Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 16: The Victorious Engineering Unit (1)
The clouds of war encroached on the city before the rumors.
The air in Hamelon changed overnight.
Footsteps noticeably decreased in the market alleys that were usually bustling, and open shop doors closed one by one.
Merchants were busy packing rather than haggling over prices, and parents who brought children out hastened their steps looking up at the sky for no reason.
Gazes looking beyond the castle walls became frequent, and the sound of closing windows at night was exceptionally fast.
In taverns, low whispers were exchanged instead of laughter, and some left their seats hurriedly leaving words like "We absolutely won't withstand it".
Fear spread faster before it took a clear shape.
And inside the Main Castle, it was busy in another sense.
Soldiers equipped with armor moved quickly across the hallways.
Doors that would usually require permission and reporting to pass opened one after another, and messengers went up and down the stairs catching their breath.
The sound of metal clashing in the armory didn't cease, and soldiers were checking equipment even before orders were given.
However, there was no Lord at the center of all those movements.
Valewin had hidden himself in the deepest part of the Main Castle.
Beyond thick stone walls and multiple doors, a place where outside noise barely reached.
He only received reports there.
Without stepping forward directly, nor making judgments.
As if this situation was irrelevant to him.
Unlike him, tension was pulled taut on the surface of the city.
Troops were reinforced near the castle gates, and the number of night patrols doubled.
Engineering Unit personnel went back and forth day and night checking camouflage status, and torches didn't go out until dawn.
Hamelon was placed in a state of waiting for something approaching without being able to catch its breath.
Although battle hadn't started yet, the city was already entering into war.
Those who knew that fact best, Erwin, Melissa, and Iden, were climbing up and down the castle walls today as well, continuing preparations in silence.
"All troops, to positions."
Another day passed like that, and as the military force of the Northern Alliance Tribes came completely into view, the outer castle immediately switched to wartime footing.
Kuuung.
The sound of the castle gate closing rang heavily.
Thick chains wound and gears interlocked, and as the door made of wood and iron adhered until the end, signal trumpets resonated simultaneously from the castle walls.
Low and long notes cut through the air.
"All personnel deploy! Battle stations!"
Commander Gelmion's voice rang from the castle wall. Wearing armor over his uniform, he was already holding a sword, and his gaze never fell from the enemy even once.
Orders were short and clear.
Officers rich in combat experience moved immediately, and soldiers found their places as trained.
Spearmen lined up on the castle wall.
Spear tips tilted at the same angle facing outside simultaneously.
Archers were deployed at predetermined shooting positions checking bowstrings, and wiped sweat from their hands retying quivers.
Catapults and ballistae slowly turned directions, and siege response equipment revealed themselves one after another.
Inside the outer castle, supply soldiers moved busily.
Water, arrows, and emergency bandages were delivered quickly, and temporary spaces for accommodating the wounded were prepared.
Horses located behind the central gate of the outer castle made anxious cries, but soldiers only tightened the reins as if used to it.
The Engineering Unit also began to take positions.
Broadly divided into defense facility repair and siege weapon repair units, they moved in perfect order according to the Engineering Captain's command.
Iden took charge of defense facility repair, and Melissa took charge of the siege weapon repair unit.
Commander Gelmion, standing on the high platform of the castle wall, looked down at such an Engineering Unit.
Among them, his gaze fixed on Iden standing nervously.
He knew from receiving reports.
That the person who received the Wintel family's gift applied to the Engineering Unit.
And that the Engineering Unit started working after his appointment.
But what was visible now wasn't much different from before.
Traps were broken, and the moat seemed to have widened but lost its purpose due to low water levels, and no devices to block the enemy army's advance were visible.
At least the castle wall seemed well-repaired as no traces of cracks or collapse were visible.
As expected.
They say even a rolling wheel stops when a woman holds the baton.
Old sayings are never wrong.
Gelmion looked at Erwin, the Lord's daughter, as if mocking her, then turned his head to look forward.
Now was the time to focus all senses on battle.
After the battle ends, he would hold the female Engineering Captain, who was an eyesore, strictly responsible for management negligence.
Gelmion, vowing so, looked at the gradually approaching dust cloud.
**
The western horizon shook at first.
Very subtly.
Like an illusion.
One soldier standing on the castle wall frowned looking down at the stones beneath his feet.
It was then.
Once again, this time the ground shook clearly.
Heavy vibration rising through the soles of feet.
It was a wave not regular but not stopping either.
"......Coming."
Iden muttered low.
From afar, dust wind began to intensify.
It wasn't because the wind blew.
Soil rose into the air as the earth was trampled.
Columns of grey-brown dust slowly swelled covering the sky.
Smell of soil seeped onto the castle wall riding the wind.
And it became visible.
The ridge was gradually becoming black.
At first, they were shadows scattered like dots, but as time passed, they became lines, and lines became masses.
