Chapter 241
Western Front ③: The Clash of Mages
Translator : PolterGlast
In the land of Kleirat, preparations for a new,
unknown battle were being made in haste. The encampment, originally built
disguised as a levee, had been fortified by as many as thirty Earth Mages into a chain of sturdy stone defensive walls reaching a
height of 20 m.
Originally, it was built to disguise the castle walls as a
levee, so stone defensive walls were embedded in the base hidden by soil. With
just a little tweaking of the covering earthen walls by the Earth Mages, it could transform into solid walls.
Also, numerous catapults were installed in the rear enclosed
by the castle walls. These had been concealed in various locations until the
outbreak of war and were transported and installed by Kaul using Space-Time Magic. Furthermore, on the inside hidden
by the defensive walls, metal rods nearly 30 m high were set up everywhere.
"What on earth is Your Highness doing? The soldiers are
wondering. The riverside on the opposite bank has also become submerged before
we knew it..."
"Fufufu, it's no wonder they find it strange. This is
also a defensive tactic planned by the Demon Territory Count. As for the
riverside on the opposite bank, we activated the pumping waterwheels concealed
upstream, so water is being distributed through channels. Yuka-san, are
preparations over there complete?"
"Yes, it is submerged with water mixed with a large
amount of salt. I believe the enemy army will realize later why we dared not to
drop the bridge."
"Then let's reveal the trick to the Legion Commander as
well. Everything has a meaning. Actually..."
Hearing the explanation, Schulz was astounded once
again. How does one come up with such tactics? Compared to these women speaking
so casually, am I nothing but an outdated relic?
"However, speaking of these matters is forbidden. The Demon
Territory Count always said: new weapons and tactics will eventually be
imitated, and those fangs will be bared against oneself. We must avoid that as
much as possible and delay the time when those fangs strike at us."
Neighboring countries could hardly imitate such things, Schulz thought, but he nodded silently.
In the Fearalt Principality camp, Count Lesser
trembled with the joy of revenge. The Principality's pride, the 300-strong Mage Corps, had finally appeared on the
front lines, fully prepared.
On the embankment about 300 m from the enemy camp on the
opposite bank, the 300 members of the Mage
Corps lined up.
"Hahaha! Their archers' range is at most 200 m. In
contrast, the magic range of our proud Mage
Corps exceeds 300 m. To begin with, there is no comparison between flimsy
arrows and magic!"
Boasting thus, Count Lesser himself took position on
a raised platform within the embankment, overlooking the entire army.
"Infantry with shields, deploy to the riverside! Mage Corps, commence attack from your
position! First, scorch the earth; rain down
hellfire!"
Of the Mage Corps,
the unit of 150 Fire Mages released magic all at once. Ten
fireballs per person, a total of 1,500, crossed the river and assaulted the Kyle
Kingdom's encampment.
Count Lesser
watched the scene, licking his lips.
"..."
However, the rain of fireballs crossed the enemy's defensive
wall, but the moment they were about to rain down, they flared up grandly in
mid-air as if repelled by something, then vanished with a sound like burning
charcoal thrown into water.
"Ooh!"
Though the cause was unseen, a great cheer rose from the
enemy camp at the failure of the attack.
"Tch! Do they have Wind
Mages and Water Mages? It cannot be helped. Let them have a taste of lightning
spears from the Thunder Mage unit of
150. While they rejoice at blocking fireballs, let them be charred black by
lightning strikes! To begin with, lightning strikes from Thunder Mages cannot
be blocked by something like a Wind Wall."
Replacing the Fire
Mages, the Thunder Mages who stepped forward each released arrows of lightning.
Vibrating the air like thunder, they flew toward the enemy camp with a roar.
Screams and shrieks should have echoed from the enemy
camp...
"..."
"Wahahahaha!"
But in reality, what echoed from the enemy camp after the
silence was mocking laughter. Count Lesser was furious.
"It looks close, but is it actually well over 300 m to
the opposite bank? Getting cocky just because they're out of range! I'll make
them realize! Mage Corps, advance to
the riverside! Redeploy in front of the river, close the distance, and give
them a taste of lightning strikes! If the enemy flinches, it's the Fire Mages' turn!"
The 300 members of the Mage
Corps ran down the embankment and closed the distance to near the riverbank
all at once. Perhaps because the river had overflowed, the entire riverside was
covered in shallow puddles about ankle-deep, but since it wasn't deep enough to
worry about, no one paid it any mind.
Inside the encampment enclosed by defensive walls, Clarice
and the others sighed in relief.
"Even though we trained extensively in Ishtar, I
was worried whether it would work well in the real thing. But... it seems the
lightning rods are functioning well in coordination with our Thunder Mages."
"Yes, unlike Fire Magic, Thunder Magic is fast. You
cannot counter it after noticing it."
Yuka also
responded with a sigh of relief. And she recalled when Takuhir first
explained this tactic.
『Listen,
lightning strikes can be guided in the first place. If you make a path for
them. This is the major premise. And this lightning rod, this is the entrance
leading to that path. The important thing is, just setting them up won't
attract lightning. You need to constantly discharge a weak current... no, flow
Thunder Magic through them. That's the only problem, and it's a headache.』
Takuhir solved
this issue with the simplest method: compensating with the sheer number of Mages. Twenty-seven Mages were divided into nine teams
on a rotation system, and three teams—nine
people—constantly used weak Thunder Magic with slightly staggered timing to
keep the lightning rods constantly charged.
