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Vol 05 Chapter 20-1: Defense Battle

「Everyone, take your positions!!」
The attack from the Empire had begun early in the morning. Elves stationed in various directions for surveillance struck the alarm bells at the watchtowers, waking the citizens of Erucy with their clamorous ringing. Both the elves and the fire foxes hurried to their designated posts.
The Empire was not concentrating its forces but rather dispersing them, implementing simultaneous attacks from all directions.
The defense of Erucy was conducted from atop the outer walls. Proper footholds had been prepared inside the walls. Additionally, wired communication devices had been installed, enabling contact across all fronts. However, these devices were primitive, essentially on the level of string telephones. I was issuing instructions to each front while stationed at the southern front, where the attacks were most intense. Commanders placed at the east, west, and north fronts followed my orders through the communication devices and directed their respective people.
As the Empire’s troops approached within 150 meters—the range of a crossbow—Erucy’s forces finally finished preparing to counter-attack.
「Everyone, draw them in sufficiently before firing. Grenade use is prohibited until I give the order. Use only the standard arrows for now!」
Obeying my command, the elves on each front began sniping at the Empire’s soldiers approaching the outer walls with their crossbows from the high ground. Everyone was using wind magic at the moment. Ashno’s control over mana could only extend to about 300 meters. She couldn’t handle all fronts, so there was no need to hold back unnecessarily.
As a precaution, the use of grenades and cluster bombs in this battle was forbidden until I authorized their use. If Ashno were to emerge and repel the cluster bombs or grenades with wind, causing them to explode inside the walls, the resulting damage would be catastrophic.
If interference with the wind magic was detected, I had instructed all fronts to immediately contact me using the communication devices. This would confirm Ashno’s presence in that area. If that happened, I would rush over. I was the only one who could possibly stop her.
While I was engaged in battle with Ashno, the ban on the grenades would be lifted. While I attracted Ashno’s attention, the others would engage in an all-out battle using grenades and other weapons meant for wide annihilation.
「All right, everyone, give it your all!!」
「「「Yeah!」」」
The lead group of Imperial soldiers, charging toward Erucy, screamed as an explosion blew them away. They had stepped on a land mine. Countless mines were buried a short distance from the outer walls. Ideally, this would have made the rest of the soldiers pause and approach more cautiously. Unfortunately, despite the casualties, the Imperial troops continued their advance, undeterred. They had remarkable courage, but it was this very courage that led to massive casualties.
「Fire! Keep firing!!」
Shooting from a higher position was overwhelmingly advantageous. Moreover, the outer walls, equipped with holes for crossbow firing, allowed us to shoot from behind their protection. Additionally, by using wind mana to create downward gusts, enemy attacks couldn’t reach the wall, rendering assaults from outside the walls almost meaningless.
「Cyril-sama, here’s your next bow.」
「Thank you.」
I received the crossbow from an elven boy. This time it was an all-out war. For children who lacked the strength to draw a crossbow, we had distributed hand-cranked assistance tools that allowed even the physically weak to set crossbows. The children were tasked with setting arrows in the spare crossbows while the adults shot them. I had also assigned the other non-combatants various other tasks like messengers, meal preparations, and more.
By doing this, everyone in Erucy could contribute to the battle. In a community with limited numbers like Erucy, we would be quickly overwhelmed without the support of all our citizens.
The elves proficient in shooting could now ignore the time lost on drawing arrows, allowing them to continuously fire their crossbows. By reducing the Imperial soldiers’ numbers with land mines and further showering them with arrows, we were inflicting one-sided damage. However, the numerical difference was too great, and gradually, the Imperial soldiers began to close the distance.
In groups of several dozens, the Imperial soldiers began pushing carts carrying giant logs sharpened at the tips.
In the carts were battering rams. The elves prioritized targeting the soldiers pushing the cart, but their efforts were in vain. The battering rams struck the outer walls of Erucy. However…
「The outer wall was built considering cannon fire. It won’t budge with just that.」
The battering rams shattered upon impact with the wall. The outer walls of Erucy, though modest in height at about 4 meters, were 10 meters thick and had been hardened by the fire foxes’ efforts. Such attacks would not even make it budge.
The gates were slightly less sturdy, but they too were incredibly robust, made of giant iron plates with a layer of soft, shock-absorbing clay in the middle. It was unlikely they could be breached.
Reports were coming in from all fronts besides the southern front, where I was stationed. It seemed they were being attacked in a similar manner, but they were managing to defend successfully. Having given up on breaching the walls with the rams, the Imperial soldiers started their charge, carrying huge wooden ladders. Indeed, a 4-meter wall could easily be scaled with ladders.
「It’s almost your turn. Are you ready, everyone?」
「Yes, Cyril-kun, all the fire foxes are prepared.」
Mixed among those setting arrows in the spare crossbows, Kuu and the other fire foxes raised their voices. They had three roles: the first was to keep setting arrows to increase the rate of the elves’ shooting. The second was to activate the trump card, but it was still too early for that. And the third role was to eliminate the enemies clinging to the walls.
「Fox Fire!」