Chapter 222: Twenty-fifth Episode: Chapter 2 (1/2)
Chapter 222: Twenty-fifth Episode: Chapter 2
Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The sky was dark during dawn. It was about eight in the morning. The sun finally showed its greyish white figure in the sky. After a while, thick clouds gathered, and the bright sun disappeared. It was replaced by a few raindrops along a slight south-eastern wind. Maratore that was tortured by fresh blood and heat for one night finally became a little more refreshed.
The fortress was located right at the edge of the mountain. The light of the fire blinked under the dark sky.
The road at the southern wall near the overhang door had already collapsed. There were bodies and arrows at the ruins of walls. Those who approached this place did not even need to look to know how intense the battle was for the whole night. They could smell it in the air.
Chief Commander of Red Tiger Front of the Narcissus Knights General Murat stood on the tallest building in the fortress. Beside him was a flag-holder. The fiery red Fierce Tiger Narcissus Flag flew in the wind under the sky. The general stared into a distance while the Red Tiger Knights formed a dense formation at the left of the fortress. In the fortress, the soldiers of the battle group had given up their horses. They were eliminating the Slovenians who still did not wish to put down their weapons, house by house.
The reason why these defeated people were called Slovenians because the enemy who participated in the fortress war were not all soldiers. There were farmers from nearby and hunters from the plains. There was an incident where one of General Murat's group commander was stabbed to death by a woman, but who really knew what happened at that time?
General Kamille Rayen had always stood at the frontline. He had moved the frontline formation from the fortress overhang door to the fortress gate, then to the fortress wall. At last, the frontline disappeared. The whole fortress was in a war. Every window and door were the frontlines of the paladin! It could be imagined that the Battle Group paid a great price to control the situation. But this price was still acceptable to Kamille thanks to the artillery unit belonged to the Front. If these artillery companions were not there to bring such a great effect to the battle, regardless of whether it was Kamille or his Chief Commander, they would think that bringing Maratore Fortress down could only be done next week.
The rain would not ruin the cannon. The Red Tiger warriors had covered their cannons with raincoats. They were using the newly bought ”DL” (Delin-styled) eight-pound cannon and six-pound cannon. Even though it was said to arm the whole unit, only Murat's Red Tiger amongst the Narcissus Knights owned these two types of cannons. And this was everything Andrew had.
According to genius Madam Vijdeline's statement during ”Defense Construction Five-Year Program”, a modernized army should have Granedier Division and Artillery Company as a basis. The factory under Narcissus Military Personnel Bureau still could not mass-produce the delicate mini hand cannons. After attaining the most advanced cannon blueprints in the world, the Narcissus workers could only ensure that they could produce one cannon weekly. This must also include the number of failed products.
Murat's Red Tiger was not armed with the mini hand cannon, but he knew the Military Personnel Bureau had the supply, but no one in the Narcissus Knights knew where these products had gone to. Murat was only able to fight for the first batch of cannons to arm his units. Even if 108 cannons could only arm two artillery companies, to make it sound more attractive, Murat gave the arrangement to his artillerymen. The truth was that the Chief Commander's narrow-mindedness was actually put to good use. Led by a group, the cooperation between the companies and the effect brought on by the artillerymen during the cooperative strategy had greatly increased.
”What about that side?” Murat pointed. He saw a series of intense cannon fires at one corner of the fortress. Then, the exploded place fell into chaos. The well-trained Red Tiger warriors came together.
A messenger rushed to the top of the floor hurriedly, his face full of happiness.
”Report, Sir. The First Squadron of the Battle Corps had successfully captured the enemy's commander.”
Murat nodded plainly. He turned to the Ranger Division Commander who was by his side. ”Talk to him. Go and take a look!”
Derula Han stood straight and saluted. Just when he was about to leave, he was called by the Front Commander. After thinking for a while, Murat said to him, ”Let him die like a hero...”
The commander of the Maratore Defense Line was hung at the tower of the fortress in the afternoon, but he had already closed his eyes at that time. To show his respect, Derula Han stabbed his sword into this newly-known friend's chest without much torturing. His sword touched the person's heart and was pulled out. Derula believed that this friend did not suffer much pain before leaving the world.
But, the pain of having his country broken was not as easy as stabbing the heart with a sword. After this brave commander lost his life, the resistance at some places in the fortress broke down respectively. The injured Slovenians put down their weapons, but they did not surrender to the invaders.
The captured units left the battlefield under the surveillance of the Narcissus Knights. They held their heads high and stepped forward with pride. Only the injured soldiers helped each other in difficulty as they walked.
