LOCATION: WAR ROOM IN FORT KESPARE
“We can’t just attack the imperial soldiers!” Lieutenant Colonel Cameron shouted, his voice full of disbelief. “Not after what Major General Aldraic had done with his 10,000 men. We don’t have enough soldiers to properly defend the fort. An attack? It would be a suicide!”
“We don’t have any choice!” Major Zaiden shouted back. “We don’t have enough men to properly defend the fort. Is there a meaning to defend the fort in the first place? A night raid is the best choice we got.”
Lieutenant General Cedric couldn’t help but sigh at the sight. In his 40 years of serving the Shiena Kingdom, he had never encountered a situation so hopeless.
With 30,000 soldiers dead and no reinforcements coming, the situation was looking hopeless. He had hoped that Major General Aldraic would at least buy some time before he retreated back to the fort, but not only did he manage to fail to do that, he was also killed in the battle.
According to the surviving soldiers, fewer than 1,000 out of the original 10,000, their defeat was largely due to the knights. Now, on top of everything else, they had a new problem to contend with: knights.
Knights were powerful warriors who could control their mana to enhance both their bodies and armor. Unlike mages, who cast spells from a distance, knights infused mana directly into themselves and their equipment, making their armor as tough as diamond and their skin as strong as steel.
And then there were the enchanted items. These magical objects allowed ordinary people to wield power beyond their abilities. Arrows with flaming tips or payload from catapults exploding into million pieces were just a few examples. Cedric was certain the Imperials had a plentiful supply of such items, along with their knights.
At the moment, the 9th Corps had no knights of their own. Instead, they were equipped with 100 mages, all at the beginner level. It was one of the worst situations Cedric could imagine.
Mages were not weak by any means. However, a mage required experience to be truly effective in battle. Beginner-level mages could only cast small-scale spells, often no more impactful than what a skilled archer could do. And to make matters worse, mages were a precious resource to the kingdom. Cedric couldn’t afford to lose any of them. They were too valuable, and too few.
Cedric thought about why it had come to this. Oh, right, the letter. Cedric thought, thinking about the letter that was addressed to him in front of his office door.
It would have been a quiet afternoon if it wasn’t for a letter. Since there were only a few guards protecting the fort, nobody could catch the one who was responsible for this.
However, despite being sent by an anonymous person, Cedric still read it to see anything useful. The letter contained a proposal to attack the Imperial soldiers in a night raid.
Apparently, it was more like assassination as its goal was to kill as many soldiers as possible before retreating and raining the enemy down with enchanted arrows.
The thought of a night raid did pass Cedric’s mind, but it was too risky. If he had more soldiers, perhaps 10,000, he would have considered it. However, the 5,000 were the last line of defense against the invasion of the capital city and he needed every man he could get.
For this operation to fail, then the entire Northern Line will fall and the enemy will invade the capital city. It was a double edge sword, success will result in benefits while failure would mean deaths.
“What do you think, Lord Cedric? Do you think we should do this operation?” Major Zaiden suddenly asked, bringing every attention to Lieutenant General Cedric.
Normally, a sudden question directed to their superior without permission is forbidden. However, with the atmosphere in the room, nobody pointed it out as they were too stressed to think about other things.
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Even Lieutenant General Cedric's aide, Brigadier General Devon didn’t say anything even though he was famous for being strict with rules. Everybody was on edge.
“Well,” Cedric said, opening his mouth. “To start things off, I would like you to repeat the enemy numbers.”
“The enemy numbers 20,000 along with 1,000 knights. We have yet to identify any mages among them, but we have discovered that they have 40 war machines for siege.”
A silence was met in the room. The enemy vastly outnumbered them and had better equipment than they had. Cedric couldn’t help chuckle at the thought. After all, they were fighting in their home-territory and yet, they didn’t have any single advantages.
After a moment of uncomfortable silence in the room, a voice was carried out.
“Lieutenant Colonel Cameron.” Cedric finally said, opening his mouth. “You are ordered to defend Fort Kespare even with the cost of your life.”
“Sir?!” Cameron replied in surprise as he stared at Cedric with wide eyes.
“I approve of the operation. We can’t be sitting ducks here while the Imperials ready for their attack. We will leave in the afternoon when it is dark. I will be bringing 3,500 soldiers with me including the war slaves.” Cedric said firmly. “Nothing would happen if we just stayed and let those imperials reach us. We need to stop their advance.”
Fort Kespare was a formidable fort, strong enough to withstand many attacks from siege weapons. Its walls were thick and well-fortified, designed to repel even the most determined assaults. However, the enemy could simply rain an endless barrage of bombardments upon the fort walls, and there was nothing the 9th Corps could do to stop it with their lack of numbers. Even the strongest fortifications would eventually crumble under the relentless assault.
That was why Cedric decided it was the best choice to have a night raid instead of a siege. There was no way out of the situation if the enemy did exactly what he had thought. It would cost them a major fort.
“Devon.”
“Yes Sir. I will inform the officers of the attack.” Devon immediately left the office afterwards.
“But Sir!” Cameron tried to shout in protest, but he was silenced by Cedric.
“I know that it may be foolish, but we need to make a move first.” Cedric said, “We need to wait for reinforcement to come if we truly want to win this battle and to do that, we need to buy time as possible.”
“But if we fail, Fort Kespare will fall and so will the Shiena Kingdom.”
While Cameron may be exaggerating with the fall of the Shiena Kingdom, it could come true if the Imperial played smart. Even with 8th Corp defending the capital, there was no telling what the Imperial soldiers would do to the Eastern Line as the Northern Line had connections toward the Eastern Line. The Imperials could simply march forward to the Eastern Line And make a second front line, which would cause devastating effects for the entire military force of the kingdom.
However, even then, Cedric didn’t change his choice to defend the fort. If anything, it only fueled his resolve as he needed to have the night raid successful to protect the kingdom.
“Stop, this is an order, not a request. I will take 3,500 soldiers and sneak attack the Imperials.”
“...Yes sir.”
“And all of you.” Cedric suddenly said, making everybody salute in attention. “I won’t force you to come with me, but I will need volunteers for this operation. Who would come with me?”
Normally, Cedric could just use his authority to force officers into battle, but this was a special case. While many of them were here of their own will, some were forced to join the military. With the lack of reinforcements from the kingdom, there was no way to stop officers from leaving, as the kingdom didn’t provide, much less support, anything in return for their service. However, even then, there were some officers who still wanted to go.
“I would, sir!” Including Major Zaiden, many other officers shouted in unison as they put their hand on the heart and other on their back.
“Excellent.” Cedric smiled as he also put his hand on the chest. “Prepare for battle.”
The officers quickly left to prepare for the upcoming battle. Cedric sat down on his chair and put a cigarette in his mouth, lighting it up with a lighter fueled by mana.
“This will be a long day…” Cedric murmured to nobody in particular, staring at the sun that was going down the horizons. “I better write my will since I may not survive in the upcoming battle.”