Chapter 265
Southern Front ⑲ — The Final Battle
Translator : PolterGlast
Takuhir and his
group, having accepted Count Gorman's advice, entered final preparations
to decide the outcome of the Battle of Aegis. The troops they led
totaled 4,600: 2,000 Demon Territory Knights, 800 Demon Territory
Count soldiers, 1,000 Longbowmen, 200 Militia soldiers, and 600 Armed
Vigilantes. Opposing them was the First Prince's army of 11,000: 3,000 Iron
Cavalry and 8,000 infantry. Although their numbers had decreased slightly due
to previous battles, they were still overwhelmingly superior.
"Final confirmation of Iron Cavalry position!"
"They are lurking in the forest about 600 m away in the
direction of the barrier gate from Aegis, waiting in combat readiness to
ambush us!"
"Final confirmation of First Prince's position!"
"Lurking at a position 600 m from the castle wall. His
direct troops are lined up horizontally along the castle wall, deployed in a
belt shape. Just as predicted!"
Yes, since the beginning of the war, we had been carrying
out a deceptive strategy in preparation for this day.
『Never
launch an attack beyond 400 m.』This supreme order had been
thoroughly enforced by the Commander to the entire army. To make the enemy army
believe that our attack range was at most 300 m, and not exceeding 400 m even
with height advantage.
"Takuhir-sama, preparations for the entire army are complete. Please give
the Imperial Army a good scare."
Urged by the Commander smiling happily, I went out to a
corner atop the defensive wall where many large gongs were lined up. In front
of each gong, a loudspeaker resembling a giant megaphone was attached, and
there was one spot where no gong was installed.
I stood in front of it.
"Everyone, cover your ears or prepare earplugs!"
A few seconds after flags were raised in various places, the
Commander's right hand swung down.
With that as the signal, ten gongs were struck
simultaneously, and an ear-splitting loud sound resonated. This sound was
directed in one direction by the megaphones and further amplified by Shannon,
resulting in a roar as if lightning had struck, echoing through the First
Prince's camp.
"Wh-What is it? E-Enemy attack?"
The First Prince, surprised by the sudden roar, was almost
thrown off his rearing beloved horse. Looking around, many horses had panicked
and thrown their riders, and everyone was in confusion. And many soldiers,
surprised by the sheer roar, were crouching down covering their ears.
"Calm down! We feel no pain or discomfort from mere
blusterous noise. Do not fear!"
Just as the soldiers were gradually regaining their
composure at the First Prince's words uttered while enduring the ringing in his
ears, something unbelievable happened next.
From atop the far-off castle wall, a loud voice that
shouldn't have reached them was heard clearly.
『To
the commander and officers of the Imperial Army who disturb the peace, invade
our country for the barren reason of a royal succession struggle, and desire
useless bloodshed.
You are already under siege by our army. But we do not desire barbaric bloodshed. Even if you are
invaders like yourselves, we cannot bear to tear your whole bodies apart and
massacre you all.
Therefore, throw down your weapons quietly and surrender! We are different from the merciless Imperial Army. We
will treat prisoners humanely and are prepared to return them to the Empire at
a later date. We will not attack those who throw down their weapons and
gather in front of the castle wall.』
"What are you saying! If you're going to lie, tell a
better lie! You are overwhelmingly outnumbered; aren't you the ones under
siege!"
The First Prince immediately retorted, but of course, his
voice did not reach the enemy army. However, a voice poured down again as if it
had heard that retort.
『Well,
you probably can't believe my words right now. For that reason, I will show you
a little entertainment from now.
I repeat, this is entertainment.
It is to make you understand that normally, tearing you
apart piece by piece, massacring you, and turning you into monster feed would
be a very simple matter. Fully
digest that this entertainment is an opportunity to understand my words just
now. There is no next time; after the entertainment, slaughter will
likely begin.』
After these words were spoken, commands were exchanged
busily atop the Ishtar castle walls.
"Diffusion Magic Cannons, prepare four units for
continuous fire, show them off at maximum range! Prepare second shot
immediately after firing the first.
At the Eastern Bailey, all catapults conduct a volley of suppression rounds at
maximum range! From the second shot onwards, switch to stone bullets
sequentially and fire continuously!"
"Wind direction, North to South, no problem!"
"Magic Cannons, preparation complete, Mages
standby complete!"
"Each catapult is ready."
"Long Spear unit has
taken position in continuous firing formation."
"Takuhir-sama, reports from all locations, we are good to go!"
I silently swung my hand down at the Commander's words. At
that moment...
Amidst the roar shaking the earth and the ground tremors, inside
the thickly rising dust clouds, the First Prince was stunned. The soldiers,
terrified by the attack defying common sense, were running around screaming.
"Impossible... the range easily exceeds one km? How are we supposed to escape such a thing. That
destructive power, there's no way we have means to resist that... is that the Demon
Territory Count's magic attack?"
To the First Prince muttering blankly, reports mixed with
screams came in one after another.
