Hargen Pass
A few days must have passed.
We arrived at Hargen Pass with a combined force of seven thousand men.
Five thousand from the revolutionary army and two thousand from the royal guard.
The number of mages we brought with support from the Tower was also considerable.
None matched the caliber of Celine or Natalia, yet every one of them was a precious asset.
Especially in a naval battle that could decide the course of the entire war.
Once inside Hargen, we met the commander.
“……Leon.”
“It has been a long time, General.”
Walter von Albrecht.
A general from a military family that had guarded Nicator for generations.
Walter stroked his beard, looking somewhat awkward.
“I heard the news from the capital. But I cannot simply abandon this pass.”
“You made the right choice.”
“Should I start calling you Your Majesty now?”
“Do as you please, General.”
“Then, Leon. You must have heard the reports.”
“Yes.”
The allied coalition was marching west to seize Hargen Pass.
Walter muttered with a grave expression.
“The real problem is their navy. No matter how impregnable Hargen Pass may be, we cannot hold it without naval support.”
“You need not worry about that.”
Hargen Pass was not a fortress wedged between mountains.
It blocked the route between the Great River to the north and the mountain range to the south.
That was why control of the river was equally vital.
“Theresia.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Theresia handed me a document.
I passed it to Walter.
“We have requisitioned a large number of merchant vessels with the backing of the trading companies.”
“Merchant ships… but in battle—”
“Do not worry.”
I lit my pipe.
Walter followed suit and lit his own cigarette.
Chik—
As smoke curled upward, I pointed toward the line of mages.
“They are our hope.”
“……If it is you, I will trust it. Leave the pass to me. Hargen is invincible.”
“I believe you.”
“Good.”
When we stepped outside, the garrison soldiers all turned to look at me.
“The Shield of the Empire.”
“No, he is our Emperor now!”
“The king of the army the Emperor abandoned has come.”
I heard their murmurs.
I waved casually and headed toward another building.
It had been assigned as my quarters.
I would not stay long.
Before long, I would need to inspect the navy.
“Celine. Natalia.”
“Yes.”
“What do you think of this battle plan?”
I handed them a sheet of paper.
It contained a map of the Great River and my proposed method of employing the mages.
Celine frowned.
“Dividing the lower mages among the ships and having them fire repeatedly over the same waters… Are you planning to use mages as artillery?”
“Exactly.”
“You have thrown the dignity of mages to the dogs.”
Celine studied the paper for a long moment before speaking again.
“But this… With this, we will win without fail.”
“Excellent.”
Natalia nodded silently.
“Maribel.”
“Yes?”
“What are the characteristics of the Pharos Empire’s fleet?”
“Well… Their hulls are built for open-sea navigation rather than river sailing, I suppose?”
“How does it feel to fight against your homeland?”
“Even if it is my homeland… Ahaha.”
The Pharos Empire was an empire in name only.
Its actual power was no different from that of any other kingdom.
The only difference was that Pharos was an island nation.
They had declared themselves emperors from within their island.
The surrounding kingdoms had been unable to topple Pharos’s powerful navy, so they had no choice but to accept the title.
And above all else, Pharos’s true nature was this.
“Before the Nicator Empire invaded, they were constantly divided and fighting among themselves.”
Maribel continued.
“Pharos is a country that experienced unification for the first time through foreign invasion. There is no real patriotism in a place like that.”
“Pathetic.”
Katharina glared at Maribel.
Maribel replied with perfect nonchalance.
“Well, Pharos and Lishumark are different, after all.”
“……That is enough.”
“Hey, stop fighting.”
“……”
At my intervention, the two fell silent.
“In any case, we rest here today. Tomorrow we head straight for the port on the Great River. Everyone, get some proper rest.”
“Yes.”
While we rested, the allied coalition reached Hargen Pass.
The battle began the next day.
* * *
The Saintess, Claire de Lumiere, stepped out of her tent.
To the west stood a black fortress.
Hargen Pass.
The great fortress of Nicator that had never once allowed itself to fall.
But its glory was about to end.
From the highest vantage point, Claire surveyed the coalition forces.
The legions of Eperian, clad entirely in white.
