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Vol 05 Chapter 148: The First Southern Campaign IV

「Hmm… Bartolo. No matter how you look at it, the enemy seems to be preparing for a siege. Does this mean the enemy is extremely foolish, or are we the fools?」

「N-no… In this situation, a siege is clearly a foolish strategy. The only explanation is… the possibility of reinforcements.」

That’s what I thought. Reinforcements, huh? Where could they be coming from…?

「Your Majesty! A message from the magician we planted in the Kirisian city-states has arrived!!」

Soyon burst into the tent in a hurry.

I can guess what’s in it.

「City-states outside the country are sending reinforcements to the rebels? Considering that all the surrounding city-states are under the influence of Lezado and Gehenna…」

「Undoubtedly, Lezado’s merchants have a hand in this.」

Even if we interrogate them, Lezado will surely deny it.

‘Although they are under Lezado’s influence, the different city-states and our country are separate entities and not directly related. The support was just Lezado’s merchants doing business on their own. We have always maintained neutrality’… or so they will say.

We must not forget that we too are receiving support from merchants who are part of the pro-Rosais faction led by Ainz.

No matter which way it turns, they will side with the victor. This is the usual strategy of Lezado.

I opened the letter Soyon handed me. The contents matched my expectations.

「What should we do, Bartolo? It seems the Kirisian city-states have decided to send five thousand soldiers as reinforcements to the rebels.」

「……」

Bartolo pondered for a moment before speaking.

「May I have a drink?」

Bartolo asked.

「If it helps you think more clearly,」

With that, Bartolo produced a jar of liquor from somewhere. He took a swig and closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he opened them again.

「In a way, this is an opportunity. If we can defeat the enemy reinforcements, the morale of the soldiers laying siege will plummet.」

「I see. Specifically, what should we do?」

「First, we construct several temporary bases around the area. Then we use these as starting points to surround the city with ditches and fences. It’s the same tactic that General Kuryuu used against us. This will prevent the rebels from launching an attack.」

So, we cut off their communication and supply lines. And then?

「Then, we wait for the enemy reinforcements. We’ll intercept and annihilate them at a somewhat distant location. The only issue is that we have to divide our forces into two groups: one to besiege the castle and the other to defeat the enemy reinforcements.」

Splitting our forces risks getting defeated in detail. It’s something we should avoid, but we can’t afford to lose this opportunity.

「I will take three thousand soldiers to surround the city. You take the remaining three thousand to defeat the reinforcements.」

「Understood, Your Majesty.」

◇

The construction of the ditches and fences surrounding the city proceeded smoothly. This is because I had our soldiers constantly engaged in civil engineering work for the past six months.

The entire army has already acquired the minimum necessary skills as combat engineers.

By the way, the enemy’s strength is seven thousand soldiers. On our side, we have six thousand, which will be divided into two groups of three thousand each.

At first, I was worried whether we could successfully besiege them with half our forces.

But my doubts were soon cleared. It’s perfectly possible to stop the rebels with three thousand troops.

The reason is that soldiers can only enter and exit the city through the gates. This particular city has only two gates: one to the west and one to the east.

So, if we surround the gates with our soldiers, the moment they try to sally out, we will have them completely surrounded.

In the first place, once the ditches and fences are complete, it will be as if we are inside a simple castle ourselves. We may not be able to capture the city like this, but the enemy won’t be able to break the siege either.

◇

Three days passed, and just as the ditches and fences were nearing completion, we received information that the enemy reinforcements were ready to set out and were about to cross our borders.

It seems they had more trouble organizing their forces than expected. Likely, it took time to align the interests of the various city-states.

Moreover, since we cut off communication routes between the rebels and them, they might be in disarray due to the lack of information.

In any case, the enemy’s delay is a welcome development for us.

「Then, Your Majesty, I will go to defeat the enemy reinforcements. Please take care of yourself.」

「Yes. You too, do your best. After all, the enemy numbers five thousand.」

The morning of the day after I sent Bartolo off the rebels began to move.

「Your Majesty! The enemy forces have sallied out from the west and east gates!!」

So, they’ve finally made their move.

With Bartolo leading three thousand soldiers away to intercept the reinforcements, our strength has been halved to three thousand. Meanwhile, the enemy numbers seven thousand.

And the siege facilities are not yet complete.

The enemy must think this is their best opportunity. However, this counterattack is something we anticipated, and we know their attack will be limited to the west and east gates.

「Stay calm and intercept them. We have the fences and ditches on our side.」

I calmed the panicking soldiers and moved out to engage the enemy.

