Vol 9 Chapter 4 (1/2)

Altina the Sword Princess Volume 9 Chapter 4/5

The Battle to Liberate the Citizens of Grebauvar City

Translator: Skythewood

Editor: Darkdhaos, Seir K, CEObrainz

Imperial Year 851 July 20th——

It had been half a is left the capital for the expedition

Even though ca outside was inconvenient, it was nor a fortress It wouldn’t be strange if it dragged on for half a year

The soldiers didn’t complain too much

However, they couldn’t afford to use six months on the recapture operation

That was the reason why Latreille was leading the can personally and committed the elites of the Imperial First Army

It would be hard to tell how the other nations would act after three months

Be it the Gerdom or the Hispania Empire to the southwest, they all had the possibility of invading

A long can required extensive preparation They would need to procure weapons and food, then inspect the routes and eoods

Even though the Belgarian Eh war, these nations probably couldn’t attack immediately

They would need to sche coincides, that would require a further round of discussion…

High Britannia had already conspired with some nations of the Germanian Federation That’s why Varden Grand Duchy attacked Fort Volks at the very start of the war

And now, they were codom

The other states were still observing the situation If August passes and they still couldn’t take the fort before Septeis speculated

He had no intention to spend that much time, which would lead to such a fate

Evening

The heat in the day dissipated, and the te in the west dyed the sky in orange yellow

The shadows of thethe western half of Grebauvar City

The sun would completely set soon

Regis was surrounded by tough soldiers

No matter where he looked, he could see soldiers in ar for the order to advance

The infantry was at the center of the formation, flanked on both sides by cavalry

Right now, Regis was at the roup, where the headquarters were The officers around hi horses

Regis couldn’t ride, so he could only walk After , he didn’t have to wear ar sword he had not worn for a very long time To be honest, it was really bothersome

In the Fourth Are or ride with Altina on the same horse… And of course, he couldn’t enjoy such special privileges here

Instead of the success of the plan, he wasup with the march

It was time

Bugles signalled for silence

And the place quieted down

Latreille appeared on horseback behind the 20,000 troops, and in front of the pioneers He then shouted:

“Soldiers of the Belgarian Eh Britannians and the Langobalt Kingdom that dared step into our lands in the midst of our war! Those bastards conned the soldiers in the fortress, and took the city with underhanded htning onto these arrogant fools who recklessly invaded the sovereign land of the Empire with cheap tricks! Elites of the Imperial First Army, justice is on our side!”

Hooraa! The ar roar

They thrust their pikes into the air, and yelled “Long live Prince Latreille! Vive l'empire!”

Latreille drew his sword

It was the E single edged sword could bring victory to an army

He sliced through the air

And pointed it towards Grebauvar fortress city

“Avance de l'armée!!!”

In order to convey Latreille’s orders, the bugles sounded

The unit advanced orderly

Regis started walking too

The speed matched the pace of the infantry

Despite that, Regis had to do everything he could to keep up

Even though the infantry wore steel are shi+eld in their left, and had to match the strides of people around them, they could still maintain a certain speed

Regis had to run to keep up

His breathing turned ragged in no time

His legs were tre

I’ to die

Maybe the first one to die in this ill bedown—— That would be awful

Even though he was keeping pace with the bugles, the rhyth faster

It was almost as fast as a sprint

What is happening It was still 60Ar (4287m) from the fortress

According to the battle plans, they should advance to 40Ar (2858m), and only the front half of the infantry would continueunit, the cavalry at the flanks readied thee

“C-Could it be… W-We are charging…?”

Regis wondered if he got it wrong, and was thinking whether he wandered into the infantry at the front half of the formation

He could see the figure of Prince Latreille on his white horse so that shouldn’t be so Did the plan change to the entire ar about it, he wondered

Gradually, he fell behind and the infantry behind the headquarters caught up with him

A heavily armoured soldier with a helmet on his head asked baffedly:

“What’s the ist!?”

