Chapter 87 : Identity (1)

Southern Artium Empire – Fort Shiganshina.

“Ugh, it’s freezing. How many hours until the shift change?”

“It’s only been 30 minutes since we came up, man. We’ve got a long wait ahead.”

Fort Shiganshina, a key stronghold responsible for the defense of the empire’s southern region.

At this fortress, Corporal Pyotr and Corporal Georgi, standing guard as usual, let out bored yawns during yet another mind-numbing shift.

“This is seriously ridiculous. All we do is rotate shifts to monitor the south, and we don’t even get proper training anymore.”

Guarding the empire’s border might sound cool in words, but in reality, it’s no different from being a glorified security guard.

All they did was stay holed up in the same place every day, checking if anyone was trying to invade.

To be honest, even a child could probably do this job.

Spending their days eating, sleeping, and taking turns on watch made their brains feel like they were turning to mush.

There was so little to do that both body and mind had grown accustomed to laziness.

“Still, it’s better than getting killed out on the front lines. I heard the guys sent to the Navre front died in droves.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“Let’s look on the bright side. Even if it’s boring, at least we’re safe and alive. That’s not nothing.”

Corporal Pyotr shrugged his shoulders.

Despite the complaints, the soldiers didn’t truly hate the work at the fortress.

At the end of the day, safety came first.

And how many other places could guarantee this much safety and comfort during service?

The soldiers sent to the western front against Navre were said to be dying like flies.

Apparently, a massive offensive had recently failed, and the defensive line had collapsed as a result.

“If we can just hold out here for one more year, you and I can both finish our service. With all our limbs still attached.”

“A whole year… there’s still that much left?”

“It’s a two-and-a-half-year service term. So yeah, we’ve only got that much left.”

In an attempt to fill the gap left by lost units, they’d started shoving in rookies indiscriminately—leading to huge casualties.

Inexperienced soldiers were no match for the forces of the Navre Kingdom, and whenever they clashed, they got beaten down hard.

Even though the morale across the board had dropped due to a spreading epidemic, that front remained active with constant battles.

The Artium Empire showed no signs of letting the enemy catch a breath.

As if they were determined to stomp them out without giving them any chance to regroup.

With things this messed up, you’d think someone would’ve come up with a plan by now.

Shouldn’t the higher-ups do something in this kind of situation?

Like bring in veterans from the rear, or reinforce the defenses?

In theory, yeah.

But really, how many high-ranking people are actually that smart and good at their jobs?

Even with the country in this state, they’re too busy fighting over power and blaming each other.

The fact that we’re even getting proper reinforcements is nothing short of a miracle.

“If you get it, then look outside. If the Sergeant sees us slacking off, he’ll flip out again.”

“Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself.”

Grumbling, the two corporals turned their eyes south.

The scenery surrounded by mountains and a lake was as peaceful as ever.

White-feathered birds chirped, snow-laden trees swayed in the wind, and cavalry kicked up dust as they rode across the fields.

Wait a second—cavalry?

But there aren’t any cavalry units stationed here.

“What the hell is that?!”

“It’s the nomads! Those barbaric bastards actually crossed the mountains!!”

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!!

In shock, they rang the emergency bell attached to the outpost.

Soldiers scrambled out in confusion from all directions.

And in the midst of the chaos, the number of nomads visible in the distance kept growing.

At first thousands, then tens of thousands—soon, it became a literal Horde.

A massive army of nomads was pouring through the mountain pass like a tidal wave.

“All personnel to combat positions!! Load the fortress cannons with grapeshot!”

“All gunners, load the first round! Fire at will upon command!”

“W-Where is the grapeshot? All the munitions are stored in the armory!”

“It’ll take at least another hour to distribute the gunpowder to everyone!”

They tried to issue orders and prepare for battle in a rush, but it was already too late.

The rear unit, long soaked in peace and routine, was in no shape to fight.

They had even stashed away the shells and ammo that should’ve been on standby, saying it was a hassle—how could they respond immediately?

“Damn it, the bastards are already right there, and we still have to wait?”

“Just hold on. It’ll take them a while to start the attack anyway. We still have time to prepare.”

For now, things were still manageable.

If those barbarians had any brains, they wouldn’t just charge in blindly.

They’d probably issue a surrender demand or set up siege weapons—there’d be some delay before the real attack.

There was still time to bring the weapons and arrange the troops.

Yes, there should have been time.

“Uh… what are they doing? Why are they forming ranks after coming all this way?”

“What are you talking about? It’s not like they can fly over the walls on monsters or something.”

But for some reason, they were different.

Spacing themselves apart, they each pulled out something large and pillar-like.

They tilted them toward the fortress and lit the fuses—and suddenly, brilliant firebursts exploded into the sky.

