“Suspicious cylinder spotted! I’ll destroy it!”
“Roger!”
Hearing that report, I gave a light response. Yet, my mind raced through countless possibilities. A six-meter-tall, four-meter-wide steel castle gate destroyed—this was no small feat. It seemed impossible with just the black spheres used before. Perhaps the door was warped by the blast or the connection between the gate and the wall was damaged, causing it to collapse.
Either way, a cylindrical siege weapon using gunpowder could only mean one thing: a cannon. The loud explosion and the destruction of the gate left no doubt.
It seemed the gunpowder had come all the way from the Central Continent. Does that simply mean our nations are lagging behind in military tech?
“…If that’s the case, it’s highly likely that a major power from the Central Continent could come to attack soon.”
Just like during the Age of Exploration, there are always nations lagging behind in distant regions. Weak countries inevitably become vassals or colonies; it’s just the way of the world.
Perhaps the Yerineta Kingdom has already become a de facto vassal. If so, they would attack with full force as a spearhead for the Central Continent’s major powers.
Even if this is just a hypothetical, I needed to teach Murcia the basics of defense in case that scenario became reality.
Even the most powerful weapons I’d built would lose half their effectiveness if used incorrectly.
With that thought, I turned to Murcia, who had been silently gazing out at the battlefield, and spoke.
“Murcia, this is a perfect chance to explain how to defend this fortress city.”
“Eh… now!?”
I smiled at his startled expression and pointed at the walls.
“See how easy it is to understand? First, we’ll prepare countermeasures against that new weapon. Then, it won’t be so easy to break through the gates. In the meantime, the core strategy is to defend using the barrage from ballistae and mechanical bow units. If the enemy clusters slightly away from the walls, we’ll use the catapults. There are only two for now, but we can add more if necessary. This time, the catapult ammo was all blade-packed, but if the enemy is too strong, we also have oil-laden shots. Fire arrows into them and it’ll deal massive damage. Though… they’ll hate us for it.”
“Y-Yeah… I suppose so… But, should we really not use magic or cavalry for surprise attacks?”
“No mages capable of elemental magic have been trained yet, and we avoid battles that risk our own knights as much as possible. If we do a surprise attack, it’ll be by widening the fortress walls, adding more ballistae, and shooting from every direction.”
“I see… Those ballistae are certainly impressive. Not just power, but distance too—mages couldn’t even approach easily.”
Murcia nodded repeatedly, clearly beginning to understand the defensive strategy of the fortress city. Once we secure enough personnel to form something like the Murcia Knights, I can breathe a bit easier.
Still, we can’t be complacent. If I were the strategist for the Yerineta Kingdom, I’d assemble numerous cannons and bombard from a distance. Even this fortress city, built by the genius Van, could fall under such an assault.
To prevent that, we must quickly establish control over the Yerinetta Kingdom—not to invade, but to secure a route to the Central Continent. By breaking through several major fortresses along the coast, we can eventually reach it.
“Murcia… you’re going to have to work hard…”
“Eh? Did you say something?”
Lost in my mental calculations, part of my thoughts had accidentally slipped out. Murcia blinked, looking at me, and I simply smiled and shook my head.
“No, it’s nothing.”
“…Really? I don’t know why, but I feel a little uneasy…”
Murcia’s nervous smile earned only a chuckle from me; I turned back to assess the battle.
It seemed we had successfully destroyed the new siege weapon, and no further reinforcements had been sent. Meanwhile, the small castle under Dee’s command was holding firm. In fact, most enemy units hadn’t even reached the main gate.
The soldiers near the walls were gradually retreating, and victory was practically certain.
Just then, a voice called from the walls.
“Van-sama! Another suspicious cylinder has appeared!”
“Destroy it!”
“Yes!”
I issued the command reflexively, and the soldiers immediately launched the ballistae. Normally, this might be the moment for enemy mages to appear, and us countering in kind—but in the war against Yerineta, such things rarely happen. It all comes down to the introduction of the black spheres as a magical substitute.
Perhaps they’ve devised other ways to use mages, but in this war with the Scuderia Kingdom, they seem fixated on battles using black spheres and dragons. The reasoning is unclear for now, but once we push deeper into Yerineta territory, it will become evident.
As I pondered this, no enemy forces could be seen inside the walls anymore.
“Do not pursue! Fire from the small castles, turrets, and walls only!”
Glancing at Dee giving orders I doubt any other knight would dare, I turned back to Murcia.
“…Murcia, the defense was a success! Now, let’s form your powerful knight squad!”
Hearing that, Murcia blinked and gave a twitching, nervous smile.
No comments:
Post a Comment