Every captured soldier saluted to their commander when they passed by his body. It seemed as if that sacrificed Marshal was still commanding the battle. A silent battle.
In the afternoon, the fortress resumed its silence. There was an only place that was still filled with noisy human voices. The resistance at Maratore's mosque was still ongoing. A group of loyal believers gathered in front of the mosque. These believers were soldiers, businessmen and villagers from the nearby village. When they had finished morning prayer, they sent the final notice to the invaders. The citizens of True God said, ”You can conquer our land, but you can never conquer our whole tribe...”
Murat was completely irritated by two in the afternoon. He sent the whole artillery division there. 102 cannons (six were destroyed during the battle) could not spread out properly in the ruin-like fortress. The artillery division commander could only order the soldiers to take the cannon and moved to the leftmost building of the mosque.
Intense cannon fires began from two thirty until three in the afternoon. The loud noise and flying debris had covered the whole fortress in a terrible smog. The Narcissus Knights who was idle sat at the building near the mosque. They enjoyed their late lunch as they watched the white mosque disappeared slowly in the cannon fire.
Until four in the afternoon, the Narcissus Knights cleared out more than sixty bodies from the ruins of the mosque. The soldiers who had participated in the battle came to watch. They could hardly believe the enemies who had fought with them all this while was only this many.
The cleaning work of the fortress only announced its end during the third day the Red Tiger Front had finished preparing themselves. At this time, another news came. This news not only came as a shock, depressing and demotivating but also gave a strict warning to Lieutenant General Murat who just got promoted to the Chief Commander of the Front at the start of the war.
The location was Maratre mosque. To be more specific, it was an underground tunnel of the mosque.
The cannon attack on the 24th day had buried the entrance to the tunnel.
There were 279 people in the tunnel who died of due to suffocation. There was less than 30 percent of soldiers amongst these people. Most of them were women and children who hid from the battle.
Even though this was not intentional Murat strongly blamed himself for the consequences. The generals broke out in fierce arguments due to this tragedy. One side felt that they should go with it and prioritize the advancement of the army. Another side emphasized facing this issue properly to alarm the units and soldiers. This was to prevent similar mistakes in the future.
After careful consideration, the Front Commander accepted the latter view. He ordered all officers with the rank higher than platoon commander to participate in the cleaning work of the bodies. Thus, the Red Tiger Knights did not hurry with their journey but were busy running about instead. More or less they felt terrified when they faced mothers and sons who hugged tightly together as they died out of breath. However, many of them felt confused about this battle and the whole war.
The knights asked, ”Why are we doing this?” and ”What is wrong with us?”
The God-chosen warriors would not kill the innocent. Slovenians could be seen as innocent in some ways. They had not always been Andrew's enemy. Moreover, the old men in Narcissus County advised the young ones before they went out, ”The Slovenians have helped us when Andrew was in trouble. They only chose the wrong path this time. The Head of Family and Marshal Figg only wanted to correct their mistake...”
Yeah! The Slovenians only chose the wrong path! The Narcissus Knights came to this neighboring country to correct their mistake! This sort of saying was soon accepted by all soldiers. Only that they did not understand there was no right or wrong in a war. When one began a war with the other to correct his mistake, history would usually let a third party be another person to correct the mistake. However, the third party would surely point to the person who started the war.
***************
The sound of army boots stepping on the marble tiles was crisp to the ears. The footsteps were neat and full of strength.
Marshal Vann Hewitt Alan of the Titan Empire strode into the glorious walkway of Hamilton Palace. The doors opened before him one by one automatically and the large crowd of army officers was right behind the marshal.
Finally, they reached the final door. When the servants opened the door for the group of soldiers, the laughter of madams and ladies came from within. Empress Alanis was sitting gracefully on her throne and gazing upon these noble ladies who pleased her with mock.
Looking at these gentlemen who looked stunning in their uniform, the ladies burst into giggles. They paid no attention to the expression of these men at all.
”You came just right on time...” Alanis waved her hands at the door. She did not leave her seat, ”We were just talking about your grandson...”
Silverfox Alan was not fazed by this. He walked into the Empress' guest room and let Marshal Robin, the Chief of Staff of Guards to have the seat.
Alanis blinked. She had not forgotten her place position, ”What happened? Is my husband defeated in the war? Or did he got married again?”
The ladies broke into a laughter again. Marshal Alan straightened his chest that seemed to weaken with time. He only said one word to the wife of the Palace Chief who laughed the most overboard, ”Get out...”
Alanis stiffened. She did not want her friends to think that she was afraid of this silver-haired old beast. However, when Marshal Alan looked over with a dark expression, the Empress swallowed the mock she was about to spit from her mouth.
