II
General Headquarters of the Helios Knights, the Central Front
Field Marshal Gladden was in the middle of a war council when a messenger arrived with the news that the First Legion had marched from the royal capital.
“They’ve finally decided to make their move...” he said to himself. Since the war first began, the First Legion had stubbornly refused to budge from its place defending Fis. Gladden felt a wild rush of excitement at that sleeping lion having roused at last.
“We put their forces at around forty thousand,” the messenger went on. “At present, they’re traveling along the Coborph Pass.” All the assembled officers turned their gazes on the deployment chart spread out in the middle of the long table. Only one mountain stood between the Coborph Pass and where they were now engaging the Second Legion.
“They may be trying to flank us from the rear,” said Major General Oscar Remnand, chief of general staff for the Helios Knights. He traced a route along the map and stopped at the Plains of Nobis, emerging directly behind the Helios Knights.
“Indeed. I suppose they want to trap us in a vise grip while the Second Legion is still standing. A solid tactic, tried-and-true...” Gladden looked around at his officers. “But what do you think of it?” he asked the group at large.
A man sitting on the edge of the group leapt to his feet. He was the youngest officer in attendance, a lieutenant colonel by the name of Alexander Gally.
“Lord Marshal, the Second Legion cannot hold out much longer against us. Surely the best possible course is to crush them now with a decisive blow, then drive straight on to capture Fis!” He continued to ramble on passionately, gesticulating and occasionally brandishing his fist for emphasis. The other officers watched him with long-suffering expressions. They could all tell just how much Alexander loved the sound of his own voice.
“Anyone else?” Gladden asked when Alexander had finished.
“The First Legion is still Fernest’s most dangerous army,” Major General Oscar said. “I think we ought to turn them back here—we should hit them with the full might of the Helios Knights.” All the other officers except for Alexander nodded their agreement. Alexander looked like he might burst out in protest, but Gladden silenced him with a flick of his hand.
“Alexander’s idea isn’t a bad one. We certainly could put an end to the Second Legion in one fell swoop. On this occasion, however,” he went on. “I agree with General Oscar.” Alexander’s face froze with an awkward twitch.
“I wouldn’t dream of disputing your decision, Lord Marshal,” he said at length, “but I would like to know the reason, if I may.”
“You really need to ask?” replied a new voice, rough and tinged with disdain, making Alexander’s face twitch again. “Ten to one, that army is under the command of the Invincible General Cornelius himself.” The voice belonged to a massive giant—Lieutenant General Patrick, a man of forty years who had made a name for himself within the Helios Knights with his long record of courageous service. He had also played a central role in the capture of the impregnable Kier Fortress.
“I know the Invincible General, of course. I lost count of how many times the instructors at the military academy drilled that name into us. But, if you’ll forgive my saying so, he is a moldering relic of a bygone era,” Alexander insisted. “I don’t see the point in the Lord Marshal fighting him directly.”
Gladden’s mouth twisted into a crooked smile. “Youth is precious, yet it may also lead to ruin. You would do well to take that to heart.”
Alexander took this in with an exaggerated frown. “I’m sorry, my lord, but I don’t understand.” He obviously wasn’t convinced, and Gladden stifled a sigh. He had the feeling Alexander would not live a long life. This war, this battle on the central front, would not suffer any fool who so flagrantly underestimated the strength of the enemy.
And though he would not admit this reason aloud to his subordinates, Gladden also harbored a personal desire to cross swords with Cornelius. Cornelius the Hero. Cornelius the Invincible General. The man’s deeds of valor in the wars in the final days of the warlord period numbered far too many to count. As a warrior, it was an honor to stand against him. Gladden’s innermost soul whispered to him that he, as both the most supreme general in the imperial army and a soldier himself, could not allow such a chance to slip by.
“When this battle is over, my meaning shall make itself clear to you,” he said. Alexander grudgingly sat down, and Gladden went on to deliver his orders. “We will restructure our forces. Thirty thousand of the Helios Knights along with ten thousand of the rear guard will go out to meet the First Legion under my command. The rest will continue to engage the Second Legion.” Their force of eighty thousand would be divided cleanly in two. He placed a higher number of the Helios Knights in his own main force as, naturally, he was wary of the First Legion.
While the officers all nodded their assent, Patrick immediately rose to his feet. “Lord Marshal, I ask to be entrusted with the ongoing assault against the Second Legion.” No one objected. Patrick was a coolheaded and unerring commander despite his fearsome exterior, and if allowed to go on the offensive, he could unleash monstrous devastation. All present, therefore, saw this as the soundest course of action.
“Then so you shall,” Gladden replied. “I leave the Second Legion to you. But do not underestimate them. There is no telling what a wounded beast may do.”
“Yes, ser!” Patrick replied. “Leave it to me. I shall bring the Second Legion to a swift end so that you may give your full concentration to the confrontation with the First Legion.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Gladden said. Patrick gave a picture-perfect salute. Gladden, still seated, returned it with an approving nod.
The resistance from the Second Legion was more tenacious than he had expected. The commander was no slouch, evidenced by how he had held the central front alone. There was not even the shadow of a doubt in Gladden’s mind that Patrick might fail, but he also knew that nothing was certain until the battle was over. No victories in this world were certain.
