Mobilization

News that Manesh's ally had been invaded by Cordova without any real justification was immediately brought to the royal palace through various channels.

By the time the request for reinforcements arrived, preparations for the first wave of relief forces were already complete. In this regard, a young nation moves quickly.

"They mobilized two army corps of 24,000, plus their supply units."

What the intelligence bureau reported matched Asuka's information.

The allied nation would likely have their territory trampled by Cordova's forces. Their ally could mobilize around 10,000 troops at most.

Manesh had also prepared to mobilize an army of similar size. Additionally, an urgent messenger had been dispatched to the ogre village.

A single ogre possessed the same fighting strength as ten trained soldiers. If even 100 of them came, it would be a considerable boost to their forces.

A child sat among the conference attendees, looking somewhat out of place.

It was Serge. Guinevere had allowed him to attend as a future staff officer candidate.

That Serge timidly raised his hand.

"Um～, this is a fundamental question, but…"

When prompted, Serge continued.

"Would it be bad to have Carla-sama's magic annihilate them? She can do it, right?"

The generals froze in place.

She could do it. But it must not be done.

They must not let Carla do that.

"Politically, it's impossible. Even so, if it truly comes down to it, I would have her do it, but now is not the time to play our trump card."

Political issues, huh. He didn't understand the details, but using that in a war was probably bad. He could kind of understand that.

"Carla is our trump card. A trump card has value precisely because it isn't played. If she were attacked by a group of assassins, something could happen in the one-in-a-million chance."

Well, she doesn't seem like she'd die no matter what, Serge thought but didn't say.

No matter how skilled she was, even Ria would dislike being targeted by assassins year-round.

"More importantly, I want you to handle the operational side of logistics."

Guinevere appointed Serge. This was because she knew Serge could use space-time magic.

"For 10,000 infantry and the accompanying horses' fodder, how many days' worth could you transport?"

"For 30 days' worth, what would the volume and weight be?"

A secretary calculated it and wrote it on paper. It was an amount Serge could easily transport with his ability.

"In that case, I could easily transport a year's worth."

The attending generals stared wide-eyed. After a moment of surprise, Guinevere let out a delighted laugh.

Serge's supply transportation ability. She understood that this would become the key to this war.

"Information about this child's magic is also forbidden from disclosure. You have a duty of confidentiality."

Even without directly appearing on the battlefield, this power was immense. Everyone properly understood this.

Only the person in question was a little slow to understand.

"Irina and Maal will guard Serge. With those two, there's nothing to worry about as long as their opponent isn't a dragon."

Ria also properly understood Serge's ability.

As the nominal supreme commander, Ria would personally take the field.

There was political intent behind this. First, it would serve as a warning to Cordova that they were opposing Casalia. And for their allies, it would be Ria's debut.

The ones who would actually command would be the generals, led by Carla.

This was the same across almost the entire continent: 100 soldiers made one platoon. Ten of those made one battalion. And ten more made an army corps.

The corps commander led the army corps, and supply units were attached to each corps. Generals led two or more army corps.

This time, however, three generals including Carla were assigned to Ria. Since the chain of command was properly established, this shouldn't be a problem.

"Still, an army's march really is slow."

Ria muttered while swaying on Matsukaze's back.

"Since we don't need to match the pace of the supply train, we're actually moving quite fast."

Next to Ria, Carla was also riding forward on horseback. Her horse was a grey that suited her well.

Originally a week-long journey, the army was marching at a pace that would cover it in three days.

Even so, they weren't going at maximum speed since they were waiting for the ogre and beastkin reinforcements.

And being able to march faster than the enemy expected meant that in a pitched battle, they could set the battlefield themselves.

Cordova was an army with absolute confidence in pitched battles.

Of course, they were also strong in siege warfare and defensive battles, but in pitched battles, they could easily crush enemies twice their number.

"Still, with you here, we can win, right?"

Guinevere had said before their departure.

After all, Ria's Gift was the Divine Protection of the War God. When commanding a battle, it would demonstrate absolute effectiveness.

Looking at the planned formation, Serge and the others had said something they shouldn't have.

