Chapter 51 - 051_Expedition
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051_Expedition
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Leading his territory's troops, Rodney headed toward Bassam. There he would join with Count Banyusas's army.
Since half of the northern nobles are proteges of Count Banyusas, it is customary to head toward the battlefield together with Count Banyusas's army when departing for war.
Incidentally, in the north, aside from Count Banyusas's House, there is one Marquess House. It is common for northern nobles to become proteges of either the Marquess House or Count Banyusas's House.
Since expeditions are conducted in mixed army units of patrons and proteges, becoming a protege of a distant great noble means it becomes a major undertaking.
In the north, Count Banyusas's camp and the Marquess camp take turns departing for war, so there is an expedition once every two years. However, this does not apply in cases such as when a house head is killed in battle.
Also, Count Banyusas, as the patron, often does not take the field himself. This is because if Count Banyusas were to die in battle, it would be unthinkable for the proteges to have to depart alone while the patron's house does not send troops.
Only Rodney wore gold-true-steel armor, the knights wore blue-true-steel armor, and the squires and territory soldiers wore red-true-steel armor. Although the army numbered less than fifty including Rodney, the true-steel armor reflected the sunlight of the clear autumn sky, catching the eyes of the people of Bassam.
Rumors of the Dedel Territory army's true-steel equipment quickly spread through Bassam.
So much so that sightseers came to see the Dedel Territory army, which was staying at Hacklehoff's mansion.
Hacklehoff was stationed in the royal capital and was not present, but his grandmother Aman was guarding the mansion.
Aman smiled gently. "Rodney, you need to have mansions in Bassam and the royal capital too. Ufufufu."
"Not now. If I'm going to spend money on such things, I'd rather use it for developing the Dedel Territory."
Since he had the money to build a mansion, there was no problem in building one in Bassam or the royal capital. Considering information gathering and noble appearances, he probably should have mansions in the royal capital and Bassam and station people there. However, he thought that using precious personnel within the territory was more important now than placing them far away. Unfortunately, the current Forvas House had no spare manpower.
Two days after Rodney arrived in Bassam, the other noble armies also gathered in Bassam.
Count Banyusas created an opportunity to explain to the nobles what was known about this expedition.
"I appreciate you gathering. Now, regarding the Serudo Region and the royal capital—"
According to the information Count Banyusas had gathered, the Kingdom Army that had been facing the Jabaru Kingdom in the Serudo Region was annihilated. This matched the information Rodney had heard.
The Kingdom Army suffered as much as 80% casualties, and the whereabouts of General Dokovaisky, who led them, were unknown. The noble armies also suffered over 50% casualties, and many house heads seemed to have been killed or taken prisoner.
As for information on the Jabaru Kingdom Army, it was said that the general had changed and that mercenary corps were participating. Mercenary corps from the beastman kingdom further east of the Jabaru Kingdom had joined the war.
Beastmen, who were not seen in this Kuodo Kingdom, possessed extremely high physical abilities. That directly translated into combat power.
It seemed that this time, the Kingdom Army had been attacked at night by the beastman mercenary corps that could see well in the dark, and while in chaos, was annihilated by the Jabaru Kingdom Army.
Since it was the first time in fifty years that beastman mercenary corps had participated in battle, the Kingdom Army seemed to have been thrown into considerable confusion.
Sighs leaked from the gathered nobles.
Fighting against beastmen was a first for everyone, and they only knew about them from rumors. They could not conceive of tactics for how to fight.
The meeting ended, but in the end, no conclusion was reached on how to fight the beastmen.
The next morning, the northern noble army, with Count Banyusas's Zabalujeen Territory army at its core, departed for the east.
The Zabalujeen Territory army consisted of 300 cavalry, 600 infantry, 100 archers, 100 projection corps, 100 baggage train corps, totaling 1,200 soldiers.
The projection corps was a unit gathered from soldiers who possessed externalization-type source power, and externalization-type source power was useful in both the Servanui battle and in warfare.
Although the Count was a high-ranking noble, it was rare for him to dispatch an army of this scale. This showed just how prosperous Count Banyusas's House was.
With the addition of the Dedel Territory army and other noble armies here, the total force would slightly exceed 2,000 soldiers.
Count Banyusas would not go on the expedition. As his proxy, his cousin Baron Sidney Jegsus, a man in his forties with the bearing of a warrior, would command the army.
Geldovas, Count Banyusas's close aide, was assigned as an assistant. Geldovas rarely left Count Banyusas's side, but this time Count Banyusas, thinking it would be a very harsh battle, attached him to Sidney.
The northern noble army's march proceeded east from Bassam, then south along the north-south Akurasu Mountain Range entering the central region, then east along the north shore of Oburosu Lake.
Since the march included infantry, they were scheduled to enter the Serudo Region in about 30 days.
The Dedel Territory army was transporting all its soldiers and food supplies in six wagons.
