CH 243

I’ll try to sort things out first. The enemy force is about 3,000 soldiers from the Kingdom of Polsky, a country located to the east of the Kingdom of Ploiss. The soldiers of Polsky are only surrounding Koenigsvelg from afar, and so far they have not yet reached a direct battle. However, food and supplies in Koenigsvelg continue to decrease and while both land and sea routes are blocked, so they won’t last long.

Since we broke through the naval blockade, maritime transport may be revived. I don’t know what the enemy’s naval strength is, but it seems that the number of enemy ships Stefan and the others have seen isn’t that many. Considering that we’d sunk 8 ships by the time we got here, it seems that the enemy’s naval strength has been considerably reduced.

However, it seems that the ships and sailors of Koenigsvelg were also considerably damaged, and although there was no ground battle and only a siege, it seems that a naval battle did take place at some point. Well, even though it’s called a naval battle, it seems that it was almost a one-sided attack, with fishing boats and trading ships being suddenly attacked by Polsky’s navy…

They said that once they were being attacked by the Royal Navy of Polsky, some of them sent messengers to Danzij. The message then was transmitted to the House Caan Merchant Fleet and then finally to me.

After that, the estuary leading from the lake to the sea was completely blocked, and no more messengers could be sent out. Some of the unharmed ships are evacuating to a town called Zimmelbude, which I visited before, but they are mainly small fishing boats and cannot be used for naval battles.

Well, the Kingdom of Polsky is said to be a standard land-based country with a strong military and a weak navy because it didn’t face the sea. Considering the situation in Polsky, I don’t think there is that much of a naval force left. Considering the number of enemy ships Stefan saw, most of the enemies who were out to patrol would have been sunk. Even if reinforcements come, that should be able to buy us time for a while.

On the other hand, our side hasn’t consumed a single cannonball yet, so there are 2 galleons full of weapons and ammunition. About 100 people from House Caan and House Carruthers’s army as a land force. Of course, there are hundreds of sailors and navy men on board the galleon, but I can’t let them disembark.

You can’t leave a galleon empty, and they’re basically manning the ship, using the Caan cannons, and are hand-to-hand combat personnel if boarded or boarding. It’s not a soldier you drop on land and then leave to fight, so we can’t take sailors from them for that.

Koenigsvelg’s forces consisted of 300 heads: 50 guards, 150 vigilantes, and 100 civilians called volunteers, not soldiers. And Stefan’s navy has 200 men, more or less.

It feels like the navy has a lot of people, but they are mostly fishermen, sailors, trade ship crews, and port workers.

In this era, there is no difference between a trading ship and a warship, and a ship is a naval force, but that is just a trade ship accustomed to rough times. Fishing boats and fishermen who are only fishing in the vicinity cannot be counted as fighting strength. Right now, if the town is destroyed in an emergency, they will also be killed alongside them, so the fishermen were recruited into the navy.

The same goes for ordinary citizens who were treated as volunteers.

And although the most lethal force is their navy, there are almost no decent ships anymore, and in the end, it can only be used as a mere land force. Just like they were guarding the harbor, the navy does not go out to sea but is just vigilant against the enemy landing from the harbor.

Considering that Koenigsvelg’s navy is also their land force, even if they put all their troops together, they only have less than 600 men, more or less. Moreover, only half of them, 300 people, seem to have received proper combat training. The remaining 300 would be mostly armed amateurs.

Against 3,000 enemies, 600 people, including those who are almost complete newbies… a 5-fold difference in military strength… even if we try to use our tiger cub, the galleons, this town is at the end of the river’s mouth, and it is too dangerous to let the galleon enter such a narrow waterway. If you can get close enough to the river’s mouth and get a firing line, we might be able to shoot the naval guns at the enemy approaching the west side of the town.

But if you are attacked from the east side, which is the back side of the town, you can’t get a line of sight unless you enter the river. Even if the enemy is not stupid, even if they are blasted by cannons first, they will move to the cover of the town where the cannons can’t reach. That can’t be a decisive blow.

