The American In Another World
Chapter 14: Pandor’s Surrender
East Lourian Conquest Army, Gym
Pandor stared at Adem as his silhouette slowly shrank into the distance. He is concerned about Adem's sudden change in behavior; adem is usually not a person who is afraid of fighting. Despite his evil personality, he was still a brilliant tactician. Naturally, Pandor became worried about the United States. Due to the absurdity of the reports about the surrender of their Navy, he hesitated. However, as time went on, clues emerged - evidence that showed the validity of the rumors. Not a single ship or transmission from their large fleet returned, nor did the front reconnaissance element return.
As he strategized, one of his assistants walked towards him. “Sir, Qua Toynians are marching here. We cannot be sure exactly when they depart due to the loss of our scouts, but they are currently maintaining the position five kilometers from the wall of Gim.”
General Pandor raised his eyebrows. "And the Americans?"
"We haven't found any men in strange uniforms, or their vehicles."
Pandor breathed a sigh of relief. "Then" he said with a smile. “Let's meet Qua Toynian on the battlefield. What do they bring?”
“Their army consists of ten groups of 300. Total 3,000 people, with 24 wyvern.”
"Ha! It was so small. They had one victory with the help of their allies, and now they had become overconfident. I pity the people who have to follow such foolish commanders.”
Pandor walked back to the manor to inform his subordinates. Using manacomm, he relayed his orders to the entire stationed garrison of 10,000 people. They had to gather outside the city walls and wait for their own wyverns to attack the Toynians Qua. With the witch bombing and arrow shots to follow, the number of Toynian Quas would be greatly reduced. By doing so, he could turn his advantage in numbers into an enormous, non-scaled cliff; this could reduce the chances of his army suffering casualties from elves who were both magicians and physically strong demihumans.
With the orders given, he ventured to observe his troops. The opposing army still maintained its position, not moving. With an army as large and well-trained as his own, he wondered if the enemy changed their mind about their attack. Of course, he would rather destroy this army so he would not have to face it while attacking Ejei, but if they retreated, it would signify a great victory in terms of morals.
From manacomm, he was told that his wyvern knights were ready to attack, and he gave the order to start the operation. Simultaneously, his men marched forward, intending to reach the firing range for their spells and arrows by the time the Lourian wyvern completed their attack. Then, he saw a trail of smoke in the distance — the same trail of smoke described by all the Lourian people who fell over the past few weeks. His blood turned cold as he watched the experiment move towards the sun, where his wyvern prepared to attack.
He raised his hand to his eyes, narrowing his eyes to maintain the visibility of the light arrow, which curved following his wyvern knight. Manacomm's evasive maneuvers were helpless; manacomm became saturated with frantic screams from the dying man. Explosions echoed one after another as light arrows found their targets, reducing Lourian's military pride to just chunks of burnt flesh and shards of shattered armor. His troops heard the explosion as well and looked up. Pandor sighed deeply; he could feel the morale of his men plummeting, wondering what had happened with their air support.
While Pandor was wallowing in regret, desperately trying to save the operation, he saw several spots appear in the distance. Accompanied by a rumbling sound, the giant finally appeared and attacked a neuron. He was aware of their identity: this was the same omen of death that toppled the Eastern Ruler Division. He felt a sharp pain in his heart when he realized that he was actually that stupid commander. Toynian Qua's troops were used as bait, to lure his troops in and encourage him to think that it would be an easy victory.
He quickly shouted to his manacomm, “Throwing! Spread it! Don't clot!”
His troops obeyed his orders, but he underestimated the speed of the flying giant. They are above his army. “How can something so big fly so fast.?” He desperately asked.
The bellies of the beasts opened, revealing their instruments of death. Pandor knelt down and felt the wet grass pressing down on him as he held back the tears. "No..." Despite his disbelief, he could not help but see the bomb fall like rain during a great storm. With a roar that could not even be surpassed by the huge storm, the bombs broke into thousands of mosquito-like submunitions and ignited. A cascade of light erupted from the position of his troops, engulfing almost everyone. Some people who heeded his orders early managed to hold on, but not enough to make a difference.
The horns echoed, signaling the start of the Qua Toynian attack. They lined up around the smoldering crater, ignoring the dying people. They approached the walls of Gim and one person stepped forward: a man with a pointy face wearing elegant armor.
“I'm General Nou of the Judgment Squad Qua Toyne! Surrender now, or perish!”
His eyes were red and watery because of that terrible slaughter, Pandor felt completely defeated. No, he was completely defeated, and almost his entire army was wiped out. Seeing no other choice, he gave the order to surrender.
——
Jin Hark
Four men sat around the table, discussing the news of General Pandor's surrender. The information, delivered through Manacomm, was staggering. The Americans allowed Pandor to submit his submission report and the circumstances that led to it.
"The enemy used the same attack twice, and annihilated the two armies we gathered?" A bearded blonde man wearing a harness asked. "This is certainly impossible!"
General Patagene shook his head. “The report came from Pandor himself, one of the Three Great Generals. General Miminel, surely you at least have confidence in your comrades?
“However, you make a good point: what if he is forced to say such things? Pandor is a great tactician, but not a trained spy who can survive with a sword around his neck. Hmm, what happened to Adem?”
“I'm sure he's backing out. He went to ask for reinforcements in person, but it seemed that he left too late. Enemy attacked right after he left.”
“Hmm, lucky him. If there is one person I trust with regards to authentic battle reports, it is most likely Adem. Miminel rubs his beard.
