CH 352

“Heey! What’s going on!?”

No one answers Guillaume’s yelling. Guillaume’s army was already at a standstill. Even if he orders them to collect information after he arrives, they still haven’t gathered any information. On the contrary, he had just learned that the damage was only increasing and no one had come back at all.

And then, something happened in the rear, and even the resupply and the messengers did not arrive. Even though almost the entire army has been gathered here, there are support units and transport units in the rear, and there are people in charge of transportation and messengers coming and going… that’s what it should be. But the reality is that those who are sent out never come back. No messengers from behind and no transportation of supplies.

If you send out an investigation team to find out what’s going on, the investigation team won’t come back, either. Now no one leaves the fort for fear of what will happen if they leave it.

Of course, if that happens, the shortage of supplies will soon become serious. Even though there are some stockpiles, and they have now been reduced to about 6,000 people, there is no way that there is enough stockpile to be trapped for months without any resupply. This place, which was only a temporary fortress during the war, has only so much storage and supplies.

The soldiers’ morale is at its lowest point and they are hungry due to lack of supplies. Not even a messenger has arrived, let alone reinforcements, and they don’t know what the rear or home country is doing. It would be nice if they could at least wait a few more days before the food and reinforcements would arrive, but since there was no contact at all, they were as they didn’t know how long they should endure.

“Why… why did this happen!? Also… I was supposed to become King of Wessek in just a short while! How the in the hell did this happen!?”

Guillaume hits his desk. He should have cornered Harold and killed him in just a short while. If only Harold was killed, then Wessek should have belonged to Guillaume… even though it should have been within reach…

That is… why is this happening to him, who was supposed to be the greatest Feudal Lord who also serves as Duke of Noln and King of Wessek?

They have no food. No reinforcements will come. The number of soldiers here has decreased so much, and now they are less than half of what they were at their peak. How did this happen? What did he do wrong?

What should he have done?

There is no answer to that question. And there is no one to answer it. However… if you look at this situation objectively… Guillaume has no cause. No matter what Guillaume did, no matter what he did, no matter what strategy he used, it would have all reached the same end.

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Guillaume’s only mistake… was invading the Blish Isles and attacking the Kingdom of Wessek, to lay bare his ambition to become King of Wessek himself. If he was content with his position as Duke of Noln, and if he had stayed in the Kingdom of Frasia, he wouldn’t have faced such a fate. At least, Frasia would have been able to let him live in peace and safety until he “collided with the current enemy.”

But it’s all too late. It’s too late… There was only one way to go.

“Your Grace… our army’s food supplies have run out, and our morale is declining. There’s no point in staying in this fort any longer. Rather than starve to death… I don’t think we have any recourse other than to attack Harold’s Faction’s castle.”

“…………Let the whole army prepare for the battle.”

“Sire…”

Guillaume also knew. If he stays here, he’ll just starve to death. There are two ways he can take this problem. Attack Harold’s castle with his entire army, or abandon the fort and retreat with his entire army.

If it’s normal…, if he was calm, he might have chosen to retreat here. But there was no one in this fort who would make that choice anymore. For some reason, it didn’t feel safe to retreat.

If the messenger had come through and they knew what was going on behind them, they might have been able to make the decision to withdraw once, regroup, and fight again. However, now that even the messengers were cut off, he couldn’t shake the anxiety that the rear had already been hit.

If the rear is safe and reinforcements are coming from home… he no longer has such faint hopes. Then, rather than retreating and eventually encountering an enemy, attacking the enemy in front of you and taking over the castle would still keep your morale up. If you try to retreat and fail and are attacked by the enemy, you will be completely routed. In that case, it’s better to go forward and go steal the enemy’s food.

Guillaume, his subordinate generals, and staff members made up their minds. Go forward and take Harold’s castle to get some food. There is no other way forward.

The soldiers who were so afraid of the forest marched through the woods with bloodshot eyes and rough breathing. The rations provided here are also low and they are always hungry. If you are always hungry, you will gradually become unable to make normal decisions. And they only get madder and more irrational, too.

