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Vol 04 Chapter 115: The Siege I

One month before Almus’ victory in the South.

King Domorgal’s Country capital.

After suffering a major defeat to the Rozel Kingdom, Bartolo and Tonino (with Carlo and Rene as extras) were holding a meeting in the palace of King Domorgal’s Country.

「Ta-da! We lost to the Rozel army, what should we do?! Let the strategy meeting begin!」

Carlo Domorgal, the one with the higher status among them, declared playfully without an ounce of concern in his voice. The expressions of everyone else were grim.

It was natural after such a defeat. Carlo was the weird one for being in such high spirits.

「Now… There’s only one option available to us: a siege,」

Bartolo began right off the bat. Carlo questioned Bartolo.

「But our numbers haven’t changed, right? Can’t we counterattack, Bartolo-dono?」

「It’s impossible. The morale of the soldiers has visibly dropped.」

Tonino answered Carlo’s question instead of Bartolo. With morale severely low, the probability of losing in an open battle was high. Therefore, both Bartolo and Tonino chose to conduct a siege.

In a siege, the low morale wouldn’t impact the result of the battle so much.

「The problem is food. Rene-dono, how much food do we have stored in the capital?」

「For now, we have supplies for two months. We are currently requisitioning more from surrounding villages and merchants. Fortunately, the gold coins in the capital had not been touched. We should be able to prepare supplies for five months before the Rozel army arrives.」

Rene Blouse responded. Though Rene was not much help in combat, he was quite capable in managing supplies such as food.

He was currently in charge of managing the weapons and provisions of the allied forces.

「Gather some wine too.」

「…I cannot use vital military funds for your personal enjoyment.」

「No, it’s different! Well, it’s true I want to drink… but it’s necessary to boost morale.」

In war the only entertainment the soldiers can expect is food. However, in a siege, food must be conserved… instead, providing soldiers with occasional rations of liquor and other luxuries can help boost their morale.

Otherwise, the fortress won’t hold.

「It would be nice to have some smoked meat as well.」

「Sigh… If there’s room in the budget, I’ll make sure to stock up.」

Rene took out a piece of parchment and began taking notes.

「May I ask something?」

「What is it?」

「Shouldn’t we minimize food consumption? Wouldn’t it be better to expel the residents? They wouldn’t want to be involved in the battle either.」

Carlo asked this of Tonino and Bartolo. The peculiarity of a siege is having civilians behind you.

「They have lives and homes here. If we drive them out, they have nowhere to go.」

Tonino answered. The people living in urban areas earn their livelihood through commerce and crafts.

If expelled, they would lose their means of subsistence. Even during a siege, they can still sell goods to soldiers, which is better than being outside.

「Moreover, having civilians isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We can rely on them for rear support.」

For example, civilians can tend to the wounded. This frees up soldiers, which can be advantageous.

「Also, a siege is a type of combat where amateurs can easily participate. After all, even throwing stones from above can kill people.」

Even women and children can throw stones.

「In other words, the success of a siege depends on the cooperation of the capital’s residents. Carlo-sama, I’m counting on you.」

「I’m on it!」

Carlo stood proudly.

Generally, the plebeians rarely come in contact with the king or venture far from their villages, so to them, the most important figure in their eyes is the local patrician.

It’s hard for them to even imagine someone more important than their local patrician.

But this is the capital. Being the capital, the city is heavily influenced by the king, for better or worse.

The previous King Domorgal was well-regarded by the people as he hadn’t committed any major mismanagement. Carlo, his eldest son, also had a favorable impression.

However, the impression of Aldo Domorgal was pretty bad. This was because the Adernians despised fratricide.

In Aldo’s case, his time ruling the capital was short, so his reputation among the residents remained merely ‘pretty bad’.

「Well, the Gallians don’t seem to hesitate at all when it comes to plundering, so I think it’ll be easy to gain their cooperation.」

Bartolo shrugged.

The Adernian patricians and kings try to avoid looting as much as possible. This is because they share the same language, culture, and blood, and looting would leave resentment that could complicate future governance.

But the Gallians don’t care for all that. The Gallians are foreigners with different language and culture from the Adernians, so they don’t give a second thought to plundering.

Moreover, the Gallians are a people who rely more on hunting and herding than agriculture. For them, war is conducted for the purpose of plundering, and plundering is considered the right of the victor.

Additionally, the nature of the leader of the army also plays a role. This time, the supreme commander of the Rozel army is General Kuryuu, assisted by Merlin.

The commanders of Adernian armies are patricians, a mix of politician and military officer. But General Kuryuu, the supreme commander, is different.