Before the battle started, Regis was introduced as ‘the strategist seconded from the Fourth Army, the tactician who took down Fort Volks with just 2000 h Britannia had already spread far and wide

However, Regis’ breathing was ragged now, and instead of a strategist, he looked more like a patient as about to keel over

That’s ould happen if someone who only reads and seldom walks was suddenly thrown into a march

“Hah… Hah… Erm… I need to… catch my breath…”

Regis was panting painfully with a hand on his chest

He was at his limits

But he would be stampeded by the soldiers behind if he stopped After they is would be flattened like a carpet

He wanted to puke

His shoulders were grabbed

It was the helmeted soldier

“Hey! Let the carriage fetch you! Sir Strategist appears to be ill!”

The armoured footmen besides him nodded

“Yes! He only walked for a bit, and his face is turning green!”

“His breathing is ragged, is it pneumonia? Hey, hurry!”

To them, this was just a brisk walk, and they could still move and talk at the same time

As expected of the elites gathered by the First Aris was just too weak

In order to ferry any casualties fast, a two horse carriage followed behind the headquarters

Regis was brought there

The wooden platforis could see stars dancing after his head hit the deck

The doctor on the carriage looked at Regis hurriedly He was short and fat, which was rare aarians

“Are you okay, Sir Strategist!?”

“I’…”

“What!”

“Hah… Hah… It’s been really long since I last ran this fast”

“Hmm? Run where?”

The doctor tilted his head

And so, Regis became the first casualty in the battle to save the citizens of Grebauvar City

Latreille spoke loudly:

“Rear guards, halt Vanguards, continue advancing!”

About 40Ar (2858m) away frouards continued

Regis who had recovered e and started observing the battle This was a covered carriage drawn by two horses, and he would have the sa onto the driver’s seat

“The ene out?”

“Sir Strategist? Are you feeling better?”

It was shais responded to the doctor honestly

“I’m fine now I just couldn’t keep up with the march I didn’t expect the pace of the First Army’s infantry to be so fast”

“I see… The i is that you are not ill”

He said very doctor-like words kindly

Altina would ask him to ride with her in such a situation Jerome would lecture him: “You call yourself an Imperial soldier!? You scum!”

Regis re the eastern front, and wondered if Jerome was fine

It rounds Or rather, he would make others feel it was hard

Regis considered not just writing letters to Altina, but to the east too Jerome probably won’t reply

Boo out

White smoke erupted from the fortress part of Grebauvar

The advancing infantry of the First Arht cannons, but it was too still too far away

The Belgaria Eo Which were 41 Elswick cannons, with a range of 45Ar (3216m)

However, there were limited munitions, and the artillery troops were not faht along their old e was 28Ar (2000m)

As the enee was even further If the Belgarians want to exchange fire, they would need to advance under the bombardment to close the distance

Despite that, there wasn’t heavy casualty like the defeat during the battle of Lafressange hill

The infantry spread out in their advance,the impact of the bombardment

They learned froht fore losses

The Imperial Army weren’t retarded They had studied and trained extensively in anti bombardment measures

The First Army infantry advanced in a scattered formation If the enemy formed up to defend the assault, then the iather —— They learned such a tactic

In the Fourth Arht of such a strategy

However, the First Arist like Germain as known as a brilliant tactician After they reviewed the strategy of the Seventh Army in their loss, they came up with this plan

Because of their excellence, Regis spentin

The commander of the artillery unit issued his order

“Ready the cannons!”

The Belgarians had closed in sufficiently With thundering cannon shots, they scored direct hits on the walls of Grebauvar

Grey sered in the air

The stone walls turned into debris, the High Britannian soldiers fell from the impact

Coround, the ones that hit the stone walls were

The stone fragments flew at the troops nearby

The enee and power, and also had the high ground Although Regis thought his side was very disadvantaged——

But the facts weren’t so Shots fro the cannons of High Britannia

There wasn’t any secret behind this, it was purely the difference in abilities between the artillery soldiers

The High Britannian troops were adequately trained, but the Imperial artillery unit handpicked froue

The made up for the difference in specs with their own ability

Regis ed by the scene he saw from the driver’s seat

—— The difference in ability of the artillery units was that wide!

