Excalibur Chronicle of Raidorl - CH 206

Turtle steps

Translated by SoundDestiny

Edited by SoundDestiny

2,000 regular soldiers and 8,000 militias, led by Count Irudo Rewir, head from north to south along the city roads towards the royal capital.

However, their footsteps are unexpectedly slow. Even after the number of days that Rewir had calculated that they would reach the royal capital, they had still only marched about halfway along the route.

“Damn it, what a bunch of slow wits!　They are wasting our rations for nothing!”

As the sun went down, Rewir spat abhorrently in his tent pitched on the plain near the road.

Inside the tent were the count’s family members and representatives of several collaborating noble families. The central figures of the coup are sitting uncomfortably.

“Why did this happen!?　Why is it taking so long to march! The battle hasn’t even started yet, and we’ve lost a third of the rations we’ve collected!”

“I’m sorry. The militia were slower than we expected. ……If it were only regular soldiers and mercenaries, we would have reached the royal capital by now…….”

“Kuh… This is why you commoners!  Can’t you even get enough of simply walking down the street!? Captain, this is your responsibility!”

“……I am very sorry”

The captain, who bore the brunt of the anger, bowed his head with a bitter expression.

The captain was not a native vassal of Count Rewir’s family. He was a mercenary who was hired for this battle and given the position of 『Captain』.

He was hired to assist Rewir, who had never experienced warfare. ……The expression on the face of a man in his mid-fifties is bitter.

“Tomorrow we will double the speed of our march!　We need fewer breaks and we need to get to Royal Capital as soon as possible! I paid a lot of money to hire you. Let’s see you do a bit of decent work!”

“…..Yes, sir. I will do my utmost to assist you.”

Although Rewir was spitting and shouting, the delay in the march was not necessarily the fault of the Captain or the militia.

In the first place, an army is one huge body. As the number of soldiers increases, their bodies become more massive and their movements more sluggish. It is natural that a troop of more than 10,000 soldiers cannot move faster as they wish.

The timetable for the march and the plan to conquer the Royal City that Rewir made was calculated based on the records of wars that had occurred in the past.

However, it was a past data and with trained soldiers. The records are not intended for militiamen who were ploughing the fields just recently.

It is inevitable that a militia with poor training and little experience in warfare cannot move like a seasoned soldier.

All this was caused by Rewir’s inexperience, who based his strategies by reading books at his desks.

‘How troublesome…..this little boy doesn’t know anything about the army or warfare.’

The captain for hire sighs inwardly in front of Rewir, who is ranting and raving with emotion.

‘He has no experience but only knowledge, which is a bad quality. If he would just hand over command to me, we would be able to march more smoothly.’

The man may be hired as a captain but his job was only to assist Rewir. The Count, who believed and confidently that he was superior, did not want to give up his command.

Rewir is completely unaware that this is what is delaying the march. He cannot be at fault because he is giving the correct instructions based on his knowledge and theory. The fault lies with those below him who are unable to carry out orders correctly – he was overconfident in himself.

‘I pity the people who have to fight under an incompetent commander….Well, never mind. There’s still plenty of ground to make up. The fight hasn’t even started yet.’

Although much more time has elapsed than previously planned. At the moment, the odds of winning had not disappeared.

The number of troops in the Royal Capital is less than 1,000. The number of troops here is about 10,000. No matter how he looks at it, the rebels definitely have the advantage. Even the rations, which have been depleted by a third, will be sufficient to cover their needs through looting and other means.

‘If there is a chance of defeat, it would be 『Monsters』 in the enemy army. If there is a 『Battlefield Demon』 in the enemy army that easily reverses the difference in numbers and geographical advantage, we will lose this battle’

Unlike Rewir, a commander in his first battle, the Captain is a seasoned soldier. He had experienced many wars.

The captain believed in the advantage of numbers on the battlefield but at the same time he knows from his own experience that there are some beings that this rule would not work.

‘The royal capital is guarded by Sven Arbeil, the orphan son of Count Arbeil. And that 『Slaughter Princess of Ilkas』.’

Are they really the monsters who can overturn a tenfold gap in strength?

The captain was thinking about the enemies he would face in the not-too-distant future, as he was listening to his employer’s shouts from right to left.