บท 20: Chapter 20 Battalion Commander Kaf
(GG boys, 1000 collections reached)
After reaching the border Arch walked towards the port, here the 3 biggest ships of Tigria were docked and prepared for battle. Each of the ships were different to the other, but what they held constant was the symbol of Tigria on each of the sails.
The first ship was the Hurricane Wind, it was slimmer than the other ships albeit still quite large, with 3 masts 2 of which had 2 sails while the last had 1 sail. At the bow of the ship there was a grey tiger-like figurehead which matched the aesthetic of the rest of the ship. It also had 4 cannons at either side.
The second ship was the Autumn Breeze, bulkier than the Hurricane Wind, it had the same amount of masts and sails as it. Autumn Breeze had a orangey brown tiger-like figurehead its colour similar to the rest of ship. On either side the Autumn Breeze it had 6 cannons along with two at the front one at each side of the figurehead at the back of the ship it also had 3 canons.
The final and largest of the 3 ships was the Bloody Fang, its masts similar to those of the previous 2 ships but the Bloody Fang was considered the strongest ship that Tigria owned, as its name suggested the ship was bloody red in colour its figurehead a blood soaked tiger with a massive canon exiting out of its mouth.
"Is everything ready?" Arch asked Alonso who had been waiting for him at the port. "Yes your Majesty, the 1000 soldiers are ready, we also managed to gather 200 Miners, 100 Construction Workers, 50 Doctors as well as those 10 you were looking for." Alonso detailed, as they boarded the Bloody Fang.
Nearly an hour later the 3 ships set sail with the families of those leaving wishing them good bye. Standing at the forefront of Bloody Fang, the soldiers gazed at Arch fervently. It had been almost 2 months since Arch's rise and since solving the food crisis his image had only grown more and more in the eyes of the people.
Turning around to look at the gazes of the soldiers, Arch was quite pleased but outwardly his expression was that of a block of ice. "When we arrive, any and all pirates are to be killed on sight our main objective is to secure the port and burn down their ships, after that we'll continue our operations." Arch commanded, they were naturally heading to Lawless.
Arch had wanted to go capture the island earlier, but decided to hold back due to a few reasons. Mainly though, Arch didn't want to look suspicious as when they handed in Picker Arch told them to lie so as to avoid suspicion, and if they went to attack the island immediately it would seem like Arch's goal had been capturing the island all along, which in reality was always Arch's goal but at his small size he couldn't act like a big player just yet so he had to take his time.
"Alonso, remember only use that when absolutely necessary." Arch muttered to Alonso beside him. "Understood." He replied. Naturally they were referring to his devil fruit, in fact Arch was curious at the progress Alonso had potentially made. 'He's had the fruit for about 3 weeks now, I doubt him to have as much mastery as Picker but it should be pretty decent nonetheless.' Arch pondered smiling slightly, he too had been making progress in his devil fruit abilities.
The ships soon reached island and likewise the port where in at least 10 pirate ships were docked. Albeit a shocking number it was still much less than the previous nearly 100 pirate ships that had docked at Lawless.
"Shoot them down!" A man commanded atop the Blood Fang, this was one of the Battalion Commanders, Kaf in the Tigrian Army there were 10 Battalion Commanders each commanding 1000 troops. Kaf's Battalion was mostly composed of the newer recruits who hadn't been in many battles as of yet.
At his command the cannons atop the Autumn Breeze, Hurricane Wind, and Blood Fang fire at once decimating the pirate ships in one fell swoop. As the debris flew about the bodies of various pirates were mixed in between.
'How, unfortunate.' Arch shook his head watching this scene. "Those atop the Autumn Breeze and the Hurricane Wind shall protect the ships, while those on the Blood Fang shall secure the port!" Kaf commanded once again, his wavy hair flowing in the wind as he made his command.
The Blood Fang then docked at the port, the soldiers on the Blood Fang getting into formation. "You're quite impressive." Arch commented as he approached the Battalion Commander. "Naturally, my position was earned after all not simply given." Kaf replied with some annoyance in his tone.
Hearing this Arch's expression flickered, but Kaf's expression remained steady. He was the youngest Battalion Commander in the Kingdom, Kaf Ward grandson of previous General George Ward his visage known across Tigria his blood red eyes his most eye catching feature.