Rhythm different from human marching.
Movement organized while not being regular.
The foreign tribes of the North were advancing keeping their own movements inherent.
Flags fluttered everywhere.
Flags decorated with leather, bones, and heterogeneous patterns.
Some were on horses, some were loaded on the backs of giant beasts.
Weapons flashed, and armor was varied.
Instead of being uniform, it was a military force full of wild nature.
The shaking of the ground grew louder.
Gugugung—
Stones of the castle wall trembled subtly shedding crumbs, and soldiers' breaths became short.
Someone swallowed saliva, and someone unconsciously gripped the weapon handle tighter.
Voices disappeared.
Now no one dismissed this as rumor or possibility.
The army of the Northern Alliance Tribes was approaching Hamelon.
War was no longer future.
It was becoming reality and striking.
**
The military force of the Northern Alliance Tribes, rushing after discovering prey, had no thought of stopping.
Horns and strange screams mixed as the vanguard increased speed.
Heavily armed warriors, troops riding giant beasts, groups scattering and gathering again.
Looking only at that momentum, it seemed they would trample the flimsy-looking buffer zone in front of the outer castle in one breath.
And actually, they believed so and charged.
Since scouts also said 'Hamelon is still arrogant'.
But the moment they took the first step, the ground gave way.
The ground that looked solid on the surface suddenly collapsed, and the legs of the vanguard fell in.
The seemingly shallow depression zone was empty inside, but the moment load was applied, the support structure inside broke chain-reactively and collapsed.
The rushing rear troops couldn't stop.
They pushed the ones ahead just like that, and formations tangled with screams.
Above that, prepared falling rocks rolled down.
It wasn't dropped from the castle wall.
Rocks piled balancing on the edge of the depression zone collapsed due to shock and vibration.
Rolling as if covering the direction trying to escape, they crushed armor and broke bones.
The vanguard lost its form in an instant.
However, the Northern Alliance Tribes didn't stop.
The madness of beasts wouldn't stop at that degree.
Surviving groups turned to the flank avoiding the depression zone.
There, a low grassy area unfolded.
Weeds coming below knees and shallow dirt path.
It was a detour that looked safe at a glance.
But the moment they stepped into it, short and sharp screams burst here and there.
"Kuaak!!"
"Aah!!"
—Hihiiiing!!!
Iron pierced flesh under feet.
Caltrops scattered between grass and soil, iron spikes made so that one always faces up no matter which direction the four thorns fall.
Caltrops scattered matching closely to the march timing pierced the enemy's soles and ankles sharply without a speck of rust.
Leather shoes mainly used by the Northern Alliance Tribes were useless, and even horseshoes couldn't protect completely, causing several horses to fall.
Pain burst every time they stepped, and those who lost balance fell pushing each other.
The grassy area became chaos in an instant.
Blood and mud mixed, and screams spread to the entire formation.
Taking advantage of that confusion, some gritted their teeth and escaped.
The next path they chose was the moat.
Seemingly shallow waterway.
Distance that looked crossable if charging.
Beasts dyed in madness and rage jumped in without hesitation.
And at that moment, water burst out.
Iden's command opened the hidden floodgate.
Water collected upstream poured down at once.
The water level of the moat swelled in an instant, and footing disappeared.
Water became turbid, and the flow became strong.
Soldiers who jumped in blindly lost balance and fell.
Below that, sharp wooden stakes driven invisibly were waiting.
Tips hidden by water pierced thighs and abdomens.
Parts not touched by armor were pierced through as is.
Those wearing heavy equipment couldn't control their bodies underwater, and wounded ones struggled pulling each other.
The moat was turning into a blood pool soon.
Even in the midst of that, beasts driven by malice crawled out as if climbing.
However, the moment they got close to the castle wall, another device activated.
Structures hidden underground popped out breaking the knees and waists of running soldiers.
Over those falling, followers fell like bamboo shoots after rain.
And above that, arrows poured from the castle wall.
It was an already disrupted formation.
There was no time to lift shields, nor leisure to protect each other.
Arrows dug into gaps accurately.
Depression zone, caltrops, moat, and even traps.
Everything prepared connected organically and was grinding the enemy.
Not long after starting the charge, the military force of the Northern Alliance Tribes was broken, and more than half was annihilated.
Land that looked shabby.
Grass that looked ordinary.
Moat that looked shallow.
Castle wall arrived at after enduring all that.
All of that was the result of orthodox defense line built by Iden and the Engineering Unit.
Strategy leading to carelessness and making them jump into the fire pit themselves cooked the Northern Alliance Tribes' madness effectively.
"......."
Commander Gelmion, who hadn't issued a proper attack order once, was just staring dumbfoundedly at the Northern Alliance Tribes falling helplessly as if fallen into a hell pit outside the outer castle that looked insignificant.
The starting point of the Northern War was being extinguished too easily.