Chapter 65
“Well, Fine . Let’s just take this time to recover and send another assault later . ”
Tonino orders the siege equipment to be prepared in anticipation of the next assault .
Siege equipment are difficult to bring fully assembled so they’ve only assembled a part in the capital city . They intend to put them all together after arriving at Fort Terrier .
They come in different varieties such as catapults, siege towers, stairs, battering rams, and ships .
If you brought this much then normally you would have enough force to be able to bring the enemy down .
Furthermore, they now have prepared countermeasures for the fire medicine .
“Now then, let the siege begin . ”
(Almis POV)
The bowmen fire arrows as the enemy siege towers draw near the edge of the moat .
The arrows kept pouring like rain .
Alongside the siege towers, the enemy also used boats to cross the moat . They then set up ladders against the walls and try to climb over .
They also tied together boats like a bridge . Using that, they bring over their battering rams and begin attacking the fort gates .
“What an intense assault, yes?”
Perm mutters while avoiding arrows .
“However, we won’t fall with just this much, you know . We, too, have defensive siege equipment . ”
About the same time I said so, one of the enemy siege towers becomes engulfed in white smoke .
Then, the sound of explosions shakes the area and a second and a third tower gets engulfed in white smoke .
“Fire medicine, huh……”
“Yes, that’s right . Courtesy of our catapults and ballista . ”
Ismere was quite knowledgeable in other areas apart from construction too such as regarding these siege equipments . These were made under her instructions .
Javelins don’t have enough range after all .
Since Ismere was able to construct ballista, I asked her if she could make crossbows and I got an affirmative .
However, it seems mass producing them wouldn’t be the best idea . They weren’t that much powerful, she said .
When I thought about it, the Battle of Crecy was an example of this . Furthermore, we probably won’t be able to make much with the present level of technology .
While it’s unfortunate, the bowmen themselves aren’t in any real pinch so I’ll just have to pass on the idea .
“They aren’t breaking though . ”
Ordovices points ((at the enemy towers)) .
Wha? That’s strange .
“Several sorcerers probably put up a physical barrier!”
They’re also using countermeasures like damp cloth and fire-resistant pelt… . .
“The enemy commander has done his homework, huh . However… . . ”
“Tsk, They keep coming no matter how much you kill them!!”
Gram curses .
He’s proactively killing commander-like enemies but their morale isn’t changing .
They seem to have a proper system of command hierarchy . It only shows that they’re an army refined with a high degree of training .
Furthermore, because the enemy soldiers are furnished with metal shields, our arrows are having quite a hard time picking them off . 30% of our arrows are iron while the remaining 70% are bronze . We are indeed going to have a hard time .
In other words, it’s not going to go down like before with the battle slaves .
And because stones are being thrown every now and then, we also don’t have the leeway to safely fire our arrows .
“This won’t do… . . Ron, sorry . I’ll leave those who manage to come up to you . ” (Almis)
“Understood . It’s probably about the time they get sick of having their stairs fall off and having stones dropped on them, anyway . ” (Ron)
Ron draws his sword . About the same time, an enemy climbs over the fort wall . However… . .
“You did well! Eat some steel as a reward . ” (Ron)
(TLN: Literally, ‘Okay, great job!’ only and in a funny manner . I added another sentence to adapt it . I don’t know how to adapt the funny tone in English so I’ll just make it badass . I’m not a good writer so sorry if it still doesn’t click . )
Ron cuts him down with his sword right in half . The enemy falls into the moat dyeing the water deep red .
“Alright, it’s our turn now!!”
Ron and the others kill the enemy one by one and let them fall into the moat .
“Look out!”
A man repels an arrow heading straight at Ron .
He’s one of the new recruits from the DeBell Clan, Joseph .
“Alright, I got a chiliarch to owe me one!” (Are you alright, Sir Chiliarch?) (Joseph)
“Yeah, I’m alright but…what you said and your true intention got reversed though . ” (Ron)
The South Gate .
The situation here is somewhat worse .
“Hmmm, the enemy’s attack is quite intense, huh . It seems like they’re concentrating their assault here . ” (Bartolo)
Bartolo drinks a liquor bottle dry . He then drops it on an enemy soldier’s head .
The enemy soldier instinctively protects his head with his hands .
Unfortunately, he was holding on to a ladder so down he goes .
“Now’s not the time to be drinking liquor, Sir Bartolo . ” (Bolus)
Bolus brandishes his spear over his head and strikes a climbing enemy soldier .
Everyone’s very busy .
“The enemy commander has quite the unpleasant character too, huh . Instead of the vigorous and strong young commander in the north gate, he’s attacking the middle-aged old-timer in the south . ”
While saying so, Bartolo skillfully moves and supports the bowmen . He doesn’t give off pointless commands .
That being said, his orders are limited to what he could cover .
One after another, the enemy soldiers crossed the moat and are climbing up the walls . It’s quite a bleak situation .
“It can’t be helped . Let’s use the new weapon we received from Lord Almis . ”
Bolus ordered twenty soldiers to bring forth cylinders .
The twenty soldiers aimed them down at the enemy soldiers climbing up the ladders .
“Fire!!” (Bartolo)
Flames spout out from the cylinders .
The enemy receives the flames directly . They then fall as they catch fire .
A lot of them got so surprised about the sudden flames that they instinctively let go of the ladders and fall to their deaths .
The ladders, too, catch fire and then fall into the moat below . They sink into the water while producing steam .
