Chapter 267
Chapter 267
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 267
Chapter Title: Griffino Naval Battle (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Off the coast of Warsaw Utsro Castle.
The naval battle that will completely decide the fate of the Warsaw Expeditionary Force is about to begin.
Up until boarding the ship, I'd handled a mountain of administrative tasks to keep from starving the newly imperialized Warsaw citizens to death.
Even the battle-hardened bureaucrats of the Empire would blanch at the workload, but I'd powered through it while overseeing combat preparations led by the production of siege ballistae.
I'd even gone around to Griffino Castle and the other fortresses, persuading them to join the fire attack operations.
I'd been running myself ragged, too busy for my body to keep up, all to ensure flawless preparations.
And even now, right before the battle, I was still doing everything possible to create a situation where our allies could defeat the enemy.
Gazing out at the empty sea where the enemy hadn't appeared yet, I muttered to myself in a voice so soft no one could hear.
"I've done everything I could for victory in this naval battle, but I'm still not sure if we can really win. Man, why am I getting anxious now after doing all that?"
Drowned out by the waves, no one could have made out what I said.
Meanwhile, up on the relatively high deck for command, I looked down to see officers and soldiers scrambling about in organized chaos.
"Check if the ballistae are properly loaded with incendiary bolts! Make sure your blades are sharp! There better not be any idiot who brought a goddamn spear!"
"Corporal Max, Private Gent! Get your asses over here with rocks for the goddamn ballistae! Don't roll them around or we'll all die—bring the crates first!"
"One crossbow per soldier! Keep 'em loaded! We don't have small ballistae, so if they try to grapple, that's what we'll use!"
Watching them frantically prepare on deck, my brief anxiety from moments ago felt downright foolish.
Since when had I ever fought with certainty of victory?
I'd simply leaped into the gambling den of the battlefield with tactics and strategies I, Peter Jaeger, believed could win, then seized victory from the enemy by any means necessary.
The current situation had the enemy outnumbering us three-to-one in ships, but compared to holding off 100,000 Swiss at Lichten Hill with just 8,000 men, this seemed like a fight we could handle.
Plus, the tactics I'd borrowed were similar to those used by that great Admiral Yi Sun-sin—something Admiral Timo would never expect, making it hard for him to counter.
"Lookout! What's the distance between our main force and our scout group right now?"
The lookout atop the mast shouted back.
"It's too far to see with the naked eye—over 5 kilometers! Even if the enemy scouts spot us, they won't see our main fleet!"
The navy under Admiral Timo's command was probably deploying a few ships for scouting by now, and when we ran into them, I'd act extremely panicked and hasty.
It might sound ridiculous coming from me, but apparently the bounty on Commander Peter Jaeger's head was sky-high in Warsaw.
In that situation, Admiral Timo would have to bite on the live bait of an impulsive Jaeger to give us a shot at victory.
A moment later, the lookout rang the bell from the mast.
The clang, clang drew everyone's attention upward, silencing even the officers who'd been barking orders.
"Five enemy ships sighted to the northwest! They look about the same size as our warships—distance around 2 kilometers!"
Our warship's speed was about 8 kilometers per hour, so if we kept straight, we'd make contact in roughly 15 minutes.
The die had been cast. All that was left was for me to win this battle by any means necessary.
"Full sails! Signal to form up! We're engaging the enemy scout squadron head-on! Let's turn those Warsaw bastards into fish food!"
At the combat readiness order, officers and soldiers thrust their weapons skyward.
"All hands, prepare for battle! Let's drown those goddamn Warsaw dogs here today!"
"Long live the Reich Empire! Long live His Imperial Majesty the Emperor! Deus Vult!"
"We've got Commander Jaeger with us! Don't be afraid—fight to the end!"
At the flag signals from our soldiers, the ships behind me lined up in formation relative to the flagship and advanced.
In that state, the four ships including my flagship plunged toward the enemy scout squadron.
"Distance to enemy ships: approximately 200 meters!"
The real clash was about to begin.
"Raise the command flag. Signal again: no firing ballistae, crossbows, or arrows until my order."
The command flag—especially one marking the flagship with the supreme commander aboard—was generally not raised unless conditions were safe.
Because captains under your command could already tell where the 'commander' was from other flags anyway.
And openly advertising the commander's position to the enemy would draw all fire there, potentially leading to the disaster of the commander being killed or captured.
The officers gave me stunned looks at the order to reveal my position in danger, but if you're baiting, you have to make it convincing or the enemy won't bite.
"Repeat the order and relay it!"
The officers repeated it back, then raised the command flag and relayed the no-fire-until-ordered command across the fleet.
At that moment, a mad barrage of arrows and spells rained down from the enemy ships.
Arrows, stake-sized bolts from small ballistae, spells—all flying our way, accompanied by mocking jeers from their decks.
"That's the ship with that goddamn Peter Jaeger on it! Cut off his head and I'll be a noble starting today! Fuck yeah!"
"Keep firing! Avenge our Grand Duchy!"
"Turn those Reich Empire bastards into fish food!"
The enemy ships closed in, unleashing arrows and spells like mad, but surprisingly few hits.
The rocking waves threw off their aim, sending arrows and spells sailing over the deck or into empty air even when targeted at us.
However, because I'd hung out the command flag to draw them in, plenty of soldiers on the flagship were killed or wounded.
"Arrows! Arrows! Someone pull them out!! Argh!"
"My eyes! I can't see!"
"I told you not to look up without your helmet on, you moron!"
Soldiers dying instantly from arrows or spells, or shredded by ballista stakes punching massive holes through heads, shoulders, or guts.
Things that were easy to ignore on land during dense formations marching forward were shockingly vivid at sea.
If I, the commander, felt this way, the soldiers' terror must be unimaginable.
But we had to wait.
"Enemy ships at 70 meters! They're closing within 70 meters!"
At those words, I swung my baton and bellowed.
"Relay to all ships: Fire the siege ballistae! Then reload immediately! Helmsman, turn the ship 30 degrees northwest—diagonal course! Fire!!"
The ballista crews had been waiting for this and unleashed their loaded stakes instantly, while arrows and spells flew wildly toward the enemy.
The siege ballista stakes smashed through the enemy decks' barriers, literally shredding the crews.
Soldiers in their path were bisected by holes in their torsos or woke up to find chunks of themselves turned to mince.
"Take that, you bastards! Feel the power of siege stakes!"
"Wasted on dogs not even worth it."
"Reload for another volley! Get it ready!"
Amid the soldiers' cheers, we veered northwest, pulling away diagonally from the enemy, who gave furious chase after the fleeing prey.
But I'd ordered the men to throttle back speed just a hair below the enemy's, letting them catch up.
The enemy gradually closed the gap, pounding us relentlessly with siege ballistae and crossbows.
"Distance to enemy ships: 10 meters! Just about 10 meters left!"
As the gap shrank to melee range—just as I'd hoped—I drew the sword at my hip and commanded.
"Load rocks on the ballistae! Bolts on the crossbows! Fire in unison when they try to grapple! Then follow me aboard their ship! Understood?"
At the boarding order, officers and soldiers alike roared their assent with voices full of fury.
How we performed here would decide the battle's outcome.