Vol 1 Chapter 11 (1/2)

The officers of the JGSDF Special Region Expeditionary Force Headquarters,each other If things went poorly, it ht

Hazaht that they had probably held it in for a long time

Many ion Expeditionary Force were bored and restless After all, there had been nothing for them to do after they came here

For exa nohich would be base defense, dispatching s, fine tuning the unit’s operational standards, all of which were largely administrative tasks

As for base defense, there had only been a few live engageth were completely unknown

So under normal circumstances, they would maintain perimeter security, build up the base, or maintain their personal equipment

As such, the responsibility for defending the base was given to the 5th Combat Group, while the offensively-oriented 1st and 4th Combat Groups repeated their combat drills day after day in the base

By the way, the 2nd and 3rd Combat Groups were not on this side of the “Gate”, while the 6th Combat Group and beyond were not fully formed yet

At the present ti troop deploy that there was no need toa full-scale invasion The additional et” silenced all dissent

These restlessthat a certain recon teaon and saved innocent civilians”

In the ho of , they could endure it However, this side of the “Gate” was a battlefield, and the artillery and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) tea in battle, while the infantry and the feeling of pulling a trigger The engineers, on the other hand, were busy building walls and roads, and their uniforms were constantly stained with mud

And yet, solory, while they themselves…

Their twisted feelings, combined with the daily boredom of the 1st and 4th Combat Groups’ lives, rotted the men’s hearts The officers who led these men had been infected by their restlessness as well

And then, like manna from heaven, Itami’s request for reinforcements came in

The personnel who got word of this were overjoyed, and naturally there was a noisy and boisterous response from the troops

Itami’s request could be summarized thusly:

① Within the past roup of deserters from the enemy armed forces’ central command has committed acts of plunder, violence, arson and wanton es have fallen prey to them and many lives have been lost

3rd Recon Platoon was attacked while atte to visit the town of Italica The defenders have tried their best to mount a defensive battle, but losses have been heavy A second large-scale attack is co soon

By the request of the town’s representative, Piña Co Lada, we have accepted the duty of providing security and protection for the local population Please send help immediately

② The deserters from the enemy’s armed forces’ central command, also known as “bandits”, are heavily-arion We have confirmed the presence of cavalry, infantry and bowes are unknown

③ The city has no ability to elih the local authorities as represented by Count Formal’s family have already subher authorities, they will take a minimum of three days to arrive

In other words, this was the perfect opportunity to save innocent civilians in the nauys, relieve their restlessness, and gain live combat experience!

The colonels stoued fiercely beside Gen Hazama

Col Kamo of the 1st Cou, “Please! Let us go!”

The 1st Combat Group was a combined-arms unit, built around a coineer, signals, sanitations, weapons and logistics platoons

“Our 101st Reinforced Squadron is at full strength and o at any time!”

Behind Col Ka very troublesoathered his iven At thislaps

“No, if we take our tiet there Under these conditions, only we can get there in time Commander, please order the 4th Combat Group into action”

Col Kengun said this as he strode forward The 4th Coroup… in other words, an American-style air cavalry unit

“We’ve prepared the aa of the 401st Squadron

“Very good, Ltc Youga,” Kengun nodded It see too

“”

Haza it slightly

What should he do with theuys… were they possessed by the spirit of Colonel Kilgore? (TL note: see Apocalypse Now youtubecom/watch?v=GKaYOW9zMoY) Maybe their brains had rotted away

Even so, he had no choice but to send reinforce 4th Combat Group would be the best choice

Hazaun his orders

Col Ka un and Youga were all smiles

“And what are you going to play?”

“The Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, of course”

As he watched the two of theuess what the two of them would be like in a few hours

The squadrons of AH-1 Cobra and UH-1J helicopters flew on a NOE (nap-of-earth) course, while their loudspeakers blasted Wagner’s operatic score through the sky

All around them, the bandits fled

What cas of death

Though there was no way there would be anti-aircraft missiles pointed at them, the helicopters launched flares anyway These flares eighed down by gravity and traced a trajectory through the air, and the dozens of sel

When the locals saw it, they must have trembled in fear at the descent of a Goddess of war

The AH-1 Cobras fired their rocket pods, and turned the ground into a sea of fire

Bullets rained from the sky and mowed the bandits down

There were no blind spots under their overlapping fields of vision The troops did not even need to dismount, and they cut down the bandits from their perches on their helicopters

The residents watching this limpse of hell…

At thistheir walls and barriers

Once they heard that they would be aided not just by the Apostle of Ee, but even by the “Men in Green”, the townspeople’s courage multiplied a hundredfold, and the soldiers’ morale soared

If they did have the power to defeat a Fla these broken men who had becoreen only nuht However, once they took out their “rods of steel”, they would destroy the bandits easily

The despair that filled the town from earlier had vanished, and the peoples’ eyes were filled with light and hope nobody wanted to leave their homes behind and flee, so if they could, they still wanted to protect this town The presence of Itami and the others was the source of their hope

The eyes of the townspeople were locked firmly on the backs of Itami and the others

At Piña’s request, Itaate This way, it would not be hard for them to respond to requests for help

According to her, the south gate had already been broken through once, and the defensive preparations there were completely destroyed As such, it was a weakness in their defenses In the upco

The last time, they had halted the ene melee had left many dead Now the townspeople were then the berms

To Itauard the defensive line of the city wall and gate, it would be best to concentrate their fighting strength there, but Piña insisted that they would have a second line of defense behind the walls of fences in the interior

