Chapter 371
(Kyle Calendar Year 515: Age 22)
Southern Front ⑥ – Approaching
Proximity
Translator : PolterGlast
The formidable force of 10,000 cavalry, which had been
frantically racing southward across the expansive western reaches of the Gryphonia
Empire, had finally successfully crossed into the southwestern battlefield—the
direct sphere of influence belonging to the Third Prince. They were currently
driving their spurs into their mounts, dashing through a stark, desolate
terrain dominated entirely by continuous barren, uncultivable wastelands.
「 Everyone, from this place forward, we have officially entered Grat-sama's sphere of influence. But conversely, this means our
absolute vigilance must surge to even stricter heights from here on, and we
shall no longer be permitted to receive any further replenishment of provisions
or materials. 」
『 Wait……
despite entering the territory of our own allies, our vigilance must surge
conversely, and we can't receive supplies?
』 Driven by
that immediate reaction, a wave of confusion likely flickered across my
features for a brief second.
「 Because we are operating within his
sphere of influence, it mathematically implies that we have successfully locked
onto the immediate coordinates of the active warzone, does it not? And
furthermore, this ground…… is already running dangerously close to the national
border bordering the Eral Knight Kingdom? 」
At the Commander's words, I once again visualized the
military charts Sieghart had personally provided me, meticulously
mapping them across my mind. If we aligned our calculations with the directives
of Accelerata, it was highly plausible that the enemy forces who had
pushed deep into the Ende sector had already established a rigorous
patrol network to seamlessly link their frontline advance back to their
sovereign homeland.
「 Under normal, logical conditions,
the high command would establish a buffer state or appoint a Frontier Count across
these borderlands to maintain ironclad defensive readiness against foreign
nations, but…… 」
Saying this, Accelerata swept his gaze across the
sprawling, lifeless plains stretching before our eyes. Following his line of
sight, the rest of us stared down anew at the
jagged landscape where massive tumbling boulders broke through the
dirt, punctuated only by a scattering of sparse, low-lying shrubs here and
there.
「 This specific land is catastrophically unsuited for agricultural tilling;
furthermore, there is a total absence of river networks, and driving water
shafts through the rock to establish functional wells is a monumental
hardship…… 」
I see…… Water is the absolute, non-negotiable lifeline
required for human survival; without a functional conduit to secure it,
establishing a sustainable lifestyle is an
impossibility. Even if hypothetically there was an underground water vein, in
this rocky land, it would probably be considerably difficult without the
architectural assistance of a master Earth Mage.
「 Consequently, it remains impossible
to entrust this land to the stewardship of any noble house…… For the time
being, it has hurriedly been placed under the direct sovereign administration
of His Imperial Majesty, acting strictly as a buffer zone separating us from
our neighbor. 」
「 I see. Trying to maintain a
garrison to defend an empty husk like this is a complete waste of resources.
Meaning absolutely no one covets this ground. 」
「Exactly as Takuhir-sama says. I have received confirmed updates indicating
that the Eral Knight Kingdom finds itself trapped in a remarkably
identical geographical crisis. Though, I am told their situation is slightly
superior to our own, as they are continuously blessed by the natural bounty of
flowing water trickling down from the massive mountain ranges encompassing
their borders…… 」
「 The Viscount appears remarkably
well-informed. Your calculations are exactly correct. It is precisely because
of those harsh realities that the primary commercial industry of the Knightly
Kingdom is its own populace—they sustain their entire national infrastructure
by contract-dispensing their elite mercenaries to foreign countries as a lifework. 」
「 Then how on earth do they manage
their border defenses? 」
「 Commander, is it perhaps that thing over there? 」
I extended my arm, pointing directly toward a faint
structural silhouette silhouetted against the absolute horizon, resembling a
stone beacon tower. I wondered if our marching unit
was slated to temporarily stop at that coordinate next?
「 Your Highness has deduced it flawlessly.
That is indeed a beacon array. We shall execute a wide bypass to navigate
around it as we continue our southward advance. 」
Wait, what? We aren't going to stop there? The thought
immediately rippled through my mind, but it appeared a highly distinct piece of
strategic logic was dictating the choice.
