episode_0027

Bloody Battle of Fortress Streb (1)

When the Balkan Tesseito expeditionary force crossed the border, it was immediately spotted by Tesseito scouts. And it was quickly delivered to Tesseito’s capital Carmarthen and key defense points through magic communication, including Streve.

“Your Excellency! It is said that the 1.4.5 Corps, led by the Crown Prince of Balkan, is heading to Streve. Also, two legions led by the Third Prince are moving to surround this place”

” Even after they declared war and their legions gathered, they didn’t move for a long time. I was wondering when they would come over, but now they are coming. ”

“The contrast is perfect. Just give me an order. I will definitely show the Balkan guys what kind of place Streb is”

“Okay… feel free to come. I will prove to them that this Redelmo is not dead yet!”

Count Le Delmo and his lieutenant Cordelia smiled as they waited for the Balkan Empire army to attack Streve.

Meanwhile, in Carmarthen, the capital of Tesseito, the Duke of Tiruen and King Anton II were discussing the Balkan offensive.

“Hmm~ I was wondering when they would move…but now they are advancing”

“You really crazy emperor…. Do you want to start a war by making a play about your third son?”

“Well… Couldn’t it be an original play?”

“Hmm? What do you mean? It’s not a self-made play? Tiruen, did you really do something wrong?”

“Hahaha, do you think I’m that crazy about war?”

“….Tiruen. You are my best friend and my favorite subject, but sometimes you don’t seem like a normal person… Well, I’m not crazy about war, but… hehehehehe”

King Anton III of Tesseito put down his glass and asked seriously.

“Yes. Duke of Tiruen. Is there any chance of the Empire overcoming Streve?”

“Yes, Your Highness. The enemy will never get past Streb. I will never let that happen. Even if you overcome it, the enemy will not be able to take over a single piece of Tesseito’s territory, so don’t worry”

Anton II was satisfied with Duke Thiruen’s answer and raised his glass again, and Thiruen also clinked his glass against his friend’s glass and emptied his glass cleanly.

“Then I will only trust you… Please finish this war well. I don’t know anything about the military, so you have to be good to me. And when this war is over, there should be good news for my sister too? I want to hear from my uncle quickly”

Tiruen smiled bitterly at the king’s words, put together the map, and headed to his official residence.

“Because I’m so busy… It’s already been over a year since I slept with my princess… If you want to be heard as an uncle, stop pampering me like this, you evil king!”

The day was dawning with the sound of Tiruen grumbling.

The Imperial 1st Army, which reached Streve in one day after a forced march, camped to relieve the fatigue of the march.

And the next morning. As the sun rose, Prinz was amazed as he gazed at the tall walls of the Streb Fortress.

“Wow~ I’ve heard it’s high… but seeing it in person is really surprising. After all, you have to read it in writing and hear it hundreds of times in words to get the same experience as seeing it once. I feel like Streb’s reputation is lacking”

“That’s right. majesty. I was even scared when I first saw it. But… Streb will eventually fall into the hands of the legionnaires”

Crown Prince Prinz nodded at the words of Baron Hassau, commander of the 1st Corps.

“What happened to the ultimatum?”

“They cut off the messenger’s head and threw only the head away. Cowardly barbarians…”

Prinz frowned at the report of Baron Sigwald, commander of the 4th Corps. I tried to offer surrender just in case, but it ended up only costing the precious messenger his life.

“5 Corps Commander? Has the assembly of the siege weapons been completed?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Everything is ready. So, how about your Majesty personally boosting the morale of the soldiers?”

As if he thought 5th Corps Commander Derian’s suggestion was a good idea, Prinz went to the front line of the army and activated the loudspeaker magic tool he had brought with him.

“Legionaries of the Balkan countries, listen! About 60 years ago. Our ancestors shed a lot of blood to establish an empire on the Zeno Plain. Our empire now!! are in grave danger. This is because there is a country on this continent that poses a serious threat to peace. You all know where that country is. Where is it?”

“This is Tesseito!!”

“That’s right! That Tesseito is threatening our safety by habitually invading the Zeno Plain, which is our rightful right. They are stealing our food! Our family’s life is being threatened!! We are these wicked enemies! Tesseito must be defeated!! For this, I, Prinz!! As the commander-in-chief of the Tesseito Expeditionary Force and the crown prince of the empire, I will spare no effort in providing all my support!!”

“Wow!!”

As the soldiers cheered, Prinz waved his hand in response, then continued speaking when the sound died down.

“Today!! Enemies will kneel at our feet!! today!! We will capture that Streve!! And today!! We will completely end the Battle of Zenon Plain 60 years ago!! today!! Who can lead this battle to victory!!”

“This is the Crown Prince!!”

“You are the commander-in-chief!!”

The soldiers chanted and shouted hurray for the crown prince, but Prinz shook his head.

“No!! It is you who will capture Streb today and lead us to victory! You are the most elite legionnaires of the Balkans!! You will be the key player in the victory of today’s battle!!”

“Wow!!!”

“Long live the Empire!! Long live the Balkans!!”

“Live forever, Legion!!”

“Legionary soldiers advance!! Take down Streb! Show them that there is no fortress that the Imperial Legionnaires cannot capture. The shining legend of Streve’s iron wall will end for us today”

Puuu~~~

As soon as Prinz’s speech ended, horns sounded, signaling the advance.

Jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump.

The legionnaires formed a square and began to advance, and siege towers and armored vehicles appeared between the squares.

