I Became the Strategist the Monarchs Obsess Over

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 8

Most of the students expected Andre to win unilaterally. The professors thought the same. That was how low their evaluation of Charles was.

Moreover, Charles had more archers than infantry. The very idea of winning with such an unbalanced composition was considered absurd.

“As expected, he truly is incompetent.”

Yuria Russell was delighted. She had felt a twinge of jealousy because the princess paid excessive attention to someone so insignificant. However, it was now proven that he was incompetent, contrary to the princess’s belief. But…

“We don’t know yet.”

Only Princess Leonia held onto a sliver of hope. She hoped that Charles was indeed the author of [Tactics of a New Era] and possessed exceptional tactical abilities.

This left Yuria Russell feeling slightly disheartened. She, too, had distinguished herself in many areas as the princess’s left hand and an outstanding knight. Her academy grades were always among the top as well.

Even so, the princess didn’t seem to notice her. It felt as though she was seen merely as a bodyguard or a friend, which left her feeling a bit regretful.

And regardless of Yuria Russell’s disappointment, the battle began.

“Charge!!!”

The battle commenced with Andre Gomes’s roar. His heavily armored infantry and cavalry began laboriously climbing the mountain. Only then did Charles start positioning his troops.

Charles divided his 60 archers into three units, deploying them in a V-shape on the left, center, and right. He then placed 20 infantry soldiers between each archer unit, connecting them.

It was as if 60% of the army, composed of archers, was arranged in a V-shape, with infantry linking the gaps.

“Pfft!”

Andre smirked at the enemy formation he was seeing for the first time in his life. The other academy professors watching through the monitors also looked at Charles’s formation with puzzlement. Except for one person…

-Bang!

Only Princess Leonia slammed the table and stood up.

“Your Highness? Why on earth…”

“That’s right.”

“What is?”

“That man is indeed the author of [Tactics of a New Era]!”

While Yuria wore a puzzled expression, the battle continued.

Charles’s archers mercilessly shot down the enemy’s heavily armored cavalry and infantry as they climbed the mountain, forcing Andre to swallow his frustration.

“Once we climb this mountain…”

Andre was determined. He believed that if his troops could just succeed in climbing the mountain, they would crush the enemy in an instant.

However, the reality was different from Andre’s expectations.

By the time Andre’s troops reached the top of the mountain, only 60% to 70% of his forces remained.

In other words, 30% had been taken out by arrows!

But now that they had successfully climbed the mountain, only close combat remained. Confident that his infantry and cavalry would have the upper hand in melee combat, Andre immediately charged at the nearest enemy.

“Charge at those foolishly exposed archers!”

Andre charged at the sharpest point of the V-shaped archer formation.

He attacked the nearest enemy. Moreover, the target was not heavily armored infantry but archers with relatively light armor! Attacking them was a perfectly logical choice for a tactician, but the problem was that his opponent was Charles.

The archers, who were suddenly attacked by the enemy’s entire force, began to retreat. As they fell back, creating a concave shape in the formation, the infantry waiting behind them advanced and surrounded the enemy on three sides.

In an instant, Andre found himself semi-encircled on three sides, except for the rear.

Andre’s troops began to dwindle rapidly, and everyone watching this scene was collectively shocked.

However, the only one who had anticipated this situation was the princess.

“Charles pushed forward three archer units and kept two infantry units in reserve behind them. It’s a formation designed to counterattack any enemy that attacks the protruding archers from the sides.”

After pondering for a moment, Yuria Russell asked with difficulty.

“Then, should they have attacked the infantry instead of the archers?”

“No, if they had deliberately attacked the infantry in the rear, they would have been showered with arrows from the three protruding archer units.”

“Then there’s no solution, is there? How could anyone break through such a strange formation?”

“The moment they decided to fight, their defeat was already sealed. The correct answer was to avoid combat altogether, form a special unit, and target the enemy’s supply lines. If the supply lines were destroyed, the enemy would be stranded on the mountain without water or food and would eventually perish on their own. There’s no other way to win.”

Of course, targeting the supply lines didn’t guarantee victory. It only meant there was a chance to win. If the enemy discovered the special unit, they could descend from the mountain and launch an attack. Ultimately, the outcome depended on how stealthily the special unit could move without revealing their plans and how effectively they could scout the enemy’s movements.

