Chapter 27 – Bloody Battle of Streb Fortress (1)
Bloody Battle of Fortress Streb (1)
When the Balkan expeditionary force of Tesseito crossed the border, it was immediately spotted by Tesseito scouts. And it was quickly delivered to Tesseito’s capital Carmarthen and key defense points through magic communication, including Streve.
“Your Excellency! It is said that the 1.4.5 corps led by the Crown Prince of Balkan are heading towards Streve. Additionally, the two corps led by the Third Prince are moving to surround this place.”
“Even after they declared war and their legions gathered, they didn’t move for a long time. I was wondering when they would come over, but now they are coming.”
“The preparation is perfect. Just give me the command. I will clearly show the Balkans what kind of place Streve is.”
“Yes… Please come as many times as you like. I will prove to them that this Redelmo is not dead yet!”
Count Le Delmo and his lieutenant Cordelia smiled as they waited for the Balkan Empire army to attack Streve.
Meanwhile, in Carmarthen, the capital of Tesseito, the Duke of Tiruen and King Anton II were discussing the Balkan offensive.
“Hmm~ I was wondering when they would move… But now they say they are advancing.”
“You really crazy emperor… Do you want to start a war by making a play of your own over his third son?”
“Well… Couldn’t it be a self-made play?”
“Hmm? What do you mean? It’s not a play you made? Are you sure you did something real, Tiruen?”
Haha, do you think I’m that crazy about war?”
“… Tiruen. You are my best friend and my favorite subject, but there are times when you don’t seem like a normal person… Well, I’m not a war crazy person…Tsk tsk”
King Anton III of Tesseito put down his glass and asked seriously.
“Yes, Duke of Tiruen. Is there any chance of the empire overcoming Streve?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The enemy will never be able to cross Streb. I will never let them do so. Even if they do, the enemy will not be able to take over a single piece of territory in Tesseito, so don’t worry.”
Anton II was satisfied with Duke Thiruen’s answer and raised his glass again, and Thiruen also clinked his glass against his friend’s glass and emptied his glass cleanly.
“Then I will only trust you… Please finish this war well. I don’t know anything about the military, so I need you to be good to me. And when this war is over, there should be good news for my sister, right? I want to hear from my uncle as soon as possible.”
At the king’s words, Thiruen smiled bitterly, put away his map, and headed to his official residence.
“I’m so busy… It’s already been over a year since I slept with my princess… If you want to be heard as an uncle, stop pampering me like this, you bad king!”
The day was dawning with the sound of Tiruen grumbling.
The Imperial 1st Army, which reached Streve in one day after a forced march, camped and relieved the fatigue of the march.
And the next morning. As the sun rose, Prinz was in admiration as he gazed at the tall walls of the Streb Fortress.
“Wow, I’ve heard a lot of great things… But seeing it in person is astounding. After seeing it in writing and hearing it hundreds of times, it’s not as good as seeing it once. I feel like Streb’s reputation is lacking.”
“That’s right, Your Majesty. I was also afraid when I first saw it. But… Streb will eventually fall into the hands of the legionnaires.”
At the words of Baron Hassau, commander of the 1st Corps, Crown Prince Prinz nodded his head.
“What happened to the ultimatum?”
“They cut off the messenger’s head and only threw the head away. Those cowardly barbarians…”
Prinz frowned at the report of Baron Sigwald, commander of the 4th Corps. He tried to offer surrender just in case, but he only ended up losing the messenger’s life.
“5th Corps Commander? Has the assembly of the siege weapons been completed?”
“Yes, Your Highness. All preparations have been completed. So, how about you personally raise the soldiers’ morale?”
Perhaps because he thought 5th Corps Commander Derian’s suggestion was acceptable, Prinz went to the front lines of the army and activated the loudspeaker magic tool he had brought with him.
“Legionaries of the Balkan Empire, listen. Over 60 years ago, our ancestors shed a great deal of blood to establish an empire on this plain of Zenon. Now our empire!! Is in grave danger. This is a serious threat to peace on this continent. Because there is a country. You all know where that country is.”
“It’s Tesseito!!”
“That’s right! That Tesseito is threatening our safety by habitually invading the Zeno Plain, which is our rightful right. He is stealing our food! He is threatening the lives of our families!! The enemy must be defeated!! To this end, I, Prinz, will spare no effort as the commander-in-chief of the Tesseito Expeditionary Force and the crown prince of the empire!”
“Waaaaa!!”
As his soldiers cheered, Prinz waved his hand in response, and when the sound died down he spoke.
“Today!! The enemy will kneel at our feet!! Today!! We will capture that Streve!! And today!! We will completely end the Battle of the Plains of Zenon 60 years ago!! Today! Who can lead this battle to victory!!”
“It’s the crown prince!!”
“You are the commander-in-chief!!”
The soldiers chanted and shouted “Long Live” For the Crown Prince, but Prinz shook his head.
“No!! You are the ones who captured Streb today and led us to victory! You are the Balkan’s most elite legionnaires!! Furthermore, you will be the main players in the victory of today’s battle!!”
“Waaaaa!!!”
“Long live the Empire!! Long live the Balkans!!”
“Long live the Legion!!”
“Legionaries advance!! Destroy Streb! Show them that there is no fortress that the Imperial Legionnaires cannot capture. The shining legend of Streb’s iron wall will end for us today.”
Puuuuu~~~
As soon as Prinz’s speech ended, horns sounded, signaling the advance of the army.
Jump, jump, jump, jump
The legionnaires formed a square and began to march, and siege towers and armored vehicles appeared between the squares.
