WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: Abood

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◈ Friedrich's Battlefield

Chapter 117: The Siege of Arnsberg Fortress (1)

The 1,200 soldiers of the Kingdom of Edelstein barricaded within Arnsberg fortress and the 2,000 soldiers of the Kingdom of Arelia surrounding it continued their standoff.

For Joseph Obsidian, charged with the fortress’s defense, taking the offensive was not an option.

On the enemy’s side, near the western gate stood about 1,200 men under Countess Cecilia Fargiere, equal in number to his own force. On the eastern gate, nearly 800 of the Armor of the King, the Arelia Kingdom’s finest elite.

Considering the quality of those troops, even if he committed everything he hadو including conscriptsو it was uncertain whether he could fight one side to a draw.

They could defend the walls and gates, but for any portion of their soldiers to sortie from the fortress and claim victory was extremely difficult.

As for forces outside the fortress, the militia of the western royal domains could not be relied upon. Most of them were uneducated commoners.

Once conscripted, they would fight bravely to protect their homes, but they lacked the ability to assemble on their own and act in formation without professional command.

Among them were some retired knights, but even they could not operate effectively in the present turmoil. To gather these scattered men into units of a thousand, organize them, and establish supply lines would take considerable time.

As for the armies of the western noble domains, their duty in an emergency was to secure the defense of the northern plains.

Even after news of the siege of Arnsberg reached them, they would surely have marched north to guard against further Arelian surprise attacks.

To divert their strength southward here would be too great a risk, and besides, their slow mobilization meant that even if called, they would not reach this fortress quickly.

Thus, the fortress garrison could do nothing but hold its defenses and wait for reinforcements such as the Ferdinand Regiment to arrive.

But perhaps because the enemy had prepared their offensive beforehand, it was their reinforcements that reached the field first. On the day after the surprise attack, a battalion-sized force bearing the banner of the Montesque family arrived, bringing with it supplies.

Over the following days, reinforcements numbering in the hundreds continued to come one after another. These included not only royal troops from the Loire region, but also levies from noble domains and conscripts.

The enemy’s total strength swiftly approached three thousand. Yet still they made no move to attack. By the fourth day of the standoff, however, an entirely unexpected development occurred.

“…Those are not conscripts. There are women, old men, even children among them. Are they… our own people?”

Having received word of movement in the enemy camp to the west, Joseph Obsidian stood atop the walls and frowned as he looked out.

The group numbered in the hundreds. Among them were some light infantryو likely northern mercenaries, the same kind that had invaded the kingdom’s territory the year before.

But the rest were clearly unlike the conscripts the enemy had fielded until now. They bore no arms, and many were not even grown men.

It looked very much as though they had been seized from local villages and driven here. If they had been taken from the villages around the fortress, then that meant they were citizens of the Kingdom of Edelstein.

“Wh-why are my wife and son down there!”

At that moment, one of the conscripts on the wall cried out in a voice close to a scream.

“My mother and daughter are there too!”

“Damn it! Are they planning to use them as hostages!?”

The soldiers strained their eyes toward the enemy camp, and those who spotted their own families shouted in turn. The rest cursed bitterly, frustration written on their faces.

“…I can see my wife and younger sister as well. My village is half a day’s march from here.”

A young knight standing beside Joseph Obsidian spoke in a choked voice.

“Cursed fiends… how vile.”

Staring at the Edelstein citizens lined up on the battlefield, and at Countess Cecilia Fargiere approaching them, Joseph muttered with an expression harsher than ever.

・・・・・・

The course of events following the encirclement of Arnsberg fortress had, for the most part, proceeded just as Cecilia had anticipated.

Using the same method as the royal elite, the garrison in the Loire region had secretly stockpiled supplies under the guise of winter reserves. As soon as Cecilia’s forces began the siege, they transported these stores to the front.

As might be expected of the veteran Marquis Robert Montesquieu and his command, their actions had been exceptionally swift.

Thereafter, the units that arrived by the hundreds, bringing more supplies, simply joined the encirclement as reinforcements.

For the time being, further provisioning until the fortress was taken could be accomplished from the settlements around it.

Normally, procuring supplies in enemy borderlands was difficult, but with the hostile army shut up inside the fortress, there was little fear of serious resistance to looting. That made things simple.

On the fourth day of the siege, Cecilia welcomed the belatedly arriving jaeger unit.

“Lord Velec, you have my thanks. I regret forcing such an unpleasant duty upon you.”

