Chapter 256 - Episode 249: Defense of the Royal Capital
The royal capital, Lichthagen, is a massive city spanning approximately five kilometers in diameter.
From the northeast to the southeast, a large river called the Lenau serves as a natural moat protecting the city walls, and artificial tributaries constructed around the western perimeter also act as moats surrounding the capital, making attacks by external enemies difficult.
The entrances consist only of a large gate built to the south, a relatively small gate to the west, and a water gate to the east. Of these, the eastern water gate is currently sealed, and the bridge leading to the western gate has been dropped; if the enemy were to take the capital, they would be forced to either break through the heavily defended southern main gate or infiltrate by crossing the moats and walls.
By turning the entire city into a fortress in this manner, Lichthagen had successfully repelled the offensives of the Betumia Republic Army even into late December. The defense plans, originally established to prepare for invasions by the Kingdom of Lancel or the Pallas Empire, were functioning reasonably effectively against Betumia as well.
And on this day, the fifty thousand troops of the Betumia Republic Army surrounding the capital attempted an infiltration from the southwest.
"They intend to cross the moat... to do so in the dead of winter, quite a feat."
"Indeed. I have heard that Betumians are sensitive to the cold."
The walls surrounding the capital are as high as a three-story building, with towers erected at regular intervals. Looking down at the southwest of the capital from one of those towers, the King's younger brother, Alexander, muttered. His adjutant responded.
It seemed that winters in the Betumia Republic, located south across the sea from the Adleon continent, did not become very cold; thus, this winter, which was average for the people of the Kingdom of Rhodeberg, felt harsh to the Betumian soldiers. As evidence, the enemy's morale had visibly declined since the start of December.
And yet, they were attempting to cross a moat filled with water that, while not frozen, was piercingly cold. What on earth were they thinking?
"...Those are not infantry units. Mages?"
"They seem too numerous for that, but..."
From among the enemy units advancing in formation, a group protected by dozens of great-shield soldiers stepped forward to the very edge of the moat.
The Kingdom army soldiers atop the walls released arrows, but all were blocked by the great shields. Some were deflected by wind magic. Having used that earned time to knead their magical power and complete their mental concentration—magic was suddenly unleashed all at once from the group of mages.
"What!?"
"...Hoh. Not bad."
Beside his astonished adjutant, Alexander did not waver, muttering with a look of half-admiration.
The enemy mages used water magic to create a massive number of ice pillars, driving them into the bottom of the moat. The number was extraordinary. There were over a hundred ice pillars, some as thick as the pillars of a house.
That was not all. Furthermore, giant slabs of ice were placed atop them. The width of the artificial moat on the west side of the capital was ten meters at its widest. This was sufficient width and length to serve as a bridge to cross it.
On top of that, earth created by earth magic was scattered. This completely covered the ice bridge, likely to prevent the ice from being melted by fire magic or oil, and to ensure the soldiers would not slip on the bridge.
All of this took less than ten seconds. It was a bold strategy, unsparingly deploying a large number of skilled water mages, earth mages, and wind mages for defense into the dangerous front lines.
"The enemy is attacking! Prepare for combat!"
""Yes!!""
Alexander's voice echoed across the battlefield. The soldiers responded sharply.
On the Betumia Republic Army's side, infantry units now charged in a dense mass. From within that formation, long ladders were raised and hooked onto the walls, and Betumian soldiers began to climb. The Kingdom army soldiers fired arrows at them and carried out the defensive battle by dropping stones, mud, and even boiling oil from directly above.
Then, a change occurred at the point where the walls—which the Betumian soldiers had until now been trying to overcome through the power of numbers—met the ground.
"Hey! The wall is collapsing!"
"Fall back! It's dangerous!"
A portion of the wall, precisely the section in front of the bridge placed by the Betumia Republic Army mages, began to collapse as if sinking into the ground. Seeing that not only the Kingdom army soldiers but even the Betumian soldiers retreated in surprise, it seemed to be a strategy that the low-ranking soldiers had not been informed of.
"Damn it! They used earth magic to collapse the ground... however, the capital's walls are the strongest in the country. They won't completely collapse just because a portion of the foundation gave way."
Alexander denied the adjutant's opinion with a grim expression.
"No, this will not be the end... Abandon the defense of the collapsing wall! Set up a defensive line on the premise that the enemy will infiltrate! Form a semi-circular array inside the walls and intercept the enemy from the front and both sides—"
Before Alexander could finish speaking, from the rear of the Betumia Republic Army's formation, also around the area protected by great-shield soldiers, several fire magic 'Flame Bullets' flew. Each was a colossal fireball that a skilled fire mage must have produced by pouring in their full magical power.
They impacted almost simultaneously, and the collapsing wall was completely destroyed.
Stone materials crumbled, and soldiers from both the Kingdom army and the Betumia Republic Army who were nearby were caught in it. Climbing over the pile of rubble that had swallowed corpses, the Betumian soldiers finally infiltrated across the wall.
They were intercepted by the Kingdom army soldiers who had been forming an array under Alexander's orders. The Kingdom army attacked the Betumia Republic Army, who could only infiltrate in small numbers, from the front and sides simultaneously to suppress them.
However, the Betumia Republic Army had the advantage of numbers. With a hastily prepared defensive line, it was only a matter of time before it was breached.
"Strengthen the array! Bring around the rear reserve units!"
"If we don't strike the enemy's main body rather than the infiltrating forces, we'll just be worn down..."