"Our retreat path is lost. The area is a mess, and
immediate restoration is impossible!"
"The passage to the encampment... the earth is gouged
out, and surrounding trees are pulverized to dust. If we receive that attack,
our annihilation is inevitable!"
"Report from lookout! Attacks are raining down from
outside range even on the location where the Iron Cavalry is hiding! The
surroundings are filled with red and white smoke, and we can see nothing from
here!"
"The Mage and infantry formation deployed
forward is receiving intermittent attacks that seem like powerful spears from
outside range! Damage is immense! Infantry shields can't defend against them at
all!"
Receiving the tragic reports, the surrounding scenery
vanished for the First Prince, and he fell into the illusion of standing alone
atop a cliff in darkness.
Am I... going to lose here? Invading all the way to the Kingdom after a long drive,
only to be torn apart and end as monster feed? The glorious Imperial
Throne will go to his hands...
"Your Highness... Your Highness! Please withdraw for
now!"
Shaken by his aide, the First Prince finally came to his
senses.
"Far to our right rear, battle cries are rising from
beyond the dust clouds where the enemy army attacked. We are under siege by the
enemy. Please withdraw to the encampment for now and reorganize!"
"Are you a fool! If we retreat in the direction of the
encampment as is, we will become prey to that outrageous weapon and the whole
army will collapse! Both retreat paths, to the rear and the right direction
where the encampment is, are blocked by that ridiculous wide-range attack! Are
you telling me to take that head-on?"
"B-But, at this rate..."
"I know! From now, all forces charge immediately to the
enemy's castle wall!"
"Your Highness!"
"Rest assured, I am sane. Just think about the
situation we are placed in now. We are already within range of the enemy's
attack. Then where is the safe zone? It can only be directly under them, right?
From directly under the enemy castle wall, we break through to the East, join
up with Harry's army, and reorganize. Along the castle wall, ahead of
our path, 3,000 Iron Cavalry are waiting. What's flying over there is probably
just stones. First, join up with them and plan a comeback. I don't mind
sacrifices."
The First Prince's forces began running all at once to cling
to the castle wall. While distorting their faces in fear.
From atop the castle wall, Anne, Sigurd, and I were looking down at the movement of
the Imperial Army led by the First Prince. The Commander, who was beside me
until a moment ago, had moved for another order and disappeared.
"It seems Raphael-san
is successfully driving the enemy soldiers."
"Yeah, looks like it. Is the Commander ready?"
"Yes, I confirmed the flag notifying standby completion
just now. It seems both are ready. It seems they are just waiting for Bart-san to return."
"I see, then order the Archers! Reduce the enemy
soldiers around the main target as much as possible. And divide the enemy
soldiers clinging to the castle wall with suppression rounds. So that the two
can do their work easily afterwards."
"Understood!"
Yes, I had prepared a large quantity of attack rounds using
Naga fruit, a type of extremely spicy chili pepper used in the Istoria
Imperial Kingdom war, and attack rounds packed with new spices obtained in
the Fearalt Principality, calling them suppression rounds.
The Iron
Cavalry lurking in the forest were struck by this, and on top of being left in
no condition to fight, they continue to be bombarded by an intermittent rain of
stone bullets.
Since it is a maximum range attack extending flight distance
with the help of Wind Mages using stones smaller than fists rather than
large stone bullets, the killing power is weak, but even so, with injuries,
falling off horses, and injured mounts, they likely cannot perform coordinated
movements as a corps anymore.
Also, from Aegis, we had maintained multiple tunnels
passing secretly under the castle wall to the Demon Territory side.
Removing the camouflaged bedrock, the mechanism allows easy exit to the Demon
Territory side, and removing this is no problem if Space-Time Mage Bart
is there.
The Commander is waiting at a junction connecting several
tunnels, waiting for information on the optimal entry point and for Bart,
who was guiding Raphael earlier, to return through another tunnel.
And one more thing.
For the past few days, I had been flying not only
communication balloons but also manned observation balloons. If the balloon itself
is fixed with ropes and a Fire Mage and Wind Mage ride along, it
can be flown and retrieved relatively safely.
With this, I focused on searching for the disposition of the
First Prince's forces, especially the location of the main camp where the First
Prince was, from the sky. They probably just tilted their heads, not knowing
what this mysterious flying object was.
"A group presumed to be the enemy's main camp, along
with accompanying infantry, has attached to the castle wall. Location: Tunnel
Number 2 seems optimal. Also, it seems the assault team is fully
prepared."
"Good! Wave Flag Number 2!"
Confirming the flag, the army led by the Commander
immediately rushed into the tunnel and sprinted toward the enemy army.
Commander, I'm counting on you! Please end it with this
somehow.
I saw them off while praying in my heart. If we capture just
the First Prince, the battle on the Southern Front should end.
In accordance with the secret agreement I made with Sieghart. I was staking the future on the secret plan entrusted to the Commander.
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