章 41: Winning war
"It's fortunate the enemy didn't send most of the Cavalry out." The man breathed a relieved sigh.
"No, they have sent it all." Kinoya rectified. "They were trying to protect themself against the attack. Cavalry would be useless in case of a siege, so they might have sent them out. But what worried me most..."
"Is it Whitefreak?"
'While Whitefreak wasn't known to the generals, he knew.' Kinoya couldn't help but look at the guy again, "Yeah."
"So, why did they come out?" His aura of supremacy had long lost its efficiency to his curiosity.
"Emotion." Kinoya could see that the face was expecting a clearer explanation, "They came out because that was the will of the masses."
"Some of them must have understood that it was a pitfall. But the problem was the number of soldiers."
"An army consisting of multiple small divisions will have problems if the head is weak. Even if there was a great general it would have been impossible to control such a huge enraged army."
The man stared with a shocked look."It won't be a lie to say that even I was resentful at your action. "
Kinoya chuckled, "That has been the goal all the time. If it weren't cruel enough, did you think I could drive them out?"
"Then what about Whitefreak?"
"That is what confused me the most. There are two possibilities. Either he is just a strategist who had no control over the army or he isn't present in the city."
Dumb-founded wasn't the best word to describe his thinking, 'Even though he can assume that the white-haired guy isn't in the city, he shouldn't have known that he's just a court official.'
"The enemy seemed rather formidable even in the absence of the white freak. Why does it feel like your scheme has backfired?"
"Let me ask you a question." The grin did not leave his face. "Why do you think I put them to death?"
'Hey! Even if you don't know my name, you're rude. Do you think I won't put you to death, right now?' Nonetheless, the man breathed deeply, and responded, "To draw them out."
"Even then, it's going to be hard to nullify the numerical advantage. They might not be great generals, however, their white beards are not for show." The man waited for Kinoya to elaborate but...
"Why's a cavalry there?"Palsa was fascinated by the sudden change in the battlefield and so was the other.
Akai's troops were on the right-wing of the army and the cavalry had charged by the right of them.
The cavalry crossed the enemy's left wing with an arrow-like formation and attacked the middle line from the back.
[Author's note: Remember the Empire's army's right-wing is facing the left-wing of the enemy.]
'The boy had told Vorn to advance and Akai to defend. But…' Now that he was thinking about it he could feel something was wrong about the order.
'Why did an aggressive general like Akai go out to defend while a defensive general like Vorn was forced to advance? Could it have been that he made a mistake?'
Looking at the grin on Kinoya's face, he shook off the thought. "It's very normal that they were pushed back when they fought 80,000 with only 50,000. Whether it's Vorn or Akai wouldn't matter."
"If it was all about numbers, then Akai couldn't have advanced with his 20,000 against enemies 30,000"
"So why did you issue the contrary orders to them? "He was struggling to grasp Kinoya's intention yet had no intention of dabbling on the matter any further.
'Could it be that he had predicted such a result? 'He was frustrated but wouldn't speak. Nonetheless, the answer came.
"I had a hunch." Looking at the curious eyes, Kinoya continued. "It is because the enemy is angry. They are going to be extra potent. If Vorn had gone out with the intent to defend, they would have fallen by now. The best defence is an offence."
"General Akai is different. Even if he was alone he would have penetrated through the enemy line. You can't change the character of an army forged over 100 battles."
"And the cavalry? Isn't it Vaicus of the Red front?"
"They are a shock troop. They will attack where the enemies are weak."
"Like the gap between the wing and the main body." He could help but suck up lungs full of cold air as he turned to Kinoya. 'How can he predict the flow of the battle?'
It's just like Kinoya said. Vorn was pushed back as Akai moved forward. Between the main body and the right-wing, a split occurred. That's when a cavalry of 10,000 came from the right side of the Akai.
The cavalry breached the enemy's left-wing and demolished the formation, but did not stop to fight. Rather, they charged at the back of the enemy's middle army and killed a few thousand of them,
Around the time the enemy had realized what had happened, the cavalry under Vaicus had slipped through a gap between the middle body and the right-wing and had withdrawn.
The enemy tried to follow them but the right-wing moved to their left to close the gap and the battle reached a stalemate again. However, the cavalry never stopped.
"You have planned all this?" Even the words that escaped his mouth were hard for him to believe.
"' All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we can attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.'"
"Deception?!" Even if he had heard the word before, he couldn't remember any instances when that is used in a battlefield yet 'Is he just thirteen years old?'
'When the younger generation is learning about gallantry and honour, he is adapting to these brazen and cruel methods. Not only has he been successful in delivering results, but he has also been able to make others do his bidding. This perspective might be better suited for the world right now, as long as…'
"Never wound an enemy. Either you don't hurt them at all or kill them all. There is no in-between." Kinoya's words forced him to turn his head towards the battlefield.
The cavalry followed their previous routes for the second time. It wasn't as effective as the first time but it was able to destroy the left-wing of the enemy.
Akai did not miss out on the opportunity and pressed on. And when the left-over enemy saw the cavalry charging them again, all they could do was flee.
Rather than charging in the enemy again, the cavalries charged towards the city behind the fleeing enemy.
"What the hell are they doing?" Palsa was the first one to cry in alarm. "That is suicide. The archers will kill them"
"Didn't you notice the archers went down the wall some moment ago."
Looking at the smile on his face, the man couldn't help but ask, "How did you do that?"
***********
"General Amboia, pays respect to the Commander-in-chief. 7,000 cavalry under my command will be waiting for your next order." The man, with two stars on his chest, gave a complete bow.
"General, explain your reason for deserting the post?" The General of the west frowned. He could somewhat guess the reason and that was what made him more irritated.
Amboia bowed and pulled a letter from his robe, and handed it to him. There was a symbol of mountain peaks with 3 stars on it.
The symbol of general Andlat. Tearing the envelope he pulled out the letter. The more he read, the more creases appeared on his forehead.
'It was that boy again. I am the cardinal general of the empire and my army is siding with that boy. What am I? Just a show?' He controlled his urges to slam the table in front of him. The letter crumbled in his hand underneath the table.
"What is it said?" The voice was distinct and sharp. He was the one who carried the words of the imperial edict last time. The chief eunuch.
"It was the suggestion of that boy,"
The trembling of the voice didn't miss the target. The man could guess the reason, and he had no reason to stop the progression. "Carry on your military work, and don't mind me."
The atmosphere in the room was tense, but someone was happy. That was Riyasu, and from the general's expression, he could see the seed he bore had finally bloomed.
"Call Kinoya." As soon as the words left General's mouth, Kinoya came in. It was like Kinoya was waiting outside, he came in a moment.
His sudden entrance caught them off guard, on the other hand, Kinoya was surprised.
'What kind of post does he currently wear, to sit above the Commander-in-Chief?' It was the same person who was enquiring about the strategy on the hill. Yet, right now he is acting like he doesn't know Kinoya, 'It's not like that is important to me.'
"What are you up to? Moving the army from Yeomcheon?" the general's voice couldn't be more furious.
'What is it? Now that you've won the war, am I useless? 'Kinoya couldn't help but laugh inside," Winning war".
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