WeTried Translations

Translator: Nemui

Editor: Nemui

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◈ Friedrich's Battlefield

Chapter 182: The Siege of Chatellerault Fortress (1)

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The defensive siege at Chatellerault Fortress under Cecilia's command was close to its limit.

Judging that their morale had fallen completely, Yorgos Caruna's army began a full-scale offensive. Although they endured two fierce attacks, Cecilia's side had suffered over five hundred dead and wounded. Their remaining strength was below two thousand five hundred.

They had inflicted twice as many losses on the enemy, but the great army still approaching nine thousand remained a threat. The officers and soldiers were beginning to lose their will to fight amid the prolonged battle, and the negative effect of mental exhaustion was greater than the numerical losses.

In that situation, the enemy began preparing for a third offensive. This time, they might finally be unable to hold out, and the fortress could fall.

If the reinforcements from the Kingdom of Edelstein had defeated the rebel army they were facing and were heading toward Cecilia, it was about time she could hope for their arrival. However, she did not know the details of their situation.

Messenger hawks could not be used unless the hawk understood the direction it should go and had some grasp of the geography. The Edelstein reinforcements could not use hawks in the foreign land of Caruna. The hawk Cecilia possessed had been sent out as a gamble, with only a rough direction indicated in the hope that it would find the reinforcements, but soon afterward it was shot down by enemy arrows and lost.

The fortress's two gates were blocked by the enemy encirclement, and the messengers who departed through the secret escape route had not returned, perhaps hunted down by the enemy. In other words, Cecilia and her men had no contact with the outside, did not know the situation of the reinforcements, and could only endure.

Cecilia stood in the defensive tower located directly above the fortress's south gate, which faced the enemy main force. If the general herself did not stand on the very front line of battle, they could no longer maintain morale and order.

"My lady. Our defensive preparations are also complete."

"I see. Good work. How are the officers and soldiers?"

"...I would say they are one step short of despair."

At Rose's awkward report, Cecilia smiled wryly.

"Ha ha ha, if they are not yet despairing, then it is still all right. We will manage somehow."

Cecilia had no doubt that the reinforcements from the Kingdom of Edelstein would make it in time.

Because the commander of those reinforcements was Count Friedrich Hosenfeld. Before being Cecilia's younger brother, he was an exceptionally talented wise general. The living hero of Edelstein. There was no way he would be held up forever by a mere rebel army centered on militia.

The reinforcements he led would certainly come. Even if they arrived at this very moment...

"My lady! Countess Fargier!"

At that moment, an officer came running along the wall from the eastern side of the fortress, stopped before the tower where Cecilia stood, and skipped even the salute as he reported.

"An army of about two thousand has arrived from the east! It flies the crest flag of House Hosenfeld!"

"...So he made it after all. As expected of a hero."

Looking down as the officers and soldiers who heard the report burst into excitement, Cecilia murmured. When she turned beside her, even Rose, whose expression had remained stiff until now before the crisis, showed relief on her face.

Cecilia descended the tower and went to the officers and soldiers waiting on the wall, prepared for defensive battle. Looking east, she could indeed see an army of about two thousand approaching beneath a flag marked with a nasturtium flower design.

"Reinforcements! Rejoice, everyone! The living hero of Edelstein is on our side this time!"

At Cecilia's bright call, the knights and soldiers answered with cheers.

In terms of scale, they were only about two thousand. In total strength, the enemy side was still clearly larger. Even so, the reinforcements whose arrival had been uncertain had certainly appeared, and that alone restored the faltering morale so much that it looked transformed.

It was only a temporary recovery of morale. If they did not show a chance of victory here, the officers and soldiers would soon become timid again. But if they had regained the will to fight even once like this, that was enough. If they coordinated with the reinforcements from the Kingdom of Edelstein, even a great army near nine thousand was not such a frightening enemy.

After all, the one she would coordinate with was Friedrich. He was her younger brother, who thought and commanded an army the same way she did.

......

"Your Majesty, what shall we do?"

"...Call Zated and the others back. Leave only five scouting knights on the north gate side, and order them to report if the Arelia royal family's army sorties from there."

While looking at the new enemy approaching from the northeast, Yorgos answered his subordinate's question.

