The second day of the battle over the capital began and ended in the same way as the first day. It was a scene of the Muozinel army filling the moat, and the Moonlight Knights hindering that at the bare minimum.
Not just the soldiers, but even the commanding officers at each section began to believe that this situation might go on for several days. In reality, even if one considers it from the attacking side’s point of view, there would be no other conclusion but to first bury the moat. Just as Mashas had said several days ago, soldiers can’t fly through the air.
“I wonder whether we can’t open the gate just a bit and go outside after the sun has sunk. Then we could dig out the earth those guys have thrown into the moat.”
“Stop it. If you mistake the direction when leaving the moat, you will end up wandering towards the enemy.”
Even the soldiers had the composure to exchange such jokes. They hospitably received the militia men, who came bringing the meals, too.
Among them, only Mila was glaring at the Muozinel army’s camp with a sullen expression.
──There are no movements that could be called as such inside the camp. It looks like everyone besides the soldiers filling the moat and those transporting the soil is taking a rest. But…
Aren’t they going to start something? That suspicion didn’t disappear. It’s not like she had any basis for it. It’s rather something like intuition. Her hunch as warrior, which had been thoroughly tempered on many battlefields until now, was appealing to Mila to be cautious.
Mila made her way to Mashas together with Lim, and informed him of her thoughts. The elderly Earl, who listened to her, looks at the blond-haired knight standing next to Mila while looking curious.
“Limalisha-dono, you share her opinion?” (Mashas)
“My intuition isn’t as sharp as Lyudmila-sama’s.” (Limalisha)
Lim silently shook her head, but continued while staring directly into Mashas’s eyes.
“However, Lyudmila-sama has experienced far more such battle than I did. I think there’s value in lending her an ear.” (Limalisha)
“Even I have never been surrounded by 100,000 soldiers.” (Lyudmila)
Once Mila said so while adding a bitter smile, Mashas nodded with a serious expression after fixing his eyes on Lim.
“No, I’m also relying on Lyudmila-dono. Besides, a battlefield’s intuition is nothing to be taken lightly. I will have the group led by Lord Olivier standby at the western wall, and ask him to immediately come running if something happens.” (Mashas)
“That’s a big help. Thank you, Lord Mashas.” (Lyudmila)
Mila has heard from Lim and Mashas about the strength of the Navarre Knight Squadron. ‘Above all, they are controlling the western feudal armies and knight squadrons. It should be alright to look forward to their performance.
“What, after all it’s better to laugh about having worried needlessly than lamenting when something happened.” (Mashas)
Thus the two thousand knights led by Olivier, who had been protecting the northern side of the wall until then, were ordered to move to the wall’s west side.
The knights and soldiers, who defended the western side, were delighted about the addition of such reassuring allies, but once they caught sight of Olivier’s group, they couldn’t hide their surprise. The armors, which shone in silver, and the swords hanging at their waists were still fine. But what drew their attention in wonderment were the crossbows Olivier and the other knights were shouldering.
“Lord Olivier, those are…?”
Once of the commanding officers boldly asked. The Navarre Knight Squadron’s leader deputy, who had a handsome face, answered calmly why they were carrying such abominable projectile weapons such as crossbows,
“Of course we brought them along for use. We had the ones sold in the castle town, the ones we received from the Calvados Knight Squadron, and the ones we collected from the enemy in the battle against Sachstein repaired.”
It was a knight from Alsace called Auguste who paid attention to crossbows in the Calvados Knight Squadron. After he lost his life during Melisande’s rebellion, the crossbows prepared in the royal palace by Auguste were left as they are.
That doesn’t mean that Olivier was that close to Auguste. But, he remembered that Roland had evaluated him as honest, reliable man, and that Auguste had sent a letter, where he described in a very long text how much of a trustworthy person Tigre is, at the time when Roland gathered information about Tigre two years ago.
When he had been informed of Auguste’s death by Prime Minister Badouin, Olivier decided to get all the crossbows prepared by him.
“For the Navarre Knight Squadron to rely on such weapons…”
Feelings of disgust quickly spread on the commanding officer’s face who had thrown that question at him. But, without faltering, Olivier indifferently replied,
“The enemy’s numbers amount to more than 100,000. To say nothing of Brune’s very existence depending on the outcome of this battle, but as long as it invites danger by obsessing over foolish honor such as the choice of one’s weapons, the knights of Navarre will give their undivided attention to defeating as many enemies as possible, even while bearing any sort of stigma.” (Olivier)
Several soldiers including the commanding officer drew back in silence. It’s not just Olivier. They were overpowered by the sharp glints in the eyes of all the knights standing behind him.
