Chapter 301
Chapter 301
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 301
Chapter 100: The War Expands
Shau Hwan Millior, Emperor of the Henesia Holy Empire.
Two pieces of news reached him.
Seated on the imperial throne, one hand propping up his chin in an attitude of boredom, one corner of his eye rose sharply.
"Annihilated?"
Duke Schung, who had delivered the report, could not raise his head at Emperor Millior's curt reply. He could only carefully inform His Majesty of the reality once more.
"Y-yes, Your Majesty. It is reported that even Public Marquis, who was dispatched as supreme commander, has fallen in battle."
"Public has fallen in battle?"
Emperor Millior spoke flatly.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"......."
Silence.
The nobles, their heads bowed before the emperor, felt as though they were suffocating in the prolonged silence.
Silence was the emperor's wrath.
As that wrath dragged on, the nobles held their breath and desperately searched for a way out. The emperor, whose fury so often led straight to destruction, had always been a figure they feared.
"The other news is that the expeditionary force sent to occupy the Gauri mainland has reached the coast at the southernmost tip of the Reganza Mountains. It is reported that they completed the voyage and landed safely, fortunately without significant losses."
Duke Schung, as though seeking by any means to break the long, long silence, relayed the safe arrival of the other expeditionary force. Even so, the silence remained unbroken.
Time passed.
Having kept their bodies bent for quite a long while, the nobles' backs were screaming, yet not one of them dared show it. Knowing that such a prolonged silence had never occurred since Millior ascended to the imperial throne, they had stopped even their racing thoughts and could only await the opening of the emperor's lips.
"Heh."
What emerged from the long, long silence was Emperor Millior's short laugh. Far from bringing relief, his laughter only heightened the tension, as though they stood upon a blade's edge.
"Heh heh heh. Ha ha ha ha!"
Piercing the suffocating silence, Emperor Millior's great laughter shook the imperial palace. Duke Schung could sense the scent of blood concealed within that laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha ha haaaa!"
Craaash!
The laughter ended in a howl. A great howl, like a scream, rang out, and the fruit platter beside the emperor flew into the midst of the nobles lined up on either side and shattered.
The emperor, risen from his seat, smiled no longer.
"Boring."
Pure fury, stripped of his usual sly manner and cruel smile, twisted Emperor Millior's face. He rarely displayed his feelings so openly, leaving the nobles no clue how to respond.
"What of the cause of defeat, Schung?"
Though his rage had surged to the very crown of his head, Emperor Millior's voice was, on the contrary, markedly composed. Watching the emperor behave in this way, Duke Schung felt terror all the more keenly.
How many men could suppress fury driven to its very extreme and remain coldly rational?
"Analysis of the cause of defeat is underway. However, the survivors have not yet reached the homeland, and with the enemy's mopping-up operations still ongoing, we were barely able to receive even the wizards' communications."
"And?"
"Based on what has been analyzed thus far, the thoroughly severed supply lines can be regarded as the greatest factor. And, begging Your Majesty's pardon, but according to the wizard's account, Public Marquis......"
Duke Schung could not bring himself to continue.
"What of the measures going forward, Schung?"
At Emperor Millior's question, Duke Schung closed his mouth entirely. They could not simply back down now. The Holy Empire had only one card left to play. The annihilation of every hostile nation, Roselin included.
But the reason he could not proclaim it openly was the other two empires. Indeed, those who would clap their hands most gleefully at this defeat were certainly the other two empires.
"It would seem...... the Maritime Empire is the problem."
"......."
Duke Schung's voice dropped to a murmur. The silence that followed seemed to await only the emperor's decision. He alone could issue an order and shoulder its consequences.
"Pirate rabble, no better than scum......"
Millior rose to his feet with a sneer. Then, casting his now-sharpened gaze upon the nobles, he cried out:
"Issue the Imperial General Mobilization Order!"
As Millior flung both arms wide and proclaimed endless war, the nobles dropped to their knees and shouted his glory.
"We obey His Imperial Majesty's command!"
Even as the nobles' voices resounded, Millior curled one corner of his mouth and murmured.
"Heh heh. Shall I call them passably competent?"
* * *
Though the flames of one battle had swept through, the faces of the soldiers moving about the vicinity of Pharus Fortress were still taut with tension. As though the marks of that bloody struggle had not yet faded, the fortress walls still ran red.
Scars that would never vanish.
Gazing upon those scars, King Alsein's eyes were filled with complex emotions. Even before the wounds of a war that had turned his entire realm into a battlefield could fully heal, to be weathering crisis once again in this manner—it was more than enough to vex King Alsein's mind.
Fortunately, with the added strength of Gauri and the other allies, they had beaten back the empire's forces right at the capital's doorstep, yet the Holy Empire's might remained immense. No—he feared the wave of the next war bearing down on them all the more.
"Are you uneasy?"
As Alsein stroked the red wall that still seemed to scream, a weighty voice reached his ear.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty."
Alsein lowered his head toward Go Jin-cheon, who approached accompanied by his commanders. Jin-cheon was his idol and had illuminated the path a king must walk—he was his teacher. For that reason, Alsein did not dissemble or conceal his unease with false words. Above all, there was no way Jin-cheon would fail to understand Alsein's state of mind.
"But you know this is a war that was always going to be hard to avoid."
"......."
Alsein pressed his lips tightly shut.
"As I said before, this war is not Roselin's alone."
"I know."
Alsein raised his head and looked at Jin-cheon.
Jin-cheon's lips moved again.
"Now that the allied forces have gathered, we need to set the battle lines to some degree. I have already sent orders to the homeland to dispatch everything we have been preparing, so let me see no more faces trembling with unease."
"I am the King of Roselin."
