Chapter 179 : Chapter 179
Chapter 179
The soldiers of Horsaes were getting increasingly fed up with the endless number of enemy soldiers pouring in. Their seniors had also fought and risked their lives in such a hellish place, so as those who inherited their spirits, they could not retreat.
“I don’t know if we’re all going to die like this in the end.”
The centurion, who had taken the head of an advancing enemy and kicked him away, let out a self-deprecating laugh.
“It will be different this time. The Lord promised that he would ensure we survive.”
Since Definir’s death, I had prepared various devices in many ways to increase the survival rate of the western army. The surprisingly sturdy city walls and the dwarf-made siege weapons were proof of that.
The quality of the weapons supplied to the soldiers also proved it. In fact, the reason why there were not many casualties yet, even during the fierce battle, was all because of these preparations.
The enemy was also getting tired of them holding out so well.
“I heard that the battlefield is the entire west this time. There won't be any reinforcements like last time, so how will the Lord save us… Ugh! Sir…!”
At the words of his aide, who had just cut down another enemy’s neck, the centurion smiled faintly.
“Look. The way for us to survive has arrived, hasn't it!”
When he raised his head at the centurion's loud voice, huge fireballs began to pierce the sky and fall on the backs of the enemy.
Kwaaang!
“Kuaaaaaah!”
The stones that flew as refreshingly as the screams of the enemy began to brutally grind them down.
From somewhere, stones, and from somewhere else, arrows from a giant ballista flew and pierced the backs of the enemy. The scene was somewhat brutal, but for our allies, it was the best scene.
“The dwarves have come! The dwarves have come!”
At someone's shout, the spirits of the Horsaes soldiers were boosted a hundredfold, and they let out a great cheer together and began to kill the enemy clinging to the city walls even faster.
After being damaged by the siege weapon-level attacks that flew for a long time, the Jacques Marin army began to change its direction of attack.
“The time has finally come! Prepare the chariots!”
The trump card of the Horsaes army, which had been saved for this moment, revealed itself. The chariots, which would have been used in the past, combined with the technology of the dwarves, created a tremendous result.
The horses, covered in lightweight but impenetrably sturdy armor, and the perfectly protected chariot bodies, were boarded by fully armed knights and soldiers who had finished their preparations for a charge.
And just as the enemies changed their attack direction towards the mountain, the gates of Horsaes opened, and 1,000 chariots began to rush out of the castle.
“Let’s cut them all down! Charge!”
With the shout of the knight at the lead, the Horsaes army rushed towards the Jacques Marin army
The area in front of Horsaes Castle was mostly forests and mountains, but the section where the chariots charged was a plain.
And that not-so-long plain section became a hell for the Jacques Marin army.
“Kuaaaaaah!”
The wheels of the dwarf-made chariots literally tore people apart, and the spears of those on the chariots pierced their necks and torsos. Swords flew off their necks, and the 1,000 chariots thus turned the battlefield into a sea of blood.
“Ah… what on earth…”
As the Jacques Marin army, which had thought they could easily conquer the Horsaes Domain, began to retreat in a daze, unable to come to their senses at the suddenly unfolding situation.
The tide of the war rapidly turned in favor of the Arthur Domain's western army.
“We won! We won!”
The rough shouts, close to screams, pounded the hearts of all the soldiers present, and cheers erupted from their mouths without anyone having to go first.
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
And so, the Siege of Horsaes was successfully concluded.
***
The conference room of the Marin Domain was maintaining an icy silence at the news of the defeat in the Horsaes Domain that had just come in.
“We suffered a great defeat at Horsaes?”
In fact, the siege of Horsaes was a place that didn't seem to pose much difficulty. The main force of the Arthur Domain had not yet moved to the west. But they had been soundly defeated. Out of the 1,500 soldiers deployed in the siege, they had lost 1,000.
It wasn't a huge loss for the entire Marin Domain, but to be cleanly defeated in the first battle of the war left a bitter taste in their mouths.
“What about Ellenhower's side?”
“We received a message from the Somerset side that they would also move. They should have started their advance towards the Arthur Domain by now.”
Duke Jacques nodded and looked at the battle map.
“Defeat in battle can always happen. As long as we win the war, that’s all that matters. They must have suffered damage too, so the Horsaes Domain won’t be able to move around easily. So.”
The Duke's baton pointed to a part of the battle map.
“Gather troops here. The number is 3,000.”
“…Your Excellency, why here?”
“I have a plan.”
“Then what will you do with the remaining troops?”
“Send 2,000 to this place north of Horsaes.”
“…I understand.”
Viscount Konno, Marin's subordinate and advisor, swallowed a groan as he looked at the troop deployment Marin had laid out.
‘…Does His Excellency… have Ellenhower’s betrayal in mind…’
The deployment Marin had just made was clearly not aimed at the Arthur Domain.
‘I will know soon enough. He is not someone who would make such a hasty decision.’
Viscount Konno was a person who trusted Duke Jacques more than anyone else. He quickly redeployed the troops as he had discussed with Jacques.
No one could know what effect their changes would have.
***
The Ellenhower Duchy's army, for the first time in a long time, had mobilized a large-scale force and was moving towards its target in an orderly manner.
‘This must be the right choice.’
Viscount Jennings, who could be called the practical brain of the Ellenhower army, found it difficult to be certain about this decision.
“You look grim.”
“I am afraid because I do not know what results this decision will bring.”
