I’m a Rebel in Another World

Chapter 18: Meritorious Service and Setting Traps!

Seeing the Allied Forces' scouting cavalry retreat, Fabio at the front of the formation couldn't help but sigh in relief.

These thousand-plus cavalry weren't actual cavalry troops, but rather a patchwork assembly.

They were all personal guards belonging to various nobles and officers, and even then they hadn't managed to gather a full thousand.

The remainder were armored infantry riding transport mules to pretend they were cavalry.

Just organizing these thousand or so men into a formation had taken over two hours.

Forget charging into battle - if they just moved slightly, their deception would be immediately exposed.

It was only because that Allied scouting unit hadn't come to test them that disaster had been avoided.

Fabio removed his helmet, wiping sweat from his forehead: "Henwil, how did you know they wouldn't dare to attack?"

Henwil replied: "Their mission was only to drive off fleeing soldiers - they lack strong frontal assault capabilities. If they got entangled with us, we still have nearly ten thousand soldiers behind us."

"Even if they're just serf soldiers, the enemy doesn't know our actual situation!""Their lives matter too - only merits earned while surviving count. Dead men gain nothing!"

Fabio now relied heavily on Henwil, completely forgetting he was just a child.

"So what should we do next?"

Henwil pointed toward Plains City: "Return!"

"What? Go back?!"

Fabio exclaimed loudly, then glanced around - seeing only his own men, he managed to avoid complete loss of composure.

He lowered his voice to ask: "Wouldn't going back now be seeking death?"

"Sir, do you think the Allied Forces here will be completely wiped out?"

Fabio thought for a moment, then shook his head indicating it was impossible.

Between inside Plains City and outside its walls, there were a full hundred thousand regular troops.

The Allied Forces in this theater didn't have the capability to destroy these hundred thousand elite soldiers.

Henwil continued: "Since they can't eliminate these elites, at most they'll capture Plains City."

"Our army will withdraw from the city and return to the camp outside the walls."

"Under even better circumstances, both sides might engage in urban warfare within the city."

"Our supplies are all in the main camp. Advancing lightly equipped now - how far could we possibly run before ultimately being trapped to death?"

"Therefore, we must return, and quickly, bringing as many people as possible."

"The forces that attacked the camp last night were insufficient to destroy the entire camp, let alone occupy it."

Fabio looked confused: "Then what was the point of all our efforts last night?"

Henwil sighed: "Ah~! Sir, last night's situation - if we had stayed in camp, we would have been like the fleeing soldiers who came later."

"Who among us could guarantee we'd be lucky enough to reach here? Rather than dying in the main camp?"

"Now it's daylight, we have numerical superiority, and the Allied Forces' strategic focus is on Plains City, not the camp outside the walls, so there's no danger."

"More importantly, returning now would be a great merit, and we can explain why we left camp last night."

"Sir, you knew fleeing soldiers might appear, so you proactively led troops to reposition rearward, blocking the fleeing soldiers while deterring the Allied pursuit forces."

"Now after integrating the fleeing soldiers, concerned about the camp's safety and worried about the frontline situation, you resolutely lead the troops back to support the main Allied forces!"

Fabio chuckled foolishly: "Mhmm! You're right, that's exactly it! That's precisely what I was thinking! Let's prepare to return now!"

Despite Fabio's efforts to control himself, he couldn't suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth.

After notifying everyone, Fabio led over twenty thousand fleeing soldiers toward the direction of the main camp.

Along the way, corpses littered the roadside everywhere.

Some had been trampled beyond recognition.

Only a small portion of these bodies had been killed by pursuing enemies - most had literally run themselves to death.

This was the terrible consequence of a major rout - everyone was running, so you could only keep running too.

Seeing so many corpses, Fabio felt lingering fear.

If he had been stubborn last night and not followed Henwil's advice, he might well have been among the corpses on the ground now.

During the return journey to support the camp, Fabio grew concerned again: "Henwil, if I say what you suggested, will the command believe me?"

Henwil looked at him as if he were an idiot: "How could they! Of course they won't believe it - they know perfectly well we were fleeing!"

Seeing Fabio's expression change dramatically, Henwil continued: "But among all those who fled, we've performed the best, haven't we?"

"We stopped the fleeing soldiers and are bringing back so many troops - that's an undeniable fact! Nobody can find fault with that!"

"The command doesn't care about the process, only the results! And the result is that you, Sir, have done excellently!"

"The battle report will be easy to write too - all the nobles' reputations are protected, they all owe you a favor, and the command will definitely reward you greatly!"

Only then did Fabio feel relieved, then he asked Henwil: "What rewards do you think the command will give me?"

Henwil said he didn't know and couldn't guess the high command's decisions.

Actually, Henwil had already guessed that Fabio would become commander of this combined noble private army force.

However, this wasn't a position of real authority, since the noble private armies certainly wouldn't be deployed to the battlefield next.

They would more likely be used as logistics troops - frankly speaking, they'd be doing hard labor.

The original prisoners and slaves in the camp had probably all escaped by now.

Those professional corps had withdrawn for rest, not for labor.

But the massive camp required many hands to maintain operations, so these noble serf soldiers with negligible combat effectiveness would prove useful.

Actually, this was also a trap Henwil had set for the Allied Forces.

Under normal circumstances, none of these fleeing soldiers would have returned.

Losing these people wouldn't have significantly affected the Allied Forces' combat strength.

But now Fabio was bringing back so many people - conservative estimates suggested over thirty thousand serf soldiers would reach the main camp.

While this meant thirty thousand additional laborers for the camp.

For the Allied Forces, it meant thirty thousand additional mouths to feed!

Last night's surprise attack would certainly have targeted logistics supplies as primary objectives.

If not completely destroyed, at least partially damaged.

These thirty thousand returning soldiers would definitely become a huge burden on the Allied Forces' material supplies.

Henwil was a small figure who could only use this method to tilt the victory scales slightly toward the Allied side in this great battle.

On one hand, he was venting his frustration - he never forgot he was in enemy territory.

Forcing the enemy to fail so he could escape smoothly had always been his highest priority.

On the other hand, Henwil also wanted Fabio to achieve higher status, making his own situation safer.

Why hadn't he escaped last night?!

As the saying goes, fleeing amid chaotic troops is extremely unwise behavior.

That would be gambling with his life on a coin toss.