After the officers had filed out, Oscar, a teacup in one hand, turned to him. “Are you sure about giving command to Lieutenant General Patrick?” he asked.
Gladden, taking a long sip of the hausen tea he was offered, took stock of Oscar’s solemn expression. Apparently, the chief of general staff nursed some misgivings.
“You’re concerned?”
“It’s only a small thing,” Oscar said, hesitating only briefly. “The Second Legion’s commander has proven himself a master of clever schemes. General Patrick, on the other hand, prefers open, head-on confrontation. It is not a bad quality of his; I just fear it may work against him in this instance.”
Gladden was of course well aware of the point Oscar raised, and he had weighed Patrick’s suitability for the mission against the man’s sheer power when making his calculations. On this occasion, he had simply found power to be the more relevant factor. He trusted Patrick that much.
“Don’t worry about that,” he told Oscar. “I’ve taken all that into consideration.”
“Then I shall speak no more of it. I’ll begin reassigning our forces at once.”
“Very good.”
“Ser.” Oscar saluted, then strode from the tent.
A vicious smile spread over Gladden’s face. “This is the battle,” he murmured to himself, “where I consign the Invincible General to oblivion.”
Second Legion Command on the Central Front
Blood was hammering out his plan of attack with the other officers gathered around the table when Lise came dashing in, panic in her eyes.
She gave them a proper salute. “My lord,” she gasped, still catching her breath, “there’s been a message from the third line of defense.”
“Eh? Didn’t we just get that report?” Blood reached into his pocket and pulled out a worn gold pocket watch. Opening the lid told him that less than an hour had passed since said report. He frowned.
“The situation has changed, ser,” Lise explained. “The Helios Knights are making an orderly retreat.”
“They’re retreating?” Blood repeated. After a pause, he added, “We didn’t somehow deal them that hard a blow, did we?” The last report had said that despite extraordinary efforts on the third line, the imperial army continued to advance undaunted. Blood didn’t really believe his forces could have hit the imperials hard enough to drive them to retreat in so little time, but he asked anyway.
“No, ser, there was nothing like that,” Lise confirmed. “I’m told Lieutenant Alabaster was also totally thrown by their sudden withdrawal.” She herself appeared at a loss.
“If we didn’t hit them, that can only mean...” Blood trailed off, thinking. The first thing that occurred to him was that something had happened to the supreme commander. If he’d fallen so ill that he could no longer issue commands, withdrawal of forces would be an option they had to consider. His imagination took flight as he wondered if perhaps even Emperor Ramza...
Hah. All right, don’t get carried away, he told himself. In no war he’d fought in until now had he ever known something so convenient to occur. He smiled at his own foolishness, while Lise gazed at him with eyes full of worry.
“Oh, I just wondered if their commander had a heart attack or something,” he said by way of explanation. It sounded even more like wishful thinking admitted out loud. If that were truly the case, the enemy’s retreat would have been frantic, not orderly. Since it was not, it left him no choice but to think that this latest development had some clear intent behind it.
“I can’t rule that out, ser, but I would think it strange given their lack of disorder,” Lise replied, having apparently reached the same conclusion. Blood pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and breathed deep of its smoke.
“So, what else do we think it could be?”
“Well...” Lise began, trailing off. Eventually, she gathered herself enough to continue, breathing quickening as her thoughts did. “It’s possible that Major Olivia’s unit is approaching, is it not? The empire is terrified of her. They may have retreated so that they can regroup before they fight her.”
The other officers looked at one another, their expressions growing brighter by degrees. Blood watched this, feeling sorry for them.
“I hate to trample on your hopes,” he said, “but I seriously doubt it.”
“Why, ser?” Lise asked, and he grimaced at the reproach in her eyes and those of the other officers. He understood their urge to cling on to any scrap of hope.
“Come on. Think about it,” he urged them. “However much this Death God chills their blood, she only has six thousand soldiers. That’s not nearly enough of a reason to justify ordering a whole army to retreat. Though you might,” he added thoughtfully as Lise’s words sparked an idea in his mind, “not be completely off the mark...”
“Meaning, ser?”
“Meaning that the Helios Knights did retreat in order to regroup.”
“But ser, didn’t you just say that wasn’t...” Lise began. Realization hit her swiftly. “Oh!”
Blood grinned at her. “You see it, then?”
“Yes, ser! The First Legion must be coming!”
“Exactly,” Blood said. Lise pressed both hands to her chest, tears brimming in her eyes. The sheer relief must have loosened her composure, he thought, noting how unlike her it was as he pulled out a handkerchief and forced her to take it.
“Th-Thank you, ser...” she said, clearly flustered. Removing her glasses, she dabbed at her eyes, then gave him a shy smile. Blood, feeling vaguely embarrassed, scratched the back of his head.
All right... he thought to himself. Now begins the real fight. If his theory was accurate, the situation had turned in their favor. But it would take time for the First Legion to reach them, and until then, the Second Legion would remain in just as dire straits as before. He couldn’t ignore how exhausted his soldiers were after this endless succession of battles.
He cleared his throat, then said, “Captain Lise, your orders. With the enemy retreating, we have an opportunity. Make sure our soldiers get the rest they need.”
“Yes, ser.”
“And don’t forget to see they fill their bellies too.”
“Yes, ser!” Lise replied, and Blood felt her voice, clear and bright, ringing in his heart.
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