Chapter 83

The Twin Vulture Knights, as we had anticipated, had divided their forces into four parts. They seem intent on attacking the Elven capital from all directions, aiming to encircle and annihilate the elves. Each division, numbering around 600, is advancing toward the center of the forest.

However, this forest has another name:

"The Forest of No Return"

The humans are struggling in this forest, blessed by the spirits. Their advance speed is slower than a turtle's but faster than a snail's. The humans, who have wandered into this forest like a maze, are moving about in confusion. Everything is going exactly as we planned. At this rate, guerrilla tactics will be successful.

Sure enough, the humans who attacked from the north first let out cries of distress. This is the division led by the Elven warrior commander, Anemone. She and her troops leap from tree to tree like monkeys, disrupting the enemy while firing arrows. The arrows pierce deep into the chests of the soldiers in chainmail.

On the other hand, the heavily armored knights are dealt with using spirit magic. By borrowing the power of the earth spirits, mud hands are summoned from the ground to immobilize them. Once immobilized, even heavily armored knights are just targets. A skilled archer can hit the gaps between their armor.

With the help of the wind spirits, the enemy's crossbows are no longer a threat. The arrows from the crossbows are deflected by sudden gusts of wind and end up embedded in the trees.

The enemy soldiers, caught off guard by the unexpected attack, are thrown into confusion, but as seasoned veterans, they quickly regroup and counterattack.

The mud hands summoned by the earth spirits are destroyed by the enemy's mages, and the soldiers, realizing the futility of their crossbows, draw their swords and charge forward.

I confirm this with the *Far Sight* spell and order Anemone to retreat.

"Overextending is forbidden."

I wonder if she will follow my orders. This will test her abilities and her trust in me. After observing Anemone's expression for a moment, she retreats without hesitation.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"This is good. This is the basic guerrilla tactic."

I mutter to no one in particular. If this tactic is repeated day and night without interruption, the enemy will eventually break. They will not even have time to sleep and will gradually wear down, both mentally and physically.

The effectiveness and strength of this tactic have been proven throughout history.

Mao Zedong used guerrilla tactics to resist the Japanese army, eliminate the Nationalists, and seize power.

Ho Chi Minh and Nguyen Zap, by hiding in the jungle, repelled the United States, the greatest military power in history.

Spain, the birthplace of the term "guerrilla," used guerrilla tactics to greatly trouble Napoleon, one of the greatest heroes in history.

In my past life, this tactic was effective, and of course, it is effective in this world as well. It is foolish for the outnumbered side to foolishly challenge the enemy head-on.

I do not know how my achievements will be evaluated in the future, but I do not want to be labeled as a "fool" by historians.

After using the *Far Sight* spell to observe the northern front, I was about to shift my gaze to the western front but stopped. I remembered that the Dwarf King is in charge of the western front.

"Lord Gunther has nothing to worry about."

His command was confirmed in the previous battle. He is solid and bold, with no weaknesses. He has the makings of a king and is a reliable commander. However, I was more concerned about whether he could work well with the elves, who have a long-standing feud with the dwarves, but I was more worried about Lilith.

I focused my attention on the eastern front. The one fighting there is, of course, the succubus, Lilith.

She is my deputy and the commander of an elite regiment, but how skilled is she as a commander?

Until I became a regiment commander, she was nominally my deputy and a battalion commander, but I did not appoint her as a battalion commander because of her command skills. I let her command troops based on her skills alone, but how well would she perform when given full command?

It was an unknown and intriguing question, but to my surprise, her command was quite good. While not exactly skillful, she gives appropriate orders. From the rear, she gives instructions without making any bold moves.

She seems to be considering the elves' strengths, such as agility, dexterity, and skill with spirit magic, as I taught her.

She has grown quite a bit. I thought she was just a brute force fighter, but perhaps I underestimated her.

"Time has made Lilith grow, hasn't it?"

Or perhaps the responsible position of regiment commander has made her grow.

"This might be an unexpected gain."

I can't help but exclaim "Hm!" in interest.

However, my words did not reach her, but as soon as I said them, Lilith began her own charge.

... It seems she has been excited by the elves' performance and has returned to her true nature, taking the front line herself.

"Oh dear..."

I can't help but sigh, but I did not reprimand her. The effect of her charge, after the elves' surprise attack, was tremendous. The humans were thrown into panic and their formation completely broke down. This was an unexpected effect.

If she had planned this, I would have raised her evaluation as a commander, but it seems she simply could not contain her excitement.

"Yah!"

She raises her voice and wields her rapier. Each time she swings her magic sword, enemy soldiers fall, but the elf battalion, without a commander, falls into confusion.

They are perplexed and unable to coordinate. Of course, this was expected, so I send a *Telepathy* spell to the Elven warrior. The instruction was simple:

"Take command in place of that simple-minded one."

I had already anticipated that Lilith would abandon command and had informed the Elven warrior of this. He nods in response to my *Telepathy* and begins to take command.

Once again, the elves move freely through the trees, and the western front regains order, resuming the guerrilla tactics as planned.

Seeing this, I literally take a breath and cut off both the *Far Sight* and *Telepathy* spells. I judged that there was no need to worry about my subordinates. If I leave them to it, the enemy will gradually break and lose their will to fight.

The problem is on our side. On the southern front, which I am responsible for, there is no sign of the enemy.

However, I remain calm and wait for the enemy to arrive.