Chapter 91: Chapter 90: Pre-Battle Preparations
"General! A large enemy force has been spotted two kilometers ahead! We estimate at least five hundred enemy cavalry.
Furthermore, there are many heavily armored knights at the front. We couldn’t get a clear look at any family crests."
Daimon was in the Centaur camp with his warriors. The messenger’s report was heard by virtually all of the Centaur high command.
A quiet murmur of discussion immediately arose. The events of the past few days were still fresh in their minds.
The humans here were not the pushovers they had been facing for the past few months.
They were all still shaken by their previous escape.
’So fast!’ Dread filled Daimon’s heart the moment he heard the news.
He and Marin had suspected as much—that the enemy would likely strike while their men and horses were exhausted, hitting them hard.
But the enemy’s speed was truly beyond his imagination. The inefficiency of humans was legendary in the Beastman Empire, a problem rooted in their aristocracy.
Based on past experience, even at their fastest, the humans should still be in meetings right now. The defenses they had prepared were meant for a night raid.
"The enemy is this fast!" Marin was also quite surprised.
To ensure this campaign went smoothly, his clan had specially provided Marin with a Thunderhawk, allowing him to travel between the main army and the vanguard.
Though alarmed, Marin couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief. ’Thank goodness,’ he thought. ’No matter how fierce the enemy is, the most they can do right now is harass our vanguard.’
There was still some distance between the vanguard and the main army. If things went poorly, the impact wouldn’t be too great; at the very least, the main army could maintain its marching pace.
"General Daimon, it’s your turn to take the field. Please buy us enough time. Once we’ve established our formation, the enemy will naturally retreat," Marin said.
It couldn’t be helped. Robson’s efficiency had far exceeded their expectations, and now they had to pay the price for their carelessness.
The entire camp didn’t even have defensive barricades; or rather, they hadn’t had the materials to build them.
Some soldiers were even still resting, as Marin and his troops had been preparing to defend against a night raid, conserving their energy during the day for that very purpose.
"You’d better be quick. The warriors of my Centaur Clan are more precious than your life!" Daimon was clearly unhappy with Marin giving him orders.
But he knew he was the only one who could hold off these humans and buy time for the main army.
Daimon had experienced firsthand how deadly the human cavalry was in pursuit. Last time, he had only barely escaped under the cover of night, and he had no desire to repeat that experience.
"Move out!"
....
Robson had not advanced with the main force. Lord Robson had some new toys to play with.
They had chosen a spot on a small hilltop. Thanks to the recent great fire, the view from this hill, while not endless, was clear enough to spot the distant enemy.
Delhi and Master Kosen had joined forces to solidify the nearby earth.
Frank, after all, was a nation where pragmatism reigned. Under constant pressure from the Beastmen, it hadn’t developed the lax social environment of the Southern Kingdom, and the upper class’s rigid views on status were not entirely unbreakable.
When Kosen saw the results of the magic cast by Delhi and the others, he decisively abandoned his own stuffy notions.
With the help of a group of Mages, three level patches of ground quickly appeared on the hilltop.
To defend against surprise cavalry attacks, Robson had them raise these platforms three meters off the ground.
They were effectively cannon emplacements. Robson even had the Mages create a half-meter-high wall along the edge of each platform.
Looking at the hastily constructed earthen cannon platforms, Robson could only shake his head and marvel at the wonders of this world.
Even in his technologically advanced previous life, building three cannon platforms this quickly would have taken several hours of construction.
But now, all it had cost him were three magic-replenishing potions and the chanting time of ten Mages.
Three magic-replenishing potions were only worth a few hundred Magic Crystals—not even enough to fire the Magic Crystal Cannon a few times.
’Magic truly is the greatest productive force,’ Robson mused. ’It’s as if it was made for civil engineering!’
’The ability to raise fortifications on the spot like this is just too overpowered.’
’Of course, this only works in small-scale battles. In a massive war with tens or hundreds of thousands of soldiers, expecting Mages to handle city defenses would be asking too much. Even if you drained their minds completely, they couldn’t manage it.’
’If I become powerful enough in the future,’ Robson thought, ’I’d love to establish a Mage Corps in my domain to serve it directly.’
’Using Mages to clear land for farming, build cities, and erect bridges... I wonder if they could match the infrastructure speed of my past life.’
’Of course, that’s not realistic. No Mage could withstand being drained like that.’
"Sos, what do you think of this spot? Can it hold the Magic Crystal Cannons?" Robson stomped on the surface with all his might, leaving only a slight indentation.
Robson was currently a Silver Sixth Tier Warrior, and his stomp mimicked the approximate recoil of a Magic Crystal Cannon.
"No problem. I mean, it’s excellent."
"This is a genius idea. I never knew Magic Crystal Cannons could be used like this," Sos said in amazement.
The power of Magic had truly shattered his preconceptions.
Before this, he never thought the noble lord was just toying with him by bringing him to the battlefield. After all, everything he’d seen, from the lord’s own soldiers to the rumors he’d heard, proved he was a brilliant Commander-in-Chief.
But he truly had never imagined how a Magic Crystal Cannon could be made to shine on the battlefield.
It may have been a simple idea, but it was one no one had ever thought of before.
Although Sos was no military genius, his long-standing bond with the Magic Crystal Cannon gave him the faint realization that this concept would soon be expanded upon.
The Magic Crystal Cannon was going to change the very nature of warfare to some extent.
"Then let’s set up the Magic Crystal Cannons."
"Yes, my lord."
With that, Robson turned his gaze north. From his vantage point on the hill, the advancing Cavalry Corps looked like a surging wave, with a line of silver-clad Knights forming its crest.
The entire Cavalry Corps formed a V-shape, like the point of a sharp dagger. At its very tip was the zealous Viscount Leo, with Emil right behind him.
As for Claude, Robson was determined to mold him into a true Cavalry Commander, not just a reckless brute who only knew how to charge blindly. He was currently positioned within the main body of the Cavalry Corps at the rear.
Normally, Robson would have been at the very front, taking Viscount Leo’s place.
But Robson was eager to level up now, and he no longer cared for the paltry experience points gained from personal combat.
Compared to the dozens of kills the Magic Crystal Cannon could rack up at once, Robson felt his old days of loosing arrows on the battlefield were like toiling in a salt mine.
Of course, besides all that, the hilltop offered a wide, open view, and a Commander-in-Chief needed to maintain a clear line of sight.
"Sound the horns."
Watching the two sides about to clash, Robson ordered a Soldier at his side.
"Yes, my lord."
