Chapter 219
Chapter 219
Iron Emperor — Chapter 219
The allied army's advance on the capital had met almost no resistance so far, but that was only possible because they had broken through without giving North Roselin's forces any time to concentrate.
The slightest delay would have inevitably slowed their march toward the capital.
If the assault on the capital dragged on and northern reinforcements arrived, the entire situation could drastically reverse itself.
If the minor lords who had been sitting on the fence joined hands and rallied their forces, the worst-case scenario was that the army would find itself isolated and cut off.
To prevent that, Baron Bels was leading ten thousand rearguard troops, methodically persuading or subduing the minor territories behind them—but that would inevitably take a great deal of time.
"Wouldn't we be forced into an all-out assault from the first day?"
King Alsein cautiously offered his opinion to Go Jin-cheon. Jin-cheon nodded at his words.
With no time to spare, their options were few. The commanders were nodding and exchanging views when Yeon Hwi-garam quietly rose to his feet and addressed Jin-cheon.
"May I offer a word?"
"Speak."
Jin-cheon nodded permission, and Hwi-garam stepped forward and began to speak.
"I consider an all-out assault from the very first engagement to be meaningless."
"Hrm."
"Hmm."
Heads tilted at Hwi-garam's statement, but his real position as the second-in-command of Gauri stifled any real dissent.
"Your reason?"
Jin-cheon, curious himself, pressed Hwi-garam for a prompt answer. Hwi-garam glanced around at the seated commanders and began his explanation.
"Because we are short on time, we have no choice but to push from the outset, and they have no choice but to buy time. Everyone here knows that situation. With both sides fully aware of those facts, launching into an all-out battle from the beginning will inflict serious casualties on the enemy, to be sure, but our own losses will be anything but light. What is more, as time passes, our position will only grow more unfavorable, which will inevitably make us impatient."
The nobles nodded in agreement.
"Then, out of desperation, we will be forced to commit our soldiers to reckless combat. Even if we win, those lost troops will be exceedingly difficult to replace."
"Then what exactly are you proposing?"
Some nobles vented their frustration, while others were already thinking along different lines.
"Why not strike the enemy's relief force first?"
At the noble's suggestion to hit the relief force first, Hwi-garam shook his head in opposition once more.
"Striking the relief force offers two approaches. The first is to move the entire army against them at once. The second is to divide our forces, keep the castle in check, and attack the relief force at the same time."
The noble who had raised the question, along with several others, looked on with keen interest.
"The first method, however, carries the risk of exposing our rear to attack. The second method runs the danger that the battle will not be concluded quickly, which—just as Daesaja Gowin pointed out—would give the lords in our rear time to unite and amass their forces."
"Your solution?"
Jin-cheon asked Hwi-garam.
Hwi-garam was not a man who objected for no reason.
Before he ever voiced opposition, he always prepared a countermeasure and then presented his own plan. Jin-cheon knew this well and naturally assumed that he had already brought an alternative forward.
"Delaying tactics."
The nobles stared at Hwi-garam, completely uncomprehending.
At a moment when time was desperately short, his proposal to wage delaying tactics seemed entirely contradictory.
Without giving the bewildered nobles a moment to interrupt, Hwi-garam continued rapidly.
"I call them delaying tactics, but not for an extended period. First, the main force, advancing the siege, will push forward with the long-range Yudonno at the front and wear down the castle interior over the course of six days."
The South Roselin nobles who had witnessed the Yudonno's test firing nodded.
Its range was markedly longer than any ballista or catapult existing on the continent. The issue was that the Yudonno, while possessing both long range and excellent penetrating power, lacked destructive force—they judged it insufficient to bring down the walls themselves.
Still, Hwi-garam pressed on with his explanation.
"While the Yudonno conducts the bombardment, absolutely no troops will be used to storm the walls."
"Then is that not pointless?"
Marquis Baikal asked.
"The troops must conserve their strength and be committed only in a single decisive thrust to collapse the enemy's castle. Concentrating that strength into one assault is better than wearing down the fortress over multiple attempts. And the attack using the Yudonno..."
As Hwi-garam's explanation began in earnest, the generals' expressions shifted moment by moment.
Every strategy Hwi-garam laid out was, just as he had said, preparation for a single, decisive assault.
When the long explanation finally ended, even the Gauri commanders, not just the South Roselin nobles, let out sounds of admiration.
"But what of the enemy reinforcements coming from the north? If they arrive even a day early, won't this entire operation go up in smoke? Surely you are aware that the estimated timing and the actual timing are never the same."
Marquis Baikal put the question to Hwi-garam with an unconvinced expression, and the other nobles wore equally troubled looks.
"If you would but entrust the matter to me and the Hawk Corps, we will most certainly pin them down."
When Baron Gowin called out to Jin-cheon, the faces of the South Roselin nobles brightened. Their expressions said there was no man better suited than Gowin, who had already proven his worth on the Conrad Plains, to tie down the enemy relief force.
"Hmm."
At Gowin's confident offer, Jin-cheon paused for a moment, then glanced sideways at Hwi-garam.
Catching Jin-cheon's gaze, Hwi-garam gave a small smile and addressed Gowin.
"Does Daesaja Gowin not already hold critical responsibilities, including the rear-area mission?"
