Capítulo 22: The Counter Attack
The tent of commander-in-chief was bigger but the number of people was a lot less. Other than General Andlet and the last three-star general only three more people were present. One standing just behind the commander-in-chief, the general of the west, and from the dress of the other two, they didn't look like a soldier.
It was Kinoya's first time seeing the commander-in-chief. The pressure he was excluding was much stronger than Akai even though he was younger than the red general.
"General, what brings you here?" The voice was placid yet it contained the presence of the general.
"The enemies are planning to attack the camp." Before Akai could respond Kinoya answered without hesitation.
"Who are you?" There was no ripple on his face but the pressure weighing down on him made Kinoya realise otherwise.
'Is that important now? Shouldn't we be more worried about the impending danger?' Thinking about the reaction of the general, his face darkened, "I am Sergent Kinoya Arviga. But that is not important right now, they will be attacking soon"
"Impudent, is this the way you talk to your superior?" The man behind the General shouted as a huge amount of pressure sent Kinoya on his knees. With the wounds all over his body, it was hard for him to sustain so much pressure.
There was nobody in the room who had any intention to help him, much less the general of the west, he looked at Akai and asked again, "Who is he?"
Before Akai, the general Andlet answered, "Kinoya Arviga, have high enough intelligence stats to be admitted in the Royal Magic Academy. Assisted the Moon Legion during the invasion of Penia. Recommended by the Moon general and Arviga duke."
Akai started where the lady general finished, "He was the one who assisted me to complete General's strategy."
For the first time, the general looked Kinoya at the eye. The Moon general was just a three-star general but wielded as much power as any of the four cardinal generals. No one in the empire could argue about the authority of the Moon general, much less Arviga duke.
According to the report, Akai had submitted yesterday, he suggested that he was assisted by a young soldier. It was just hard for the commander-in-chief to believe that a child who was in the formation could find out the plan even without knowing what the actual formation looks like.
"What do you want to say?" The voice was still calm, yet there was a presence of curiosity in his eye. At his sign, the guard released the pressure as he stood back up.
"We can win the war tonight,"
The silence deepened and Kinoya was in the middle of it. That was something everybody wanted to hear but was not something a sergeant could say, much less the one who is just 12 years old.
Even Akai didn't expect such words from Kinoya. But before he could say anything, the commander-in-chief ordered, "Go on." If one had looked closely they would have found the change in his expression.
Kinoya explained the whole plan of the enemy, without hiding a single detail. And…
"What is that? There is no way they are going to attack at night, that will be against the code of honour. How could you be so sure that they are not lying?" One of the men, in civil-dress, couldn't stay silent and burst out.
"Code of Honor?" Kinoya couldn't help but put up a frown, "According to the code of honour the plan used by us, yesterday, was a shameful act, yet the enemy learned from it and used far more effectively. Should we wait till they kill us before retaliating?"
"You impudent? How do you talk to me like that? Do you know I can just…" The man was furious yet he had to control himself at the signal of the commander-in-chief.
"Do you have a plan?"
"Catch, all those who enter our camp, infiltrate their camp and" Kinoya stopped for a moment before adding, "Slaughter them in the middle of chaos."
Even the civil officer who was shouting till now turned silent. A chill ran down his spine as he heard it. It was not just him, even Akai took another look at the little boy beside him.
"Explain."
"We need 30 people at most who will infiltrate the camp."
"30?"
"They were looking for around 50 armours, so it is safe to assume that they will be sending at least 40. Just to be safe we should send 30."
Kinoya continued without giving them any chance to refute, "Other than those soldiers and the upper echelon of the enemies, there will be very few who would know about the attack. So if the number is too many they might suspect something."
"How can you be so sure that they won't let others know about it?"
"If you accept my plan, how many people will you talk about it?" The question was the answer yet…
"Sergeant, I need to remind you that you are in the presence of a cardinal general. Watch your action."
'Don't you have anything better to do other than thinking about ethics and manners?' Though he looked at the guard, he dared not to say it.
"Will 30 be enough?"Rather than the guard, General Vorn, who was sitting silently till now, was more concerned about the next course of action. Nobody will believe that with just 30 people one can take out the army that was over a hundred thousand strong.
