episode_0303

Battle of Miliones (4)

Count Leverkin, who had been commanding at the top of his lungs for a while, looked at his burning fleet with blank eyes as the fire grew stronger.

“Teach. Did you know it would turn out like this? This is why you continued to insist on retreat”

“….I didn’t know that the enemy would use chemical weapons, but only one day a year. The night of the full moon of a particular month. I have heard that the ocean currents in the Strait of Miliones change strangely starting around midnight. It is said that the people of Polygal Island call this phenomenon the Mermaids’ Festival”

“Then why…”

Count Leverkin looked at his adjutant with regret as Teach answered with his eyes tightly closed.

“It was difficult for me to explain it properly because it was a phenomenon I had only heard of through rumors a long time ago and I was not sure when the specific month was. But I was convinced because I had a feeling that they were luring us. And…”

Teach paused for a moment and glanced at his staff who were keeping a check on him so that his advice would not be accepted.

“Ha… I should have believed you sooner, I’m sorry. This is all my fault”

“No.

Eliza, who had been watching them until now, opened her mouth at the sight of Count Leverkin sighing as if his responsibility was great.

“Raise your head. Commander-in-Chief. Now is not the time to judge someone’s faults. No matter how good a commander he is, he can be defeated by the enemy’s plans. So isn’t the priority now to somehow find a way out and keep the soldiers alive?”

At Eliza’s words, Count Leverkin opened his eyes as if he had finally come to his senses.

“You are correct. Empress Mama. I need to save at least one more soldier who is dying due to my error in judgment”

Count Leverkin looked around the battlefield and made up his mind, and Teach approached him and reported what he had secretly done in case of an emergency.

“Your Excellency. Actually, there’s something I didn’t tell you in advance… ”

And after hearing Teach’s report, Count Leverkin strongly grabbed Teach’s shoulder.

“Well done!! Teach!! You saved our entire fleet!! Empress Mama!!”

Eliza, who was next to Count Leverkin, could also hear Teach’s words, so she drew her sword and launched herself onto the highest mast of the ship.

“Soldiers of the Balkans!! listen carefully!! I am Eliza Leonhart von Balkan, Empress of Balkan! As the empress of the empire and a knight on the battlefield, I deliver this to you!!

Eliza’s voice, full of mana, resonated loudly even on the chaotic sea, so much so that the legionnaires and sailors had no choice but to stop their fire extinguishing work and look at her.

“Phone… If it’s Balkan, it’s yellow…”

“If it’s Eliza… Woe, Empress? Uh, how did you get here…”

The fact that she was on the battlefield did not leak beyond the flagship, so the soldiers expressed surprise that the empress was on these dangerous seas.

“As you all know, our fleet has fallen into a trap. Battleships were destroyed by fire and waves, and many comrades burned to death or were caught in the current and drowned in the sea. Even in this worst situation, you guys are holding up well and supporting the fleet!!”

Eliza’s calm but powerful voice seemed to be speaking seriously to each and every soldier, and they only looked at her as if they were fascinated by something.

“Soon the enemy will come in to annihilate us. At the forefront will be my older sister, Leon’s first princess Fiona”

Murmur

When Eliza mentioned Fiona’s name, the soldiers began to become agitated. This was because, although most of the legionnaires, who were from the central and southern parts of the empire, did not know, the sailors who continued to live in the east knew Fiona’s name as a master very well.

“If we don’t stop the enemy here, we will die. And we, Balkan, will lose the opportunity to recapture Polygal Island and invade Leon, and Snelleda Port and the eastern part will go back to the days of always living on edge, worrying about when Leon will invade. Do you guys want to go back to those days?”

“No!!”

Until the previous King Karl III and Duke Windrage won a great victory in the war against Leon and took half of Polygal Island, the people of the eastern region always lived in fear of Leon’s invasion, so the navies responded well to Eliza’s speech.

“Ha, but our fleet is powerless to deal with the enemy!! The battleship was on the verge of burning and sinking, and most of the arrows were washed away by the rough waves…”

When an army soldier spoke in a weak voice about the difficulties faced in reality, the soldiers bowed their heads again.

“I know it well. But there is no choice but to fight. So, will you sacrifice your heads to the approaching enemy? Or will you abandon your honor as a member of His Majesty’s personal legionnaires and the First Fleet and surrender to the enemy?”

