Chapter 105 - Episode 104: The Opening Battle ①
Four days after Noein and the others arrived at Barrel Fort. News reached the fortress zone that the main army had begun combat with the enemy's primary forces.
Upon receiving the news, each fort entered full-scale combat preparations. Barrel Fort was, of course, no exception.
Sentries were posted on the castle walls facing all directions, and the soldiers kept their weapons close at hand, steeling their resolve so they could face battle at any moment. The conscripts, who had looked exhausted when they first met, had recovered their physical strength after eating well for the past few days.
Noein was also dressed in a mage's combat outfit, consisting of a slash-resistant robe and a helmet to protect the head. Beside them stood Matilda, equipped with armor such as a breastplate, gauntlets, and combat boots, holding a shield.
"Noein-dono, you don't seem very nervous, do you?"
"I suppose so... I feel surprisingly calm myself. Perhaps it is because I have experience fighting a large-scale bandit group in the past."
"Now that you mention it, I heard a story about that in a letter from my father... If you have experience fighting in earnest, it makes sense that you can remain composed. As someone fighting alongside you, it is reassuring."
Listening to Frederick's tone, it seemed he was unaware of the skirmish between Noein and Arnold regarding the bandit incident. Since there was no point in going out of the way to explain the history with their father to someone who was about to become a comrade-in-arms, Noein simply smiled without saying anything.
"As I have mentioned before, the enemy will likely avoid unorthodox tactics at first and attack with a conventional approach. First, they will clash once to test the waters and probe each other's military strength."
Frederick spoke as Noein listened; they were in a somewhat spacious room within the headquarters building at the center of the fort. In this room, which served as the command center, other officer-class individuals such as Frederick's adjutant, Yuri, and Pence had gathered to confirm their future movements.
"However, in a sense, this opening battle is the most important. If we can stun the enemy by making effective use of the Ballistas and Crossbows, we can make them hesitate to launch subsequent attacks. If we are lucky, the enemy might simply station themselves before us and stop attacking, allowing the war to end with nothing more than a standoff."
Since the enemy would also disperse their forces to deal with each of the forts, the number of enemy troops facing Barrel Fort would be limited. If the enemy judged that there was no chance of victory even by launching a siege, there was a possibility they could reach an easy end to the war in a stalemate where neither side attacked nor retreated.
"Therefore, I am expecting great things from the members of the Arqvist territory army."
"Leave it to us."
"We've repeated the Crossbow training for the conscripts as much as possible, so as long as they don't lose their nerve before the enemy, they'll be able to perform sufficiently."
Yuri and Pence responded as Frederick looked toward them.
Just then.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack—! Lancel Kingdom army approaching from the west!"
A Kingdom army soldier standing sentry on the watchtower next to the headquarters building screamed. Along with that voice, the bell signaling an enemy attack rang clamorously.
Tension surged through the command room.
"...They've come. Now, let each of you demonstrate your valor."
Using Frederick's words as the signal, Noein and the others headed to their respective positions.
.....
The man who served as the head of a Baron's house in the Lancel Kingdom had been entrusted with one of the conquest units for the fortress zone in this war.
The place he was attacking was one of the smallest forts on the front line of the enemy Lordberg Kingdom. According to information from a spy, it was apparently named "Barrel Fort."
"To tell me to attack a fort with this amount of manpower... His Majesty says some quite reckless things. Does he not know the common sense of war, that one should approach a siege with three times the manpower?"
"You say that, Excellency, but the Lordberg Kingdom likely places little importance on the fortress zone. The proficiency of the enemy soldiers should be limited. You will surely achieve results."
When the man grumbled about his thankless role, a close aide officer spoke.
"Well, I suppose that's true. If I grumble before the fight, I'll be abandoned by the god of war..."
Muttering this, the man gazed at the 500 soldiers lined up before him as his own force, and then at Barrel Fort beyond them.
"Alright, advance!"
At the man's command, the army of 500, which had stopped once, began to move again.
Looking at the fort, he could see enemy soldiers lined up atop the castle walls, preparing to repel them.
"Excellency, the enemy soldiers seem to be nothing but beastmen. They are likely conscripts; they probably cannot handle bows or swords properly."
"Yes, it seems so... The fact that such fellows are stationed there means the enemy is a weak army. This battle is as good as won."
