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Chapter 313: The City of Thale
Chapter 313: The City of Thale
Chapter 313: The City of Thale
After we pretended to head west, we took advantage of the darkness and headed north.
We arrived at a medium-sized city called Thale located on the southern side of the north. Its a city that is close to the Imperial Capital.
The ruler of this city is Marquis Greisner.
Using the fact that his territory held many mountainous areas that are suitable for raising Flying Dragons, he is a senior noble who has been working on training Flying Dragons and Dragon Knights for over 10 years.
Although he struggled at first due to the lack of know-how, he now possesses a unit that has enough strength to call themselves Dragon Knights.
He is an unusual person among the Northern Lords as he held strong loyalty toward the Imperial Family and he is also the person who gathers the Northern Nobles to his side.
After the rout of the Northern Lords army, his army joined Leos main army and he is currently supporting him in the siege battle.
Thats why it was his eldest son who is currently taking care of the territory.
I can not provide Your Highness with an appropriate welcome. Please accept my deepest apology
Its fine. Rather, if you throw us a big welcome party we would be troubled instead.
At the Lords mansion.
There, his eldest son, Berner von Greisne looked visibly confused.
Berner is a young man in his early twenties.
An ordinary young man with brown hair. Its normal that he is confused.
Uh.Your Highness..?
What is it?
NoId like to ask Your Highness a question.Are Your Highness and the troops accompanying you the only reinforcements..?
Thats right?
Berner showed a blatantly shocked expression.
He is an honest guy. It would be fine if he wasnt the eldest son of a noble house but he cant control his feelings from showing like this then he will have a hard time in the future.
Well, I guess that is something his father should instill in him.
Its not something that I should point out myself.
Are you dissatisfied?
No.but, His Highness Leonard and Father are currently under siege so I thought that we should send more reinforcements to them right away
I understand that. Thats why I came here.
Thale also functions as a supply base which is Leos lifeline. However, Berner could not deliver the supply to the castle.
Since Leos position is completely surrounded, there is no way for Berner to get close enough to deliver the supply to him.
The reinforcements from the central are the Imperial Knights of the 6th Corp and a few of the Narbe Ritter. We did not dispatch any large army. There are a lot of circumstances surrounding this you see.
I understand that well. I am aware that we have only a few trustworthy armies in the Imperial army but..the enemy commander is the United Kingdoms Dragon Prince. I think that the chance for a small group of reinforcements to break through their encirclement is highly unlikely.
Should we not ask His Majesty to dispatch more reinforcements?
Berner was very careful with his words but I can clearly see that he thinks that it is impossible with the forces we have.
Well, normally it would be impossible.
There are tens of thousands of men under Leos command but they are still surrounded. Our numbers cant even be counted as a fighting force.
For a straightforward approach, we should dispatch a large army to break the siege and let Leos group escape.
However, the Dragon Prince will not allow us to do such a thing.
The Northern Nobles are well familiar with how terrifying William is. After all, Williams presence was the reason why Gordon could conquer one-third of the North so quickly.
However, no one is truly omnipotent.
Then what will you do if we have a larger army?
I will apologize if I fail.
Saying that you wont know unless you try is certainly irresponsible. What would you do if you fail? I can understand that kind of concern. But.sometimes there is no choice but to do it. Are you going to lay down and wait for your fathers death? My dispatch was the Emperors direct order. In other words, the Emperor will not move unless I fail. We have no choice but to do it. If we want to save our family that is.
HOWEVER! THIS IS JUST IMPOSSIBLE!
Thats right. The enemies are proud of their perfect lineup. Their ground forces completely surrounded the castle and the sky is being monitored by their proud Dragon Knights. Moreover, they have Prince William as their commander. No matter what kind of enemy arrives, there is no need to worry. Most of the enemies are probably thinking like that. And thats our chance.
There is none of the Imperial Family who can move at the moment. Even if the Emperor or the Brave personally joins the battle, they can always detect their arrival in advance by observing the movement of their large army. On the contrary, a small force can not hope to break through their defense.
That is the enemys thinking and the cause that will lead to their carelessness.
The fact that they managed to successfully corner Leo also boosted their confidence.
Their morale is being boosted by their confidence, Your Highness..breaking through them using only a small number is..
Its possible. I will break through them when they are most confident. Anyway, I will take control of all Thales available forces. Berner, you just make sure that my existence does not leak to the outside.
.Understood. However, there are not many available forces left in Thale.
