DB – Chapter 73

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A Large Battle

Ria was troubled.

A trouble from the depths of her heart.

It wasn’t about how they were going to win this war.

It was what was the best method about method they would use to win it.

She thought about this over and over.

*

According to the plan, it would be as simple as it had been until then. Despite that, they would make use of magnificently fresh tactics, planning to disempower the enemy’s forces.
Thinking about the golem forces’ charging strength and the ogre’s fighting strength, even if their enemies mobilized their forces at their maximum capacity, she didn’t feel like her forces could be defeated.
As for collapsing them, she had received a report from her reconnaissance unit that the enemy’s supply lines had been thoroughly shredded up.
According to Ria’s detailed calculations, including the surplus supplied with Serge, they had finished sufficient preparations.
But. There was a but.
Demon Tribe’s Disturbance Unit-san overdid it.

When you took prisoners, you had to feed them.
She had planned on taking some food from enemy storehouses for that, but it seems like that was impossible now.
There was no way she could take food from citizens. If she did that, it would be her antagonizing the people.
Then where would the food come from?
Manesh wasn’t prepared to satisfy the mouths of a few dozen thousand more people.
They obviously couldn’t be left in Cordova either.
How should she deal with the hungry enemies and citizens?
She hadn’t thought that something like this might be done on purpose by her allies. Surely not.

By them.
The staff officers in her presence.
Were they trying to raise the flag of defeat?
“This territory as well, I…”
“Yeah, so this territory will touch mine around here…”
“No, thinking about trade roads from now on, I definitely think…”
“That would be convenient. This one here would also be advantageous for…”
Looming over a map, they were talking about how to deal with Cordova’s territories after the war.

Acting on instinct, Ria unsheathed her katana and sliced through the table.
Falling down, it was a clean cut straight down the center. With a thud, the room quieted down.
“Gentlemen, what in the world are you discussing?”
With a cold voice, she glared at them with Dragon Eyes. Practically all of her staff officers, in other words nobles, lost their ability to breathe.
“With a military difference of 10,000 at best, moreover in a situation where our cavalry are inferior to theirs, why are you discussing what happens after the war?”

What was war? Fervent, brutal, death, somber!
For them to already be discussing land rights… it wasn’t a topic meant to be discussed in a strategy meeting.

Until now, they hadn’t seen Ria’s anger.
She had scolded them on strategic failures and lack of ability. However, that was all rational conduct.
But right now, her expression was perfectly showing her feelings.
They learned.
Ria was strict towards humans that treated war lightly. She might even detest them.

“Serge, replace the table.”
“Sorry, there isn’t one.”
“Then Fio, please prepare one. We will take an intermission in the meanwhile. I also need to cool my head.”
Leaving the tent, the only ones left were her staff officers, still earnestly bowing their heads in agreement.

*

Ria sat down heavily on a cushion in her tent.
She’d done it. She nearly lost it there. It wasn’t that Ria considered it stupid to think about things like that, but that wasn’t the thing that was a problem for Ria.
No one realized what the problem was. It was unbearable to Ria.
It was around the time that she was sharing her anger with Serge after calling for him.
“Are you alright?”
Carla entered the tent, a jar and cups in her hands.
She was a non-drinker. Naturally, it had milk tea in it.
“Do you want some?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Sitting up, Ria accepted the cup.
The milk tea had a sweet fragrance, relaxing her frustrated mind.

“I showed one of my improper points, huh.”
“No, I believe that was good.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The war council’s atmosphere had slackened.”
So Carla had noticed as well?
“On the other hand, as the supreme commander, it wasn’t any good for my feelings to explode.”
“No, I believe that was also good.”
Carla looked straight at Ria, her eyes resembling the color of the sky.
“What you the right thing.”
She agreed with Ria.

“Ria-chan~?”
With a pop, Maal entered the tent.
Beckoning Maal over, Ria held her close to her chest.
She settled down. Maal really was Ria’s tranquilizer after all.
“Ah~, Onee-chan’s crafty~”
Seeming to have been chasing after Maal, Irina entered the tent as well.
(Can’t be helped. She’s the Onee-chan, so let’s give her half Maal hugging rights.)

And it continued after that, her comrades entering one after another.
When Lulu and Carlos entered the tent at the same time, she called them riajuus in her mind, but she was also like that right now. [1]
After her travelling companions, Fio entered—she was a bit surprised at the amount of people in the tent.
“Umm, the staff officers wanted me to see how you were doing.”
She wanted to say that she came on her own.
“Well, Nee-chan is scary when she’s angry after all.”
Serge agreed with a carefree feeling, even Maal nodded in Ria’s embrace.
Well, she was unwilling, but if everyone felt that way she’d say it.
“Everyone, I need your help with something.”
With a serious expression, she spoke.

*

Several days later, the Ogress and Cordovan armies faced each other.
There weren’t many battles at this scale in the continent’s history.
Because of their armies’ scales, neither side could go for a war of attrition.
With both sides facing off so early in the morning, without any speeches, their armies deployed like streams of water, rushing into combat.