“11, 12 Heavy Infantry, raise your shields!! Escort the siege weapons to the castle walls!!”

“Archers, shoot arrows!! Get under the shield soldiers!!”

“13, 14, 15, 16 Light infantry, pick up sandbags!! We must fill the moat so that the siege engines can move to the walls!!”

“51 Engineer Corps!! Spray water on the siege tower!! The car should be covered with cowhide and be able to hold a lot of water!”

First, the 1st Corps began advancing for the siege. As they approached a certain distance, a rain of arrows began to pour down, turning the sky black, and attacked the legionnaires.

However, the empire’s heavy infantry was strong. The heavy infantry, which blocked the attack without any damage by closely adhering to the square shield, advanced at the same speed as the siege weapons, while four light infantry units jumped in and threw sandbags into the moat.

As 4,000 sandbags were thrown at once, the moat was seen to be filling up considerably, so Baron Hassau, commander of the 1st Corps, ordered the light infantry, which had succeeded in retreating without any damage, to run with sandbags once more.

“Approximately, if you repeat this about 3 times, you will have enough space to build two siege towers”

“Then wouldn’t it have been better to fill the moat and then advance the siege weapons? The current advance of the 11th and 12th Infantry Divisions and the 51st Engineer Corps is meaningless”

No matter how well-defended the imperial army was, Prinz had doubts as casualties were being made little by little as they approached the walls.

“Your Majesty. It’s not like that. The siege tower now advancing is a marker. Since there is a high-risk target, most of the enemy’s arrows and catapults will be focused on that target. The more this happens, the less sacrifice the infantry in charge of sandbags will have to make”

“Hmm… I understand. I will leave the detailed strategy to the corps commanders, and I hope they will surely bring me victory”

I will receive ” orders. Your Majesty”

The 1st and 4th corps commanders, Baron Hassau and Baron Sigvald, were low-ranking nobles and high-ranking nobles, so they had hopes that if they earned the attention of the crown prince by making merit, they would later become close associates of the emperor and be promoted to high-ranking nobles.

That’s why I focused on targeting Streve more passionately than anyone else.

However, that does not mean they were incompetent soldiers who sacrificed their soldiers senselessly for their own achievements. When the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th Infantry Corps showed signs of exhaustion, the 43rd, 44th, 45th, and 46th Light Infantry units took turns with the 4th Corps. We got ready and rushed to the battlefield.

“Run!! Run as fast as possible and avoid the enemies’ arrows!!”

“Cover your head with a shield!! And cover your shoulders with sandbags and run while blocking arrows as much as possible!!!”

At that moment, the four light infantry units had only about 100 meters left in the moat. Suddenly the ground collapsed.

“Ugh!! What is this!!”

“Now..wait a minute, the ground is wow!!”

It wasn’t that deep, so it was just high enough for legionnaires to climb up on their own with their arms stretched out, but it was in the middle of the battlefield and the rain of arrows continued to hit them.

“Ugh!! It’s an arrow!!”

“Hold your shield!! You idiots!! Going up later!! Stop it first!!”

The commanders worked hard to bring the soldiers to their senses and prepare them for battle, but nearly 500 light infantry were either dead or seriously injured, and arrows rained down on them as they attempted to climb back up.

“It’s a salvo!! Come down and block it!! Rather, since it is under the ground, the angle is not clear, so there is no problem as long as you block your head!!”

“Che….thousand seal!! Um…um…over there!!!”

“What is it?”

What caught the eyes of the Cheoninjang, who were trying to retreat to the base while consolidating the soldiers, was the water pouring in along the collapsed ground.

“It’s handmade!!”

“Be calm!! If you raise it this high, you will never fall to death!! If you leave calmly, there will be no problem… Wow!!”

However, arrows rained down along with water, and eventually the 4,000 light infantry had to retreat to their base, leaving behind 1,500 casualties.

As the moat could not be filled due to the retreat of the light infantry, the advance of the siege towers also stopped.

The moment the siege weapons stopped, they became such good targets that the heavy infantry had to abandon the siege weapons and retreat to their base as the siege towers and armored vehicles began to burn from the continuous rain of fire arrows.

The imperial army fought all morning, but could not even reach Streve, and with the commanders’ opinion that the fatigue of the 1st and 4th corps was too great to fight until the afternoon, the crown prince decided to resume the siege tomorrow and ordered the soldiers to rest. .

Even though he was receiving special food and resting under the orders of the crown prince, the Imperial Legion soldier’s complexion was not good. This was because I experienced firsthand how strong Streb’s defense was and realized that this battle was more difficult than I thought.

On the other hand, Fort Streb was naturally in a festive mood.

“Hahahaha!! Stupid guys!! Did you think we would just let you fill the moat?”

“It was as if they were asking me to kill them because they were so ignorant and only followed the rules. Hohohoho”

“The Balkan guys have tasted the heat, so they will rush in a little more cautiously tomorrow”

“At best, they are just kids with little experience. They will now know what the results will be if they attack His Excellency Ledelmo with a siege”

“Sir Cordelia. Prepare the next number. They also have brains, so they won’t attack me as ignorantly as they did today”

“Yes! dismissal. Couldn’t they be scared? We need to show the bitter taste to the invaders. Hohohoho”

The first day of the Battle of Fortress Streb ended with a crushing defeat for the imperial army.

*Illustration of Crown Prince Prinz giving a speech to legionnaires