The Marden soldiers were in total disarray.
No matter how powerful an army was, it will not stand stable when receiving an ambush. Especially, amid arrows raining down on them, no one could remain calm.
If they could remain calm that would be the General and soldiers who had received the appropriate training and experienced actual warfare, the first thing usually they would do was to surround the General.
Therefore, in the eyes of Ninim who was standing at the top of the hill, she knew the enemy"s General whereabouts as if it was the back of her hand.
“Archers, keep drive the enemy away like that. Cavalry, let us move…”
“Yes!”
Under Ninim order, a group of cavalry hidden behind big rocks immediately run down at once.
There was no way for the Marden soldiers who were in the state of panic, capable of stopping them… One by one, the cavalry killed them…
“It is going as planned, Captain!”
“Of course. If it didn"t that would be a big problem…”
Ninim responded in a light-hearted way while thinking of the event that leads to this point.
“–Hide soldiers?”
“That"s right…”
About half a month before Marden invasion.
In the conference room, Wayne told Ninim.
“Marden army will invade. Predicting on the advance rate from both sides, we will meet at Porta Wilderness…”
Spread on the top of the desk was a map, and Wayne pointed a single place…
“Porta wilderness is a place with rocks and hills, a perfect place to hide soldiers. We will place troops there ahead of time and use it for surprise attacks. So, I want Ninim to lead the soldiers… I"ve already spoken to the military…”
“… I have some question.”
Ninim raised her hand.
“First of all, how come you"re so sure that Marden going to attack?”
“I got the conclusion by gathering up the report from our agents. No doubt, Marden would attack within a month…”
“How many soldiers are we going to hide?”
“Select reliable people, roughly around 700 to 1,000 men. You can"t hide troops more than that, and the enemy would be vigilant if the army they faced head on less than it should be…”
“Numbers that are effective for a surprise attack, is it?”
“Correct. We will ambush them after fishing the enemy"s force… That is the ideal. Though everything depends on the situation….”
“Why not hide the army together with our advance?”
“The enemy will definitely also has counterintelligence personnel, if we separated during the advance, they would find out… And then the surprise attack would fail…"
Ninim nodded in response to Wayne stagnant and unsolicited explanation. So far, so good. But, the next thing was what most worrisome.
“Lastly, why I have to be the one who does it?”
“Are~?! Ninim-san can"t do it?! You look like someone who could do anything, the elite! I see you can"t, huh?! Wait, that"s hurt!”
“Please be serious…”
“I understand, I understand, please don"t bend my finger!”
Having Ninim released his hand, Wayne then spoke…
“It is not a complicated reason. To do this, I need someone who could lead the soldiers nearly a month while hiding. However, using the Generals in the army would only interfere with the main unit operation, and there"s the possibility that the enemy would feel suspicious because they could not see some of our top military officers. In that respect, Ninim should be able to lead them, even if they didn"t see you at my side, they might not consider it a threat?”
“Indeed, that makes sense.”
Ninim was Wayne aide, but she was a civil officer. Nonetheless, she also someone who had received education as a general who leads an army. And the soldiers will be able to respect Ninim lead since she was from a family that had supported the Royal family for generations.
“Saying more clearly, Generals, other than Ninim and Raklum are not trustworthy. Those who swear allegiance to the kingdom are owned by father, and not me. It is important to a.s.sign the right person for such delicate work…”
“I disagree… I believe they are all loyal toward Wayne.”
“No no no, if I let my guard down, they definitely perform coup d"état, history is the proof for that!”
Ninim shakes her head inside her mind as she looked at Wayne who vigilant toward an enemy that didn"t exist. In this way, it seems that the bridge known as ‘trust" between Wayne and the military officer would take a long time to be built.
“Well, though if you said impossible, then I might do it myself. Ninim can handle political affairs when I"m gone…”
“That is… Impossible. Who will lead the main unit if Wayne was gone?”
“No well, I am going to leave all the commanding stuff to Hagar, to begin with. Since I don"t want to take too much credit from the military men.”
“… Is that alright?”
“Hagar, even though he is an old man, he is strong. Especially in the field of warfare. If we"re going to face each other, I will definitely run away. — Or rather, our talk seems have derailed too much…”
Ninim nodded her head as the conversation come to a close.