"That is true, but such tasks can be capably handled by other generals as well."
Hwi-garam raised a hand to forestall Gowin.
"And in the present situation, drawing away close to eight thousand combat troops is no different from splitting our forces."
At Hwi-garam's words, Gowin sat back down as though he had no choice. Hwi-garam then looked at the nobles whose attention was fixed on him and pointed to himself.
"I will take charge of the enemy's relief forces."
"And support?"
Jin-cheon asked as though he had been waiting for precisely those words.
"For support, three thousand laborers assigned to supply transport, five hundred troops composed of dwarves, and six hundred wagons will fully suffice."
"Granted."
"Your Majesty!"
Alsein cried out, his voice laden with disbelief at the incomprehensible exchange between the sovereign and his commander. But both Hwi-garam, who had made the request, and Jin-cheon, who had granted it, merely exchanged a meaningful smile.
That evening, led by Yeon Hwi-garam, five hundred dwarven troops, three thousand laborers, and six hundred wagons departed the allied army's main camp to block thirty thousand enemy reinforcements.
* * *
The morning sun split the darkness and spilled onto the earth.
Weariness pressed at the corners of a sentry's eyes after a night spent pacing the walls, but he kept his gaze fixed on the Gauri-South Roselin allied camp, unwilling to relax his vigilance for even a moment.
"Huh?"
Perhaps because the sunlight was so strong, something caught the soldier's eye through his squint.
"Riang!"
His eyes fixed ahead, one hand shading against the sun, the soldier called out to his comrade who was watching the opposite side.
"What!"
Riang, who had come running in a state of high tension, reflexively fixed his eyes on the spot his comrade was staring at.
Rrrrumble.
There was no need to focus; the sound of countless wheels rolling across the earth was unmistakable.
"Th-that!"
"Riang, report it at once!"
Through the dawn haze, some fifty shapes and the two-thousand-strong force following behind them slowly came into view.
By the time the soldier named Riang rushed down the steps, the other sentries had already spotted the allied army's appearance.
In an instant, the quiet morning transformed into a battlefield.
"Allll units, haaaalt!"
Marquis Baikal's voice rang out far and wide, and the fifty wagons ground to a stop.
Without needing any further order, the unloaded Yudonno were swiftly assembled, and eight young orcs latched onto each weapon.
They were young orcs, but their strength surpassed that of oxen used for farm work.
As the fifty Yudonno were being set in place aimed at the Partean fortress, the troops that had followed behind them began erecting defensive barriers.
They had brought the troops precisely because the enemy might sortie with their knight orders to destroy the siege engines.
"The Eastern Knights and the Central 1st Knights to the front! The remaining 2nd and 3rd Knight Orders, take positions on both flanks!"
The voice of the noble serving as Marquis Baikal's adjutant echoed out.
Once the knight orders moved into position with crisp precision, some five hundred cavalry formed up behind the Yudonno's firing line, ready to charge at any moment.
"All preparations complete!"
The Gauri commander in charge of the fifty Yudonno shouted, and Marquis Baikal nodded, inspecting the formation once more.
The Gauri soldiers who met his gaze brimmed with confidence, while the determination of the South Roselin troops and knights supporting them from the rear to seize the capital was plain to see.
"Still no particular movement on their side."
"That is to be expected. They will have no notion that our Yudonno can reach them over such a distance."
Marquis Baikal looked at the Gauri officer, who spoke with an air of full confidence, and nodded in satisfaction.
"Hm, good. Your name, I believe, was Geolgeol Jungsang?"
"That is correct. Geolgeol Jungsang, holding the rank of Daehyeong, sir."
"Ho ho ho..."
These names are truly difficult to remember, Marquis Baikal thought.
"Give the order to attack."
"Yes, sir!"
With Marquis Baikal's command, the Siege of Partean began.
Having received the sentries' reports and ascended the watchtower, Duke Palsieon stared with a grave expression at the allied army spread wide and on the move.
"Hrm."
Watching them unload the objects hauled by wagons, Duke Palsieon shifted his gaze to the rear.
He saw the allied soldiers in formation providing rear support, and the South Roselin knight order's forces drawn up in a posture ready to charge at any moment.
"A formation I've never seen before."
"Indeed. Judging by its shape, it appears to be some type of ballista."
"So it seems."
Duke Palsieon nodded at his adjutant's reply.
Yet his expression did not brighten in the slightest.
'The problem is that I can't divine their intentions at all.'
There were no scaling ladders for the assault and no troops to fill the moat—just fifty siege engines and roughly two thousand troops including knights deployed. The intent behind such a deployment was impossible to guess.
"It appears the siege engines have finished deploying."
"Indeed."
When the soldiers bustling around the fifty siege engines came to a halt, it was easy to tell the deployment was complete.
"Are the catapults ready?"
"They are already prepared."
"Good."
Preparations for a counter-barrage were also complete.
The problem was the enemy's intention.
A battle waged without grasping the opponent's next move was always dangerous.
Duke Palsieon, who knew that fact well from long experience, could not shake his unease even as he inspected the troops' countermeasures, and kept glancing toward the allied formation.
SQUEAL!
"Hm?"
A faint but familiar sound reached his ears.