「 While that structure has been
configured to systematically monitor the surrounding terrain, it simultaneously
implies a massive risk that the tower itself is currently being observed from
an entirely separate, hidden coordinate. When the military unit of the Eral Knight Kingdom launched their frontal
breach, they boldly chose to forgo capturing the beacon towers along their path
of advance. Yet, we possess absolutely zero guarantee that our own allies are
currently garrisoned inside those walls now, so I have already dispatched fast-riding
heralds ahead of our main unit to verify
the ground, executing our approach with absolute care to ensure we avoid
triggering any hazardous, unnecessary misunderstandings. 」
Right…… Even in the event that friendly forces remained
inside the tower, if their lookouts accidentally misidentified our massive
approaching cloud of riders as a brand-new invading enemy unit, they would instantly ignite the signal fires, spreading
chaotic panic and unnecessary doubt across the wider battlefield. Worse, even
if they realized we were allies, any uncoordinated, sudden reaction on their
end would disrupt our secrecy. Because a warning fire unleashed to alert an
ally simultaneously acts as an absolute beacon flare alerting the enemy.
As we continued our march while hammering out these tactical
calculations, it seemed the fast-riding heralds Accelerata had unleashed
toward the bypassed fortress materialized along the horizon, rapidly galloping
back toward our central unit.
※
Around this exact same time, Sieghart remained firmly
entrenched inside the fortifications of Long Bridge Fort, continuously
leading his men in a grueling, defensive containment resisting the offensive
momentum of the two-nation coalition. Though, looking at the current
disposition of the field, it appeared the forces of the Principality of Sura
had entirely transitioned their strategy into a strict war of attrition; they
were maintaining their heavy encirclement while unleashing nothing more than
sporadic, scattered skirmishes. Instead, the faction throwing themselves into a
frantic, non-stop frenzy to actively breach the walls was the Turncoat
Kingdom army, boasting a formidable military force of
30,000 men.
「 Good grief. Those wretches truly
never learn, do they? Tell me, how many times have we successfully repelled their charges today alone? 」
Saying this aloud, Sieghart intentionally let a
relaxed, confident smirk wash over his features right in front of his soldiers.
While the overall morale of the defending garrison remained exceptionally high,
the raw reality of the siege remained profoundly precarious, granting zero
luxury for optimistic assumptions or dropping their guard:
- The
Supreme Commander, the Third Prince himself, remained entirely
missing-in-action, rendering any attempts to establish direct communication
an absolute impossibility.
- The
fort was continuously choked within a suffocating, dense heavy
encirclement; while swift individual scouts could occasionally slip past
the cracks, mobilizing their military strength as a unified vanguard was
completely locked down.
- While
their granaries still possessed an exceptionally deep reserve of raw food
supplies, their consumables—specifically their heavy arrows and catapult
stone ammunition—were aggressively deteriorating with every single wave.
- And
delivering the ultimate, bone-crushing climax to their crisis: the
strategic fortress city of Ende had been thoroughly captured by the
First Prince, effectively hammering an immovable block straight into their
absolute path of retreat.
Regarding that catastrophic news received secretly, Sieghart
had instantly executed a total information blackout, locking the data behind an
iron curtain of absolute secrecy to protect his men.
『 Following
the initial wave of fabricated lies about His
Highness Grat, the enemy high command will inevitably attempt to unleash
a secondary wave of psychological warfare, spreading deceptive rumors claiming
the fall of Ende to shatter our lines.
』
If anything, he had boldly taken the initiative to actively
seed that exact rumor across his own barracks ahead of time, intentionally
framing it as an obvious, laughable piece of enemy deception. He understood
with absolute clarity that across a prolonged siege, the raw psychological
morale of the soldiers is the single most vital resource upon the chess board,
and he dedicated his entire focus to safeguarding that asset.
And furthermore, he held an entirely separate, classified piece
of intelligence that belonged exclusively to his own ears—a top-secret dispatch
that had been covertly transmitted back to his desk by Accelerata, whom
he had previously unleashed as his special liaison.
『 Even
though my heart harbored barely a fraction of a hope when I sent the request, I
swear to God I am entirely unworthy to sleep with my feet pointing towards Lord
Takuhir. To think that while his own country is caught in the throes of a monumental crisis, he would
still choose to deploy his strength for our sakes…… 』
As the profound realizations walloped his heart, he
instinctively faced the absolute northwest, naturally bowing his head in deep,
reverent gratitude toward the horizon.
The sprawling network of beacon towers that once stretched
across the south, west, and east had already been violently severed by the
invading enemy forces, rendered entirely non-functional.
Yet, the singular line of towers stretching across the absolute northwest
remained completely pristine and operational, regularly releasing their
scheduled signal fires for regular reports into the sky with clockwork
precision every day. And on this monumental day, that northwest line had just
unleashed a scheduled report that was completely 'unscheduled'. The signaling
fire had risen nearly two full hours ahead of its designated 'regular time'—a
brilliant, double-layered protocol configured specifically to broadcast a
herald notifying of good news.
