Chapter 459 - Episode 442: Julian Kivileft
The transport fleet of the Republic of Betumia Navy was advancing through the open ocean from the southern homeland toward the northern continent of Adleon.
The composition consisted of eight large transport ships and three escort warships. While the transport ships themselves were equipped with some self-defense ballistae and escort soldiers, their defensive capabilities were somewhat precarious considering this was a military operation for an invasion.
The fleet was operating with forces barely sufficient for anti-piracy measures because the Betumia government sought to reduce the budget for the invasion operation as much as possible. It was always the military personnel in the field who suffered the consequences.
The admiral commanding this transport fleet felt dissatisfied with the current situation, yet he did not feel particularly worried. Against pirates, these preparations would actually suffice, and there were no nations in the surrounding area that would dare attack a fleet flying the flag of the Republic of Betumia.
A few days prior, they had passed a fleet returning to the homeland from the Kingdom of Roadberg after completing its transport mission. In the same manner, they would complete their transport mission, return home, take a short vacation, and then engage in transport duties again. Perhaps the next time they returned from a mission, they would be carrying units that had finished the invasion operation or their spoils of war.
The admiral would soon realize that such thoughts were terribly optimistic.
"Admiral! Emergency report! Five warships suspected to be enemy vessels are approaching from the two o'clock direction! Th-they are flying the flag of the Roadberg Royal Family!"
"...What!?"
The admiral, unable to comprehend the meaning of the officer's report for a moment, shouted with wide eyes.
He rushed from his office to the deck and looked toward the two o'clock direction with his favorite telescope. There, indeed, were the silhouettes of five warships flying the flag of the Roadberg Royal Family and the flags of some noble houses, closing in on them.
In appearance, they were not made on the Grandor continent where the Republic of Betumia was located, but on the eastern part of the Adleon continent where the Green Dragon Empire resided. They appeared slightly smaller and built specifically for mobility.
"Your Excellency!"
"Intercept them with two warships! Inform the ships guarding the rear as well! In the meantime, let the transport ships proceed ahead!"
The admiral's instructions were quickly communicated, and the flagship the admiral was aboard and the warship guarding the rear turned toward the enemy warships. The transport ships, led by the remaining single warship, attempted to move forward as much as possible in that gap to escape, but they were unfortunately sluggish and slow.
"...Everyone, stay calm. The enemy are barbarians who have never even fought a naval battle. There is no reason for us to lose."
Though disadvantaged in numbers, they were more heavily armed, and above all, their experience was different. The admiral believed there was ample chance of victory.
Two Betumia Navy ships and five Kingdom of Roadberg Navy ships. The distance between the two gradually narrowed.
.....
"The enemy is letting the transport ships escape, and two warships appear to be intercepting us! Approximately five minutes until engagement!"
"Maintain formation and continue forward. If the enemy intends to intercept, we shall respond and fight... Everyone! This is the memorable first battle of the Kingdom of Roadberg Navy! Demonstrate the results of your training and present victory to His Majesty the King!"
"""Yes, sir!"""
The one inspiring the soldiers was the Legion Commander of the Kingdom of Roadberg Navy. Having previously served as the Vice Legion Commander of the Kingdom Army's Ninth Legion and commanded garrison duties at the entrance of the current Bezel Highway, he had been entrusted with this position by King Oscar, who valued his experience and practical abilities.
"Count Kivileft-sama. Your unit will also be expected to play an active role."
"...Please leave it to me. We too have repeated our training for this day."
Julian, who was beside the Legion Commander, answered.
He was the commander of a unit from the Count Kivileft territory specialized in anti-warship combat, which was aboard the warships as combat power in case of an engagement with the enemy transport fleet. To lead them, Julian himself, as the head of the house, was aboard a Kingdom Navy warship.
"Ernst. Are the combat preparations all right?"
"Preparations are already complete. All that remains is to fight."
"I see, thank you."
After confirming with his own staff officer, Baronet Ernst Alessandri, Julian looked up at the sky.
"Father, Mother, please watch over me."
Then, in a very small voice that no one could hear, he whispered.
Even allowing for a son's bias, Julian's father Maximilian and mother Dietlinde might not have been called kind or virtuous people.
Among the noble factions of the kingdom's southeast, they were treated as "heroes who fell while standing against the Republic of Betumia Army" to maintain the faction's prestige, but looking at the kingdom as a whole, there were voices that described them as war criminals who had neglected the defense of the ports in the first place.
Furthermore, within their own territory, they were notorious as cruel and heartless lords. To the extent that Julian, who governed in a very ordinary manner, gathered the love and respect of the people as a relatively virtuous lord.
Even so, to Julian, they were his one and only parents. They were precious parents who had poured affection into him as a child.
Therefore, at the very least, he wanted to dedicate this battle, this victory, to them. He hoped they would watch from the presence of God as he fought splendidly as one of the commanders. That was Julian's wish.
Five Kingdom of Roadberg Navy ships and two Betumia Navy ships. The two sides approached rapidly—and first, an exchange of ballista fire ignited the battle.
