Chapter 266
Southern Front ⑳ — Drawing the Curtain
on the Battle
Translator : PolterGlast
The army led by the First Prince of the Griffonia
Imperial Army, Glorious, having clung to the castle walls of Ishtar,
was galloping towards the East. Directly under the castle walls, neither that
terrifying annihilation attack nor the fierce arrows that could be mistaken for
spears were flying.
Occasionally, something like colored smoke screens was
thrown from atop the castle walls at the rear guard, but they had absolutely no
leeway to worry about the situation behind them.
"Protect His Highness!"
The First
Prince led the fleeing combat units of the Imperial Army, while his escort
cavalry galloped on either side, flanking them. Further on the outside,
infantrymen were running alongside them with shields raised.
"Beyond the East, enter the bamboo forest from the
break in the fortress, and go straight through to the East! Beyond that, 3,000
Iron Cavalry are waiting! If we can escape that far, just that far, it is our
victory!"
During the retreat, the First Prince continued to encourage
his allies. Although their numbers had been reduced in the process so far, the
forces under the First Prince's command still numbered over 6,000; combined
with the Iron Cavalry deployed ahead, the total would be 9,000. If they joined
up with the detached force entrusted to Duke Harry, they could plan a
comeback.
However, reality was harsher than his imagination. He still
did not know of the detached force's defeat, nor the disastrous state of the
Iron Cavalry lurking in the bamboo forest.
"Listen well! The root of all evil lies in the vanguard! Our allies
will hold off the rear. We are here solely to crush the enemy Demon
Territory Knights, follow me!"
Under the command of Commander Weiss, a force of
2,000 mounts suddenly attacked from the flank of the retreating Imperial Army.
They made a tremendous charge, aiming solely for the First Prince.
"E-Eek!"
"Guwah!" "Beh!"
The infantry running in the center of the Imperial Army's
leading group, which was on the path of the Commander and his men, tripped over
their own feet one after another and fell, involving those behind them. As if
suddenly a great weight had been placed on their bodies...
Cutting through the ranks of the Imperial soldiers whose
feet were dragging and who were in confusion, the warhorses of the Demon
Territory Knights cut their way into the thickest part of the Imperial
Army's ranks. It was as if a sharp blade was cutting through soft meat.
"Do not panic! Line up shields and form formations to
the left and right to parry the cavalry charge! If we do that, they cannot
easily turn around!"
The First Prince's tactic was fundamentally not wrong.
Against the Kyle Kingdom Army
attempting to break through the center in a spindle formation close to a
column, if the Imperial Army split left and right and parried the charge to the
rear, the enemy would be pushed by their own rear guard and forced to move
forward. If that happened, blocked by the wall of people created by infantry on
the left and right, they wouldn't be able to turn their horses around to pursue
the Imperial Army.
However, there was one thing the First Prince could not even
predict.
"Yoltia-san, now!"
With Weiss's signal, the Imperial Army's middle force
galloping toward the East collapsed all at once. Suddenly, men and horses began
to fall like dominoes, starting to involve those following them.
Because of this, a large blank zone was born in the military
column of the Imperial Army continuing to gallop East.
"Chance for victory! Use this opportunity to turn
around and surround the enemy's vanguard!"
It was a tactic named the U-turn Attack, devised by Takuhir
to cut off and secure only the lead unit. Under the Commander's direction, the Demon
Territory Knights utilized that blank zone to deploy left and right, turned
their horses around to reverse course, and began to run alongside and pursue
the Imperial Army as if surrounding them from the outside.
"Wha-! What happened to the rear guard? Why are they
not following us!"
The First Prince raised a flustered voice at the unexpected
situation. At that moment, the reversed unit attacked again.
"It's no good, they're coming!"
Simultaneously with the flustered voice of his aide, the
cavalry under the Commander's direction attacked the First Prince's escorts as
well.
"Root of all evil! Be bound quietly!"
The moment
the First Prince heard a high-pitched voice cutting clearly through the
battlefield, his steed suddenly pitched forward and collapsed. He was sent
flying through the air... and then slammed into the ground, losing
consciousness.
When the First Prince woke up next, he was lying on a bed in
a room furnished reasonably well. There were signs of treatment on his body's
wounds, and although he felt some pain, he seemed able to get up without issue.
However, he could not get up. Because both his hands and
feet were tied to the bed...
"What is this? Who do you think I am! This is
insolence!"
Perhaps because he shouted with all his might, someone
visited the room where he was confined.
"First Prince of the Griffonia Imperial Kingdom,
His Highness Glorious, I presume?"
