Chapter 316
Chapter 316
Iron Emperor — Chapter 316
Watching Eulji's face, Mu-deok continued with a benevolent smile.
"Long ago, when the Later Han drove an army of over a hundred thousand against us, our Gauri Daedaero Myeongnimdapbu stopped them. When the great Han army was exhausted and turned back, Myeongnimdapbu personally led a few thousand cavalry forward and annihilated the Later Han's great army at Jwawon."
It was as if he were telling an old story to a granddaughter. Eulji listened quietly to Mu-deok's tale.
"In that battle, the hundred thousand-strong Zhonghua troops who had invaded were nearly annihilated, and from that defeat the nation called Han walked the path to ruin. When Myeongnimdapbu personally rallied the troops and marched out, he was already more than a hundred years old."
"More than a hundred years old?"
"Hoho, indeed. Compared to that, a man not yet a hundred is not merely young—he's still in his robust prime, is he not?"
The story of Myeongnimdapbu, Gauri's first Daedaero who brought about Han's destruction, became a fresh lesson for Eulji, and she found Mu-deok's telling of such tales all the more reassuring.
* * *
"A large monster has been detected to the front!"
The wizards, who had been conserving their Mana, were now squeezing out every last reserve as they flew about scouting the surroundings and shouting warnings. As the unit picked up speed, the monsters’ attention naturally began to converge on them.
Fortunately, perhaps because striking the goblin village had had some effect, the first day of their dash passed almost without incident. The unceasing monster raids that had assailed them every single day had stopped.
But as their pace increased, petty monster attacks began intermittently harrying their rapid march.
More than that, as if prompted, Gauri soldiers had begun attacking in groups of several dozen. This confirmed Marquis Luchia's suspicion that they had been discovered.
Gauri was desperate to delay them as much as possible.
The attacking troops fought as if none of them had any thought of retreat until the last man, desperate to slow the Holy Empire's advance. Every time they threw themselves forward in a grim frenzy, the Holy Empire's march grew all the more frantic.
In the end, they drew on the magical power they had been conserving.
Thwock!
"Gurk!"
"Over there!"
A bolt flew into the chest of a wizard who was flying through the sky casting spells. The wizard let out a brief scream and plummeted.
"Again?"
Marquis Luchia's perpetually cold brow furrowed.
Soon a disturbance broke out, and three or four fireballs flew toward the direction from which the shot had come.
But considering the five wizards who had been killed so far, it was hardly a consolation.
"Increase the pace of the whole army even further."
"However, the men are already exhausted."
Earl Pelloman opposed Marquis Luchia's order. It was understandable—out of the forty-thousand-strong advance force, over two thousand soldiers had already fallen behind.
"Do you not understand why the enemy is so desperate?"
"......Understood."
At Marquis Luchia's brief remark, Earl Pelloman could offer no further opposition. If they merely meant to slow them down, striking and pulling back at will would have sufficed.
But the Gauri soldiers were not doing that. They did not strike and pull back—they clung on and dragged at them until the very last man.
"It may be painful now, but this is how we win the war quickly and with fewer difficulties."
At Marquis Luchia's words, Earl Pelloman gritted his teeth. Following the orders that came down, the exhausted soldiers' rage was turned upon the Gauri men who desperately clung to them.
Chapter 106 — Those Who Must Break Through and Those Who Must Stop Them
Above the walls of Gaemun Mountain Fortress, silver light shimmered like embroidery, reflecting the sunlight. In contrast to that beauty, the Aura emanating from it was fiercely grim.
Whose blood did the sharply honed spears and swords stand ready to drink?
"Balwisaja!"
A somber voice reached him amid hurried footsteps.
"Report."
Geom Muhyul's voice was tinged with disquiet—as though he had already guessed what would be said.
"They have now closed to within a full day and night's march."
"Those who have returned?"
"......They all carried out the duties entrusted to them."
"Is that so......"
The soldiers who had gone forward to pinpoint the Holy Empire army's position and at the same time slow their pace already numbered over five hundred. Yet not a single one had returned.
The one who had given those orders was Muhyul.
The North Roselin force that had invaded several years before had numbered seventy thousand, but the situation now was different.
Back then, they had known the enemy was coming and had all their defenses prepared, and Gauri's full strength had been present.
Now, however, the main force was nearly entirely drawn away. Moreover, of the fortresses that had been built aside from Gaemun Mountain Fortress, few had been completed.
Gaemun Mountain Fortress had been constructed first because its location was a natural fortress, a position where a small number could hold off a large force. The other fortresses had been built to present an outward show to dignitaries from other nations passing in and out of Gauri, or had been completed only in part.
With time short and the population limited, what could be accomplished was necessarily constrained.
In truth, such reasoning had also played a role when Go Jin-cheon had led the troops out. It was a cruel calculus for Roselin, but it was in every respect better to meet the enemy in Roselin, which was already devastated, than to meet them on Gauri territory.
Thus, through a firm alliance with the Haian Kingdom and the Roselin-Malin Kingdom, Gauri created a buffer zone against the empires and avoided direct contact with hostile forces. For such a Gauri, the Holy Empire's strike from the rear was an unthinkable and gravest crisis.
"General Eulji Buru is on his way here now. The Daedaero has already set out as well. No matter what happens, we must hold."
"That is so."
It was a vow spoken to himself.