The heavy infantry of the Demetrien Kingdom, the Muzol.
The combined knight orders of Lishumark.
The light cavalry corps of Casandrof.
And the Pharos fleet sailing the Great River, horns blaring.
Claire raised one hand and clenched it into a fist.
“Destroy Nicator!”
“Destroy Nicator!!”
The soldiers echoed her cry.
The entire coalition shouted the slogan that defined them.
“Destroy Nicator!”
The soldiers began to move.
The battle was about to commence.
Claire knew one thing for certain.
The fall of Hargen Pass depended entirely on the performance of the Pharos navy.
* * *
The moment the coalition began pounding on Hargen Pass, we withdrew the mages and revolutionary troops from the fortress and moved to the nearest port to the west.
Requisitioned merchant ships were anchored there in a pitiful display.
Approximately twenty-five merchant vessels had been seized.
Another fifteen ships came from the original Nicator Imperial Navy.
Even after scraping together everything available, we had fewer than forty ships.
There was no helping it.
Yulisian had not only ruined the fifty-thousand-strong standing army.
He had also sent the once-invincible Great River fleet east, where it was defeated piecemeal.
This was the result.
For the first time since its creation, Hargen Pass faced a true crisis.
“Theresia. How many ships does the Pharos Empire fleet have?”
“Over three hundred.”
“Perfect.”
“Perfect?”
“It is perfect for achieving an overwhelming victory.”
“……Your Majesty sometimes seems to have an excessively high opinion of yourself.”
“But it is a fact.”
Maribel pushed up her glasses with her middle finger, so I flicked her forehead as usual.
Thwack—!
“Stop with the childish pranks, Maribel.”
“……Yes, yes.”
Maribel climbed aboard a ship with a sulky expression.
I led the other four onto the largest merchant ship, which we had designated as the flagship.
I assigned twenty mages to each of the forty ships.
I also distributed the revolutionary troops according to the size of each vessel.
These men had originally been the Empire’s elite soldiers.
Of course, they were also skilled at sailing.
“By the way, why are we putting mages on the ships?”
“His Majesty must have a plan!”
Such conversations could be heard throughout the fleet.
From afar came the faint sound of horns.
Bwooooooo—
It was clearly coming from the Pharos fleet.
They were advancing in tandem with the assault on Hargen Pass.
If we delayed any longer, we would be trapped in the port and unable to act.
“Set sail.”
“Yes.”
Bwooooooo—
Horns sounded from our ships as well.
“All hands, cast off the mooring lines fore and aft!”
“Cast off!”
“Weigh anchor and set sail!”
The mooring lines were released, and the fleet of forty ships departed.
The Great River lived up to its name.
With dozens of mid-river islands scattered throughout, the so-called river was less a river and more a sea filled with narrow waterways.
And that terrain was perfect for a small fleet to defeat a much larger one.
I will be honest.
I had decided to follow the example of Admiral Yi Sun-sin.
The battle I chose as my model was the glorious Battle of Hansando.
I hid twenty-five ships among the islands to the west.
With the remaining fifteen, I advanced eastward.
“Lookout reports enemy fleet approaching from the port bow! Bearing ninety! Distance two kilometers!”
The lookout shouted loudly.
I intended to demonstrate a new technology that did not exist in this world.
“Celine. At two kilometers, can you strike them with magic?”
“Are you even asking?”
“What about the lower mages?”
“We will have to let the enemy come within one kilometer.”
“We will approach to one kilometer.”
The three-hundred-strong fleet slowly drew closer.
I ordered the fifteen ships to drop anchor and hold position.
“Enemy vanguard has entered one kilometer!”
“Open fire!”
It was not truly cannon fire, but the mages casting spells.
I did not care.
In moments like this, the romance mattered most.
Maribel stood beside me and explained.
“Pharos naval warfare ultimately comes down to close combat. Using mages was a good choice.”
“I know.”
“Hmph.”
I had not sent out Celine or Natalia.
They were my trump cards, to be used only in a true emergency.
Kwaaang—!!
Poong—!
A thunderous roar erupted from the fifteen ships as boulders rained down on the enemy vessels like cannonballs.
The battle had begun.