The one who asked was a man around 20 years old, wearing
reasonably proper military attire but looking mediocre. Moreover, having asked
if he was the First Prince, he remained standing without kneeling.
"Knowing that, what is this insolence!"
"It is to have Your Highness understand the current
situation. Once you understand, I will respond with courtesy befitting royalty.
Though, I cannot offer much in the way of proper hospitality on a
battlefield... I apologize for the late introduction. I am Solis von Takuhir, the Demon
Territory Count of the Kyle Kingdom."
Hearing those words, Glorious fainted again and lost
consciousness.
"Good grief, this is why highborn people are... well,
it can't be helped. From here on, I have no choice but to
untie him, place him under surveillance, and keep him under house arrest."
Muttering so, I left the room where he slept and returned to
the command post where the Commander and the others were waiting. Although we
won the battle, there are still piles of things to do.
At the command post established in the Aegis
fortress, information flew back and forth under the Commander's instructions,
and a tense atmosphere unchanged from wartime still drifted.
"Commander, monsters are attacking Imperial soldiers in
various places. The scale is gradually becoming larger."
"Raphael, they must be quite angry too. The
Imperial Army burned the Demon Territory and killed many monsters up to
this point. They probably managed to deal with them somehow until now, but
now... Lower rope ladders for those who fled to the castle wall side and save
them. It's a pity, but we can't use the tunnels."
"Unlike horses, people have mouths to speak after all. We can't expose secret matters either, so they'll have to
escape on their own."
Listening to the conversation between the two, I had a
thought and interrupted.
"Commander, Raphael, the tunnels are a no-go,
but the eastern evacuation site is fine. Could you evacuate those who
surrendered from the monsters for now?"
The eastern evacuation site is a temporary shelter facility
established between Aegis and the barrier gate on the Ishtar
side. Before the completion of Aegis's defensive wall extension work and
the barrier gate work on the Ishtar side, we had created a corner with a
simple defensive wall as a place to flee temporarily in case of monster attacks
during construction.
"Understood. The Militia soldiers are former Imperials.
Let's have them guide them."
"Please do. So, what's the situation?"
"Yes, the numbers are still tentative, but regarding
the Imperial Army unit centered on infantry that was attacking Aegis,
they routed simultaneously with the capture of their main commander. It's a
rough estimate, but about 4,000 likely headed towards the Southern Gate
direction and fled.
As for the Iron Cavalry lurking in the eastern bamboo
forest, it seems more than half lost their mounts due to the suppression round
attacks and were annihilated. Even so, over 1,000 escaped, mostly on foot it
seems, but nearly 1,000 who cannot move are left behind."
According to what I heard, due to the suppression rounds,
many horses ran wild, causing Iron Cavalrymen to fall off or be trampled,
suffering terribly. And while they were writhing in agony or sneezing
uncontrollably, stone bullet attacks struck, causing more damage than imagined.
"Still, that's a lot... Let's assign half of the Demon
Territory Knights along with Militia soldiers to the task."
"Understood. And there is also a report from Raphael."
"Raphael, what is it?"
"Acting as beaters, we flushed out the Imperial Army,
and then we crushed their retreat route—specifically the encampment closest to
here. Well, while doing that, we discovered a large number of warhorses they
had left behind... We took a little over 3,000 cavalry horses."
Saying so, he grinned.
"Eeh? How did you get so many?"
"Well, we were shorthanded too, so we planned to split
up and just pull 1,000... But when destroying the encampment, I felt bad
leaving the remaining horses as monster feed, so I cut the ropes and released
them. Then, over 2,000 of them quietly followed us..."
"Hahaha, the horses must have felt gratitude to Raphael.
But 3,000 is amazing. By the way, Commander, what about prisoners?"
"Right. Since we prioritized securing the First Prince,
we basically retreated without taking prisoners. Besides that, we have captured
about 1,000 who sought help at the castle walls. This number likely will
increase a bit more."
"What about the wounded? Anyone left behind?"
"Regarding this, I will report as I patrolled the
battlefield during the mopping-up operation. The dead seem to be abandoned, but
most of the wounded seem to be accompanied by fleeing soldiers."
"Gale, thank you. I see... will a path for
monsters be created to the Southern Gate again? This is... unavoidable,
I suppose."
"This time, a considerable number of the Imperial Army
are still intact and moving. And although Raphael-dono crushed the nearest encampment,
they still have the path through the Demon Territory and two encampments
remaining beyond that. Most likely, they can repel attacks. I believe they will
likely be able to fight them off. They may be the enemies we fought just
moments ago, but... I would like to hope that they can."
Everyone, including me, felt the same. Even if they are
enemy soldiers, death in battle and becoming monster feed are vastly different.