「 Heh. Even so, trust Lord Takuhir
to conceptualize such a thoroughly fascinating, brilliant system…… 」
Years prior, when he had accompanied the Third Prince to Kusanagi
and they blossomed in an intense, late-night military discussions alongside the
King of Fearalt, Lady Clarice, and the others, he had heard
another fascinating tactical story from Takuhir besides the 'Sutegamari' (Leave and Delay tactic).
The discussion had specifically focused on the massive network of beacon towers
currently being constructed across the newly acquired territories of the Empire.
『 As
a primitive early-warning systems,
a beacon tower possesses a raw speed of transmission that is virtually peerless
across this era. But if it were me steering the
board, I would actively invert that exact property, utilizing the enemy's own
complacency to strike a devastating psychological blow against their hubris.
Consequently, while the system is excellent, I think it is necessary to
implement some minor hidden counter-measures…… 』
He still clearly remembered those exact words Takuhir
had delivered that night, vividly engraved inside his mind. What if that beacon
tower itself was captured by enemies who secretly infiltrated? What if there
were traitors or spies among the personnel stationed there?
In truth, the tactical doctrine Takuhir had casually
detailed that night was merely a modernized recycling of secondhand knowledge
Nishida had passionately read about inside the Romance of the Three
Kingdoms—specifically, the legendary ruse the Kingdom of Wu implemented to
completely dismantle and neutralize the beacon networks maintained by the
formidable Guan Yu during their campaign to conquer Jing Province; it was
merely a brilliant countermeasure against that exact vulnerability.
Every single beacon tower operates under an ironclad
protocol: they raise the designated beacon for the regular confirmation report
strictly at an automated sequence of random hours determined in advance. The
exact timeline of this randomized matrix is a piece of classified data known
exclusively by the direct divisional commander steering that specific tower;
the invading enemy forces possessed absolutely zero human means of calculating
the pattern. And furthermore, only when there is a special critical
communication, the regular confirmation fires are permitted to be raised at a
time completely deviating from their 'regular time'.
「 I must extend my deepest gratitude
to Accelerata when this is over…… but more importantly, seeing the
password actually function, it forces me to realize once again just how
terrifyingly brilliant that man truly is. If he were still positioned against
us on the enemy's side of the board even now, our lines would have been
thoroughly dismantled long ago…… 」
Shuddering at the mere thought, Sieghart thanked him
anew while feeling a wave of profound gratitude wash over his soul for the
sovereign who continuously walks a full step ahead of the era, routinely
shattering absolute crises through sheer, unpredictable tactical genius and
eccentric schemes. This time…… with what manner of miraculous, reality-bending
strategy would his ultimate ally deploy to violently smash this
overwhelming crisis? Setting his own dire circumstances aside for a single
second, his mind burned with an extraordinary, intense fascination regarding
the unpredictable counters his brother-in-arms was about to unleash upon the
field.
「 Excuse me! A sudden movement has been confirmed across the enemy forces
deploying to our east and north! It seems they are actively re-aligning their formations to launch a full-scale offensive again! 」
The sharp report instantly jarred him out of his tactical
calculations, forcefully dragging his focus back to the brutal reality of his world.
「 So those bastards are prepared to
fruitlessly squander their manpower and use useless effort yet again, eh? Well……
for the sake of appearances to the Principality of Sura, the Turncoat commanders must be entirely
desperate to showcase their worth too…… but this continuous, non-stop overtime
work is getting ridiculous. Seriously, my afternoon nap time…… I wonder when on
earth I am going to be permitted to reclaim it? 」
While muttering the quiet, lazy grievance beneath his
breath, Sieghart instantly straightened his posture, resolutely
straightening his bearing. Shedding every trace of fatigue, his entire aura
transformed, changing his expression. There stood the crisp, ironclad figure of
an undefeated, unyielding general who possessed the absolute, fanatical
devotion and deep trust of his troops as a commander.
「 Immediately load the catapult
batteries and prime the ballistas! Calibrate and adjust your aims! Broadcast my directives across all lines: leave our
minimal operational reserves inside the barracks, and deploy every single
active soldier straight up to the city walls! Maintain absolute vigilance
against any sudden, overt movements! Listen to me, men—keep your arrow fire and
stone barrages precise and maximally efficient! 」
Conveying his sharp orders,
to personally take command at the absolute forefront, the General moved along
the city walls and headed toward the massive watchtower anchoring the eastern
side. The stronghold of Long Bridge Fort, which he used as a base, was
once again violently swept straight into the absolute vortex of total,
cataclysmic warfare.
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