Without concerning himself any further with those people, Olivier’s group took up position at a place close to the southern wall. One of the knights asked Olivier while tampering with the crossbow in his hands,
“Deputy, we haven’t had any training with crossbows. Is that going to be alright?”
Olivier’s reply to that question was clear-cut.
“The arrows of a crossbow are exclusive arrows called bolts. We don’t have the flexibility to waste them.” (Olivier)
“So you’re saying, learn it during actual combat, right? That’s quite unreasonable, isn’t it?”
“If you point it towards an enemy that might climb the wall, you won’t hit an ally, no matter how much you miss your shot.” (Olivier)
Olivier had also seen the battles at the southern and eastern wall on the first and second day. He understood that just stone throwing would be insufficient.
“Don’t worry. It’s just a stopgap measure until the battle of swords and spears starts.” (Olivier)
Those words – if pushed to say – were for the sake of giving the knights a peace of mind. Olivier had to first get the knights accustomed to crossbows on the mental level.
◎
Third day. Just as Mila had worried, there was a bad development for the Moonlight Knights.
The Muozinel soldiers emerged from their camp while pushing several huge objects with several people.
Mila, who looked down on those things from the southern wall, had thought that Muozinel’s army might have prepared some kind of siege weapon.
Those things, which probably have a length and height of 40 chet (approximately 4 meters), were pitch black and had been smeared with mud all over. Two wheels each, on the left and right side, had been attached. Moreover, ten-odd, thick ropes had been tied to several places. The Muozinel soldiers tightly grasped the ends of those ropes.
All of these Muozinel soldiers were battle slaves. What they had been granted by the army were only big shields for the sake of blocking stones. Their equipment was all over the place, lacking any uniformity.
The soldiers of the Moonlight Knight Army were turning looks filled with bewilderment and vigilance at those objects. Even Lim, who was standing next to Mila, was puzzled about what orders she should give. Even if it’s a siege weapon, it’s one she has never seen before.
In total six of these things had emerged from the camp. While being pushed by Muozinel soldiers, who had been divided into three per object, they slowly advanced towards the southern moat.
“Lyudmila-sama, have you ever seen something like this?” (Limalisha)
Mila didn’t answer Lim’s question which was tinged with anxiety and wariness. While widening her eyes, she glared at the siege weapons and observed them closely.
When she had realized the true identity of these things, the Muozinel soldiers had already come close to the moat.
“No way…!” (Lyudmila)
Groaning with a shocked expression, Mila looked up to Lim with all blood drained from her face.
“Have those destroyed at once! Be it stones, fire or whatever, throw anything at those!” (Lyudmila)
“Please calm down, Lyudmila-sama” (Limalisha)
Although Lim was surprised by Mila’s unusually threatening attitude, she soothed her calmly.
“Just what the heck are those?” (Limalisha)
“You will know right away.” (Lyudmila)
Mila took her eyes off Lim and scowled at the siege weapons on the ground.
The Muozinel soldiers had pushed them ahead of the moat. It seemed as if they were about drop them inside the moat. Those with good eyes could probably see that the expressions of all Muozinel soldiers were colored with nervousness and desperation.
At the moment when they had pushed the objects around 30% across the moat’s edge, the objects inclined heavily. The Muozinel soldiers tightly grasped the bound, thick ropes without a moment’s delay. Even though they were dragged along by the tremendous weight, they eagerly withstood.
The things were carefully lowered to the bottom while scraping along the moat’s edge. At that time everyone atop the wall had realized the true identity of these things.
“Stairs…?”
Someone muttered while looking dumbfounded.
The objects, which the Muozinel soldiers had transported over from the camp and were now lowering towards the moat’s bottom, were wooden stairs with a height of 40 chet, a width of 25 chet, and 25 steps. Although they might be called stairs, they were a simple construct of evergreen oak boards having been affixed to a framework’s surface, but even so they had a weight that wasn’t inferior to any other common siege weapon.
The stairs sank into the moat. A terrifying rumble, which gave one the impression that a giant had stamped, shook the ground, made the atmosphere tremble, and caused goosebumps on the skins of those standing atop the wall. Fine dirt scattered even outside the moat while flashily engulfing the area in a cloud of dust.
The rumbling didn’t end at one time. Another two rumbles reverberated as if overlapping with each other.
“They sure turned up with something foolish…” (Lyudmila)
Sweat is running down on the forehead of Mila who spat that out.
‘It’s probably because I couldn’t sense that the enemy had such an intention after them having thrown soil into the moats yesterday and the day before yesterday. Having said that, I wonder whether there’s really anyone who could have predicted for the enemy to do something like this.