The copper and iron necessary for this mechanism were
produced from Gorman County and the Teigoon mine. Takuhir
had arranged with his father-in-law, Count Gorman, to purchase a large
amount of copper and copper beaten and stretched into wire.
"Enemy Mage
Corps, descending the embankment and deploying on the riverside!"
Returning to herself upon receiving the report, Yuka
immediately issued instructions.
"Now, switch the grounding! Clarice-sama, please
proceed with the next phase!"
"Relay to the standard-bearers: all forces
prepare for volley fire! Catapults prepare for incendiary shells! Raise the flags!"
Under Clarice's command, preparations for an all-out
counterattack were immediately put in place. The sound of bells signaling a
synchronized attack rang out in the Kyle Kingdom camp.
On the opposite riverside, all preparations were complete as
well. Count Lesser issued final instructions to each unit.
"Immediately after the Thunder Mages
release their lightning spears, Fire
Mages rain down hellfire on
the enemy camp! Coordinating with that, the assault unit centered on the
cavalry will charge into the enemy camp from the bridge. Infantry units, utilize the shallows the enemy used for their retreat! Close
in on their positions and overrun them! The enemy Princess should be waiting in
the rear. Trample the confused enemy and capture the fleeing Princess! With
this, our victory in this battle is certain! Name
your rewards, for they shall be yours!"
"Ooh!"
"Give the signal to commence attack!"
Under Count Lesser's command, the Mage Corps deployed on the riverside
commenced their attack all at once. Lightning flashes released by the Thunder Mages assaulted the enemy camp with speed invisible to the eye. To
mow down and burn everything...
"Ababababababa!" "Gugaaah!"
"Aaaaaah!" "..."
The Count doubted his own eyes at the scene spreading before
him. The Mage Corps and soldiers
deployed on the riverside, and the cavalry that had crossed the bridge and
begun their assault, raised strange screams and convulsed.
No, many of those convulsing silently arched their backs and
stiffened their bodies. Of course, not all soldiers. The difference was stark
depending on their location, and some stood dumbfounded watching their comrades
suffering from an incomprehensible attack.
And simultaneously, a massive number of arrows, enough to
dye the sky over the opposite bank black, assaulted the riverside. It was not
the flimsy arrows the Count had boasted of before. It was a storm of arrows
possessing speed and power.
Those convulsing, those already dead, and those completely
unharmed watching in a daze were equally bathed in the storm of arrows and
fell.
"W-W-W-What! What is happening!"
When the Count shouted that, a large amount of projectiles
flew toward the high ground where he had set up his main camp. They landed
accurately on the high ground, ignited all at once, and engulfed the entire
platform in flames.
"Gwaaah!"
That was the last word the Count uttered. Not just the
Count. Everyone on the high ground and its surroundings was engulfed in the
erupting flames.
To begin with, this high ground was a hill deliberately
created by Elan and his team under Takuhir's orders so the enemy
army would easily place their main camp there. Located slightly behind the
embankment, it was a perfect position overlooking the battlefield—a place
anyone would think to place a headquarters.
Flammable dry grass was planted all over the hill, and substances
to encourage fire spread had been secretly scattered. Elan and his team
had conducted sufficient test firing in advance with about ten temporarily
installed catapults to fix the aim points.
And just as Takuhir and the others aimed, Count
Lesser had set up his headquarters there.
Containers filled with oil and igniters such as
high-temperature baked coal and charcoal flew from the sky, engulfing the
entire hill in flames in mere moments.
Another thing: Takuhir and the others had run copper
wires connected to the lightning rods through hollowed-out bamboo tubes from
under the bridge girders to the opposite bank. Those copper wires were
connected to copper plates laid as floorboards on the bridge and buried
underground on the opposite bank, connecting to various points in the large
puddles.
Of course, the puddles themselves were shallow but vast
pools hardened with clay in advance, filled with saltwater—water pumped from
upstream by waterwheels with added salt—creating a saline solution designed to
conduct electricity easily.
The Mage Corps
had essentially burned themselves with their own lightning strikes.
Confirming that the enemy headquarters was engulfed in
flames, Clarice issued further instructions.
"Legion Commander Schulz, after firing the
second volley, please conduct a mopping-up operation with the 10,000 cavalry of
the Royal Capital Knights. Furthermore, detain the enemy main unit
located to the west. Allocate 2,000 of the remaining troops to continue
defense, and the remaining 4,000 will advance to the opposite bank to recover
the corpses and belongings of the enemy army. If corpse poison flows into the
river, the downstream areas will suffer terrible damage. Deal with it
immediately!"
Clarice's orders
were executed immediately.
The Fearalt Principality Advance Force saw its
leadership, including the chief commander Count Lesser, annihilated, and
its force of 10,000 was nearly wiped out. The prized Mage Corps also fell in great numbers due to their own lightning
strikes and arrows released by the archers. The remnants, having lost their
leadership, were cut down one after another in the subsequent mopping-up
operation.
Thus, half a day after this battle ended, fewer than 1,000
survivors, a shadow of their former selves compared to their departure, joined
up with the main unit.
The Western Front,
which Takuhir worried about most, achieved a great victory in the
opening battle thanks to heavy defensive positions and tactics that had been
overly elaborated due to that worry.
However, remaining as opponents were the main unit of the
Rebel Noble Army numbering 20,000, and over 7,000 traitorous allies—an enemy
force double their own.
And the enemy's secret scheme
as well... But at this point, flushed with victory, they had no way of knowing.
Later, they would come to realize it themselves.
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