"Isn't it overwhelming, our army?"

Ria's fist had immediately descended upon him.

The Manesh army set up camp on a slightly elevated hill.

The allied forces that had retreated here joined them, forming an army of 20,000.

Inside the commander's tent, Ria was making long spears. Only Carla and Serge were watching.

While creating spears with her hands, Ria's eyes studied the topographic map spread before her.

"Having few cavalry is painful…"

"Have you commanded an army before?"

To Carla's curious question, Ria told her about the battle at the village.

"That's reckless… or maybe not. Indeed, under those conditions, making maximum use of individual valor was the only way to win."

If Carla had been there, she probably would have annihilated the enemy's core with long-range magical attacks.

That couldn't be applied to this situation, but there was one thing in common.

The enemy would likely try to encircle this army positioned on the high ground.

She had heard that while Cordova's cavalry utilized their mobility, their shock power wasn't that impressive.

Being encircled meant being attacked from all directions, which had to be avoided.

That afternoon, a beastkin force of 300 joined them.

They probably didn't fully trust Manesh yet—more precisely, they didn't fully trust Ria. It wasn't a very large number.

Then in the evening, the ogre army joined them. Their number: 2,000.

Not 200. 2,000.

In terms of destructive power, they surpassed even cavalry. 2,000 elite ogre soldiers.

Moreover, the one who led them was the Ogre King.

"Can't leave something this interesting to the young ones."

He laughed, baring his fangs.

That night, officers gathered in the tent.

The beastkin forces had scouted the detailed terrain during the day. They were now entrusted with reconnaissance tasks.

"Strategies that are too detailed tend to fail, so I'll explain roughly."

Ria then explained the terrain, the enemy's likely actions, and their own movements in response.

"Setting aside the finer details for now, does anyone have questions so far?"

To that, an old general spoke up.

"I think it's an excellent strategy, but that said, Your Highness, did you study military science in your homeland?"

"No, at best I only have secondhand knowledge of warfare."

And she'd watched a lot of public broadcasting programs in her previous life, she supposed.

She had read Sun Tzu, but that was closer to political theory.

Even so, for some reason she felt this was the right approach.

The strategy meeting concluded without incident. The faces of the officers returning from the tent to their positions were filled with a fighting spirit of certain victory.

We can win, Ria thought.

The general commanding the entire army and the staff officers must not think they can win. That would lead to carelessness, arrogance, and recklessness. However, those in positions of directly commanding soldiers must have a conviction of certain victory.

"Your Highness, you…"

Carla, remaining in the tent, spoke without thinking.

"Just who are you?"

"Didn't you hear from Guinevere?"

Ria and Guinevere already called each other by name.

With Guinevere's Dragon Eyes, she should be able to see all of Ria's Gifts. It was surprising that her close friend Carla didn't know.

"Hime-sama rarely speaks about what she sees with Dragon Eyes."

I see. If she casually spoke about the information she obtained, others would find it unsettling. Perhaps, apart from when she was a child, she now only used it for herself.

What a scheming woman. In a good way, of course.

"I see, it's fine to tell you everything, Carla…"

About her Gifts, her conversation with Valis. And even the story of her previous life.

She would surely never betray her. Or rather, if Carla did betray her, it would be Ria's own fault.

"When this is over, will you listen? It'll be a long story. And also…"

Smiling somewhat bashfully, Ria spoke.

"Would you call me by name? You know… s-since we're like a m-married couple… is that no good?"

"No, understood. Riana-sama."

No, that's not it.

"Ria. Drop the '-sama' too."

"But wouldn't that set a bad example?"

Hmm. That might be true.

If two women flirted with each other on the battlefield… no, that wouldn't happen. Carla wouldn't do such a thing. The problem was only Ria.

"When we're not on the battlefield, call me Ria… And on the battlefield too, when it's just the two of us, call me Ria."

"Understood, Ria."

Ooh.

This. This is good.

Ria drew closer to Carla and brought her lips near her ear. Naturally, Carla's lips also drew near Ria's ear.

"Ria? What's wrong?"