“No!!”

At Eliza’s provocation, the soldiers shouted loudly.

“Then fight!! Even if the enemy’s arrows rain down, hold out until the end like legionnaires under His Majesty’s direct command!! Sailors, somehow get your ship into the enemy ship so your comrades can fight!! If you fight, I will stand at the head of the flagship and be with you until the end!!”

“Woe, Empress!! Anyway, on a burning ship…”

The guards, surprised by her words, tried to dissuade her, but Eliza continued her speech regardless.

“Now the 2nd Fleet is rushing to save us. So just hold on until then!! If we all fight to the death, we will all be able to survive together!!”

Ssss!!

As soon as Eliza finished her speech, rain started pouring from the sky like a miracle.

“It’s rain!! It’s raining!!”

Naturally, the soldiers’ fighting spirit revived.

The hands of the exhausted soldiers gained strength, and as the hands of the soldiers and the rain that fell at the right time added to the fire, the fire that was consuming the fleet began to be extinguished at a rapid pace.

Meanwhile, the Leon Kingdom camp.

Princess Fiona and Count Gisco were looking at the burning sea.

“The Balkan gophers are struggling to survive the mermaid festival. The fire is calming down due to the rain, but that won’t help. It would be difficult for that dull battleship to survive in those crazy currents. In the end, they will lose their strength until they die, and the moment the ocean current stops, they will all sink into the sea and become meat due to the arrows of our incoming navy”

“Hmm… But wouldn’t it be better to quickly clear out the mermaid’s festival before sunrise? Even though the Balkan 1st Fleet was annihilated, the 2nd Fleet led by a woman named Alvida remains”

After hearing Princess Fiona’s words, Count Gisco thought for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“The 2nd Fleet led by that woman would still be at the entrance to the Miliones Strait. We’ll probably arrive here around noon tomorrow, and by then we’ll be able to annihilate those guys who have been suffering from fire and currents all night without any damage. Even if our soldiers are accustomed to riding the ocean currents, they could easily suffer damage at the Mermaid Festival. Is there a need to take on that risk?”

What Sir ” said makes sense, but something doesn’t feel right. I don’t know why, but my gut is telling me to hit them now. Maybe their reinforcements can come sooner than we think. And… I also want to compete while my little sister is in good condition”

“Hmm… If you really want to say that, I understand. The sun will rise in about an hour anyway, so we’ll make a sortie as the princess said. I don’t think it would be a bad idea to show those guys what the real Navy is like”

Fiona had a point, so Count Gisco launched the ship a little faster than he expected.

Floating Floating

With the sound of loud drums, the Royal Navy of Leon began its advance, and a fierce battle that felt like hell to the Balkan 1st Fleet began.

Shhh profit

“Raise your shield up!! Cover each other’s blind spots!!”

“Archers who have used up all their arrows, go down below deck and lend a helping hand to the archers!! We need speed to get to them!”

Although it was the 1st Fleet fighting as one under the command of Count Leverkin, it had its limitations.

Because they did not have a large number of arrows, the archers were unable to fire arrows indiscriminately, and the ships, exhausted from fighting fires and rapids all night, were unable to keep up with the speed of Leon’s battleships, which moved quickly even in the rapids, and had to allow a unilateral attack.

“Hahaha, those guys are the target! Let’s take this opportunity to practice shooting on board!!”

As the Royal Navy of Leon rushed in at high speed and began raining down arrows, the Balkan army could barely hold on to the rain of arrows falling on their heads with their shields.

“Kaaa!!”

“Aaaa!!”

The heavy infantry tried to block it with their shields as best as they could, but due to the swaying sea currents, the formation was disrupted and casualties continued to occur.

“Keuuu us us they are so cute…

Count Leverkin, who guessed that no matter how much Eliza’s morale was boosted, her morale would plummet again if she continued to suffer, let out a low groan.

“It can’t go on like this. Commander-in-Chief. I need to use another method”

“…What solution do you have?”

Eliza whispered something to Count Leverkin.

Count Leverkin’s eyes widened when he heard her whisper, but when he saw Eliza’s expression, he had no choice but to nod.

*Eliza’s naval uniform standing posture illustration