The Strongest Dull Prince’s Secret Battle for the Throne

Chapter 121: Grau’s Preparation

The day after Gers repelled the imperial armys attack.

What kind of magic did you use?

Alois asked such a question to me who is looking at the imperial army pulling back to their encampment from the city wall.

Which time?

Yesterday. Honestly, I never thought that we would be able to hold them back.

Hm..if the young lord personally took command of the field himself then anyone would be motivated right.

That was what you told me to do. I think that also helped but I cant believe that we managed to stop ten thousand soldiers with just that.

You really are insisting that it was because of my magic huh?

I simply want to know the truth.

When he told me that, I went silent for a moment.

I dont mind just telling it to him but I felt that it would be kind of a waste.

Hm..then let me put it into a question. What kind of magic do you think I used?

If I can arrive at such an answer myself I wouldnt be asking you

Knowing when to ask others for help is important but it is also important to think about it before that. Try to figure it out. How were we doing yesterday?

I advise him like a teacher would his student.

Alois then obediently begins to think.

Tracing back his memory, he tries to think about how we won yesterday.

Then, Alois put up two fingers with a little confidence.

TwoI think our victory yesterday was due to two factors.

Tell me.

First was that the enemy was weaker than we expected. The other was that our soldiers were stronger than they expected.

So you think that I weakened them while strengthening our soldiers huh. You think that I used those two magic?

Yes..thats what I think.

Alois said with not much confidence.

For the time being I gave him a nod and started explaining to Alois.

Your answer is half right and half wrong.

So you used one of those magic?

Yeah, I used a magic to keep our soldiers composure so that they wont panic during the battle. Thanks to that, everyone was able to calmly observe their enemies, defeat them, and composedly follow their orders. That was the only magic I used.

Staying composed.

That alone is a huge advantage in battle. Normally, if you dont have much confidence in yourself you wouldnt be able to stay calm in front of your enemy. This is especially true for an amateur who never fought before.

The army often trains soldiers to keep their composure in such situations.

It could be said that my magic pushed an amateur into veteran soldiers.

That was all? Then why were the enemy soldiers yesterday..?

The day before, a huge fire attack was fired from the gate, burning a thousand of their elite soldiers. Seeing their injuries, its inevitable that they would be cautious around the gate. There might be some traps at the gate, our strategy might be read again this time, those hesitations made them lose their composure. The army soldiers may be well trained but they are not invincible. Once they lose their composure, they wont post a big threat.

Just because of that.

When you fight for your life such a thing will make a difference. In the first place, the defender side has an advantage in a battle like this. If the enemy hesitates to act, this is the result you can expect.

Did you defeat their surprise attack unit that way because you were aiming for that?

Well, yeah. When your opponent comes to attack you by such a by the book method it is easy for you to come up with countermeasures against them. It might be simple in theory but from the soldiers point of view, such a thing is scary. If you cling to the theory once you read it then you will be the one who loses your life. Their commander gave them orders according to those theories. We simply created doubt in their minds causing them to lose their composure and their movement turned sluggish. Our knights and soldiers simply didnt miss the opening they showed. Thats all.

All we need is to hold them off for a day.

If we accomplish that, they will judge us as a difficult enemy to deal with.

And in that case, the ways they can defeat us in a short time will be limited.

Then I take it that you already took your next step, right?

Why do you think so?

You have taken advantage of their discomposure by planting fear in their minds the day before. With that line of thinking, it wouldnt be weird if you used what happened yesterday to plan something ahead.

You have a good head on your shoulders. But that is still too naive.

What do you mean?

It wasnt yesterday that I made my preparation.

It was the day that we defeated their surprise attack unit.

I already took a step toward my plan on that day.

You have already done something before yesterday!?

The surprised Alois tries to ask me about it but he immediately starts to think about it by himself.

I smile at such honest behavior of his and put my hand on Aloiss head.