While there are a few incomplete sections, the fortifications are almost entirely finished. There is no need to panic.

The enemy soldiers were obstructed by the multiple layers of ditches and fences, making them unable to move as they wished.

Around the west and east gates, ditches, fences, and archers were strategically placed. As the enemy’s advance was halted, a rain of arrows fell upon them from all sides.

Additionally…

「Load the ballista… Fire!!」

Giant arrows with black powder tied to their tips sliced through and blew up the enemy ranks. The catapults roared, hurling stones and jars filled with black powder, turning men into minced meat.

Even those soldiers who managed to get close were skewered by our heavily armored infantry’s spears.

The enemy’s attack ended two hours later. We suffered almost no casualties, while the enemy had created a massive pile of corpses.

In an ironic twist, the besiegers were defending while the besieged were attacking. This peculiar siege warfare would continue sporadically several times.

◇

「The enemy’s strategy can be one of two things. One is to attack our homeland to force our troops to retreat. The other is to head directly to reinforce the besieged city. If it were up to me, I would attack the homeland, which is thinly defended, with many soldiers on strike…」

Bartolo took a drink. After a moment, he smiled slyly.

「The enemy will undoubtedly choose the latter option.」

「Why do you think so?」

Roswald asked Bartolo. Bartolo explained with confidence.

「The Kirisians like to fight among themselves all the time, but when an outsider is the enemy they swiftly come together. Many of the city-states have adopted democracy. The majority of their citizens would want to help their fellow Kirisians directly. Moreover, the city that sent out the request for aid is likely pleading for direct assistance. That’s why they will choose the latter.」

The former option would be effective but could be seen as abandoning their allies. It’s an option that is difficult to take in a democratic system; decisions that ignore public opinion can only be made by monarchies or oligarchies.

「And they must be in a hurry. To rescue their allies, they need to rush there as quickly as possible. Besides, with a large force of five thousand, the routes they can take are naturally limited.」

Bartolo spread out a map and handed it to Roswald.

「Where do you think is the best place for a battle?」

「Perhaps around here?」

Roswald pointed to a plain along the road.

「What is your reasoning?」

「Although it seems to lack significant terrain features like mountains or forests, it has numerous small hills. It’s a highly undulating terrain. This would be disadvantageous for the enemy’s phalanx but advantageous for our legions.」

「You pass.」

Bartolo smiled happily and offered Roswald some liquor. Roswald accepted it and gulped it down.

「So, let’s move quickly. We need to arrive before the enemy and take up advantageous positions. You go ahead and pick the location.」

「Understood, General.」

Roswald promptly headed for the battlefield.

◇

Half a day after Bartolo’s army had finished setting up camp, the Kirisian city-states allied forces appeared. They couldn’t simply ignore an army of three thousand and continue their advance. The enemy set up camp on the hill opposite Bartolo’s forces.

Both sides stared each other down for a day, probing to see who would make the first move.

Eventually, the allied forces, constrained by time, lost patience and attacked Bartolo’s army. Bartolo led his forces out of their camp to meet them.

Both armies were highly disciplined. They completed their formations simultaneously.

「This looks like… an attempt to encircle us?」

「Indeed. Challenging our tactics with an encirclement is pretty bold of them.」

Roswald and Bartolo were talking while observing the enemy formation. The Kirisian allied forces had stretched their flanks thin, forming an extended line.

「Last time they tried a central breakthrough, but this time they are trying a completely different approach. Why?」

「It’s the difference in the commanders’ personalities.」

Bartolo’s new formation involved units of two hundred soldiers spread out in a dispersed manner. A commander seeing this formation for the first time would likely have two thoughts:

‘It appears to have weak defenses. It might excel in mobility.’

Given these assumptions, there were two options: exploit the enemy’s weakness or neutralize their strength.

The rebel commander chose to exploit the enemy’s weakness. In contrast, the Kirisian forces commander chose to neutralize the enemy’s strength.

「If they spread their forces in a long line, we won’t be able to encircle them given our smaller numbers. The enemy commander must know my preference for encirclement tactics.」

「So, what do we do?」

「We aim for a central breakthrough,」

Roswald’s eyes widened in surprise at Bartolo’s answer. Bartolo had always employed flanking and encircling tactics. At least, that’s what Roswald had always seen.

「Can we do it? The enemy has superior numbers.」

「That’s where ingenuity comes in. I’ve grown a lot from my battles with General Kuryuu,」

Bartolo said, taking a swig of his drink, his expression filled with confidence.