“What the hell is that—”

And then they saw it:

The sky filled with a barrage of massive pillars—rockets.

Thousands upon thousands of them, fired with a single purpose:

To obliterate one fortress.

And the soldiers of Artium remembered.

The fear of being ruled by the nomads.

The humiliation of groaning beneath the horses’ hooves.

“Ah… Aaaaaaah…!”

BOOM!

The sound of explosions echoed one after another.

A few minutes later, not a single voice could be heard within the fortress.

*****

“Wow, this is fun. Just one blast of fireworks and the fortress goes boom.”

“Still, don’t waste too much. Our supplies are limited.”

It was the third day since we had left the Great Steppe.

Our vanguard had already captured five fortresses through repeated advances.

Starting with the fortress of Tsiamsina on the first day, then Yekaterina, Horst, Sina, and so on.

We had destroyed and secured the key strongholds of Artium’s southern anti-steppe defensive line.

The casualties from all of this?

Merely a few dozen.

And even those were mostly from traffic accidents during marches or surprise attacks by enemies who refused to surrender.

“Don’t worry, brother-in-law. I already heard it countless times from Father before we deployed.”

At present, the war situation was going very smoothly.

Our only real concern was whether we might run short on firepower.

Even if the Great Steppe was rich in potassium nitrate deposits, our strategy of opening every battle with a rocket barrage meant our consumption rate was insanely high.

Do you know how much it costs to produce and ship those things?

Using them more sparingly wouldn’t kill us.

“According to the original plan, we were supposed to stop after advancing another 30 miles… but at this rate, wouldn’t it be fine to go farther? What do you think, Subutai?”

“I simply follow your lead, my lord.”

“How boring. What about you, brother-in-law?”

“I’ll follow the commander’s will as well…”

“I told you to just call me brother. We’re practically family now, so why stick to such stiff titles?”

Attila, Mahdi’s eldest son and soon-to-be brother-in-law once he married Kalia, shrugged his shoulders with a grin.

I appreciated the friendliness, but his personality was just too lighthearted.

With so many tribesmen around, using personal titles too casually could undermine one’s authority.

“Well, with our current supply situation, I think we’ll be fine. Let’s capture two or three cities and wait for the reinforcements.”

“Great idea! Then let’s rest for now and move out again the day after tomorrow!”

Our nomadic army’s main siege weapon was the rocket.

Just fire a ton of them and the castle would burn down and its insides would be obliterated.

Our standard tactic was to surround the enemy from afar and keep bombarding them until they surrendered or were annihilated.

Battering rams?

Cannons?

We threw those out long ago.

Or melted them down and turned them into armor.

‘These guys are addicted to unlimited bombardment now.’

Anyway, since we had stocked up on plenty of rockets from the start, we were still in good shape.

A couple more siege battles wouldn’t be a problem.

After that, resupplying our provisions would be essential.

“Brother, what should we do with the prisoners of war?”

“They’re a pain to manage. But we can’t just kill them all… Brother-in-law, got any good ideas?”

“Use them as slave soldiers. When we breach the walls or gates, send them in first to clear the inside for us. Cavalry is always at a disadvantage when entering urban areas, after all.”

“Not a bad idea.”

And so, day by day, we continued our march—replenishing our troops with each battle and filling our bellies with the enemy’s supplies.

Eventually, the vanguard reached the major southern city of the Artium Empire: Tsaritsyn.

“This is the biggest city around here, apparently.”

“The walls look sturdy. What’s the population?”

“I heard it was around 50,000. That’s before the war, of course.”

A city with a population of 50,000 in a time roughly akin to the mid-to-late 17th century is no small matter.

In a smaller country, it could easily have been the capital.

But contrary to the reports, Tsaritsyn didn’t seem all that prosperous.

Few chimneys were smoking, and the city lacked overall liveliness.

Most likely, the people had fled in the chaos of war.

“Prepare for battle. Use the slave soldiers as shields and begin bombardment. Since this is the final stronghold, feel free to unleash every rocket we’ve got.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Dorgon, Mukali—you two will take command and keep a close watch on the slaves.”

Well, it didn’t matter either way.

Fewer people just meant it’d be easier to capture.

With about 30,000 cavalry and 40,000 slave infantry charging ahead, the battle ended quickly.

The Tsaritsyn guards put up a desperate resistance, but they didn’t last even two full days before raising the white flag.

Now all that remained was to march in, plant Mahdi’s banner, and grant the weary warriors some rest.

“Um, Lord Ishmael? Could you come with me for a moment?”

*****

Following the messenger who had summoned me, I found Kalia.

“O Demon King Stalin, I thank you. I never thought I’d see someone with two pairs of horns again…”

“A-are those real horns? Not… not something glued on with… sap or something?”

And surrounding her—were worn-out, gaunt demons.