Chapter 89: Chapter 88: The Great Fire
"General! General! This is terrible!"
"General, the enemy has set the entire forest ahead of us on fire. Chief Vigia has sent a messenger from the vanguard, requesting your instructions."
’I figured as much.’
Marin frowned, gazing at the inferno on the distant mountains.
He hadn’t expected the contest of strategies between the two sides to begin before they had even arrived.
’There’s no doubt a fire of this magnitude will halt the army’s advance. We’ll have no choice but to stop and clear a path first. The area around the enemy’s fortress is probably cleared of trees, too. By the time we get there, we won’t even be able to build siege engines.’
’Although his superiors had assigned him three Magic Crystal Cannons, those things devoured Magic Crystals and were meant to be a last resort. If possible, I’d rather rely on our overwhelming numbers to simply grind the enemy down. Then I can just pocket the Magic Crystals. Wouldn’t that be nice?’
"Tell him to halt. Send men to put out the fire. We’ll make camp here for the night. Have the rear guard gather timber with all possible speed," Marin ordered.
He had no better ideas at the moment; his only option was to have his men gather as much timber as they could.
It would be a disaster if they couldn’t even build siege engines when the time came.
"Yes, General!"
...
"Report! General, Chief Vigia requests assistance. They haven’t been able to find a sufficient water source."
Marin watched the fire grow; it had been burning since noon and was still raging now that night had fallen.
’I wonder what kind of bastard came up with such a malicious trick.’
On the Beastman Great Plains, trees were a precious resource.
He had to admit, the humans’ massive fire had truly put him in a bind.
There was no adequate water source nearby. The largest was the Somme River, but it was heavily fortified by the humans. Accessing it was out of the question, both in terms of time and feasibility.
"Tell them to use what water they have left to clear a path. Inform the army we’re passing through the burned forest tonight," Marin said with a sigh of resignation.
Since there was no sufficient water source, Marin could only prepare for the worst. While the fire had not yet reached them, he had to quickly rally the army, consolidate their formation, and pass through the burned-out zone.
Although he had never seen such a massive fire before, he knew that an area that has already been burned is unlikely to catch fire again.
However, this would put immense strain on their logistics. From now on, all their resources would depend entirely on their supply lines, and he estimated they wouldn’t even have enough water.
After all, an army of thirty thousand consumed a staggering amount of resources each day, and the largest nearby "lake" was little more than a pond, which they had already exhausted fighting the fire.
At Marin’s command, the army, which had just settled down to sleep, was stirred into action once more.
In truth, the Beastman Army wasn’t getting any quality sleep anyway. With the great fire in the distance drawing ever closer, who could possibly rest?
Instantly, the entire camp erupted in a cacophony of noise.
The force under Marin’s command, aside from the Centaurs led by Daimon, consisted of four thousand Jackal Wolves, five thousand Foxman Race archers, and one thousand from the Northern Bear Race.
There were two hundred of the Extraordinary, while the remaining twenty thousand were Kobolds.
This was already a considerable fighting force. After all, compared to goblins, Kobolds were docile and rigid, tending to meticulously carry out orders from their superiors. Their combat effectiveness was also two tiers higher than that of goblins.
Although they were all considered lesser races, there were still distinctions among them. For a race like goblins, only the earth goblins were of any real use.
But even though Kobolds were better, it wasn’t by much. In terms of intelligence, they were even inferior to goblins.
Having just fallen asleep, everyone was groggy and cranky. The speed at which the camp was packed up could only be described as astonishingly slow.
"Faster! No slacking!"
"Pick up the pace, all of you!"
"If you delay the general’s important mission, I’ll have every last one of you turned into dog jerky!"
Seeing the flames drawing ever closer, Marin grew anxious and began to press his men.
If the fire caught up to them, and his campaign ended in disaster before it had even truly begun, Marin would be beyond tears.
Prodded by the Foxman Warriors, the Kobolds scrambled to get moving. At the very least, the army managed to form up and set out along the path cleared by the vanguard before the fire could encircle them.
But in the deep of the night, they were unaware that several Griffin Knights were circling above, observing everything below with perfect clarity.
...
Early the next morning, Robson had Emil and all the nobles of Qimo Fortress summoned for a meeting inside the stronghold.
Once everyone had more or less arrived, Robson spread out a map. It depicted the Mold Defense Zone, which was under Valentino’s command and included Qimo Fortress.
"Gentlemen, I have just received word. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Master Kosen, the enemy is trapped in the forest by our inferno. They haven’t slept all night, and their vanguard is now only a short distance from the fortress. I intend to lead a preemptive strike to boost our morale. What are your thoughts, gentlemen?" Robson asked.
In truth, boosting morale was secondary. The original purpose of the fire had simply been to burn the surrounding forest as part of a scorched-earth strategy.
But Robson hadn’t expected the inferno to have such a dramatic effect.
According to the Griffin Knights’ intelligence, the fire had spread across at least a hundred hilltops.
If this were the bygone era when the elves held global hegemony, an act like this would have landed Robson before a military tribunal.
Fortunately, the Human Race were the current hegemons, and since the fire hadn’t caused any problems for the human defensive lines, Robson wasn’t concerned.
He might not care, but the Beastmen were surely cursing up a storm. At least within the Mold Defense Zone, the entire Beastman offensive had been slowed to a crawl by the fire.
The force directly opposing Robson was the most affected; their logistics were likely completely compromised.
This was a perfect opportunity for Emil to make an appearance, for his cavalry to farm some more experience, and to weed out the last of his Tier Two Soldiers.
"Cowering in the castle is indeed against the noble spirit of our Frank Kingdom," Emil was the first to speak up.
The enemy is exhausted and has yet to establish a firm footing.
Meanwhile, we are well-rested and have amassed our strength. Plus, we have over a hundred Extraordinary Knights. With a lineup like that, how could we not crush them?
As he finished, Emil shot a grateful look at Robson.
He’d been woken up at the crack of dawn and had wondered what the matter was. It turned out to be an opportunity to easily score some military honors.
He believed that Qimo Fortress’s forces were more than capable of carrying out this raid even without his participation.
After all, he had seen Robson’s soldiers with his own eyes, so he knew how elite this army was.
If they were equipped with proper armor, they could even cause a bit of trouble for a Knight Order—though, of course, it would only be a bit of trouble.
Robson responded with a smile. This was how favors among nobles worked. Knight Commander Elon had helped him plenty in the past, though in the end, he had given the reward to someone else.
But that was the game nobles played: I’ll help you a little today, and you’ll help me a little tomorrow.
