Novel All
Chapter 522
Chapter 522
Chapter 522: The Burden We Bear
"Has it come?"
The next day, the Duke's army launched an all-out attack. Judging by their coordinated movements, it was clear that Marcel was leading the charge. Their advantage lay in their superior numbers and in the fact that they were on the offensive, deciding where and how to strike. Marcel seemed intent on leveraging this to the fullest.
"A thousand are heading this way! Five thousand towards the nobles' side! They're on the move!"
While receiving these reports, I couldn't help but admire Marcel's strategy. What caught my attention was the deployment of the Gryphon Knights. Two on the side of the five thousand and one with the thousand. Marcel had chosen to divide his forces. That was our weak point. If our enemies dispersed, we wouldn't be able to handle them all. We were short of manpower. Fin could hold back three Gryphon Knights, but if they were divided into two fronts, he would only be able to handle one.
"Fin, go and aid the outside forces."
"Are you sure about this?"
"It doesn't matter."
Upon hearing my instructions, Fin took off from the fortress. Outside, a battle between two thousand and five thousand was starting. If we lost air superiority, we would have no chance of winning. For now, I had dispatched Captain Lars and the Nerve Knights as commanders, but they probably wouldn't be able to turn the tide of battle. However, the nobles' army was also building fortifications. They wouldn't be defeated immediately.
"Hey, isn't it going to be a tough fight with five thousand against two thousand?"
"The real challenge is on our side. The other front is just a decoy. Their real target is this fortress."
A classic move. It might seem so, but leaving a Gryphon Knight here indicates that they intend to take over the fortress as well. The plan must be to crush the front that Fin can't handle all at once. But they only have a thousand on this side, and no siege weapons. I wonder how they plan to attack.
"Seig, I leave the guard to you. I need to concentrate on command."
"Got it!"
"They're coming from the west! Send the reserves!"
The fortress is small. The walls aren't very high either. Therefore, we placed two hundred on each side and created a reserve unit in the center. We sent the reserves to wherever the enemy was targeting. On the other hand, Marcel seemed to be patiently waiting for us to slip up in our defenses, repeating feint attacks several times. If the movement of our reserves was even slightly delayed, they would likely attempt a breakthrough.
"Hey, are those guys really serious about taking this place?"
"They are, that's why they're shaking us up."
"But didn't you say that the main force was five thousand strong?"
"Even so, there's not much we can do right away."
There were a few members of the Imperial Southern Border Defense Force among our two thousand nobles' army. They served as commanders, along with Captain Lars and others. This meant we had experienced field commanders on our side, something the enemy was lacking. In terms of on-the-spot decision-making, we had the upper hand. Although they outnumbered us by more than double, the difference in actual combat power wasn't as big. Fin was dominating the skies, and the three Gryphon Knights had been reduced to two, giving them less room to interfere on the ground. That front should be fine. The real issue was the thousand soldiers under Marcel's direct command. We really had no idea what they were going to do.
"The enemy is starting to concentrate on the east! Get ready to move!"
As I was calling to the reserve troops, I noticed that the Gryphon Knight was missing from the enemy lines. I quickly realized that he was in the sky, and when I looked up, I saw him right above us. The Gryphon Knight threw several wooden barrels down from the sky. The barrels mostly fell on the west side and exploded. The contents were liquid, and we knew what it was from the smell.
"Oil! Fire arrows are coming!"
The oil seeped deeply into the ground due to the aerial bombardment. By the time I issued the warning, flaming arrows were already released, and the western side of the fortress was engulfed in flames. Observing this, I gave Seig his orders.
"Expect an attack from the east! Hold them off!"
Our reserve forces alone wouldn't be enough. Many of our soldiers were panicking before the fire and attempting to extinguish it, disrupting our formation. The fire on the west side was intense, preventing the enemy from advancing. Therefore, they were expected to come from the east, as we had prepared. That prediction proved correct.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!"
The soldiers left on the eastern side raised their voices. However, the noise from the fire drowned out their calls. In the meantime, the enemy had begun their concentrated assault from the east. Several ladders were thrown up, and enemy soldiers climbed up one after another. Seig had rushed to the scene, barely managing to hold them off, but the enemy's momentum was not to be underestimated.
The deciding moment happened in an instant. They were probably instructed not to miss that opportunity. The enemy soldiers desperately tried to break through, as if their lives depended on it.
"Managing to restore morale in just a day and making them willing to risk their lives, huh."
That must mean they were able to make them believe in victory. However, Marcel was just a guest general after all. He couldn't fully capture the hearts of the soldiers from the Albatro Duchy, unlike us.
"Don't panic!! Don't fear the fire! Focus on the east! Push off the enemy soldiers! Raise your voices! Don't be swept away by the enemy's momentum!!"
With a sword in one hand, Julio stood on the eastern frontline. The chaos on our side, which had started with the oil being thrown, started to subside all at once. The soldiers' gaze naturally shifted to Julio, and they began to follow him. Seeing the sight of the prince swinging his sword on the frontlines, the enemy soldiers lost their initial momentum.
"That was close..."
I deactivated the magic I had prepared. If Julio was unable to move, I planned to cause an unnatural wind, but he moved at the right time. His efforts were worth more than any magic.
"Now, what will you do, Marcel?"
This is a proxy war between the Empire and the Kingdom. If it comes to a comparison of the palanquins we bear, we have no factors that would lead to our defeat.
More chapters on Patreon: /user?u=38972968