The Peerless Kobold - Chapter 165
Now, the main role of the commando unit is to “attack from outside the battle range”. Leveraging on their mobility, they will repeatedly run around the battlefield and “create an air of local superiority and individually crush the enemies”.
To do that, it is necessary that they efficiently kill the enemies while preserving their strength. Following that line of thinking, the commando unit will be composed of archers who are adept with their bows and the battle plan will be centered around shooting down the enemies.
However, there were only 5 archers on Silva’s pack.
It was likely that the Elder Kobold known as Sage Gavi introduced the bow and arrows to his pack, but since the weapons are difficult to handle for us kobolds, there were only 6 archers, including me.
It wasn’t enough to form a decent commando unit.
“Aruva, garufu woaru?” (Silva, do you have any magic-users?)
“Kuuruh, kuuah.” (Kusell, Noa.)
In response to her call, a male and female kobold wearing hooded cloaks and mage’s gloves came forward. Both of them were recognized by the pack and given names, so it was safe to assume that they had the appropriate skills.
“Kuuru, garuwaon woruo.” (My name is Kusell, it’s a pleasure to meet you, sir sage.)
“Kuuaruo, garuofaaan.” (I’m Noa, we’ll be in your care.)
The two of them bowed to me, and I briefly assessed them as I returned their greetings.
“Varugaua?” (Which magic attributes do you have?)
“Guruu garuguo aruou…” (Mine are earth and fire attribute…)
“N, kurua varuguoa.” (Well, I could only control non-attribute magic.)
As Noa answered, she produced three small, faintly phosphorescent bullets on top of her palm. Non-attribute magic is a branch of magic that turns magic energy into offense and defense, and is a magical attribute that only experts proficient in magic energy control could handle.
“Au.” (Like this.)
After producing the three magic bullets, she let them dance around her palm before grabbing them again and absorbing the magic energy into her body.
What a skillful fellow…
“Au, kuuo garufoa woruau…” (We’ll need a couple more people who can use magic though…)
I could also choose someone from Shiro, Hasta, or Blau’s packs, but… I rather prefer that the members of the commando unit come from the same pack if I were to consider coordination between the archers.
“Uu~, urugauru kuorua oufaruo.” (Hnn, if you need more from my pack, then we only have them.)
Two young, male kobolds came forward as Silva beckoned to them while talking to me. They nervously came to the center of the encampment and bowed.
“Garuofaaan!” (Thank you for this opportunity!)
“Woauh!!” (I am equally grateful!!)
After they both confirmed that they were able to control wind magic, I assessed their magical abilities to make sure and determined that their magic levels were at a level that could somehow withstand actual battle.
“…Guruu, garuaau orufa, ruufau kuuaruau.” (… I’ll take my childhood friend as my wife once I prove myself and receive a name.)
I overheard a somewhat worrisome conversation, but…
In addition to the kobold mages, the archers also came forward. I then divided the unit into two groups while taking the balance in battle strength into account.
However, the enemy G’s aren’t stupid. Because they also have cavalry troops, they would probably use similar battle dominance tactics in the field… In fact, when the goblins attacked Hasta’s village, it seems the advance troops of their hunting cavalry defeated the Chieftain when he and a few others remained in the village to let everyone else escape.
“Vurua, guurugaru foruau?” (Hasta, do you think you guys can hold down the enemy’s cavalry troops?)
“…Guruua.” (… Leave it to us.)
The black and white furred kobolds nodded as their determination quietly oozed from the surface.
In the first place, everyone in Hasta’s pack seemed to be equipped with iron spears that were ideal in taking down the enemy’s cavalry troops, so I decided to leave it to the fearless black and white kobolds led by Hasta.
However, in a forest with many obstructions, it was common to assume that there would be mixed battles between small groups. To prepare for that, I added one of the furry, white kobolds to act as a Healer for every 4 of the black and white Kobolds and grouped them into 5 units and left it to Hasta to command and reorganize them.
“Guoru~, guruau vaaruooon…kyuan.” (So in other words~, we’re going to be separated… sigh)
“Gau, guruo woaoruo kuoruauu…” (Well, even if you guys stayed together you can’t do anything anyway…)
When I asked around, I learned that all of the fluffy white kobolds were proficient in healing and defense magic branches of the Holy magic attribute but could only use a few beginner’s offense magic, so their breed was not suitable for group operations as a standalone unit.
I wonder how I could use the Healer unit on the frontlines…
“Garuu, garua vorufaoaan?” (Hey, should we also divide ourselves into groups?)
“Guu, gauruguau guruu gauu guruaau.” (Yes, I am also putting you in charge of your own pack, Blau.)
I left the command of the different packs to their respective leaders to avoid unnecessary confusion. This was also the case with Silva’s pack after I picked the members of the commando unit, and I tasked her with organizing the remaining members into groups the same way.
After a while, the prick-eared kobolds who teamed up with the white fluffy kobolds formed 7 teams with 5 to 6 members each, while Silva’s pack had formed five teams as well and both Silva and Blau’s teams were in-charge of overseeing the operation.
Well, it seems Shiro’s pack frequently collaborates with the other packs, so even if they were suddenly distributed amongst the other groups, they should be able to work with them.
I repeatedly emphasized that under no situation were they allowed to break away from their units to protect their packmates in the event of a crowded battle in the forest. I also warned them to be conscious of the other groups and their positions in the battlefield and gave Silva, Hasta, and Blau a basic understanding of leveraging on mobility in dispersal tactics.
“Gua, voruah!!” (Let’s go!!)
“UWOOOOOOOON!!”
“AOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!”
As I gave my order to depart, each group formed three rows with little spaces between them and advanced towards the goblin’s village while maintaining a semi-siege formation that could disperse and combine at any time.
Meanwhile, I handed the command of the main team over to Silva and asked her to take a short break while I took the commando unit on a detour as we headed to our destination…
