Chapter Ninety-Five: Tactical Simulation

After a night of rest, Kevin woke up under his wagon and urged his donkey forward to continue the journey. He signaled his parrot in the air to descend, reporting the previous day's combat results while requesting further instructions.

Last night, Kevin had single-handedly taken out one demon scout and three elven scouts. Added to the wolf rider leader he killed during the day, Kevin had eliminated five enemies in a single day. Each of them was significantly stronger than him; even setting aside the tactical parameters, none were weaker than him in terms of raw ability.

With such a performance, even if Kevin were to die right now, his contribution to the exercise would be immense. As the Red Army, they relied on superior numbers to offset their inferior quality compared to the Blue Army. Now that Kevin had traded himself for five, there was nothing more to be said.

Even his own communications department found it hard to believe and demanded a detailed account of his kills. Kevin, feeling helpless, explained that the beastman scout had been crushed by the tilt-adjustment mechanism of his catapult, and the three elves had been lured in front of his wagon lights, blinded, and then easily dispatched.

The only disappointment was that Kevin had nothing to show for it. After looting the "corpses," he found only some dried meat. Scouts by nature were engaged in extremely dangerous work; they carried only the essentials, a principle maintained even during training exercises. Kevin, however, was not short on dried meat, as his catapult provided ample storage, enough to last until the end of the exercise.

The report was delivered to the staff officer of the Thunder Knights; such a minor matter was not enough to trouble the Red Army's commander. At the time, however, the staff officer was busy with the Third Battalion on the other side of the frozen zone and had no interest in commanding Kevin. He simply replied, "Use your own judgment."

Kevin immediately asked, "Please tell me the current combat situation and landscape."

The staff officer felt annoyed; despite Kevin’s five kills, he still considered him useless, believing his success was merely due to cheap tricks that could not influence the overall situation. His command to "use his own judgment" meant he should just stay put and stay out of the way.

"The situation is complex and difficult to explain," the officer replied dismissively.

"Then explain it as simply as possible," Kevin persisted. Being alone, cut off from any support, and without prisoners to interrogate, he felt unable to contribute to the rapidly changing battlefield.

"Listen!" the officer snapped. "I don't need to report anything to you! Act according to your surroundings. If you can't decide, stay where you are!"

Kevin looked at the parrot and changed his tone: "Hey, I'm talking to you now. Can you tell me some basic information?" Communication between the two was conducted through a contract between a mage and the parrot. Kevin spoke to the bird, the officer spoke to the mage, and the contract acted as a conduit. Kevin was now trying to address the conduit directly.

The communications mage understood Kevin's intent, but he was not familiar with him and could not disobey orders from his superior. He could only express his apologies and regret.

Left with no choice, Kevin realized he could not defy orders and, lacking his own means of communication, had no choice but to pull his wagon onward and try his luck.

Suddenly, his raven descended from the sky and landed lightly on a branch ahead. It had been patrolling the area since yesterday; it was the one that had first spotted the demon scout. Though it could not speak, Kevin could understand its gestures.

"You want me to follow you?" Kevin asked.

The raven flew ahead a short distance and landed again. Kevin understood; smart people needed few words. He pulled his donkey and followed the bird.

The grass here was dense. In March, new growth mingled with withered grass, and the ground was pockmarked with holes. The elf from yesterday had stepped in mud, which had ended up all over Kevin's bedding. Even with his five-wheel setup, Kevin had to occasionally stop to push the wagon or wedge boards under the wheels to prevent slipping. A standard catapult would have been completely unable to traverse this terrain.

The catapult moved slowly until noon, when two guards suddenly jumped out from ahead: "Halt!"

Kevin quickly dismounted: "Friendly forces! Catapult captain of the Red Army's Thunder Knights!"

"I know," the guard replied, "but there is an important base ahead. If a wagon as large as yours enters, we will all be exposed."

Kevin fell silent, acknowledging the logic. He immediately changed his question: "I've been traveling alone and am unaware of the situation. Can you tell me anything? What is the current status?"

"We don't know the situation either," the guard replied. "We only stand guard. Why would we care about the overall situation?"

"..."

Kevin proposed another suggestion: "How about this? I'll go in alone and leave the wagon here."

The guard frowned: "We have received no orders to let anyone in. I'm sorry."

"Then report it to your superior?" Kevin asked.

The guard was clearly impatient: "Sorry, no entry allowed here, only exit, unless there is an order from above."

Kevin was startled: "Is this headquarters?" He subconsciously looked back at the raven. *Impressive bird, finding headquarters like this.*

"Please leave immediately," the guard said sternly, closing the conversation.

Kevin did not linger and began to head back. The raven landed gently on his shoulder. Kevin comforted it: "Don't be discouraged. We really did overstep our responsibilities. Strategic planning isn't something a catapult captain should concern himself with; it was a bit presumptuous to comment on military affairs."

"Like them, just standing guard mindlessly—that is the mark of a good subordinate," Kevin sighed. "I understand how those officers feel, but unfortunately, I don't want to be an ordinary soldier."

After walking a distance, seeing no one around, Kevin sat on the wagon and pulled out a map to ponder. The exercise location had been decided beforehand, and Kevin had obtained a map, though it was not a military-grade one, and some markings were likely inaccurate. He was not qualified to possess a true military map.

"We are here, and yesterday we were there, where we encountered the 'Thousand-Mile Frost,'" Kevin muttered to himself, pointing at the map. The raven watched intently.

"I only encountered one frozen area, but surely the enemy wouldn't stop at just one. You've scouted most of it by now, haven't you?" Kevin asked. "Help me mark it."