His opponents were barbarians when Regis worked in Marquis Thénezay’s army, the cannons were just for intimidation back then The Fourth Ariment focus on pikes and swords, so their artillery wasn’t well trained

There was a huge gulf between trained and untrained archers, so Regis knew that artillery and rifleined it to be so pronounced

He could visibly tell that the attacks of the ene

Their foe also realized that, and turned their cannons to retaliate

—— It’s about time

Regis literally rolled off the carriage

He passed by some of the injured that was carried back froet used to it no matter how many times he saw it

The sight of soldiers bleeding and losing their lith away

But Regis pulled hi

Making his way through the troops on standby, he returned to Latreille as stationed at the headquarters The distance wasn’t that far that he would fall along the way

“Your Highness!”

“Yes… Regis huh I didn’t see you, and ondering what happened”

“I’m sorry Well… I couldn’t keep up with the speed of the advance… so I got onto the e”

“During the advance…?”

Latreille tilted his head

Germain as beside them asked:

“Are you feeling alright? Did you get hit by a ricochet?”

They definitely didn’t understand that there were people who simply couldn’t keep up with the march

“Er like that… A-Anyway! This is a good chance!”

Regis pointed to the enemy formation

Latreille nodded

“H our artillery Alright, Gere weapons to advance!”

“Yes Sir!!”

The command was issued

Bugles played out another tune

A part of the infantry standing by at the back began their advance

They were not soldiers within the pioneer division, but refugees of the war

However, the est in the continent On top of that, they were fueled by the rage of the High Britannians destroying their ho to follow the army

The e weapons

On the gigantic shelf structure were aand wood

It was a catapult

So that was used before cannons were invented, a weapon from the last era

Theto launch rocks, and hen coht be heavy, but were still light when compared to cannonballs

And the sizes of the rocks weren’t uniform, so the accuracy was low

The weapon was rather ineffective

Maybe the High Britannians were pointing at this ancient weapon and laughing

“Halt——!!”

The command was issued

The six catapults approached the designated distance, and took aim at the steel production street

They were some distance away from the fort, so they won’t be hit by rifle and cannon fire that easily

If they captured the city area of Grebauvar, it would give the attackers a big advantage

At thisthe catapult

A crisp sound echoed out

One of the catapults collapsed Its foundation was hit, the wheel flew off and it fell The pioneers pushi+ng it ran away shrieking

The sun was about to set

Although the sky was co dim

The heat fro the surrounding The figures of the scattering soldiers were revealed

The Belgarian artillery focused their firepower on the enemy cannons

The High Britannians also retaliated It turned into a heated shootout between artillery once again

In the end, the five rearded by the enemy

As Regis planned—— The ancient catapult won’t attract enearian cannons that were a bigger threat

Latreille ordered:

“Launch!!”

Highly trained soldiers operated the catapult

They released the catches upon orders

The loaded spring expanded, and a wooden are moved It launched the rocks placed at its very tip

These rocks were tied to ropes

The ropes that were placed away froradually extended and turn taut

Just like the shrouds on sailing shi+ps, the ropes were intertwined And because of the heavier weight, its range was shorter…

But it o over the walls

Going over the vast river, the ropes hung onto the wall

It was going just as planned

The pioneers cheered

The infantry that was spread out in their advance charged towards the bridgesthe enemy’s fire one sidedly, and could finally turn on the offensive

Roaring as if they had already won, they charged with pikes in hand

Unlike bridges on the ground, they couldn’t run over the bridges made from ropes If they miss a step, they will fall into the river

That ht be so, but many soldiers still ran over it

“Waarrrggghhh!!”

Even though they practiced this many times before, it was impressive for them to run like this

And it was di it harder to see their feet

If the soldiers could storate, the cavalry would be able to charge in They would then be able to at least take the steel production street

Ger from a distance nodded

“Your Highness, our soldiers are scaling the walls with the shroud bridges! If this carries on, we ate!”

“Hmm… What about the enemies’ movement?”

“They are preparing to engage… But the cannons and rifles could only cut a couple of ropes, it won’t be a problem!”

