I Became the Commander in a Trash Game Who Copies Skills-Chapter 119 : Chapter 119

Chapter 119. To the East (4)
I had once watched a movie about the Imjin War.
It was a movie that had ignited the patriotism of the audience, surpassing ten million viewers at the time. Perhaps because of that, even though I watched it quite a long time ago, a few scenes remain in my memory.
The most impressive was the cannon.
The scene where the sailors struggled to load the cannon, and in the tilting ship, clung to the cannon to prevent it from recoiling and aimed the barrel.
My cousin, who watched the movie with me, laughed and said, ‘You should never go into the artillery.’
When I asked why, he said that my back and knees would all be ruined from carrying shells, just like in that movie.
As a vigorous teenage student preparing for a physical education college entrance exam, I dismissed his words as a joke. Whether by chance or fate, I ended up in the artillery and eventually had an accident.
I don’t know if that memory made me have more affection for the artillery corps.
Anyway, what cannot be denied despite all that hardship is that carrying shells is the most subsidiary task in the artillery corps.
The most important virtue for the artillery corps is accuracy.
Through pre-observed information, they grasp the enemy's location and actions, and after thorough yet swift calculations, they strike the enemy with the correct firing angle and timing. This bombardment is the very reason for the artillery corps’ existence.
[[Battlefield-Overlooking Gaze] is deployed.]
For reference, my existence allows me to get one of observation and calculation for free.
“Fire.”
“Fire!”
“2nd Artillery Corps, fire!”
Kwagwang! Kwagwagwang-!
[1st and 2nd Artillery Corps deploy [Consecrated Cannon].]
[1st and 2nd Artillery Corps deploy [Suppressive Fire].]
The roar of cannons shakes the ground.
The sound of shells falling tickles the ears.
Impact and explosion.
And.
Thud-!!
Pillars of light shoot up in unison from beyond the fortress walls.
I can see the undead melting away on the map in my head.
This is because the Vampiric Bat I had sent flying high into the sky beforehand is watching every move of the enemy beyond the walls.
The number of undead fallen in one barrage is about eight hundred.
Dudududu….
They are moving.
No matter how much of a corpse they are, they are not foolish enough to just stand there and take the incoming artillery fire.
Of course, with the aerial reconnaissance of the Vampiric Bat, all their routes are clearly visible to my eyes.
Watching them move between the buildings inside the walls, I pointed at the map with my fingertip.
Bart, who was looking at the map with me, finished his calculations in an instant and relayed them to William.
He shouted.
“Deflection three-two-seven-seven! Elevation nine-five-zero!”
“Deflection three-two-seven-seven!”
“Elevation nine-five-zero!”
Correction of direction and angle.
And fire again.
Kwagwagwang-!
This time, about a thousand.
We wiped out more than half of them in two barrages.
The artillery corps’ role ends here.
The expedition is long, and the shells are limited.
Until we conquer enough of the Vampire Archduchy’s territory and create a supply base, we must conserve our shells.
Of course, even without the artillery corps, the expeditionary force’s strength is sufficient.
Puuuuu-
The 1st Battalion goes ahead with ladders.
The 2nd Battalion provides support fire from behind.
I gave battering rams to the 3rd and 4th Battalions.
They will attack the gate.
“Battalion Commander? Battalion Commander Randal!”
Perhaps frustrated by the slowly advancing battering ram, a small incident occurred where the battalion commander ran out towards the gate first.
Well, it probably doesn't matter.
He's no different from a human battering ram.
“Charge-!”
[[Commander’s Roar] is deployed.]
I also charged, leading the Church Army and my personal guard.
The most convenient thing when fighting vampires is the absence of enemy ranged troops.
The only ranged unit is the skeleton archer, but they often just split the air with shooting skills that would put the white-suited infantry of a certain sci-fi movie to shame.
They might be threatening if they were gathered in a large group to form a beaten zone, but there aren’t that many in this fortress.
The vampire necromancers who would replace them with spells are also not in sufficient numbers here.
