Novel All
Chapter 523
Chapter 523
Chapter 523: Retreat Order
"Retreat. We'll reset and start over."
"Again?!"
At Marcel's order, a knight from the Duchy raises his voice. The initial attack, and now, seeing that the enemy was able to withstand the fire assault, Marcel had ordered a retreat. If they were unable to take down the fortress, they would retreat and try again. It was a repeating cycle.
"Retreat. Do it quickly."
"Understood..."
Reluctantly, the knight complies. Even now, the fortress is in a defensive position due to Marcel's attack. If they continued in this manner, they might be able to breach the fortress. It was a retreat in such a situation. But, Marcel's thoughts were different.
"They are indeed strong..."
The first fire attack was the most regrettable. They had the potential to take it down in one fell swoop during the confusion. However, Prince Julio managed to regain control brilliantly. It must have been a serious situation. He himself appeared on the frontlines and showed the soldiers his will to resist. The fortress was barely holding out. From then on, they could push in, but they didn't feel any indication that they could make it fall. It was because the enemy was prepared to defend assuming they would be pushed in.
"If we can't make it fall, there's no point..."
Marcel crosses his arms and thinks deeply. What Marcel seeks is only an early fall of the fortress. As the knight said, if they kept attacking, it would eventually fall. However, before that, the Duke's army would likely be threatened from behind. That would be meaningless. Settle it before then. That was Marcel's objective. Therefore, if they couldn't bring it down in one strike, they had been retreating. If their forces were chipped away, they wouldn't be able to take it down completely.
"I was naive to think that we could bring down a fragile fortress and inexperienced noble army with equal numbers..."
He had sent 5000 to halt the enemy reinforcements. It was to ensure certainty. However, the fortress was more stubborn than he thought. The enemy has distributed their forces to prepare for attacks from all sides. In contrast, Marcel was able to concentrate his forces. They were able to carry out the battle with a real advantage in military power. Yet, they couldn't take it down. Because their attacks were read and the enemy also concentrated their forces.
"We can't go on like this..."
They need to reorganize their forces. Thinking so, Marcel had given the order for a temporary retreat to the entire army.
A full army retreat. Count Adornato, entrusted with the main force of 5000, was surprised by the order but began preparations for the retreat. The fortress had the upper hand, and so did they. If they maintained this situation, victory seemed assured. That was the situation as it appeared, but he accepted that Marcel was seeing a world different from that of ordinary people like them. But...
"What does a full army retreat mean?!"
"Duke Pastore... it's the ambassador's order."
"Are we giving up the advantage?! We've attacked this far, the enemy is worn out! Now is the time to push!"
"The ambassador has a plan!"
"He just wants to decide the battle with his own hands! To make it so that we can't defy the Kingdom in the future! He just wants the credit in the end!"
Duke Pastore said so and left the headquarters. Count Adornato, while mentally retorting that Duke Pastore himself wanted the credit, began preparations for the retreat. Then, when the preparations were somewhat ready, he gave the order to retreat.
"Full army retreat!"
With their backs to the enemy, the army retreated. However, only four thousand followed. The remaining one thousand attacked the enemy instead.
"What are they doing!? What's going on!?"
"Duke Pastore has led a thousand and launched an attack!"
"What...?"
The nobles relied on Marcel, and the current Duke Pastore was just a flag. However, for the soldiers on the front line, he was the absolute lord. It couldn't be blamed that a thousand moved. The thought that this was bad surfaced in Count Adornato. He had been strictly ordered to never take his eyes off Duke Pastore. If Duke Pastore was foolish, it would be no problem, but if he acted foolishly, it would be a problem for Count Adornato who was watching him.
It would have been easy to just leave him to die. He just had to lead the four thousand and retreat. However, if he did that, the Duke's army would disintegrate. Because the lord, the Duke, would die. There was only one option left.
"...Full army reversal. Continue the offensive until we pull back the Duke. Send a message to Oscar! Bring the Duke back, even if you have to drag him!"
As he relayed this to the messenger, Count Adornato remembered the words that Al had conveyed through Oscar.
He had made the wrong ally. He hadn't thought he'd realize that now. He thought the majority was decided. That Duke Pastore's victory was unshakeable. But, he was only looking at the situation. He wasn't looking at the people. Marcel, who was exceptionally competent, was supporting them, and yet this was happening. Even though they were almost certain to win, for some reason, they seemed to be at a disadvantage.
The attacking thousand were under enemy counterattack, and were being encircled. Thanks to Count Adornato's four thousand reversing their course and launching an attack, a complete encirclement was avoided, but to retreat, a significant number of soldiers would have to shed blood.
It was meaningless bloodshed. Even if they won this battle. Was it okay to install that Duke as king? Was it okay to pledge loyalty to that man sitting on the throne?
While thinking about these belated considerations, Count Adornato let out a deep sigh.
TLs Notes:
Am back.....
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