With this many people marching, they won’t be eaten by the forest and go missing like usual. Based on experience so far, it has been confirmed that if you act in a large enough group, you will return safely without being attacked.

In that case, if you invade with a large army of 6,000, you should be able to encounter the meager group of enemies that will be ahead without being eaten by the forest.

It is widely known that Harold’s Faction is not a great force. In the previous battle, they had already cornered them to the brink of falling. Even the survivors know that.

People only believe what they want to believe. They trust only what they want to trust. That’s why Guillaume’s army believed and relied only on the part that said, “Harold’s castle was cornered to the point where we could almost take it down.” Just before that, even if they heard information that “6,000 troops were destroyed by a mysterious force,” they didn’t give it much thought.

There was also the mentality that if you can’t take down the enemy’s castle with this attack, you’ll just run out of food and starve to death. They don’t think about retreating to get food that might be in the rear or fleeing back to their homeland, something a calm person would think.

Guillaume’s army continued marching to death as if the lead mouse plunged into the pond or river, and all the following mice jumped into the water themselves.

“Look! It’s the enemy castle!”

“Fuuu! Fuuu! What is that?! Doesn’t it look like ruins?!”

“Haha!”

The soldiers’ morale rose when they saw the target castle ahead of them, just through the forest. No, it could be said that it was just the people who had lost their ability to make calm judgments and were swallowed in a strange heat.

It certainly doesn’t look poor compared to the splendid castles of the Kingdom of Frasia. However, this castle is not particularly poor, and even this is a sufficient castle with standard size and functions on the Blish Isles. Since they had fought against such a castle until now, they should have fully understood the danger.

Still, for those who were no longer rational and calm, all they could think about was that they could get food if they took down the poor castle in front of them.

There is a wide plain in front of the castle, which is perfect for setting up camp. And they didn’t see any of the rumored huge ships floating in the sea. Even though they were told that there were more than 20 gigantic ships that even Frasia didn’t own, there wasn’t even a single one of them when I looked at the sea to the east.

“There are no ships?”

“Don’t tell me… the previous unit lied to hide their failure, didn’t they?”

Optimism spreads among the soldiers. That’s it. Such an enemy must have never existed from the beginning. The troops that failed to attack the castle must have excused their failure by blaming the enemy reinforcements who were not there. Such rumors spread quickly.

It wasn’t just soldiers. Guillaume, the generals around him, and his staff all lean toward that opinion.

“Alright! Set up on the plain! Are there any enemies?”

“Sire! We have confirmed that Harold’s Army is in the castle!”

Although no scouts had been dispatched, they marched on and when they reached a place where they could see the enemy, they could see Harold’s army loitering above the ramparts. As long as they can see the enemy, they have nothing to fear. It had already been proven that Harold and the others were not enemies. In that case, just kick it off as usual.

In no time at all, Guillaume’s army had taken up positions on the plains, issued a warning, and recommended surrender as was customary. As expected, Harold’s Faction refused to surrender and launched a final battle.

“Alright, then! Troops, forward, maaarcchhhh~~~!”

The entire army begins to move under Guillaume’s command. If you’ve come this far, it’s as if victory is already decided. With a large army of 6,000, there is no way that a castle of that size cannot be taken down. Guillaume watched with satisfaction as the troops gradually began to move.

“You had nothing to fear. Behold my army. Where in this land is there any element of defeat?”

Leaving the main force behind, the siege unit advances in formation. Their appearance was overwhelming and convinced of the victory of this battle. Until just a moment ago…

Don!

A low sound resounds in their stomachs. And then…….

Dopan!

The sound of the earth exploding and the rumbling of the ground reach them.

“Wha-What’s going on!?”

It’s a sound they’ve never heard before. Vibrations they’ve never felt before. Those who experienced this for the first time this time could not hide their confusion. And then… the survivors of the last time heard the sound and went into a state of panic, throwing the unit into chaos.

