Chapter 5 When Everything Begins
"So, the scout has found the positions of those struggling worms."
The blue-haired maiden turns her face to notice the falling of the last drop of the river water from her foot.
"That is correct, General Esdeath. From the information gathered by our scouts, the remnant forces are all hiding in the Elder Basin."
A middle-aged man with silver hair turns his body to answer to this general in a respectful manner.
"You are still not getting it, are you? Liver, those are just the last of the revolution forces, you would just need to send the striking unit to eliminate them easily."
Esdeath continues to play with the water droplets in her hands with a sound of indifference.
"Even though our forces can destroy the enemy remnants completely, we should still plan to minimize the loss of our soldiers on the battle field."
Liver knows the personality of the Empire's Greatest. Comparing to General Budo, however, this woman has a personality that is at least ten times weirder.
What Esdeath believes is the classical Law of the Jungle.
"If they are weak, then there is no reason for them to live. For a soldier, dying on the battle field is always better than other places."
That is totally going to hurt the feelings of her subordinates.
"However, Elder Basin… Interesting, I heard that it is a beautiful place. Maybe I can set up a torture chamber there, once we are done."
Standing up from the river, Esdeath gently puts on her boots, fixes her cap, and smiles at Liver.
"Just send our strike force, Liver."
"As you command, General Esdeath."
Straightens up his body, Liver walks back toward the tents.
"Another battle, isn't it… No, this is a massacre. It feels… not so bad after all."
Watching Liver disappears in the distance, Esdeath slowly licks her lips.
…
"It is rather foolish to view this as a battle. What comes next is a total massacre. This is why I have decided to create this plan."
Hei looks at the officers sitting around him in the main tent.
The monotone with a clear meaning of suppression comes out of his mouth. Undoubtedly, Hei is telling everyone to prepare for the worst.
The officers are clearly disturbed by his words. After all, this depressed statement is damaging the revolutionary army's morale – even though it is a complete truth.
If a regular soldier in the army decides to speak out like Hei did, then he would definitely be punished for disrupting the fighting morale; however, when facing Hei, nothing can be done, because he is the key person to win this impossible war. This feeling where you need to obey the orders from the one who is clearly using you is very, very unsatisfying.
"Sir! Our scout has discovered a large group of empire soldiers at the entrance of the basin!"
"Oh? They have passed the canyon already?"
General Hector frowns at the oncoming report.
"Yes, sir. They have passed the canyon completely. From the looks of the first wave, there are about five to six thousand troops."
Silence follows.
When facing an army ten times larger than yours, what can you do with a pitiful number of five hundred soldiers?
"Divide your forces into three sections. Utilize the environment to carry out separate guerilla warfares. After successfully drawing the enemy attention, gather all of them on the western side of the giant rock."
Explaining his orders, Hei carefully watches the facial expressions of everyone in the tent.
"When you reach the western side," he takes out a small container from his pocket, "use this device to shoot a signal into the sky."
"What is this? Can you even see this device in the middle of the heavy fog?"
An officer receives the container from Hei's hands, and questions the liability of Hei's device.
"The distance between the giant rock and the forest here is no more than forty kilometers. Do not question the device in your hands. Pay extreme attention to this container. Once you arrive the location, shake the bottle thoroughly, and open the cap. The device will send a noticeable signal into the sky. Upon seeing the prompt, I will continue with the plan."
Looking at this doubtful officer, Hei answers his question emotionlessly.
"Any questions?"
Hei glances around the tent.
…
"This is it! Let us ride to battle! Our very last battle! My comrades! Victory to the revolution!"
General Hector rises his right arm, and shouts out the battle cry with all his might.
"Victory to the revolution! Victory to the revolution! Victory to the revolution…"
The statement ignites the last match in every single soldier's heart. Similar to an adrenaline rush, the words of their beloved general is leading them to their honorable future.
"Victory indeed." Hei complies.