Chapter 57
Chapter 57
The foremost ranks of the three thousand troops. His gaze shifted to the phalanx unit. Perfectly aligned rows and columns. Not even a tremor during his speech. But. The phalanx wouldn't fulfill its role in this battle. It offered absolute defense against goblins and orcs. But against trolls? And the monsters ahead were even stronger than trolls. "Some units will operate differently. Just follow the training from the last two months." Starting with the phalanx, crossbowmen, hunters, ballista unit, and even the mercenary unit
He slowly surveyed the entire force. "Our unit has no knights or mages." Just one knight, Hans. And mage tower students for mages. A tiny handful—practically none. "That's why, to overcome the challenges ahead, we must maximize every ounce of our capabilities! Not a single one left out!" He finished his speech. His eyes turned to Hans at the front of the troops. "All units, advance." "All units, advance." Hans acknowledged the order and turned. "All units, advance! Phalanx unit, move out first! Maintain formation as you march!"
They hadn't marched far before reaching the Vampire's boundary. Crossing this line meant monster territory. An ogre habitat, no less. "Uncle." "Got it." He deployed the hunter unit first. In this operation, the hunters would serve as guerrillas. Reconnaissance, ambushes, traps. A bigger role than the scouting they'd focused on before. "Heir, is this alright?" Hans asked worriedly. "It's fine. Hunters are mercenaries specialized for the island." Generally, mercenaries outclassed hunters in strength
That was for frontal assaults. Battlefield prowess depended on how they were used. When knights and mages clashed head-on with monsters, hunters fought in the shadows. He had been systematically managing and training those hunters. The ones he'd brought here were the elite among the island's hunters. As long as it wasn't a pitched battle, they'd manage. "There's another concern." "What is it?" "Our speed. Lady Alensia has split her forces into three prongs. We need to match their pace." "Don't worry
The other units won't be any faster." They were attacking the northern sector on the duke's orders. The two ladies were determined to complete the mission. Faster and more decisively than their rival. 'If they thought that far, you'd expect a blitzkrieg.' But in reality, that was impossible. These assembled forces were the ladies' core troops. Heavy losses would disadvantage them in the succession struggle ahead. The ladies faced a brutally delicate situation: preserve their forces as much as possible, yet subjugate faster than the opponent
"They'll fight while conserving troops too. Our pace won't be as slow as you think." He'd felt it while living in the Vampire Duke's mansion, but the two ladies were truly pitiable. All for that single ducal throne. Forced to follow even the duke's unreasonable commands. "Let the troops rest. It'll take days for the main body to cross the boundary." "Understood!" Four days later, the hunter unit returned. Fortunately, no casualties. "Uncle, that's a relief." "Once you know the monsters' traits, scouting's not hard
And here's the map." It depicted the northern terrain and monster distributions. Together with his subordinates, he selected the primary operation zone. "All units, advance!" As the main body moved, the hunters scattered in all directions. Like radar, they reported nearby monster activity. As they skirted monsters en route to the primary zone, a massive explosion erupted from one side. Booom. Monsters were heading toward the main body, so a hunter had used an artifact. Not enough power to kill a large monster, but plenty to draw attention
"Leave monster luring to the hunter unit. We advance at double speed to the primary zone.". They arrived at the primary operation zone. Based on the distributions, it had the fewest monsters. "Hans, set up here." "Understood." Looking at their current unit composition, Phalanx. Crossbowmen. Ballistae. Mercenaries. Mostly defense-oriented troops. So he opted to fortify. The Innocent Mercenary Unit stood guard. Meanwhile, the phalanx and crossbowmen shed their armor. Instead, they took up shovels, picks, saws, and axes
Phalanx defenses were fragile against large monsters. But a fortress? Even giant monsters struggled to breach one. The slave soldiers began constructing the fortress in perfect unison. They were veterans who'd built multiple villages. Not just houses, but outer walls too. And over the last two months, intensive fortress-building drills. For this battle, he'd radically reorganized unit roles. Phalanx (Engineers) Crossbowmen (Engineers) Engineers. Specialists in building or demolishing. Clearing paths, erecting defensive positions, installing obstacles, and so on
That was the role he demanded of his slave soldiers. Ballistae (Artillery) Units firing heavier ordnance than infantry weapons to assault the enemy. The core of modern ground forces' firepower. Crossbowmen couldn't deal lethal blows to large monsters. The ballistae would handle the main firepower. Hunters (Guerrillas) Specialists in guerrilla warfare. Primary tasks: mountain reconnaissance, ambushes, traps—penetrating enemy territory for various operations. The hunter unit would scout monster positions, lure with artifacts, and lay traps to hinder approaches
