Chapter 145 – Adria Battle (6)
Adria Battle (6)
Juno carried the body of Count Speyer and headed to the Knights of the Guard. And he glanced at the knights guard who were looking at him.
‘Most of the faces I remember… But it looks like there are some new people I haven’t seen before.’
A smile appeared on Yuno’s face when he saw the apprentices he had trained with as a child becoming knights and the senior horsemen who had ridiculed them.
“Lord Jude!! Are you there?”
“Yes, Your Majesty! I am Colonel Jude, commander of the 8th Guards Knight Squadron!!”
In particular, Juno remembered Jude, who had been particularly harassing his apprentices, and called him, handing over Speyer’s body to him.
“Go back to my base and pay my respects. I need to hold a formal funeral later as the commander of the fallen knights of the Royal Guard.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will follow your orders!!”
Jude, who received Juno’s order, left behind with Speyer’s body and headed to Juno’s camp, and the remaining knights of the Guard began to escort Juno.
Juno, escorted by the knights of the Royal Guard, headed towards Henry’s camp with great vigor.
“We won the duel! Heinrich, as promised, come to the gate, kneel, surrender, and disarm the soldiers!! Don’t sacrifice the innocent citizens for your power!!”
At Yuno’s shout, hope began to appear on the faces of the citizen soldiers.
‘What? Is it okay for us not to fight?’
‘Thank God… How can ordinary people like us fight against such a strong-looking regular army?’
‘I used to be a legionnaire, too. It’s been 20 years since I laid down my sword, but to be conscripted like this, wow, I’m really glad.’
However, a sound like a thunderbolt was heard in the ears of the citizen soldiers who were sighing in relief.
“Soldiers, advance!! Subdue those rebels who rebelled against His Majesty the Emperor!!”
‘What… What is it? I heard we lost the duel?’
‘Why are you suddenly telling us to advance? ‘Aren’t you crazy?’
‘Do you want me to sacrifice my life for the incompetent emperor who caused this food crisis by giving away the Plain of Zenon for free? Moreover, the emperor who is rumored to have assassinated his predecessor?’
The noisy citizens began to refuse orders and sit down in their seats.
This was because they saw that it was obvious that they would die in an instant if they fought, and that it was decided in advance that the winner of the battle would be decided through a duel, as their combat power was so different.
“You bastard Dietrich!! Keep the agreement!! You didn’t send a letter with the commander-in-chief’s seal saying that if you lose the duel, you will surrender!!”
Juno burst out in anger at Dietrich, who stood at the gate and gave orders.
However, Dietrich, well aware that if he surrendered here, his and his family’s heads would be taken away, he tore up the agreement in front of Juno.
“What agreement? That thing doesn’t exist anymore? The Empire doesn’t negotiate with the rebels!!”
“That… That crazy guy!!”
“We don’t want to die for you!!”
“We will surrender to His Majesty the Third Prince!!!”
When the citizen soldiers also vented their anger at Dietrich for shamelessly appearing, he instead smiled and clapped his hands.
Clap
“Command what you have prepared!”
At his signal, several pale-faced soldiers appeared.
Each child was held in their hands, and several citizen soldiers who saw it screamed.
“Baby!!”
“Andy!! Give me my child back! You bastards!!!”
Despite hearing their screams, Dietrich grabbed a child and threw him down the castle wall.
“Aaaaa!!”
Although the wall of Adria was low, it was high enough to crush the child’s body, and the child’s parents screamed and fainted.
The complexions of the other citizen soldiers also turned pale at the sight. Most of the soldiers here had children, and they had been conscripted here because their children were being held hostage, but they never dreamed that they would actually kill the children.
“I command you once again!! Raise your spear!! You don’t want to see your children die, right?”
Only then did the citizen soldiers slowly move forward, holding their spears high.
Their faces were all angry, but they slowly began to advance, shedding tears as if they had no choice for the sake of their child.
“You crazy people… You’re driving your own people to death!! How can the prime minister and emperor of a country do something like that? Don’t you guys have any shame!!”
“Hmph! I have nothing to say to traitors! It would be a bargain if I could protect the imperial family with the lives of such idiots.”
“Dietrich you bastard!!!”
Yuno burst into anger, but he could not do anything about the 50,000-strong army that was immediately approaching him.
Of course, they were citizen soldiers that he could easily subdue if he ordered his troops to march and fight, but he did not want to fight with them who were forced to fight with his children held hostage.
“Retreat!! All troops retreat from the Adriatic Plain!!”
In the end, Juno ordered the army to retreat, and Juno and Prinz swallowed their boiling anger and retreated to a place about 10 km away from Adria.
That night. A meeting was held in Prince Prinz’s military camp.
“Aaaaah!! That guy Heinrich… I think he’s gone as far as he can go!! I’ve known a man like that as my older brother for 18 years, and I’m embarrassed!! Besides, what on earth is that guy Titrich thinking!! You’re giving territory to Tesseito and Leon!!”