To block the north gate of the fortress, prevent the enemy from fleeing, and act as a detached force to contain them when the main force launched an offensive, two thousand of the remaining nine thousand soldiers had been moving separately. The one commanding them was Yorgos's confidant, Zated.

If possible, he had wanted to take the fortress before the new enemy appeared, but now time had run out. Since he could not afford to divide the army and lose his numerical advantage, he would call Zated back as well and prepare for the coming battle.

According to reconnaissance, the new enemy unit numbered about two thousand. While that enemy unit took position on a gentle hill and organized its formation, the detached force led by Zated quickly returned.

"Your Majesty. I have returned."

"Good work... Now, we will fight enemies in two directions."

Yorgos welcomed Zated, who saluted as he approached, and spoke.

By clearing the fortress's north gate, if the Arelia royal family's army escaped and fled north with its tail between its legs, that was fine. He would drive off the new enemy unit, which numbered less than a quarter of his own side, pursue the fleeing Arelia royal family's army as appropriate, trample the old territory of the Kingdom of Arelia, and then move to secure his foothold in the Caruna region.

If the suppression army that had received royal orders returned in flight without suppressing the rebellion, and if even the old kingdom territory was stepped into, the authority of the Arelia royal family would fall to the ground. Nobles who had followed the royal family since olden days would also defect, and the Kingdom of Arelia would collapse. Yorgos, having restored the Kingdom of Caruna, would send his army there and bring each noble house under his command. After conquering the Kingdom of Arelia, something even his ancestors had never achieved, he would expand farther around him and build a great unified state.

That said, things would probably not go that conveniently. The Arelia royal family's army would not flee. It would cooperate with the reinforcements from the Kingdom of Edelstein and challenge him in an attempt to defeat him.

However, the enemy's combined strength was less than five thousand. About half of his own. Moreover, he had hunted down the enemy's messenger hawk and scouts, so the commanders of both enemy units should not be able to communicate satisfactorily.

He understood who the enemy generals were. The one leading the Arelia royal family's army was Countess Cecilia Fargier. And according to local knights who saw the raised flag, the one leading the reinforcements from the Kingdom of Edelstein was a man named Count Friedrich Hosenfeld.

Both were apparently formidable enemies famed as wise generals, but no matter how wise, they could not coordinate functionally without discussing their plans. He would overwhelm them with numbers and defeat them one by one.

"Let us adorn history with victory. If we do, the restoration of the Kingdom of Caruna and control of this land after the battle will proceed more quickly. Everyone will submit to the strong king who has returned from beyond the sea."

"Exactly as you say. We will fight hard and offer Your Majesty a great victory."

As he exchanged words with Zated, strength entered Yorgos's hands.

One more step. With one more step, the restoration of the Kingdom of Caruna would truly be achieved. His lifelong wish would be fulfilled. Beyond that waited a glorious future.

......

"My lord. Battle formation is complete. Give the word whenever you wish."

"...Then let us begin."

Friedrich answered Gregor and looked over the officers and soldiers arrayed before him.

The Ferdinand Regiment. Noble territorial forces. Mercenaries. All were people who made war their trade. Many had experienced the decisive battle against the Kingdom of Arelia.

"...Officers and soldiers."

Friedrich began speaking to the silent army.

"From here, we will fight to save the Kingdom of Arelia. Once, we were enemies. But the times have changed. Now the Kingdom of Edelstein and the Kingdom of Arelia have entered an age where they face a new enemy together... What matters is not who we fight beside. It is what we fight for. Homeland. Home village. House and property. Family. Honor or reward. Whatever each of your purposes may be, that is fine. Even if your purposes differ, the threat standing before them now is one... It is that army. An enemy that has invaded western Ludna, schemes to destroy what we want to protect, and writhes to seize what we want to obtain. To annihilate the enemy of us all, let us fight together here today!"

The admonition of the living hero of Edelstein. Encouragement spoken directly by him. The knights and soldiers who received those words answered with strength. The hill where the army of about two thousand stood shook with a battle cry filled with spirit.

Then the two-thousand-strong army, the reinforcements of the Kingdom of Edelstein, descended the hill while maintaining formation. In response, part of Yorgos Caruna's army began to move.

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