CH 257

I’m so tired! I’ve been running around almost every day for the past 2 weeks. Of course, even if I say run around, it’s not like I was running on my feet, but even if you’re riding a horse, if you’re moving all the time, you’ll still get tired. Rather, if I ran by myself I may have been less tired.

The Southern Operation proceeded smoothly and we were able to complete all of our plans within schedule. Or rather, it was progressing quite ahead of schedule. But I wasn’t the only one.

After rendezvousing with my mother in Alrenstein, I continued northward and wiped out the remaining enemies, but the problem is after that. Even though I should have finished all my plans by joining up with the friendly forces that were heading south from the coast, for some reason I was the only one to run around the area occupied by other units.

They told me that if I were to use Wind magic and give a speech to all the residents at the same time, the post-battle governance will go well, so they want me to go around all the occupied territories. There’s no need to go to the towns I captured and occupied with my troops. So, I was told to go around large cities and important bases that other units had taken, and I did just that even though they were already under our control.

There’s no more fighting, so it’s just a repetition of the work of moving around and using Wind magic in towns and bases to give speeches and explanations to the residents. Truth be told, if the capture was finished early, I should have followed the House Caan Merchant Fleet heading to capture Memburg and Windou, but in the end, I felt like I was the only one left behind in the south.

In fact, it’s impossible for me to go around all the occupied territories in 2 weeks by myself due to schedule and movement speed issues. That’s why I decided to bypass most of the southern settlements and capture the important bases as much as possible, to go as far as possible as we could have in our strategy.

At the time of the invasion, I headed from Danzij to Glaudens, and from there I went east, but after joining my mother at Alrenstein, I went north. On the way back from there, we went around the big cities and important bases near the coast to the west and back to Danzij, and from Danzij we took a boat to Koenigsvelg.

Then we changed boats from Koenigsvelg to head east, to Instelburg. From there, we headed for Alrenstein to follow the foothold Mother had conquered, then headed north and returned to Koenigsvelg by land, which was already a difficult journey.

Since there are convoys and garrisons in various places, we change horses one after another and run full tilt through the wilderness. It really was like a hell marathon… I don’t ever want to do this again…

The strategy is moving to the 2nd stage while being forced to run such a hellish endurance marathon. In the 2nd operation, the Northern Operation, there should be a force moving northward through the Hulk Sea, landing in Memburg and Windou, and advancing east after landing, and a force invading inland from the Memer River and attacking Tirsit.

I returned to Koenigsvelg following the route that Mother captured in the Southern Operation, and headed for Instelburg by boat again. This time it was to lead the troops from Instelburg and head north to Tirsit.

Tirsit on the Memer River is to be used in the same way as Glaudens and Instelburg were captured in the Southern Campaign. A landing assault by ship and capturing the enemy’s rear base at once, conversely using it as our resupply point to proceed with the captures after that.

The problem was that the southern operation had 2 potential rear assault landing sites, but the northern operation had only Tirsit.

Therefore, it was decided that the troops that had landed in Tirsit would proceed northwards inland, and the southern part of Tirsit would be occupied by troops advancing north from Instelburg.

Except for the garrison in the occupied territories, all the main members had moved on to the Northern Operations, but I was left behind in the south forever, so it was my job to take the troops from Instelburg and go north.

In the aftermath of the Southern Operations, the total number of soldiers has decreased slightly because we received some damage and we have put garrisons in various places. There are more reinforcements sent from the Caanza Alliance and additional troops from Ploiss, but even so, there are many units that have decreased slightly.

Nonetheless, the number of important bases and the ease of getting around are easier in the Northern Operation, so even if our numbers are reduced, they will be manageable. My worries are elsewhere.

While we were on our Southern Campaign, the Kingdom of Polsky’s army was eerily motionless. Most of the enemies they fought were town garrisons, and the rest were only a few reinforcements who were moving to capture Koenigsvelg and Danzij. Most of them were centered on wagons and transports that transported supplies to Mikalojus’ army, which was supposed to be besieging Koenigsvelg.

My father, other generals, and staff members said that Polsky had no power left after annihilating Mikalojus’ army at Koenigsvelg. But is that truly so? Even if the army and navy lost more than 5,000, it was only 5,000. Isn’t there more in the national army?

Now, we don’t have many garrisons in the occupied territories in the south. They rely on people like the Caanza Alliance volunteers who are amateurs even if they are stationed there, or the security forces of the original town. The southernmost invasions had a decent amount of troops, but the towns and cities between the coast and the southern tip are mostly empty.

If I were the commander of the Kingdom of Polsky, I would move to take back the south as things are now. If it’s been two weeks, they should be ready for the first move.

Well… it’s also a foolish plan to throw in a small number of troops one after another just because they’re ready. If you know that the enemy garrison is almost non-existent, it might be better to launch a quick attack when enough troops have gathered to defeat the occupying forces, but I can only say that because I know the internal situation.

From the enemy’s point of view, they may not move until they make arrangements to win without fail. But maybe they will move anyway. There may be someone like me who thinks that the south is weak and will immediately move to recapture it, or they may just let them go to battle because they are ready without even thinking about it.

When that happens, I don’t think the current southern fighting force will be able to endure it. Even if it is recaptured once, it will be fine if we recapture it again after the Northern Operation is over, but… is it really okay to leave the south empty and proceed north…?

Even if I’m worrying about it now, the strategy has actually been decided and we’re already on the move. It’s too late to say anything, but I can’t help but worry.