Because many of them did not enter this battlefield, the Demon Territory,
by their own choice.
"Commander, please hurry the departure of the Demon
Territory Knights and Militia soldiers. I leave command to Gale. Raphael,
could you borrow Shannon's power and call for surrender to the routed
soldiers in my place?"
"Understood!" "Yes!"
After the two left, a messenger from Ishtar arrived
next. Since we had already conveyed our victory via balloon communication, they
likely sent the messenger in response to that. However, the messenger's words
were enough to astonish me again.
"Huh? ...No, sorry. Could you say that again?"
Before praising their war exploits, I unintentionally let
out a strange voice due to surprise.
"Yes, in the Ishtar area, including interviews
with prisoners, the following war results have been confirmed at present. We
have slain 3,500 Iron Cavalry and secured about 2,000 as prisoners including
the wounded. We have slain 5,800 Infantry and secured about 4,300 as prisoners
including the wounded. Furthermore, over 1,500 Iron Cavalry and over 1,900
Infantry are dispersed and fleeing within the territory, but they have no
retreat path. Therefore, the numbers of war dead and prisoners are expected to
increase sequentially."
"..."
No, certainly that is true. I already received a war
situation report from Count Gorman and heard they won against an enemy
army of 19,000 in the Ishtar area. Thinking slowly, repelling the enemy
force and turning them into rats in a trap is equivalent to annihilating
19,000. From there the operation to capture the First Prince began, and with
various things happening... I hadn't wrapped my head around the enemy war dead
or prisoner numbers.
Somehow... compared to the Aegis area, the war
results are outrageous...
"So, um... food, horse fodder, other medical supplies,
and the number of Holy Mages are completely insufficient. Commander,
Baronet Bauner, asked me to request support urgently."
6,300 wounded and prisoners... Ishtar alone cannot
support them. For relief of the wounded, the Goddess duo of Marianne and
Lanatoria are probably playing a central role and being unrivaled,
but...
Moreover, it
is highly likely that this number will increase further. We could see up to
another 3,400 added to the count... Having more prisoners than defense troops
is an unheard-of situation to begin with...
We also need food for the 6,000 mounts of the Frontier
Knights led by my brother, so we have to deal with this urgently!
"U-Understood! I will send supplies and personnel immediately.
I want you to hold out until then somehow. And could you convey my gratitude, deepest
gratitude, to everyone in Ishtar?"
Saying so, I looked around.
"For now, we will send supplies from Aegis
immediately, so Bart, take that mission! Send a messenger to Miseri in Teigoon to transport supplies immediately here,
including those from Gaia. Send a messenger to Dimos as well, and
have them send directly to Ishtar using the trade route."
And I remembered one more important thing.
"Lift the ban on war results and situation reports to
the merchants. They will surely cooperate so as not to miss this business
opportunity. You should advertise it as flashily as possible."
Even if I don't send a messenger to Sieghart of the
Third Prince's faction, the merchants will probably start moving on their own.
Surely our victory will be conveyed to the other party faster than we can
convey it.
Will he really move according to the alliance? At this
point, it is still unknown if they will obediently withdraw their army.
However, as bargaining chips, our hand is almost perfectly
complete.
All that's
left now is to bring the curtain down on this Southern Front! The Central Army
is a motley collection of Southern nobles' troops... I wonder if they are
faring well?
<Reference>
[First Prince Faction Main Force (Aegis Area)]
Iron Cavalry
- War
Dead: 500
- Wounded
(Prisoners): 1,000
- Fleeing:
1,500
Infantry
- War
Dead: 2,000
- Wounded
(Prisoners): 1,500
- Fleeing:
4,500
[Detached Force (Ishtar Area)]
Iron Cavalry
- Ishtar Defense Battle (Dublin Tactics)
- War
Dead: 2,500
- Wounded
(Prisoners): 1,000 -> 800
- Temporary
Retreat: 3,500
- Final
Defense Battle
- War
Dead: 1,000
- Wounded
(Prisoners): 800
- Fleeing:
1,500
Infantry
- Barrier
Gate Battle
- War
Dead: 1,000
- Wounded:
1,000 (Later Prisoners)
- Temporary
Retreat: 10,000
- First
All-Out Attack
- War
Dead: 800
- Wounded
(Prisoners): 500
- Temporary
Retreat: 8,700
- Final
Defense Battle
- War
Dead: 4,000
- Wounded
(Prisoners): 2,800
- Fleeing:
1,900
[Others]
- Imperial
Army Wounded Encampment
- Iron Cavalry Prisoners: 400
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