"They will burn the horse stable, the armoury, the canteens and the general's camps if possible. The moment fire lit up the cavalry will charge through the camp creating more chaos. Followed by the arrow rain. A mixture of fire arrow and normal arrow will be more effect..."
"General we don't need to listen to his delusional thoughts anymore. General Akai you should take better care of your soldiers. He might be injured in his head from today's fight." The civil officer spoke a piece of nasty laughter.
Looking at the clenched fist beside him, Kinoya was sure that general Akai and the civil officer didn't have any good relation. On the other hand the faces of generals' had different expressions.
"I don't know how much cavalry or the archer we have but we need at least 20,000 cavalries. It would be good if the number of archers is the same. But 15,000 would be the minimum."
"Sending cavalry at the enemy camp is a suicide, even if it is middle of the night." From his voice, Kinoya could understand General Vorm was interested in the plan but was not sure about the credibility of it, "Even before that, it will be hard to move so many cavalries without getting their attention."
"There is a forked route on our way here. 2 km before, the trail behind the hills is good but can't be used by carriage so the merchants generally avoid it. The cavalry will have no problem to pass. Each cavalry could carry one archer with them, one quiver of the arrow, no need for the armour or anything that creates noise. The hooves of the horses could be wrapped with cloths to reduce noise. The lighter they are the faster they will be. They will wait for the signal of those who entered the camp."
In the war, the map is an important asset. Knowing the field and using it in one's favour is winning the war. After their posting was announced Kinoya spent his last few days in the military library studying the map around the area.
"That could be feasible." Compared to Kinoya, General Vorm had a better understanding of the terrain around the plane.
Yet the officer shouted again, "Are you mad? Attacking at night is against the rule. If the Imperial court hears about it, there will be severe punishment."
"As long as we achieve victory…" The first sign of support came from the person beside him. General Akai. "The path doesn't matter, as long as we win."
"Why are we not attacking their food station?" The other person in civil dress spoke out at last.
"We can't block their supply route so it will be better if we can use that food as our supply. We are the one who is fighting outside our country and food is something we can't waste."
Kinoya didn't know for sure but from the looks of him, Kinoya could see the logistic officer was in support of the attack.
*Clap* *Clap*
Thunderous claps broke the tranquillity of the atmosphere, with a big smile the first civil officer added, "Really, this boy's intelligence stats are not for show." Hearing his words, the expression of his face had darkened, yet he chose not to refute.
"Even his delusion so elaborate and complete. General, I think rather than a soldier he is better suited to be a scribe. If he developed enough he might be able to get the chance to join the imperial court." With a frown on his face, he added, "Even without confirming the source of news, this child had already waived such an elaborate plan depending on 'if's."
Without any resistance, he continued, "What if they don't attack? Won't we be the one who initiated the attacks at night?"
"There is no need to attack first. After we have apprehended their soldier we can just lit proxy fire all over the camp. The generals of the army will be anxious about the attack, the moment the attack succeeds those who know will let their guard down and those who don't know about it will be surprised. That will be the time when we will act."
"General." Now fuming, The civil officer shouted in anger, "As a representative of the Imperial court, I am against the plan. And I suggest that for delivering false news to create chaos, this soldier should be appropriately punished."
'What is the problem with you? What could I even earn for spreading wrong information?' Kinoya couldn't help but smile at his silly remarks, "General, if you are sending people in the enemy camp, I want to nominate myself."
His last words dropped like a bomb. It even startled the loud-mouthed civil officer. All those present in the room couldn't help but take another look at him.
Going in the enemy camp is like suicide. Even if they came out victorious at the end, the chance of surviving is close to zero. Whether he is fit for the duty or not is a different question yet the child unhesitantly nominated himself for such a deadly operation…
"Haaaaa" Another thunderous laughter followed, "See, I told you, this child is hurt in his head. He should be…" He couldn't complete his sentence before he was greeted by disgusted looks.
"Officer, have some rest. We will talk after you sober up." The words of simple and the Commander-in-chief said with a smile on his face but the officer couldn't help but shudder in fear. He wanted to refute but the guard closed in at the signal.
He gave a hateful look at Kinoya before leaving the tent.
"Sergeant, take your leave. I forbid you to spread any news about the night activity."
Kinoya didn't waste any more moments. With a bow, he left.
Status de energia semanal
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