Don! Don! Don!

The sounds keep coming up, dust rises here and there, and soldiers scatter. They finally found the source of the noise.

“O-Over there!”

If you look where the staff officer is pointing, you can see smoke rising from near the eastern coast. The army was now completely divided between the siege force and the main force. Smoke is rising from a position that divides the two.

“Is this a trap!?”

After waiting until the siege unit and the main unit were separated, they launched a magic attack to completely separate them. The upper management of Guillaume’s army immediately decided so and worked out countermeasures.

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“This much magical power projection. It won’t last long! Crush the enemy before they take any further action! With that level of magic attack, the whole army can’t be destroyed! Charge the enemy on the coast! Calvalry, charge! All forces, march!”

They quickly see through the enemy’s plans and move into action. Guillaume’s army did not move until it was divided, so the enemy should not be that large. If the enemies are so large, there’s no way they’ll surprise you with such a hidden method. They hide themselves and aim for division and confusion with a surprise attack with a magic attack. Using such a palliative trick means that the enemy has no chance of winning otherwise.

The realization spread quickly, and the cavalry immediately launched a charge toward the coast. Infantry followed. If you attack with this number, it’s not possible to annihilate them before they reach. Everyone thought so.

Pan! Pan! Papapapapapa!

“Gua!”

“Gyaa!”

However, when they heard a high, dry sound, the cavalrymen who were charging ahead fell one after another, bleeding out. They don’t know what is going on. However, the order to attack did not stop. They repeat the charge one after another from behind even if the front collapses.

“Soon… the enemy will be there soon!”

The cavalry who was running at the front finally approached the spot where the enemy’s smoke was rising…….

“Uooh!”

They disappeared. Those who were following behind don’t know what happened. The front suddenly disappeared. And it was too late when they found out why, too.

“Uwaah!”

“Guah!”

The following soldiers… fall. They found themselves suddenly falling. There was a dry moat ahead of them, slightly uphill. Those who attack from their side cannot see it. The cavalry fell one after another into the empty moat just beyond the uphill climb.

“There’s a moat! Be careful!”

Those who fell off their horses and broke their bones are not dead yet. Some of them were unlucky enough to die crushed beneath the rest, but they raised their voices to report the situation to the rear.

“Roger! We understand the situation! We’ll get past the enemy’s shady hands! Let us jump!”

There is nothing wrong with traps if you know what it is. Cross the uphill and jump over the empty moat.

“Geh!”

“Gyaa!”

“That… can’t be…”

However…, if you fly over the dry moat, there is a horse fence in front of you. What will happen if you jump into a fence made of sharpened logs? All those who flew over the dry moat proceeded to skewer themselves on it.

And then…….

Papapapapapa! Papapapapan!

“”””Gyaa!”””””

A dry, high-pitched sound resounds from far away. Every time there is a sound, many soldiers fall and writhe on the ground. Unlike the one that makes a loud noise, the soldiers are not blown away and die instantly, but rather, the picture of hell with its screams of agony arouses fear. Seeing the fallen, and the groans of pain, the following troops hesitated and trembled.

But stopping means death. Don! Don! A low sound resounds, and a soldier is blown away, Pan! Pan! Someone falls down when the dry sound is heard. They can’t understand what’s going on. They don’t know where to go. There is no longer a safe place, hell if you go forward, hell if you retreat. Guillaume’s main force was in chaos.

And then… the siege force headed for the castle… then stopped in surprise at what appeared out of nowhere from the shadows of the castle.

“Wha-What is that!?”

“Huge ships… Was what the previous unit said true!?”

From the shadows of the castle, one after another, gigantic ships far surpasses the ships of the Kingdom of Frasia. More than ten of them were lined up. The siege unit is also in trouble. An enemy castle in the front, a gigantic ship on the side, and a tragic scene of being attacked from the coast in the rear.

From a super huge ship came a sound, DON! When the low-pitched sound resounded, the siege force also saw hell.