CH 213

Chapter 213 – Total Destruction

Within 30 minutes of the start of the war, the subjugation army raised the white flag.

The advance was slowed by the air bombardment of the Harpies and my automatic grenade launchers, and when they came to a standstill, they were met with a thorough sweeping attack by light machine-gun fire. These attacks were not something that could be defended against with leather or metal armor, and in the chaos, even the mage corps, which was their tiger cubs, were unable to function.

The commander of the subjugation army, who promptly raised the white flag before the damage could spread any further, must have been quite capable. Without knowing the attackers’ identity, it is not easy to make that kind of decision in the midst of chaos and information chaos.

“What do you think?”

“I generally agree. I think he made his decision quickly because he had heard about it from the POWs.”

“I see.”

The POWs we handed over were the survivors of those who were kicked out of the city with light machine guns when the Liberation Army occupied Merinesburg. They must have known the horror of light machine-gun attacks, so it is highly possible that they had appealed to the commander of the subjugation army about the danger of such attacks.

Well, you can’t understand the horror of a light machine-gun sweep until you have actually been subjected to it. Even if he knew a little about light machine guns, I don’t think he would be able to protect 20,000 men with the technology of this world.

What if it were me? If the enemy is armed with light machine guns and air boards, and I can only attack them with this world’s technology… I guess I would have to lure them into a narrow path and saturate them with bows and magic. At least, if you’re fighting in a place like this battlefield, where there’s no shielding and no streets on a plain, there’s no way to deal with it.

Even that method of dealing with the situation would be out of the question with Harpy’s scouting ability, the golem communicator, and air bombardment added to the mix. If I could use my ability, I would set up an anti-aircraft turret in a sturdy base to shut out the Harpies while destroying the air boards from inside the base by surface suppression with a large number of mortars.

Since the air board is lightly armored, it may be possible to destroy it from a distance with a more powerful 50 caliber heavy machine gun or an anti-material rifle.

And what’s this escapism about?

“This is… terrible.”

The area was filled with the thick smell of blood and guts, and the soldiers of the Holy Kingdom’s army were lying on the ground with their bodies, powerless, not even moaning. Archbishop Deckard, who saw such a scene, was holding his mouth, and his face turned blue.

This was the area where the gunners had been relentless in their machine-gun fire. The people lying on the ground were all missing limbs or parts of their bodies, and it looked as if they had all died almost instantly. A little past the scene of the battlefield, we now come to a place where people are lying on the ground after being hit by bullets of reduced power, which have passed through the victims of the previous battle.

In a sense, this place is even worse than the previous scene. All of them are seriously injured by the less powerful bullets, and although the wounds are not fatal, they are still extremely painful.

Behind them is once again an area with many dead. This is the point where the people in front of them fell down after being hit by the less powerful bullets and were again exposed to a barrage of bullets that had hardly diminished in power.

“An army of 20,000 is in this condition in just that amount of time…?”

Archbishop Deckard muttered in a serious voice. I guess he didn’t expect it to be so one-sided. The number of deaths also seems to have surprised him.

In this world, wars are basically fought with swords, spears, and bows and arrows, with a little bit of magic thrown in for good measure. Injuries are often caused by being cut or beaten with a blade on top of protective gear, so to put it straight, the instant death rate is not very high.

However, the weapons I brought into this world, such as bolt-action rifles, light machine guns, and air bombs, are far more lethal than swords, spears, and bows. In any case, the armor of this world can hardly reduce the power of these weapons.

Furthermore, gunshot wounds inflict far more damage on the human body than wounds caused by swords, spears, bows and arrows. I don’t remember the details of the mechanism, but it is said that a bullet that enters the human body can roll over inside the body before penetrating it, damaging the inside of the body in a distorted manner or generating a shockwave inside the body, causing severe damage.

In fact, when I saw them, the wounds of the soldiers lying on the ground seemed to be unbearable to look at. I wonder how many casualties there were.

“I will leave the matter of peace to Sir Leonard, Melty, and Archbishop Deckard. Isla and I will treat the wounded together──”

“That will come after the peace is concluded. They have not yet formally surrendered.”

“No, but under the circumstances…”

“Not yet. It is good to proceed with preparations. However, the treatment should be started only after they have officially surrendered. In any case, we will need manpower to disarm them, so I suppose it is appropriate to move as much manpower as possible from Merinesburg to our side.”

“Then, we will do so.”

After Sir Leonard’s statement, Melty started a call on the golem communicator.

“Kosuke. The weapon you created slaughtered the enemies unilaterally. You may think so, but they are the enemy who came to kill, capture, and overrun every last one of us in the first place. If we had not been armed with Kosuke’s weapons, it would have been us who would have ended up like this.”

“Is that… so?”

“Yes, it is. Kosuke’s spirit of compassion is noble, but there is a procedure for everything. I am in charge here, so please bear with me for now.”

