CH 351

“What in the hell is going on!?”

Kakon! and a wooden cup bounces off the wall. The people in charge of the fort were cringing as Guillaume hurled his drink, the cup jumped and rolled while scattering its contents.

“We-We are afraid…”

“Shut up! Don’t make excuses!”

“””…………”””

As they speak, Guillaume couldn’t stop his anger, so the other officers gave each other a look and bowed their heads.

“Hey! What are you doing!? Come, come on, say something already!”

“Eh…”

And Guillaume yells at his subordinates who don’t speak much. They are told to shut up, so they kept quiet, but the officers in charge were puzzled by this unreasonable remark.

However, from Guillaume’s point of view, although he certainly says to shut up and don’t make excuses, he can’t understand anything unless he hears a detailed report. Even though he tells them to shut up, he then says the exact opposite, saying that he has to get a report after all, so report it immediately.

He was an unreasonable boss, but there was no one here who could warn Guillaume about his unreasonableness, who was their Lord both in Frasia and Wessek.

“As, as I was saying, we are afraid… the enemy probably knows this forest well. Our scouts are confused by the unfamiliar land and have been trapped by the enemy and haven’t been able to do enough. We are currently collecting information, but we would like to ask for a little more of your grace…”

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The reports from their subordinates… are full of lies. It’s just a guess that the enemy is familiar with this area. Of course, they are seriously thinking about it. The enemy is the remnants of the Kingdom of Wessek, and this island is, so to speak, the enemy’s garden. In comparison, they were an expeditionary force from the Kingdom of Frasia, so it was only natural that they were unfamiliar with the geography and the local area.

However, regardless of whether that prediction was correct or where the fleet that suddenly appeared had come from, it was all a lie that the scouts weren’t doing enough work and said that they were still in the middle of collecting information.

There is no doubt that the unit that was headed to subdue Harold was almost completely destroyed by the attack from the mysterious force. After receiving the news, the backup staff who were waiting in this fort immediately started gathering information. But they couldn’t get any information. On the contrary, none of the people sent out for scouting have returned.

Guillaume sent out scouts several times as he attempted to converge on this fort, gathering forces around him. But even so, no matter how many scouts he sent, none came back. He doesn’t get any information.

Eventually, the soldiers were afraid to go into the forest, so no one went out to scout. He continued to send out scouts for other troops gathering there. Of course, he didn’t explain to those later-arriving units that this forest was so dangerous.

The reason is simple. Even though they are afraid of this forest, if they explain it to the units that came after, they will be afraid and will not enter the forest. Guillaume orders them to gather information. Even so, if they weren’t able to collect information because they were afraid to enter the forest, they would be accused of crimes.

So the unit that was ahead of the others did not tell the units that came after them and just kept ordering them to go into the forest and gather information.

Thinking it was business as usual, they entered the forest, lost many scouts, and finally understood that the forest was dangerous for the succeeding troops. And when the next unit comes, they will give orders to that unit in the same way. Due to the negative chain, they lost a considerable number of scouts.

But it was worse than losing the scouts. That’s where the problem starts. After the dangers of this forest became known and no one went out to scout, terrible things began to happen.

Even the sentries who were just patrolling near the fort, not the scouts who infiltrated near the enemy camp to gather information, began to disappear. If a unit goes into the woods for a while and patrols, that unit will never come back. Everyone feared this forest. They were even murmurs beginning to call it the Man-Eating Forest.

Eventually, no one dared enter the woods except to pack into the fort. When that happened, even the troops still trying to arrive at this fort were lost. Units that were unknowingly separated from the rest as they headed for this fort went missing one after another.

Subsequent troops heading for the fort through the forest also send out advance parties and scouts. No matter how much they are in their sphere of influence, this place is right in the middle of enemy territory. You never know when a surprise attack will come from the forest. That’s why they proceed with vigilance like a normal march.

Then… their scouts in the nearby forest disappeared, the vanguard unit that was ahead of them at a certain distance disappeared, and the search units to find them disappeared… If you go around with a small number of troops, no one will come back.

