Chapter 65

Since I wrote it quite hastily, there might be some odd parts.

"Well, it's fine. Let's take a deep breath and launch the attack."

Tonino gave the order to bring the siege weapons to the front.

The siege weapons were brought with only the parts that were difficult to produce in the capital already made.

They were assembled after arriving at the Taria fortress.

There were catapults, siege towers, ladders, battering rams, and ships, a wide variety.

With this force, one would normally think it would be enough to take down the fortress.

Moreover, they had prepared for the secret fire potion.

"Here we go, the beginning of the siege battle."

The enemy siege towers approached the limit of the moat, and the archers released their arrows.

Arrows rained down like a storm.

Amidst this support, the enemy crossed the moat using boats and set up ladders to climb the walls.

The boats were connected like bridges, and the enemy, armed with battering rams, crossed over to attack the gate.

"That's a fierce attack," Perum muttered, watching the incoming arrows.

"But this level of attack won't bring down the fortress. We have defensive weapons," I said. Almost simultaneously, one of the enemy siege towers was enveloped in white smoke.

Then a loud explosion echoed, and one after another, the siege towers were enveloped in white smoke.

"Is that the secret fire potion...?"

"Yes, that's right. We're launching them with catapults and ballistae."

Ismear had extensive knowledge not only about construction but also about such weapons.

She had them made under her instructions.

They can't reach with javelins.

When I asked Ismear if she could make ballistae, she said she could, but mass production was impossible.

Moreover, they weren't very strong.

Thinking about it, there's also the Battle of Crécy as an example. With the current technology level, we can't make anything great.

Moreover, the advantage of ballistae is lost if mass production is impossible.

It's a shame, but I'm not too worried about the archers.

"But they're not broken," Ordubis pointed out.

Huh? That's strange.

"Maybe several sorcerers are casting a physical barrier together!"

Or perhaps they've covered the walls with water-soaked cloth or fur to make them less flammable...

"This means the enemy commander has thought things through. But..."

"Damn, they keep climbing even after we shoot them down!!" Gram cursed.

Gram was actively shooting down enemy commanders, but the enemy's momentum didn't change.

The command structure was well-maintained...

This showed that the enemy was a highly trained and refined army.

Moreover, the enemy soldiers were holding metal shields, making it difficult for arrows to penetrate. Our arrows were 30% iron and 70% bronze. This made it quite challenging.

In other words, it's not going as smoothly as with the combat slaves.

Furthermore, stones occasionally flew, leaving no time to shoot arrows calmly.

"It's no good... Ron, I'm sorry. Please deal with the ones who have climbed up."

"Understood. I was getting tired of dropping stones and knocking down ladders."

With that, Ron drew his sword.

Almost simultaneously, enemy soldiers climbed over the wall...

"Here. Good work."

Ron cut down the enemy with his sword.

The enemy, split in two, fell into the moat, turning the water red.

"Alright, it's our turn!!"

Ron and the others cut down and threw the enemy into the moat one after another.

"Watch out!"

A man deflected an arrow aimed at Ron.

A man who had defected from the Diber family to the As family. Joseph.

"Thanks, I owe you one, Joseph!" (Are you okay, Centurion!)

"Yeah, I'm fine, but you've got it backwards, don't you?"

Meanwhile, at the south gate.

Here, the situation was a bit more pressing.

"Hmm, the enemy's attack is fierce. It seems our soldiers are concentrated here."

Balthro drained his wine and threw the pot at an enemy soldier's head.

The enemy soldier instinctively let go to protect his head and fell from the ladder.

"You shouldn't be drinking, Balthro."

Boros, brandishing his spear, knocked down the climbing enemy soldiers.

He was very busy.

"The enemy commander is quite a nasty character. Attacking the south gate, which is guarded by middle-aged men, instead of the north gate, which is led by a young and strong commander..."

While saying this, Balthro skillfully moved the archers and directed them.

His command was efficient.

However, there were limits to what could be covered by command.

Soldiers kept crossing the moat and climbing the walls.

The situation was quite dire.

"Can't be helped. Let's use the new weapon given to us by Almus."

Boros told twenty soldiers to bring the tubes.

The twenty soldiers aimed the tubes downward at the climbing soldiers.

