kscans

Chapter 125 - Chapter 12. Lightning Operation

Atop the castle gates of Kazel, a city in the kingdom's northwest, a knight flanked by two subordinates gazed to the north. Smoke was rising from beyond the mountains.

"Your Highness. That direction is Morant's..."

"We haven't even received a report that the enemy has crossed the river. This is..."

"Refrain from making any rash judgments until a report arrives," Craig said, turning to his subordinates. Seeing their commander’s usual cheerful expression, the two men, who had been on edge, regained their composure. Craig glanced to his left and right. He could not allow their agitation to spread to the feudal lords' troops defending the walls.

Just as I expected, and yet completely unforeseen, Craig murmured to himself, turning his back to his men again. Morant was the deepest of the fortresses established to counter the Empire. Its fall was far too great to be a mere signal for the start of war.

"Prince Craig, where is Your Highness!"

A knight in immaculate armor came running toward them. His frantic gait made his panic obvious. The message was likely from the only man in the army who outranked him.

"It seems there are still others who need to be calmed." With that mutter, Craig swept his cloak around him.

◇◇

"Morant has already fallen? What were the lookouts on the great river doing!"

Hearing the report from a wounded survivor of the Morant garrison, Marquis Tembelg, Commander of the First Knight Order, slammed his fist on the table.

"Commander-in-Chief. Please calm yourself."

"...If the fortress fell, they must have used siege weapons. Isn't that an impossible speed?"

Admonished by a subordinate half his age, Tembelg took a deep breath before asking again. It was a question Craig had been wondering about as well. Under the gazes of the two knight commanders, the soldier opened his mouth hesitantly.

"A fast horse from the unit watching the great river did arrive, sir. However, right behind it was an Imperial army of over two hundred, riding monsters. The moment Morant learned of the enemy's river crossing, the battle had already begun."

Under normal circumstances, it would take a day and a half to march from the crossing point to Morant. Even with Horse-Dragons, it was estimated to take about a day. No matter how fast they were, they wouldn't be moving with only combat troops.

"Were the wagons also pulled by dragons?" Craig asked. If that were the case, they would have to recalculate the number of monsters the enemy possessed. The soldier shook his head vigorously.

"No, we didn't see a supply unit at all. However, the monsters' backs and bodies were laden with a large amount of cargo. And several of the monsters were pulling enormous logs covered in metal. Those logs are what broke through the castle gate. They were rotating, wrapped in magic."

He said the Horse-Dragon legion had charged the fortress gates with the momentum of their march. Arrows were ineffective against the Horse-Dragons, and the knights riding them had enhanced their defenses with magic. The magically reinforced logs, carried by that same momentum, struck the gate and shattered it in a single blow. The fortress had apparently fallen in less than an hour.

Executing a lightning assault deep inside the defensive line, using the Horse-Dragons' transport capacity with only combat troops. It was a tactic Craig hadn't thought they would carry out so thoroughly.

The battering ram mentioned in the report was also a problem. It was common knowledge that unlike a knight channeling magic into their own armor, the efficiency of magic plummeted even with the slightest distance from the target. Anti-monster arrows made of Sorcery Gold, which focused magic into a much smaller arrowhead compared to a sword, still had a limited range.

This was why magic was difficult to use in interpersonal combat. It was expected that the Empire possessed a large quantity of magic crystals, but had they stockpiled such an immense amount for this war? Or perhaps...

They also had to discard the assumption that the highly mobile Horse-Dragons were poor at siege warfare. This enemy was stronger than they had imagined. Craig looked at the expressions of the knights around him. They were uniformly in shock. They had grown accustomed to peace, only to be shown such overwhelming power in the opening battle. At this rate, the panic would spread throughout the entire army.

Suppressing his own anxiety, Craig calmly analyzed the situation. There were three main causes. The first, of course, was what the report had just revealed, the unimaginable power of the Empire's Horse-Dragon unit. The other two were problems on their own side.

Originally, Craig should have already been in Morant to execute his strategy against the Horse-Dragons. He had been unable to because of a delay in assembling his forces. The armies of the eastern lords, which should have arrived in the Royal Capital, were still held up near Kurtheite.

Even when Craig had tried to hurry, he had been held back by Tembelg, who disliked his subordinates rushing ahead and had taken time to persuade him otherwise.

Still, Craig doubted he could have handled the situation even if he had been there. The Empire's Horse-Dragon legion was just that powerful.

"Commander-in-Chief. With Morant fallen, we must assume that the enemy's next target will be here, at Kazel."

Craig reminded Tembelg of his own words.

"Y-yes, that's right."

Creating a two-front threat against both the Royal Capital and Bertold would mean the western half of the kingdom would be cut off. That was precisely why they had established their main camp here. But now that camp, which should have been shielded by the forward fortresses, lay exposed before the enemy's sharp vanguard.

"Against such a powerful Imperial force, I fear the walls of Kazel may not be enough..." one of Tembelg's staff officers said, his expression filled with fear.