“11th and 12th heavy infantry units raise their shields!! Escort the siege weapons to the castle walls!!”
“Archers, cast your arrows!! Go under the shield soldiers!!”
“13th, 14th, 15th, 16th light infantry, lift sandbags!! We must fill the moat, so the siege engines can move up to the castle walls!!”
“51st Engineer Corps!! Spray water on the siege towers!! The tanks should be covered with cowhide and filled with water!”
First, the 1st Corps began advancing for the siege. As they approached a certain distance, a rain of arrows began to pour down, turning the sky black, and attacked the legionnaires.
However, the empire’s heavy infantry was strong. The heavy infantry, which blocked the attack without any damage by closely adhering to the square shield, advanced at the same speed as the siege weapons, and in the meantime, four light infantry units jumped in and threw sandbags into the moat.
When 4,000 sandbags were thrown at once, the moat was seen to be filling up considerably, so Baron Hassau, commander of the 1st Corps, ordered the light infantry, which had succeeded in retreating without any damage, to run with sandbags once more.
“Roughly, if you repeat this about three times, you will have enough space to build two siege towers.”
“Then wouldn’t it have been better to fill the moat and then advance the siege weapons? Isn’t the current advance of the 11th and 12th Infantry Corps and the 51st Engineer Corps meaningless?”
No matter how well-defended the imperial army was, Prinz had doubts as casualties were being made little by little as they approached the walls.
“Your Majesty. That’s not true. The siege tower that is currently advancing is a sign. Since there is a high-risk target, most of the enemy’s arrows and catapults will be focused on that direction. The more that happens, the fewer sacrifices the infantry in charge of sandbags will have to make. “
“Hmm… I understand. I will leave the detailed strategy to the corps commanders, and I hope they will definitely bring me victory.”
“I will accept your orders, Your Majesty.”
The commanders of the 1st and 4th corps, Baron Hassau and Baron Sigvald, were low-ranking nobles and high-ranking nobles, so they had hopes that if they earned the attention of the crown prince by making merit, they would later become close associates of the emperor and be promoted to high-ranking nobles.
That’s why I focused on targeting Streve more passionately than anyone else.
However, that does not mean they were incompetent soldiers who sacrificed their soldiers senselessly for their own achievements. As the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th Infantry showed signs of exhaustion, the 43rd, 44th, 45th, and 46th Light Infantry took turns with the 4th Corps. I got ready and ran to the battlefield.
“Run!! Run as fast as you can and avoid the enemies’ arrows!!”
“Cover your head with a shield!! Then cover your shoulders with sandbags and run while blocking arrows as much as possible!!!”
At that moment, the four light infantry units had only about 100 meters left in the moat. Suddenly the ground collapsed.
“Aaaaah!! What is this!!”
“Now… Wait a minute, the ground is ugh!!”
It wasn’t that deep, so it was just high enough for legionnaires to stretch out their arms and climb up on their own, but it was in the middle of the battlefield and the rain of arrows continued to hit them.
“Aaaaah!! It’s an arrow!!”
“Pull up your shields!! You idiots!! You can go up later!! Stop it first!!”
The commanders worked hard to bring the soldiers to their senses and prepare them for battle, but nearly 500 light infantrymen were either killed or seriously injured, and arrows rained down on them as they tried to climb back up.
“It’s a volley of fire!! Come down and block it!! It’s under the ground, so the angle isn’t good, so if you just block your head there’s no problem!!”
“Che… A thousand seals!! That… That… Over there!!!”
“What?”
What caught the eyes of the Cheoninjang, who were trying to retreat to the base while consolidating the soldiers, was the water pouring in along the collapsed ground.
“It’s handmade!!”
“Calm down!! If you raise it this high, you will never drown to death!! If you can escape calmly, there will be no problem… Gasp!!”
However, arrows rained down along with water, and in the end, the 4,000 light infantry had to retreat to their base, leaving behind 1,500 casualties.
As the moat could not be filled due to the retreat of the light infantry, the advance of the siege tower also stopped.
The moment the siege weapons stopped, they became such good targets that the heavy infantry had to abandon the siege weapons and retreat to their base as the siege towers and armored vehicles began to burn from the continuous rain of fire arrows.
The imperial army fought all morning, but was unable to reach even a single hair of Streve, and with the commanders’ opinion that the fatigue of the 1st and 4th corps was too great to fight until the afternoon, the crown prince decided to resume the siege tomorrow and ordered the soldiers to rest. .
Even though he was receiving special food and resting under the orders of the crown prince, the Imperial Legion soldier’s complexion was not good. This was because I experienced first-hand how strong Streb’s defense was, and realized that this battle was more difficult than I thought.
On the other hand, Streve Fortress was naturally in a festive mood.
Haha!! You idiots!! Did you think we would just let you fill the moat?”
“It was as if they were asking me to kill them because they were so ignorant and just following the rules. Hohohoho.”
“Now that I’ve tasted the heat of the Balkans, I’ll be a little more cautious tomorrow.”
“At best, they are just inexperienced brats. They will now know what the results will be if they attack His Excellency Ledelmo with a siege.”
“Sir Cordelia. Prepare for the next move. They also have brains, so they won’t attack you as ignorantly as they did today.”
“Yes! Your Excellency. Isn’t there a way to scare them? We have to show the invaders a real bitter taste. Hohohoho.”
The first day of the Battle of Fortress Streb ended with a crushing defeat for the imperial army.
*Illustration of Crown Prince Prinz giving a speech to legionnaires
