Chapter 201
Chapter 201
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 201
Chapter 62: The Sound of the Marching Drums
"......."
A battlefield silence.
It can hold many meanings.
Sometimes it is the rest after a fierce fight. Other times it is the quiet that follows the end of a war. But the scene now was neither.
Fear of an overwhelming presence.
That was exactly it.
Gulp.
The sound of someone swallowing hard echoed across the field. The soldiers clutching their weapons wore expressions of dread that had long since passed mere tension.
What was it that terrified them so?
At a glance, the source of their fear was visible: the drawn bowstrings of more than ten thousand archers, a thousand cavalry surging forward as if poised to charge at any moment, and soldiers whose eyes gleamed like wild beasts that had spotted their prey.
"......They clearly said it was just over ten thousand ragged resistance fighters."
A soldier spoke in a hollow, dispirited voice. It was true that some of the enemy did wear shabby clothes. But even those men carried weapons that were clearly well-maintained, and the other forty thousand troops who had appeared from somewhere utterly cowed the Roselin army with nothing more than their armor, uniforms, and weapons.
"A black bird with three legs?"
A soldier's eyes caught the most massive flag fluttering on the field. And beside it, another banner.
"That is!"
Baron Aslan recoiled in alarm. Against a blue field, the emblem of a soaring hawk.
"How can the Hawk Corps be here!"
During the last war, the Hawk Corps had been sent to support North Roselin but instead stabbed them in the back before vanishing. Baron Aslan, a North Roselin noble, could hardly fail to recognize the banner of that same Hawk Corps, which had become the subject of endless suspicion—the only armed force recognized by the Haian Kingdom.
"Does anyone know that banner!"
Baron Aslan shot an anxious glare at a knight beside him. He recognized the Hawk Corps flag, but the giant banner next to it was completely unknown to him. Still, from its position and imposing presence alone, he could tell it was the emblem of a force that outranked even the Hawk Corps.
"Could it be the nation called Gauri, sir?"
"Nonsense!"
Baron Aslan denied it fiercely.
Roselin's great army had marched out on an expedition against them—how could Gauri's forces possibly be here? Moreover, the continent knew Gauri not as a nation but as little more than a loose gathering of slash-and-burn farmers.
Whatever the truth, the banner of the South Roselin royal house flying on one side meant they were all in league, and most importantly, his troops were completely surrounded.
'I should have sent more scout parties to confirm....'
Baron Aslan blamed his own mistake and wore a miserable expression. But anyone else would have acted much the same. Until now, the resistance's pattern had been hit-and-run. So if they finally managed to locate them, they had to strike immediately. And until now, the resistance had always meticulously avoided regular forces.
On the continent today, now that South Roselin had fallen, there was virtually no armed force left that could strike their rear, and no one seemed to pay much attention to the nation called Gauri. Since Gauri wasn't even treated as a proper country, any rear-area commander might have made the same judgment as Baron Aslan.
"My lord, look over there...."
From among the host that surrounded them, a man on horseback slowly rode forward. And to either side of him, two enormous men advanced not on horses but on something else.
"Could that be—!"
The strange shapes and massive bulk, so distinct from horses, were enough to seize everyone's attention. And the two huge fangs protruding from beneath the iron mask on their faces conjured a single word in the minds of all who saw them.
"Huk! Saber-tooth tigers!"
Kwaaauung!
The roar of the saber-tooth tigers fanned the soldiers' terror as it echoed through the air.
Gye Ung-sam frowned as the North Roselin force momentarily dissolved into clamor and turned his head to look at Samdopyo, who was seated atop Nyang-i(?).
"Kreung."
Perhaps because Ung-sam's stare stung, Dupyo pointedly turned his gaze to the sky with an air of feigned indifference and averted his eyes. It was impossible for Ung-sam to look kindly upon Dupyo casually sitting astride a saber-tooth tiger named Nyang-i that ordinary men couldn't even dream of riding due to its violent movements.
A short while later, as the disturbance began to subside and the eyes of the North Roselin soldiers fixed upon him, only then did he begin to speak his piece.
"I am Gye Ung-sam, Commander of the Great Gauri Northern Roselin Expeditionary Force. I urge you to surrender!"
