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

Chapter 181 The Battle of Chokepoint Peak (Part Two)
not good!

Fell into a trap!
The moment Gary saw flames spewing from the cannon barrel, his heart began to pound uncontrollably.

Without having time to ponder how those damned Imperial soldiers managed to transport the heavy artillery to that steep limestone peak, he immediately and quickly took cover in the surrounding bunkers.

Almost the instant he took cover, a barrage of artillery fire and the cracking of rocks erupted from the battlefield.

"Boom boom boom!"

Terrifying explosions, accompanied by the screams of soldiers, echoed across the battlefield, while at the same time, a dense rain began to pour down from the overcast sky.

Raindrops the size of peas kept hitting the broken rocks below, making crackling sounds and extinguishing the smoke that had just risen from the ground. They were then quickly shattered by the explosions of incoming shells.

The sounds of artillery fire, accompanied by the roar of thunder, echoed across the battlefield. By the time the artillery fire gradually subsided, the orc troops of the 112th Division, who had been banding together to consolidate their defenses and attempt to annihilate the enemy's decoy forces, had already been mostly wiped out by the artillery ambush.

Before Gary, heartbroken to the point of wanting to vomit blood, could order the army to reorganize its formation and attempt a surprise attack on the enemy troops hiding in the mountain caves, the decoy troops, who had been concealed in the bunkers, suddenly emerged and launched an attack on the remnants of the 112th Division.

"shooting!"

"Bang bang bang!"

Orange-yellow bullets tore through the rain and then swiftly struck the 112th Division, which was preparing to counterattack. Relying on a large number of grenades and ammunition that had been placed on the battlefield in advance, this decoy force, which was not accurate and whose combat power was far inferior to that of the orc legion, miraculously completed the fire suppression.

The orc soldiers, who had originally intended to climb the steep limestone peaks to destroy the enemy's heavy artillery, were forced to abandon their plans and instead helplessly hid behind the surrounding bunkers.

Damn!

Upon seeing this, Gary, who was in the center of the battlefield, immediately realized that with the enemy's tactic of unleashing massive amounts of ammunition, his side probably had no hope of destroying the heavy artillery.

If this drags on, and the enemy's heavy artillery finishes its next reloading, the 112th Division will likely face annihilation!
If only I could be a little calmer.

If one is not tempted by so-called merits.

If only I could be more vigilant.

The situation shouldn't have deteriorated to this point at all!
It's just that it's too late to say anything now.

Now that things have come to this, all I can do is lead my troops to a swift retreat.

But would the enemy, having already set up such an ambush, really let our side escape so easily?
Gary had no idea, but he could hear the final roars of his own soldiers before they died, and he could see the flesh and blood of his soldiers being splattered around them along with the debris from the explosion of the Imperial magic grenades.

He knew he had to make a decision.

"As the commander of the 112th Division and the last direct descendant of the Mad Fang Clan, I bear the mission of revitalizing the Mad Fang Clan!"

"Until we reclaim our glory, before we reclaim the Golden Lion Territory."

"I absolutely cannot die in a place like this!"

"We must not die in such a dishonorable and despicable ambush!"

Even if it means becoming a coward ridiculed by countless orcs.

"I must leave this world alive!"

"Live on, live on with everything you have!"

"Because only by living can there be hope!"

"Only by surviving this damned battlefield can the Mad Fang Clan secure a true future!"

Thinking of this, a resolute look flashed in Gary's eyes, and he no longer hesitated.

After bursting out of cover, he unleashed his amazing swordsmanship, which he was so proud of, slicing apart the grenades and bullets thrown by the enemy, and then, with a swift leap, beheaded several enemy soldiers who tried to stop him.

Then he channeled his magic power to activate the spell, and at the same time roared to the sky with all his might:
"All troops of the 112th Division, listen to my order and withdraw immediately!"

"Snapped!"

A transparent shock ring exploded outwards from Gary's body, and the terrifying sound waves, under the effect of the spell, continued to echo across the battlefield, even though the raindrops were now almost dense enough to form a straight line.

But it still couldn't drown out the roar that Gary unleashed under the blessing of the 'Command' spell.