There is only one way to solve those problems… the enemy may be moving, but they are still preparing, but in any case, by the time they move, we will finish the northern operation and lay down a defense system, that’s all.

That’s why I took the artillery and cavalry from Instelburg and headed for Tirsit in the north.

Let me conclude by saying… the operation to capture the Kingdom of Polsky really was completed within a month. There are still some areas left, so it’s not like we’ve completely cleared all the planned targets for the operation, but it’s almost complete.

I headed for Tirsit while dropping towns and bases along the way from Instelburg. That’s right… it’s the Territory Occupation Hell Marathon.

From where I arrived, in other words from Tirsit, there is no place for me to attack myself. It’s a place surrounded by areas that the troops ahead of us have already captured. So I decided to run another marathon on the towns that the advance units had conquered.

After going north through the inland area and reaching the northern end, this time it goes south along the coastal area. It was just yesterday that I turned around and almost everything was completed. It seems that there are still some enemy bases and areas where battles are still going on, but we have almost completed the control of the planned areas.

“I can’t believe that you really conquered it all in a month, Your Lordship,” Schwartz said.

“I didn’t do anything for it…” I said.

I shrugged my shoulders as Schwartz joined me in Memburg. At least this is what I want to say. I doubted my sanity when they said that they would conquer this much in one month during the strategy meeting, but it was unexpectedly possible. Thanks to everyone’s hard work and that unreasonable strategy, we did really well for ourselves.

“Besides that, I have to return to the royal capital soon…” I said.

The exams will start soon. I didn’t have time to study, so this time it might be bad. It might be better to have my exams postponed or exempted as a special case because I participated in the war by royal order. I’m a little unsure of it myself…

“We’ll be fine if you do. If you’re in a hurry, Lord Caan, I don’t mind if you head to the capital, you know?” someone said as they entered my Memburg office.

“Lord Carruthers… when did you get here?” I asked.

Since Memburg is also a free city, there was an office for the Caanza Company. They didn’t belong to the Caanza Alliance, but they were prepared, including a point of contact for such negotiations. And that’s why I attacked Memburg and Windou first.

That Memberg and Windou were captured first was because we already had prior information and exchanges with the free cities, understood the situation, and that they wanted to be liberated. You could say that the Northern Operation was successful because it was possible to invade using these two cities as friendly bases.

Anyway, Father was supposed to be active in the Windou area and now is in Memburg for some reason. Did something happen?

“We just arrived,” he explained. “We heard that Lord Caan was worried about the exams at the Academy. We will handle the rest. You and your schoolmates should quickly return to the capital.”

“…………Yes. Thank you for your consideration,” I said. “Well then, we will return to the royal capital.”

I bow my head to my father and start various preparations. He will not hold back. Last time… before I had a frank talk with my father, I probably wouldn’t have been able to return to the royal capital first because I was worried that there was still work left. But not now. There’s no need for strange reservations between me and my father now. That’s why I decided to take his word at its face and return to the royal capital.

I instruct the Knights of Caan and the House Caan Merchant Fleet about their future actions and what to do. Unexpected things can happen, but that can only be determined by the on-site commander at that time. If Polsky were to come up with a major counteroffensive while I was away, they would be killed if they had to ask my opinion one by one.

I can’t read the movements of the Kingdom of Polsky, but now that I’ve completed both the Southern and Northern Operations, I have some leeway in strength. We don’t have the leeway to set up a perfect garrison in all the occupied territories, but we do have enough troops to protect the borders. If you form and protect the front line with this, you won’t be overtaken that quickly.

“Finally, I can see you again, Floto…” Mikoto said. “There wasn’t any point in us following you if we could never see you while you traveled on land!”

“I’m sorry… but I couldn’t let you move around inland with me…” I said.

When I came to tell them we would be returning to the royal capital, Mikoto opened with that. In truth, I haven’t seen much of her or the others in the past 2 weeks. In this case, there was no point in having them come with me here. But as I said, we can’t let everyone run marathons almost all the time deep in enemy territory, where enemies might still be lurking.

“Well, well, the past is past,” Claudia said. “Now, aren’t we going home? Let’s go.”

“I suppose. There’s no use arguing about it now,” Mikoto said, seemingly convinced.

I guess they really didn’t feel there was anything more to say about it.

“Did you forget anything?” I asked.

“Yeah. We’re all good,” Claudia said.

Everyone was checking their luggage after my words. How honest…

Only I and my five wives will return to the capital. There are a few more guards, but they’re not for me, they’re supposed to be for my wives.

We’re going to board Ramor’s ship. As usual, Santa Maria is Mother’s favorite, so she will ride it home, hence Schwartz and Santa Maria will remain here.

You may think that the occupied territories will not be okay with us being sent to the royal capital with a galleon ship and an excellent commander like Ramor, but there is no need to worry. The enemy doesn’t seem to have a decent navy anymore, and with the current state of occupation deep inland, there’s a limit to where our large ships can be used.

And no matter how much the enemy’s navy is devastated, it’s not absolutely safe. Therefore, it is natural that escort ships will be attached to sea transport, and Ramor and the others are supposed to return to Steltin while escorting other transport ships. It wasn’t prepared just for us, it’s a fleet already bound to return from enemy lines, so we were also boarding it

“It seemed like a long time, but it went by in a blink of an eye…” I said as I stood together with Alexandra.

“Indeed…” she said as we watched Memberg getting further away.

It seemed like it was a long time, and it seemed like it went by in an instant… I returned to the royal capital while looking at the eastern land that I would never return to.