No sooner had Ung-sam's fluent Continental echoed across the field than the North Roselin camp erupted into uproar. Their fighting spirit was already broken. Their first mistake had been forming up on open ground in the first place, expecting a head-on confrontation.
And the decisive factor was that the North Roselin force had no cavalry. With an infantry-only force, they had no chance even before considering the enemy's numerical advantage. But even more than that, the word "Gauri" that Ung-sam had spoken drove the camp into even greater turmoil.
"This is a lie! It was not long ago that word reached us that the grand army of the Unified Roselin Kingdom had begun its campaign to subdue Gauri! How can you claim to be Gauri's army? How can we believe such a thing!"
Baron Aslan stepped forward and refuted Ung-sam's words.
The fact that a Gauri army was already here meant they must have begun their movement right around the time the war started. That left only two possibilities for the North Roselin forces to consider.
Either Gauri had been confident they could fend off North Roselin from the start, or they possessed enough spare power to launch their own direct invasion. But the look in Baron Aslan's eyes showed he did not want to believe it.
"You still do not know? Your paltry fifty thousand troops and twenty thousand supply troops have already been annihilated!"
"Such a thing!"
The agitation among the North Roselin soldiers swelled at Ung-sam's gallant, almost scornful declaration, which went so far as to cite the exact composition of the dispatched force. Meanwhile, the knights shouted ever louder in an attempt to quell the soldiers' unrest.
"Will you surrender, or will you die!"
Kyaauuung!
The moment Ung-sam's second call for surrender rang out, the saber-tooth tiger's roar echoed across the field. When Baron Aslan failed to answer rashly, Ung-sam's hand rose into the air.
"Archers, draw!"
Giyul's voice from behind Ung-sam set the archers into motion. And as if arranged in advance, the cavalry on one flank raised their spears in unison and assumed a charging posture.
"Your answer?"
Ung-sam asked once more, his hand still raised in the air.
Baron Aslan looked around him. Every eye was filled with terror. Even the knights were visibly trembling. Their real fighting strength had already been drained away for the subjugation of Gauri. Baron Aslan's head drooped powerlessly.
"Kreung! Everyone, kneel!"
Dupyo's overbearing voice washed over the despairing North Roselin soldiers.
The command staff, having taken in over fifteen thousand soldiers without any real fighting, could not hide their joy. If this had not been a battle of annihilation where the enemy was completely surrounded on open terrain like today, it would certainly have been a serious headache.
"At this rate, war won't be any fun, kreung."
As a pleased Samdopyo folded his arms and put on airs, Buyeo Gi-yul clicked his tongue and spoke up beside him.
"This was pure luck today. We didn't even know enemy scout troops had come and gone, remember? If they had finished reconnoitering the camp behind the hill, they might have launched a surprise attack on us instead."
"Keung."
At Giyul's words, Dupyo uncrossed his arms and scratched the back of his head. But it was Baron Bels who looked even more mortified, hanging his head and reddening.
"My apologies. The screening troops must have let down their guard. I will take steps to ensure such a blunder does not happen again."
"Steps alone will not suffice. I request disciplinary action against the mid-level officer who was in charge of guarding that sector."
When Gye Ung-sam fixed a resolute gaze on Baron Bels and demanded clear punishment, the face of King Alsein—who had been sitting there in good cheer—stiffened slightly. He was silently questioning whether that was truly necessary. However, Marquis Baikal gently touched the king's arm beside him and shook his head.
'Why?'
As King Alsein's question hovered unspoken in his mouth, Marquis Baikal addressed Baron Bels with a firm tone.
"We are in a situation where we must create something from nothing. This war is not merely about the restoration of the Roselin Kingdom. General Gye's words are only natural. Yes, there may be some backlash against this measure, but will it not also instill a proper sense of tension in soldiers who might grow too lax after easily winning the first battle? No, they have already grown lax. If they had not, we would not have had such a ridiculous situation this morning, would we? What if the resistance force alone had encountered the enemy—just think about that."
"I have no excuse. I will carry it out immediately. All the responsible commanders and soldiers will be demoted and given the chance to earn merit anew in the Assault Squad."
"That should suffice."
When Marquis Baikal, with a faint smile on his lips, looked toward Ung-sam, Ung-sam inclined his head slightly to agree with the measure. Seeing this, Dupyo, who had suddenly grown awkward all by himself, was turning his head away and looking off elsewhere.