From Leonia’s perspective, who despised losing control of the battlefield, such tactics didn’t suit her style. She had no intention of learning them in the future. But it was precisely for this reason that she found Charles so fascinating. He could employ tactics she herself could not.

After witnessing the recent battle, the princess was convinced. The ability to conceive and execute such tactics proved that Charles was indeed the author of [Tactics of a New Era]. This mock battle was the moment the princess decided to recruit Charles.

—–

Meanwhile, Charles wore a satisfied smile. The tactic of luring the enemy into charging uphill and defeating them with archers had been successfully used by England against France three times during the Hundred Years’ War. Though it didn’t have a specific name, some called it the Dupplin Tactic, as it was first used in the Battle of Dupplin Moor. Charles had slightly modified this tactic, so he thought the name “Modified Dupplin Tactic” would be appropriate.

However, it had a different name online.

“It’s called the Nigawa Tactic.”

It wasn’t Japanese. The name came from the phrase “I’m not coming out, so you come in,” which perfectly described the tactic. Incidentally, using this formation in online matches often earned comments like “What a dirty way to play.” Of course, such remarks wouldn’t be an issue at Arcadia Academy.

In any case, Charles, who had comfortably won the first round with a clever trick, smiled brightly at Andre’s frustrated expression and began preparing for the next battle.

The Third Princess, Leonia, and her left hand, Yuria Russell, continued their winning streak in the tournament. It was only natural for the two to win repeatedly. Aside from their exceptionally high Command Stats, they were already nobles with their own territories and private armies, having experienced real battlefields multiple times.

The difference between those who had experienced war and those who hadn’t was significant. Leonia and Yuria Russell were unlikely to lose easily.

What this meant was that, due to the nature of the tournament, Charles would have to face both Yuria Russell and Princess Leonia, who had advanced through the ranks.

Charles felt a headache coming on. After all, these two were among the top tacticians in this world’s setting. Could he really defeat them?

Yet, at the same time, he felt a surge of competitive spirit. He saw this as an opportunity to gauge the extent of his command skills honed through gaming.

With that thought, Charles, who had been tense and sweating during the first trial, headed to the restroom to wipe his face.

As Charles left his seat, Glasia Ehrenberg followed him.

However, on the way to the restroom, someone called out to Charles.

“Charles Jean Rochefort.”

Charles immediately recognized the owner of the voice.

“Your Highness.”

Standing behind him were the protagonist of this game, Leonia von Arcadia, the Third Princess of the Arcadia Empire, and her left hand, Yuria Russell.

When Charles greeted them with proper etiquette, the princess slightly nodded in acknowledgment.

“Do you intend to win this mock battle?”

At the princess’s sudden remark, I, Glasia Ehrenberg, and Yuria Russell were all taken aback. Everyone except the princess was surprised.

“Pardon? What do you mean…”

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Haven’t you been hiding your abilities all this time?”

What kind of nonsense was this? I had never hidden my abilities.

At first, I was puzzled, but after thinking about it a bit, I understood why she thought that way. Charles Jean Rochefort had been an extremely incompetent individual up until now, failing every subject.

However, while his swordsmanship and magic were still terrible, he had recently shown exceptional performance in other areas. This led her to ‘misunderstand’ that he had been hiding his talents for some unknown reason.

“Political Science, Diplomacy. You scored nearly perfect marks. Despite failing the previous exams, you shamelessly excelled this time. And judging by the outcome of the first round, you’re bound to perform well in the mock battle too. How far do you plan to go in this exam? Do you intend to defeat me and win? Or will you stop at a reasonable point?”

“…”

“You plan to feign ignorance, I see. Very well, I won’t press you further. But let me tell you one thing.”

When I bowed my head to show that I was listening, she continued.

“You can rest assured. Even if you unleash all the power you’ve been hiding, I will crush you. I’ll show you that there’s always someone above you.”

With those words, the princess turned and left, her white cape fluttering behind her. Damn, she’s so charismatic. Come to think of it, I think Princess Leonia was my favorite character in the game.