Bab 257: New Defensive Line
The Meatgrinder of a battle raged on as I recovered, and the fighting seemed fiercer for several minutes after my retreat. Then, a sudden burst of mana appeared in a teal color above the sky, and the Empire started to back away. They were retreating in an orderly fashion despite the meat grinder, and the A rankers came out and started to clash once more above the armies. There was something odd, though. One remained watchful, and so did one of ours.
Their A ranker was looking for something as they watched the battlefield with our Elder watching them. It was a clash with the large booms and sparks in the skies that come with a heavy clash of titans. The Empire retreated, and the human slaves ran low to push for us. If I had not used so much Mana, I would have been back into it, but for now, the retreat was steady, and I moved to the headquarters to find a good place to rest. I had numerous cuts over my body and minor injuries.
I noticed the War Chief leave the headquarters and join the clash, and our forces moved forward. We were pushing the Empire out of their encampment, and Isabelle needed to be there to push forward. The Army started to gain momentum, though, as fewer Human slaves were in the war and the Humans were growing tired, whereas our forces were not as exhausted from not needing to kill tens of thousands of human slaves.
It started to snowball, and the Human forces started to back up faster and faster. The clash continued to show that the Empire was in weakness at this point, and the Humans continued to retreat. Still, that retreat kept our people from breaking through as they shrunk their front.
I decided that I could not wait. I could not watch, so I rifted into the logistics base in the trenches. "People Move~!" I shouted with mana, "The Front is moving forward; gather necessary supplies in plan, Defensive line that was discussed with your leaders!" I announced and sent a mana message following up on that so everyone knew.
I rifted back into the city and reached the west encampment, which was heavily guarded at this point. I had to walk in. "Supreme Commander!" a guard in an Elite army uniform shouted in surprise.
"Get me to the staff Sergeant!" I snapped, and I started to move the logistics army. It would take time for them to get things ready to move forward, and I put together a plan with my logistics personnel through messages. This was to get my plans moving. If it worked, I would be in the center of the next part of the war. No one would be able to do what I did not want to happen. It was my attempt at pure control, even if Isabelle was technically War Chief.
Then I drifted back to the front, and our forces were now chasing the Empire's forces, but the Empire's people continued to make an orderly retreat. It was honestly astonishing as the mana clashed and wizards cast at each other the sheer discipline that the Empire was showing. This was something even in my previous world would almost be unheard of. It was a solid, fast-paced retreat while holding back a larger enemy.
They were dying as they were pushed back, but they still fought. Less would probably live if they fell apart and retreated, leaving everything. This was a planned retreat, and I could only respect the discipline that was being shown.
Mile after mile, the Army chased them till the hills. Then Isabelle stopped the forces just after where I told her to. The Empire continued to retreat, licking their wounds and finding out what the fuck just happened to them. This was unprecedented, and a lot of the witnesses who probably saw what happened were dead several miles back into the trenches.
My smile was massive as I followed and watched. I might be hurt and low on mana, feeling two women kick around inside me, but this was a victory I could only cherish. Then it began: The logistics personnel ran forward as I met up with Isabelle, who was smiling ear to ear as I met with her. "Chelsea, I see you have started to move your logistics personnel up," Isabelle said, and I walked forward and clasped hands together with her.
"Isabelle, no, War Chief, EXCELLENT BATTLE! Amazing results; I can only commend you on your amazing use of the resources available to you." I complimented her, and Isabelle smiled, "This is an achievement that will be recorded in history!" I continued, "You're a bit more forward than I like, but this is also good. We can hide what we are doing in the back."
"Thank you, Supreme Commander Chelsea. Our people are exhausted after running several miles and battling all day. The Empire seems not to know where to stop retreating even as we stop chasing them. Our tired scouts have said that they have retreated at least another five miles. They are just now putting up camp. Is there any way that we can move forward and attack?" Isabelle asked, and I frowned.
"I can bring up a portion of supplies for a harassment campaign," I said, making myself look like I was obviously thinking, "More than that would be too much. While the battle raged for the last couple of days, a large force of Rebels inside the city clashed with our Elite army. It is now being contained, and many of them have been captured, and more have been killed. The problem that makes it troubling is the coordination with the front."