They have no idea what’s going on in this forest. The only thing they know is that those who enter this forest in too small numbers never return.

As a result, the scouts that were dispatched first, the sentries that were patrolling around the fort after that, and the following troops that were supposed to join them, all suffered about 1,500 casualties. And yet, they didn’t even see the enemy.

Now the soldiers are terrified and no one wants to leave the fort. The only people who carelessly walk outside are the later units who don’t know the suspicious nature of this forest. And those people will never come back.

From Guillaume’s point of view, it would make him want to get angry. He thought there would be about 8,000 soldiers, but when he came to the site, it was reported that it was 7,000. Where did that 1,000 difference go? Moreover, the reported number of 7,000 is also an exaggerated figure, and the actual number is only about 6,500.

“Enough! So then! What’s going on with our supplies!?”

“Sire… they haven’t arrived yet…”

A few days ago, they reported that supplies were delayed. It is not uncommon for a shipment to be delayed by several days. And they still have some in stock. They were expecting that it would be delayed due to bad weather or bad roads, anyway.

Until now, there have been many times when transport ships were delayed due to stormy weather, and even after the cargo was unloaded at the port, the transport ship was delayed. Each unit relied on supplies sent from the rear, but they have some margin and stockpiles, so they won’t be in trouble anytime soon. This fort was also well stocked.

The troops that were coming over had brought food for themselves worth several days, and there was also a stockpile prepared in the fort they were gathering in. And most of all… the consumption of food had decreased as much as the number of soldiers had already been lost. Thanks to that, they still had a few days to spare, and they neglected the delay in supplies.

The Blish Strait is quite narrow. The Kingdom of Frasia is transporting goods. They are in complete control of the South. Considering all of those factors, they never dreamed that they would be in a situation where we could not even cross the Blish Strait because they were deprived of sea control.

“When will reinforcements arrive?!”

“Like the supplies… we haven’t heard anything yet…”

Guillaume has repeatedly requested reinforcements from his home country. Yet he still hasn’t received any news, much less that reinforcements have arrived. Since the information was not gathered, Guillaume arranged a suitable lie and sent a request for them anyway to his home country. Even if he wanted to write the truth, he could not write it because there was no information to write. However, he made false reports to get them immediately.

There should be a backup force on the opposite bank so that reinforcements can be dispatched at any time. Crossing the Blish Strait is a simple matter, and even if reinforcements cannot be dispatched, one contact should be returned.

Even though he felt uneasy about the lack of that… Guillaume and his subordinates, thinking that there was no way anything could happen in Frasia, only saw the illusions they wanted to see, and continued their operations as they were.

In Carais, the Frasian port town at the eastern end of the Blish Strait, the upper echelons of the Frasian Navy gathered with their faces clouded.

“The damage has already exceeded 30 ships! What in the hell is going on!?”

“Calm down.”

“Can I be calm in the face of this?!”

“Is there anything we can do if you keep raising this fuss?!”

“””…………”””

At those words……, everyone fell silent. About a week after the first damage was reported, the Royal Frasian Navy had lost more than 30 ships. 14 combat ships, 18 transport ships, and a total of 32 ships were heavily damaged. Among the combat are 5 state-of-the-art models.

And… it wasn’t just the supplies that were loaded onto the transport ship. The army of 2,000 sent out in response to a request for reinforcements that happened to arrive earlier, were now waste floating or sinking in the sea.

The 2 transport ships were damaged first, followed by 5 state-of-the-art ships… they should have noticed this at the time of the damages. They should have used the full power of the Frasian Navy instead of throwing it in from the ships already assembled here.

But who could have expected it? In a narrow strait with only this width, the Frasia Navy which had been focusing on not only its land but also its sea power, was now unilaterally slaughtered without any way to resist. Even now, they feel like they’re having a bad dream. They can’t believe this is real.

“There are no more ships in our navy…”

“Send in the Meditellenean fleet!”

The Kingdom of Frasia borders both the sea to the north and the Meditellenean Sea and Meditellenean land to the south. The Meditellenean Fleet is still alive and well, and if you send ships from there, you will certainly be able to secure more ships.

