I, who was eager to retire, became an Imperial General.

Chapter 156 Giant Waves and Overt Schemes

"So, including the magic soldiers, our current forces only have four thousand men left?"

The next morning, on the eastern plains of Horseshoe City, inside an armored vehicle carrying Imperial troops who were orderly withdrawing to the eastern part of Horseshoe Territory, John, who had successfully rendezvoused with the Imperial troops, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise as he listened to Samuel's report on the battle damage.

To be honest, our troops have suffered more casualties than John had anticipated.

After all, when he personally intervened on the battlefield and performed micro-management, his own troops still numbered around six thousand.

As a result, after the evacuation and regrouping were completed, the number of people decreased by one-third.

However, John could accept this result, since Frank's command ability was such that such losses to his own troops were to be expected.

Although this news was not good news for him.

"Sir John, what should we do next?"

Inside the armored vehicle, looking at John before him, Samuel felt a mixture of admiration and apprehension.

Unlike the others, after learning that his side had won the Battle of Horseshoe Ridge with the advantage of being outnumbered and had gained the upper hand on the main battlefield, Samuel thought that John would try to use the mobility of his troops to defeat the enemy one by one.

Upon receiving the sudden order to retreat, and specifically to head towards the eastern coast, Samuel realized that the war was likely to end in defeat for his side.

But out of respect for this exceptionally intelligent commander, he suppressed his unease and, after a brief moment of thought, gritted his teeth and spoke:

“Sir John, although under your command we have eliminated more than half of the enemy forces, the Allied forces still far outnumber us. In a direct confrontation, we will probably find it difficult to defeat them.”

"So, if all else fails, I can arrange for the suicide squad members to hold off the enemy's pursuit in advance, and then I will work with the members of the magic force to break through the enemy's blockade in the southern evacuation zone and head to Mad Fang City to seek support from Lieutenant General Dolan."

"If you, as the leader of this campaign, can survive, then I believe the Empire's campaign in Faoken will surely succeed..."

But before Samuel could finish speaking, John interrupted with a smile:

"No need for that, Colonel Samuel. You must understand that on the battlefield, appropriate concessions do not signify defeat, but rather are a means to achieve victory."

"The enemy has already set up traps to ambush us in the areas where we are withdrawing. In addition, there is a surprise attack force that the enemy has secretly planted to launch an attack on our army. This means that we are already surrounded by the enemy."

"Therefore, retreating rashly towards Mad Fang City would be completely pointless, except for causing our army to suffer more casualties."

"Besides, didn't I already say before that I would bring victory to the Empire and not keep this glory to myself? So you don't need to worry about breaking out. Just follow my orders and keep moving forward."

“I understand, Your Excellency John, but…”

“No buts, Samuel. After all these battles, do you really think I, John Maslow, am a fool who can’t grasp the situation on the battlefield?”

Meeting Samuel's astonished gaze, John smiled slightly, then a confident smile slowly spread across his lips before he uttered a sentence that instantly plunged Samuel into deep thought:

"As I said before, Samuel, you and everyone else, you don't need to think about anything. Just follow my instructions firmly."

"My purpose has never been limited to one battlefield, and I will never allow myself to remain completely stationed on the Faoken front."

"My goal with this Allied force was never to defeat them."

"Instead, we must completely annihilate this enemy force that threatens the Empire's expansion plans on the Faoken front!"

"This is the goal I truly want to achieve!"

Seeing Samuel's astonished expression, John, sitting inside the armored vehicle, slowly interlaced his fingers on his knees, as if he could see the hellish scene he had envisioned coming. The smile on his face gradually turned cold and ruthless.

Although his tone was perfectly calm, what Samuel heard next sent a chill down his spine.

“Fauken is indeed a nice bay, but Colonel Samuel, don’t you think the waves here are a little too calm?”

Seeing Samuel's seemingly enlightened expression, John calmly looked at the map of Fauken hanging in front of the armored vehicle, his gaze fixed on the area his forces were about to reach. He then added meaningfully:

"Therefore, it's time for us to stir up a storm for these ignorant Allied forces."

"That's right, a colossal wave, powerful enough to engulf the entire Farokon front!"

"...So, the enemy didn't choose to break out towards Mad Fang City, but instead chose to head east?"

Meanwhile, inside an armored vehicle chasing behind the Imperial forces, Frank, the Allied commander, raised an eyebrow in surprise upon hearing the real-time report from the scouts.

Because things didn't turn out the way he expected.

He had assumed that after John Maslow was forced to abandon command of the main battlefield due to his disciple's surprise attack, he would choose to lead his troops to completely withdraw from Horseshoe Territory.

This played right into the trap that he had arranged for Leon to set up in southern Faoken.

In this way, he only needs to issue an encirclement order to the Independent Fourth Brigade led by Leon, and he can restrict the enemy's most relied-upon magic force to ground combat by limiting the anti-magic device and affecting the magic interference device.

Thus, by using firepower that is several times greater than that of the enemy, they could attempt to annihilate this troublesome imperial force and thereby achieve victory in the war.

Given the current disparity in troop strength between the two sides, the other side has no choice at all.

This is the fundamental reason why he was able to remain calm even though he had already lost most of his troops.

Because what he threw out was not a trap, but a calculated move against the other side.

If the other side chooses to retreat, they will arrive at a dead end from which they cannot escape.

Subsequently, surrounded by their own troops, they were forced to reduce their forces until they suffered a complete defeat.

However, if they choose to break out, they will face an attack from their own army and pre-arranged restrictive equipment.

The other side will at least suffer incalculable damage in this targeted ambush.

And they also have to endure follow-up attacks from their own side.

No matter what decision the other party makes, defeat is inevitable.

This is a blatant conspiracy, and a reality that John Maslow had to accept.

Logically speaking, if the other party is intelligent, they would choose to break through in order to protect themselves.

But the decision the other party has made is somewhat unexpected by Frank.

Therefore, the other side intends to completely abandon the Imperial Army by using the flying ability of the magic soldiers to escape, thus completing their escape.

Or is it that the other side has prepared a backup plan in advance along the eastern coast, and did so in order to try to launch a counterattack?

Frank was more inclined to believe the former.

After all, before issuing this encirclement plan, he had already inquired about the situation with the orc naval forces in Crescent Strait through his liaison. He learned that the Imperial Navy was currently engaged in battle with his side and that it would take at least three days to reach the northern waters of Faoken.

That's why he made that aggressive decision.

In other words, the enemy simply cannot obtain support from the Imperial Third Navy at coastal locations.

"Therefore, the scales of victory will surely fall into the hands of the Kingdom of Victoria!"

Frank chuckled softly and murmured something, then, meeting the astonished gaze of his deputy beside him, he calmly stroked his beard before issuing the order in a composed tone:

"All troops, continue to advance on the Imperial forces."

"After forcing the enemy to the Starry Coast, await my command to launch an attack."

"Our goal this time is to completely annihilate the enemy!"

"Leave no one behind!"

"Yes, General!"

……

(End of this chapter)