Editing Rakuin no Monshou:Volume9 Chapter7 (section)

=== Part 2 ===

Very soon after Folker’s forces started taking up their battle formations, the day turned to early afternoon.

The sky was the colour of lead.

The wind was somewhat tepid.

“The enemy has apparently set up a new base in Tolinea,” while the battle formations were being set up, in the tent that served as their headquarters, Folker had unfolded a map and was showing it to Yuriah and Zaas. “Well now, what could be their intention?”

“To have one of them watch for our assault while the other can attack us from the side,’ answered Zaas. Now that it was right before battle, his nerves were stretched even tauter than usual, his eyes were flaring, his breathing was ragged and his expression was like a fiend’s<ref>Literally, like a [https://nohmask21.com/eu/fiercegodstyle.html kijin] (fierce god).</ref>.

“Right,” Folker nodded gravely. “But we can suppose that their aim is to make us cautious of what you’ve just said and have us divide our forces in two.”

“In that case,” said Yuriah, “send my air force to Tolinea. If we burn the forest to the ground, that cobbled-together base will be destroyed in no time.”

“Naturally, I think so too. Anyone would think so. In other words, the enemy will also have thought of it,” Folker sounded neither hurried nor impatient. In fact, his tone was rather leisurely. This was the same attitude he had whenever he was in a situation where bullets where might come flying at any moment, and it made him impressive in a different way than swinging a sword from horseback would.

Perhaps because they were fascinated by it, both the explosive Zaas and the overly self-confident Yuriah interrupted him as little as possible.

“For all that he’s the scoundrel that is usurping Crown Prince Gil’s name, the enemy’s way of taking Jozu Fortress was pretty good, if you ask me,” Folker said easily. “And so, I’m thinking I’ll be a great fool and an incompetent commander.”

“What do you mean, General?”

“By all rights, this is an opponent that we should defeat without suffering the slightest wound ourselves, so we will deliberately expose our skin and invite ourselves to be wounded. In doing that, we will watch what the enemy does.”

''Even now, you still want to watch what the enemy does?'' – was what no one said.

“First, Jozu Fortress,” Folker Baran tapped his finger at a point on the map. “We will have soldiers advance on it.”

“Oh,” Yuriah nodded but Folker did not say anything further. The two young generals were bewildered for a moment by the unnatural silence, but very soon Zaas seemed to catch on to something and he looked towards Folker.

“And Tolinea? Are we going to ignore it?”

“For now, yes,” said Folker.

The enemy had taken up two separate positions and were planning a pincer attack. That much should be obvious to anyone, and therefore, –

''They’re trying to lure us to them'', was Folker’s assessment.

“They’ve probably placed the highly mobile air force in Tolinea and intend to defend Jozu so that they can contain the attacking forces there. So don’t get drawn in by them. The enemy is planning something – something that will allow them to beat us despite their low manpower. And the first step to that is to have us divide our troops. And so the first thing to do is to deliberately advance our soldiers on Jozu. When we see how Tolinea moves and how much of their strength they send to Jozu, the movements of the entire army will be visible as a matter of course.”

''Certainly, that’s…'', Yuriah and Zaas did not say anything, but the impression they had was the same.

If Folker were overestimating the enemy, or in other words, if the enemy were no more than an average commander, his tactics would undoubtedly be the height of stupidity. Many soldiers would die needlessly. Having perfectly understood that, Folker had said that he would from now on be “a great fool, and incompetent”.

Gil Mephius – or rather, Orba, and Folker Baran.

Of the two of them, Folker had done a better job of clearing the initial hindrances.

Essentially, Orba was the one who had needed to become a ‘fool’. He should have pretended that he was going to fight a large opposing army that there was no hope of winning against, and in fact, if he had been the same as he always had been until now, he would successfully have done so.

But this time, Orba had underestimated his opponent.

Was it because he had become conceited from winning fights in which he had been at a disadvantage up until now, or was it because he had, from the start, been fixated on the idea that a commander facing an army less than half the size of his own would not feel the need to be vigilant? Either way, he had been lacking in information about Folker Baran.

Orba’s side did not have the reserve manpower or the spare energy to prepare a new plan in the case of their strategy failing. As such, one could say that a mistake from the start might well already determine how the battle would flow.

Folker removed his finger from the map and looked at Zaas Sidious.

“There’ll be a dangerous task. Can I leave it to you?”

Zaas shivered. It was obvious from the gesture with which he struck the armour at his chest that it was absolutely not from fear that he was trembling.

“When it comes to the battlefield, the only orders at which I shake my head,” Zaas smiled ferociously, “are the ones to withdraw before my sword has been dyed red.”

With their strategy and battle formations completed, all that remained was to wait for the signal to march.

Just when it looked like the sky had become dark and overcast, an especially strong ray of sunlight would occasionally break through a gap in the clouds and brightly light up the surroundings of Tolinea Forest, which would soon to be turned into a battlefield.