“…Think nothing of it. It was my assignment. As you commanded, we targeted the families and relatives of enemy soldiers and conscripts, and brought back as many as possible.”

The jaeger unit that had seized citizens of the Kingdom of Edelstein from the villages around the fortress was commanded by Baron Ivar Velec. In response to Cecilia’s words of appreciation, spoken from a higher rank both in nobility and in command, he answered with a concise report.

Separate from the combat force led by Cecilia and Patrick, the jaeger unit had hidden itself along the mountain range while advancing south. Around the time the main force began encircling Arnsberg fortress, they carried out this mission.

Most of the knights and soldiers of the Hildegard Regiment garrisoned in the fortress were natives of the western royal demesne of Edelstein. If the surrounding villages were searched, one could find their spouses and children, their parents, siblings, and other relatives.

Cecilia had ordered Ivar and his men to raid those villages and seize the kin of the kingdom’s soldiers. In the space of a few days, they had gathered sufficient numbers.

“With this many collected, it will be enough for the next stratagem. You have fulfilled your duty wellو rest easy for today.”

Dismissing Ivar and the jaeger unit, Cecilia turned her gaze upon the Edelstein citizens. Women, children, and the elderly, all alike showed only fear.

“Now then, citizens of the Kingdom of Edelstein. First, allow me to apologize for bringing you to a battlefield like this. But I ask you to be at ease. At the very least, our forces of the Kingdom of Arelia will do you no harm… You are not hostages. We ask only for your cooperation. Please understand that.”

Even as Cecilia spoke, the fear did not leave the faces of the Edelstein citizens. If anything, confusion was added to their expressions.

Her words were not lies. Cecilia had no intention of using the families of enemy knights and soldiers as shields while launching an attack.

She would not place them in direct combat. Nor would she demand that the fortress surrender or try to incite betrayal by threatening their kin. Even she was not so shameless as that.

“All I ask is that you perform a simple task. Once it is done, you will be released at once and escorted safely home. It should take only a few days. During that time, your food, shelter, and safety will be guaranteed… Now then, let us begin right away.”

With her usual gentle smile, and in a tone as casual as a merchant calling out to day laborers, Cecilia made her declaration.

・・・・・・

As Cecilia addressed the seized citizens of Edelstein and set them to their task, Marquis Robert Montesque watched from behind.

“…To think they truly went so far as to drag in the people of the enemy. For soldiers of the proud Kingdom of Arelia, there is no dignity left at all. Why the young lord ever permitted such a scheme, I cannot imagine.”

“Compared with Your Lordship’s younger days, the knights of Arelia live in a time when victory itself is prized above honor. Not only Countess Fargiere, but even His Majesty the King, both are of a new generation, seen from your perspective…”

“Silence. Do not speak of me as an old man.”

“With respect, my lord, it is a fact that you are advanced in years.”

His cheeky adjutant answered with a mild, wry smile, unflinching even under the glare of Robert’s single eye.

Young though she was, she was indeed her father’s heir. Robert snorted and turned his gaze aside from the current adjutant, daughter of the trusted aide who had once ridden with him on the battlefield.

He was now an old general, and the times had changed. Both of her words had been true, and so he said nothing further.

In Robert’s younger days, there had been far more pride among soldiers on the battlefield. The old spirit of war had lingered still. To challenge one’s enemy as openly as possible was considered a virtue, and commanders would even declare their names before battle.

For better or worse, the western continent had changed over the past decades. Along with the scale of battles, the profits at stake had grown larger. No longer were wars fought over family honor or small tracts of land, but for the possession of entire kingdoms.

If one were to ask who had ushered in such an age, it was none other than Robert’s former liege, the late King of Arelia.

With that shift, merciless victory gradually came to be valued above honor. Knights had not lost their pride or sense of courtesy, but the way they displayed it had changed, and they no longer clung to notions of how victory must be won.

He knew well enough that these were the ramblings of an old man left behind by the times. Even so, Robert could not help but lament.

“Even so, this stratagem would be considered a shameful example, even by the standards of this age.”

“To speak plainly, I feel the same… But the merits gained through it, along with the ill repute, will both fall upon Countess Fargiere. You need not trouble yourself over it, my lord.”

Though he nodded at his adjutant’s words, a crease remained on Robert’s brow.

Countess Cecilia Fargiere. For all her intelligence and achievements, Robert could never quite take a liking to her.

Footnotes:

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