Her tactics seeate would be broken down

Unlike Ita for reinforceh for help to arrive, so her plan was to make the invaders pay in blood for every inch they advanced, in the hopes of breaking their morale In truth, the idea was not a bad one, so Itaue

Itaate, and froood view of the beautiful stone streets of asun

Although it was a regional town, Italica had a population of over 5000 people It was located at the crossroads of the Appian Way and the Tisarian Way, and there were shops and inns located along the streets that ran in the four cardinal directions Behind them were various warehouses, stables and merchant offices

In the forest to the north was the large manor of Count For it into a high-class residential district

The south, east and west portions were surrounded by stone walls, while the north was surrounded by cliffs as a natural barrier

Ita the outskirts of the city

There were roads that stretched to the horizon There were planting fields and fallow fields where the cattle grazed There were fallen trees, forests, and a few small houses And then

Itaht of the bandit scouts, ere severalto spy out the state of the defense preparations

Beyond them, he could see the bandits’ hideout

“So, we’re going to take their attack head-on, huh”

Itat Maj Kuwabara That was definitely a possibility

The bandits did not have the option of an enveloping attack

There were far too few bandits to encircle the town, and a siege would take a very long time That would be very bad for the bandits Si trenches were out of the question

That being the case, the bandits could only pick a point and assault it However, that was not simply an application of brute force, but an attack that would e of the attacker

This advantage was the attackers’ ability to dictate the tiements With this freedoh the weakened defenses elsewhere That was the typical approach

The objective they would attack would still be weak, despite it being a feint

“I see, so the reason they gave us the south gate was…”

They planned to deliberatelythe defensive line, which would draw in the enemy’s attacks

That being the case, Piña’s tactics were understandable

During the last battle, they had also deliberately feigned a vulnerability, so the eneet When the enean a battle of attrition with the, even if the eneate, they would be stopped and worn down against the sturdy inner defensive line

Since the attackers’ and defenders’ forces were too small for a pitched battle all over the city, they favored concentrating their forces like that

Giving the weaker south gate to Ita to be bait, in order to turn the south gate into the site of a pitched battle Thinking of that, itthe inner defensive line

“Well, you say that, but will the enemy fall for it twice?”

The ene beaten once Would they really try to attack this weakly-defended location?

In addition, this tactic had another big problem associated with it

“Furuta! Put the oes there”

Kuwabara assigned each soldier their designated Area of Responsibility

The troopers braced theainst the crenellated walls

They would be firing down froh, they could start firing arrows at thee of the bows as the FPL (final protective line), and apart froets at their own pace

There was only an hour left until the sun coear while Kurokaas left to mind the vehicles and equipment

Behind Ita far uneasily for directions Just then, Nishi+na ca a phrasebook in one hand with both ar that they should fill the sacks they had with earth and bring them over

The others were collecting burnable wood, in preparation for a bonfire The townspeople wondered why they weren’t ht as they worked

Meanwhile, soh his helear with Tuka and Lelei

“Eh? Why are we helping the Imperials who should be our enemy? Well, it’s to protect the people of this town”

Rory laughed as she heard the answer

“Do you really mean that?”

“Yes, I do”

Ita me” way

To Itami, the Empire was his enemy

If they went by the reasoning of “The enee to take the bandits as allies, but Itami did not do that

Piña was an I Count Forotiated with Itami and asked for his help

Rory was there too, but since she couldn’t stand Piña’s presence, she left shortly after

And then, Itareed to “the protection of the people of Italica” Officially, they could fight together because they had the sa Italica

Even so, she still could not understand why Ita orders from an enemy princess After all, he should have expected that the south gate would become a forlorn hope and the site of a fierce battle

“Do you want to knohy?”

Itaht vision gear to his helmet For convenience’s sake, he let Rory hold his helmet with both hands

Due to the difference in body height, itup her hands in prayer, while Ita his head to listen to her

“E However, theis important Lies stain the soul”

Ita on it, but Rory did not hand it to Itami, but made to place it on his head instead

Itami raised his head to let Rory put his helmet on

As for her question, he quirked the edges of his mouth up It looked like a smile

“I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted to protect the townspeople”

“Really?”

“Of course Although, there was another reason…”

Rory looked at Itah him with her eyes

“I want that Princess to understand that it’s better to get along with us than to fight us”

Rory smiled malevolently, as she believed she understood Itami’s words

“Interesting Very interesting”

He would carve the word “fear” into the Princess’ heart He would show his fighting power to her without holding back, andbattle with hi with hi him

“Well, if that’s the case, I’d like to help too It’s been a while since I last had the chance to cut loose”

Rory lifted her skirt and curtseyed to Ita to her partner

The battle began when the night was almost over

The attack was executed just before the sun rose

In the darkness before dawn, the bandit archers launched flaate

At the eastern gate was the knight Norloo

Under Norma’s direction, the sentries and h they were called militia, they were far accuracy from them was impossible However, their arrow fire would suppress the eneht even cause a casualty or two

In this way, the battle becae of arrows for a time

The soldiers, the farmers, the broken men who had become bandits, they all screamed and fell

Between the archerssturdy shi+elds They pressed close to the wall Their uniforms were varied while their shi+elds were of different sizes and shapes, which suggested that they were of ins

Against therocery shop aunties and the older children hurled rocks, or poured cauldrons of molten lead down on them These weapons were more effective and destructive than the inaccurate bow volleys

Below the walls, the bandits raised their shi+elds in an attempt to protect the down on them Even if they were shot by arrows, knocked out by rocks, or burned alive by boiling oil, they did not retreat