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Chapter 115: The Wind to the East
Chapter 115: The Wind to the East
Chapter 115: The Wind to the East
Now, its time to enact the plan.
Right now, Alois is standing in front of his knights and soldiers.
The knights have moderate morale but the soldiers morale is clearly low.
Well, thats a given I guess. From their perspective, even if their lords mother got taken hostage, they dont have any sense of belonging when they are being suddenly incorporated into the confederation. The consciousness of being citizens of the Empire still doesnt change inside them.
Thats why they cant bring themselves to be fully motivated in this fight.
And the only one who can send them into battle,
is only Alois.
Sorry that for suddenly gathered you all like this. But there is something that I must truthfully tell you.the one who ordered the assassination of the imperial general was my uncle. I have nothing to do with it but I think the army will not be convinced with that.
No waywe have to fight them head-on!?
Didnt you say that we just have to wait until the situation calms down!
They have ten thousand men you know! Theres no way we would win!
The soldiers voice their complaints and anxiety.
Accepting all of that with a firm attitude, Alois gives them a strong nod.
I have decided to fight. Not for the sake of the Confederation or the Empire. I will fight for the responsibility that I have inherited for generations. The Simmel house is the lord of this territory. I have the duty to protect our people. Even if we surrender, the army will surely take many things from us for the sake of Southern conquest. As a city that rebels against the Empire, not to mention the fact that we surrender, we will definitely be subjected to punishment. That will definitely lead to the decline of this territory and that is the only future we must avoid.
If he is being fully honest, he would probably say that he wants to fight for his mother.
For a twelve years old boy who lost his father, how important would his mother be to him?
Still, Alois carries himself with calmness. He is the lord of these people after all.
His Majesty the Emperor has sent an envoy to Duke Kruger. When the envoy arrives and the negotiation begins, the war might not occur according to the result. However, if we let the imperial army through here, that negotiation will become meaningless. Only a few days! We only have to hold out for a few days and the situation will change! If the negotiation fails, the confederation will have no choice but to send us reinforcement. On the other hand, His Majesty does not wish for a large-scale civil war. He will definitely reach out to the cities that put up strong resistance. If we surrender at that time, the damage to our land will be minimized. So.Now, I will fight.
Saying so, Alois unsheathes the sword he inherited from his father.
He then continues to address his knights and soldiers.
I will not punish anyone who wishes to flee. If you dont have the resolve to die together with me then you should leave. Im sorry for being such a worthless lord.
After being told that, his men stay silent for a moment.
In that silence, a soldier carrying a spear shouted.
Dont make up some grandeur reason. If you want our help to save your mother then just say it.
Hes a crude man.
His age is around forty.
Among the amateurish soldiers, he is the only one who carries himself well.
He is probably a retired adventurer.
Perhaps he already stood out in the first place, the eyes around naturally gathered at him.
Jordan-san.
Now, My Lord. Just give it to me straight. What do you want to do?
.I want to protect my mother.and, I want to protect this city.
Your predecessor had taken care of all of us...of course, we will want to pay him back by helping his child! Like hell, I can stay still when a kid just said something like that to me! I will chase those imperial soldiers out of here for you!
From the words of the man called Jordan, strength returned to the soldiers eyes.
Their feeling of wanting to flee turned into the will to fight.
They have just now become soldiers.
Thats right! We will fight!
Leave it to me!
The trust they have in Earl Simmel made them into soldiers.
The soldiers morale rose all at once and took the knights by surprise.
Alois then looks at me with happiness in his eyes.
Alright, with this, we can put up a fight.
Now, I will start explaining our strategy!
Following the momentum, Foct announced in a loud voice.
Hearing his voice, the mens morale increased even further.
WOUAAAHHH!!!!!
A war cry can be heard from the other side of the gate.
The source of that is the first attack of the imperial army concentrated at the main gate.
Their vanguard doesnt seem to carry any siege weapon. They are probably doing that on purpose to create the image that they got drawn into battle by coincidence.
Thats why they will be using classic combat methods in which bows and arrows are used to suppress us while the soldiers use hammers to destroy the gate and setting up ladders to climb up the wall.
Most of their force is concentrated at the main gate. In a normal battle, the defending side has the advantage in this kind of battle. No matter how much of an elite they are, the army doesnt have a soldier that can match a thousand men and most of their state-of-the-art-weapons are being given to the border army as they have higher priority.
Thus there is no groundbreaking weapon they can use to overcome our defending advantage.
Thats why they are relying on their number.
Hey Mr.Strategist, can we really win?
Jordan, one of the hundred soldiers assigned to me said as he looked over the east gate.
The terrain beyond the east gate is unique.
The road leading to the gate is but a single slope.
It is originally the most difficult gate to attack.
Thats why they will be aiming for this gate.
If we are wrong then it is just a matter of us moving to another gate. Well, its not like we are going to be wrong though.
Where did you get that kind of confidence?