“As expected, if Wayne said that much, then I would do it… Fine, I will lead the soldiers and hide them…”
“I"m counting on you. Though whether or not you"re going to play an active part, the chance is only around fifty-fifty. As for me, I hope we can win moderately.”
“Isn"t this the part where you should aim for complete victory?”
“If one win too much, it will only cause a problem. … Well, that won"t happen anyway. Let us start the preparation immediately.”
Ninim nodded. Selection of a hiding place. Selection of soldiers. There were a lot of things to do, such as the arrangement of logistics, and everything else that needed to be done in secret.
But just one last thing, Ninim spoke with concern…
“By the way… Will you really work properly without me around?”
Wayne laughed…
“When we got back, it would be a scene of carnage.”
(… I wonder how much work he has acc.u.mulated.)
While grinning, Ninim rides her house alongside her men.
Ninim aim was the dozen of Marden soldiers who tried to break away. In the center of their force was their General, General Urgio.
“T-The enemy is coming!”
“Protect the General! Solidify our defense!”
Marden soldiers quickly harden their defense. However,
“…Weak.”
The hors.e.m.e.n led by Ninim blow away their defense without hesitation…
Ninim and her soldiers break through to the center without killing their momentum. Urgio, seeing the enemy come close, swung his weapon, but his hand was cut, and he fell from his horse.
“Gyaaaaah!!!”
While Urgio screams in pain, Ninim stopped her horse and turned around. She looked down at Urgio with Natra soldiers protecting her.
“You"re the General, right?”
Urgio looked up at Ninim, dirty with sweat mud and agony.
“T-That voice… And that white hair…”
“Surrender. If you"re being treated right away, you still can survive…”
To Ninim indifferent recommendation, Urgio responded with a roar.
“Surrender, surrender you said?! As if!”
His body continues to lose blood, his breathing was rough, and he almost died.
“I am Marden army"s General! Woman, even if I turn into ashes, I still won"t surrender!”
“Is that so…”
Ninim then swung her sword down.
Her sword trajectory aimed at Urgio"s neck, and one beat later, it slipped pa.s.s tot he ground.
“Hoist his head and broadcast to others that we"ve defeated the enemy. … Also, never say a word about what he said at the end of his life…”
“I understand. The enemy General was silent until his moment of death!”
“Good.”
Her adjutant then raised the General head and broadcast shout of victory.
Natra soldiers responded with a shout, and the remaining Marden soldiers lose their will to fight.
While watching the event unfold, Ninim turned her gaze to the shadow of the rocky mountains. There were the main unit soldiers who splendidly fishing the enemy.
“Your Highness, it seems everything had proceeded according to the plan…”
“Indeed…”
Marden soldiers then disperse like spider child. They who lost their commander had lost their will to fight.
Even though he had planned for the ambush, Wayne was still feeling surprised that he could catch the enemy General and kill him.
“This war, is it almost over then?”
Hagar nodded in response to that question.
“Because we"re in the back of the hill, the news of the enemy General being dead haven"t reached their main unit yet. Thus we need to quickly inform them of our safety and the death of the enemy General, when we have done with that, the Marden army would withdraw…”
“I understand. Let us immediately do that.”
“Yes, sir…”
Hagar then instructs the troops to move.
After that, Wayne rejoined with Ninim and returned to the top of the hill.
On the return of the General, Natra army morale gained momentum while on the other hand, seeing their General died, Marden army morale sunk to the bottom.
In addition, because many commanders had gone with Urgio, no one had the power to bring them together. Thus Marden army ended up began to withdraw as if trying to run away.
Thus, the battle between the two armies that began in Porta was settled in a single day in which Natra dominated the war. Every member of the Natra army was drunk by the alcohol named victory and glory.
However, one person was different…
(Th-This is bad…!)
Wayne alone who was thinking about the consequence of this battle had a dark feeling.
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah….”
As he leaned on his desk, Wayne exhaling in depression.
Standing behind him, Ninim. Unlike the battlefield, she didn"t wear armor.
Usually, when Wayne looked lack of spirit, Ninim would always try to make him work, but today the situation was different.
“… We"re in trouble, huh?”
It was not only Wayne, but even Ninim also raised her eyebrows.
“I finally understood what Wayne had said before I left…”
Ninim looked at Wayne who slouched on the desk while remembering what he said before…
“It is not good to win too much…”