“…Understood.”

Many lives will be lost while negotiating. But still, Sir Leonard is saying that things have to make sense first. He has more experience on the battlefield than I do, and if he says so, I have no choice but to obey him. Or perhaps it is Sir Leonard’s intention, or perhaps it is just his mindset, to make me think so.

☆★☆

Sir Leonard, Archbishop Deckard, and other members of the Liberation Army and the commanders of the Holy Kingdom Army were meeting again after an interval of about an hour and a half or about three hours. I am waiting on the air board as before. The only difference is that Isla is still in the air board and the gunners’ air board is all together pointing its muzzle at the Holy Kingdom Army.

The other side also seems to be trying to intimidate them by having the mage corps behind them, but if they try anything, the trigger of the light machine gun held by the gunners will be pulled sooner than that, and they will be turned into a cloud of blood.

“So far, it doesn’t sound too disturbing.”

“Hmm. No disturbing activity on the part of the enemy mage corps either.”

Isla opened the door on the roof of the air board and monitored the enemy mage group from a slightly higher vantage point. Isla’s big eye can also see the flow of magic power when using magic, so she can also monitor them to make sure our side won’t be caught by surprise by magic at a time like this.

Well, it seems that this is not inborn and that she uses special magic that allows her to see the magic power… but I don’t really understand it because I’m clueless about magic. At any rate, Isla, who invoked that magic to see magic power, was a little mysterious, with something like a magic circle sparkling in the depths of her eye.

“What’s going to happen? Will they withdraw obediently?”

“They will have to do so. If they don’t withdraw, we will just beat them thoroughly. The number of dead will increase. It is impossible to fight further after being beaten so unilaterally. I can see it in the soldiers’ faces.”

“Well, that’s true.”

The face of the commanders who are talking with Sir Leonard and the others is stiff, and even I can tell that he is pushing down his fear. I have seen the faces of the surviving soldiers along the way, and every one of them looks as if everyone is pushing down their fears and anxieties. Morale is at its worst.

“Even if they say they’re going to fight, it looks like the soldiers are going to drop their weapons and surrender on their own.”

“Hmm. The so-called holy knights and some of the faithful might still be able to fight, but I think most of them will. The soldiers of the Holy Kingdom are also human beings. Their lives are precious.”

While I was talking to Isla like that, the negotiation seemed to have ended. The lion face of Sir Leonard is honestly difficult to read, but the negotiation itself seems to have gone well.

“Well, how did it turn out?”

“The other side will have to accept whatever we demand. Don’t worry.”

☆★☆

The death toll on the side of the Holy Kingdom’s army in this battle was 3,700, including 3,500 in the vanguard units and 200 in the Transportation units. Among the total of 20,000 on the Holy Kingdom’s army side, about 13,000 were pure combatants, which means that the Holy Kingdom’s army lost about 28% of its combatants in this battle. In addition, there were about 3,000 wounded, so only 6,300 people were actually able to move. If the wounded are also included, the loss rate of the combatants is 51%, and the battle cannot be continued.

“Well, I guess it’s a total destruction.”

“Hmm, total destruction.”

Sylphy, who had received the report from us back in Merinesburg, muttered, and Isla, who had given the report, nodded in agreement. The reason for the loss is that they were standing on sticks to receive the sweep of the light machine gun. At least if they had gotten down on the ground, the damage would have been lessened, but for them to get down on the ground, with their armored bodies and armed with swords and spears, was nothing more than a loss of combat ability. No commander in the world would be able to give such an order on the spur of the moment in that situation and make sure it was carried out thoroughly.

“Amazing, huh?”

“The results of the battle are a bit unbelievable…”

“Kosuke’s secret weapon is a disaster.”

The three slime girls who were listening to the report together were each expressing their opinions. What’s up with the “Disaster,” they say, you ask? That’s…

“So, the prisoner of war is the enemy commander and a man of noble birth, and then there’s the holy knight and the entire mage corps.”

“Hmm. The second-in-command and the junior officers need to be responsible for bringing the defeated soldiers back to their home countries. The rest of them are confined in slave collars to keep them from running amok or making any strange plans.”

“We must instruct our people to treat the POWs with respect. Prisoners of war are important bargaining chips.”

The purpose of the Liberation Army is to free the Kingdom of Merinard from the control of the Holy Kingdom and to recover the former land and its people who were taken away. From now on, persistent negotiations with the Holy Kingdom will be necessary. It would be better to have prisoners of war to use as bargaining chips.

“I hope the Holy Kingdom will give up now.”

“I doubt it will go so well.”

“It will be difficult. But we must accomplish it.”

“Right.”

“Hmm, yes. For the sake of all the sacrifices that have been made so far, we have to finish the job.”

It seems that the future of the liberation of the Kingdom of Merinard is still a long way off.