Beside the adjutant shouting orders, Alexander spoke with a bitter expression.
"I will go!"
"! Wait, Honorary Knight Crysen!"
A young Royal Mage leaped from atop the wall. As a user of wind magic, he clad himself in wind to cross the moat, landing while slamming a gust of wind into the very center of the enemy formation. The Betumian soldiers around him were blown away one after another, and as the rear of the formation began to fall into chaos, the offensive across the wall weakened.
"Do not let the opportunity created by Honorary Knight Crysen go to waste! Attack the enemy's rear directly!"
The soldiers on the wall ordered by Alexander released arrows, and magic was also unleashed by the Royal Mages.
"The enemy is retreating!"
Perhaps thinking they could not continue the offensive with their rear collapsed, the Betumia Republic Army soon began to withdraw.
.....
"...Honorary Knight Crysen has also fallen in battle."
"With this, the number of Royal Mages killed in action is now six."
Looking down from the tower at the cleanup of the battlefield after Betumia's withdrawal, Alexander and the adjutant muttered.
Including the dialogue mages who established communication networks and the puppet mages of the baggage train, the Royal Family employed over two hundred mages as Royal Mages. Of those, about twenty who excelled in combat were constantly stationed for the defense of the capital. Every one of them was a highly skilled individual with great tactical power.
Even such experts had been losing their lives one after another in the harsh defensive battles thus far, and today, another had died.
"...Until His Majesty the King leads the northern reinforcements to launch a counterattack, I suppose it will be another month at the earliest."
"Yes. We must hold the capital until then, no matter what."
Immediately after the start of the war, the Kingdom of Rhodeberg had allowed the ravaging of its lands in the face of the Betumia Republic Army's overwhelming scale and march speed, but once they shifted to siege warfare in forts and cities, there were a fair number of cases where they held out for a long time. This was because Betumia's advantage in troop numbers and march speed did not exhibit as much effectiveness in siege warfare.
However, while they could endure by shutting themselves in, they lacked the power to defeat the enemy in a field battle and bring a conclusion. It was merely that "there are still many defensive bases that have not fallen," and how things would proceed depended on King Oscar and the reinforcements from the north.
"...Before that, I wonder if the food within the capital will even last at this rate."
The adjutant sighed.
The capital had a population of one hundred and fifty thousand in peacetime. After King Oscar's escape, the enemy's arrival was deliberately announced to the people to encourage evacuation to the north, but even so, at most thirty thousand people left because they had a destination for evacuation. The amount of mouths to feed had not decreased significantly.
Although the capital had a certain amount of food stockpiles and had brought in as much food as possible since the war began, the situation was severe regardless.
"For now, we will first seal the destroyed wall. The bridge the enemy placed over the moat also—"
"No, leave the wall and the bridge as they are."
At Alexander's words, the adjutant fell silent for a moment and made a puzzled face.
"...Is that alright?"
"This point where the wall collapsed is an obvious weakness. If it is not repaired, the enemy will target this spot and attack again... in other words, we can narrow down the point of the enemy's offensive. This time, we will establish a more robust defensive position inside the collapse point to intercept the enemy. Along with that, I have another plan."
Saying so, Alexander's eyes held a coldness.
"Gather five thousand volunteers from the residents of the capital. The next time the enemy launches an offensive at this collapse point, open the city gates and have those five thousand charge into the enemy's main camp to aim for the head of the commander of the capital's besieging force. Retreat is not permitted. However, to those who succeed in the charge, brilliantly take the enemy general's head, and return alive, I will grant appropriate gold and the status of Honorary Knight to all of them."
"What!? ...Corps Commander. Even if you recruit soldiers in such a manner, only the destitute poor will gather. I cannot believe that even if five thousand citizens gather, they can achieve any decent military results. Furthermore, promising arbitrary peerages, no matter that the Corps Commander is the King's younger brother..."
The adjutant's eyes widened in shock, and he voiced his opposition.
"I know. This is... a reduction of mouths. If we reduce the number of people staying in the capital, the food will deplete more slowly. It is fine if those five thousand are completely wiped out. It is enough if we can deal a slight blow to the enemy and surprise them."
While reducing mouths, he would buy time with a surprise attack on the enemy. Even if they were mere citizens, charging five thousand of them should reduce the enemy's numbers slightly. In the unlikely event that someone actually took the enemy general's head and returned, he could simply bow his head to his brother later and have the survivors granted peerages.
"...Certainly, a certain effect can be expected. But, is this truly alright?"
The adjutant asked Alexander with a slightly worried expression.
Looking at the current war situation, it was effective, but this was an atrocious plan where a member of the Royal Family wasted the lives of the people.
"Compared to the capital falling, this is nothing. Besides, isn't the plan that His Majesty—my elder brother—is executing far more cruel?"
Saying so, Alexander laughed.
Oscar and the capital were still connected via the 'Far-Talk' communication network. Through that, it had been conveyed to Alexander and the others that Oscar and the northern nobles of the kingdom would henceforth take a strategy centered on 'Angel's Honey'. He did not know who had thought of it, but it was undoubtedly an atrocious strategy that would remain in history.
However, if his elder brother, the King, had decided to do so, he, as a soldier of the kingdom and the King's younger brother, had only to obey. For that purpose, he would first prevent the fall of the capital. He did not care about the means. That was what Alexander thought.
[Author's Note]
I received many congratulatory messages regarding yesterday's announcement of the book publication. Thank you all very much.
I look forward to your continued support of this work.