388 – Great Counterattack (1)
While Peter Jaeger was consumed with anger, Anastasia Kergit was leading 120,000 northern cavalrymen and was quickly running towards Bastion Castle.
“Marshal Jaeger can live only if we arrive even a minute early! Just a little more strength! “Run with all your might!”
No matter how much the northern cavalry is said to be light cavalry carrying on the traditions of nomadic peoples, they were now marching a distance of over 60 km a day for the past two days without sleep or rest.
If it had been any other unit, it would have been a forced march that would not have been surprising if more than half of the unit members had fallen behind. However, although all of them were very tired, not a single one complained or made a weak sound.
“Marshal Jaeger was the only one who saw us, who were northern barbarians, as human beings! The Marshal is now risking his life to fight for the Empire and its people, us in the North! Let’s go!”
“Hey! Hurry! “Marshal Jaeger must be saved at all costs!”
“Grand Duke of Warsaw, I can’t stand by and watch that weak bastard cut off the enemy’s head. In that case, it would be better to die! Charge!”
All of these people know very well that if it were not for Peter Jaeger, they would have been doomed to freeze to death or starve to death in the frigid land of the north due to Ludwig and the barbaric forces under his command.
After becoming citizens of the Reich Empire, they were able to farm stably in the north and sell the skins of animals they hunted to live without starving. This was actually thanks to Peter Jaeger.
Knowing that there is no way to know how the Empire’s guidelines toward them will change if Peter Yeager dies.
‘The grace that Marshal Jaeger gave us is a blessing, but when he dies, will the Imperial Council and its high-ranking nobles recognize us as subjects of the Empire?’
When you ask yourself that question, the answer you get is always that without your enemy, the well-being of your wife and children and your happy daily life can disappear in an instant.
Therefore, in order to repay the favor, they ran to the death to protect the peaceful daily lives of their families.
On the other hand, the generals of the imperial army, who served as commanders of 120,000 northern cavalry, felt like their eyes were spinning trying to keep up with this pace.
“…… Director Stiller, Director Stiller! Come to your senses! Just 20 more kilometers to go. “If you fail here, you won’t have your head blown off for desertion, but you should receive a medal and a reward…”
“Colonel Milbrame, I feel like I’m going to die. “I feel like I’m going to die because I’m in my mid-50s and running like this.”
“You have to hold on. “You should be promoted to lieutenant general.”
“… I just want to rest rather than get promoted… But I guess I have to play for the empire.”
As we continued to increase our speed, Baron Andersen approached Anya and made a suggestion.
“Major Kergit, we are advancing too quickly now. If this continues, the cavalry may all be defeated before they even arrive. “Let’s take a little extra time.”
The suggestion of Andersen, who played the role of local manager in the North well in the absence of Peter Yeager and Anya, was actually very justified.
No matter how much northerners have the ability to march on horseback for a long time, the basic principle of marching is ‘leading the soldiers in good condition.’
If you continue to whip without resting like you do now, horses and people may die from exhaustion as soon as they arrive or even before they arrive.
Anastasia sympathized with his words, but she knew that if she took a proper rest and moved around, there was a very high chance that Bastion Castle, guarded by Peter Jaeger, would fall while she was taking her time.
“Baron Andersen, Bastion Castle is like hell right now. If they were in the North right now, children who would be playing and smiling brightly are fighting against the enemy with daggers. The children are trying to throw daggers at the feet of the enemy soldiers who climbed up the castle wall and throw them off the castle wall. When the child was discovered by the enemy, he was thrown under the wall and his head was broken, killing him. The old men also threw themselves down and shouted to their sons to pierce the enemy with their own bodies and kill them. In such a place, Marshal Jaeger is fighting at the forefront for the empire and for us northerners.”
As Andersen heard those words, he imagined the miserable appearance of Bastion Castle.
The sight of one’s young son or daughter fighting with a dagger and being caught and thrown away by the cruel hands of an enemy soldier encountered on the castle wall, while an elderly father grabs the enemy soldier and shouts at him to stab him as well.