“Dang, what a great weapon . It’s called a ‘Flame Cylinder’ if I recall correctly? The one who made this is a genius . Was it Ismere?” (Bartolo)
TLN: Author used 炎筒 . It’s literally Flame Cylinder/Pipe/Gun . They still shouldn’t have known about guns so I crossed that out . I don’t have any other names for the thing . Anyways, it’s the Japanese word for Flare with a character missing (発炎筒) . If someone could think up a better name given such context, I’d be happy to use that . Flamethrower is a whole different word in Japanese btw .
“Why thank you for your compliments, Bartolo . ” (Tetra)
Tetra suddenly appears and answers .
“Ah, Madame . It’s dangerous here, you know? You’re a sorcerer, right? Be obedient an…” (Bartolo)
Five fireballs appeared around the circumference of Tetra’s staff . They then immediately fly towards an unsuspecting enemy just as he was about to climb over the rampart .
“Sorry . I was wrong about you . ” (Bartolo)
“It’s good that you understand . ” (Tetra)
And once again, Bartolo inquires Tetra .
“So, how does the thing work?” (Bartolo)
“Simple . You mix gunpowder with olive oil then you blow it with wind from a magic square . Then you add fire from another magic square this time attached to the mouth of the cylinder . It’s important to note though that you should cut the fire magic square first before the wind magic square after using the weapon . This is because normally the wind would be the one pushing the fire out of the cylinder so that it doesn’t ignite the fuel inside it . So, should you cut the wind magic square first the fire might go inside the cylinder and cause it to explode . ” (Tetra)
“Eehh…quite a scary weapon, huh . ” (Bartolo)
Nonetheless, the Flame cylinder is quite frightening visually that the enemy soldiers’ pace took a hit . Slowly, the tide of the battle turned in our favor . The number of enemies climbing over the walls started to dwindle .
“Well, as for a weakness, it consumes a lot of fuel, huh . ”
“That and the range is quite short . It would be difficult except in sieges . ”
The two continue cutting down enemy soldiers as they talked .
Thus, the day ended with the war having made no significant progress or change .
“How many did we lose?”
Tonino listens to the report . Then, he breathes out a huge sigh and lets the soldier who sent the report leave .
“We suffered huge losses, huh . ”
Carlo quips as he takes a sip of wine .
“Good grief…”
This time, they lost a lot of siege towers and bowmen . The bowmen got burned and crushed to death along with the towers .
Archery is a special skill that takes a lot of time to master so recovering the lost bowmen would be difficult .
“That fire blowing cylinder is damn troublesome . ”
“That’s cheating, you know . Thanks to that, the troops are stricken with fear…”
Nonetheless, there’s no rule that you can’t use weapons like flamethrowers in war .
“Shouldn’t we have to change our strategy?”
Carlo concernedly asks Tonino .
Tonino shakes his head .
“No, we won’t change the plan . There won’t be problems, see . We still have plenty of time . For powerful enemies, you only have to tire them out to take them down . ”
—–
“The casualties are……well, not a bad amount considering we took such an attack . ”
There was a tinge of joy in my voice as I said so .
Though saying this is a little imprudent but I’m just happy that none of the people from my original village died . Although out of the 27, I’ve only brought 12 .
Amongst the twelve, six people have ascended into managerial ranks in the army with the help of Ron and Gram . The other six are under my and Tetra’s protection so them getting KIA’d would be unlikely . However……
I want to have at least this much partiality be overlooked .
Or perhaps I should say that since losing bureaucrats and commanders would jeopardize territorial management, it would only be end up the same as with me having no such special feelings .
“Now then, I was thinking of bringing out some liquor even if just a small amount but… . Perm, what do you think?”
“Would it be just fine? Although I’m not that versed in military matters……I can still say that a drink is probably necessary in times of trouble or emergency . ”
“I also agree . It’s the first day after all . We have to be positive in the beginning . ”
Bartolo also agrees .
“I know you just want to drink……”
Tetra candidly retorts Bartolo .
However, Tetra didn’t particularly disagree as if saying she won’t have any problems with it .
The other clansmen show their agreement too .
“Gram? Ron?”
The two shake their heads when I ask them .
“To treat everyone to liquor…… . I agree with that . However, we must keep our vigilance . ”
“It’s not the time for everyone to be drunk when a night attack is highly likely . ”
It’s a reasonable opinion .
“Then how about we get some people to keep watch, like those weak to liquor or those who lose by lottery? Also, we should have the guys exercise self-control when drinking .
Wine in the Adernia Peninsula has an incredibly low alcohol level . You don’t have to worry about getting drunk unless you drink like there’s no tomorrow .
“Well, then, let’s end today’s council . ”
Just like that the first day passed… . .
Is what I thought .
“Night attack!!”
I got awoken by a soldier .
“It seems it went down just like Ron and Roswald said, huh .
I hurriedly went out to the action .
“Hmmm…we don’t know how many is attacking, huh . ”
“It seems they’ve extinguished their bonfires so we wouldn’t know how much they’ve sent to attack . In other words, they’ve only probably sent a few since their objective is most likely to not let us sleep . ”
Ordovices mutters as he strokes his moustache .
“Otherwise, they wanted it to appear as such while really intending to truly attack…for the meantime, let’s divide our troops into two . One half would sleep while the other shall fight . ”
We could always wake the other half up should the enemy intensify their attack .
However… .
“It seems we won’t be able to sleep soundly tonight huh . ”
I let out a sigh .
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