Second Arc (His Art of War) – 21. A Failed Infiltration

The sun had begun leaning to the West signifying the day was late, but Commander Irwin had not found a way to release the hostages, they even couldn't move or check the situation around them. Every time one of them made a movement, Euphorion's archers shot their arrow and killed him. Whereas they couldn't attack since the Euphorion had hostages. Commander Irwin glanced around him as he kept thinking hard about how he could get past it. The situation was worse than he had to deal with rebels. The rebels still could be invited to negotiate but the other kingdom army couldn't. Since they were the same as him, the king's order was absolute and non-negotiable.

Flare noticed Commander Irwin's uneasy expression.
"Getting impatient, Commander?" she teased.

Commander Irwin snorted in annoyance.
'There is nothing I can do for now.'
"Barrier!" he ordered.

Asterian magic users created a protective wall around them, while Flare pressed her chakram into the mayor's neck, her eyes focused on the Asterian army's movement.

"We will meet again, Miss General," Commander Irwin said, turning the reins. Then he gave another order.
"Retreat!" he ordered.

They spurred their horses away from Southpoint Town.
"Commander, what should we do?" asked one of his troops.

"We will build our camp nearby. Tonight we will attack them again."
'I just hope that they do nothing to the civilians,' thought Commander Irwin.

Meanwhile, after the Asterian army moved away, Flare gave an order.
"Follow them, report if they make any suspicious movements."

"Right away, General," they answered and left. Flare lowered her chakram and turned her gaze to the other members of her army.
"Bring the mayor back and take good care of him," she ordered.

"Yes, General," they answered, then they brought the mayor back to the town hall.

She sighed as she remembered the king's orders.
'Casualties are inevitable in war, but I want you to minimize unnecessary sacrifices. Especially the civilians who don't know anything. They should not suffer from the consequences of their king's crimes.'

"I'll try my best, Your Majesty," she muttered.

The sky turned dark, Commander Irwin and his trusted troops sneaked between the bushes not far from the North wall of Southpoint Town. His eyes paid attention to the Euphorion troops who were guarding the city walls. They planned to sneak in and open the gate for the rest of his troops who had been waiting in the forest near the north gate. He had also ordered some of them to make a fuss near the South gate by luring some monsters as a diversion.

Shortly the guards who were on the city wall turned their gaze towards the South gate then ran towards it. After they felt safe, Commander Irwin and his troops approached the wall carefully. But just a few steps after he came out of his hiding place suddenly two fire chakrams flew toward him. He managed to avoid one of them but the other one injured his hand. The chakrams returned to their owners.
"Commander, I didn't expect you to return so soon," said Flare who was standing in the tower nearby.

'Didn't I assign the others to make a diversion?' thought Commander Irwin.

"Do you want to know where your troops are? They are all dead. You can collect their bodies in front of the South gate," said Flare casually, one of her hands twirling her chakram. She turned her gaze to Commander Irwin.
"But if you don't leave soon, I'm afraid you will need to collect more corpses," she stopped her hand movements. The Euphorion archers appeared from behind the stone fence walls and fired their arrows at them.

They quickly took out their sword and brushed off their arrows.
"Retreat!" ordered Commander Irwin.

They retreated and fled towards the forest.
'How could she know my plan? I think I have no choice than waiting for reinforcements to arrive,' he thought.