Prinz tried to calm down Yuno, who was still unable to cool down her anger.
“I’m angry, and I understand that you’re angry, but now I have to think about how to overcome this crisis.”
“That’s right, Your Highness the Third Prince. Getting angry won’t solve the situation.”
“Okay, Yuno. Let’s calm down a little. We have to think about the territorial issue after we take down Heinrich from the throne.”
As Yuria came forward to persuade him, Yuno took a deep breath and calmed his mind.
“Phew~ I understand. Anyway, what should we do with those citizen soldiers? They will never surrender as long as the children are held hostage.”
“What if we surround it with our legionnaires and prevent them from moving, and then your majesty and the knights rush into the castle gate?”
When one of the staff offered an opinion, Mayer shook her head.
“The enemy citizen army is in excess of 50,000. No matter how different the combat power is, it is almost impossible to surround with 40,000 of our troops without using terrain features, and even if the enemy tries to break through by one point, it will be quickly breached. “I won’t.”
“Then how about baiting them? Pretend to engage in an all-out war and then intentionally break down and retreat. If you do that, the enemy will chase you, and you will be able to break through the gate during that time.”
This time, it was Viscount Leverkin’s suggestion, but Yuno and Mayer shook their heads at the same time.
“If the enemy does not pursue, it will be a useless sacrifice.”
“Also, no matter how pretend a battle is, there will be casualties. Casualties should not occur among citizen soldiers who are forcibly dragged out as sacrificial lambs.”
Viscount Leverkin patted his chest as if he was frustrated with Juno talking about the truth.
“We are on the battlefield! In order to win, a minimum number of casualties is inevitable!!”
“Victims must come forward to the soldiers. Citizens are not soldiers.”
Prinz joined Yuno’s words and took his side.
“Viscount Leverkin. Yuno is right about this much. Don’t forget for what reason we raised the army. We didn’t raise the army for power or to take the throne. We must not forget this.”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I guess I got a little excited.”
Prinz and Juno generously accepted Viscount Leverkin’s apology.
“But I don’t see any other way. It’s not like we can climb over the castle wall in a short period of time and rescue the children who were taken hostage.”
Juno’s eyes sparkled at Viscount Leverkin’s words.
“Hmm? Viscount Leverkin. Let’s talk about it again.”
“Yes? What are you talking about?”
“Isn’t that what I just said? I’m saving the children who were taken hostage.”
“Ah… Well, that was something I just blurted out… I apologize, Your Highness.”
“No. Maybe that could be the way… Heinrich and Dietrich should show the power of the people at least once. Hehe.”
Seeing Yuno smiling sinisterly, Prinz, Viscount Leverkin, Yuria, and Mayer all looked at him with anxious eyes, but their anxiety became real.
“The four of us, Master Catherine, Ajin, Jennifer, and I, will cross the Adriatic Wall tonight.”
“What? No! I can’t allow it! Do you know how many guards are in the castle? Even if you are you, it’s dangerous!”
“Isn’t it okay if we don’t get caught? That’s why we only go online.”
“Don’t you know how many security devices there are on that wall?”
“Jennifer will be able to solve this problem, right?”
In response to Yuno’s question, Jennifer, who was fiddling with the dog’s collar in the corner, smiled and nodded.
“Well… And why are you taking Ajin with you? How are you going to hide your huge size?”
Hehe, it’s because you don’t know how secretly and quickly Ajin moves in the forest at night. And inside Adriatic Castle, the buildings form a forest.”
“Still, I would rather have Princess Eliza…”
“Oh, Eliza is talking to Princess Fiona right now. Princess Fiona is unable to return because the Adriatic Gate is closed. She is talking about how she hasn’t seen her sisters in a long time, so you shouldn’t interrupt her.”
Yuno’s words, explaining step by step why they had to go, were already convincing the staff, including Prinz, Mayer, and Leverkin.
“And if the four of us rush in like this, even if we get caught, we can get out safely. With only the Master, haven’t you seen Jennifer’s skills well?”
“Ah, I understand. Instead, be careful! You have to be careful again!!”
“Don’t worry, brother. I will definitely come back alive, even if it’s just for the sake of my mother.”
Next to Yuno, Yuria put her hand down the table and squeezed Yuno’s hand, even though Yuno was glaring at her as if she hated her. Yuno also stroked her soft hand and looked at her.
“Chiit… You can take me instead of Master Jennifer… Yuno, I’m out!!”
“Hohoho, Your Highness Isabella. It will still take a while for you to catch up with me. Master knows that, so you’re taking this bitch with you. Hehe.”
“Heungheung!! I’ll catch up with you in no time, so just wait. Master.”
Isabella and Marie also resented Yuno for not taking them, but they still recognized the difference in skill between them and Jennifer, so they obediently let her go.
So the four-person commando team consisting of Juno, Catherine, Ajin, and Jennifer set out for the Adriatic Wall.