As per standard strategy, Folker established headquarters in an elevated position on a hill. It was defended by four hundred of the Black Steel Sword Division as well as by a hundred infantrymen led by Battalion Commander Walt.

Obviously enough, as this was the same man who had been the commanding officer at Jozu Fortress. Having splendidly been tricked and robbed of the fortress, he had become the laughingstock of those around him. Walt, however, was not the sort of man to seclude himself indefinitely and shun others out of shame.

“Please send me to the front,” he had pleaded with Folker on his knees.

As the commander, Folker was a willing taker of that zeal but, while he was ready to make good use of their numbers, he had not felt any need to incorporate a separate unit into his strategy at such a late stage, and so had given them the order to defend the headquarters.

Walt was definitely dissatisfied, but he had no choice but to accept the situation. Actually - ''if I see a chance'' - he was even willing to charge alone at the Impostor Crown Prince or at the swordsman Pashir who had smeared mud all over his face.

''But'' – 

Along with his ardent hostility, there were also doubts that he could not shake off beneath his heavy breastplate. He had heard from his subordinates afterwards that the man he had fought in single combat was called Pashir. They also told him about his history.

Walt had been running around getting ready to transfer to the fortress at about the same time that the Founding Festival was being held in Solon, so he knew practically nothing about who was this year’s winner in the Gladiatorial Contest that he himself had once won, nor about the circumstances surrounding it.

According to what he had heard, although Pashir had been the runner-up in the contest, he was also a heinous criminal who had plotted an uprising against Mephius. However, the crown prince had incorporated the slaves, Pashir included, into his own direct subordinates.

It was conceivable that Pashir, hating Mephius to this very day, had conspired with like-minded people to kill the prince, put an impostor in his place and take over the country.

''But, is that man really just an impostor?''

Walt shook his head with his swollen face in confusion.

His bearing was very dignified. He had spared Walt when he should have taken his life. “If you want to have a match with me, ask Folker to let you join the front,” were the words he had fired off at the time.

''Well then, it’s fine''. Walt was not to sort to agonize endlessly. If there was something that he did not understand, he would just have to check with his own eyes and his own sword.

Wrapping it in that extra layer of meaning, Walt vowed to himself that he would, without fail, cross swords with the man who called himself the crown prince.
 


And thus, when the drums resounded, six hundred from Zaas Sidious’ Spear of Flames Division were the first to sally forward. Most of them were infantrymen but there were also about two hundred of the soldiers who carefully carried guns. Two cannons mounted on wheels were being pulled by horses, and twelve airships flew overhead.

A further two hundred soldiers were advancing in front of the main force of six hundred. They had neither armour nor guns, and their appearance was truly wretched. They were what was known as battlefield slaves. They were in essence human shields, and, in accordance with what could be called the Sidious House’s traditional way of waging war, that family’s troops always marched while pushing the slaves before them.

While the tactic might seem despicable, both Zaas and his father were very good at grasping the slaves’ hearts.

Each individual slave was only sent to the battlefield once. If they survived, they would be free. Of course, if the person themselves wished for it, they would officially be appointed as soldiers. The possibility of death was certainly very high, but, holding on to the thought that – ''if I can just make it through this one time'' – the slaves turned into demons of war. Sometimes, that spirit even allowed them to surpass soldiers who had been tempered through years of experience. Hoisting up spears and brandishing crude blades, they marched on with rough footsteps.

“Don’t hurry too much,” Zaas hurled the order from atop his horse. “Walk slowly enough to give the enemy plenty of time to get scared.”

When they arrived within sight of Jozu Fortress, the air reverberated with a loud booming noise. 

The fortress had fired the first shot.

When the cannonball crashed into the ground, fragments mixed with earth and sand were sent flying in all directions. Although they were still far, Zaas’ horse reared up on its hind legs and whinnied.

While forcefully bringing it back under control, Zaas roared, “Go, go, go!”

Away from the ranks of soldiers, on either side of them, the cannons returned fire. As they were not fixed in place, they were low on precision, but that also meant that they draw away the aim of the enemy guns.

While both sides exchanged their first shots with the roar of cannon fire, Zaas sent a messenger to Folker.

"So they still aren't moving?"

It was to be expected that those in Jozu would not move having drawn the enemy to them. However, even though Zaas' troops had positioned themselves in such a way that their flank was open for attack, there was absolutely no movement from Tolinea.

Meanwhile, in Jozu Fortress, a messenger had come running.

''Folker Baran, was it?''

When Orba heard the report that although Zaas' infantry was gradually drawing closer while returning fire, the enemy was not otherwise taking action, it was only then that he truly became aware of the enemy commander.

The Western army's appearance at the border meant that Folker had to quickly subdue Orba's side, yet the enemy commander was remaining superbly calm.