Food could be easily transported by putting it into the Storage Bag. However, doing so would let the other nobles know about the Storage Bag. Possessing a Storage Bag was not illegal, but it would become troublesome if it became known that a knight—the lowest rank of noble—possessed one.
Of course, many had their eyes on the treasures possessed by the Forvas House since they had opened the treasury of the Abandoned House Labyrinth.
Around the time Rodney and his forces crossed Oburosu Lake, new information arrived.
It was said that the beastman mercenary corps that had cooperated with the Jabaru Kingdom Army in driving the Kingdom Army to annihilation were now looting cities in the Serudo region. Not only valuables and food, but the elderly were killed and young men and women were taken away. It was said that tens of thousands of the Kingdom's people had been taken away.
On the other hand, the Jabaru Kingdom Army had made the city of Banasia their base and fortified it. Only the people of this Banasia did not suffer from the beastmen's looting, but looting by the Jabaru Kingdom Army's soldiers occurred normally.
The fortified Banasia was close to the Godorzak Forest, which contained ruins, and being in a mountain valley, it was an easy place to defend. Using this Banasia as a base, they had built forts at three locations to establish a defensive line.
After the defensive line around Banasia was completed, the Kingdom Army's two corps of 17,000 that had departed from the royal capital deployed in the Serudo region. There had been arguments, but the Royal Family had dispatched two of the three intact corps.
The ministers insisted that one corps and the noble armies would be enough, but the Crown Prince and the generals insisted that at least two corps should be dispatched. The opinions of the ministers and the generals led by the Crown Prince were divided. The King summoned Sage Daguldor and asked for his opinion.
"The half-hearted responses up to now have created a tragedy like this. The time has come for the Royal Family to pay the price for its past negligence."
Sage Daguldor told the king that the policy of prolonging the war to prevent nobles from becoming too wealthy was the cause of the tragedy.
Hearing this, the ministers denounced Sage Daguldor, but the Crown Prince supported Sage Daguldor's words.
Dispatching the army was a decided matter, but its scale was not settled.
By the time it was finally decided, the Jabaru Kingdom Army had already fortified Banasia. So they hurriedly issued expedition orders to each noble.
Up to this point was not new information. The problem was from here.
The two Kingdom Army corps had deployed to besiege one of Banasia's satellite forts, but there they were attacked with ancient weapons. The same beam cannons that Rodney had presented to the Royal Family.
The Kingdom Army, struck by the beam cannon attack, had 1,000 soldiers vaporized in an instant.
The Jabaru Kingdom Army had brought ancient weapons into Banasia and strengthened their defenses. Moreover, they had positioned the ancient weapons to cover all three forts and were waiting for a large army to advance.
The Kingdom also possessed ancient weapons, but Rodney was surprised that they had not deployed them to the battlefield.
Because usable ancient weapons were precious, the Royal Family did not take them outside. Those ancient weapons would be useful when enemies approached the royal capital. They were preparing not for external enemies but for rebellion by nobles. Rodney thought that was ridiculous.
Rather than the King's or the Royal Family's policy, it was the ministers' policy to moderately exhaust the land-owning nobles. War was just right for that purpose.
But now, the Jabaru Kingdom Army had changed. They used beastman mercenaries, which they had never used before, and even brought out ancient weapons. They had clearly come in earnest to take the Serudo Region.
Rodney and his forces did not know, but within the Jabaru Kingdom, a political change had preceded this war. The nobles and ministers who had held power until then had been purged.
The one who did this was the person who became the new king. The new king eliminated those who had unnecessarily prolonged the war and promoted capable people.
A general who was valued by the new king for his ability and was promoted led the army. He was a remarkable man who had risen from commoner to general.
Even with talent and tireless effort, a commoner could never become a general. Regardless of such past conventions, that person seized power as a general.
He pledged absolute loyalty to the new king who had made him, a commoner, a general. For the sake of the new king, he would end this war. For that, he was a man who did not hesitate to use even beastmen or ancient weapons.
The two Kingdom Army corps fell into a state of panic after being attacked by the beam cannons. Since the soldiers had never seen a beam attack before, it was only natural that they became unsettled by an unknown attack.
The beastman mercenary corps launched a surprise attack on the Kingdom Army, which was in a panic after the beam attack.
By the time the general leading the army managed to form a defensive formation, the beastman mercenary corps had already withdrawn.
The Kingdom Army, which had suffered as many as 3,000 casualties from the beam attack and surprise assault, pulled back beyond the range of the beam weapons. But the Jabaru Kingdom Army was lying in wait there. They were surrounded and crushed while retreating.
The Kingdom Army ended up suffering heavy losses. It was not a proper battle, and they suffered as many as 8,000 casualties in a single day.
After this, the Jabaru Kingdom Army used Banasia as a bridgehead and advanced eastward into the Kingdom.
That was around the time the northern noble army began moving south.
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