Chapter 119 – Mayer’s Crisis (1)
Mayer’s Crisis (1)
While Yuno was busy training the soldiers of the Prinz Army and preparing for war, the Mayer Army in the rear continued the guerrilla war very smoothly.
“Captain Mayer! We discovered a new food storage!!”
When Cordelia sent a magic message to Mayer, who was beaming at the great achievement of taking out three supply units the day before yesterday, Mayer’s complexion brightened.
“Well done!! Sir Cordelia. What is your location?”
“It’s hidden in the forest west of Yukan Castle. You have to go a little deep and there are about 50 guards guarding it, so please tell Gerard to be careful.”
“I understand. We will have them depart immediately… The estimated time of arrival is… The light infantry led by Gerard will be there in 6 hours, so they will arrive roughly around this evening.”
“Yes. Then, please.”
As soon as the communication ended, Mayer called Gerard into his barracks.
“Gerard Cheon Seal. Immediately depart for Yukan Castle with half of the light infantry and 50 rangers. It is said that there are about 50 defenders guarding it, so we will have to keep an eye out to see if anyone escapes.”
“Yes, Captain. Shall we do the same as last time?”
“Of course. You must never forget.”
“I will keep this in mind”
As Gerard bowed and left, Mayer leisurely drank a cup of coffee and enjoyed a much more peaceful afternoon than when he was at the estate.
And a few hours later. She reported that McMorin, who had gone to distribute the food he had obtained from robbing her supply unit the day before, to a nearby village, robbed another supply unit on his way back.
“Uncle Mayer, aren’t you going to give us food to eat like this? We only have two weeks’ worth of food left to feed our kids.”
“Don’t worry. We have to gradually reduce the food we have stored up anyway. When are you going to march to the eastern region with all the food? In one month, it is the date you promised with Your Majesty. We have to leave in two weeks.”
Their current location was right in the middle of Adriatic and the eastern region, so it would have taken the imperial army about a month to travel, but Mayer said they would cover it in two weeks, and McMorin also accepted that crazy claim as if it was natural.
“Well… Then I will order that the food captured from now on be converted into preserved food. By the way, it looks like Heinrich is starting to prepare his defenses as well? He was surprised when a cavalry unit suddenly attacked the supply unit earlier. Fortunately, there were no casualties. There wasn’t one…”
“Hmm? Cavalry?”
“Is that so? We were on our way to deliver food, so we only took 50 people with us, and we almost fell to the ground. But our kids have definitely improved their skills a lot… Haven’t they?”
As Meyer suddenly looked serious, McMorin’s face also hardened.
“McMorin. Bring Ajin here immediately!”
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t have time to explain to you! Quick!”
“Huh? Uh! Okay. I’ll bring it to you right now!!”
Mayer’s mood was so serious that even he, who usually sneered at Mayer’s general instructions, immediately followed them.
McMorin quickly found Ahjin and brought him in, and Master Ahjin was also startled as soon as he saw Mayer, so they became very curious about what was going on.
“Crumbling! Mayer, what on earth is happening…”
“Ajin. How many rangers are left in the camp now?”
“There are about 200 people left. Gerard took 50 people earlier, and 50 people are out scouting.”
“Please take all of those two hundred and follow Jerad right now! Time is running out! Gerard is in danger!!”
“I understand! I will leave immediately.”
Ajin, who ran out of the Mayer barracks, roared and gathered the rangers.
“Crung!! Everyone prepares for battle and gather within 3 minutes! We have to get to Yukan Castle within 2 hours!”
“Yes!”
It was a harsh order that required the light infantry led by Gerard to cover a distance that took six hours in two hours, but the rangers immediately obeyed Ajin’s orders, who had protected them so far.
When Ajin led the Rangers to battle, Meyer instructed McMorin to empty all barracks and prepare to move the camp.
“Huh? Why all of a sudden? You didn’t really see anything from the rangers who were out scouting, right?”
“Raise a signal for them to retreat as well. The enemy will soon arrive. And… You know? Do what I always tell you to do, thoroughly.”
“Ah… I got it”
McMorin dismantled the barracks as instructed by Meyer and began moving his position to the planned location.
