Subjugating the Female General (8)
Two months passed in the blink of an eye.
Dong-hyun devoted no small share of that time to Yuria, but even after the quest was done he had already begun the political work of securing his own position. The empire had been neglected for far too long, crumbling in a dozen different ways, and he set about repairing those problems one by one.
He started by meeting individually with the nobles of the imperial faction, listening to their grievances and turning over possible remedies in his mind. The problem that struck him as most urgent was the weakness of imperial authority. Under the feudal system the landed nobility held far too much power, and a weak emperor was an open invitation to rebellion.
Dong-hyun slipped back into the real world whenever he could, studying the historical measures that had once been used to strengthen royal power under feudalism. Game and reality were not the same thing, so he combed through actual history for policies that might serve the Krantz Empire.
One idea stood out as the most practical for the present situation: founding an academy in the capital.
An academy where the children of every noble house could receive a professional education — and from which the empire could select its future talent. The unspoken purpose, of course, was to hold those children as hostages. The key was to conceal that fact behind a guarantee of genuinely excellent instruction, until attendance itself came to be seen as a privilege of the nobility.
To that end he was already working to invite renowned scholars from every corner of the continent. And that was only one of several policies he had in preparation.
Some found the emperor's transformation too drastic to accept. Most, however, welcomed the change. What Dong-hyun failed to notice was that Count Dionel was watching it all unfold.
While Dong-hyun pursued his various schemes, the army at last assembled, and the curtain rose on war.
The Krantz Empire organized its forces into three bodies.
The vanguard was a single legion under Count Hudin. The center was composed of Duke Balanos's two legions plus the allied noble contingents, twenty-eight thousand strong in all. The rear was held by Duke Edinel's army, charged with the supply lines. Command of that legion had been given to Eliard Edinel, the duke's second son.
In this world only a duke's eldest son inherited his father's rank; the rest inherited nothing. A younger son had to win a title through military distinction, which was precisely why Duke Edinel had entrusted his second son with command.
Count Hudin, riding at the head of the vanguard, advanced on the first stronghold — Cadis Fortress — with swaggering confidence. It was the gatekeeper of the Kairan Kingdom. Bypass it and you left an enemy at your back, exposing your supply lines to interdiction and feints. It was a fortress that had to be taken.
Cadis Fortress sat between canyon walls too sheer for any man to climb. The only path up those cliffs was accessible from the Kairan side, which made the place fiendishly difficult to assault.
Before the mouth of the canyon, Count Hudin faced the ranks drawn up before him and began his address.
In the Kairan Kingdom he had cut a rather unsightly figure, but to the people of his own lands he was a reasonably kind lord. He was also widely regarded as the next Sword of Krantz, and his reputation was considerable. The passionate speech drew a thunderous roar from the troops. Hudin smiled in satisfaction and ordered the advance.
He sent three divisions in the van, five in the center, and two in the rear, advancing at a measured pace. With the threat of attack from either canyon wall, caution was the order of the day. It was, in its way, a tactically sound deployment.
Hudin turned to the aide at his right.
"Have we prepared for ranged attacks from the canyon?"
"Yes, my lord. As you ordered, every soldier has been issued a shield to wear on his back, in case of unexpected assault."
Hudin looked pleased. With that much preparation, they ought to reach the fortress without incident.
The vanguard had already entered the canyon, and now Hudin's center column followed. Sheer walls of rock rose on either side, as if carved by a giant's blade. The wind that funneled between them carried a desolate chill. Fortunately the canyon floor was wide enough that a large army could move through without great difficulty.
Duke Balanos had told Hudin to be careful in the canyon — to apply pressure until the main force arrived, and nothing more. But Hudin had no intention of stopping at pressure. He had already completed his siege preparations for Cadis Fortress, and he was confident that the army under his own command would be enough to take it.
Around the time Hudin was just entering the Cadis canyon, Duke Adrian arrived at Cadis Fortress and was escorted to the command tent by Marquis Cadis, the fortress's defender.
"You've had a hard journey, Duke Adrian."
Though his rank was a step below Adrian's, Marquis Isaac Cadis — a veteran general in his sixties — spoke with the easy familiarity of age.
"Marquis Cadis. It's been too long. I had thought that with you here, the Krantz Empire wouldn't dare to stir — but they've proven bolder than I expected."
"Hah hah hah... Indeed they have. They'll pay the price for underestimating Cadis Fortress. That I promise you."
For generations the Cadis family had held the Kairan Kingdom's frontier, keeping the Krantz Empire in check. The fortress had been overrun more than once, but each time they had returned and held it firm, generation after generation. The fortress itself had been built to favor Kairan — the only path up the canyon walls was accessible from the Kairan side. Seize the high ground first, and retaking Cadis Fortress was no great difficulty.
"How many troops does Cadis Fortress have?"
"We have three thousand here. Add the four thousand you brought, Duke, and that makes seven thousand in all."
The scattered forces from the rest of the Kairan Kingdom had yet to arrive. Adrian knew well enough that the troops defending the royal capital and the various borders could not be pulled away, and that a nationwide levy would yield three thousand at most. Still, she had expected them to send at least something in two months' time. Their sluggishness drew a sigh from her.
Ailes had groped her thigh and waist right there in the hall, and she had slapped him across the face and walked out. She felt not the slightest desire to apologize for it. Watching the Krantz Empire treat her — a duke of an entire kingdom — with such contempt, she had decided she could not afford to show any weakness.
And yet some of her own nobles still thought they could simply hand her over to the Krantz Empire and be done with it. The sheer stupidity of it — as if they had given no thought at all to what would come after.
The bond between Marquis Cadis and Duke Adrian went back a very long way. He had been a close friend of Adrian's father, and he had always regarded her as a niece. When Adrian had caused that incident in the Krantz Empire, he had been the only one to take her side.
"Don't worry, Duke Adrian. This is a fortress blessed by nature itself. They will not get past us."
"If the enemy circles around the canyon, this place could be surrounded."
"Hrm... Unlikely, though. They'd have to take a very long detour, and keeping supply lines open for an army that size would be no easy feat."
"True enough. In that case I'll send a detachment of my own troops to keep watch, nothing more."
"Do so. We've already dispatched five hundred men to each side of the canyon to slow their advance."
"Then what would you say to this?"
Adrian laid out the strategy she had prepared.
"Oh!! That strategy—! I'll put it into motion at once. As expected of Duke Adrian, the one they call the Hope of the Kairan Kingdom... The late duke would have been so proud."
"Haha... You flatter me."
Adrian's father had died suddenly of illness at an early age, and she had inherited the duchy at the tender age of seventeen. Most heirs received their titles between forty and fifty. To become a duke so young was almost unheard of.
The one mercy in that misfortune was that Adrian possessed both martial prowess and strategic brilliance far beyond her years. And since House Wendelin had no other children but a younger sister, the title had fallen to her.
"I'll leave two thousand of my troops at Cadis Fortress. Will you be able to hold with the two thousand you have remaining?"
"A week or so should be possible — especially with that strategy of yours."
"Understood. Then I'll go put a strategy of my own in motion."
"Very well. Take care of yourself."
Adrian took her leave of Marquis Cadis and departed Cadis Fortress with two thousand of her troops.