Gary, having given the final orders, never looked at the enemy forces in the distance again.

Instead, he casually swung his knife to deflect all the incoming bullets, and then, without looking back, he and the guards who had appeared at some unknown time broke through to the outer perimeter of the battlefield under their escort in the continuous rain.

"despair!"

……

"Hmm? Instead of launching a full-scale attack despite their numerical advantage, they led their troops to retreat?"

Meanwhile, in the command tent deep within the dark corridor, John, who was planning the ambush on the 112th Division, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise as he looked at the map showing the enemy's movements in real time on the area of ​​interference from the lightning strikes.

He had assumed that the orcs, upon discovering they had been ambushed, would attempt a counterattack based on their orcish creed.

After all, compared to humans, the orcs of Saga Kingdom have received brainwashing education from childhood, which has made them value honor more than life itself.

On the battlefield, to flee instead of retaliating against an enemy's attack is a disgrace among disgrace.

Even if they return alive, they will be ridiculed and scorned by the other orcs, becoming isolated and eventually forced to apply for exile, becoming a wandering orc without any totem or faith.

Therefore, even John was quite surprised to find that the 112th Division had not launched an attack but instead decisively withdrew.

But he quickly calmed down and realized that this turn of events might be related to the enemy commander. He immediately used telepathy to give orders to his own sniper company, which was waiting above the clouds:

"Miles, immediately lead the sniper company to pursue the enemy and attempt to kill the 112th Division commander, forcing the enemy to launch a counterattack!"

"Yes, Commander!"

After issuing the order to intercept, John did not continue to focus his attention on this battlefield, but instead turned his attention to the other fronts of Chokepoint.

Compared to the good news of annihilating half of the enemy's division in this lightning ambush zone, on the main battlefield, due to insufficient troops and the truly lackluster combat strength of the Independent 3rd Division, the situation was dire.

The ambush site in the central area was now being pushed back uncontrollably by the attacks of the Fifth Army Corps and the 113th Division.

On the map, the area occupied by the enemy and our side has changed from a 50/50 split to a 60/40 split in less than an hour.

Furthermore, the speed at which the battle lines are shifting backward continues to increase over time.

However, John had anticipated this situation, as it was an undeniable fact that his regular troops were inferior to the enemy's, although micro-management could effectively suppress the enemy at this point.

But John knew this would only slightly slow the collapse of his own lines and wouldn't bring him much benefit. If he wanted to use his micro-management skills to achieve maximum success, he had to continue waiting.

Waiting for the right opportunity.

One opportunity that would allow him to eliminate a large number of enemies in a short period of time.

In his plan, that opportunity will arrive very soon!
Looking at the map, the special medical combat force led by Cambert, relying on the camouflage magic facilities captured in the previous battle against the Seventh Legion in Horseshoe Territory, was unknowingly infiltrating behind enemy lines, like an invisible ghost.

He was about to arrive at the location of the enemy forces that served as the communication hub of the legion, based on the wavelength corresponding to the Fifth Legion's communication device that he had previously intercepted in the town of Bahamut, using analytical formulas.

And the raid is about to be completed, leaving the enemy's communication capabilities temporarily paralyzed.

A cold glint flashed in John's eyes.

Before he could issue new orders to the Independent 3rd Division and its troops on the front lines, Lü Niebo's solemn voice suddenly rang in his mind.

John, upon hearing the message, was momentarily stunned:
"Commander, our forces have discovered an enemy reinforcement force of approximately three thousand men four kilometers outside the lightning ambush zone!"

"Furthermore, according to data calculations, the magic power of this unit is ten times that of an ordinary unit!"

"All of them are mid-level or higher mages, and according to the feedback from the magic power monitor, one of them has already reached the super-level in terms of magic power!"

"In conclusion, it can be determined that the enemy has deployed an elite force, and our heavy artillery regiment in the ambush zone is likely in trouble!"

"!"

how come?
Even though he had already interfered with the spatial coordinates by guiding lightning, Orion had no way of using teleportation magic to send his troops over.

Furthermore, with almost all of his magical soldiers deployed to the battlefield for observation missions, the enemy's movements are now almost entirely under his control.

