The Broken System 36 The Trial

"Don't worry about them. They won't move. Let talk about the formation. I heard it is you who devised it."

'How could this man know about it?' He kept his expression under control, "I did."

"So why are you not in it? Are you afraid?" Listening to his words, Kinoya couldn't shake off the uneasiness. The man was pleased with the expression, "I saw you are quite heroic in the morning."

"Hero or Villain, those things depend on one's perspective. Either way one couldn't say that I am a hero." Kinoya looked into his eyes, "I am suspended."

"Which idiot suspend you? You should have been an a.s.set to the army."

"Emper…" *hic*

The end of his words was swallowed up in his hiccup. Never till now, he had felt such thick killing intent. His back got wet in just an instant, but it vanished even before a second could eclipse. What was surprising that the intent came from the person in front of him.

"Boy, you should not be so careless with the little mouth of your." The man's eye flickered for a moment before he asked, "Imperial edict?"

Under the stare of the man, Kinoya was still unable to control the body, all he could do was to nod.

The man didn't care about Kinoya, as he turned towards the battleground. "Then what about the cavalry?"

Taking a look Kinoya couldn't help but curse under the breath, "That idiot."

"What? Was that not your plan?"

"That Riya…" Kinoya looked at the man before continuing, "That general Riyasu is doing exactly what I had told him not to do."

"Why? That is good. He is using the cavalry to a.s.sist him. That will relieve him some of the pressure." Kinoya couldn't believe it was the same person, giving of a scholarly vibe, who was excluding such a strong intent a moment ago.

"Cavalry is not the problem. But the right wing is the problem." The man took another look as Kinoya continued to explain, "The right wing is close to the river, the ground there is wet and can't hold the charge of the cavalry. It will just hinder their movement."

With his words, their action relayed, and soon the cavalry lost the momentum. They became the standing target for the archers. The ineffective leftover cavalry charge clashed against the charging cavalries of the enemy, further increasing the casualty.

"It's lucky that enemies didn't send much of the Cavalry." The man breathed a sigh of relief.

"No, they had sent all of it." Kinoya corrected. "They were looking to defend against the siege, so they lacked Cavalry. That one thought is quite efficient, but"

"It is the Whitefreak?"

'He knew, even though the generals weren't aware of that person.' Kinoya couldn't help but take another look at the man. "Yes,"

"Then, why did they came out?" The intimidation of that instance had long lost in his curiosity.

"One, who are driven by emotion, couldn't see one in front of him, even if the great general was here, he could do very little about it, much less any other."

The man looked at Kinoya with a surprised look. "It won't be a lie to say, that even myself was angry with your performance."

Kinoya smiled, "That was the intention all along. If it was not cruel enough, did you really thought that I would have able to force them out?"

"That much I could guess, but it looks like the anger gave them strength."

"Let me ask you something." Kinoya knew very well that the person standing in front of him was not someone he could disrespect, but he had very little care about it, "Why do you think I killed them?"

The man was surprised for a moment, "To lure them out."

"But even with that, it will be hard to nullify the numerical advantage. Even if they are not a great general, their white beards are not for show." The man waited for Kinoya to explain but...

All of a sudden, another group of cavalry charged by the right of the Akai's Corps. They went straight through the enemy, Akai was facing, and sending them in disarray. With an arrow-like formation, they entered by right and pa.s.sed through the left then attacking the back of the middle enemy line. This time they didn't penetrate the enemy line rather grinned the rear of the enemy line. They took a course by the back of Vorn army turning around and reaching the point from where they started.

"Oh! That is why Akai was advancing on the right wing, and Vorn was residing in the middle? That was all show." The man felt enlightened by the action of the army. But what was more surprising to him was, these old bundle of generals actually listened to his plan.

"Not show, it is called deception. 'All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.'"

The man wasn't someone with a military background, but there wouldn't be a single child in his generation who had not heard about the valiant and righteous code of conduct of the army, and…

'This boy has none of those. But, this perspective might be better suited for the world right now, as long as…'

"Never wound an enemy. Either you don't hurt them at all or just kill them. There is no in between." Kinoya's words forced him to turn his head towards the battlefield.

Kinoya's unorthodox ways never failed to produce the results. Rather than charging in the enemy again, The cavalries turned and charged towards the city.

"What the h.e.l.l they are doing?" Palsa was the first one to cry in alarm. "That is suicide. The archers will kill them"

"Didn't you noticed the archers went down the wall some moment ago." The man had observed it but had to turn to Kinoya for an explanation. "Care to explain?" Kinoya smiled but said nothing.

***********

"General Amboia, pays respect to the Commander-in-chief. 7,000 cavalry under my command will be waiting for your next order." The man, with two stars on his chest, gave a full bow.

"General, explain your reason for deserting the post?" The General of the west frowned. He could somewhat guess the reason and that was what making more irritated.

Amboia bowed and pulled a letter from his robe, and handed it to him. There was a symbol of mountain peaks with 3 stars on it. It was Andlat. Tearing the envelope he pulled out the letter. The more he read, the more creases appeared on his forehead.

'It was that boy again. I am the cardinal general of the empire and my own army is siding with that boy. What I am? Just a show?' He controlled his urges to slam the table in front of him. The letter crumbled in his hand underneath the table.

"What is it said?" The voice was distinct and sharp. He was the one who carried the words of the imperial edict last time.

"It was the suggestion of that boy,"

The trembling of the voice didn't miss the target. The man could guess the reason, and he had no reason to stop the progression. "Carry on your military work, and don't mind me."

The atmosphere in the room was tense, but someone was happy. That was Riyasu, and from the general's expression, he could see the seed he bore had finally bloomed.

It was like Kinoya was waiting just outside, he entered within a moment notice. These caught them off guard, on the other hand, Kinoya was surprised. 'What kind of status does he hold to sit on the highest position?'

"What are you up to? Moving the army from Yeomcheon?" The voice of the general couldn't be angrier.

"Winning war."