Fuooh.

She nearly went weak in the knees, but Ria desperately held her ground.

However, in that moment, she ended up grabbing Carla's shoulders with both hands. As if pressing for a kiss.

But somehow she got her reason working and pulled away.

"Tomorrow will be the decisive battle. Let's rest early."

Leaving a somewhat dazed Carla behind, Ria left the tent.

But in the end, the battle didn't happen.

Cordova's army arrived at the plains before noon and began constructing their camp, and while they formed up, they didn't attack.

"Well, it's Cordova after all."

Ria said matter-of-factly.

Cordova's army rarely engaged in combat immediately after making contact with the enemy. They would first thoroughly scout the situation, build a strong encampment, and assess the timing for battle. It was a manualized combat procedure.

Of course, the combined forces of the alliance and Manesh didn't just watch. They kept their distance and shot arrows at the enemy soldiers while they worked, but the defensive soldiers protected them with shields, so it wasn't very effective.

So what Ria came up with was to strengthen their own position.

"Holes…?"

"Yes, they don't need to be very deep. Dig countless holes to eliminate the horses' mobility, from here to here."

Ria issued instructions while pointing at the map.

The combined army's soldiers weren't regular troops. They were composed of mercenaries and volunteers. She would turn them into engineers.

"But wouldn't the cavalry just go around with their mobility?"

"Of course they will. The point is to prevent them from coordinating with the infantry, which is the enemy's main force."

Besides, if they could weaken the cavalry's charge even for a moment, that would create an opening to exploit.

Maintaining morale was one challenge.

Despite the enemy being right before them, they weren't attacking the enemy camp. Instead, they were doing construction work.

The ogres, natural-born warriors, were mostly hot-blooded types who looked ready to charge out at any moment. Stopping them was Ria's job.

She simply stopped them by force. She stopped them without question. After repeating this several times, even the ogres who hadn't known Ria's strength fell into line obediently.

For the regular soldiers, Carla went around providing care. With this many people, some would inevitably fall ill even without doing anything, and Carla would heal them.

A saintess and holy knight of the battlefield. Alongside Ria, who stopped things by force without question, charisma spread among the soldiers.

"Still, what a well-disciplined army."

Ria gazed into the distance and sighed in admiration at the enemy army's movements.

Their sentries didn't look away. They perfectly fulfilled their duties.

"This isn't the time to be praising the enemy."

Carla appeared calm, but this was her first war too. In reality, she was thinking about many things.

"Do you think we should make some kind of move?"

"No, if it becomes a long war, the side on expedition is at a disadvantage, so I wonder why they don't attack."

"True. Their supply lines should be stretched long… I suppose this is Cordova with their renowned logistics."

The two had been talking rather leisurely, but thinking from the enemy's perspective, Ria realized something.

"No, that's exactly it—they're aiming for a long war. They don't know we have Serge on our side."

Right, without knowing about the massive supplies Serge held, they would scout their supply situation and think it more certain to drag things out into a prolonged war.

"This is troublesome. It's become a tedious war…"

Personally, Ria's ideal scenario was to settle things in one decisive battle.

Politically too, winning brilliantly in a pitched battle would have the greatest propaganda effect. Of course, just winning against Cordova, who normally never lost in a straight fight, would be impressive in itself.

"For now, let's increase the cooking smoke. We need to show them we still have plenty of room to spare."

Then, about ten days passed.

In the middle of the night, the sky far to the north was stained red.

She immediately sent the beastkin forces to scout what had happened.

A report came the next morning. Apparently, two of the enemy's supply bases had been raided and gone up in flames.

"Which army did this?"

The officers tilted their heads in puzzlement, but Ria had an idea.

Launching a night raid, breaking through defenses, and burning supplies required considerable ability.

Vampires and dark elves.

Those two, hostile toward Cordova and feeling no need to hold back, could probably destroy one or two bases with just their individual combat power.

"Don't dawdle. The supply base has been destroyed. The enemy will come out."

The officers hurried off toward their units.

Watching them, Ria smiled cruelly.

"Now then, at last it's time for the fun war to begin."