He is a purely military man, not a politician. Therefore, he doesn’t think about governance afterward.

Also, his assistant Merlin is a magician. Military and political matters are not her expertise. Moreover, she was originally the sex slave and wife of the chieftain of the Flat-Faced Tribe, King Etzel.

Under the Flat-Faced Tribe, whose basic principles were  ‘Kill all who oppose’, ‘What’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is also mine’, and ‘Women are seized and violated on sight; married women are to be plundered’, Merlin, who learned the ‘common sense’ of this world under them, would never order the prohibition of plunder and rape.

No one will raise their hands to surrender voluntarily to an invader that will kill, steal, and rape you. The geographical advantage and the support of the people were with the allied forces.

Carlo, Tonino, and Rene, however, had complicated expressions. They couldn’t be openly happy as their own people were still being killed.

「We also need to send some magicians as spies…」

「Please handle the selection of personnel. Magicians from your country should find it easier to stay undercover.」

In a siege, being surrounded by enemies means that no information from the outside can get in. However, by previously stationing magicians in surrounding villages, they could use owls to exchange information.

Of course, the enemy would be cautious about this, making it not so easy.

◇

「Excuse me!! May I come in?」

「It’s fine. Come in.」

As Carlo responded, the door opened and a large man entered. He was one of the influential patricians loyal to Carlo, currently entrusted with temporarily commanding the troops.

「The villagers from the surrounding areas want to be let in…」

「Hmm, I see…」

Carlo glanced at Tonino and Bartolo. Tonino and Bartolo quietly nodded slightly.

「Let them in.」

「Yes!」

The patrician replied joyfully and hurried away. This would prevent the residents of the surrounding villages from being killed.

「Rene, make sure we secure extra provisions.」

「…Understood.」

Rene sighed. Though reluctant, he knew there was no choice but to support them.

「What remains depends on Lettis-dono and King Rosais’ reinforcements…」

Tonino muttered. They had already received a message from King Rosais promising to arrive as soon as possible.

However, since he needed to subjugate the three countries of the Equus, Belvedire, and Evile, it was expected to take at least a month. Rene’s brother, Lettis Blouse, was busy suppressing the patricians of the Aldo faction in the south. When Aldo was defeated, they had switched allegiance to Carlo’s faction, but now they were leaning back towards the Aldo faction… or more accurately, the Rozel faction.

Not all switched allegiance though. There were still some patricians who remained loyal to Carlo’s faction, resentful of Aldo Domorgal for selling the country to the Rozel Kingdom.

Negotiating with and subduing the regional Aldo factions was expected to take at least a month.

This meant they needed to hold out for at least a month.

「Well, we’ll definitely last a month. Beyond that, it’s really uncertain.」

Bartolo shrugged his shoulders. Bartolo was actually inexperienced with long sieges.

The battle at Teria Fortress had lasted only three days, and neither side had many troops. But this time, they were facing a siege of many thousands, potentially lasting several months.

There were many uncertainties.

「However, we must win. If Rozel takes this place, it will become a major stronghold for the Gallians in the South Adernian Peninsula…」

This would accelerate the Gallian control over the Adernian Peninsula, and eventually, the Adernians could become slaves to the Gallians.

They had to stop them here at all costs.

「However, we should be prepared to lose some territory to the Rozel kingdom in the peace negotiations. We’ll likely have to cede some land to King Rosais as well… Sigh, why does this have to happen during my reign…」

Carlo muttered his complaints. Carlo was likely to be the most beleaguered king in the history of the Domorgal Family.

「Shall we also send letters to King Faldam’s Country and King Faldam’s Country? If our country falls, it’s clear that the Rozel Kingdom’s pressure on those two countries will increase. Even if we can’t expect reinforcements, at least they might be able to threaten the Rozel Kingdom’s borders.」

With that, Tonino concluded the meeting, and the session ended for the day.

In this war, the most critical battlefield was this siege. Even if Almus was defeated by King Evile’s Country, King Belvedire’s Country, or the Equus Tribe, territorial concessions would suffice.

However, a defeat in this siege would mean the end of King Domorgal’s Country and the vasalization of King Rosais’ Country.

Even if victories were achieved on other battlefields, a defeat in this siege would spell the end of everything.

Conversely, a victory in this siege would allow for a comeback, even if there were losses on other fronts. Indeed, this siege was the pivotal battle of the entire campaign.

The fate of King Domorgal’s Country, King Rosais’ Country, and indeed, the entire Adernian Peninsula, was hanging in the balance as the battle was about to begin.