Chapter 74: The Battle of Pudding Highlands, Part 3
The half-beastkin army led by Davout endures the attack of an army of 40,000 elves.
Feeling impatient, Romusta drew 13,000 troops from the center to reinforce their strength. He tried to crush them all at once with a large force of 53,000.
Seeing the soldiers rushing down from the Pudding Highlands and charging at the left flank of the enemy, Romusta is convinced of his victory.
But that was a big mistake.
At this moment, the military power of the center of the elf army had decreased to only 7,000.
They become complacent, thinking that they are the ones on the offensive. The confidence that there’s absolutely no way they are going to lose.
There are various reasons, but at this moment the elf army ended up creating a fatal weakness in the center.
Eryutheia did not miss that opportunity.
No, more precisely, she had been waiting for this opportunity from the start.
Sending a peace envoy to the enemy army and pretending that they had no will to fight was a ruse, just like when they casually surrendered the Pudding Highlands or deliberately spread their forces thinly on their left flank to create a weak point.
Everything was for this moment.
――Everything ends with just one strike.
It’s time for the Albatross Liberation Army to counterattack.
20,000 Balka infantry have launched an offensive from the center of the battlefield.
The tough, muscular troops began their assault on the enemy army positioned at the top of Pudding Highlands.
At this moment, the Balka army shone in the light as the morning fog suddenly lifted while they were rushing up the Pudding Highlands.
“The chilly morning fog cleared, and the warm sun shone on us. It is like the smile of the goddess of victory. That girl is undoubtedly a goddess of war.”
King Balka, Baal Balka later told his beloved wife about this event.
This event is praised as the “Führer’s Sun”, and it will be passed down as one of the miracles that the Goddess of War has achieved.
Guided by this Sun, the muscle group charged towards victory.
They are equipped with a ōdzutsu and a spear.
An ordinary infantry would carry only one main weapon, but the muscle-bound Balka army, with their exceptional carrying capacity, brought two weapons to the battlefield.
The elf army who faced this was terrified.
“What’s up with them… They’re all half-naked, muscle-bound perverts!”
“…T-they are a bad news! A pervert! The pervert is attacking!”
Things like the pride of elves, race, or stuff like that don’t matter.
In comparison to the elf army of 7,000, the number of the muscle group is almost three times that of 20,000.
Anyone would be scared to be attacked by half-naked macho men three times their size. To make matters worse, the great army of macho men is…
“Hold the ōdzutsu, take a stance… Fire!”
They are all equipped with an ōdzutsu a weapon that can be considered a hand cannon. The firepower of a single shot is incomparable to something like a musket.
If one is to take a hit, half of their body will be blown away. 20,000 machos are going to unleash such a powerful firepower at them. There is no way it isn’t scary.
On top of that…
“Harrumph… Woooaah! Alright, fire!”
“My king, it is impossible for us to shoot a cannon while we are holding it in our arms!”
“You can do it, believe in your muscles! Fire!”
Some perverts have decided that even the ōdzutsu they carry is not powerful enough for their muscles, so they try to fire a field gun, which is normally carried on a gun carriage, in their arms.
Of course, the recoil sends them flying, but the mass of muscle won’t be deterred by just that. Without concerning themselves, they began to prepare to fire the second shot.
It’s crazy.
The elves were truly terrified by this madness.
Moreover, their fears are not over yet.
The strengths of these macho guys are not in things like shooting battles.
The moment when their muscles show their true worth is… When they get into melee fights.
The Balka soldiers, having intimidated the enemy’s morale with a barrage of gunfire, switched their weapons to long spears and began their assault.
The elves formed battle lines as they tried desperately to defend the Pudding Highlands… There’s no way they can win against a large army of muscular men nearly three times their size, and instead, they’re overwhelmed.
From the start of the attack, it took only 30 minutes to recapture the Pudding Highlands.
In a single battle, it’s really just a moment, you could even say it happens in the blink of an eye.
The reinforcements of 13,000, sent by the central forces of the elf army to the right flank, fell even faster than they arrived at the intended target location.
As a result of this, the elf army ended up in a dire situation.
The center of the battle line has unfortunately been breached. With this, the elf army would no longer be able to coordinate its flanks.
Furthermore…
“…Commander! This place is dangerous. Let’s fall back!”
“That’s right, Moriah-kun. Let’s retreat temporarily!”
In the center, atop the Pudding Highlands, was the headquarters of their supreme commander, Romusta.
It is a common tactic in war to establish a headquarters on high ground, where one can survey the battlefield, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this decision.
However, with the central front forcibly breached and the Pudding Highlands occupied by macho, that means their headquarters will be the next danger zone.
As a result, Romusta begins to retreat with his adjutant.
This created even more weaknesses in the elf army.
“The center has been breached…? Hey, what do you mean, Commander Romusta?”
“I don’t know, where on earth could he be in the first place…”
“God damn! That inexperienced brat, can’t he properly take command!”
