Chapter 327 - Towards Merkruz

When Kaiser had finished the preparations and rallied the kingdom's army in front of the city, all of the kingdom's populace had come to see them off. After giving a grand speech, he immediately started the long march towards the Merkruz Principality.

The soldiers all turned around and began walking into the large vehicles parked right behind them. The vehicles were like large trains, each train had 3 cars to them. The first and third cars were for the soldiers to sit in while the middle car was loaded with 2 Spell Cannons.

This was the limit that Angelia's monsters could pull at one time. Of course, not all of Angelia's monsters were those large and powerful land monsters. Some of them weren't all that big and only a few could actually pull these large armored transport carriers.

There were only 10 of Angelia's monsters that could maneuver these steel behemoths, added with Silver, there were 11 vehicles in total. This also meant that there was only 22 Spell Cannons being brought into the war but in Cecil's opinion, it was more than enough.

The armored transport carriers weren't just going to be used as a means of transportation, they also had mini-versions of the Spell Cannons and Storm Howlers built into them and they could be deployed easily in the middle of a battle field or siege.

The carriers' armors were all enchanted with Cecil's magic arrays and the ores that he recommended in building these transporters were the sturdiest and hardest material he was currently aware of. The transporters were also coated with the anti-mana ore so its weapons operations wouldn't be interfered by the M-Jammer.

As for the rest of the soldiers, they were either riding on mounts or on wagons. From what history has foretold, wars were won on many conditions but there were 3 that stood out from the rest, and they were information, communication, and transportation.

The Silvaria Army has already successfully fulfilled all 3 of those conditions. Information was already given to Kaiser by Cecil and the transportation and mobility of the army was enhanced by the kingdom's craftsmen.

As for communication, Cecil had that covered. He and Ren had been working on MIDs for a long while now and they had many spares lying around in their spatial rings. These 'failed' products were distributed to the army's captains and squad leaders after they were readjusted by Cecil and Ren.

******

At the center of the Silvaria Army's marching formation, inside of the Wanderer, Cecil, Lucia, Angelia, Gabriel, Ren, Fatima, Rowan, and Kaiser were currently sitting around the mobile home's living room area.

Quinn had brought in some refreshments from the kitchen and was serving everyone present. Cecil and everyone from his original party were a little bit on edge. Ren, who was sitting next to Angelia, had his Magic Gun out and was practicing loading and unloading a bullet into its chamber.

Cecil was circulating his mana and causing flashes of golden sparks to flit around his body. Lucia was doing the same but she was clearly a little nervous. Going to war was a first for them. Sure, they did attack an army one time and participated in the kingdom's defense, but this was different.

This time, they were the ones going to attack another kingdom. They were the aggressors. There was also another cause for her concern. The Merkruz Principality still had a force that was over two hundred thousand strong. A majority of their soldiers were sent out to war with Regulus and Silvaria, and while many were lost in the war, there was still the defending army guarding their lands.

Cecil noticed Lucia's uneasiness and quickly grabbed ahold of her hand.

"Don't worry, Lulu, this is just like any other battle. What we do is no different than taking down monsters or killing our enemies."

Lucia took a deep breath and released it. "Thanks, Cel. Don't worry, I won't mess up!"

"I know you won't. It'll take a few days before we reach the Merkruz Principality's borders with our travel speed so just relax."

"Heh, like you're one to talk! You're just as nervous as I am!" Lucia teased.

"Am I?"

"...Uhm...not sure," Lucia said unsurely after taking a look at Cecil. He was only circulating his mana, nothing more. He didn't show it, but Cecil was feeling very on edge. He was a little excited actually, however, he couldn't understand why though.

That's why he was circulating his mana in order to calm his mind. Ren on the other hand was currently having his head bashed in because Angelia felt annoyed at the constant clicking sounds that he was making when he load and unloaded his gun.

"Put a sock in it would you?!"

"Well excuse me! I can't help myself, alright?!"

"Hmph, just relax, it's not like the two of us are going to be participating in the battles..."

"..."

"I'm here to supervise my monsters and you're here as a maintenance boy for the kingdom's cannons!"

"Ugh...I guess you're right..."

Kaiser was meditating while Rowan and Fatima were quietly talking to each other. Gabriel was probably the most relaxed one here since he was actually able to sleep. Yuna was sitting out on the driver's seat and accompanying Sleipnir.

After making sure Lucia was calm and relaxed, Cecil stepped out of the wagon and flipped onto the roof. He looked around and saw the large convoy moving together. The 11 large armored transports, the numerous wagons, and monster mounts moving together in formation caused him to feel excited.

"Hmmm... I guess it's just the atmosphere of our march that's making me anxious and excited..."

