Chapter 120 – Mayer’s Crisis (2)
Mayer’s Crisis (2)
Gerard ceaselessly gave instructions to his men while using his sword to ward off spears aimed at him as he stood at the head of the unit.
“Never try to fight them head-on! Fight while avoiding attacks as much as possible! Aim for the gaps in the armor!!”
“I’m already doing that!!”
As soldiers trained to the limit by Yuno, Gerard and his men fought beyond the limits of light infantry, using their individual mobility to attack areas not protected by armor.
As the battle continued like that, while Gerard’s unit had yet to suffer any casualties, the imperial infantry fell one by one.
“Damn it! These guys are tough. Don’t rush in. Calmly form a compact formation and push them back.”
However, the imperial army’s commanders were also incompetent, and they began to push Gerard’s troops using their superiority and numerical superiority.
As ordered by the commander, the imperial army’s heavy infantrymen used shields to solidify their defenses and stabbed with spears from afar, and the effect was immediately apparent.
The weapons wielded by the light infantry only bounced off the shields of the heavy infantry, and one or two attacked, aiming for a gap, but they were also injured by the barrage of spears from the rear ranks and had to retreat.
Meanwhile, the heavy infantry slowly narrowed the distance step by step and put pressure on the light infantry.
Push it away with the shield, and use the distance to stab it with the polearm. It was simple, but due to the overwhelming group power that came from number and weight, Gerard’s unit began to be pushed back little by little, and as deaths occurred one by one, the word annihilation appeared in Gerard’s head.
“Captain Gerard! The enemy is narrowing the siege! Now there is no place to retreat!!”
“I know!! Damn what should I do…”
Finally, about 400 of Gerard’s troops formed a circle and faced each other, and the imperial commander, who was looking at Gerard, stopped his troops’ advance and came forward with a smile.
“My final suggestion! Surrender! If you surrender and give me information, I will guarantee your life!!”
‘First, we have to do whatever it takes… Let’s buy some time’
“… Give me a moment! I will discuss it with my subordinates!”
“Okay! I’ll give you 15 minutes from now! Just know that if you refuse this offer, you will all die!”
As the enemy commander disappeared behind, and his infantry took a few steps back, Gerrard gathered his white generals and began discussions.
“… If we continue like this, we will be completely annihilated. We have bought some time, but… Is there any chance of us rising?”
“Can you think of us as a number that Captain Gerard can’t think of?”
“Ha~ If I had known I was going to die like this, I wouldn’t have followed the captain and accepted a bribe… If not, I wouldn’t have followed the captain and volunteered for the light infantry, so I guess he would have been resting at the base by now, right? Chuck, kill, kill.”
“… If you survive here today, you will die by my hands, so fight and die on your own… I am sure.”
“Giggles, you say there’s no way to survive anyway? Haha, it would be nice to have a drink on the way to the end.”
A white general who worked as a guard under Gerrard and came here was joking around and looking for a drink. Then a soldier suddenly stood up and approached them.
“Sleep! I’ll have a drink before I die.”
“Huh? What are you doing this? You bastard, you were drinking during the operation…”
“Ah! Last time I brought food to the village, I received it as a thank-you. It was a waste to throw it away, so I put it in a canteen and twisted it up… I’m about to die, so what do you think?”
When one soldier confessed to having drunk, other soldiers here and there also confessed to having drunk, and the number reached nearly 50.
“Wow… 10% of the unit members were violating military discipline like this… As a commander, it’s worth dying for. Clap, clap, clap.”
However, a smile appeared on Gerard’s face as if it wasn’t a bad idea to have a drink before he died.
“Let’s see~ Wow~ I’m drunk just by smelling the scent. It’s strong. It’s strong! As expected, the whiskey from this town is better than the fermented liquor from our town…”
“Wait a minute. You’re saying this is harsh? Everyone stop moving!!”
He gave a command to each soldier who tried to drink, preventing them from drinking.
“Oh, why? I’m supposed to have a drink before I die, but suddenly?”
“Look around. What does the forest in the central area look like after the harvest season?”
“Huh? A forest is a forest, so what’s wrong with it… Huh?”
