Chapter 228

Third Person POV–

Vandolea . Capital City: Vandola .

「Isaritus…… and Kashegard too!?」

「The city is buried under a mountain of ash taller than a person so we can’t even get close!」

「Does nobody know what’s going on around here!? I don’t care who it is, bring them here so they can tell me the situation . 」

「The thing is, nobody from the city can escape…… we only have the testimonies of peddlers who watched what happened from a distance . 」

The members participating in the Vandolea People’s Assembly are surrounding a map with perplexed looks on their faces .

Cities on the map are being blotted out with ink as they listen to the jumbled reports .

When they heard fire was erupting from the Dard mountain, the first thing they were worried about was the safety of the First and Second Army Corps defending against an attack by Altair at the base of the mountain .

But as time passed, they started to hear reports about more and more serious damages .

「Keyla as well……?」

「Urande is a city with 20,000 people . Not even a single person was saved!?」

「The cities and people don’t matter right now! What’s going on with the army fighting on the border!?」

「Are you an idiot? Urande, which is 30 kilometers away, got wiped out . Obviously there won’t be any survivors when they’re fighting at the base of the mountain!」

「What did you say!? You defeatist!」

「Shut up, incompetent fool! I’ll purge you!」

They finally start scuffling with each other .

「Will you stop, you two idiots!? ……if we think about it realistically, the First and Second corps are probably extinguished and the same can be said for the provisional army designated as backup…… we’ve lost most of our military power . 」

Everyone slumps their shoulders in disappointment .

Vandolea has lost all its strength including the army formed by adding every elite squad to the survivors of the Third Corps .

「B-but Altair’s forces should also have been wiped out, if we hurry and reorganize the army……」

「No, Altair never fought using elite soldiers . They only had peasants charge at us with spears…… they could probably gather forces much quicker than we can . 」

「This should be quite the crisis for them, do you think they’ll continue the invasion?」

Everyone goes into thinking .

And their conclusion was ‘yes’ .

「They’re screwed in the head . Anything is possible . 」

「They probably won’t move now, but it’s possible they’ll circle around to the north or south once the mountain settles down . 」

「Besides, Goldonia is also poised for something big . The possibility of them flooding in from the north is also……」

The man acting as mediator clapped his hands .

「First, we should get our troops together before we can do anything . We’ll take men of course, but we’ll also take adult women . Recruit any and every citizen from 16 to 45!」

「We have no choice . 」

「If we can’t get through this situation, our country is done for . 」

After the conclusion was reached, everyone’s gazes concentrate at one point .

The mediator was the one in charge of the discussion up until this point but their target this time was the old man who hasn’t said a single word since the meeting started .

「W-what is it……?」

「Comrade Bellace, the 15 000 soldiers you dispatched to Goldonia are more precious than jewels . The situation would be considerably different if we had them in our hands right now . 」

The elder leans backward from the pressure he felt but quickly tries to retake the initiative by yelling out loudly .

「How could I have known that disaster would happen on Dard!? It was the best plan to make at that time!!」

「But in the end, they disappeared into the ash! They were fighting a meaningless fight, unlike the army battling with Altair . And it’s even made Goldonia into our enemy . 」

「B-but Goldonia views them as deserters……」

「Haven’t they invaded deep into our land because they don’t believe that!?」

The largest unresolved problem of the People’s Assembly before the spouting of fire from Dard mountain was how to deal with Hardlett’s army advancing from the south .

With the main force devoted to fighting Altair, they couldn’t spare any soldiers to defend against his attack .

There would be no choice but to execute the plan to mobilize several tens of thousands of peasant soldiers to buy time .

「T-that’s…… w-well it was also approved by the People’s Representative . I do not hold sole responsibility . 」

The mediator slams a piece of paper in front of the old man .

「It is written that the Representative does not know of what happened . It was all Bellace’s judgement . Do you have anything to say?」

The politeness disappeared from the mediator’s tone .

All the other members present have grim looks on their faces .

「I-impossible! I definitely got consent from the Representative! I was told that I could do as I wished!」

「There is no official decree nor is there a notice to us, so how can we believe you!? All you have is this single piece of paper…… that’s it . 」

The elder takes the document in front of him and reads it .