“There will be no easier decision than this on the path we will walk in the future. So we must get used to it.”
With the Duke's single phrase just now, the Viscount was once again feeling how outstanding his liege was.
‘There is no easier decision than this.’
The path they had to walk was the path to the emperor. How easy could it be to become the emperor of the continent? And it was a path walked by someone who was not even of Gloster's bloodline, seeking to become emperor.
“Do you trust the Count that much?”
Nod.
Ellenhower nodded his head.
“To the point where I might trust him more than myself.”
“Why is that? Even if he is known as a hero to the public… he is also a human.”
“He is a hero.”
“Yes?”
What did he mean by a sudden hero?
“He is a person so great that even the name of an emperor cannot contain him. What I fear is not that he will become emperor.”
“Then…?”
“What I feared was that he would become a star more brilliant than the emperor.”
“Then, shouldn't Your Liege still be afraid of Count Karl?”
“No, not anymore.”
“Why is that?”
Duke Ellenhower smiled faintly.
“A great emperor and a great hero are recorded on different pages of history. Not on the same page.”
“…!”
For a moment, Viscount Jennings' expression went blank as if he had been hit on the head with a blunt instrument.
“It's not about worrying that his name will shine. It's about finding a way for me to shine first. I was foolish all this time.”
Viscount Jennings felt once again that he had chosen his liege very well. The person named Ellenhower was infinitely greater than he could ever contain.
“I will help Your Liege become the most brilliant emperor in history.”
“Thank you for your words, at least.”
Ellenhower smiled faintly. His smile no longer held any worries.
And so, the Ellenhower army was getting closer and closer to the Jacques Marin Domain.
***
“My liege! The Ellenhower army! The Ellenhower army!”
Kelvin rushed into the barracks where the meeting of the Arthur Domain's leadership was in progress and stammered.
“Speak calmly. What about the Ellenhower army?”
When Bastien nagged Kelvin out of frustration, Kelvin, who had calmed himself down through deep breaths, opened his mouth and continued to speak slowly and clearly.
“It is said that the Ellenhower army is advancing towards the Jacques Marin army!”
“…!”
The gazes of the leaders in the conference room all moved towards me, who was located at the head of the table.
“You…”
“Did you know everything?”
“The reason for moving here… was for this.”
Despite the numerous questions of why he wasn't going to where the Marin Duchy's army was or where the Ellenhower Duchy's army was expected to attack, I stubbornly insisted on the current route without saying a word.
Currently, the Arthur Domain's army had penetrated the most vulnerable point of the Marin Domain. By slowly but steadily overcoming the difficult terrain of steep mountain ranges and a huge river, they were finally able to penetrate the side of the Marin Domain.
And if they continued to move in a straight line, there was a point where their route would exactly overlap with the route of the Ellenhower Duchy's army.
The situation of being attacked by the two ducal armies at first was suddenly reversed, and now it was the Marin Duchy's army that was being attacked from both sides. Moreover, they had not even considered the possibility that the Ellenhower army would betray them.
“Hahahahahaha!”
Bastien let out an incredulous laugh at this miraculous situation without realizing it.
“We will join the Ellenhower army at this point.”
The next day, the 3,000 troops of the Arthur Domain, including me, immediately began to move.
***
“My liege, something is strange.”
Even after entering the territory of the Marin Duchy, they had been moving using only mountain paths with no signs of people as much as possible, and they had arrived near their main base, Movijou Castle.
“We are in the mountains, but we haven't heard any sound for 30 minutes.”
At the words of the recon team leader, they stopped the army and scanned the surrounding mountains. The current terrain was a gorge, with a narrow path and gorges on both sides that were too good for an ambush.
“First, reduce the army’s movement speed by half, and form more reconnaissance teams to expand the search range. Form a formation in preparation for an ambush and place shield soldiers on the left and right to move in a state of preparation for an enemy attack.”
To stop moving completely, they had already entered the center of the gorge. Stopping here was more likely to make them prey.
Following Ellenhower’s instructions, each unit moved in perfect order. The soldiers of Somerset were strong, and no one moved foolishly.
Thud. Thud.
Tension filled the faces of those moving through the mountains. The feeling that an attack could come at any moment raised their senses to their peak. They moved slowly for a long time, even holding their breath.
Even when the long, deep valley ended, there was no enemy attack.
“…I guess it was my mistake.”
“No, it was a section worth moving through with sufficient caution…”
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Just as the Ellenhower army was relieved to have passed through the gorge, arrows suddenly began to fly from all directions.
“What on earth…!”
The gorge was a favorable terrain for an ambush, with ridges on the left and right and the center of the gorge located below, but the current location of the Ellenhower army, in the center of the ridge, was not a suitable location for an ambush.
“What are you thinking, ambushing in such terrain!”
It was the moment he thought it was the opponent’s foolish judgment. Ellenhower soon realized that he was the foolish one.
“Ambush on the ground!”
I don’t know what kind of magic they used, but the enemies were ambushing from underground. They sprang up like ghosts and instantly cut the throats of the soldiers who had let their guard down.
“Form a square formation by team! Team leaders and leaders, maintain the formation!”
The soldiers of Somerset, who had been trained for a long time, moved as calmly as possible even in a sudden ambush.
However, there was no way to deal with the opponent’s ambush, which endlessly sprang up from the ground. And so, a fierce melee began to unfold in the gorge.