Though he had thought he'd been given a difficult mission, the man smirked, feeling that he could sufficiently establish military merit given the situation.
Once they had approached the fort sufficiently, the man stopped the army again.
"Archers, ready!"
Receiving that instruction, the archers—100 in total, positioned on the left and right of the unit—readied their bows.
.....
"The enemy is approaching with an awful lot of confidence."
"The opposing side probably doesn't know about the Crossbow. They're letting their guard down, thinking we have almost no bows."
When Noein spoke to Pence beside them, Pence replied accordingly.
The two of them stood on the castle wall to the right of the fort's west gate. Their duty was to command the about 50 people lined up here. That said, the one giving practical orders to the soldiers was Pence, while Noein simply watched from a height.
On the opposite side of the gate, Frederick and his adjutant commanded another 50 or so conscripts.
Thus, 100 small beastmen would shoot the enemy from atop the castle walls, while 100 large-statured beastmen below would use their physical strength to quickly reload the Crossbows... this was the arrangement Noein and the others had devised.
And behind the gate, the soldiers of the Arqvist territory army were preparing to fire the Ballistas under Yuri's command.
While Noein was talking with Pence, the enemy continued to approach, eventually stopping and readying their bows.
"Arrows are coming, prepare shields!"
Frederick shouted the instruction, and the officers also cried out one after another, "Raise your shields!" In accordance, the soldiers raised wooden shields to hide their bodies.
Matilda wrapped around Noein to protect them, covering both of them with the shield.
In the next instant, just as the sound of air being sliced simultaneously echoed from the enemy side, arrows rained down upon the fort.
"Uwaaaah!"
"Gyaah!"
"Calm down! Don't flinch! At that distance, they can't pierce the shields! They're just nuisances!"
Pence roared at the beastmen who were becoming restless. A similar scene seemed to be unfolding on the opposite side of the gate.
Just as Pence said, most of the arrows missed the soldiers, and those that hit were either deflected by shields or stopped after merely sticking into them.
"Are there any casualties!"
"One person below the wall took an arrow to the leg they failed to hide with the shield!"
"Alright, then that guy can go to the infirmary... Everyone else, combat preparations! Ready the Crossbows!"
After confirming there was no significant damage, Pence immediately issued the next instruction.
Despite some slight fumbling, the beastmen readied their respective Crossbows and looked at the enemy. Having finished firing their harassing arrows, the enemy readied their weapons and began a charge toward them.
"Noein-sama, please tell the Chief Retainer. It's about 10 seconds left."
"Understood... Yuri, 10 seconds left."
'Roger.'
When Noein relayed the message from Pence, Yuri's reply echoed directly in their mind.
To allow conversation without being hindered by the noise of the battlefield, Noein had connected "Far-Talk" with Yuri, who was leading the Ballista unit.
Yuri's voice shouting "Open the gate!" could be heard from below, and it was clear that the thick wooden gate was being opened.
"5 seconds left."
'Alright, I'll fire based on my own judgment from here.'
Based on the angle of the Ballistas and the flight distance of the explosive flame arrows, they had pre-calculated at what position the enemy should be for the launch. Based on the reports from Noein and Pence, who were watching the enemy from above—
"Fire!"
Yuri launched explosive flame arrows from the two Ballistas with exquisite timing.
Two extremely thick arrows with magic tools attached to their tips landed right in the middle of the enemy army charging in a cluster. In that instant, flames were scattered.
From atop the castle wall, it was clearly visible that several people who took a direct hit became balls of fire, and the flames spread to the surrounding soldiers, creating total chaos.
"Wow, that looks hot."
"...When it's against living humans, the brutality really stands out."
Noein let out a carefree impression, while Pence spoke with a twitching face.
A stir arose among the beastmen watching the enemy's screams of agony, and someone's voice leaked out, saying, "I'm glad I'm not on that side..." Since they had built settlements near the border, there was a possibility they could have been taken to the Lancel Kingdom side and conscripted.
"That was a huge success, Yuri. Though it seems we couldn't quite roast the entire hundred-man unit."
'That would be impossible unless conditions like wind direction were exceptionally good. But as a first result, it's a job well done.'
The number of burned enemy soldiers was roughly 30 by a rough estimate. However, more than that number, the psychological damage dealt to the enemy must have been immense.