one launching the surprise attack was not the two mixed brigades, instead, it was the Mogadishu’s main cavalry army hidden at the rear of the battle lines!”
The shouts of the crowd of officers at the scene rendered an uproar, much like a frying pan. Only Figg, Ziyat and the young little Griffith, with a synchronized understanding.
”What was to come has finally arrived!”