”It was just a joke...” The Empress waved her hands, unfazed. The ladies who were humiliated retreated to the doors of the guest room on two sides. Only Marquise Cameron Wesarcia glared at the old Marshal with hateful eyes before she left. The distaste in her eyes was raw.
”You can tell me now...” Alanis said as she sat properly on her throne, ”Combat Department, General Staff Headquarters, Military Intelligence Bureau, Military Equipment Department, Reserve Unit, Communication Department and National Defense Planning Office – the main people-in-charge of the three largest systems in the Empire are here! The combat system, indirect combat system and the reserve system – are we commencing the meeting regarding the expansion of Guards earlier than expected?”
”Your Majesty...” Alan gave a bitter smile, ”Since the people-in-charge of the three largest military systems are here, for what other reason will we be here for?”
Alanis suddenly gripped her armrest tightly. Even if she knew nothing of military affairs, she was extremely sensitive to political affairs that would affect the war.
”You are saying that the Westland Kingdom Alliance doesn't plan to watch from the side already?”
”Yes! But this time, it will be worse!” The Marshal of Guards nodded as he looked at the Deputy Chief of the Military Intelligence Bureau.
Lieutenant General Tivoli Hadley walked out from the group of officers. He opened a red army report.
”Your Majesty, the Military Intelligence Bureau based in Deiss has sent a report on the 21st day of the 5th month. It said that the main army group located at the outskirts of the Capital Borensberg is on their way toward the south. At the same time, the Deiss SS Ranked Independent Armed Force is gathering at the border of Riel that is under our country's control from all directions.”
”Deiss?” Alanis exclaimed in surprise. Ever since Alan launched the ”Winter Attack” or ever since Queen Opareal Roulexberg was crowned, Deiss seemed to have completely quieted down. This Kingdom suddenly gave up their armed forces and changed their focus to deal with international relations with normal diplomatic strategy. ”Has this hibernating beast finally woke up?”
”No!” Marshal Robin Sparse shook his head, ”It's not waking up. It has been preparing this all along!”
”Yes, Your Majesty!” Lieutenant General Tivoli Hadley took over the topic rather hurriedly, ”Such large-scale movement of Deiss' Supreme High Command is not something that can be done just by a sudden thought of Queen Roulexberg! My Analysis Division suspects that their Supreme High Command has been covering up the so-called basic defense construction. It is not meant for defense but for attack instead! From the situation at hand, their actions more or less prove that--”
”Don't be so quick with excuses!” The Empress suddenly waved her hands. She interrupted the Deputy Chief of Military Intelligence Bureau sternly, ”This war maniac Deiss is planning to start his mad acts again. This does not concern the Military Intelligence Bureau. Moreover, I won't blame you for an information that cannot be verified.”
Count Tivoli Hadley shut his mouth promptly. The Empress had guessed his intention accurately and embarrassed him. The Deputy Chief was probably afraid that someone would use this impossible-to-verify information to create trouble for him and the person behind his back.
”Marshal Alan, what do you think?”
Alan straightened his body, ”Your Majesty, since Deiss has moved, then the Empire's soldiers and I will naturally not let you and the enemy down! The Northern Army Group has received the highest order to prepare for war this Friday. The units guarding Riel area have begun their retreat. When Westland Kingdom Alliance and Deiss have come together, the Western Army Group will guard at the traditional defense line without fail. At that time, Marshal Robin will carry on to the war area and oversee their work.”
Upon hearing his name, Marshal Robin nodded to the ruler of the Empire. The old man's determined gaze was truly assuring. Alanis once again set her gaze upon the leader of the Guard.
”If a large-scaled war that could not be contained broke out, are you going to the north again?”
”Yes!” Alan nodded, ”I am the professional in dealing with Deiss after all.”
The soldiers present all smiled. This made the nerve-wracking atmosphere slightly bearable.
Alanis' smile did not seem to be assured. She furrowed her eyebrows, ”Could it be that our diplomatic effort is in vain?”
Alan shrugged without much care, ”I am sorry, Your Majesty! I am not that familiar with diplomatic affairs. However, before Prince O'Neil Andrew Morisette launched the invasion into Slovenia with the Southern Army Group, the Faran Royal Family had set their stand clear. If Titan starts a war first, then Faran will give up their neutrality for the sake of peace of the whole political situation in Westland! They threatened us by saying that they will interfere with armed soldiers during the second Anti-Titan Alliance anytime they want.”
”I know of this...” The Empress groaned helplessly. This was the trouble her husband had caused, ”Is the Southern Army Group Headquarters still unfazed by the Faran Kingdom Troops at our border?”