A short bald man spoke up. “I may not be the most knowledgeable in military affairs, but even I can see that our reckless disregard for existing information has caused us to lose three major powers. First, the Grand Fleet: we did not take the time to research the Americans and attack them despite the tremendous technological differences. Second, the Eastern Ruler Division: although we did not inform them of the surrender of the fleet, they themselves encountered American firearms directly when they lost the scouts. Third, the Eastern Conquest Army: despite knowing the enemy's capabilities, they are still engaged in battle.”
"Well, Mr. Maus, that makes sense." Miminel agreed. "Yes, we should tread carefully now and assume that this absurd report is true, lest we lose more people out of ignorance."
Patagene said, "Let's analyze this absurd report ... Lord Maus, what kind of weapons do Americans use?"
“Any major defeat includes the use of weapons described by our people as 'light arrows' or 'light arrows trackers'. Shot from iron dragons and their iron battleships, this weapon is mainly used to fight our wyvern knights, following them with unimaginable speed before making contact and exploding.”
The magician among them, Yamirei, raised his eyebrows. "What else?"
“Their warships have cannons, like those of Parpaldian, except this single cannon can fire quickly and accurately. Finally, the attack carried out by their giant iron dragon was a bombing. We had thought about the idea of throwing bombs from wyverns, but decided against it because of their heavy wyvern capacity and the effectiveness of their fireballs, which completely negated the need for bombs. It seems that these Americans, who do not have wyverns in their arsenal, are going a different route.”
General Patagene hummed, deep in thought. "Yamirei, what do you think?" He turned to look at Yamirei, who was wide in shock. “Yamirei? What's wrong?"
“Yamirei? What'sthat?" Maus asked, worried.
“The United States must have been the Ancient Sorcerous Kingdom in the past! Ravernal Empire!”
"Gosh, no!" Miminel retreats in fear.
"Wait," cut the Maus. “If they really are the Ravernal Kingdom, why bother engaging in diplomacy from the very beginning? Legends describe them as brutal masters, rulers of a slave race, consisting of all other races except themselves. Furthermore, legend has it that when they return, darkness will envelop the sky for a moment.”
“Hmm... yes, you were right about diplomacy. Their envoys did seem a bit polite. There was a tremendous storm in the east, but I knew no darkness was happening. I'm sorry, maybe I'm not in line with this hasty assumption.”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Then, a voice called out from the hallway. “I'm sorry for interrupting, but I was once a scholar before I discovered my passion for cooking.”
“Ah, Chef Head Wileman!” General Patagene immediately recognized the man. “That all makes sense now; you sound pretty sophisticated to just be a chef!”
"My master," he bowed. “I can catch some of your conversations as I pass by, and I have to put forward a consideration. The Ravernal Empire was a relocated country. The United States claims to be a relocated country as well. Both of them used iron dragons, iron battleships, and tracking light arrows. Therefore, is it safe to say that their strength levels are similar?”
“Hmm, yes it was a strange observation,” Miminel said. "But that doesn't explain why we can't detect their magic."
Yamirei understood this, suggesting, "What if their magical power level is so great that they cannot register in our detector ?!"
The four men muttered in agreement, realizing that at the very least, the United States possessed a level of strength comparable to the old legends feared. While they were talking, Wileman excused herself. “You all have a great day. I have to go buy some ingredients for dinner tonight.”
The four men waved at him. “What a weird guy, right? I've never heard many people say 'All of you'. Come to think of it, I have never heard anyone say that word, ” said Maus.
“Well, he did tell me that he was from a remote island south of Nahanath. A lot of people are barbarians there, so it doesn't surprise me if he uses barbaric terminology,” Patagene said. "By the way, how are we going to deliver this news to His Majesty?"
Yamirei shuddered. “After all, he won't like it. Maybe if I emphasize their magical prowess, we might still be able to avoid disaster.”
——
The four men knelt before their king, no one said a word.
“So,” said King Louria, his voice echoing throughout his throne room. "What news do you bring?"
The four men looked at each other, silently gesturing for the others to leave first. Finally, Patagene decided to take the initiative, unwilling to let the awkward silence continue. "Your Majesty .. we received an update from General Pandor on the Army of the Eastern Conquest."
King Louria smiled. “Ah, so we finally take Ejei, huh?”
Patagene leaned further to hide her face. “Yang Mulia. The Eastern Subjugation Forces Division stationed there suffered over 90% casualties.”
The atmosphere in the room boiled as King Louria emitted a silent rage. "How's it?"
Patagene looked at Yamirei, hinting him to explain. The old witch began, "Your Majesty, we are facing a nation that is being moved like... Ravernal Kingdom!"
“Hmm ..” King Louria looked at Yamirei, who looked terrified. “If we really fight the Ravernal Empire, we won't even have a chance to surrender.”
"I mean we're fighting a force like— "
King Louria cut him off, preventing Yamirei from giving any important explanations. “Miminel, why did we lose our position in Gim?”
“Your Highness, it's because Pandor can't accept reinforcements. He only had access to around ten thousand people; a hundred thousand should have been on set for preparations to push further into the Qua Toynian region.
"Ten thousand? What do other soldiers do?!”
“Your Majesty, the army has received many setbacks. Many nobles in our army refrained from sending their troops.”
This time it was Maus' turn to feel the heat. King Louria glared at the weak man. "Maus ... have you not conveyed my wish to the nobles ?!"
“You— Your Majesty, please forgive me! I've conveyed your wishes, but no one wants— ”
"Anything! Tell them that if they don't live up to expectations, they will make me angry! I will personally revoke their title if this continues any longer!
"I will tell them, Your Majesty," Maus replied obediently.
"Go now. The next time I receive news from you, it's best to be fine.