As I had coordinated with the Duke beforehand, all vampires above a certain level have withdrawn.
Crack! Thump!
“Battalion Commander!”
“Let’s go-!”
Glancing at Randal breaking the wall, I stood before it.
No ladder is needed.
[[Earth Flow Reversal] is deployed.]
I climbed onto the mound of earth that shot up and landed on top of the wall.
I split a skeleton soldier with the tip of my sword, putting my weight into it.
Kwaduk!
After confirming that the ghost fire in its empty eye sockets went out, I pushed it off the wall.
A chilling wind blew past.
Instinctively, I held my staff forward.
[[Barrier] is deployed.]
Kiaaaaaa!!
A Banshee.
A spirit-type unit that lets out a cursed scream.
The Banshee’s scream doesn’t cause much direct damage, but it shakes the semicircular canals and disrupts one’s sense of balance.
A long time ago, I stepped on a trap that had recorded that scream when I was breaking through Tribus’s dungeon.
It was fine back then because it was a trap, but not in a battle like this.
These debuff-type units are the enemies that must be dealt with first.
[[Holy Aura] is deployed.]
Kyaaaaaak-!
After giving it a death scream with a pure white burning aura, I looked down at the inside of the wall.
In the meantime, the 3rd and 4th Battalions, which had broken through the gate, were clashing with the enemy.
It wasn't a melee.
Even as the zombies and skeletons charged, swinging their arms and weapons, the soldiers' formations held firm.
It was a sight that showed their training had not been in vain.
[The Halberdier Squad deploys [Spear Wall].]
[The Greatsword Squad deploys [Flank Strike: Harvest].]
The halberdiers form a defensive wall at the very front.
The greatswordsmen protrude to both sides, lopping off the heads of zombies.
The 4th Battalion takes the rear.
This unit, once led by Olif, is mainly composed of light cavalry.
For reference, after Olif took command of the knight order, I had them carry rifles instead of long spears.
In a word, dragoons.
[The 4th Battalion deploys [Mounted Shooting].]
[[Warrior’s Insight] is deployed.]
[Skill acquired.]
[Imperial Dragoon Doctrine (Level 1)]
Tatadadadang!
Shooting from horseback is a high-level skill, but a gun is much easier than a bow.
In the first place, unless you are a nomad like Genghis Khan’s Mongolian army, who ride horses from the age of three or four, training skilled horse archers is not cost-effective.
Guns are different.
Riding is difficult, but marksmanship is relatively simple.
Especially on horseback, the high ground advantage makes it good for utilizing the benefits of direct-fire weapons.
The only drawback is being an easy target for ranged units….
There’s one right there.
A lesser vampire is targeting a cavalryman.
He took out a javelin.
The moment I saw that, I kicked off the wall and jumped.
[[Miracle: Steps of Faith] is deployed.]
[[Miracle: Surging Strength] is deployed.]
[[Wind Spirit's Aid] is deployed.]
It wasn’t just internal affairs that I poured my strength into over the past year.
While developing the territory and training the army, I also continued my personal training without stopping.
Because in this world, a commander’s competence doesn’t end with planning and executing operations.
Beheading the enemy commander is often the commander’s role.
Plugging the holes when variables arise is also a commander’s virtue.
Of course, I can win without doing so.
By providing appropriate training guidance during peacetime and issuing commands from the rear on the battlefield, I could win most wars.
But.
‘It won’t work against the boss-level crises of the World Scenario.’
Beings that overturn the battlefield itself.
The very ones who are commonly called OP factions and gave the developers nicknames like ‘elf lover’ or ‘rat enthusiast.’
When the main story of the war, where they sweep across the entire continent, begins, the concept of a rear on the battlefield disappears.
My goal is to survive.
Even on that fierce battlefield.
I trained like tempering steel for this, but I felt a lack.
A feeling as if I was blocked by a very thin wall.
I know how to break it.
Most of the skills that blossomed through [Warrior’s Insight] were from reading the memories of those skills in actual combat.