"No, they may be dragons, but there are only two hundred of them. And no matter how much they can carry, they cannot continue to fight without a supply train. They cannot procure feed for their monsters within the kingdom," Count Adele asserted from beside Craig.

"That's right, two hundred cannot possibly besiege Kazel. If we hole up, victory is ours," a western noble declared. The knights around him voiced their agreement.

"With Morant's fall, the forward fortresses are cut off. The enemy's follow-up forces can cross with ease," Tembelg's staff officer countered.

Regardless of his motive, he wasn't wrong. They had to assume the enemy had already begun constructing a supply base. They would likely advance on Kazel with the Horse-Dragon unit at the forefront, followed by other organized forces. If the Horse-Dragons breached the gates and allowed enemy troops to pour in, a defensive siege would be easily broken.

"Commander of the Anti-Monster Knight Order. Your plan against the Horse-Dragons was difficult to execute at Kazel, was it not?"

Craig had explained it countless times before departing for Morant. Although the effectiveness of that dragon-killing poison had increased dramatically, dispersing it into the air meant concentration was a major issue. Using it in an open field was difficult. The original plan had been to lure them inside the fortress of Morant and release the poison within its confined space.

Kazel was a city, incomparably larger than a fortress, and it had gates on all four sides.

What’s more, half of the pollen they had in storage had just been transported to Morant. According to his subordinate's report, it had been burned along with the other supplies.

"To be absolutely certain, Kazel is too large," Craig affirmed his superior's assessment.

"The surest path to victory is to confront them with a larger force, including the eastern lords' armies, from behind the walls of the Royal Capital," Tembelg stated.

"I agree. The enemy's strength is far too... no, it's abnormal. We must take every precaution," followed a staff officer from the First Knight Order.

"Does that mean you intend to abandon us, the people of the west?" one of the western lords shouted. That outburst triggered a wave of others insisting on defending Kazel to the death.

"I-if something were to happen to the Royal Capital, the kingdom itself would be..." a noble from the central territories countered. The war council descended into chaos, a fruitless, deadlocked debate driven by their respective positions and interests. The trouble was that both sides had a valid point.

If the main royal army were to withdraw from Kazel, not only Kazel but Bertold would be in danger. The western lords would be thrown into turmoil. Nobles the Empire had already reached out to would likely defect, triggering an avalanche of others following suit.

A large part of the kingdom's west would fall under Imperial control. If the enemy seized the western breadbasket, the Imperial army could maintain a prolonged presence in the kingdom. Before long, a permanent supply route would be established from the Empire to transport Horse-Dragon feed and magic crystals. Strategically, it would be a decisive victory for the enemy.

But what would happen if they defended Kazel and were defeated? Considering the speed of the Horse-Dragons, a retreat to the Royal Capital would be extremely difficult. The main royal army would likely be annihilated before it even reached the capital. In that case, the Royal Capital itself would be on the brink of collapse. In other words, choosing to make a stand at Kazel, which lacked sufficient defenses against the Horse-Dragons, meant betting the very fate of the kingdom.

To think, they've already put us in a pincer before Kazel has even fallen. Craig gave a self-deprecating smile.

"What are your thoughts, Prince Craig?"

All eyes focused on the hero prince. He tore his gaze away from the pleading eyes of the western nobles.

"I believe the Commander-in-Chief's policy is the appropriate one."

Given the enemy's strength, the basic strategy of using the Royal Capital's walls and a large army was correct. Besides, he had another concern, one he could not voice here, the other unit mentioned in the Empire's coded message, separate from the Horse-Dragons. And the movements of the enemy within.

"However, even if we retreat to the capital, someone will need to remain."

"...That is, of course, true."

"I will lead the elite of the Anti-Monster Knight Order to delay the enemy as much as possible. Then, if the enemy heads for the capital, we will act as a mobile force to threaten their rear and, if possible, cut their supply lines. If the enemy aims for Bertold, we will retreat to Bertold and defend it. How does that sound?"

The predecessor to Craig's knight order was a mobile unit. Moreover, their mobility was high, especially with those new carriages. Of course, it was small comfort compared to the Horse-Dragons, but his unit was the only one with a chance of survival if they stayed behind to the very end.

"You yourself will command the rearguard. But if something were to happen to Your Highness..." Tembelg faltered. He wasn't worried about Craig personally. But if Prince Craig, a hero on top of being royalty, were to fall, it would deliver an extraordinary blow not just to the army's morale, but to the entire kingdom's. The greater his past achievements, the more severe the backlash would be.

Life-risking deeds create a hero, but once created, that hero is not allowed to die. Yet Tembelg had to know they were not in a situation where they could afford such sentiments.

"I believe there is no other choice."

"Understood. We will trust in Your Highness's valor," Tembelg nodded. With Craig remaining, the western lords also regained a sliver of composure. Some among them looked at him as if he were a literal god of war.

Of course, Craig had no intention of dying. Ultimately, he believed that his plan was the only way to defeat the Horse-Dragons. To execute it, he needed to secure freedom of action.

And that man should still be staying in Bertold.

Looks like my dear sister-in-law will resent me again, Craig thought as he shook the hand Tembelg offered.