Chapter 236: Twenty-sixth Episode: Chapter 1-2 (1/2)
Chapter 236: Twenty-sixth Episode: Chapter 1-2
Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After passing by the fortress' command center, the brightly-lit place that was made of rocks truly felt depressing at a first glance especially the map on the high wall that noted the war situation. Wellington paused and looked at it carefully.
The Deiss had three combat units at the border. The one that attacked Blackwood Fortress was naturally the protrusion unit. (Sixty divisions?) The young Steinberger officer doubted a little. Wasn't that fifty thousand people? If the one that attacked the fortress was truly the protrusion unit, then their number would be between eighty to one hundred thousand people.
Until this point, all combat members of Steinberger's Loantz Front were guarding at Blackwood Fortress. Wellington's First Independent Infantry Brigade was not in the combat line-up of the fortress. His unit was to fight in the forest at the back of the fortress. That was to say, the commander of the hero unit turned his head away in embarrassment.
As for such a battle, he could not be of much help. The First Independent Brigade not only had to reduce the overall burden but also stayed in the primitive forest for a few months. It was just that no one knew how many would be able to walk out of Saijo Mountain and Blackwood when the war ended.
At dawn on the 22nd day of the 8th month in Year 801 in Church Calendar, it was a waste of energy to check out the weather. The rain was still continuing. The sky was pitch black. The storm during summer brought rare refreshment and chill to the warriors. They even lit up the fire in the army's hole.
There was lightning flickering at a distance. After a while, the sound of thunder came rolling in. The fortress stood under the dark sky in the middle of the curtain of rain. Except for the spattering sound of rain and the whooshing sound in the drains, the loud shouts of the warriors could be heard from the fortress.
Through the wide cannon opening, the world under the curtain of rain could be seen very clearly. There were a few young birches standing at the ancient battlefield in front of the fortress. They stood on the battlefield stubbornly as they watched the scenery in the rain with a calm gaze.
The Steinberger warriors in the fortress were mumbling in a soft voice. They had never seen such a storm in a long time. The usual storm always stopped before continued to pour. However, this year's storm seemed to bear the spirit of the Deiss – endless and overwhelming.
The watchtower was located at the highest point of the fortress. A few soldiers on watch were hiding under the rocky roof. They stared at the curtain of rain, feeling bored. (Maybe the Deiss won't come.) The soldiers thought. The storm had put off the fire of the beacon. It was just by the side of the watchtower. Yesterday, the smoke from the beacon had raised the alert of the whole forest. The news of enemy should have reached Dulin by now.
The soldiers who were guarding this place were not afraid of war. They longed for the mind of the forest and planned to protect the forest with this mind. They had fought with the Deiss for two hundred years. Victory was rarely determined but everyone knew this time was different. The Deiss had put in a lot of units to the point of rendering the Steinberger to give up most of the land and defend at a specific point. The soldiers thought, (What would become of the forest, great fairy and the citizens they loved after this?)
The sky had brightened up a little. The sun was probably hiding behind the clouds. The rain did not seem to have any sign to calm down at all. All Titan warriors had their breakfast under the roof in the fortress. The breakfast was very filling. The commander of Loantz Front had ordered the fortress commander to let the warriors enjoy everything they had.
With a taste of fried sausages and apple pie, the warriors already put on a smile. They said such breakfast was most suitable to send their comrades away. To where? To send the souls back to the forest and to return the mind to the forest. Just when the tomato soup in the pot was beginning to release a nice aroma, an urgent horn sound suddenly rang from the watchtower! Then, the tower's bell rang, and the cannon platform also released the signal of cannon preparation.
Blackwood Fortress shook violently. The Corps commander gave an order to division commander, division commander to group commander, group commander to platoon commander, and at last platoon commander to his soldiers. When the orders were conveyed level by level until the most basic combat unit, the rain began to weaken just at the right time. The sunlight could not penetrate the thick clouds. Instead, it only added a pale greyish color to the cloud. Cold haze slowly crept out of the forest and dispersed into the sky just from a blow of the wind at the ancient battlefield. The scenery in front of the fortress slowly became clear.
”Front battlefield...three kilometers away...Deiss Kingdom Army...23 thousand-men formation...the Eleventh Infantry Corps, Ninth Infantry Corps and Sixteenth Heavy-armored Infantry Corps...” the soldier reported the situation observed with a telescope loudly to the messenger beside him.
The Steinberger soldiers stood at the northern wall. Their officers gathered in the tower. The commander of Loantz Front was a local. He had a pair of large, blue eyes that were envied by all forest warriors. The commander blinked his beautiful eyes and stared outside of the window. What could a thousand-men formation do to their fortress?
The fortress commander shrugged at the Front Commander, ”They don't want anything. They just want to get in. No matter what, we will fight until we die!”