“Is that so”

Regis felt so was off about Latreille and Germain’s conversation

Should he say so…

Instead of that, the reaction of the High Britannian army was more important

—— Hoould they handle this

The unassue of shrouds The cannons and rifles e the shroud, but it would be difficult to break it

One by one, the soldiers crossed the bridge and prepared to leap over the walls

If they could make it in, it would just be a ate

In close quarters coh Britannians

It was already night

Under the diht sky, the soldiers of the Imperial First Army finally scaled the walls of Grebauvar

They took out most of the enemy on the walls with muskets and bows, but there were still some left

The enemy raised their rifles

The soldiers thrust their pikes

“Hyaaa——!!”

The tip of the pike was aih Britannian soldier And pierced it!

Blood soaked the city walls

“Bleah!”

After spitting out red black blood, the enemy fell

“Waarrrgghhh!!”

With a fierce cry the Belgarian soldiers stood tall on the city walls

Gunshots erupted

After several rifle reports, several bloody holes appeared on the Belgarian pikeman’s armour

“Ahh!?”

Looking down into the steel production street from the city walls, they could see several thousand rifle for them

The commander raised one hand

“Fire!”

The ordered was given in High Britannian tongue

Gunshots rang out again, and more soldiers who scaled the wall collapsed

“Gyaahhh!”

There were some who jumped onto the streets from the wall

It won’t end well if soround

When they hit solid ground, their kneessound

“Uwah!! Ughh, guu…!?”

“It’s the Belgarian army!”

At the foot of the walls were several High Britannians waiting with pikes in hand

All the Belgarians who jumped couldn’t stand up

“D-Don’t… surrender! I surrender!”

“Get him!!”

Countless pikes stabbed at them

Ger from afar cried:

“Your Highness! The troops on the walls are getting shot froe number of troops on the steel production street!”

“That is so…”

Latreille turned and look at Regis

—— What should we do?

He asked with his gaze

Regis took out his pocket watch

It was already dark He focused and ed to see the time

The time…

Was still too early

However, they were taking significant losses If it gets completely dark, even if they issue the orders to retreat, the soldiers who crossed the rope bridges would probably be unable to withdraw

Cold sweat broke out on Regis’ back

It wasn’t too late to order the retreat now

But that would render all these sacrifices less

“ Please, just a bit more”

“da wiped out!?”

Germain yelled hysterically

In reality, there was a lie They wouldn’t be wiped out, but if they sound the retreat too late, several thousand men would lose their lives

Regis stared at his pocket watch

And sighed

His knees were tre

Was the watch ht occurred to him

Hurry

He raised his head suddenly, and found hiis saw this illusion for an instant

The hands of the pocket watch finally reached the predetermined time

Regis yelled:

“Retreat!”

“Retreat!!”

Latreille wasted no tis

—— Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!

The soldiers ran down the shrouds fro as they earing armour

A victorious roar erupted from Grebauvar City

The Ied their feet as they put some distance between them and the fort

Germain mumbled:

“ We lost this battle”

In the darkness, the groans of the wounded sounded like a curse

On the table in the e oil lamp

Latreille and his staff were gathered around the light

Everyone looked tired and anxious

One knight said with a sigh

“This is just an estie, we took out 30 enemy cannons”

The enemy had more than a 100 cannons

It wasn’t clear how ht here, but this was very poor results

“ The battle plan… failed”

Another knight said with a groan

A dozen of the staff stared at the end of the table

Regis was standing right at the very back, a step behind the group around the table

His back started shi+vering

“ I am sorry”

That was all he could say

A knight shouted loudly:

“You think apologizing is enough!? Isn’t the enemy supposed to be deployed at the fortress side!?”

Regis couldn’t say anything

An elderly knight admonished him:

“Cool your head You are in the presence of His Highness”

Which ht would have so to say too

That was natural

They lost a lot of their subordinates

After the staff quieted down, Latreille asked:

“Sir Regis, do you have anything to say about our undeniable losses?”

“W-Well… Having less losses would be better…”

“Hht Are the losses outside of your expectations?”

Regis turned pale

This question was hard to answer