The king"s troops under his direct command joined the battle as well, and the scope of the lines of battle on the Jugfena Great Plains expanded even further.

Even though it was clear that the Rindarl side just suffered a major defeat, it seems that they rejected Arxia"s request for them to surrender.

Apparently, Arxia captured over 600 Rindarl soldiers in the last battle. At a rough estimate, they had maybe 4,000 casualties.

Even with such a loss, and abandoning their captive soldiers to be executed, sending more troops at us again…… I don"t know what Rindarl, or I should be more specific, the Duke of Densel is thinking. But at any rate, the reason why they declared war on us was supposedly because it"s a "protest against the unfair treatment of Rindarl n.o.ble blood," because of the exiling of the first prince, Albert, and his lost opportunity to attend n.o.ble school.

Arxia is also being Arxia. Even though they could have nominally registered Prince Albert as a student at n.o.ble school and avoided the bloodshed of its citizens, Arxia didn"t do so.

I can"t show any dissatisfaction to the king since he even sent his personal troops to the front lines, and since the Rindarl Union is a newly formed country, perhaps they don"t want to back down for the sake of their reputation, is what I think.

……Although since I"m actually on the front lines, I can think whatever I want, but none of it will be of any help.

As for the sudden change in the situation, which put my army in the midst of combat, without being able to contact our allies, the attack that I planned caused about thirty of my soldiers to be injured, and six have died. Although I know that losses can"t be avoided in battle…… I hated myself, each of their deaths cut at me.

From among the dead soldiers, they included some that slept under the same roof as me during my time in the barracks.

"Then, Earl Kaldia and her army, as well as her knights, will be in charge of defending to the north of Fort Jugfena, on the corner of the Bandishia Plateau known as the Ritox Plateau."

At the end of an overly long House of Lords meeting, when the overall commander of the Arxian Royal Army, Marquis Rolentsor, gave me my new command a.s.signment, there was no way I could be happy about this even though I had no choice but to accept.

"……Understood."

Since I received such an unwanted promotion…… My Kaldia army, I suppose it"s Earl Kaldia"s army now, at any rate, is now officially being deployed to the front lines as well. Even though my light cavalry troops should have been well suited for the role of logistical and rear support.

Ergnade gave me some information about this location in a low voice, telling me that the Ritox Plateau was a small plateau at the southwest of the larger Bandishia Plateau, and that it had a terrain which should be easily defendable by even a small number of soldiers.

If he says so, then it"s probably true. It"s a good thing that Claudia"s distant relative seems to be a rational person when it comes to giving me a military a.s.signment. Well, they"re probably going to be more reasonable than what I can imagine, given the few knights I do know.

……Since I"ve received my orders, there"s no helping it, let"s take this chance to reorganize the command structure of my army so that no problems will occur. Since I"m going to be on the front lines, I can"t just let most things run automatically anymore like logistics, which was mostly helping the troops resupply.

My personal messenger soldiers as well as strategist will be Oscar and his unit, Gunther will command my only infantry unit with no horses, and Agil will lead my heavy cavalry troops that we"ve been training ever since we were called to war.

Teomer will lead my light cavalry unit that consists of primarily Shiru warriors, while Claudia will lead the unit with the fewest soldiers, the light cavalry unit made up of my domain"s soldiers. Claudia"s unit will be a mobile strike force, under my direct command.

Perhaps it seems strange that the main troops under my direct command will be the mobile strike force, but since I"m riding Rashiok who has the best mobility of all, there"s no helping it. Besides, I"m not well versed in the strategies of warfare, so Oscar who has experience from his time with the Jugfena knights will be a more reliable leader for directing the infantry as he can come up with sound strategies.

"Your job isn"t to mobilize and attack, but you need to prepare for defensive measures. Do you have anything in mind, Countess Kaldia?"

Just as I being impressed with Marquis Rolentsor for his being reasonable, another n.o.ble interrupted my thought process with his disdainful att.i.tude typical of a priest n.o.ble. He went to the trouble of calling me a countess, the female t.i.tle for an earl, putting extra emphasis on that word, I suppose it"s a way to ridicule the knight attire I"m wearing.

Even I think that it"s just lucky coincidence how I managed to get a promotion in n.o.ble rank, and since the Kaldia domain is well known for a bad reputation, this promotion was sure to earn the ire of some court n.o.bles.

Although Marquis Nordsturm has been lying low as of late, even now the northern n.o.bles will still secretly say annoying things in the shadows, such as how the way I annihilated the enemy was evidence of my father"s cruel bloodline still alive in me, or that I was a demon girl who enjoyed bathing in blood.

Well, it"s whatever, really. At any rate, I won"t have to see them very much anymore when I"m in n.o.ble school. They probably just want to say how useless my answer about defensive measures will be, the rambling of the weak with no power trying to attack me, although honestly, they know nothing about just how cruel my father had been. In strange contrast to the anger in my stomach, my mind was working at a high pace.

Just then, a good idea appeared in my mind about how to decrease the enemy soldiers" morale. I suddenly remembered a ridiculous story about how a European n.o.ble named Vlad the Impaler from my previous world was infamous for using the atrociously brutal method of impaling his enemies. As always, memories would just suddenly pop into my head on their own.

"For my plan, can I ask that all of the prisoners taken that are scheduled to be executed anyways be given to me?"

"……The captured prisoners? Exactly what kind of strategy do you have in mind?"

I took a glance around me, and all the n.o.bles seemed surprised. The n.o.ble talking to me hurriedly said "well, I think you should ask the general commander about that," before turning around and returning to his seat as quickly as possible.

What"s with that reaction?

In keeping with the expectations of the n.o.bility, without losing a single soldier - I went to the trouble to think up such a wonderful strategy that will deal an incredible blow to the morale of the Densel army, which will almost certainly lead to their miserable defeat at our hands.

"You have a terrible expression on your face."

Ergnade beside me was laughing as he said so.

"……Is that so?"

"I know perfectly well just how much you loathe Densel - take the captives with you. This time, crush them utterly."

Ergnade"s advice was usually merciless. It"s only natural that my actions on the battlefield would imitate him, as it"s all based on his teachings.

The impression you give others is really important. Although I don"t mean important in the typical way, I want to leave a different type of impression.