A fatal crisis called a central breakthrough.
However, the commander who should have been resolving the situation, was in the midst of a retreat. The collapse of the chain of command has spread in the Dark Elf army.
They were still strong enough. x
The 7,000 in the center of the elf army have been eliminated from the effective fighting force, but the 30,000 on the left flank and the 53,000 on the right flank are still in good shape.
If they could reorganize and counterattack, there was a chance to turn things around.
However, the elves have been split in two, losing their line of communication and now their commander.
Even though there is enough military, they cannot move as they wish.
Seizing this opportunity, the Albatross Liberation Army begins to surround their enemy at once.
Their target is the 53,000 troops on the right flank of the elf army.
They are surrounded in the front by 20,000 half-beastkin troops, flanked by the Balka army that occupied the center of the battle line, and infiltrated in the rear by the cavalry troops.
And the terrain of this Pudding Highland was… Surrounded by mountains to the north and a lake to the south.
On the right side of the elf army’s right flank, there is this lake, and it is impossible to escape. They are completely surrounded on all sides.
“Hey, we’re surrounded! What’re we gonna do?”
“You moron, there’s no way you can win against an attack from three directions! I’m going to run away!”
There is nothing the elves can do about it. Their fighting strength was gradually being worn down by the crossfire from the surroundings, and not only that, but the pressure from the machos in the front was also tremendous.
They try to somehow endure and fight hard, but… Before they knew it, the number of elf casualties had exceeded 10,000.
This is a sudden reversal from the advantageous situation they had until a moment ago.
They are surrounded and on the verge of annihilation, their forces depleted by an unreasonable offensive.
“Running away, to where?”
“To the lake! We will swim to escape!”
If things stay as they are, we will definitely get crushed.
Looking for an escape route, they decide to jump into the lake, which seems to be a better option than facing an army of machos…
The current season is winter.
It would be impossible to jump into the lake and return alive during such a period.
They drown one after the other as they freeze to death in the cold. It is said that more than 10,000 elf soldiers sank to the bottom of the lake.
They cannot even escape by swimming.
At that moment, the elves had no choice but to reluctantly make their final resolve.
“Hey, the rear unit has opened an escape route! They chased away the enemy’s cavalry!”
An opening escape route.
What will they do if they don’t escape now? The elven army is desperate to escape.
But this is also a trap.
“Eryu-san, was it really okay to create an escape route?”
“It’s all right, when the enemy is completely surrounded and there’s no way out, they’ll be resisting to the death. But what if there was one escape route?”
“You mean that they turned their back and ran away?”
“That’s what I’m talking about. It’s easier to defeat an enemy who shows their back and runs away than it is to defeat an enemy who resists with a determination to die.”
The elf army fled in panic to a narrow escape route that had been deliberately created in the rear.
There is no prey that can be hunted this easily.
The Albatross Liberation Army dealt them a severe blow and annihilated them. Furthermore, the cavalry will pursue the elf army that escaped.
As a result, the right flank of the elf army was annihilated.
Even the few who survived were also attacked by the local Dorcelli guerrillas and the mobile killing unit formed by Heydrich―― better known as the Einsatzgruppen.
Now, all that remains is the left flank of the elf army.
However, they had already lost the will and ability to fight.
Right in front of them are the Dorcelli and Lusiya armies, which have 30,000 troops, the same as theirs.
Despite having only enough military forces to barely confront what is in front of them, their right flank troops suddenly are on the verge of annihilation.
They seem busy with the chase now, but the enemy army will eventually turn its forces directly against them.
Though they have hardly fought yet, it would be wise to escape back to the homeland while they are still capable of organized resistance.
They turn their backs and start running away.
However, as expected, this escape drama caused quite considerable damage.
Army pursuits, hunting of retreating soldiers, guerrilla attacks, and assaults by mobile killing units.
If you were to invade deep into the territory of another race, the consequences of defeat would be immense.
The dark elf army suffered devastating damage in what would come to be known as the Battle of Pudding Highlands.
Out of the 90,000 of the Eastern Army, only about 10,000 were able to return safely to their home in the Black Elven Empire. Approximately 80,000 soldiers have perished in battles and guerrilla attacks in the land of Dorcelli.
On the other hand, the Albatross Liberation Army only suffered around 10,000 casualties.
It was a complete defeat for the dark elves.
Romusta, who led the Dark Elf army in this battle, said, “We were merely dancing on the palm of the goddess of war.”
As a result of this, the state of the war changes.
The Dark Elf army concluded that an extremely powerful enemy who could easily annihilate 90,000 enemies had appeared. Judging that any further offensive would be impossible, they shifted to homeland defense.
With the cessation of the attack by the elven armies, the focus of various countries shifted towards the Luna Empire.
“Ayame-san, are the retaliatory weapons ready?”
“I think it will be perfectly completed in about two more months.”
“Nh, very well. Well then, let’s have everything prepared by that time. Retaliation against the traitor.”
The battle against Luna begins.
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