……The situation was not good. Our forces were slowly being pushed back.
Though I wished to do whatever possible in order to turn the tide of battle, we lacked the ability to do so. The enemy stubbornly came at us while aiming for our spoils. Our troops were tied down because of this.
“It’s like our positions were swapped……”
“Yes. It’s as if they’re the attackers and we’re the defenders now. At this rate, we can’t make any moves.”
My adjutant bit his lip. His expression was wretched. Our forces were unable to do this or that, and were instead being dragged around by the enemy.
Regardless, that wasn’t the most distressful part. In truth, our soldiers were putting up a rather decent fight. That was the case if you at least judged it objectively. They overcame the 2 times difference in military strength and were fighting on equal terms with the enemy troops. This was most likely an impressive feat.
But slightly.
Ever so slightly, the sight of us being overpowered haunted me.
That was the feeling that was pressuring us into a bed of thorns.
Lament flowed from my lips.
“…… If our forces were on the offensive then many options would be available to us. At the very least, if our troops were in a clear disadvantage then we could order a retreat.”
“But it’s difficult to decide on anything in this current situation, general.”
“That is so. It is problematic.”
Whether it be victory or defeat, a type of result had to clearly appear in order for us to respond accordingly. And yet, what was this current situation? It wasn’t this way or the other. Only the flow of our military strength being gnawed away ever so slowly continued on……
I most likely should not order for a retreat in our current circumstances. Our men were currently facing the enemy desperately. The sole thing that was pushing our soldiers from behind was their hope. A little bit more. If they exerted a little bit more, then they may be able to win. This was the hope which was supporting them.
However, in truth, that ‘little bit’ never diminished below a point. The enemy forces tenaciously held the upper hand, and we were simply pulled along by them. The stamina of our troops was slowly reaching its limit……
If I were to order for a retreat now, then at that moment is when our soldiers would truly fall into despair. Their fighting spirit would vanish instantly. That would be the end. Without being able to retreat properly, without being able to even obtain victory, our forces would disgracefully collapse on their own.
Drosera.
It felt like we were stuck on a patient sundew. An adhesive-like unpleasant feeling went down my spine. My mouth became dry. The feeling of being neither one thing nor the other, while also being dragged step by step to our destined demise…… this vastly agonizing feeling.
Was the enemy commander truly a beginner? Were we perhaps caught in a trap? It was a foolish thought, but I was unable to cast away my doubts.
In the first place, this kind of battle went against my preference. Wreak havoc like a storm and wipe them out. That was the ideal type of battle that I looked forward to. How did it become like this……
“General. Perhaps this is the enemy’s stratagem?”
“A stratagem?”
My adjutant gazed this way with an apprehensive face.
“I’m referring to the two units that our troops suppressed yesterday. They may have purposely left those units as bait in order to lure us into being careless.”
“No. That’s impossible.”
I adamantly shook my head.
“If you add those two units together then that would be 300 soldiers. If you combined those soldiers with the enemy troops we’re currently facing, then they could have finished us off with ease. Why would they discard their chance of obtaining an easy victory?”
“That’s right, huh……”
“Adding to that, we caved in their Demon Lord Castle. If perhaps, our current situation was indeed a trap, then that would be saying that they had allowed us to freely destroy their stronghold. The enemy would gain absolutely no benefit if this were true.”
There was no mistake. They would only experience losses.
Their black herbs were plundered and their Demon Lord Castle was destroyed. On a strategic level, the enemy forces have already lost. Even if they were to decimate us here, the enemy troops would be unable to celebrate their victory. To have won the battle, but to have been utterly defeated strategically, that would be the conclusion of this war.
“……I guess there is no other choice. Let us utilize the mages.”
“Yes. I as well think that there are no other methods left. If the Aerial Mage Force were to bombard the enemy from the skies with gunpowder, then our situation might turn for the better, even if it is by the smallest amount.”