「How will we deploy the cavalry? We have three hundred, and the enemy only has one hundred. We have the advantage there.」

「Indeed… then let’s…」

◇

Bartolo’s army sounded their flutes and the allied forces beat their drums, both armies began to charge forward. Eight thousand men shook the ground as they moved.

It seemed they would clash violently… or so it appeared.

「All troops, halt!」

Bartolo stopped his army just a few dozen meters in, catching the allied forces off guard.

Bartolo’s forces had charged downhill, while the allied forces were charging uphill. The enemy commander had assumed that Bartolo’s army would use gravity to their advantage and launch a full-force downhill assault.

Thus, the enemy commander had estimated that the clash would occur halfway up the hill, somewhere between the base and the middle.

Because of this, the phalanx had started running relatively early to build up momentum.

However, Bartolo had halted the charge halfway down the hill, forcing the phalanx to climb to the middle of the hill. By this point, the Kirisian soldiers were exhausted, and the phalanx’s charge had lost much of its force.

「Begin the attack!!」

Bartolo ordered an attack on the Kirisian forces who had climbed to the middle of the hill using javelins, arrows, and stones. The Kirisian forces tried to retaliate, but having advanced in a charging formation, they couldn’t mount an effective counterattack.

With the aid of gravity, Bartolo’s forces delivered a one-sided assault. To further capitalize on the situation, Bartolo commanded the use of blast javelins.

As the number of blast javelins was limited, he should have reserved them for the latter siege. However, Bartolo decided to use them here, if he won this battle, the rebels would probably surrender, so he should have enough time to replenish his stock.

The sudden explosions caused chaos among the Kirisian forces. Due to the wind direction, magic that made use of the powdered drugs dispersed by the blast javelins wasn’t used, but the explosive power and smoke were highly effective in halting the enemy’s advance.

Seizing the moment, Bartolo ordered a charge. His forces surged down from the hilltop to the middle of the hill.

By the time Bartolo’s forces reached the middle, their momentum was at its peak. They burst through the smoke created by the black powder, crashing into the phalanx with the help of their shields.

The Kirisian forces’ center buckled under the unexpected and gravity-aided assault from Bartolo’s army emerging from the smoke. The phalanx partially collapsed, leading to a melee. In such close combat, Bartolo’s forces, equipped with large shields and short swords, had a significant advantage.

However, the allied forces had nearly double the numbers of Bartolo’s army, and signs of fatigue began to show in Bartolo’s men.

But…

「Second Maniple, Sixth Maniple, switch positions. Third Light Infantry squad, support the Fourth Maniple.」

Bartolo’s adept command compensated for the fatigue among his troops. He promptly ordered the exhausted front lines to switch with the rear, allowing them to rest. In areas where they struggled, he sent in light infantry to support with stones, javelins, and arrows.

He ensured no troops were idle. With Bartolo’s constant and effective use of his entire army, his forces gradually pushed back the numerically superior Kirisian forces.

However, the Kirisian commander was not to be underestimated. He began to widen his flanks, attempting to encircle Bartolo’s forces.

「Third row, spread out to the sides!」

The sound of flutes echoed across the battlefield as the third row—veteran soldiers—moved to the flanks. They lined up their shields to thwart the allied forces’ flanking maneuver. This response was only possible because of the superior mobility offered by Bartolo’s new tactics.

「Now, it should be about time,」

Bartolo said, taking a sip of his drink.

Simultaneously, Bartolo’s army broke through the Kirisian forces. The enemy’s center collapsed, splitting their formation in two.

「All units, turn to the sides!」

Bartolo’s forces did not cease their assault. Having breached the center, they smoothly pivoted to attack the sides of the phalanx.

This attack threw the flanks of the Kirisian forces into disarray.

At that moment…

「Alright, it’s finally our turn. No need to go too deep. Keep executing wave attacks.」

Roswald’s cavalry, which had previously defeated the enemy’s cavalry and remained on standby, launched an attack on the opposite flank of the allied forces.

The cavalry, numbering only three hundred, couldn’t execute a full charge. However, they could repeatedly harass the enemy with hit-and-run tactics and stone-throwing.

This was enough to further disorient the already confused Kirisian forces.

Under attacks from both flanks, the Kirisian soldiers instinctively clustered toward the center. This quickly resulted in overcrowding, akin to a packed commuter train, but far worse, as people were trampled and crushed to death.

Most of the Kirisian soldiers perished under the weight of their comrades, trampled and suffocated. Those who managed to escape were met with relentless pursuit by Bartolo’s forces, resulting in many more casualties.

Thus, Bartolo’s army achieved a decisive victory.