Chapter 31 - Two Meals a Day is Bad for the Body (1/2)

While the Liberation Army’s predominance strengthened day by day, a large scale reorganization was going on in Royal Capital Blanca.

Cutting to the chase, it started with Barbora, who had suffered defeat at the Battle of Bertusburg and lost Cannan.

The personnel reassignments were criticized for throwing the military into disorder, but Farzam firmly stifled the opposition.

Since it proved difficult to placate Barbora, who called for a final, all-in resistance, just throw him away, Farzam decided.

Borbon, who had put up a “good fight” at the previous battle, was inaugurated as the commandant of the First Army as Barbora’s successor.

This man who couldn’t make decisions on his own was an ideal figurehead. Also, Octavio, who was in the middle of his trial for war crimes, was freed from house confinement and recklessly instated as his assistant.

He was informed of Farzam’s intentions and well understood his own purpose: his role was to observe Borbon and make sure he never made an offensive.

The dissenters like Barbora were reorganized into positions with no real power, and the weakening of the military proceeded favorably at Farzam’s hands.

The urgent requests for reinforcements from Cyrus and Sayeh were dismissed, the defense of the Royal Capital was strengthened, and no soldiers were sent out, under the pretense of reorganization.

The season was early summer. Exactly a year had passed since the Liberation Army made an uprising at Salvador Fortress.

Altura began the final step to liberate the Royal Capital: the capture of Cyrus and Sayeh.

Diener and Fynn were given 50,000 to capture Cyrus Fortress, and 70,000 lead by Behrouz were mobilized to capture Sayeh.

The Liberation Army broke through Canaan’s road without any difficulties, and they advanced while taking over the surrounding cities.

The garrison stationed in castles surrendered without a fight, and in truth they joined the Liberation Army. While showered by cheers from the people, the officers and men of the Liberation Army flooded into the Royal Capital Area.

Without anything that could even be called resistance, the Liberation Army successfully surrounded completely both fortresses.

A request for surrender reached General Yalder defending Sayeh with 10,000 soldiers via a letter tied to an arrow.

—-“I guarantee the lives of the garrison if you surrender. Immediately open the gates and throw down your swords.”

Exasperated, Yalder had rejected it. Negotiations for surrender broke down before they had even begun.

From the next day onwards, the Liberation Army of 70,000 began the siege.

Yalder ascended the ramparts and took command on the front lines. Preserving morale was more important than anything else in a siege.

“Don’t let the towers approach! Pour oil on those guys sticking to the gates and shoot them with fire arrows!”

“Sir-!”

“Sayeh is a mighty fortress! Show them that we can defend even if they send 100,000!”

The approaching siege towers were vehemently pelted by projectiles from catapults installed on the castle walls and destroyed, and those attempting to break down the gates with a battering ram were doused with boiling oil.

In the mountainous area of Sayeh, the Liberation Army’s catapults were hindered.

“Archers aim-! Target, the enemy battering ram at the main gate! Fire-!”

“Die-!”

The Liberation Army soldiers, bearing shields, could withstand attacks from atop the ramparts, but they couldn’t deal with the fire.

Poor soldiers fired upon by fire arrows writhed like mad and became corpses in front of the castle gates.

Sidamo in charge of defense in the back was preparing for the enemy’s tunnel warfare. The soil on their north side was weak, and it was the most suitable area to dig under the castle walls.

He predicted their route beforehand and constructed water-filled moats there in advance, ready to hinder the enemy’s excavation with them. The instant the enemies dug through, the water would rush onto them, and the soldiers wouldn’t be able to do anything except drown inside the tunnels.

“The enemy will definitely plot a surprise attack. The concentrated attack on the front gate is to deceive our eyes.Their real target is our rear.”

Sidamo himself had also joined in the digging work, constructing moats together with the soldiers.

His moats would bear fruit three days later. As Sidamo had surmised, the Liberation Army dug forth their tunnels, and he succeeded in making them sacrifice a great many of their engineers.

“Yo Sidamo. At this rate, if reinforcements from the Royal Capital arrive, we’ll prevail in defending Sayeh. The morale of the solders is also high.”

“Sir-. The soldiers are doing well. As of now, the siege force have not gotten close at all.”

Like Yalder had said, the morale of the Sayeh defense garrison was high. Before cooping themselves in the castle, Yalder had told only those who had the resolve to stay.

The soldiers remaining were the defeated soldiers of the Third and Fourth Armies, as well as those who had many chances to leave. Despite all that, they chose to fight to the end with Yalder.

Sayeh was a fortress carefully planned to be held by 10,000 men, and around it was a region of steep mountains. This was an advantageous position for the defending side.

“Barbora will probably finish reorganizing the Army Corps soon. While they conduct this attack, they’ll have to start being vigilant for an attack from the Royal Capital. Then it’ll be our turn to strike.”

When Barbora had appointed Yalder as the defense commander, he had declared, “I’ll definitely come back and bring reinforcements.”

These two who had a bitter relationship let their past grudges be like water under the bridge–they exchanged a firm handshake and vowed to meet again. They could understand each other, ironically, because now they were both generals who had suffered defeat.

“Though our supplies may be limited, we have enough to hold out until the First Army arrives.”

The Sayeh Garrison wasn’t informed that Barbora had already been dismissed.