The raven turned its head, seemingly hesitant.

"Come on, stop pretending," Kevin said, scattering some rice on the map. "Just peck at the rice."

The raven immediately lowered its head and pecked out a line on the map. The bird was strange; Kevin knew it possessed intelligence, yet it insisted on acting like an ordinary raven.

Kevin looked at the line, deep in thought: "So, the entire area has been cut off? When the 'Thousand-Mile Frost' was cast, rear supplies couldn't have crossed the frozen line that quickly. If the cavalry moved fast, perhaps they got through. Many must have frozen to death in the middle."

"So, what is our general's countermeasure?" Kevin tried to simulate the logic. "I haven't seen any air combat. Have they abandoned air superiority? Then how will the two sides connect?"

"Since the enemy used a linear forbidden spell to intercept, it's unlikely they could bypass it, or that there are gaps in the middle. With air superiority lost, it seems tunneling is the only way. The Red Army doesn't have teleportation technology," Kevin reasoned. "But if I can figure this out, the Blue Army commander should be able to as well."

"To counter tunneling, the simplest way would be another earthquake spell, but it hasn't been cast yet. Why?" Kevin asked himself. "Is the cooldown for the giant staff that long? Did our cavalry successfully harass them? Are they holding back on purpose? Did the directors set conditions for balance?"

Kevin lacked many details and was unfamiliar with large-scale command, so he could only simulate based on the patterns he knew. He was aware his perspective was limited, but regardless of the grand strategy, his catapult was now in a bind.

The biggest problem was that it couldn't pass. Even if the general planned to tunnel, efficiency dictated that it would only be for personnel, or at most, horses. A tunnel large enough for a catapult would be too extravagant. The Red Army had no teleportation; using a "Scorched Earth" spell to counter the "Thousand-Mile Frost" was only theoretically possible, and it would mean competing with the enemy's forbidden spells—a losing battle given their relative weakness.

Kevin thought for a long time but could not find an effective solution. If the catapult couldn't pass, it couldn't reach the front line, and Kevin was not satisfied with just killing a few scouts.

Unable to take the catapult, Kevin decided to operate alone. He had the raven find a hollow in a nearby cliff, pulled the catapult inside, and cut down branches to camouflage the entrance. By the time he finished, the sun was setting.

Kevin chewed on some dried meat, took only his essential gear, and traveled light. If the catapult were discovered and destroyed, it would be his bad luck, but doing something was better than sitting idle.

Night deepened. On the surface, the battle between the Red and Blue forces had yet to officially begin. The Red Army had lost nearly all air superiority, leaving their actions exposed to the enemy. Even with efforts to hide and create decoys, moving such large numbers of troops was difficult.

Meanwhile, the Blue Army adopted a strategy of avoiding direct combat. The Red Army's supplies were struggling; the vanguard troops only had a few days' worth of dried meat. If they went hungry for three or five days, their combat effectiveness would naturally decline. The region was not barren, but it couldn't support such a large army unless they resorted to eating bark and grass roots.

However, if an exercise were to devolve into that, it would be absurd. The directors would make a clear judgment. In actual combat, willpower might allow soldiers to exceed human limits, but in an exercise, these were just empty words.

On the other side, the Red Army had successfully dug three tunnels, but they had intentionally left a short section at the far exit, ensuring they could be opened instantly if needed while remaining unused for now. The troops that had already crossed the frozen zone began to scatter, scouting, setting decoys, and laying traps in an orderly fashion.

Decoys were one of the best tactics in military exercises because you couldn't actually blow up facilities; you could only place signs. When there were enough decoys, the real army could hide among them, making it nearly impossible to distinguish reality from fiction.

That day, no large-scale battle occurred, only minor skirmishes between parrots. Under the calm surface, deep currents were flowing.

At night, Kevin climbed to the top of a mountain near the frozen zone, about four or five hundred meters high. The wind howled at the summit, and the view below was pitch black. There was no moonlight, and a light rain began to fall.

Kevin felt irritated; the rain made everything damp. Finding no place to sleep, he sat on a rock. Looking at the sky, he calculated the time: it was early March, spring, and rain was normal—there might even be spring thunder.

At the thought of thunder, Kevin shuddered. In a thunderstorm, could the enemy's air units fly? Whether it was Pegasus knights or wyvern riders, being struck by lightning and falling from the sky meant certain death. In real combat, they might risk it, but in an exercise, that was impossible. This meant that once the thunderstorm hit, both sides would lose air superiority. The Red Army, having more troops, would naturally have the advantage and likely win if they attacked. This seemed to explain why the Blue Army was waiting for the Red Army to starve, while the Red Army was waiting for the thunderstorm.

Kevin had been confused as to why the staff officer ordered the Thunder Knights to occupy an open field. While cavalry excelled in open fields, it left them exposed to aerial or long-range spell attacks. Kevin hadn't had time to question it, but now it seemed the general had planned for the thunderstorm all along.

But was the Blue Army truly unaware? Kevin performed a reverse simulation. Both sides were familiar with each other's tactics. The high-ranking generals should have far more tactical knowledge than a half-baked soldier like him.

If the Blue Army knew the Red Army's tactics and wanted to break them, they would have to strike early. Kevin checked the calendar and the sky; the spring thunder would likely arrive within a day or two. Since the Blue Army had sent out scouts the night before, perhaps the best time to strike was now?

Looking down at the mountain, he suddenly saw white light flickering from several large magical teleportation arrays. Although they had been covered with branches and leaves to hide the light, they were clearly visible from his vantage point. One by one, squads of troops flashed out from the arrays and disappeared into the pitch-black night.