372 – Full-scale siege (1)
The 7th Guards Division was like the last bastion protecting Bastion Castle.
Therefore, when the Allied forces commanded by the Archduke of Warsaw attacked sloppily over the past week without a single properly equipped siege weapon, they barely moved from the rear.
As catapults were deployed and the enemy’s vanguard force gave off a stern atmosphere unlike before, the Imperial Army’s elite forces were forced to step forward in earnest.
Peter Yeager also thought that from now on, he must step forward with the determination to pour out all of his capabilities and potential.
“The proud heroes of the 7th Guards Division, the elite of the Reich Empire and the ones who saved His Majesty the Emperor from hell!”
The eyes of 8,000 officers and soldiers belonging to the 7th Division turned to Yeager.
“The empire is now in crisis. And the only ones who can protect Your Majesty and your family in crisis are you. “Isn’t that right?”
The soldiers of the 7th Division did not open their mouths to those words.
“I will ask you again. As a young boy named Karl said, what is your greatest fear? “Wouldn’t failing to protect your precious family and the hometown they live in mean dying without being able to repay the kindness of His Majesty, who created that foundation and brought us to where we are today?”
Everyone said this in unison.
“Yes!”
“Then, are you prepared to sacrifice your life here like the heroic spirits who did not run away even a single step during the empire’s crisis?”
“Yes!”
Peter Yeager felt his eyes turn red as he saw that not a single person hesitated.
This division did not have a single windbreaker deployed to boost morale like last time, and it was because they knew that all of them were simply giving sincere answers from the heart.
It was because he felt that being able to command such people was the greatest honor a commander could enjoy.
“Then do as you have sworn. I too will risk my life fighting with you. Even if I die fighting here and only my body is returned, I will fight here without hesitation for the empire and for those of you who believed in Marshal Bon. Each regiment should go to the four walls of the castle – east, west, south, and north – and provide support to the imperial soldiers and women. More!”
The 7th Guards Division dispersed and moved in an orderly manner and went to the place where the women and soldiers were preparing for battle on the wall.
The soldiers on the castle walls were secretly afraid after seeing the addition of weapons such as catapults and the Allied forces emitting a sharp force unlike before.
The soldiers who volunteered from the 7th Division shouted, showing their desperate determination to come and attack the enemies when they saw them.
“Everyone can survive if we just follow Marshal Jaeger’s orders. Since you have been protecting the castle and following his orders, you have been able to keep the walls intact and even survive!”
“If you are going to look unsightly to your family and civilians by looking scared here, show off like a man. And I must persevere with the determination that I can do it.”
“The war situation may become unfavorable. But don’t worry. In that case, Marshal Jaeger will do something!”
The name Peter Yeager was already being treated as a kind of deus ex machina, a power that causes miracles, among the people of the Empire.
With only 50,000 troops, he was able to prevent an attack by an army of 360,000 for a week, which fully demonstrated his ability as a commander.
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And what kind of enemy would care so much that if a soldier or civilian were to die, he would reduce his sleeping time to help with treatment, comfort the soldiers awaiting death, and write down their wills one by one?
Marshal Jaeger’s actions, clearly visible to the naked eye, became a reason to burn in the hearts of the soldiers and civilians standing on this wall with a desperate will to fight with all their lives, even if it meant dying here.
“Long live Marshal Peter Yeager! Long live the Reich Empire! Long live your Majesty the Emperor!”
“Let’s make sure to survive and return to our hometown with our family!”
“Allied forces, you flabby straw bastards!”
When the morale of the Imperial Army seemed to be burning, the Archduke of Warsaw, as he had done almost every day since the first day, was swinging his baton wildly to vent his anger and broke his cheap baton again.
That army is only 50,000 strong, but I couldn’t understand why their morale was higher than that of the allied forces led by him, who led an army of 360,000, and I was just angry.
“Damn Peter Yeager! Today I’ll slit that son of a b*tch’s throat and turn his limbs into jerky! Shoot arrows and catapults! “Kill them without leaving a single one behind!”