“Huh? This?”
“Didn’t I tell you? From now on, whenever I speak, you listen at once~”
As the heavy footsteps of heavy infantrymen echoed from afar, McMorin’s eyes looked at Mayer in surprise.
“How did you find out? You didn’t even report it?”
“Didn’t you say earlier that you were attacked by cavalry? The cavalry is not very active in the empire. Basically, it is because there is not much grassland, so it is difficult to raise horses. But the fact that the precious cavalry was deployed here is somewhere. “It means they have figured out our location.”
“Well, how many food warehouses and supply depots have we robbed here… It’s about time we started to notice. Is that why you sent Ajin too?”
“Yes. It’s probably a trap. I didn’t think of it when I first heard it, but if our location was known, they probably would have dug a trap to catch us, too.”
“Ugh… Anyway, looking at it roughly, it’s only 1,000? Isn’t this enough to do? They say there are no archers, but we’re confident with the same heavy infantry. There are also 500 light infantry left, so we’ll eliminate them cleanly without anyone retreating.”
Meyer approached McMorin, who insisted on fighting, and punched him in the back of the head.
“You idiot! Do you think we’re trying to kill the imperial soldiers right now? The Ashes are also Vulkans like us. Dude! Of course, when we fight, we fight, but there’s no need to fight needlessly. There will be sacrifices on our part… And me. If you did exactly what I told you to do, Heinrich’s formation would actually be shaken. “
“Well… I did everything I asked, so don’t worry too much. Anyway, don’t you trust me too much?”
“Hmph! So act like I’ll believe you!!”
While Meyer and McMorin were bickering, Gerrard was in great trouble.
A little before the attack on Mayer’s headquarters. Gerard, who had captured the food warehouse, was expressing admiration as he looked at the mountain of wheat bags.
“Wow~ That’s a huge amount of food? You’re protecting it with only 50 people? By the way, Lord Cordelia disappears extremely quickly. I don’t know why Your Majesty is so good that she wants to be praised so much. Let’s rest here…”
“Captain!! Come here!”
“Hmm? What is it? I have to send a communication report to the base…”
At the call of the soldier who was transporting the sack of wheat onto the cart, Gerard went that way even though he was annoyed.
“What are you saying?”
“This is strange. It certainly looks like a sack of wheat, but it weighs too much. Could this be…”
Gerard’s face hardened at the suspicion raised by the soldier, and he took the dagger from his waist and cut down the battery.
Then, all that came out of there was sand instead of flour, and immediately Gerard realized that this was a trap.
“Everyone retreats! Until I give you my order, move towards the west as much as possible! If you get caught, you better commit suicide fiercely… Damn it!!”
While the soldiers abandoned the wheat bags they were carrying and gathered their weapons, the imperial army’s heavy infantrymen who had been ambushed in the forest rose one by one and appeared.
Haha, they are quite perceptive! I was really curious about the faces of the rats who were robbing our supply unit… I guess it was you. Where do you belong?”
In response to the enemy commander’s questions, Gerard remained silent and gave a signal to his men to form formation.
“Hoo~ Are you trying to resist when you are surrounded and don’t have enough troops? Surrender calmly. If you surrender, I promise to spare your life.”
“… There is no surrender! Come on! You bastards of the corrupt emperor!”
“If your wish is to die, I will grant it. But I will not let you die comfortably. Everyone, push forward slowly! Show them the fear of the heavy infantry that completed the siege!”
Although he was excited, Gerrard’s eyes were dark.
He was confident in the skills of himself and his men, but the enemy was basically a superior infantry force, and their number seemed to be about 1,000 men, making them appear to be twice their size.
‘Plus, as they say, the siege has been completed… Damn it!!’
Even in this hopeless situation, a cool breeze blew through the forest and cooled his sweat, so Gerard gained courage once again.
“Whoa, it’s the perfect day to die… Kids! Even if we die here, let’s fight until the end!!”
Even as he saw the spears and shields of the heavy infantry approaching, Gerard burned his fighting spirit, and soon a brutal battle began.
*McMorin Illustration