「No approval from the People’s Representative for the invasion on Goldonia . It was all the sole decision of Commissary Bellace……you say? What nonsense! Representative, Representative!!」

The members of the Assembly grab the elder and pins him down as he turns pale and tries to run .

「Guards, take him away! He’s an enemy of the people!」

「You’re wrong! At that time, I definitely received approval from the Representative! Representativeeeeee!!」

The elder screams in the direction of the Representative’s office even as his legs get grabbed by the guards and pulled away .

「One cancer of Vandolea is gone now…… but our nation is still on the brink of death with this serious disease . I would like all the members here to work like their life depended on it . 」

Out of everybody who nods, one man mumbled in a subdued voice .

「The ash…… won’t stop . 」

The endlessly falling ash endlessly accumulates in piles of unmelting snow .

Olga Federation . White City Siege Battle . Imperial Army Camp .

「So this is White City…… what a beautiful city . 」

Zaphnes mutters as he looks at the chalk colored castle walls after crossing the North Teries river and landing on the west side of White City .

「I heard that the imperial capital Garland has more population…… but nothing can rival this enormous wall . 」

His subordinates also look up at the walls keenly .

Nothing else stood in the way of Zaphnes after he defeated the main force of the Federation in battle near Albens territory and he finally made his way safely to White City .

On the other hand, the fleet led by Sekrit handedly defeated the Federation’s river fleet and secured naval supremacy .

It became possible for the Empire to freely land on the north bank of the river after attaining complete supremacy on the waters, allowing them to push back the desperately resisting Federation forces in the area and gradually surrounding White City from all sides except from the east .

「So they won’t abandon the capital?」

「Yes, according to the prisoners of war, it looks like they intend to defend till the end . Emperor Jutland II is still staying in White City as well . 」

Zaphnes smiles satisfyingly .

「That’s good . That means the battle will be settled when White City falls . 」

The Olga Federation is a big place, much bigger than the Empire purely in terms of area despite having many places unsuitable for living .

「No matter how large an army we have, we can’t search the nooks and crannies of the vast lands of the Federation . We have to get them to surrender . 」

It was safe to say that the advancing Imperial army had an overwhelming advantage with control over the north and south coasts .

However, they haven’t reached the distant northern regions across the river and it would require years to end the war if the Federation kept running further and further east .

「If we crush White City, we might be able to finish the battle this month . 」

Zaphnes laughs heartily at his subordinate’s proposal .

「If we accomplished that, we would receive the ultimate reward from His Majesty the Emperor . You and I would be entertained by 100 virgins . 」

After chuckling briefly, seriousness returns to Zaphnes’s face .

「That giant wall…… it might have been impregnable if my army was in the stone ages where cannons didn’t exist and we wouldn’t have been able to do anything but pray . However, it’s nothing but a big target now . 」

「You’re absolutely right, Your Excellency . Let’s line up all the cannons we have and blast the wall apart . 」

Zaphnes did not only have the Imperial cannons, he also had many cannons seized from the Federation after countless battles .

If he gathered and shot them all at once, it is unthinkable for the stone wall, no matter how high and sturdy, to withstand the impact .

「Let’s mount our first attack . Have all the military slaves except the cannoneers strike with everything they have . The war will be over if we can bring White City down . It may displease His Majesty if we screw up and leave anything standing . 」

The military slaves assembled from the countries and people who opposed the Empire are considered disposable, however it didn’t mean they would give their all to fight even when threatened with bowguns from behind .

Which is why the Emperor declared that the military slaves who survive two battles will be treated, along with their families, as regular citizens .

Nobody wants to treat slaves like ordinary citizens .

But the Emperor himself made the declaration so it wasn’t easy to overturn that decision without his authority or trust being called into question .

「We’ll have as many of them die in this final fight . 」

「Leaving 10 or 20% alive should be enough . 」

Using up military slaves wasn’t a particularly painful thing to do, rather it was encouraged .

The cannoneers line up on Zaphnes’s order and several tens of thousands of military slaves flock around White City .

There wasn’t any set formation and the focus was more on relying on power in numbers to push through .