"We'll see, after all this your first real battle, but my hopes are high for you." Arch noted before walking away. Kaf then got back to dealing with the troops separating them into 5 groups led by a captain each apart from 1 which was led by Kaf himself.
After that the soldiers disembarked from the boat, 2 of the 5 groups stayed behind while the other 3 groups fanned out across the island. A few minutes later, a flare was set off by one of the charging groups.
Seeing this Arch was intrigued. "Alonso lets go." Arch said before charging into the island, Alonso following behind him. Soon the duo approached the area where the flare was sent off, currently the group led by Kaf was engaged with a group of about 100 pirates in an intense clash.
"Hold form!" Kaf commanded, his sword injuring a pirate at that very moment. At first it looked as if Kaf's group held the advantage, but the pirates were steadily pushing them back albeit only causing injuries.
'How puzzling.' Arch mused, Arch had met Kaf quite a few times prior and the man never seemed like the passive type rather he was more of the violent type who'd go charging in head first from Arch's impression of him.
As Kaf was pushed back more and more, Kaf suddenly held his fist high up in the air. Immediately the group went from retreating to attacking, but that wasn't all, a rustling from the bushes suddenly sounded.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
Shot after shot was fired into the pirates killing at least 10 of them in one fell swoop. Suddenly the tables were turned and the pirates lost more and more ground before being completely wiped out. Fresh blood stained Kaf's hair, a smile on his face, but that soon faded before he ordered the troops to disperse and continue their scouting.
'Not one casualty.' Arch was impressed after watching this scene. Kaf had played the pig to eat the tiger, in other words he had acted weak when in reality he was stronger than the opponent to minimise losses.
Kaf continued using this strategy over and over again, as more and more pirates came running to the slaughter house, Arch and Alonso watching from afar. At one point a soldier was about to be stabbed in the heart when a leaf deflected the sword saving the soldier's life.
"Nice save." Arch whispered giving Alonso a thumbs up. Eventually Kaf managed to take one of the more important pirates hostage, and began torturing him for information.
"THWACK!"
"GAH!" He screamed his broken arm flailing around. "Speak, where's your main base and how many of you are there?" Kaf questioned as the pirate began to cry. "I'll speak, I'll speak, our main base is about 10 kilometers in that direction and we're about 2000 strong, we sent out 500 of our troops to scout out what all the racket was." The pirate confessed with pleading eyes.
"So there's about 1500 pirates left in there base, but why would they be stationed so far from the port." Kaf mumbled, hearing this the captured pirate had a foreboding feeling. "Liar!" Kaf declared his sword slashing off the man's broken arm.
"AGH!" He wailed in pain. "I-I didn't lie a single time, there's a reason our base is placed there. The bosses' found some sort of treasure." The pirate coughed out. "P-Please just let me go, I've told you all I know, please!" He pleaded his face twisting in despair.
'Hmm, I wonder what treasure it could be, either way I won't get anything out of it it'll all just go to the King... but wait, what does he mean by bosses' and isn't 2000 men a bit large for a pirate crew in Paradise, and the 10 boats had 9 different flags.' Kaf thought as he began deducing the matter.
After a momentary paus Kaf smiled at the pirate villainously placing his palm on his shoulder. "So buddy tell me, is this some sort of Pirate Alliance or something?" Kaf questioned once again. "Y-Yes! Yes!" He replied.
"Great so that means there's multiple Captains right?" Kaf continued his questioning his grin widening so much it almost reached his ears. "Mhm!! There are 9 Captains in total." The pirate nodded furiously.
"Okay then, I'll let you go now." Kaf smiled as he moved away from the pirate. "Let you go to your base obviously, lead the way buddy." He continued not even letting the pirate feel relieve for a moment.
'This man is ruthless.' Arch thought from as he watched the scene from afar. "We'll go ahead and cause some chaos, and if possible we'll capture one of those 9 Captains." Arch decided, as he looked at the general direction the group was moving in, it aligned with the direction the pirate had pointed to as well so Arch assumed this to be the correct path.
After all most pirates put their lives first then money after, and then their crew, so Arch had no doubt that the pirate told the truth as Kaf chopped the man's arm off even when he suspected that he lied, the pirate could only imagine what Kaf would do if he actually lied.
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