Mercenary Unit (Combat Unit) The unit handling actual combat alongside the ballistae. He'd brought only those from the Innocent Mercenary Unit who could wield mana. Finishing monsters cleared by hunters. Participating in fortress defense. 'And additionally...' Forklifts. Forklifts. Construction machines commonly used to transport heavy loads. With mana, even ordinary folk could haul things too heavy for groups of men. 'Ah... and unplanned excavators too.' That had been his original plan. But then excavators appeared out of nowhere
He spotted Elena and the mage tower students aiding construction. The 1st-2nd Circle earth mages among the students managed mini-excavator work, while 3rd Circle Elena matched a full excavator. "Elena, how's the work?" "Brother..." Elena wore a desperate expression. "It's too hard..." "Ahem, you're an adult now. You've got to handle this much." "..." Elena bowed her head and cast her spell. The ground rose, forming a low wall. "Mana isn't something you hoard. Use it, use it more, keep using it." "Yes..." He encouraged the rest of the students and left
The fortress construction finished ahead of schedule. Thanks to Elena and her friends. A few ogres approached during building, but the Innocent Mercenary Unit handled them handily. "Hoist the ballistae onto the ramparts!" "Pull! Pull harder from up top!" "Push!" "It's not enough! We need mercenary support!" The slave soldiers dragged and pulled the ballistae up the walls. Without mana-wielding mercenaries joining in, regular soldiers couldn't manage it. Only then did every ballista reach the ramparts
"Hans." "Yes." Whoosh. A signal flare rocketed into the sky. A message to the hunters. Preparations complete—lure the monsters. Moments later, seven ogres approached. "Ballistae, load!" "Loading!" "Loading!" The soldiers cranked the winches, drawing the strings taut. "Ballista One, fire!" "Fire!" "Fire!" Thwung. A heavy thud unlike a normal bowstring echoed as massive bolts launched. Thwung.Thwung. From One to Fifty. All ballistae had fired. But the arrow fire never stopped
By then, Ballista One had re-aimed and reloaded, firing again in sequence. "The first fifty shots all missed." The ballista unit's proficiency was still lacking. Even so, the second volley flew close. And on the third, a massive bolt pierced an ogre's leg. "Woooaaah!!" "Woooaaah!!" 'Monsters are monsters, alright.' The fast-flying heavy bolt hadn't penetrated the leg. Proof of thick hide and dense muscle. "Focus! There are seven ogres!" Just one hit so far. And only to the leg. The ogres closed in rapidly
Entering crossbow range. "Crossbowmen, load!" "Loading!" "Loading!" "Aim for the ogres' eyes—fire!" "Fire!" "Fire!" Crossbows couldn't inflict real damage. But eyes were vulnerable. A hail of bolts rained down, and the ogres shielded their eyes. In that moment, Thunk. Thunk. Massive bolts slammed into ogre flesh. They couldn't dodge while covering their eyes. "Don't spare the arrows! Keep firing!" "Fire!!" Only after five or six heavy bolts per ogre did the shooting stop. "Innocent." "Yes!" The fortress gates opened, and the Innocent Mercenary Unit moved in to finish the ogres
After securing the ogre corpses and monster byproducts, another signal flare launched. Send the next batch. One day. Two days. Three days. Four days. Hunters lured monsters, ballistae, crossbowmen, and mercenaries slew them. By the fourth day, they handled twenty ogres at once. "Here they come again." "Yeah." Looking out from the fortress with Hans. Goblins and orcs numbered in hordes. Large monsters, fewer individuals. That was normal. "Heir! Twenty-five ogres approaching." "Ballistae, load!" "Loading!" "Loading!" Thwung.Thwung. Ten ballistae fired simultaneously
A lesson from day one. Firing one by one let ogres spot and react. Now they unleashed volleys of ten. Thunk. First salvo, direct hits on ogres. The ballista crews had grown proficient. Adapted to the terrain too. Under friendly fire, the ogres charged. Long strides eating up distance. Thwung.Thwung. They shrugged off ballista shots without slowing. "Crossbowmen, fire!" "Fire!" "Fire!" Ogres covered their eyes against the crossbow volley. And then. Thud! Thud! Ogres battered the fortress with massive clubs
The walls shook like an earthquake. Impact rippled not just to the strike point, but across to the far side. "Ballistae!" "No firing angle!" "Innocent!" "Got it! Innocent Mercenary Unit, sortie!" This marked the third time they'd reached the walls. Allowing wall contact meant the mercenaries cleaned up. They'd inflicted enough shooting damage beforehand—mercenaries alone sufficed. The day's battle ended, commanders' meeting. "More monsters than expected." He'd anticipated hordes due to Monster Island traits
Yet reality exceeded even that. "What's the status of Lady Alensia and Clan unit?" "Their advance is slow too." Fortunately, the other prongs lagged as well. "We need to kill as many ogres as possible before moving to the secondary zone." "Understood!"