Come to think of it, even before it changed, I could only acquire skills in actual combat.
Now, as friend and foe clash fiercely.
It is the moment to break the wall.
[[Warrior’s Insight] is deployed.]
[Exploring the origin of [Wind Spirit's Aid].]
Wind gathered at my feet.
Feeling a soft sensation as if stepping on an air mattress filled with wind, I leaped again.
My falling speed noticeably decreased as my body accelerated forward.
Memories I had never experienced seep into my mind.
[[Wind Spirit's Aid] is deployed.]
[[Warrior’s Insight] is deployed.]
Thousands of years ago.
The bond between elves and spirits began when the daughter of an elven chieftain, who had slipped and fallen from a cliff, was helped by a spirit.
The chief’s guard, who secretly admired her, jumped down the cliff to save her.
The wind spirit who saw this scene supported him, breaking the spirits’ taboo.
[[Wind Spirit's Aid] is deployed.]
Fwiiii-!
The wind steals a drop of sweat.
I think I can hear a question in my ear.
‘Do you want to save them?’
‘The person on the horse?’
‘Is it that person who smells of volcanoes?’
I answer the questions that pour out like auditory hallucinations.
‘Yes.’
The voice giggled.
Paaang-!
I accelerate.
The air pushes off my toes, launching my body.
Like jumping with springs attached to my feet, I repeatedly leaped in mid-air, closing the distance of nearly a hundred meters in an instant.
The vampire looked at me, startled.
The tip of the spear he was about to throw at the cavalryman pointed towards me.
My feet touched the ground.
[[Warrior’s Insight] is deployed.]
[Exploring the origin of [Shield].]
Hundreds of years ago, in the dawn of magic.
A spell created by a nameless high-ranking magician who saw his young disciples lose their lives in vain on the battlefield.
Despite being a high-ranking magician, he took 10 years to create this spell.
Just as writing an easy-to-read book requires a laborious process of revision.
The mana flow is simple, the structure is simple, and the implementation is also not difficult.
Even young mages could now protect themselves.
[[Shield] is deployed.]
[[Warrior’s Insight] is deployed.]
Thunk!
The javelin bounces off the thick mana shield.
I draw my sword and charge forward.
The vampire roared like a beast.
Among the lower-class individuals, those who cannot cast spells tend to have excellent physical abilities.
Kujik! Ppudeudeuk!
Like this.
They often transform into the form of a monster.
The vampire, transformed into a three-meter-tall monster that was a mix of bat, human, and troll, roared.
It doesn't matter.
I close the distance.
The history of fighting them is infused in my swordsmanship.
[[Imperial Knight Swordsmanship] is deployed.]
[[Warrior’s Insight] is deployed.]
The steps of a knight, like a hunter.
The old knight who protected the people of his manor must have fought such monsters countless times.
I avoid the sharp fingers at the end of the membranous wings and land a stab.
The holy aura makes a hole in its side, and its intestines spill out.
As the screaming creature turns, I carve out its waist as if peeling an apple.
I sever the spine of the fallen creature.
Kwajik!
I crush the skull of a skeleton soldier.
Crack-
With the captured poleaxe, I split the side of a zombie.
I slaughter the enemies before me.
I survey the battlefield with the map in my head.
The soldiers and commanders, who had perfectly memorized the plan, captured the fortress on their own without separate orders.
A product of years of training, I suppose.
I would issue orders if necessary, but seeing them now, it seems there's no need.
In that case, there is only one thing for me to do.
I raised my sword in the middle of the enemy camp.
[[Warrior’s Insight] is deployed.]
[Exploring the origin of [Miracle: Steps of Faith].]
[Exploring the origin of [Miracle: Surging Strength].]
[Exploring the origin of [Miracle: Blessing].]
[Exploring the origin of [Miracle: Dawn’s Vitality].]
A bright light illuminated one side of Randel Fortress in pure white.
* * *
Two months.
The expeditionary force captured 3 fortresses and 1 city.
The conquered land was twice the size of the Wolfskrig Viscounty.