“I’m very sorry. I should have noticed much earlier.” (Limalisha)
After she ordered her soldiers to attack, Lim apologized to Mila with a pale face. But, Mila shook her head.
“It can’t be helped. Those are nothing you’d identify immediately.” (Lyudmila)
At the point when three of the six stairs had been placed at the moat’s bottom, even the soldiers finally grasped the situation. In addition to stones, they threw jute bags filled with plenty of oil and lit torches towards the Muozinel army on the ground in order to reduce the stairs to ashes.
The Zhcted soldiers under Lim’s command shot fire arrows in succession. This surprised the Muozinel soldier who had made light of them, thinking that they likely have no ranged weapons except for stones.
There were soldiers holding big shields around the ones who pushed the stairs. They tried to block the rain of stones, oil, and fire by holding up the big shields over their heads, but leaving the stones aside, they didn’t get away with the other two.
The big shields of the Muozinel army are made out of wood and have a layer of animal pelts on their surface. If sparks of torches or fire arrows hit places drenched in the oil of the jute bags, they will catch fire all to quickly.
The flames spread to the clothes and hair of the Muozinel soldiers. The soldiers, who had their bodies wrapped up in flames, screamed and thrashed around on the ground. There were some who died after falling into the moat, and others who increased the casualties by grabbing at their comrades with their bodies aflame, looking for help.
Oil puddles were created all over, and flames danced on top of those. The rising, black smoke was scattered by the wind, causing it to hover above the ground like a fog.
The Muozinel soldiers, who didn’t get burned by the fires, barely stopped at the last moment, only a few steps away from the moat. That’s not because of bravery or a sense of duty. It’s because they were told that those, who distanced themselves too far from the moat will be considered as having run away. If they ran away, they would be mercilessly shot by their allies’ arrows as battle slaves.
Due to the severe attacks of the Moonlight Knights, the soldiers, who had been pushing the three stairs in the back, stopped advancing. They informed Ekrem, who was giving commands in the rear, that the shields wouldn’t be of any use.
Having listened to the report, Ekrem coldly ordered,
“Smear mud and dirt on the shields’ surface. There’s as much water and soil as you need, right? Don’t you stupid battle slaves understand for what reason you have covered the stairs with mud?” (Ekrem)
This order displayed quite a bit of an effect. The big shields became less burnable even when basked in flames, and the number of Muozinel soldiers getting injured by burns visibly decreased as well.
It’s not like they lost their fear of fire, but for them it was probably welcome for the obstruction that impeded their work to be gone. For the sake of escaping this situation, where stones, arrows, fire, and oil incessantly poured down on them, they had no option but to finish their task as quickly as possible.
On the other hand, the Moonlight Knight’s soldiers, who received their orders from Lim and the commanding officers, seemed to overwhelm the enemy with their ceaseless attacks, but none of them could wipe the impatience and irritation out of their faces.
No matter how many Muozinel soldiers they defeated with stones and fire, new soldiers were deployed right away. Of course all of the replacements were likewise battle slaves.
Probably because they have smeared the crucial stairs with mud once more, it was at most only the stairs’ surface that got burned. The Muozinel soldiers poured soil on the stairs as soon as they caught even the slightest bit of fire.
The three rear stairs, which had been stopped, resumed their advance. They had covered the surfaces of the big shields with mud as well, causing the fire arrows, torches, and oil bags to not show as much of an effect as before.
The frantic attacks of the Moonlight Knights were limited to only slowing down their feet, but unable to stop them completely. Without even glancing at their comrades, who were laying at their feet after having their heads smashed by stones or having burned to death, the Muozinel soldiers continue to push the stairs.
Accompanied by new rumbles, the remaining three stairs were lowered to the bottom of the moat. These have been placed in the reverse direction of the other three which had been put down first.
The Muozinel soldiers ran down the stairs, descending to the bottom of the moat. They jumped at the stairs facing the opposite direction, and started to push them with all their might. There were also soldier who tightly grasped the ropes tied to the stairs and pulled them towards the other side of the moat.
The soil at the moat’s bottom was so soft that the wheels at the sides of the stairs sank into the ground. However, while being pushed and pulled by close to one hundred soldiers, the stairs gradually started to move.
The stairs traversed the short distance of 17 alsin at a snail’s pace. While increasing the count of corpses by one or two for each step, they finally reached the moat’s opposite side.
“How could this happen…?”
On top of the wall Mila leaks a groan, barely accounting as comment. The moat, which she had estimated to hold for seven or eight days, had been turned almost ineffective on the third day of the battle. By stairs that are merely big and can’t be called siege weapons, and thousands of battle slaves whose death hasn’t been taken into account.
The sun has almost reached the zenith.
The third day’s battles isn’t over yet.
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