At Jin-cheon's words, Alsein spoke as though slightly indignant. Was this not the manner of soothing a child?
Seeing Alsein's sulking face, Jin-cheon let out a soft laugh and turned away. Then, moving his steps back toward the encampment, he left behind a single parting remark.
"You are the King of Roselin—and also my younger brother, and my brother-in-law besides."
"Hmph."
Watching Go Jin-cheon's broad back, Alsein smiled. Yet even as he did, he regretted that he could not ride alongside Jin-cheon. When he had declared he would take the field in person, Jin-cheon had told him:
That a king cannot do everything......
You need only do well what you do best, and for the rest, employ those with the needed talents—that is the mark of a sage ruler. And, he added, because he himself excelled at war, he was personally taking the field.
It was always the same meaning repeated, in the same words he always spoke. Alsein found solace in those words, yet in one corner of his heart, the desire to ride alongside him could not help but take root. It was merely that.
It was only after three months had passed since the defeat of Public's imperial army that the Holy Empire's second troop deployment movements were detected by the Gauri Alliance Army as well.
It was, of course, an expected sequence of events—but the problem was its scale.
"Hmm."
King Alsein, Duke Ken, Marquess Gaun, Duke Baikal, and the others, with Go Jin-cheon at their head, wore grave expressions as they sat before the reports that had flown in urgently since morning.
The Imperial General Mobilization Order.
They had already staked their very survival on facing the one hundred fifty thousand troops Public Marquis had brought. This new intelligence sent even their faint remaining hope plunging into the abyss.
"Even for the Holy Empire, I never imagined they would go this far......"
Duke Ken, his brow deeply furrowed, opened his mouth and broke the surrounding silence.
"What could be the reason?"
At the question Duke Ken set forth, Marquess Gaun of Haian slowly picked up the thread, his expression grave. Even so, no clear solution presented itself.
"What matters here and now is how we stop them!"
King Alsein shot back forcefully, as though exasperated by those who merely voiced their worries. At that, Marquess Gaun, his hands interlaced and his face severe, spoke.
"For the moment, the army's morale is rising and our losses are relatively light, so we can manage in the short term—but should the war become protracted......"
Dreading even to speak of what lay beyond that point, Marquess Gaun's voice gradually faded. Go Jin-cheon, too, was not blind to the dark cast over their faces. The reason Gauri had been able to sustain its prolonged war against Su and Tang was that war preparations had been thoroughly laid in peacetime. But their situation here was different.
Had anyone ever dreamed they would wage war against an empire?
The very fact that they were prosecuting a war together, in alliance centered on Gauri, was itself a wonder.
"Three hundred thousand at minimum, you said?"
Jin-cheon's voice came out low. At Jin-cheon's question, Marquess Gaun inclined his head slightly and answered.
"That is correct. Though it is an old matter, the Imperial General Mobilization Order has until now been issued only in wars between empires. At that time, the number mobilized began at three hundred thousand in the early stages, and by the war's end, it swelled to a million."
"Mmm."
The moment the figure of one million was mentioned, shadows began to spread across the commanders' faces once more. It was a fact they, too, had known—but back then they had learned it as a historical fact about wars between empires, whereas now, that number of troops was massing toward their own nations. That was the difference.
"Three to as many as ten times our forces."
Jin-cheon's murmur escaped him. In purely arithmetic terms, three to ten times was correct. In the annals of actual warfare, there had certainly been instances of defeating an enemy ten times one's own number. But such figures had emerged only from small-scale battles......
"Even looking at the siege battle fought not long ago, the short preparation period was clearly evident."
Yeon Hwi-garam spoke cautiously.
"Short it may have been, but we repelled them because we knew in advance and prepared, did we not?"
As though somewhat dissatisfied with Hwi-garam's manner of speech, Duke Baikal retorted.
Yet Jin-cheon and the commanders of the Gauri camp were each nodding their heads. Their expressions showed agreement with Hwi-garam's opinion.
"The combat preparations themselves were certainly thorough, but because the primary enemy had from the outset been fixed as North Roselin, there were limitations in many respects, such as the fortress's position and scale."
"Hmm."
At Hwi-garam's subsequent answer, Duke Baikal could add nothing further and only let out a long breath. Hwi-garam was not wrong.
"Indeed, since not even the empires have ever fought a war to the very end, it will be the same for any nation. Even so, the soldiers of Roselin fought well."
Duke Ken of the Malin Kingdom smiled wryly as he comforted Duke Baikal and King Alsein.
"What did you just say?"
The reaction to Duke Ken's consolation came, unexpectedly, from elsewhere. Jin-cheon, who had been staring at the map, raised his head, fixed his gaze upon Duke Ken, and asked a question.
"I said the soldiers of Roselin fought well......"
At Jin-cheon's pressing question, Duke Ken carefully retraced his thoughts, wondering whether there had been an issue with his remark, and answered.
"What do you mean, that there has been no war fought to the very end?"
As though voicing Jin-cheon's question for him, Hwi-garam asked, and Duke Ken tilted his head as if he did not understand why the question was necessary.
"Why, is that not obvious?"
"Explain in detail."
Duke Ken, who had opened his mouth as though it were obvious, instead looked baffled by Jin-cheon's serious reaction and began his explanation.
"There have certainly been titanic wars between the empires on this continent."
"And?"
"They were wars in which the mobilized forces reached nearly a million, vast armies committed to the field. The spark of war was always the Holy Empire's invasion. Ah, though in the First War, it was an alliance between the Maritime Empire and the Federal Empire, of course. But however mighty the Holy Empire may be, when the Federal Empire and the Maritime Empire join hands, it becomes difficult to contend with. For that reason, the wars always came to a halt under the name of truce."