Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 287: Puppet War (4)

Chapter 287: Puppet War (4)

The situation was serious.

Henrietta had spoken confidently in front of her generals, but she was feeling impatient on the inside. A large army is at its weakest when crossing a river. Even a nine-year-old child knows this much. Despite this, the enemy started to cross the river…….

They weren’t idiots either. There was definitely a reason for this that made it worth the risk. Therefore…….

‘They’ve either fortified themselves enough or this is a trick.’

Henrietta walked out of the tent and mounted her horse. The camp was already filled with the sound of shouting. Soldiers were systematically being ordered into formation by the officers even though it was the dead of night.

“Do not fear the night! The mages will light your path and your comrades! Do not get too close to your comrades, but do not stay too far apart! Use these words as a lamp to find your way through the night!”

Henrietta personally went around the camp to hype up the soldiers. Every time she did, the soldiers would either take their helmets off and shake them or wave their torches to cheer their queen whom they were proud of.

“Glory to Her Highness Henrietta!”

“O Goddess, please protect the Queen!”

The soldiers’ morale was high even though they were about to embark on a night battle. Queen Henrietta was their hero. She was the ruler who managed to capture the Empire of Frankia, the nation that had been their rival for hundreds of years!

The captain of the royal guards approached on horseback and gave his report.

“The first and second squads are in position, Your Highness. They can depart at a moment’s notice.”

“Mm.”

Henrietta gave a satisfied nod. Not much time had passed since the generals left after receiving her order. You could probably call this instantaneous. The Queen didn’t let her impatience show on her face as she went to the front of the troops.

“I will be omitting any speeches. Let us depart immediately.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Bugler, inform the others to depart!”

The captain shouted at the bugler.

– Ooooooo.

The sound of the bugler’s horn echoed gloomily throughout the night sky. The sound of one horn spread throughout the area. More horns joined in as if they had been awoken by the first horn.

A small number of soldiers were left behind to defend the base while the rest departed.

‘If their defenses are formidable while they are crossing the river, then……that would mean they are genuinely trying to cross the river. Their goal would be to avoid us and enter Parisiorum.’

Henrietta thought to herself as she tied her hair into a ponytail. She was at the front of her troops along with her royal guards.

‘The issue is if this is an enemy ploy.’

In this scenario, it would mean that the Demon Lord army had set up an ambush somewhere.

They would wait for the moment Henrietta’s troops attacked the soldiers crossing the river. The enemy soldiers lying in wait would then come out and pincer her soldiers. Were they crossing the river or setting up an ambush? Both options were very possible…….

A person approached and came right up to Henrietta’s side. This individual was riding a red wolf and not a warhorse.

“Sheesh. What’s with the ruckus in the middle of the night?”

“……Agares.”

“Children should sleep at night if they want to grow. Her lifestyle itself is an issue. There’s a reason why that brat Barbatos is a pipsqueak.”

It was Demon Lord Agares. She let out a large yawn as she muttered.

“Keep an eye on the sky as well. A Demon Lord named Gamigin has a bunch of wyverns.”

“The sky……. I see. They could also attack from the sky as well.”

Henrietta furrowed her brows. Their vision was already limited because it was night, but adding a wyvern assault on top of this was dreadful to even imagine. Rather than any actual losses, the panic of her soldiers would be a bigger issue.

Once she fell into deep thought about how she was going to deal with them, Agares offered her a simple solution.

“Order your mages to cast a light spell to blind the wyverns if they do come.”

“That makes sense.”

The mages were immediately notified of this countermeasure. Henrietta spoke to Agares.

“Agares, do you think they’ve set up an ambush?”

“I have never thought about the enemy’s intentions when I went to battle.”

It was an arrogant answer, but Henrietta understood.

When Agares was chased out of Habsburg and sought asylum here, Queen Henrietta went on an excursion to verify Agares’ skills. After witnessing Agares wipe out a monster tribe like taking candy from a baby, Henrietta acknowledged her strength. Afterward, Agares constantly remained as Henrietta’s guest.

Queen Henrietta nodded.

‘Agares could easily face an army by herself.’

Even if the enemy had set up an ambush, there was no need to worry too much about it. It should be fine to leave any ambushes to Agares.

No, if you think about it, it is highly unlikely that the enemy would resort to ambushes when Henrietta has Agares on her side. Hiding a portion of your troops would mean splitting your army in half. Splitting your troops in front of Agares was no different from committing suicide. Are they actually trying to cross the river, then……?

“Your Highness! I have returned with my report!”

The cavalry regiment that went out to scout had returned.

“The enemy troops are in the middle of crossing the Marne River!”

Queen Henrietta clicked her tongue. She already knew that. She didn’t send out another scout to hear the same thing twice.

“Give me the exact number of their troops!”

“Yes. Their numbers exceed forty thousand, Your Highness!”

The air became somewhat dreary the moment everyone heard that forty thousand soldiers were gathered in front of them. Brittany’s army was filled with the most elite soldiers, but they weren’t so desensitized that they wouldn’t feel nervous before a huge army.

“Their floating bridge is complete and they have already transferred some of their troops on rafts. Approximately five thousand have made it to the other side.”

“Hm. Then there are about thirty-five thousand left on this side.”

“That is correct, Your Highness!”

With this, Henrietta was certain now. The enemy’s goal is to cross the river.

Roughly five thousand of their troops had crossed the river already. They probably don’t have the elbow room to also set up an ambush. Even if they did set up an ambush, the number wouldn’t exceed ten thousand and that wouldn’t be enough to be a threat to them.

“Men, pick up the pace!”

As long as they have the countermeasure known as Agares, it should be fine for them to move with reckless haste. The Queen ordered her men to go faster after coming to that conclusion.