“How many days do you think it will take for the ships to come around from the Meditellenean? The Expeditionary Force will starve in the meantime!”

“To begin with… the Meditellenean Fleet is centered on galley ships. Will it be useful if even the state-of-the-art ships made for the Hermann Sea were destroyed?”

““““…………””””

The meeting becomes quiet again. No one can say anything.

In a strait of this size, even if they were attacked occasionally and caused damage, there was no way they could sink all the ships every time, they thought. Above all, the expeditionary force relies on supplies sent from here. Without it, the expeditionary force would perish.

Therefore, they continued to act without calm judgment. It’s not that the Frasian Navy’s upper echelons were incompetent. It’s one of the most dangerous things anyone can do.

First of all… even if they find out that there are enemies along the way, they can’t afford to delay transportation. And considering their common sense, they thought that it was impossible to sink all the ships completely every time in such a narrow strait.

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Above all else, humans have a psychological phenomenon called the Normalcy Bias. For example… when a fire broke out in the subway, no one escaped and everyone died while sitting in their seats breathing in the smoke. Or when an earthquake hits and the coast recedes, they don’t even run away and instead walk offshore. When a tsunami was coming, they didn’t run away even when it was called out.

If the people around them are not panicked, it would be embarrassing if they just reacted with panic and run, or that they will not be able to handle the situation in time, or that they will be fine, or they react insensitively to being informed of imminent danger.

Thinking from their common sense and experience, they thought that such a thing would never happen, or that it would be fine if they continued as usual. The psychological effect that raised problems in the early stages or asked to gather the entire navy was ridiculed and criticized by those around them.

As a result, the Frasian Navy lost most of its ships, and it is doubtful that they arrived here by chance, or that the enemy had deliberately overlooked them when they came this far.

The ships that left Carais… have not yet returned. Perhaps the enemy was unable to kill or capture all of the 2,000 soldiers, but some of the soldiers they sent out drifted back for the first time. It was only then that they learned the terror of the enemy.

They don’t quite understand the testimony of the army soldiers who are shivering with fear. Many ships far larger than the Frasian Navy’s ships arrived, and the Frasian ships sank in an instant with a roar that sounded like thunder. Because of this, they probably see the enemies as larger than reality.

But even if you take that into account, it’s still a big deal. The navy no longer has any sailors or ships, and the army is in ruins. In this situation, far from sending reinforcements to the Blish Isles, the defense of the home country may also be in danger.

“It’s too late… There’s nothing we can do about it…”

Everyone bows down to someone’s muttering. It took more than 10 years for the Navy to build up the fleet they just lost. And a huge amount of money was spent on it. It is not something that can be remade by saying, let’s build it again because we lost the originals. It will be many years before the fleet is rebuilt. The expeditionary force could not have survived until then.

And they lost 12,000 land forces. The Expeditionary Force may still be alive, but they will never come back alive. Because there is no way to cross the Blish Strait, which is the only way to get back here…

The kingdom lost 4,000 troops. The Noln Dukedom lost 4,000 men. The second and third sons and other troops called to arms were 4,000… Frasia lost part of its army, the Noln Dukedom was deprived of its military might, and there was no way those second onward sons were coming back. Whatever the situation, their country was still down 12,000 men.

“If the enemy attacks now…”

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“-!?”

“Im-Impossible!?”

“I don’t like this!”

The Navy leadership jumped to their feet. It’s not just a case of losing a fleet and not being able to deliver supplies to the Expeditionary Force or assist in its withdrawal. If the enemy were to invade the Kingdom of Frasia now, Frasia would no longer have the strength to fight properly.

Even if they let the feudal lords in various places send out soldiers, there is a fear that the country will be captured before they can prepare.

It may seem like an absurd story, but it’s an enemy with this much power. You have to assume that they will suddenly land and occupy the major cities including the royal capital.

The Navy leadership immediately held discussions with the Army leadership and agreed to abandon the Expeditionary Force and focus on national defense, instead.