“This may be tougher than we thought,” I said.

“What do you mean?” Mother asked. “Put that ship here and here… it’s easy if you attack with those fire-breathing cylinders and then you and Mother go charge together, Flora dear.”

“Mother……” I muttered, exasperated.

I thought my mother would be an excellent frontline commander because she said something decent in the previous strategy meeting and other discussions, but she started saying unreasonable things again.

My mother ordered the galleons to enter the river and set them up one by one on the east and west sides of the town. After firing naval cannons at the Kingdom of Polsky’s army in the north, my mother and I would launch from Koenigsvelg. It’s too unreasonable.

First of all, just letting the galleon enter the river is too dangerous. Ships are the worst at being attacked from land in narrow locations like rivers and straits. Any state-of-the-art ship could easily be sunk with that positional disadvantage. That’s why it’s so important to hold the river.

And even if the galleons enter the river, I don’t know if it’s okay, I don’t know how effective naval gunfire would be when our enemies are northward. If the enemy is very close to the town, the Caan cannons will be fine but since they don’t have much range, so if the enemy is far away, the cannonballs might not hit them, to begin with. You’ll need to somehow push the enemy forward if you’re going to be sure to bombard them with naval gunfire.

Finally… no matter how much naval gunfire is used until we’ve fired all our ammo, there is no guarantee that we will strike an effective blow at 3,000 enemy soldiers. In the current situation where high-explosive shells have yet to be invented, the Caan Cannon is effective against large armored targets to some extent, but it is unknown how effective it will be against scattered infantry.

Even so, it would be a suicidal act for our army, which has only 600 men in the entire army, to attack with the support of naval gunfire. No matter what it’s so unreasonable.

“At least a little more thinking about our strategy…” I said.

“Hmm… ah!” Mother said. “Then what’s your idea, Flora dear? Mother will grade it.”

Does she want to hear my plan…? The ideal would be to maintain control of the sea to prevent recapture, resupply by sea transport, and hunker down in the walls for a protracted siege. I have instructed the House Caan Merchant Fleet to bring support, so if we wait them out, our forces will be strengthened. The 2 galleons here can’t transport all of Koenigsvelg’s food and necessities, but if we can secure sea control, we can ask Danzij’s trading ships for support.

Not only the House Caan Merchant Fleet but if you buy time, support from the Kingdom of Ploiss will also arrive. If that happens, the Kingdom of Polsky will have no choice but to withdraw. Our role is to keep Koenigsvelg from falling until the Kingdom of Ploiss is ready to reinforce.

But… that would likely take a lot of time. Father also said it would take half a year to prepare and fight back. I can’t stay in a place like this for the next 6 months. After all, the exam will start in a little over a month. So if you want to finish quickly, you have to take some risks…

“If it were up to me……” I said. “I would shoot Fire magic behind the enemy and drive them to this side. The enemy’s rear will be fleeing from the flames while the front is exposed to the galleon’s naval gunfire. If they do not surrender even after this, we will have a decisive battle with an all-out assault.”

This is the way I can think of to defeat the enemy in the shortest time while minimizing the damage we’ll take. If you put the galleon in the river first, the ship may be attacked. That’s why I’ll set magical fire to the enemy’s rear first. Driven off by them, the enemy army had no choice but to flee forward, regardless of what options they could take.

At that time, let the galleon ship rush into the river and immediately start firing naval guns at the same time as they got into position. This would minimize the risk borne by the galleon. Then, along with the galleon’s naval gunfire, I cut down the enemy’s forces with magic. The rear is fleeing from the flames, and the front is attacked by the galleon ship and my magic.

It would be nice if they lost their will to fight and surrendered, but if they still intend to fight, then the decisive battle will take place while using the walls of Koenigsvelg as a shield. Enemies being chased by fire will be desperate, but their leaders must not be so disturbed. I don’t know how much the naval cannon fire and my magic can reduce their numbers before they besiege the walls, but if it’s against an enemy being chased by fire and confused by what awaits them on the other side, even 600 people can fight them on even field.