"Treat them well."
"Pardon?"
At Ung-sam's sudden remark, Dupyo's eyes went wide. Seeing Dupyo's bewildered expression, Ung-sam gave him a warm smile and spoke.
"I'm leaving the Assault Squad in your hands."
Dupyo's face crumpled instantly at that single sentence.
* * *
Around the time the forces led by Gye Ung-sam and Gowin annihilated the fifteen thousand North Roselin defenders without casualties, the continent was turned completely on its head.
The news that the seventy-thousand-strong punitive expedition against Gauri had been utterly destroyed was confirmed, and simultaneously it became known that the Gauri army and South Roselin forces, proclaiming the restoration of Roselin, had begun a full-scale advance.
But the ones who truly found the fire at their own feet were the North Roselin royal house. Although under the name of Unified Roselin they held a vast stretch of land, the fact that King Alsein was personally leading reinforcements while South Roselin's constant localized resistance tormented them could not help but be a massive blow.
Moreover, the entity that had come as those reinforcements was the very same opponent against whom the North Roselin royal house had declared a punitive campaign, so they had no pretext to argue. And the Holy Empire merely stood by with its arms folded.
The reason was the check held by the Maritime Empire and the Federal Empire. Even during the Roselin War they had worried about the Holy Empire's influence growing too large, and this war distinctly revived that unstable element behind the Holy Empire's own rear.
Conversely, however, doubts about the nation called Gauri only grew more intense, and the empires clearly appeared intent on using this war to accumulate even more intelligence about Gauri.
Rather than rashly attacking, the underlying calculation was to exploit one another.
One month after this news spread, the continent was again seized by shock.
"What did you just say!"
King Bera Han's voice thundered through the great hall of Haian Palace. Before him, a messenger who had run in bearing fresh news lay prostrate.
"Did you say it was Baron Gowin and the Hawk Corps!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
When the messenger confirmed it, King Bera Han sank weakly back onto the throne after half-rising and covered his face with one hand. The fact that the Hawk Corps, the pride of the Haian Kingdom that had vanished without a trace, now stood at the head of the punitive army against Roselin shocked not only him but the other nobles as well.
"We cannot simply stand by!"
"We must protest fiercely and punish Gauri!"
Enraged nobles clamored from every direction.
"Kkeut."
Amid their fury, a self-deprecating smile escaped from King Bera Han. Removing his trembling hand from his face, King Bera Han slowly spoke.
"Punish?"
"Yes!"
When King Bera Han repeated the word "punish," the nobles nodded as if it were a matter of course.
"With what shall we punish them? They are the ones who annihilated Roselin's fifty thousand troops in an instant."
"Th-... that is..."
The previously blustering nobles fell silent at once.
"Will you, sir, personally block them?"
"......."
At King Bera Han's question, a young noble hastily bowed his head. Just then, a loud voice burst from one side.
"We must request aid from the empires!"
"Tha-... that's right!"
As if that had finally opened the floodgates, the nobles clapped their hands and began making a ruckus. King Bera Han's head shook of its own accord. The First and Second Chiefs of the Noble Council, who evidently knew that the empires would not act for the Haian Kingdom over such a matter, did not throw themselves into the cesspit the other nobles were stirring up.
"A magic communication has arrived!"
Another messenger burst into the chaotic great hall.
"What is it?"
The chamberlain put the question on King Bera Han's behalf. The messenger barely managed to open his trembling lips.
"Gauri's great army has arrived at the Gate City."
"What!"
"Huh-uk!"
The nobles recoiled in alarm.
Not only they, but even King Bera Han sprang to his feet. Though the Haian Kingdom had been battered from all sides, at least it had never suffered a foreign invasion. True, there had been a past colonial era, but in recent times it had enjoyed a measure of peace.
"We merely traded supplies with them...."
A flustered noble spoke up, muttering as if to himself. At that moment, the messenger spoke again.
"They say what they seek is not war. Only...."
At the words that they did not seek war, the eyes of King Bera Han and the nobles all converged at once.
"Only what?"
King Bera Han's voice, his composure recovered, urged the messenger's answer. The messenger slowly hung his head and began to speak.
"He said... open the road."
"......."
The great hall sank into silence.