Orders quickly came to the frontline of the battlefield. The Steinberger warriors took up their bows in the storm. They had stored all sorts of arrows in their arrow pouch by their leg. Lightweight arrows, protrusion arrows, wide-slotted arrows and barbed blood arrows... Arrows that were enough to welcome sixty divisions of Deiss soldiers were placed in the walkway from the storeroom for the use of the forest soldiers. If this was not enough, rolling wood with blades and boiling oil that was prepared from midnight were the traps that had been prepared a few months back.
If what was stated was still not sufficient, the soldiers would carry the double-blades on their backs. The blades would present themselves on both sides of their shoulders. If there was one stair leading to the wall or a Deiss who dared to climb up here, they should not say it to this extent. The Deiss would definitely climb up here! Those uncivilized Yarans had taken Blackwood fortress four times in history, but history remained as history. Regardless of whether that tragedy would happen again, the Steinberger warriors had stood here for these two hundred years! The warriors would not care about the loss of a fortress. Wherever there was an enemy, they would fight there. This was the wisdom given to the warriors by the forest.
The First Independent Brigade of Loantz Front were ready to move out. They gathered under the southern wall. By utilizing the last moment, the warriors bid farewell passionately to their comrades who had to stay here. Fathers hugged their sons while brothers bid their siblings goodbye. The warriors who were not at the frontline were all here to bid the First Independent Brigade goodbye.
Until this moment, Wellington finally realized how interesting his father, Duke Steinberger's arrangement was! Rather than trapping in a fortress that needed to wait for aid, the chance of survival while carrying our guerilla attack in the forest was much higher. He hesitated for a while in front of the monastery in which Sully was placed in. At last, he did not have the courage to enter it alone.
”Take care of him!” the young Brigade Commander saluted to the officers in the Loantz Front, ”O, God above! May the great fairy and Blackwood protect you!”
”O, God above! May you be in the embrace of the great fairy and Blackwood!” the officer returned the salutation to the warriors.
The southern gate of the fortress slowly rose. A refreshing aura of grass immediately approached them. The soldiers did not show much emotion on their faces. It did not matter if it was the fortress of their families whose fate was unknown. They were all a part of Blackwood. The Blackwood still stood here without fail – never burning down, never snatched, never going away!
”Let's go! Quick!” Colonel Wellington yelled as he dashed out of the fortress first. Behind him were about five thousand forest warriors who only brought half a month worth of supplies. The warriors dashed into the forest along the slope. The gate slowly closed behind them. The soldiers on the wall did not seem to have any interest in the approaching enemy. They welcomed the rain and gazed upon their brothers who walked further away from them.
”Alert! Northern frontline...twelve thousand-men formation...five iron towers...entering limit of fire weapons...”
The breathing sounds in the watchtower had attracted the attention of the warriors. At the edge of the curtain of rain and amidst the cold haze, the soldiers of Deiss Kingdom stepped on mud as they hummed their army tune. Boots and spurs trampled over Titan Empire's land. The sound of clashing metal came out from the combat tower. Black armors were just like slow-moving, cold waves. They surged up and down in the current and advanced forward. A knight suddenly dashed into the invaders' base camp. The chief commander of Loantz Front inserted an arrow in his bow at the overhang gate. He stared at the war horses as he calculated the vibrating frequency of the enemy's body on the horses. When this messenger was three hundred steps away from the overhang gate, the Steinberger soldiers raised their bows and released!
Arrows left the bows and surged forward. The icy arrow heads shot a clear water line in the rain, then that knight fell into the mud with a yelp. Deafening cheers immediately filled the fortress!
The forest warriors saw it. It was three hundred steps! Their marshal had shot the enemy's chest from three hundred steps away. If they had to consider the fluctuating wind direction in the rain, the weight of the rain and the speed of the knight, how skilled they had to be to be so accurate!
”We should at least listen to what these people have to say...” the fortress commander glanced at the front commander rather sadly.
The beautiful blue eyes blinked again, ”No one here can understand Deiss language anyway...”
This time, a Deiss knight who could understand Titan language dashed forward. He paused at a place four hundred steps away from the wall. The Steinberger warriors could not see his face at all so they could only throw him humiliating words like coward and such. The wind carried the words of the Deiss man, ”Put down your weapons...open the gate...or else...”
Suddenly, a heavy bombing sound occurred in Blackwood Fortress. A cannon platform at the northern wall shook violently and a string of white smoke immediately rose in the rain. The cannon surged forward with a screech. In the next moment, the place in which the Deiss knight was at crumbled into pieces. Mud was thrown off and the cannon debris was all over the place! The cooked human flesh and large pieces of horse meat flew in the air while the scorching cannon let out a sizzling sound when it touched the muddy water.
”What did that guy say?” the commander asked the fortress commander.
The latter shook his head with no clue. He did not hear it properly.
The Front Commander shrugged with no concern whatsoever. Through the rain, he could already see the messenger and flag-holder dashing about in their base. It was the precursor of launching an attack.
The commander took his blade out, ”It's our turn!”