*****

A few days later, the Silvaria Army had swiftly marched their way to the Merkruz Principality's borders. There wasn't really anything that signified the principality's borders, nothing like a wall or anything.

The only thing that signified the border was the large fortress city that could be seen a few kilometers away from the army's current position.

Inside the armored transport carrier that Silver was pulling, all of the army's commanders and captains had gathered together in the first car to discuss about their method of attack.

"Ima, how are we going to do this?" Kaiser asked. "A full frontal assault, or do you have a better plan?"

"No father, we'll go with a full frontal assault. We'll have the cannons open fire from afar and open up a way for us into the city."

"What about their mages?"

Cecil stepped forward and said, "Lucia and I will take care of them.

"I'll leave things to you then," Kaiser nodded.

Cecil nodded and walked out of the carrier.

"Sir, is it alright to leave the principality's mages to... a boy?" A commander asked.

"You don't have to worry about him. If you still don't know, he's the hero who single-handedly repelled the Merkruz Army last time."

"I-I see... I was incapacitated halfway during the last battle. Excuse me for my rudeness..."

"Never mind, just focus on your task later once the cannons open fire. The information from an informant already stated that the principality no longer has any more of the Empire's Mag-Cannons except for the ones stationed at their capital city so don't make any mistakes that'll lead to unnecessary casualties!"

"Yes sir!"

"Our army is already few in numbers, but we can make that up with our overwhelming fire power! Remember, don't destroy that city! We'll be using it as our command base for our military operations inside the principality so please leave its facilities intact! If there are any civilians who want to surrender, make sure you don't kill them and bring them behind our lines and round them up! As for the ones that come running towards you with weapons... treat them as hostiles and get rid of them," Kaiser coldly ordered.

"..."

"..."

Kaiser looked around the room and noticed that everyone's gaze had hardened at his words.

"We don't have time to be merciful to anybody. For those that are willing to submit, we leave them alive. For those that aren't, we have to get rid of quickly. They'll be a danger to us if we leave them inside the city after we take it over. Ima, continue explaining the plan!"

"Yes, Father. Alright, listen up! Cecil and Lucia will infiltrate the city and quickly try to attack the enemy mages' barracks and defeat as many as they can. Those two will also try and disable the magic barrier that's surrounding the fortress. We'll open fire with the cannons once Cecil raises the signal."

Everyone nodded at Kaiser's words. "Alright, we'll commence the operation in 0100 hours. Get your divisions and squads ready! You're all dismissed!"

At the perimeter of the army's formation, Cecil, Lucia, and Quinn were getting ready to head out.

"Alright, here's the plan. Lulu and I will fly up above the city and look for a good place to open up a Misty Gate. After that, we'll teleport inside and head straight for the barracks, Quinn, you teleport in using Yuna's gate and quickly head towards the city's magic barrier's array formation, alright?"

"Yes, Master."

"Once you're done with the sabotage, make your way to the barracks. We'll defeat as many as we can before teleporting out and regrouping with the infantry."

"Alright."

"Let's do this!"

Cecil grabbed onto Lucia's waist, activated his Mana Burst and quickly shot into the air. Fatima and Rowan had just arrived but they were a little too late to see the two off.

"Oh... I wanted to ask him if an hour was enough for them to complete their operation," Fatima said.

"Don't worry, Lady Fatima,��� Quinn spoke up. "An hour is more than enough time."

It didn't take long before a Misty Gate appeared in front of Quinn.

"Master Lucia and Cecil are already inside the city, quickly head in, Quinn," Yuna said.

"Pardon me, I have a mission to complete," Quinn bowed to Fatima and Rowan before stepping into the gate.

"Hmmm...Why don't we just infiltrate the city using this gate?" Rowan asked.

"That'd be stupid," Fatima quickly said. "We don't know the exact lay out of the city, unlike Cecil who has an extrasensory ability our soldiers will be like headless flies flying around if we just dropped them into the city."

"Couldn't we have tried to acquire the city's information before we attacked?"

"Are you saying that we should have our soldiers memorize the exact layouts of all 5 border fortress cities of the principality?"

"Uhm..."

"If we were certain of which city we were going to attack, then it would have been easy to debrief them about the city's layout. However, the map that we've received isn't all too accurate and there's no way of knowing whether the city we attack is the exact city we want to attack. We don't have a GPS or digital map and that's a problem..."

"GPS? Digital?" Rowan said in confusion at the unfamiliar words.

"Never mind, it's not something you'll understand, Rowan," Fatima replied.

War would be so much easier if they had a functional map of the area they were attacking. Unfortunately for them, they didn't. The map that they had acquired was only a rough sketch with no clear measurements of the land. It was unreliable and couldn't be used to form an exact battle strategy.

"Now, we wait."