Ch.163I must stop this.

I’m fucked.

No doubt about it, I’m fucked.

This was the conclusion reached by the Amurtart faction’s headquarters after careful deliberation.

What’s the problem, you ask?

Obviously, the problem is that 220,000 out of 600,000 troops have been wiped out. What else could it be?

Although the ten chokepoints are excellent defensive positions, they aren’t the only routes between Amurtart and Fahrenheit in this war.

Thinking about it, this was inevitable.

Just considering the size of the northern region, there are nearly 400 countries.

If we assume each country has a minimum area of 50,000 km², then 386 × 5 is 1930…

Including countries with larger territories and the few remaining neutral nations, it easily exceeds 20 million km².

If you can’t grasp how vast this is, consider that South America, home to Brazil—famous for its size—has an area of around 17 million km². That puts things in perspective.

With such an enormous area, it was impossible to achieve victory by occupying just ten points.

If they knew this and proceeded anyway, it was sabotage. If they truly believed they could win, it was incompetence.

So why did Amurtart’s army try to seize these chokepoints in the first place?

The reason was simple.

Large-scale troop movement.

Large-scale supply transport.

Large-scale passage routes.

Smooth terrain.

Fast travel speed.

These chokepoints possessed all five of these crucial elements.

Other routes were too narrow or rough for large-scale transport, and roads that could accommodate large movements required such roundabout paths that they were too slow.

Therefore, these chokepoints served as forward bases, supply hubs, and field headquarters combined. Anyone with even a slight knowledge of strategy would understand the immense strategic value of a location that combines these three functions.

“How is the fortress construction progressing?”

“It’s proceeding smoothly, sir, though we’re having some issues with cement mixing and curing due to the climate differences from our homeland.”

“Then it’s not proceeding smoothly, is it?”

“…I apologize, sir.”

But did they think the enemy wouldn’t know this?

Even when the frontline countries were being pummeled, troops were stationed to protect these strongholds. Now that those troops have fallen, the enemy must be foaming at the mouth, rushing to recapture these positions.

Although the damaged sections are in our territory and the parts that can block Fahrenheit are intact, the strongholds weren’t safe with even a single vulnerability in the fortress.

To put it bluntly, if the roof was breached, they could pour water to dampen the gunpowder, or cast large-scale teleportation magic to strike from behind. In such cases, biting one’s tongue and dying would be preferable.

“Listen carefully, adjutant.”

“Y-yes…”

“Right now, those Fahrenheit bastards are coming… can you see them?”

The commander, gripping the adjutant’s head, pointed to the seemingly peaceful plain.

It looks fine now, but soon the flowers growing on that plain will be trampled to death under military boots.

“The enemy is coming! If the repairs are delayed, we’re finished! Do you understand?!”

“I-I’ll try to expedite the construction somehow…”

“Good. I’m counting on you.”

*

“Last roll call, Saint Ryaak!!!”

“Eight!!!”

“Nine!!!”

“Ten!”

“Who didn’t skip the last roll call, aaaargh!!!”

Meanwhile, the homeland and vassal states were scrambling to fill the gaps left by lost soldiers.

Although they had lost 220,000 troops, 380,000 still remained. However, these were forces guarding strongholds, not mobile armies.

Moreover, they needed troops for supply units and to monitor suspicious activities in occupied cities. This created an unprecedented situation where they had no forces to defend if enemies attacked anywhere other than the chokepoint strongholds.

“How is the troop replenishment going?”

“We’re primarily accepting volunteers, but in some countries, we’ve had to deploy conscription officers.”

“Tsk… we’ll have to offer something more.”

Naturally, this recruitment and conscription process created friction. Even in vassal states, not many people wanted to go to a foreign land and die.

Especially in smaller countries with limited populations, mobilizing a full division would mean losing all young men. These vassal states pledged to send only a small number of volunteers but promised to ship gunpowder and weapons as soon as they were manufactured.

Of course, this was essentially preferential treatment, so countries that fell just short of the criteria for conscription exemption couldn’t help but complain. Amurtart’s homeland had to rack their brains to calm these nations and find reasonable standards.

This was literally a problem where complaints would arise regardless of what criteria were established.

The vassal states were twice as numerous, but their power was twice as lacking.

Fahrenheit, controlling the rich inland regions, had 10 million more people, making it obvious that the longer the war dragged on, the more advantageous they would become.

Internal reorganization needed to be completed as quickly as possible, but with the high administrative demands during wartime, progress was sluggish. Consequently, discontent was rising to dangerous levels.

If they hadn’t suffered the enormous casualty of 220,000, the situation wouldn’t have deteriorated this much. But the military, attempting to determine the outcome through short-term engagement, had made an impulsive gamble that worsened public opinion.

Nevertheless, Amurtart’s army remained a powerful force and continued to function as a substantial threat to the Fahrenheit faction.

The reason was simple: they had Sword Masters.

*

While Amurtart was in disarray over their massive troop losses, similar turmoil was brewing within Fahrenheit’s military.

In fact, their situation was more serious. Unlike Amurtart, which had at least achieved its strategic objective despite the losses, Fahrenheit had failed both in the tactical goal of fortress defense and the strategic goal of defending key positions.

They couldn’t even claim a moral victory by saying they fought well despite losing. With all chokepoints blocked, Amurtart no longer had to worry about extended supply lines limiting their offensive capabilities, while Fahrenheit lost the ability to strike at Amurtart’s homeland.

“What now?! You said we could hold them off with good defense!”

“Why blame me for the defensive forces’ defeat?! I wasn’t the fortress commander! I merely stated general principles!”

“And because of those principles, our defense forces were annihilated! What about our troops in the field? Are you planning to have them charge the fortress and die? Or recall them without accomplishing anything?”

“Well… that’s…”

In some ways, Fahrenheit’s internal division was more serious than Amurtart’s.

While Amurtart could ultimately impose its will on its weak vassal states with a few stern coughs, Fahrenheit had to consider the feelings of many factions who could declare, “I’m the king in my own territory!”

The vassal states that had sworn absolute loyalty didn’t question Fahrenheit’s decisions, but unfortunately, there were far more ordinary tributary states than loyal vassals.

“Everyone, stop! How shameful to engage in such vile scheming in this crisis! Have you no shame?”

“We must recall our deployed forces immediately and formulate a proper recapture plan! If the Amurtart dogs have seized control… they’ll surely install guns and cannons…”

But as the saying goes, misfortune can turn to blessing. Once these bickering factions united, their response capability far exceeded that of Amurtart.

Even the smallest faction could somehow muster two or three divisions.

“Then Chorzem will provide the troops.”

“Chorzem, you’ll be short on siege engines… Milen will provide those. We’ve improved our ballistas to be quite effective.”

“Then Sharden will supply the provisions. They’re mostly canned food, so handle with care.”

Conversations that would have made Tiberius weep with envy began to flow, and soon the countries closest to the chokepoints pooled their resources to plan a massive siege operation to recapture the strongholds.

Amurtart’s army had transformed from attackers to defenders, and all that remained was to see whether Amurtart’s artillery would claim more kills, or whether the attacking team could push forward with more lives to spare.