Its a common practice of the imperial army. Attacking the main gate while sending out a unit to attack another gate. They will be commencing a surprise attack so they will be attacking the gate that is the most difficult to attack, incorporating the psychological effect that we would never expect them to attack such a gate. That was what they were taught.
The moment I said that, enemies appeared in front of the east gate.
Their number is around a thousand. They are rushing straight to the gate with a few cavalries in the lead and soldiers following behind them.
They arrived huh. Shoot arrows at them.
They really came.that was surprising.
Following my instruction, the few men on the wall release their arrows.
The reason why there are only a few men here is that there are only a small number of soldiers who can accurately fire their arrows. Naturally, the enemies couldnt be stopped by just this.
As expected, the other side also doesnt think that we would leave the gate unmanned either.
Their expectations should be strengthened with the few arrows we released at them.
Hit by an arrow, the cavalry leading them collapsed with a loud noise hitting several people running behind him.
However, they dont stop.
KEEP PUSHING!!
The man who seems to be their leader raises a loud voice while leading them on his horse.
The archers on the wall started to get frightened but I told them to calm down in a calm voice.
Dont worry. Just keep shooting.
Y, Yes!
Take care of the preparation below.
Sure.
Hearing my instruction, Jordan and the men started to hold down the gate.
Soon after, the soldiers in the lead arrived at the gate and began to hit it with their hammers.
They also tried to set up a ladder but they were stopped by the archers who pushed it off or shot the soldiers below. However, the same can not be said about the gate that is gradually being torn down by the hammer.
PUSH! HURRY UP AND TEAR DOWN THAT GATE!
UWAAA!! The gate wont hold anymore!
The wooden pillars that were attached to reinforce the gate began to creak.
The soldiers somehow managed to hold the gate but their attackers are clearly stronger.
However, all of this is within my expectation.
Checking the time, I sent a signal to Jordan.
As he saw the signal, Jordan evacuated the soldiers from the gate.
IT WONT HOLD ANYMORE! FALL BACK! RUN!!!
ARHGHHH!!
RUN AWAY!!
Their retreat isnt an act.
Only a few people know the details about this plan so their terrified screams were real.
Thats why it will be even easier for the enemy to believe,
the fact that their attack is successful.
ALRIGHT! TAKE IT DOWN!
Their hammer finally broke the gate.
At that moment, Jordan and the others who fell back earlier threw their javelins.
The soldiers who were trying to break through suddenly get skewered but the enemies are not frightened.
HAA! WEAK! DONT BE SCARED! CHARGE!!
With their commander encouraging them, the flanking unit broke through the east gate all at once and flowed inside.
However, they were careless.
A large amount of oil has been spread inside the gate and the soldiers that rushed in slipped and fell.
Wha, the hell is this!?
Uwa!!
Oil!? ITS OIL SIR!!
The scene of chaos immediately unfolds inside the gate.
Unfortunately for them, the soldiers that rushed in behind them with great momentum pushed them even further into the oily trap.
Meanwhile, Jordan prepared a torch and walked toward me.
Oi! Mr.Strategist! Should I do it now!?
Sure, go ahead.
The wind is blowing westward you know!? Wont the fire spread into the city!?
Dont worry about that. Today, at this time.the wind will blow east.
You sure!? I dont care anymore alright!!
Saying so, Jordan threw the torch at the oil-covered soldiers.
At that moment.
The wind suddenly changed direction to the east. And when the fire came into contact with the oil, an explosion erupted.
A large fiery explosion occurred and the gust of wind blew the fire to the east so the city was left unaffected.
Instead, the fire envelope the rest of the attacking soldiers that were lining up vertically up the slope.
It was as if a dragon just released a fiery breath from the east gate.
The fire burned down the flanking unit and those who managed to somehow survive are those who are at the back.
Right now, the survivors are busy rescuing the people who got burned by the fire.
They no longer have enough leeway to attack us anymore.
To all survivors! I, Grau, the wandering strategist is here in this city of Gers! I will never let any single one of you set foot in this city! Tell that to your commander!
After I said that I see the retreating soldiers off with a smile.
Meanwhile, Jordan approaches me with a surprised expression on his face.
Youare you a mage?
No, that was purely a calculation.
Seriously..
Saying so, I stick my tongue out under my hood.
Of course, that was magic.
The direction of the wind wouldnt naturally change in such a timely manner.
However, a strategist who utilizes an ingenious plan is way more scarier than a strategist who uses magic.
Its fine as long as they dont find out that I was using magic and most things would just pass if I tell them that it was all a part of my plan. To deceive the enemy, first, you need to deceive your ally.
Eventually, the rumor will spread and they will come to fear me.
With this, the imperial army has to come up with countermeasures against me. This will buy us time and it will make them lose their calm.
After all, they dont have much time.
Alright, please move according to the plan after this.
Yeah, I got it. Leave it to me.
Saying so, Jordan gathers his subordinates.
Our next move has already been decided.
We also have to set things up ahead of time after all.
Now, I wonder what kind of plan they would come up next?
While saying such a thing, I gaze at the imperial army.