If this place falls, the capital is doomed.
Of course, no matter how hastily built the fortresses were, clearly the enemy would not be able to pierce through them with ease. But the situation was one of insufficient troops. Even if a fortress existed, if the troops to hold it were lacking, it would ultimately collapse.
Haaap!
At the sound of spirited shouts, Muhyul turned his head and looked inside the fortress.
Old men and youths clad in simple leather armor were thrusting spears.
The commoners who had lived outside the fortress had been drawn inside and then ordered to retreat further to the rear. But the elders, saying they had little time left to live and what was the point of running away, had remained.
The old men, and even children too young to be called youths, clamored to stay.
In the end, save for the very youngest children, he had made them all take up weapons.
Even so, he had struggled to send away the women who insisted on staying until the very end. It was much the same as having everyone remain except the women and children who would carry on the families. Seeing that sight, soldiers burned with fighting spirit toward the approaching Holy Empire army and honed and polished their weapons.
"We will defend it."
Watching these volunteers who, though unskilled, had hearts devoted to defending this place that were second to no soldier's, Muhyul renewed his vow again and again.
* * *
The ground trembled.
Birds took flight, and even monsters stalking passing travelers dared not approach. Leading the column that raised clouds of dust with massive vibrations was none other than Eulji Buru.
Having run without rest for days and nights, Buru, galloping on horseback, and the soldiers riding in countless wagons were covered from head to toe in pale dust. Beside them ran riderless horses, keeping pace.
"Prrrng! Prrng!"
"Hm."
As an exhausted note sounded from the horse's mouth, Buru unhesitatingly threw himself onto a riderless horse running alongside. At nearly the same moment, the mounted soldiers around him likewise shifted their bodies mid-gallop and transferred to other horses.
Eating while riding, sleeping while riding.......
The horses harnessed to the wagons were also replaced with fresh horses while still in motion.
The unburdened horses quickly steadied their breathing and began to run.
But unlike the horses, the soldiers' faces were plainly marked with exhaustion. Yet far from voicing their weariness, none of them so much as opened their mouths, silently staring at the seemingly endless forest path ahead.
Like ascetics doing penance, like a lady yearning and waiting for her departed love.
'A little faster.'
Those were the words lingering in everyone's minds.
"Hyah!"
A cry urging on the newly mounted horse burst from Buru's lips. Then, as if by prearranged signal, soldiers all around shouted to their horses.
"Gee-yah!"
Run, they meant.
"Gee-yah-ah!"
Please, just run.
As if understanding their desperate wish, the horses whinnied loudly and picked up speed. But had they pushed them too hard?
Clatter-BANG!
"Ugh!"
Amid a great jolt, a brief burst of soldiers' screams rang out. A cart had struck a large rock, bounced, and flipped over.
In an instant the carts and horses following swiftly swerved aside, but a few soldiers were struck by carts and horses, their bodies mangled into rags.
Yet none looked back.
A few in the rear merely spurred their horses to handle the situation; Buru, naturally, and the soldiers riding in the carts, none of them turned their eyes to their comrades' ghastly state.
You might expect resentment toward comrades who rode on without a backward glance, but from the soldiers who had been flung down, groaning, no such thing could be found.
They only looked at the broken cart in frustration. That too was brief. The soldiers whose bodies were whole quickly latched onto the carts that were lagging behind. Soldiers with broken legs and shattered arms wept thick tears as they watched the column recede into the distance and began the task of gathering the dead.
Their war had already begun the moment they set out on the road.
* * *
RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
The red Three-legged Crow flag snapped as though it might take flight.
Well-appointed silver Chalgap clashed without pause, clanking. Hair bound tight slipped out from under helmets and streamed in the wind.
"Return now."
Riding alongside her, the one clad in dazzling gold Chalgap spoke in an even voice.
"Dae Mu-deok, please let me go just a little further."
"......."
A soft, youthful woman's voice emerged from beneath the golden helmet.
"Just a little further."
The woman once more entreated Dae Mu-deok, who raced along on horseback in gold Chalgap.
"As the Yeolhu wills......"
"Thank you."
Eulji thanked Mu-deok.
She had come to see off those heading for the battlefield.
Eulji wished she could ride on like this a little further, all the way to the battlefield. But no one knew better than she that it could not be.
That was precisely why she was frustrated.
At a time when everyone was galloping forward, staking the nation's fate, all she could do was ride alongside them in this manner to bid them farewell. Her tightly pressed lips thus spoke for her heart.
'Lady Yeolhu.'
Watching Eulji's appearance, Mu-deok felt a corner of his heart swell with emotion.
What monarch in this world could show such a sight!
With the nation’s very survival at stake, what ruler could trust their vassals enough not to mobilize their own forces?
And a Yeolhu who, even with the enemy's threat before her eyes, showed no trace of fear. Though she was a woman, her appearance of grieving that she could not advance onto the battlefield was kindling a fire in the hearts not only of Dae Mu-deok but of all the soldiers following behind.
Mu-deok spurred his horse a little closer to Eulji's side.
"Lady Yeolhu, that Hwandudaedo you wear at your side—may this humble servant wield it?"
"Mu-deok."
Eulji's eyes wavered at his words, which passed calmly through the pounding of hooves. Seeing that expression, Mu-deok smiled like an aged grandfather gazing upon his granddaughter.