Cordova’s army formation hadn’t changed from its usual one.
Placing its heavy infantry in its core and deploying its cavalry from both flanks.
This was Cordova’s tried and true strategy. Even though it had already been broken, they probably had no other option.
Perhaps they held overwhelming numbers and were conceited?
Or perhaps they would display their normal strategy, holding some other plan for later?
No, that wasn’t it.
When it comes to armies of this scale, hastily implemented tactics would have counterproductive effects. Ones that had been thoroughly accustomed to would show the greatest effect.
It couldn’t be said that they were negligent. However, it also couldn’t be said that they were innovative either.

The Ogress army, different from what they’d done thus far, used their strongest war potential from the start, pushing through the front.
The golem corps.
The golems’ charging power was on another level compared to cavalrymen. The Cordovan infantry that had been prided up till now for their defensive potential were being overrun.
Their countless spears and steel breastplates were powerless against the simple mass of golems trampling them.

Their center broken through, Cordova’s soldiers split into left and right.
Trying to hang on, their cavalry also arranged themselves to the left and right in attempts to surround Ogress’ forces.
However, even though this was a plain that was an appropriate battlefield for innumerably large forces, there was a limit to the size of the left and right areas.
Uneven and rugged terrain along with the greatly reduced forest hindered their cavalry’s mobility, making it impossible for Cordova’s cavalrymen to make the best of use their special quality. [2]

Already, all that remained was a war of violation.
The ogre forces slammed into the enemy, their soldiers barely keeping rank.
When their order collapsed, again, they immediately tried to retreat. The Cordovan army that turned into groups of soldiers surrendered disappointingly quickly.
Ria trusted her hate of futilely killing the enemy.
Even as queen, she wouldn’t kill those who have lost the will to fight.
Even in her current situation, Ria didn’t kill them.
Even if she knew that killing them would be advantageous to them in respect to food, Ria didn’t kill them.
Although this was also a problem to do with Ria’s sense of aesthetics, it was also the result of her future occupation policies.

A fight that they shouldn’t have had the hegemony on unexpectedly turned into a one-sided battle.
Those that hadn’t already ran away were throwing away their weapons and surrendering.
They weren’t enemies anymore, they were just pitiful individuals.
They won the war without decreasing Cordova’s national power, or in other words, without decreasing its population much.
This giant war that started in the morning had ended by the evening.
Around 200,000 captives were disarmed, their commanders and units separated.
Processing all of them took as much as three days.

*

And Ria was angry.
At who? No one. At the situation.
In order to feed 200,000 captives, she had to turn the captured horses into food.
Tens of thousands of horses.
Just like with cats, Ria loved horses. This was something she wasn’t able to endure easily.
Therefore, she drew near the point that she’d have to relieve her stress.
It’s said that the supreme commander keeping their heart and mind in balance was extraordinarily important.

“Let me rub your boobs!”
“Eh?”
When Shizuna walked into her tent after being summoned, Ria began to slowly massage her breasts.
“Haah~, so calming~”
“Ooh! No it’s not!”
Although Shizuna protested in embarrassment, she didn’t sound persuasive at all. At any rate, she wasn’t resisting in the least.”
“What’re you saying, you’re feeling good too right? Hooh, what are these? These bumps here?”
She couldn’t sexually harass the pure and innocent Carla or the diligent and serious Fio, but she could to Shizuna.
She could because she knew that Shizuna actually liked it.
“A-ah! Stop!”
“Nope~”
Nibbling on her earlobe, Ria thoroughly played with Shizuna.
“I mean, aren’t you already wet?”
“I-I’m not!”
Their fooling around didn’t end until Carla called for her.

“Now then, time to make a speech huh?”
She was able to relieve her stress.
She stepped into a bath to wash herself off. Then, wearing polished and sparkling armor, Ria in stood of the captive Cordovan soldiers.
As for the contents of the speech, they weren’t anything too original. However, with seeing Ria standing before them, causing the Cordovan captives stared in blank surprise at the beautiful and young girl that defeated them, it had enough of an effect.
Up till then, the country named Cordova… just how much oppression had it caused? She concretely compared it to Manesh.
Then, as Cordova hadn’t prepared enough food for this fight, she spoke how they were treated as throwaways.
Furthermore, Ria suspended a lure right in front of them.
She would even return the armor and weapons they had cast aside.
After this, they would become their vanguard towards Cordova’s capital city.
Although cruelties towards the citizens were prohibited, they were allowed to keep any of the royal palace’s spoils.

It was absurd.
The royal palace was an unattainable object for soldiers. It was just an existence they could gaze at from afar.
She even said it was fine if they raped however they wanted.
For the commanders that had less control on their urges, this was an attractive proposition.
If they rendered any distinguished services in this fight, they would be promoted to Ogress nobles.

“However, only for three days after breaking through the capital city’s walls. Any person who continues beyond that point will be executed, no exceptions.”
Carrot and stick. It was very likely that nothing like this had ever been offered on the continent.
The morale of the Ogress soldiers that had, until the other day, been under Cordova’s command couldn’t raise any higher.
Ria’s great army of 400,000 advanced towards Cordova’s capital.