"Fire!!"

Flames spewed from the tubes.

The soldiers hit by the flames fell burning.

Surprised by the sudden flames, the soldiers let go of the ladders and fell.

The ladders burned and fell into the moat, creating steam as they sank.

"Wow, that's amazing. I think they're called flamethrowers? The person who made this is a genius. Is it Ismear?"

"Thank you for the compliment, Balthro."

Tetra, who had appeared out of nowhere, answered.

"No, no, ma'am, it's dangerous. You're a sorceress, so you should stay back..."

Five fireballs floated around Tetra's staff. The five fireballs exploded on the faces of the enemy soldiers peering over the wall.

"Sorry, I was wrong."

"Alright."

Balthro then asked Tetra again.

"What's the structure of that?"

"It's simple. Mix black powder and olive oil, and use a wind magic array to blow it out. Then ignite it with an ignition magic array at the tube's entrance. The key is to always cut the ignition magic array before the wind magic array when stopping it. The flame is constantly blown out by the wind, so if you cut the wind magic array, the flame will flow back and cause an explosion."

"Wow... That's a pretty scary weapon."

Still, the visual terror of the flamethrowers was significant, and the enemy soldiers' steps faltered.

Gradually, we gained the upper hand, and the number of soldiers climbing the wall decreased.

"Well, the downside is the poor fuel efficiency, right?"

"And the short range. It's not very useful outside of a siege."

The two of them talked while cutting down the enemy soldiers.

The day ended without any significant changes in the battle situation.

"Casualties?"

Tonino sighed heavily after hearing the report and dismissed the soldier.

"Major losses," Carlo said, sipping wine.

"Indeed."

This time, they lost many archers along with the siege towers. The archers were burned or crushed to death.

Archery is a special skill, requiring long training periods, and it's difficult to have many of them.

"That flamethrower is troublesome."

"That's cheating. Thanks to it, the soldiers are scared..."

There are no rules in war that prohibit the use of flamethrowers.

"Should we change our strategy?"

Carlo worriedly suggested to Tonino.

Tonino shook his head.

"No, we won't change our strategy. There's no problem. We still have plenty of time. If the enemy soldiers are strong... we'll just tire them out."

"The dead and injured... the numbers aren't bad, considering the attacks we received."

My voice contained a hint of joy.

It's insensitive, but none of the original villagers were among the dead.

Of the twenty-seven I brought, only twelve were with me.

Of those twelve, six were assigned to assist Ron and Gram in commanding the soldiers, and the remaining six were my and Tetra's guards, making it difficult for them to be killed...

I hope you can be lenient with this level of favoritism.

Moreover, losing these officials and commanders would make it difficult to manage the territory, so I would do the same even without any special feelings.

"Tonight, I think we should serve a small amount of wine... What do you think, Perum?"

"I think it's fine. I'm not very knowledgeable about war, but I believe it's necessary to have a balance."

"I agree. It's the first day, so we should start with a flourish."

Balthro also agreed.

"You just want to drink, don't you..."

Tetra criticized Balthro.

But Tetra didn't seem to have any complaints and didn't voice any objections.

The other nobles also agreed.

"What about Gram and Ron?"

When I asked the two, they shook their heads.

"I agree with serving wine, but we should maintain vigilance."

"If we get ambushed and everyone is drunk, that's not good."

It's a reasonable point.

"Then let's send a few people who can't drink or lost a draw to keep watch. And we'll try to limit the amount of alcohol consumed."

The alcohol content of the wine from the Adelnia Peninsula is very low.

One would have to drink like a fish to get drunk.

"Let's call it a day for today."

It was thought that the first day had passed...

"Night attack!!"

I was awakened by a soldier.

"It seems Ron and Rozward were right."

I hurried to the scene.

"Hmm, can't tell how many there are."

"It seems they've extinguished the bonfires to make it unclear. In other words, the enemy is few in number, and their goal is to keep us awake," Ordubis said, stroking his beard.

"Or they might be feigning a small number and attacking in earnest... Let's divide the soldiers in half. Half will sleep, and the other half will respond to the attack."

If the enemy's attack is too fierce, we can wake up the other half.

But...

"It doesn't look like we'll get much sleep."

I sighed.