That said, the ballistae mounted on the Kingdom of Roadberg's warships were six per ship. Of those, only two were directed forward. On the other hand, the ballistae mounted on the Republic of Betumia's warships were ten per ship, with four directed forward, but there were only two ships to begin with.
From the Kingdom of Roadberg's warships, not only metal arrows but also several explosive flame arrows developed in the Archduchy of Arqvist flew. However, the explosive flame arrows ended up only scorching the sides of the warships, or if one landed on the deck, it was quickly extinguished with water. They were not decisive blows.
The Republic of Betumia side used weapons similar to the explosive flame arrows, but likewise, they were not decisive blows against the Kingdom of Roadberg's warships.
Both armies lacked sufficient firepower, and they drew closer without reaching the point of destroying the opponent's ships.
And finally, they entered close-quarters combat. The slightly smaller Kingdom of Roadberg Navy ships closed in on the large Republic of Betumia Navy ships, sandwiching them from both sides. The flagship carrying the Kingdom of Roadberg Navy's Legion Commander and Julian focused on command, leaving the combat to the other four ships while standing by as a reserve force.
When it came time for the infantry units from both armies' ships to board the opponent's vessels—Julian shouted.
"Count Kivileft Territory Army, Gladius! Begin the attack!"
That order was communicated to each ship via signal flags, and reacting to it, a golem unit whose surfaces were painted with gray magic paint began to move.
It was a unit created by receiving training from the Kingdom of Roadberg Army's golem unit, which in turn had been trained by the Archduchy of Arqvist Army's Claymore.
Their ability was further inferior to the Kingdom of Roadberg Army's golem unit, which was already inferior to the Claymore, and their numbers were few with only five puppet mages, but even so, it was sufficient for this naval battle. On a ship where there is no place to run, even golems that are merely slightly faster than usual become a threat.
Footbridges were extended from the docked Kingdom of Roadberg warships, and the golems crossed over them to board the Republic of Betumia warships. One from the left and one from the right.
"W-why are there golems in a place like this!"
"The enemy's golem units are on land, right!? I didn't hear about this!"
The soldiers of the Republic of Betumia Navy had heard about the enemy golem units that had raged during the previous invasion of the Kingdom of Roadberg, but they had never imagined they would encounter similar enemies at sea.
On the not-so-wide deck, they could not easily avoid a single sweep of the golem's arm that suddenly approached them, and they were struck down.
The damage was not only human; the golems, rampaging wildly, struck and destroyed supplies and equipment on the deck indiscriminately. Wounds and cracks appeared even in important equipment like the masts.
"Damn it! Stop those things quickly! At this rate, even if we win, we'll be unable to sail!"
At the order of the Republic of Betumia Navy admiral, the soldiers moved. They lit torches with ember magic tools and threw those torches toward the golems.
The golems swung their arms to brush off and knock down the torches, but they could not block everything when more than ten torches were thrown at them. One got wedged in a joint, and the fire instantly spread to the golem's dry wooden body.
"...Good, now we can win."
Seeing his own golems go up in flames, Julian whispered those words.
To stop a golem, humans have no choice but to set it on fire. It was expected that enemy soldiers would counter using fire magic or torches.
However, the battlefield this time was on a ship where there was no escape. Fire is the natural enemy of a ship. The enemy would have to immediately extinguish the fire of the neutralized golems.
In that gap, the puppet mages of Gladius acted further. While the fire spread to the golems, but before the magic circuits were burnt out and while they could still move, they manipulated the golems.
The flaming golems began to strike the floor in front of them. Even a sturdy wooden deck would crack and become fragile after taking several heavy blows from a golem.
Once the deck was sufficiently damaged—the golems stepped toward that spot. The golem's own weight was applied to the fragile part, and the fire spread there as well; the deck tore with a loud, flashy sound, and the golems fell straight into the ship.
Once a flaming golem jumped into the heart of the ship, extinguishing it was not easy. The fire burned more and more, using the golem's body as fuel, and spread to various things placed on the decks below.
The fire successively burned the interior walls and floors of the ship, the stored food, and the sailors' berths. Once it reached this point, extinguishing it was no longer possible.
While the enemy ship could no longer avoid sinking, the losses on Gladius's side due to this tactic were only the golems. The puppet mages remained aboard their own ships. The golems were lost, but they were replaceable. They had intentionally used cheap golems on the premise of using them as disposables.
"Good, the victory is decided! Infantry units, return to the ships! Throw the enemies who still resist into the sea, and accept those who surrender! Next, we target the enemy transport ships... Splendid work, Count Kivileft-sama."
"Thank you. This is a victory for everyone in the Kingdom Navy and the Count Kivileft Territory Army."
Answering the Navy Legion Commander, Julian looked up at the sky again.
"...Father. Mother. I did it."
Both warships of the Republic of Betumia Navy burned and sank. The prisoners numbered just under a hundred.
The Kingdom of Roadberg Navy proceeded to attack the enemy transport ships, successively sinking or capturing the transport ships which were sluggish and had poor armament since they were originally civilian ships. They succeeded in neutralizing the vast majority of them.
The first full-scale naval battle in the history of the Kingdom of Roadberg ended in a great victory for the newly established Kingdom of Roadberg Navy.