Tens of thousands of arrows and huge boulders flew from where the Allied forces were in Warsaw and began to hit the castle walls and the people on them.
A terrible scene unfolded where the bodies of the unlucky Imperial soldiers and civilians were crushed by stones or stabbed with arrows and turned into hedgehogs.
Those who had already fought several sieges were unfazed by such deaths.
“Hide behind the walls, raise your shield! “If you don’t lift your shield, you’ll get hit by arrows!”
“Until they approach the castle wall, everyone except archers and wizards must cover themselves with shields and hide!”
“When the arrow attacks decrease a little, then throw rocks and keep them in check!”
They quickly hid their bodies in a relatively safe place somewhere within the castle walls and waited for the next attack. Meanwhile, the Imperial and Allied armies fired arrows and magic at each other.
Many soldiers died in the process, but they were not greatly disturbed as the war had been fought over the castle for a week.
And then, under Peter Yeager’s orders, the moat that had continued to harass the Allied forces began to fill with water again.
“Peter Yeager, his beloved moat has filled with water! What are you all doing? “Hurry and throw the bag of dirt!”
“Fill up the moat with soil and stones, make it completely flat!”
“The time has come to cut off the last cord of cowards!”
Allied officers tried to make it easier to cross the moat that Peter Yeager was so proud of by filling it with dirt bags.
The belief that if they could easily cross the moat, they could destroy the castle gate with a battering ram or climb over the castle wall filled their minds.
And since the earthen sacks were carried by lowly commoner soldiers anyway, it had nothing to do with them.
Commoner soldiers carrying bare bodies without armor became good targets for arrows, magic, ballistas, and catapults and inevitably died.
“Ugh, Yosef! Yosef, you f*cking bastard. “I told you that I would introduce you to my sister when I return to my hometown!”
“f*ck, this is crazy! Why do we have to do this with our bare hands to fill that damn moat?”
“Damn you officers, ever since I said yesterday that I had finally found a way to get over the moat, I’ve been so eerie that I can’t sleep!”
Even if they were pessimistic about their situation, of course, their situation would not improve.
If we try to turn around and run away, asking why do we have to die alone, we will be stabbed by arrows or spears of our allies and end up being grilled on skewers.
To increase your chances of survival even a little, you had to stuff as many of your allies’ corpses or bags of dirt as possible into the moat while praying that the enemy’s arrows would miss you.
Whether the soldiers died or not, the high-ranking officials of the Allied Powers began to rationalize themselves, saying that if they responded in this way, they could attack with peace of mind because the ‘mud’ would not make it difficult to advance.
“Even though commoners are dying, it can’t be helped because it is a sacrifice to kill Peter Yeager. All we need to do is pay appropriate compensation to the families of those who died over there.”
“Of course, that money should be taken out of the treasury of the imperial palace.”
“What the Grand Duke said is correct. Our four countries used up all the money they had for this war and waged war. If you lose, there is no going back. In the worst case scenario, our family’s historic mansion could be taken over by merchants from the Milan Alliance.”
When commoners die, their families end up on the streets without any way to make a living, and now they were directly fighting on the front lines where it was not surprising if they lost their lives at any time.
The nobles say they will take all the credit for the victory, and are leisurely thinking about robbing the imperial treasury.
Then, the report that the Archduke had been waiting for came.
“Your Highness, the Archduke, can now cross the moat with his bare body!”
“Send out the battering rams and send out all the soldiers right now! “I will no longer fall victim to Peter Yeager’s evil tricks!”
With that order, the soldiers of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and other Allied nations gnashed their teeth and ran furiously towards the castle walls.
Peter Yeager gave an order as he looked down at the guys with an evil smile.
“Move the boiling oil to the gates and walls. And tell the wizards to fire lightning bolts between the moat and the soldiers when I give the signal.”
Hearing those words, the wizard leader asked.
“However, Lightning Bolt is a magic with weak killing power.”
“This is the best magic to use now, trust me.”