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Vol 04 Chapter 117-2: The Siege III

That night, the Rozel army’s Gallian soldiers were noisy all through the night. They boasted to their comrades about the jewels and beautiful linen fabrics they had plundered from the locals, and consumed the stolen wine and food.

Gallia was a cold place and the land was poor. In contrast, the southern Adernian Peninsula was warm, the land was fertile, and the monetary economy had spread much more than in Gallia. To the Gallians, the Adernian Peninsula had an advanced culture and was rich. …If the Kirisians, Pofenians, or Persians heard this, they’d snort in derision though.

「What kind of treasures do you think they have stocked in the capital?」

「There must be heaps of gold and treasures. It’s the king’s own house, after all! They must have it stored up!!」

The soldiers began to count their chickens before they hatched, drunkenly speculating about the loot they were going to plunder.

The military discipline of the Rozel army was very lax. Indeed, it was so lax that soldiers, other than those on guard duty, were having a feast in the middle of the night.

In any of the armies of the Adernian countries, soldiers holding unauthorized feasts in the middle of the night would face the death penalty.

However, enforcing strict military discipline would only lead to the Gallian soldiers to desert.

The Adernians, a typical agricultural society, were accustomed to cooperating with others. As the Adernians were bound to their lands which couldn’t be moved, and lived their lives doing agriculture, cooperation came to them as something natural. In contrast, the Gallians, for whom more than half of their sustenance came from hunting and gathering, were more independent and heavily competitive with their peers. The differences in their lifestyles heavily reflected their respective army’s doctrine and discipline.

「Man, I’m looking forward to it. I want a beautiful woman. Ah, I can’t wait to violate one!!」

「I’d prefer a boy around ten years old…」

As the men engaged in such vulgar discussions, suddenly the surroundings erupted into chaos.

「Enemy attack!! Enemy attack!!」

The sentries in a panic began to shout. Even the typically unflappable Gallian soldiers hurriedly put on their gear and rushed to the location of the enemy attack.

「Where are the enemies?!」

A Gallian soldier pressed the sentries for answers. Given the burning tents and the bodies of soldiers killed by arrows, it was clear they had been attacked. However, there was no sign of the enemy.

「They’ve already retreated…」

「Retreated?」

「The enemy was on horseback. They shot flaming arrows from beyond the trench and then retreated.」

According to the sentries, the enemy had quickly retreated after firing arrows from horseback. The sudden attack had left them with no chance for immediate retaliation, and by the time they were ready to respond, the enemy had already withdrawn.

「What? So our rushing here was all for nothing?!」

The Gallian soldiers expressed their anger openly.

◇

「Last night’s night raid, we couldn’t respond to it at all.」

Kailas said with clear false concern to Kuryuu, a smirk evident on his face. It was a veiled criticism of Kuryuu.

「I plan to increase the number of sentries. Besides, the damage wasn’t significant.」

Since it was midnight, the enemy wasn’t aiming their arrows with precision. They shot randomly at likely locations and retreated when it became dangerous. That was the enemy’s tactic.

Naturally, the arrows didn’t hit very often. Those who died were simply unlucky.

Though the chaos was significant, there were only thirty casualties. Seven of those deaths were due to panic, resulting in fatal head injuries.

「Once the city falls, the war will end. That attack was out of frustration, no need to worry about it.」

「However, the city doesn’t seem to fall easily, does it, General Kuryuu? What will you do?」

Kailas asked with a sneering smile. Kuryuu glanced at Kailas’s face briefly before shifting his gaze back to the city walls.

「It’s all accounted for. I never expected it to fall within a month.」

Siege warfare could take a considerable amount of time. In some cases, it could extend to years.

Certainly, it would be problematic if it took that long, but a few months were well within the expected timeframe.

「However, I’ve heard that King Almus’ reinforcements are arriving soon.」

「Yes, they are expected to be here in about two weeks.」

「Do you think we can take the city within a week?」

Kailas’ expression showed no concern. He likely believed that even if King Almus’s reinforcements arrived, they would at most face a tough battle but ultimately prevail.

Or perhaps, he might have been even hoping for Kuryuu’s defeat. If he died or simply received a crushing defeat, the position of Rozel Kingdom’s top general would become vacant…

「There’s no problem. It will fall within a week.」

Kuryuu asserted confidently.

Kailas momentarily clouded his expression in silence before making another suggestion to Kuryuu.