"That is concerning. How are the supplies?" Isabelle asked.
"I was minorly affected. There was some damage, but they targeted the Headquarters I had established hard. They seemed to think taking out the command structure was more important than destroying the supplies. It was stupid of them, but it was what they did."
"Understood; I will let people rest while your people move up and start preparations. What are your plans for the new line?"
"Simple, I am going to make this a new Border, Isabelle. This is a choke point. This is a place where we can set up a nice defensive net, and when we do have the ability to push into the Empire again. We will have this line to fall back into." I grinned, lying my ass off as I smiled, and I could see Isabelle with a huge smile. I was not sure if she completely believed me or not. Frankly, I did not give a fuck. Without my supplies, we were fucked and not moving forward. So, the only way the Empire was getting around this defensive line was to invade other countries.
Suddenly, Elder Redscale came down with cuts in his body, and he looked me over. "We have achieved a great victory again today. Something was odd with their armies' movement. It seems you were at the front, Chelsea?"
"Supreme Commander," my mother suddenly said, coming down beside him. You will give my daughter the respect she deserves."
"Supreme Commander Chelsea, did you happen to see what happened?"
"I fought with the army in the front and helped break open the formation when a bunch of highly trained B rankers appeared before us and forced us back. I grabbed one of the group leaders and brought them back with me to the trenches, where I fought them. I was not in fighting shape to return right after. They did not get to reopen the formation of the empire; otherwise, we would have killed more."
"Hmm, that sounds like a group of Elite Human Soldiers," Redscale said, and I looked at the growing number of minor injuries. "Isabelle, why have we stopped here?"
"War Chief," My mother snapped again, and Redscale sneered at her.
"Elder, We stopped here because it has been almost a week straight of fighting and small skirmishes, with a long day of intense battle. The bodies litter the ground behind them, and the Humans can always stop and let us push into a wall of steel. Then we would be far from supplies and potentially lose more than we gain for chasing them farther."
"Acceptable," Elder Redscale said and turned to look at me. "We will have to prepare for our next attack, but rest is needed. We have fought with the enemy and need to recuperate."
With that, Redscale took off and went a distance away to start looking for a nice place to stay, and I shook my head. "Good Work, War Chief Isabelle; I will tell the elder council of your victory today; good work," my mother said, and suddenly, the Elders started to come down, all with injuries, and congratulated her.
I walked away and sighed. I now had two women inside my void space that I had just learned about, and I did not know how to feel about that. It was an odd feeling, but they were raging inside me without effecting me. This was something that I would have to learn more about.
"Mother," I said, although she was not around me. A second later, after I said it, she came to me.
"Yes?" My mother asked.
"I think I may have captured someone incredibly useful."
"What?"
"I discovered new ways to use the void. I feel different now," I told her.
"The Void has touched you; your mana bears its mark much more heavily now. Your days as a General Wizard are over. You will never be a full-fledged one again. You are a void mage and becoming a part of the void. I do not know enough to teach you more on the subject."
"I understand, but I am going to head back to the city. I need you to join me; I want to explore power quickly. Your assistance may be needed because I am unsure if I will be left vulnerable, and I trust you."
My mother smiled brightly, "Then let us depart." I felt my mother send something off, and suddenly she hugged me, and then I was soaring into the sky. The ground rapidly moved under us, and I found us quickly reaching the City. The remains of the battles are very apparent, as were the movements of the Logistics forces making a new temporary roadway over the trenches to deliver supplies faster. The movement was quick and calculated as a large group of laborers were moving forward before the supplies with shovels and packs on their backs.
Then, we were inside the city in the remains of the noble district. The passage was fast, and I took a breath as we moved to my building. I smiled. "Now it is time to try this out," I said to my mother. I closed my eyes and turned into the void, draining my mana once more. I felt the women inside me gain more as they fought, and I grabbed hold of them and pushed them out.
--------------------------
Thank you for reading, if your interested in supporting me, you can at my Patreon, or on amazon.
www.Patreon.com/Madjic
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone