episode_0147

As William advanced towards the fortress of Toulouse.

“K… It’s a big deal! Tuesday… 40,000 men of the Golden Knights and the Imperial Army landed on the Adriatic coast.”

General Dzeko, who received orders to prevent the enemy’s landing in Toulouse, is dumbfounded by the incomprehensible news.

“What?! I heard that the Golden Knights and Sir William are in Roman’s prison! How could they… appear in Adria?!”

This situation is difficult for Zeko, who until recently was planning to intercept and annihilate the imperial army if they landed on the Adriatic coast.

‘Grand Duke… I heard he was wicked, but he locked up the Golden Knights and Sir William and now sends them to battle, risking their lives? ‘You mean bastard.’

The Golden Knights and William, who can be seen as strategic weapons for the Empire, were imprisoned as a trick to deceive Nicaea, thinking that Nicaea would pay attention, but Zeko, who is unaware of this situation, thinks it is time to significantly revise his strategy.

“First, prepare all units to retreat at once.”

“Uh… where are we retreating to?”

Hearing the adjutant’s words, Zeko looks at the map and gets lost in thought.

Toulouse is an important fortress connecting Adria and Dupol, and the fortress of Ephesus is perfect for blocking the supply of enemies who have landed on the coast.

Both of these places are important areas.

“Damn…”

In the defense of the Great Adriatic, the rule is to deploy troops in two fortresses: Ephesus and Toulouse to block the supply of the enemy who has landed.

However, Zeko, who knows well that the Ephesus Fortress cannot deploy many troops because it is small, gets confused.

‘It is difficult to stop the enemy in Ephesus anyway. It would be quicker to defend in Toulouse and ask Byzantium and His Majesty for help.’

When you look at it objectively. The Ephesus Fortress could have gained significant time, but Zeko did not even think about it and made a big mistake.

“Retreat the troops to Toulouse right now. Stop the surprise operation!”

This is how Nicaea’s first mistake occurred.

***

“Commander of the Knights, the enemy has ambushed them and hastily headed toward Toulouse, and there are almost no soldiers in the fortress of Ephesus.”

William laughs at Matthew’s words.

“If only 10,000 men had been stationed in Ephesus, they would not have been able to go straight to Toulouse… Who is the enemy commander?”

When William asks, Matthew answers.

“From what I heard, it is General Zeko.”

William nods his head at those words.

“If he is such a fool, it would not be strange for him to make such a judgment.”

When William was sent to relieve former Nicaea.

I have met Zeko in person.

He is so incompetent that he is so cowardly that he does not know how he rose to the rank of general, but he is an amazing person who exaggerates his achievements with his tongue.

“Thanks to you, it will be easy to capture Ephesus.”

William says while looking at the map.

“Send 10,000 imperial troops and a troop of wizards to capture Ephesus and defend it. And we head to Toulouse.”

William is lost in thought while looking at the map.

‘Fortress Toulouse must be taken as quickly as possible.’

High-level defensive magic and thick castle walls.

But that doesn’t stop the shot put.

Because you can’t block strong physical attacks and the explosion itself.

A boring siege.

No matter how strong a knight is, he cannot fight a siege on horseback.

As William looked at the map, wondering what to do with that wall, one thing caught his eye.

It’s a river…

William is lost in thought as he looks at the river flowing near Fortress Toulouse.

“This will be fine.”

When looking at the map. William is troubled as he looks at the Toulouse fortress, which was built on a protruding spot near the river.

‘If this method is used, the Toulouse fortress cannot be used.’

William is troubled as he looks at his troops, which are mostly made up of infantry except for the knights.

‘But it can have such a huge impact.’

If most of the troops protecting the Adria are in Toulouse…

Because we can blow them all away at once.

“Hmm… Shall we watch the flow first?”

***

Ioanes is in awe when he sees the navy’s report and Dzeko’s report from the Adriatic Sea.

“You damn bastard!”

I knew that the United Kingdom’s navy was strong, but I did not think that Nicaea’s navy would be almost completely destroyed.

They planned a moderate hit and run, but most of the ships that had long been the pride of Nicaea were lost to enemy attacks.

What happened after that was even more spectacular.

William, who should have been imprisoned in Roman prison, the Golden Knights, and the imperial army entered Adria.

“Have you seen this con man?!”

-Thump thump!

Ioanestro, who has seen the power of the Golden Knights since he was young, frowns and vents his anger at the thought of being wronged and being despicably deceived.

“I… fix the charge… yaaaah!”

-match!

-Cheolbeodeok

Olivia, who was holding Ioanes’ arm to calm him down when he got angry, was slapped by Ioanes and fell to the floor.

“Shut up! You lowly girl! Is there anyone out there?! I will hold a strategy meeting immediately. Quickly bring in your generals and nobles!”

Ioanes, who hurriedly takes his helmet while saying so, feels deep anger and despair at the current situation.

Faced with the need to somehow protect the supply route and bide his time, Zeco gathered in Toulouse, leaving only too few troops in Ephesus.

Although these words seem like an intention to protect Toulouse Bay at all costs, Dzeko allowed a stable supply to the other party.

‘Damn child, I spent a lot of money raising him.’

Dzeko’s family is from the Antichi family, a family famous for military craftsmanship in Nicaea, so I wrote it in high esteem, but I cannot help but be angry at this undesirable move.

‘What kind of guy is this? ‘The bastard who told me to send him there!’

As far as I remember, Ioanes is a general.

‘Damn you guys.’

So, Ioanes curses under his breath and heads to the barracks for the strategy meeting.

***

Dzeko gathered his troops and returned to Toulouse.

And all surrounding troops are called to Toulouse.

His morale is already intimidated by his actions, as if he is intimidated by the mighty Golden Knights’ prestige.

No, it would be accurate to say that it was not because of his actions, but because of the almost miraculous military skills that the Golden Knights had previously shown in Nicaea.

When they were young, they all grew up listening to the dances of the Golden Knights that their father or mother told them before going to bed.

When Nicaea was in danger due to the attack of the evil Babylonian Empire.

Heroes who appeared wearing golden armor and slaughtered the devilish Babylonian imperial army.

How can one’s morale be high when one’s honorable and wonderful idol from childhood becomes the enemy?

Everyone is depressed at the thought that they might later be known to their children as villains who opposed the honorable and courageous Golden Knights.

In such a gloomy situation, Dzeko gathers the troops spread across the castles and cities of the Adriatic region into the fortress of Toulouse.

Although he knows how dangerous an order like this makes Nicaea, he believes that it is important for him to survive first.

The soldiers of the Nicaean army had no choice but to be afraid, as Zeko had personally seen the scene they had heard about through rumors.

In the first place, Zeko’s abilities were not recognized by the Antici family, which produced many great generals.

If his abilities had been recognized, he would have received at least a small baronial title from his brother, the head of the Antici family…

Dzeko, who rose to this position through his gift of speech, flattery, and value to his family name rather than his ability to fight, tried to cool his head and claim that he was safe.

‘The walls of Toulouse are thick. No matter how human-like the Golden Knights are, the siege will not be easy.’

In fact, the Golden Knights’ outstanding achievements were mainly achieved in field battles, not sieges.

Golden armor made with the knowledge provided by Ricke El Sadat, the first empress.

It has ridiculous magic resistance and boasts tremendous defense against physical attacks, making it nearly impossible to even pierce its armor unless you are a knight who knows how to manipulate mana.

The recipe for making golden armor, one of the Empire’s best kept secrets.

Throughout the empire’s history for thousands of years, many efforts have been made to uncover its secrets, but what has been revealed so far is that making golden armor is very difficult, and the dwarves process the materials given to them by Ricke el Sadat himself by pulling out his own scales. I heard that making bees is difficult.

Therefore, it is almost impossible to deal with them in the field, but siege warfare is different.

Damage can be caused not by magic, but by dropping boiling oil or heavy objects.

In his own opinion, Zeko plans to inflict a great blow on them through a siege and move the soldiers stationed at the Byzantine maritime fortress to take back Ephesus.

Dzeko believes that his judgment is the best, as he believes that if the enemy has landed in the Adriatic Sea, they will no longer land.

‘Even if you encounter an ogre, you can defeat it as long as you stay alert.’

Thinking so, Dzeko requests relief troops from Byzantium.

***

Meanwhile, the imperial army is encamped upstream of the river near Fortress Toulouse.

Wizards and engineers are building several temporary dams on the river and building embankments to control the flow of water when the dam bursts.

“It may not be easy, but the work must be completed quickly.”

When the engineers mix soil with water to make bricks, the wizards bake the soil with fire magic to quickly create bricks, and the soldiers begin to carry the bricks.

The soldiers are making up for the bricks that are lacking here and there by cutting down trees from a nearby forest, but William feels that his manual work is still far from sufficient, so he issues a new order.

“Put all the Golden Knights into the dam construction work.”

Matthew speaks in an embarrassed voice at the command given by William, who knows that if superhumans who know how to use mana build dams themselves, they will be built much faster than they are now.

“That… Captain. Even though they are knights, if soldiers do their job…”

“The Golden Knights can do anything as long as they can destroy the enemies of the empire. Matthew.”

Matthew, who knows that it will be difficult to win if William is stubborn, shakes his head and thinks.

‘Everyone must be having a hard time…’