The final stage of the battle began abruptly.
A large transport fleet suddenly began heading north through the Eel River, which flows from the Kingdom of Lugarut to the Cadennis Principality and is also used as a canal.
Naturally, there were many checkpoints along this river, but the Lugarut side bypassed them all. The checkpoints on the Cadennis Principality side were rendered powerless by destruction and slaughter as if swept away by a storm. By the time the fleet was spotted, it had already advanced well into the territory of the Cadennis Principality.
Responding immediately, the Gaisenfall Great Forest Conquest Unit of the Blue Army of the Khenis Empire stationed in the town of Traunil mobilized. They positioned cannons towards the river and prepared to intercept.
However, they couldn’t stop the convoy itself, and it arrived at a plain area just before Traunil.
The grotesque army disgorged from the ships, labor forces that did not need rest… undead soldiers constructed fortifications overnight. They encamped around the town of Traunil, carefully measuring the range of the Blue Army’s cannons, and floated gunboats with cannons covered in armor on the river.
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Traunil was a typical town surrounded by walls for defense against monsters.
Although it became the base of the Khenis Empire’s Blue Army Gaisenfall Great Forest Conquest Unit, it could not accommodate many Blue Army soldiers due to its original size alone. Additionally, its military stronghold did not meet the standards of the Blue Army, so another wall was built connected to the original city wall.
A monolithic stone rampart created by magic. Rows of box-shaped buildings and rocky forts. As if the city had split, the military encampment established by the Blue Army was attached to the city.
The officers of the unit initially stayed in comfortable facilities in the city, such as the former lord’s residence, rather than makeshift encampments. However, since the outbreak of a cursed disease, they had taken refuge in the encampment, avoiding getting too close to the city.
At the top of the rocky fort built in the encampment, two men wore full-face masks resembling crow beaks for infection prevention.
“Really, these guys are as cunning as thieves, seizing the opportunity.”
Peering through a magic telescope and observing the movements of the monster army, the leader of the Gaisenfall Great Forest Conquest Unit muttered.
Shizuku was already an elderly human male. In his youth, he left behind many legends as a master archer. However, he couldn’t resist the advance of old age and had long since put down his bow. Now, with his still sharp mind and experience in warfare, he served as the right-hand man to the Blue General, bearing the brunt of the invasion wars.
The sudden attack of the monsters to Traunil, bypassing the prolonged battles for territory in the forest, surprised even Shizuku a little.
The dozens of cannons aimed at the city were not only seized from the Blue Army but probably also procured from the Kingdom of Lugarut.
― Have they given up on driving our army out of the forest? …No, if they could win a siege battle, they could win in the forest too. Perhaps they came for more gains, seeing how the epidemic is spreading.
Snorting at the audacity, Shizuku said.
“A town plagued by epidemic is easy to attack… It seems they came here thinking they could conquer it now.”
Beside him, Shouja, the strategist whom Shizuku valued highly, expressed his thoughts.
Shouja, who was about the same age as Shizuku’s son, was not a man who devised cunning strategies, but rather a staff officer skilled in political maneuvering and coordination to move large organizations smoothly. He was the type to come up with such strategies.
“Yes. Defending the town will be difficult… normally.”
Shizuku lowered his magic telescope and looked beyond the connected walls.
Traunil, plagued by the epidemic, was eerily quiet even though it was midday.
“If the citizens are abandoned, that’s fine. We don’t need medicine or food if they die. Just make sure the infection doesn’t spread to the soldiers. Also, make sure to purify the corpses so they don’t become undead.”
“Understood!”
The policy had already been indicated by the Blue General, and Shizuku had also agreed.
In this situation, it would be impossible to protect the citizens in a siege. It would be better to discard them from the beginning.
After all, if they lose, no one would survive, and there was no motivation to prioritize the lives of citizens who were not even Imperial subjects. Shizuku had come to terms with that reality.
Thinking about how to smoothly proceed with occupation governance and political propaganda after the war would be a concern for later.
“The units stationed for defense of the fort can also be used to break the siege. We can also expect reinforcements from the main force of the Blue Army. We also have some aces up our sleeves… It won’t be a bad fight. Let’s make them contribute to our achievements, those foolish monsters who came all the way out of that damned forest. Let’s crush them here.”
Shizuku checked the status of the cannons placed on the walls and the ramparts surrounding the encampment.
There was no shortage.
If the citizens could be discarded, this battle would become significantly easier.
They had more than enough supplies, and there were even reinforcements to expect.
“If there’s anything to worry about, it would be ‘running out of magical power’.”
The only concern was that although the city was defended, it was in a situation where it was almost impossible to replenish magical power from the land veins.
The advantage of defending a city was that the defending side could use magic more abundantly than the attacking side. However, the elves of the Great Forest had somehow suppressed the land veins with unknown techniques, and the land veins were as dry as a well.
However, whether to attack the city with cannons and aim to exhaust the defensive magic or to support the attack by soldiers, there was no disadvantage either way.
The garrison troops of Traunil had brought a large amount of “magic stones”, the fuel to operate magic items, from the homeland.
“However, there shouldn’t have been any movement to buy magic stones on a large scale… How do they intend to operate such large cannons? Are they loosening the grip on the land veins and sending magic power to us?”
“But if the enemy really intends to send magic power outside the forest…”
“Yes. If that happens, the control of the city’s land veins by the city’s Dragon Rule Pole will become stronger. If that happens, we’ll have access to magic power too. After all, the enemy’s cannons also rely on magic stones. If you think you can deplete the 210,000 units of magic stones stored in this city that His Majesty bestowed upon us…”
If it became a battle of attrition, they would definitely have the upper hand due to the difference in quantity.
Shizuku, who was about to come to that conclusion, confirmed something strange through the magic telescope.
“…What are they installing on the river?”
“Eh…?”
Shouja also looked in the same direction.
Behind the monster’s camp. Upstream of the river.
Giants with greenish skin… Ogres seemed to be trying to install something huge to dam the Eel River.
Brass filters or something like floodgates were assembled, and the river’s water flowed through the comb-like teeth.
“I don’t know, but…”
“…No way.”
That was something Shizuku had no knowledge of.
However, when he thought about the strategic situation of both armies, the worst possible idea crossed Shizuku’s mind.
“Hey, anyone outside, contact them! Check if there’s any magic power flowing out of the Eel River! Right now!”
“Y-Yes?!”