“Mother is so shocked…” Mother said, looking like she really was reeling in disgust. “When did you become such a demon, Flora dear? Do you want to kill all your enemies so badly?”

“What?” I asked.

Why? I was just thinking of a plan to make the enemy surrender as quickly as possible while reducing the damage to us.

“Well, that’s fine,” Mother said. “If you really want to do that, Flora dear, then let’s do it. If you want to crush the enemy more thoroughly, Mother won’t say another word…”

Why are you looking so sad? It makes no sense at all. I’ve only modified my mother’s unreasonable strategy to make it a little more feasible. What is wrong with that?

“Then, first contact Father and Schwartz and send them the plan…” I said.

“Wait!” Stefan cried.

No one has said anything in particular so far, but maybe he has an opinion.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked.

“’Is there something wrong?’ is not the question here?!” Stefan snapped. “Isn’t this a strategy to decide the fate of this town? Why are you 2 alone deciding by yourselves?”

“Hmm~?” I said. “It wasn’t like I and Mother were going to decide by ourselves, but… I was wondering if anyone had any objections, but since no one spoke up, I just thought they didn’t?”

In addition to the head of Koenigsvelg’s administrative agency, the deputies, and Stefan, the commanders of Koenigsvelg’s guards and vigilantes are also present here. We were discussing with them intentionally in the room, so if there was anything, it would have been nice for anyone to give their opinion. But since no one said anything, I thought they weren’t dissatisfied…

“There’s no way they could have spoken against you!” Stefan said. “But I sure can! I don’t know what the hell you two are talking about it, but it’s absurd to launch an offensive against the enemy with only a few hundred men! It’s common sense to keep the seas clear, carry supplies from Danzij, and endure until the main force of the Kingdom of Ploiss arrives!”

Ah… well, yeah… I think so too. But if I do that, I don’t know how many months I have to stay here. I plan to settle things and return to the royal capital within a month. I think my mother’s strategy is too unreasonable, but if it’s my plan, it’s possible to minimize the damage here and settle it early.

“Then you all can leave this place,” Mother said. “You have no place in this strategy, anyway, so you can just stay here and watch. If it’s Flora dear’s bloodless annihilation strategy, we don’t even need a single head on the ground.”

Did I come up with a plan to kill the entire opposing force with no blood on our side…? It sounds like a big deal. Even though this is still a very dangerous strategy… and because of that, I want to make it a safer and more reliable plan. However, considering the strength and time we have on hand, there are only a limited number of other options available. Even though it was a strategy that was unavoidably compromised…

“Is that so?!” Stefan snapped. “Then we won’t participate! Even if you lose and die on your own, it’s not our fault! At most, we suppose you can half-heartedly poke the enemy so you don’t anger them enough to drag us all the way into your mess!”

“If that’s the case, then I can’t help it…” I said.

Actually, I want as many soldiers as possible in order to increase the success rate of the operation even a little. But forcibly deploying those who say they won’t or can’t cooperate won’t lead to good results. On the other hand, there is no option to leave them alone without going on the offensive.

Apparently, there was an effect of our 4 enemy ships in the direction of Danzij, and there is information that part of the Polsky army besieging Koenigsvelg has headed there to assist. If they’re going to do it anyway, now is the only time we can launch an attack while the enemy force has weakened.

“Then contact the Galleon Fleet,” Is aid.

“Huh? Hey! Are you seriously going to do it without us?” Stefan asked.

“Yes,” I said. “We’ll strike while they take the bait.”

There is no point in spending time arguing. If you’re going to make it a protracted battle, just hunker down and wait, but if you’re going to attack swiftly, you should settle the situation before the existence of the galleon fleet is discovered and responded to. Having made that decision, my mother and I immediately contacted the galleon fleet and began preparations for an offensive.