It didn’t take long before they could see the enemy forces. There were numerous torches lighting up their encampment. Just as the scout had reported, their floating bridge was complete. Two more floating bridges were also being built. Trolls that were as tall as hills were in the water and setting up the bridge.

“The enemy is split with the river between them. Do not miss this opportunity and tear them apart!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The generals responded strongly.

Queen Henrietta thought about her friend who had yet to enter Frankia. Her friend had set aside her role as a leader and was coming to help her, but it seems her friend’s efforts were about to be in vain. She probably won’t be able to participate in the battle.

– Ooooooo.

Brittany’s horns rang out once more.

Let’s give Dantalian’s head to her as a gift, Henrietta thought to herself. We’ll drink wine all night. It will be the greatest drinking party of all time. She was going to have to shed some sweat and blood here in order to accomplish this…….

* * *

The Demon Lord army has started to cross the river.

This was everything Elizabeth was told before the light from the magic orb blinked off.

“Oh? This is an anti-magic spell.”

The mage who was listening next to Elizabeth tilted their head. The mage was Elizabeth’s first secretary and a Six-Circle mage. Yuria, a half-elf, was skilled in magic.

“To be able to block a spell coming all the way here, it must mean a rather expansive anti-magic spell had been cast……. How strange. It would be impossible to do something like this by normal means unless you use about a hundred mages.”

“Are you saying the Demon Lord army brought hundreds of mages?”

Elizabeth rubbed her aching head. She was now fully awake after hearing the urgent message. It might have been the aftereffect of her nightmare, but her head felt like it was being squeezed from every side.

Yuria shook her head.

“No, it is difficult to imagine that they would resort to such an ignorant method. The most effective way to block any communication spells……would be to cast an anti-magic spell from the air. They must be on a griffin or a wyvern.”

“They put mages in the air, is it? A method that befits demons…….”

Elizabeth smiled bitterly.

On a national level, there have been many instances where people succeeded in raising griffins or wyverns, but they were still lacking. In the end, they couldn’t be used against the Demon Lord army. Monsters obey Demon Lords, after all.

“Who would have imagined the fight would actually happen right away. We should have departed sooner.”

“We had to deceive the nobles and gather thousands of soldiers without our people noticing. We did the best that we could.”

“The best effort does not guarantee the best result……. This is unfortunate.”

Currently, the detached force led by Elizabeth had arrived at the border between Habsburg and Frankia. They had set up their camp and gone to sleep because it was late in the night. Elizabeth and Yuria had awoken because of the message that arrived in the middle of the night.

“Your Excellency, why do you think the Demon Lord army is crossing Marne River?”

“Look at the map.”

Elizabeth pointed at the map on the table. A detailed depiction of the terrain around Parisiorum was drawn on it.

“If they cross Marne River and march straight, they would immediately arrive at Parisiorum. They would have to also cross Sequana River, but if they have already prepared a floating bridge and rafts, then that should be easy enough to cross. On the other hand, Henrietta does not have even a raft to cross the river with…….”

Elizabeth trailed her finger along the river. Her finger soon stopped at Parisiorum, the capital of Frankia.

“Henrietta has no way of intercepting them. She would have no choice but to watch the Demon Lord army slowly take over Parisiorum from the other side of the river. They would only have two options then. They would have to either fight on the streets of Parisiorum or give up on the capital.”

“Ah……I see. It would be incredibly unpleasant for cavalry knights to fight on the streets of a city.”

Knights are able to go all out when on horseback. Fighting on the streets would completely ruin their advantage as knights.

Elizabeth nodded.

“The southern walls of Parisiorum are not as sturdy as their northern walls. It would be awkward for the enemy to defend against a siege. However, it would not be that much of an issue for Henrietta. She would also have the leeway to transport the Emperor and Empress Dowager somewhere else, so if she forces them into pitched battle again…….”

A certain thought went through Elizabeth’s head at that moment.

Elizabeth’s eyes slowly widened. Her eyes quickly scanned the top portion of the map. The sudden change of mood made Yuria uneasy as she stared at the consul. Elizabeth started to murmur between her lips.

“Don’t tell me. No……but how…….”

How much time had passed? Elizabeth murmured without removing her eyes from the map.

“……Yuria, Brittany is receiving their supplies via transport ships, right?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Where do you think the ships are getting their supplies from?”

Yuria skimmed through her memory. Her knowledge didn’t go that far either.

“I apologize. They never shared this information with us.”

“Would Henrietta have left her supplies in Parisiorum where there are potential rebels still lying in wait?”

“……No. That is unlikely. There is a chance those potential rebels could set their supplies on fire.”

Elizabeth nodded. Her eyes met Yuria’s.

“In that case, their warehouse must have been built somewhere near the river that is not in Parisiorum. They did not expect the enemy to cross the river, so they probably built it along the south side of the river and not the north.”

Elizabeth’s gaze became sharp.

“The Demon Lord army has crossed the river. If the stronghold with Brittany’s supplies is located somewhere in the south, then…….”

Yuria’s mouth fell open.

“The provisions! The enemy’s goal is to burn their provisions, Your Excellency!”

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. We’re now finally getting glimpses of Laura’s plan. Or rather, a third party that’s unable to get involved is piecing things together. Poor overconfident Henrietta.

On another note, it’s been a weird couple of days. I’m apparently going to my brother’s wedding again next weekend? They got signed up for a Korean TV program for couples that had disappointing weddings because of Covid, so they’re doing their wedding again. It’s going to be broadcasted on TV, so uh, that’s something. I don’t exactly feel comfortable about it, though, but I have to go since I’m a direct relative. I’m not looking forward to it.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.