If the other party had indeed used a teleportation spell, I should have been able to detect it beforehand!

In other words, this army could not possibly have appeared out of thin air!
The only explanation is that the enemy had already arrived in the vicinity before we officially launched the ambush on the 112th Division!
"!"

At that moment, as if he understood something, John suddenly turned his gaze to the center of the battle, staring intently at that spot, which should have been retreating like the other fronts since the start of the fighting.

But at this moment, they had only retreated less than two kilometers from the area where a regular squad was stationed.

John suddenly realized:

No wonder the collapse was so slow in this area, which was also defended by the Independent 3rd Division, compared to the other fronts.

If the enemy leaves their elite troops, which should have been advancing here, at their main camp, and only sends out a small number of soldiers to launch a feint attack, using vehicles and tactical concealment to give our side the illusion of a large force.

They also arranged a small team to set up coordinates near the 112th Division in advance, so that the 112th Division would fall into the trap without realizing it and try to set up an encirclement.

The enemy used the coordinates located outside the ambush point to immediately and silently teleport this elite force, along with the super-ranked mage, to the outskirts of the lightning ambush point.

Then they rushed to this battlefield.

Then all of this makes sense.

So, Roxie Sancaster, you never considered the 112th Division as your own troops from beginning to end, but rather as bait to lure me into a trap.

Is this a classic case of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?
They used a force of 1.5 men to lure and ambush the enemy.

That's incredibly bold and adventurous.

But that does suit your fighting style!

After quickly deducing Roxie's battle plan in his mind, even John couldn't help but secretly praise the other party.

John, however, knew that his heavy artillery units were about to suffer a fatal blow because of this suddenly arriving elite combat squad.

Instead of showing any panic or seriousness, he slowly curled a smile at the corner of his mouth.

And this smile grew even more intense as the elite troops approached the ambush point.

It even looked somewhat ferocious.

There was no other reason than that, within a cave less than five kilometers from the lightning ambush zone, he also possessed a trump card capable of dealing with this elite Allied force led by a super-powerful individual.

Although his initial plan for this unit was to have their own magic-based reconnaissance units locate the enemy's ammunition storage area, then proceed along the intricate network of underground rivers to strike the enemy's ammunition supply points.

This weakens the enemy's combat effectiveness and further narrows the gap between the two sides' frontline ordinary troops.

However, due to the concealment provided by the Fifth Legion's magical facilities, he has not yet located the enemy's core ammunition storage point, and therefore has not yet issued a corresponding combat mission to Roderick, who leads the Raider land and sea combat force and is also a super-level powerhouse.

Instead, they arranged for the enemy to wait outside the ambush zone, while guarding against unforeseen circumstances, such as the rain being delayed due to air currents and the lightning not falling at the expected time, which could allow Roxie to teleport across space after their heavy artillery regiment and 112 had engaged in combat.

This would provide a backup plan for the ambush and annihilation of the 112th Division, allowing for a flanking attack on the 112th Division and thus reducing the casualties of our heavy artillery regiment in this ambush.

John hadn't initially taken the latter's unexpected situation to heart.

After all, with the real-time data on air humidity and airflow direction provided by Lünebo, he was absolutely confident in calculating the timing of the lightning strike, given his analytical abilities.

Therefore, it is known that at the moment the 112th Division officially fell into the trap, Roxie absolutely did not have time to have Orion activate the teleportation spell.

More often than not, it was out of a conservative mindset that this ambush was a precautionary measure.

But to his surprise, this conservative instruction actually had an unexpected effect.

Although the purpose and process of reasoning differed, the results led to the same conclusion.

So, this time, I've finally been blessed by the goddess of fate after a long time?

"Of course, luck is also part of strength. Although I couldn't have predicted that you would retaliate in this way, even the goddess of fate has stood on my side this time. How are you going to defeat someone like me?"

"Rockish Sancaster?"

Seeing the red dots representing the enemy's elite troops steadily approaching the ambush zone, John, without hesitation, immediately used telepathy to give the order to Colonel Roderick, who was waiting in the cave area:

"Colonel Roderick, immediately lead troops to provide support. Target: Lightning Ambush Zone!"

"Yes, Commander!"

……

(End of this chapter)