「I think we should clean up flies buzzing around our ears before the enemy reinforcements arrive.」

The ‘flies’ Kailas referred to, were none other than the powerful patricians of the Carlo faction who were scattered around the country. Centered around Lettis Blouse, they had been engaging in minor skirmishes with the Aldo faction’s patricians throughout the country.

Due to their small numbers, confronting the Rozel army directly would undoubtedly lead to their annihilation. They were not significant enough to warrant attention.

It would be far better to pour all their resources into the siege to end the war quickly than to divert troops to deal with them. Spreading forces thinner was a poor strategy.

Additionally, the terrain favored the enemy. Making unnecessary moves could lead to needless losses.

「It’s pointless. It’s not so easy to catch those flies. Chasing them is a waste of time. They’re just onlookers who can’t do anything significant. Let them be.」

Yet Kailas persisted.

「But if we leave them alone, can we really focus on the siege without concerns?」

「That’s correct, General Kuryuu. I also agree with Kailas-dono,」

The man who showed agreement was the leader of the second wave of reinforcements. He belonged to the same faction as Kailas and was in opposition to Kuryuu.

Their thinking was as follows:

「If the siege ends like this, the glory will all go to General Kuryuu, and the war will end. We must achieve military exploits before the war concludes.」

Complicating matters was that many junior officers also supported these two. Naturally, their careers deeply depended on gaining accolades.

「Sigh…」

Kuryuu sighed involuntarily. It was clearly an unnecessary battle. However, politically, it was not without merit.

If Kuryuu took too much credit alone, he risked making too many enemies.

(Whether these guys are here or not, it probably won’t make much difference overall.)

With that thought, Kuryuu addressed the two men.

「Understood. I will entrust the two of you with the task of clearing out the flies. However, you will only depart after the arrival of the fourth wave of reinforcements.」

Five days later, the fourth wave of reinforcements arrived safely. Thus, approximately twenty thousand troops detached from the main army to drive out Carlo’s faction.

◇

「Dig!!」

「Dig!」

「What are we digging for?!」

「Our promotions!」

Singing off-key, the Gallian soldiers dug into the earth with their hoes. They were deep underground in tunnels.

Kuryuu had secretly ordered these tunnels to be dug. Their task was to dig right under the city walls and set fire to wooden stakes there.

If the foundation was undermined and the stakes caught fire, even the strongest walls would collapse. Indeed, the stronger the wall, the more likely it was to collapse because strong walls had also increased weight.

「Huh? It’s getting brighter.」

As they dug, light began to seep through the ground. Seeing the light, the centurion’s complexion changed.

「All hands, prepare for battle…」

Before the centurion could finish his sentence, Adernian soldiers wielding picks and swords appeared.

The centurion of the Adernian forces shouted.

「Secure them!」

Thus, the tunnel dug by the Rozel Kingdom was destroyed by the counter-tunnels of the allied army. Moreover, information from the prisoners helped to pinpoint another tunnel’s location.

In total, they successfully collapsed two tunnels.

◇

「It seems the tunnels in the east and west were discovered and filled in… It’s a pity. We were so close.」

Kuryuu’s aide twisted his face in frustration. However, he soon smirked contentedly.

「Well, that was part of the plan.」

「Yes. The east and west were decoys. The real targets are the tunnels in the north and south.」

Kuryuu had originally dug four tunnels in the directions of east, west, north, and south.

He had informed the personnel responsible for the east and west tunnels that these were the only two tunnels being dug. They were dug in a manner that made them easily discoverable, working day and night, naturally creating vibrations and noise that the enemy would notice—or rather, that he wanted the enemy to notice.

Conversely, he told those responsible for the north and south tunnels that theirs were the only tunnels being dug. These crucial tunnels were only dug during battles, using the noise of people’s footsteps and the impact of siege weapons against the walls to mask the vibrations from tunneling.

The work was slow but sure.

East or west. If one tunnel was discovered, both would be collapsed. But at the same time, the enemy would let their guard down. They would feel relieved, thinking all tunnels had been dealt with.

That was the aim.

「The main tunnels should reach under the city walls in three more days. It’s taken longer than I expected… But soon, this war will be over.」

Kuryuu murmured. He was looking forward to returning to the Rozel Kingdom.

Although Kuryuu enjoyed warfare, there were times he yearned for peace, especially now, as this particular war had been exhausting due to Kailas’s antics.

「Excuse me for interrupting while you are busy! I have an urgent report!!」

「Come in quickly.」

As Kuryuu answered, the messenger, his face pale, blurted out:

「General Kailas’s force of twenty thousand has been severely defeated! General Kailas is missing!!」

「That damn brat!!!!!!」