Their faith that reinforcements would come, would surely never be answered.

Both fortresses were only there to buy time until Farzam could convince those in power in the Kingdom. It didn’t matter to him that they could only endure for a month.

They were sacrificed pieces, but they, who were fighting and risking their lives on the brink, had no way of knowing.

“Haha, I’m blessed with great soldiers so late in the war. It’s an honor fighting together with them.”

“Your Excellency, there will be more fighting hereon. The rebel army is not entirely unified. If we can buy time here, an opportunity will present itself without fail.”

“Umu. From tomorrow onward, we’ll go all out! Colonel Schera’s probably struggling at Cyrus about now. We can’t fall behind ha!”

Even after two weeks, Sayeh showed no signs of falling at all.

The Liberation Army commander Behrouz had failed his plan for a tunnel, and his siege towers had also sustained great damage. The assault on the castle gates had also gone unfavorably, and the casualties were increasing.

Behrouz was a general skilled in field warfare, but he lacked experience in sieges. He had strong leadership, but he could only conduct sieges by the books: fill in the moat, fire arrows from all sides, break through the gate or ramparts with catapult support, and if the ground allowed tunneling, build a tunnel underground and break into the castle.

What should one do if none of them worked? The answer wasn’t written in military texts.

Behrouz had launched a fierce attack regardless of day or night, but that all-together backfired, creating a mountain of corpses. A feeling of war-weariness was spreading through the soldiers, and morale was dropping.

“……This is bad. Yalder and the Kingdom’s soldiers are quite competent. Our attacks are being pushed back admirably. Our catapults are few, and our siege towers were destroyed; we can only force through the gates perhaps.”

The soldiers attempting to forcibly enter the fortress through ladders were doused with boiling water or blazing oil, and they were dropping, dying.

Was it really okay to let this continue? Behrouz anguished.

“Your Excellency. You mustn’t be impatient. I understand your enthusiasm to take down the castle quickly for the sake of the people, but the losses of soldiers will only increase at this rate. It is also important to wait and watch.”

Behrouz nodded at the Staff Officer’s words and ruminated on himself. He had gotten too used to victorious battles, and he had begun to overestimate himself. He had believed that the Kingdom’s Army was entirely full of frail soldiers.

The other officers and soldiers were sure to have the same belief, the groundless confidence that the enemy would easily fall with just a slight push.

That they ought to liberate the Royal Capital as soon as possible, this idea had consumed him.

“……How unlike me. What have I learned after living so long. Chief Staff Officer, thank you for your criticism. You’re right that temporarily taking a wait-and-see approach is best. We’ve overcome many hardships to come here, what need is there to be impatient now of all times? We’ll prepare an endless amount of catapults and siege towers, and only good things await us if we attack composedly.”

“Sir, that is exactly right. I will immediately begin the arrangements. It will take time, but we will be able to confidently take down the fortress. No matter how courageous the enemy General Yalder is, he cannot replenish his soldiers. Starting tomorrow, let us surround and contain them with only arrows fired. That will force the enemy to exhaustion.”

“Umu. Give the directive at once. Especially in times like this, we mustn’t rush.”

It was a bold decision to withdraw the plan for an all-out offensive despite having over seven times the enemy’s numbers. He would inevitably be criticized for his incompetency. Any other general would have decided to capture the fortress though force.

That he could accept his staff officer’s criticism and decide to change the plan was one of Behrouz’s virtues.

—-The Liberation Army force to capture Sayeh ceased fighting two weeks into the siege.

The force sent to besiege Cyrus, the Liberation Army commanded by Diener on the other hand, had not fired even a single arrow during these two weeks.

This man only did one thing: thoroughly surround Cyrus.

Not just the engineers, even scouts were not an exception. All officers and men were invested into constructing this encirclement posthaste. Palisades were erected, trenches were dug, and fences to guard against horses stretched all around.

Braziers brilliantly illuminated the night, showing the enemy no gap for a night raid whatsoever. Patrols were frequently sent out with no slip in their surveillance of the enemy fortress.

They requested surrender only once before the siege, and they didn’t plan to accept surrender at all afterwards. The reason being that if they did, their food expenditure would increase, since they would need to imprison the soldiers.

Diener’s plan of attack was plain and simple. Complete starvation. They bought as many goods as they could from the area around Cyrus beforehand, and after surrounding the fortress, they would guard against enemy escape.

According to reports from spies, Cyrus lacked provisions. This fortress only just built hadn’t been stocked with food. How long they could hold out was up to the commander in charge of defense.

“Sir Diener, the encirclement is flawless. Not even a rat could get out now.”

“Ahh, everything is going well. Now we just wait for time to pass.”

“Good for us that General Larus is a careful man. The most dangerous time to be attacked was while we were weaving our web.”

Larus was a man who fought a prudent and calm battle, but at the same time that was a flaw.

Since he was uneasy about his lack of soldiers, he forbade any combat until reinforcements from the Royal Capital came.

During that time, the Liberation Army had completed their encirclement. Had it been the belligerent Barbora, he wouldn’t have idly let them scurry around.

That didn’t mean it was right to launch an attack, but the end result was that the fortress was completely blockaded.

“The Kingdom’s Army number roughly 7,000, a bit too low to be launching an attack. A cautious person would probably never make a gamble like that.”