「Still, White City should be protected by many guards . It would be hard for the slaves to breakthrough even after the walls are destroyed . 」

「We’ll exhaust the enemy by attacking with numbers then defeat their main army when they arrive . Is that right?」

Zaphnes nods .

「There is no counterattack from the enemy . Maybe they’re curled up in a ball somewhere feeling scared?」

「Fufufu, they better not have some internal rebellion going on . The military slaves won’t die if they surrender . 」

Then, one subordinate steps forward and kneels down .

「Will you not contact Her Excellency Sekrit? Our attack will be more efficient if we add in the bombardment from the fleet……」

Zaphnes shakes his head .

「It’s fine, we can’t be borrowing the fleet’s strength all the time . We’ll make the first attack . 」

Zaphnes still intends to bring White City down even after saying that .

「I’ve already been saved plenty of times by Sekrit this war, so if I finish this battle without her aid, His Majesty will turn his attention to me . 」

White City will be sieged without any reinforcements .

It wasn’t possible for the side defending against the siege to win without any outside help .

He was already thinking about his reward at this point .

「Sekrit will realize if we take too long . Let’s start as soon as preparations are ready . 」

Zaphnes could not hide the grin on his face .

And then, the attack began .

「Fire all cannons!! Shower them with a storm of cannonballs!」

After the thunderous roar from the collective firing of the cannons, the emitted smoke engulfs the cannoneers .

There was enough smoke to make it seem like an explosion went off in the Imperial camp .

A few moments later, innumerable iron spheres crash into White City’s castle walls, cracking the pristine stones and causing parts of the wall to crumble .

Seeing the enormous wall shatter to pieces, the Imperial soldiers were certain of their victory .

「Fire another volley just in case before having the military slaves charge in . Fire!」

The cannoneers waited for the smoke to clear before launching the second volley, believing the walls would be reduced to dust .

「Charge!!」

The military slaves start running altogether .

They expected to face White City’s guards after passing through the demolished walls but……

「What the-!?」

The walls of the city did not collapse after the smoke cleared .

The clean exterior of the castle walls was definitely cracked .

However, the barrage of several hundred cannon balls only scratched the surface of the walls to reveal a gray, unrefined stone wall underneath .

Furthermore, there was a slight delay in firing the cannons at the supposed weak point of the walls – the base – but the projectiles were repelled after making a sharp metallic ringing on impact, like that of two swords clashing .

「They added a layer of steel at the base!?」

「The surface is just decoration…… That is the real defence of White City!」

The dull stones of the castle walls did not have a shred of elegance to them .

But in the eyes of the attackers, it looked more fortified and durable than the beautiful chalk-colored walls .

The cannons were fired again but resulted in little to no effect on the surface .

「It’s a stone wall, yet not much of it broke apart . 」

「It isn’t just a stone wall!」

The initial laxity in the Imperial cannoneer commanders’ eyes starts changing to worry .

「……White City’s walls are well-known for having three layers…… there are three of those?」

The cannoneers repeat their meaningless bombardment while the military slaves stop moving altogether .

They were supposed to run into the city through the hole opened by the cannons, but the wall didn’t even get damaged much .

Nobody would expect them to climb over the towering walls .

At that moment, a change occurred on the White City side .

The upper portion of the walls opened up .

「Lookout windows? They’re just on one side of the wall though . 」

When the military slaves looked up, the sky became dark .

「Ah…… ah……」

Countless arrows rained down .

There were enough arrows that it covered up the sun and made you wonder how many guards were stationed within the walls .

「Wah!」

「Gyaaah!!」

「Higyaah!」

The arrows shot from the heights of the tall walls easily penetrated the crude armor of the slave soldiers and turned them into strange looking corpses .

「W-what are you doing!? Aim at the top, stop the arrows!」

The cannoneers panic and fix their aim on the upper portion of the wall .

Before they could even fire, the middle portion of the wall opens up and numerous barrels of cannons peek out .

「C-cannons……」

「Uwaaah!!」

Smoke was accompanied by loud booms as cannons were fired from the Empire side and the Federation side .

In terms of numbers, the Federation had about half as many cannons as the Empire .

However, the result