We have waged countless barbaric wars and slaughtered other tribes during them, but it has never been this terrible.
A feeling of shame came over him.
“I’m sorry, Director.”
“No, under normal circumstances I would have slowed down as the Baron advised. “It’s just that it was a bit inappropriate in the current situation.”
“Then what do you plan to do? Are you really planning to keep running like this and charge into the Warsaw Allied Forces?”
Anya chuckled at those words.
“Considering the speed of our march, it will probably be nighttime when we reach the enemy camp. So even if they see us, they probably don’t know how many we have. Moreover, the Allied forces led by the Archduke of Warsaw have been attacking Bastion Castle for over a month but have not achieved any significant results, so their morale must be at a low point.”
No one here, including Anya, knew that even as Lieutenant Colonel Landel was dying, he burned out his last spark of life, putting the Archduke on the verge of death.
Before Anya left, he continued to talk based on what he had seen.
“But imagine if more than 100,000 troops suddenly attack you. “What do you think?”
“The morale of the enemy army is at a very low point, so the soldiers, including officers, are unlikely to even dare to properly respond to an unexpected surprise attack.”
“That’s right. But wouldn’t the effectiveness of the surprise attack decrease if we were given even a little time to prepare?”
At those words, Baron Andersen nodded his head and agreed.
“Yes. A surprise attack is meaningful when it is done when the other party is not expecting it at all. “Then what are you going to do? Secretly infiltrate a few soldiers into the castle and deliver the news.”
“Unless the Grand Duke of Warsaw is a fool, there is no way any of us would miss it if we tried to get inside the castle. So you just have to face it like this. “But since we’re arriving at night, we’ll have to light a torch to let people know we’re here.”
“Can the enemy figure out our intentions just by looking at that?”
Anya chuckled in this serious atmosphere.
“Do you think our enemy, who defeated Ludvik in a single blow, would not even notice that much?”
Andersen thought that was right, so he nodded in agreement.
“Okay, then I will return to my position.”
**
Half a day (6 hours) later, Peter Yeager was encouraging the soldiers standing guard on the castle wall.
“You had a lot of trouble. But it seems difficult to hold on any longer… So I guess I’ll have to surrender soon.”
When the two older soldiers with graying hair who stood guard heard those words, they could barely hold back the tears that threatened to spill.
“Of course I will die if I surrender, but I will do my best to protect the lives of you and your families who fought until the end in this castle. “That will be the last repayment I can give you.”
Peter Yeager was in a situation where he was deceiving his allies in order to deceive the enemy, but the soldiers who did not know this felt heartbreaking sadness.
“We lowly bastards should die, so why does someone as noble as our enemy die?”
“The reason I am respected by you is because I am responsible for your lives. So I will do what I must. There are many people I need to meet other than you, so I can’t talk at length anymore, but I wanted to tell you. I was grateful that you believed in me and followed me until the end in this hellish castle. “It was truly an honor.”
As Peter Yeager said that and left the scene, the older soldiers couldn’t control their emotions and began to cry and scream.
And at that time, a soldier guarding a little distance away from them pointed to the east side of the castle and said.
“Torch! It’s a torch! Reinforcements have arrived! “Reinforcements!”
After hearing those words, Peter Yeager made an expression that the arrival had finally come, and he cheered loudly while thrusting his fist toward the sky.
“Major General Kergit has brought reinforcements! Everyone, get ready to go out and fight together! The northern cavalry will charge to crush the enemy camp like this, so we will fight accordingly! Blow the wake-up horn, and all personnel who can move must carry weapons and put on armor! “We will open the gates and go out to fight within 20 minutes!”
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The two older soldiers, who had just been told by Peter Yeager that they would surrender and that they would die soon, stopped crying and looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions.
I didn’t mean to complain.
No matter what Peter Yeager’s intention was when he said that, the important thing now was to defeat the enemy.
“Prepare to go out, the day to take revenge has finally come!”