Chapter 16: The Winter Battle 4

It was a clear day, and the cold had eased somewhat. We left the castle and deployed our formation in front of it.

White unicorn flags fluttered throughout our army. We initially formed a horizontal battle line to assess the situation. The enemy had also arranged themselves in a similar horizontal formation.

"All troops, build snow barriers!" A messenger rushed into my position with this order. Lord Schwartz had commanded it. "What?" I was shocked. This is bad.

"I'm going to the main camp, Ryu, I leave this to you for now." "Alright, I'll handle it, but what's wrong?" "In this cold, this order is dangerous," I said as I mounted my horse and hurried to the main camp. I entered the main tent and spoke urgently.

"Lord Schwartz, this is dangerous. Sweating in this cold could be fatal. I recommend withdrawing the order." "Han, I thought you'd come. This is well-considered. You know what to do after soldiers sweat, don't you? Go tell the entire army immediately. It's an important task." "So this is a strategy?" "Exactly," Schwartz grinned. "I'm counting on you. You're key to this operation. Do something about the sweat."

I rushed out of the main camp and returned to my position. "Messengers, take this written order to each unit. I'll visit all positions afterward to explain. Hurry!"

The troops were building walls with the accumulated snow. This seemed rather enjoyable, and everyone worked as if playing. "It's fun, like making snowmen." "Feels like being a child again."

With the good weather, everyone was working cheerfully. This is bad. This is really serious.

I hurriedly visited each position and shouted: "If you sweat, change clothes immediately. Don't keep wet garments on. We have plenty of spare underwear, so let me know if you run out." "Dry wet clothes right away!" "Are the bonfires properly maintained?" "Yes, we have plenty of firewood, so we're keeping them well-stoked." "Good, we have plenty of firewood and peat. Make absolutely sure the fires don't go out." "Be careful not to get your gloves and socks wet!"

I repeatedly emphasized these points. Sweat leads to frostbite. This task is dangerous, but if necessary, there's no choice. I kept checking that the bonfires in each position were burning properly.

Suddenly looking at the enemy camp, I noticed they had begun imitating us by building snow barriers. My blood ran cold.

Was this Lord Schwartz's aim? From a distance, it appeared the enemy had no cold weather protection besides their cloaks. I couldn't see much smoke from their fires. On top of that, they were exercising and sweating. Whatever happens to them, it's not our concern. That day ended with nothing but a standoff.

Then that night, a blizzard hit the plain.

I went around throughout the night in the blizzard, giving warnings:

"Check if clothes and socks are wet from sweat. Sentries must strictly change shifts every two hours." "Sentries, put chili powder in your gloves and socks. Rub oil in too. Never forget your leather masks." "Never let the fires go out." "Is there enough warm food?" It seemed my instructions were being followed, and the cold protection measures were working. Warm food was also being distributed.

"Today is extremely cold. Before sleeping, I'll distribute amazake." It's not common in the north, but in the south, there's a sweet drink called amazake made from rice. I had heard about it from Jung and tried making it myself. It warms the body in cold weather. I had prepared it for just such an occasion, and now seemed the right time to distribute it to all soldiers.

"Here's amazake. It's not alcohol, but it will warm your body. One cup per person." The cooking soldiers went around to each tent to distribute it. "It's not alcohol?" "Wow, but it's delicious. It really does warm you up." "This is welcome in this cold."

The next day was perfectly clear.

This meant that radiative cooling had struck our battlefield. The coldest wave of winter had covered the plain.

The soldiers of the Land Kingdom trembled in the cold. "So cold, so cold..." "My hands and feet are completely white, I can't feel them at all." "My boots are frozen and won't come off." "My back is frozen." "I feel sleepy for some reason." "Yes, so sleepy. I don't even notice the cold anymore."

In the morning, our soldiers got up, stretched, and greeted each other. Their breath was white. "Wow, yesterday was cold!" "Yeah, even with two wool blankets I was cold." "But thanks to the amazake, we managed to sleep." "Food's ready! Hot vegetable soup!" The cooking soldiers went around the tents distributing meals. "I'm grateful for warm food." "This is delicious." Soldiers gathered in small groups to eat breakfast.

"Lord Schwartz, something's strange. There's no movement from the enemy." One of the staff officers reported. "It's completely quiet." "Could it be some kind of trap?" Anger wondered. "What kind of trap could there be in this situation? I'll go scout," Edel suggested.

"Very well, I order Edel to scout." "I'm honored to go." Edel set out with 30 horsemen for reconnaissance.

They approached the enemy tents on horseback, but the enemy tents were completely silent with no reaction at all. "This is definitely strange." "Half dismount and investigate. The rest stay alert to the surroundings." Half dismounted and carefully approached the enemy tents on foot. The remaining half stayed mounted, ready for a possible enemy attack.

"What are these snow pillars?" One soldier noticed snow pillars scattered around and approached them. When he touched a snow pillar, it fell over. "What's this?" The soldier was surprised.

As the snow pillar fell, the snow at the top came off. There was a human face. The soldier hurriedly brushed away the snow to reveal an enemy soldier. It was the completely frozen form of a human. "He's dead. Completely frozen."

Hearing the report, Edel was speechless. "Are all these snow pillars frozen people?" Even the composed Edel was shaken. "Lower your guard. Quickly check all enemy tents." All soldiers dismounted and hurried to inspect the tents.

"All the tents we've checked so far contain frozen enemy soldiers." The reporting soldier's face had turned ashen. All who heard the report were disturbed. "Report to Lord Schwartz: Nearly all enemy troops within our inspection range have frozen to death. Large-scale rescue operations appear necessary."

Afterward, almost our entire army engaged in rescue operations for the enemy soldiers, but it was confirmed that almost all of the approximately 10,000 enemy troops had frozen to death. There were a dozen or so who still had breath, but we couldn't save them, and they soon passed away.

In other words, 10,000 people had frozen to death.