You were busy yesterday so you might not notice but it should already be visible to you by now.

Visible?

Yeah, take a look. What is missing since yesterdays battle.

Hearing my hint, Alois hurriedly looks around himself.

Something was missing. Since yesterday, something was missing that he normally would have noticed.

Alois then curiously tilts his head.

However, as if he realized something, his eyes opened wide.

So he noticed huh.

So?

Since yesterdayI havent seen Jordan-san..

I smiled at his answer.

I then pat his head with my left hand, telling him well done.

When they are faced with a difficult opponent, they cant afford to use the same tactic. The enemy will try something to break us with all their power. That is our biggest chance. Even such an elite army can be dispersed if we attack them using such timing. However, they will surely be on guard against that. They probably posted lookouts for us already. If we dispatch a unit outside, they will definitely be notified.

Then..you already sent out a unit when you defeated the surprise attack unit!? Those hundred!?

The knight commander Foct was really excellent. He acted in a way that prevented our enemy from noticing the missing soldiers. Even if a thousand men become nine hundred, there shouldnt be much changed from the enemys perspective after all. It might be because we wiped out a thousand of their soldiers first too.

So you did something like that.then are you going out for a surprise attack?

Yeah, its a surprise attackbut it is not just any surprise attack.

If we have a unit of a hundred soldiers outside the city, the enemy might notice.

Thats why I told them to hide.

The hiding spots are the nearby villages.

With Jordan being widely known by the people around Gers, he has many acquaintances who he could ask for help.

Why do you think our enemy is so quiet today?

They must be preparing something to breach our city.

Yes, but they have some restrictions. The first is time. Another is their cover as a reconnaissance unit. That cover prevents them from asking their HQ for reinforcements or calling in a powerful mage. This is a fatal weakness for an army that wishes for a short-term battle. That being the case, their options are limited to coming up with some clever scheme to capture the city or constructing new weapons.

Constructing weapons? Are you talking about siege weaponry?

They can do something about that if they decide to mobilize their soldiers. Even if it is a simple siege weapon, it will make their battle much easier. Seeing the battle from the past two days, they must realize that we dont have a mage on our side as well. Thats why there wont be a problem if they decide to make a large-scale siege weapon either.

However, that is their blind spot.

Since they want to drop the city as soon as possible, they will surely resort to making a desperate decision.

If they want to make a huge and complicated siege weapon, they will need more manpower. That being the case, the army will surely hire workers from the nearby villages to help them with their project.

Dont tell me

Our hundred men unit have already infiltrated the enemy camp. Well, if it is only that then it wont post much of a threat for them. They wouldnt go against the armys request without my instruction after all. At most, it would end up with just some simple harassment. But what if I personally go there myself?

But, the enemy is watching us..

That doesnt matter to me. I can go wherever I wish after all.

Ah

From the enemy perspective, it would seem like I appear out of thin air. Of course, I wont say that I use magic either. We will destroy their food supply and siege weapons then it will be over. They will have no choice but to retreat. Even if they can capture the city, they cant push in any further and without their siege weapons, they wont make it anyway.

After explaining my plan, I look at Alois.

Despite his young age, he is still a lord.

I have to properly explain something like this to him.

I will leave after Im done with the raid. You can be relieved since they will no longer post any threat to you. But what you have to work hard for is the thing that will come afterward.

I understand..we fought against the imperial army after all.

He is still working with the imperial envoy right now but you can rely on Prince Leonard. After they take down Duke Kruger, you should immediately apologize to the Emperor when you can confirm the safety of the hostages. Your circumstances should leave plenty of room for consideration and he is not a foolish emperor who would punish a lord who holds back ten thousand elite soldiers of the imperial army either. Im sure your punishment will not be a heavy one.

Understood..I will follow your instructions.

Good. lets head down. Its getting cold.

When do you leave?

That is a secret.

I said so as I pat Alois in the head and the two of us went down from the wall.