You still have a stereotypical view. Everything can be used depending on how you utilize them.
Saying so, I got up from the sofa I was sitting on and left the place.
The next day.
Lambert, the captain of the 6th Corp arrived in Thale.
The 6th Corp who had entered the North earlier had set up a camp away from the city to avoid the enemys eyes.
His arrival in Thale is for our strategy meeting.
Now, I already explained the details to Colonel Lars on my way here but I will ask you to hear it again.
Yes, sir!
The only ones in the room are Lars, Lambert, and Me.
Berner is preparing the supply that we are going to deliver to Leo. I am worried but I get the feeling that he is telling himself that he has to do it. Well, if he is willing to move then it is not a bad thing.
The enemys encirclement is almost perfect. The castle is besieged from all sides and the sky is being watched by the Dragon Knights. Even if we were to act together with Leos forces in the castle, on top of being routed, he will be cut off from his troops due to the enemy encirclement. It wouldnt be impossible if only Leo himself escape but that way, the main army will take a major hit.
If that is the case then we can not hope for a counterattack.
Thats right. If he runs away the Northern Noble will leave Leo. Knowing that, Leo chose to take on the siege without withdrawing. Thats why we can not break that stance. We can not completely break through the enemys encirclement without a large army but if it is only a part of it then it is possible. As long as we can deliver the supply to him then Leo should be able to hold on for a while. That way, the Dragon Prince will not be able to take his eyes away from Leo.
I understand what Your Highness means but the challenge here is how will we deliver the supply to the castle.
Its not really a challenge. In fact, it is quite easy. We will carry the supply to him from the sky. For that, I want the 6th Corp to be the escort.
Lambert frowned when he heard my plan.
I understand what Your Highness wanted to say but that is too dangerous. Thats what he probably wanted to say.
Well, of course.
The enemy will not expect us to attack from the sky so a surprise attack is possible.
However.
The Flying Dragons that remain in Thale are large and suitable for carrying the supply but they are too sluggish, Your Highness. If we have them carry the supply then that will be extra weight. I think that they will be shot down before we can land in the castle.
You can not keep them safe?
We have to transport tens of thousands of soldiers worth of supply. Large Flying Dragons certainly possess enough power to carry a fair amount of luggage but this operation will not be concluded in a short amount of time. Until then, it will fall to us to maintain air superiority by ourselves. Dont you think that it is impossible?
Well, thats right. But what if the enemys air force is not that large?
.Your Highness has a method to thin their number?
My question was returned with another question.
In response, I grinned and nodded.
What the enemy army is doing is a siege battle. Their plan is certainly effective but it also has its drawbacks. Namely, they also need supplies to maintain the siege.
I see. So we are going to cut off their supply, correct?
We are not doing something as grand as completely cut off their supply. But they will surely panic if their supplies got attacked right? Try thinking about it from the enemys perspective. I will leave that role to Colonel Lars and the Narbe Ritter.
Please leave it to me. If it is only to make the enemy panic then it is only an easy task.
The enemy is not even expecting an attack
So what will they think when their supplies in the back get cut off.
They will send their fastest unit to control the situation.
In other words, the Dragons Knights will be lured away.
William might realize that it is a diversion but even that will not affect the plan. If the Dragon Knights do not move, we can just thoroughly destroy all their supplies.
Leo would continue to be in a tight spot but so is the enemy.
It is the supplies that feed tens of thousands of troops. They wont be able to replenish it right away.
The Dominion is located between the United Kingdom and the Northern part of the Empire. It is where the enemy has to come through to send the supplies.
However, the Dominion is unstable and the quality of their nobles is also poor. Moreover, I have already taken measures to further send them into chaos.
It should be quite difficult for them already to deliver a large amount of supply.
However, Your Highness, destroying the enemys supplies is certainly a good idea butdo you know where it is?
How should I know that?
Lamberts expression frozen.
He probably didnt expect me to reply that I dont know.
Seeing him like that, Lars started smiling.
Your personality is bad as always, Your Highness.
I just answered him honestly though. Well, I didnt tell him everything yet.
Your Highness has a plan, correct?
Its not something great like a plan. Its a place that can hold supplies for tens of thousands of troops we are talking about. It should be considerably big. In other words, the locations they can use is limited. Moreover, the enemy has no city of their own near the castle where Leo is. They have no choice but to build a temporary base. In a place as well-hidden as possible, that is.
Such a location can be predicted by looking at the enemy armys placement.
When I told him that, Lamberts eyes opened in surprise.