Unlike the Monster Mountain area, where forests were always maintained, the forests in the central region of the empire were full of fallen leaves after the harvest season, and the trees were completely dry without any moisture.
“I see a way to survive. Everyone instructs the soldiers to tear their clothes, bundle them up, and soak them in alcohol!!”
Only then did the white commanders understand what Gerard meant and had the soldiers who had the alcohol share it with their comrades, and made each soldier hold a bundle of seaweed drenched in alcohol.
“Make sure each torch is holding a torch, and have everyone ready to throw! Never light a fire before the signal.”
“I understand, boss!”
As preparations progressed and time passed, a commander from the Imperial Army came out and visited Gerard.
“How… Will you surrender? Do whatever you want. Total annihilation or surrender. There are only two choices.”
“My choice… Is to annihilate you guys and escape!!”
Gerard suddenly thrust his sword. However, the enemy commander seemed to be well-versed in martial arts and was able to withstand the surprise attack, and Gerard clicked his tongue and threw his body backwards.
“In the end, you choose punishment! March forward! Cut off everyone’s heads except for the one person who will dig up information!!”
“Now is the time!! Light it!!”
When Gerard’s order was given, a blazing fireball was created in the hands of the remaining 400 soldiers.
“Throw it!!”
Eventually, the fireballs flew all over the forest, and the dry forest instantly became a sea of fire and began to burn.
“It’s a chemical attack!!! Avoid it!!”
“Don’t panic!! Just being burned for a moment won’t kill you!!”
“The enemy is still there. Only the personnel in the back row are burning… Gasp!!”
The imperial army’s hundred and ten commanders wandered around trying to calm the soldiers, but the confusion accelerated as Gerrard’s troops launched a surprise attack.
“These damn people… They do such cowardly things…”
“Heh! You’re such a fool that you’re looking for a fair war! Charge the entire army to the west! Ax soldiers take the lead and create a way out!!”
Gerrard’s unit attempted to break through one point according to the command. Despite being repeatedly burned by the hot flames, the axe soldiers cut down the burning trees, and the remaining soldiers created an escape route by cutting down the imperial troops who rushed to block their escape.
“The escape has opened!! The siege has been lifted!! Captain! Let’s get out first!!”
“No!! You guys go out first!! I will block the enemy from the rear!”
“Eye! If the captain doesn’t leave, we can’t leave either! Go out first!!”
Gerard refused to remain in the rearguard as he watched the soldiers under his command continue to cut down the surging imperial forces and endure the loss of their own lives to prevent the siege from being reestablished.
However, when his soldiers grabbed his body and forcibly dragged him away, he had no choice but to move towards the escape route.
Sushi Sisik!!
Ahhh!
But another despair was waiting for him at the exit.
“Did you think you guys would be able to escape after turning me into such a mess?”
Behind the open escape hatch, the enemy commander and about 50 imperial archers, scorched by fire, were waiting.
The archers fired arrows without hesitation, and Gerard himself barely managed to block them by raising his shield, but several soldiers were unable to react and were killed by the surprise arrows.
In front of Gerard, who was looking at the situation with blank eyes, the imperial army’s siege network was reconnected, and the enemy commander smiled roundly, mocking Gerard.
“I accept your mental strength. It’s really amazing that you’re thinking of doing fireworks there. However, in our imperial army, there is one communication wizard for every thousand people. Well, it’s not at a very high level… But you can still extinguish the fire you forcefully started. “I can make enough water”
Just as he said, the fiercely burning flames were gradually dying out.
“I don’t know which army you belong to… But that will be revealed soon. All troops! Charge…”
“Khahahahahaha”
The imperial commander’s words, which were about to order a charge, were cut off by Gerard’s laughter echoing in the night sky.
“What’s so funny?”
Haha, the fate of someone who will die soon is so funny.”
“What a bland guy. Is it really that funny that he’s about to die?”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t say I was going to die.”
“Hmm? Then who will die…”
Before the imperial commander could finish his words, his head was blown off by a hatchet that flew from the back of the forest, and the despair on the faces of Gerard’s troops as they saw this disappeared and hope bloomed again.
Gerard heavy infantry version illustration