On top of that, he was willing to make sacrifices in order to set up a tactic that allowed him to sound them out. When it came to sheer audacity, Folker did not fall behind Orba.

Tolinea did not currently have the manpower to allow them to move soldiers. Or rather, it did, but now was not the right time to unleash them. Even if the enemy had acted as they had anticipated and attacked on two fronts, they had only arranged for enough riflemen to be able to hold the fort, so there was no way for them to hinder Zaas' assault by attacking his flank.

''He actually did it.''

Jozu was merely one of the decoys to lure the enemy in. It was a strategy that meant incurring damage, but until the detached force had completed their manoeuvre, and even if they were driven to the point of having only a single soldier left with only a single gun to use, they had to defend their ground by every possible means.

''He saw through us.''

Orba hurriedly ordered that a messenger be sent to Tolinea. To request that several airships for Jozu. Attacking Zaas' flank was one way of steering the enemy their way, but in all honesty, he would have preferred for Tolinea to make a move without his having to dispatch a messenger.

It was proof that they did not have good coordination.

Although scattering soldiers had since long ago been recognized as a stupid tactic, if they could move with flawless coordination, conducting their operation as though the entire group were but one person, then it would be the same as though hardly any soldiers had been scattered at all. But for all that Rogue and Odyne were comrades whose sympathies were aligned with the prince's position, their relationship with him was not one of having conducted operations together since way back.

Zaas' troops had finally all but closed in on Jozu. First, the airship flight that accompanied their march used a hit-and-run tactic, then, when the enemy fire had been drawn upwards, the slave unit began its charge.

Of course, the firing from the fortress was intense. Bullets poured down like rain. They pierced into the slaves one by one, and one by one their fallen corpses piled up on top of each other to form a small hill in front of the fort.

Zaas was giving orders for the deployment of each platoon of riflemen to return fire, while at the same time ostentatiously flying the flag of the Sidious House from his horse as he galloped left and right, bellowing the whole time.

"Don't be afraid. Look, they haven't even grazed me. The enemy is just a group of cowards who have been fooled by an impostor after all. Bullets fired by the likes of them won't reach us spirited warriors!"

Despite his age, his manner was in every way that of an imposing general.

While the gun fight was unfolding, airships came hurrying from Tolinea in the east, but Zaas was quick to respond to the threat and ordered the airship flight from his own side to attack.

At the same time as the fighting started in the skies, back at the headquarters, Folker nodded.

"Ah yes, there is that method of drawing us to them."

The enemy's method was to divide the attacking side in two, draw them to them, and carry out a resolutely defensive battle.

''Are they planning to have the West attack us from the rear when the time is right?''

Folker worried as he stood outside the headquarter tent. In front of him was the map on which was the current battle progress was jotted down.

''No, what if their plan is to make us think that? If we fixate on the West, we'll aim to settle things here quickly and decisively. Attacking once we show a gap...''

Something flashed through his mind.

''With a detached force.''

That possibility struck him. After luring the soldiers into two groups, their method would be to send a detached force to attack the headquarters.

''I 've seen through them.''

The reason why Folker was known for being an unusually tenacious Mephian commander was not simply because he was good at salvaging retreats. He was, so to speak, a similar type to Orba and was known for gathering all possible information about the enemy before a battle.

This time around, information had been limited, which was why he had decided that sacrifices would first be needed before they could spread their net. Now that he had obtained his information, Folker Baran hesitated no longer.

"Send a messenger to Yuriah. Attack Tolinea. Once it's burnt to the ground, join up with Zaas. Provide support fire for the attack from the ground troops."

Just as Folker had guessed earlier, their air force was probably lying in wait within the hastily constructed fort. Its defences looked as though they would not be able to withstand enemy assaults for more than a few days, but, supposing the aerial troops had been concealed there, once the enemy had been lured to them, they would be able to throw that enemy into disarray.

At the same time as Yuriah and Zaas were carrying out his orders, Folker would have his own Black Steel Sword Division defend the headquarters. Anywhere where it looked like they might be able to charge at, he deployed troops behind the ones arranged a little in front, creating double and triple defence lines. And – 

“The enemy’s shock troops might be drawing in on us,” so saying, he divided the airship and cavalry platoons more or less in two and ordered them to scout out the surroundings in all directions.
In the distance, the incessant sound of bombing and shooting could be heard.

Meanwhile – 

“Hup,” Pashir’s detached force was steadily getting closer.

They had been weaving their way through a grove of trees but, suddenly realising that the sound of ether engines was coming their way, Pashir gave everyone the order to dismount. They were still at a distance, but the airships were definitely flying over the trees. If they continued to advance, they would soon be discovered.

''Have they figured it out?'' A tense look passed over Pashir’s face. At this point, they had no choice but to go back. He gave the signal and they turned back along the way they had come.