Chapter 240: Twenty-sixth Episode: Chapter 5-1 (1/2)
Chapter 240: Twenty-sixth Episode: Chapter 5-1
Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation
If one would like to discover the soul of river, take a walk along a tall dam. The stones on the embankment would be decorated with taupe overcoat after being washed down for years.
Some said that Don River was a color streamer on the Titan flag, while others said Shawob River was a precious metal in the imperial crown. In the north, rivers did not have such names. In the vast expanse of plains and deep valleys, river turned into tributaries, which flowed calmly through villages, towns, and finally into the people's hearts.
The national road and the river went hand in hand all the way southward. There was an armed force on the road. They came from the upper reaches of the river and was heading for the lower reaches in the south.
The troops of Titan soldiers stretched for more than ten miles, far beyond one's eyes could see. However, one would discover that these soldiers were overshadowed by the depressing emotions of failure. Most of the soldiers bowed their head down, their clothes and outfit dishevelled. Many were not even carrying the weapons that have never left their side.
In the river, multiple wooden rafts were flowing downstream. On them carried wounded soldiers that were still bleeding. The blood was washed away as current pushed the rafts forward. The eyes of the wounded did not seem to be focusing on anything at all. Their hearts were occupied by miseries whereas the bloody wounds on their bodies made them lost their ability to speak.
Titan warriors marched with their heads down, only occasionally glancing over at the open river. They were defeated! Although the defeat was not thorough, the troops in complete mess and the military flag fluttering awkwardly were enough to illustrate the problem. There were also the wounded soldiers who were once their brothers, not to mention the victims who were abandoned by the roadside. Even if they had left the depressing battlefield, they still could not get away from the sickle of Death that oddly resembled the weapons of Deiss soldiers.
The Deiss attacked too quick! Too fierce! Northern Army Group Headquarters received a message that Moreiro Border has been broken through, while left flank of the army group was attacked by a small team of vanguard in the morning. Commander Vann Alan Hewitt issued orders for his Imperial Guards principal force and right flank to simultaneously draw closer to the left flank, but this did not change the fate of the entire campaign.
Year 801, 4th day of the 10th month, Deiss against the northern defense line finally made their move. They were a massive army group consisted of 160,000 people who hurried their way from Alborto Basin to meet Alan.
Alan could only force out a smile. He took into account that Deiss who was on the offensive was at advantage in military strength, but never did he expected that he would be caught in a crossfire.
In the middle of the 10th month, with the principal force of Titan Northern Army Group border front line as their aim, Deiss first launched a surprise attack in Moreiro area which was located on the western part of the battle line. Then, a small-scale commando army group consisting of 40,000 cavalrymen attacked the left flank of northern army. Alan hoped his strategy could more or less curb the attack of the Deiss cavalry, but the actual principal force of Deiss army suddenly assembled quickly before Alborto Fortress and swooped down at Alan's troops with the speed of a lightning.
Retreat to the defense line to avoid the enemy's spearhead? Or gather the whole troop to fight back when Deiss arrived at the battlefield? Fierce quarrels broke out in the headquarters of Northern Army Group. The reason for eruption of quarrels was mostly because of Alan's indecisiveness in this matter.
After summing up opinion of the masses and studying the battlefield information collected, the commander of Imperial Guards finally decided to take on the battle. This decision was not necessarily a smart move but it certainly illustrated several points.
Where was the problem? It was on Silver Fox Alan who took command of the Northern Military Region as the commander of Imperial Guards. The commander of Imperial Guards could not retreat from enemy but accept the battle at his own initiative. Alan's fame and commanding authority on the battlefield could not be offended in the slightest manner. To retreat when the enemy attack was no different from perish on defeat.
Whether it was for Alan personally or Northern Army Group, the duties as a soldier, the trust from Her Majesty the Empress, and the hope of the people of Titans required them to fight against the invading enemy in this dangerous situation. This kind of situation was like that of O'Neil Andrew Morisette's experience in Saijo Mountain – an open fire was inevitable! There was no argument to it. Victory naturally meant the birth of another heroic epic, while defeat... was not too big of a deal either. Most heroic epics were tragedies anyway.
Alan understood that if he could advocate the second line of defense and let Krasius the Chief of staff of Northern Army Group operates the border line defense, there would be an additional level of command. As such, Alan could recall the principal force on the first line of defense when he encountered sudden changes in the front.
This evasion tactics seemed fair and reasonable. However, if he was the commanding officer in the first line of defense… or in other words, what had young Krasius earned to be guarding the border defense? Alan should have the honor to be the first to defeat Deiss. Of course, losing the battle this time round was also his responsibility.
Regardless of reasonability… with his long history of victories and a keen sense in battles, alongside his fearless mindset and a great degree of trust in luck, Alan chose to fight as if that was his only option. Doing so would create yet another chapter in the history of heroic poetry, but choosing to retreat would lose some of his essence and spirit as the Imperial Guards commander. Alan himself could not pinpoint exactly what it was, but he felt that ”what goes around comes around [1].”
From the beginning to the end of the battle, the God of Light never favored the Silver Fox. The Northern Army Group's left flank was captured in cavalry's repeated attack, the center army group was challenged with Deiss crack force twice as powerful as they, and the right flank… the right flank was being placed in the most embarrassing position. This was somewhat the fault of that idiotic commanding officer in charge of the right flank. When Alan was fighting the decisive battle with his enemy, a small unit force of the Deiss army has been checking the Imperial Guard's right flank for almost half a day. Alan did not see the flag of the right flank even at the end of the campaign.
This battle was too… baffling? Not entirely! Alan found answers to several problems when the war has reached a stalemate. Deiss's attack on Steinberger Front has certainly been an extremely realistic feign attack. The number of soldiers deployed to Blackwood border area should not have been more than 40,000 to 50,000 people.
According to the battle reports that were sent in earlier, the number of Deiss soldiers supposedly being deployed to attack Steinberger Front should be an army group consisting of 180,000 people. Alan had been suspicious of this number, but still he could not figure how Deiss High Command could transferred more than a hundred thousand people from the northwestern battlefield to the frontal battlefield in the north without anyone noticing. Therefore, Titan Military Intelligence Bureau was difficult to absolve themselves from the blame. There must have been some mistakes in their parts.