125 – Defense of Johannesburg – 1
When the next day came, the Binevian army was completely annihilated. On the other hand, Taspilia’s army only had about 3,000 casualties, and even those were concentrated in Balboa’s army.
Luna was captured by Salome and brought to the princess in a kneeling state. It seems that they were not friendly to him because he was an opponent who caused great damage to our allies.
“Salome, she is an excellent general. “Be polite.”
Following Princess Leonia’s orders, Salome raised Luna and untied Luna’s rope. It seemed like they thought they couldn’t run away with allies everywhere. Luna proudly raised her head and faced Princess Leonia.
“Looking at the king, do you have no manners towards Taspilia?”
“We abandoned courtesy toward the invaders.”
At those words, dissatisfied voices erupted from all around her, but Leonia raised her hand to stop them.
“It’s good to build up your pride, but realistically, you have become a loser, so what do you plan to do next? “Do you have any intention of surrendering?”
“Kill me.”
Killing captured nobles is an Eastern Continental value. According to the Western Continent’s values, there were many cases where they were released for ransom or held captive until the other family had the ability to pay the ransom. Nevertheless, Luna was telling him to give up all those privileges and kill him.
“You don’t need to die, so why do you do that?”
“If you leave me alive, one day I will find an opportunity and I will definitely rebel. And my rebellion will be different from that of other talentless people. “We will only rebel if we can drive a wedge into your heart.”
“What if I don’t show any flaws for the rest of my life?”
“Even if that were the case, he wouldn’t follow Leonia, so it would be beneficial to just kill him.”
“… “
“… “
Leonia and Luna glared at each other for a while. Then Leonia turned her head to Charles.
“Charles, what is your opinion?”
“If the invader goes so far as to kill the general who was guarding the area, local public sentiment will deteriorate. “I will take responsibility and protect you as a prisoner, so hand Luna’s new recruit to me.”
However, Luna seemed to disapprove of her and responded like this.
“Whatever you want from me, I will give you nothing. So it would be better to kill him.”
“I don’t want anything. “I just don’t want to kill someone I’m attached to.”
Luna could not bear to open her mouth. Having said this, it must have been difficult for Luna to treat her so coldly.
“Anyway, please leave Luna’s disposal to me. “If Luna escapes, I will take full responsibility.”
“Let it be so.”
After receiving Luna von Luitbert’s new soldiers, our troops continued to advance towards Vinebbia.
—–
Two weeks have passed since then. Our troops were able to take down most of the castles in the Binevia region. Because the main army of the Binevia region was destroyed, the defenders, numbering only 500 to 1,000 units, were no match for the friendly army, and the friendly army pushed back the enemy’s castle with overwhelming force.
However, it was not that there were no worries. This is because, taking advantage of the situation in which the Vinevian army was broken, the northern Chronor army began to covet northern Binevia.
Kronor’s army also began to occupy the northern part of Binevia at a rapid rate, although not as fast as our allies, and if this continued, a situation was coming where they would have to fight against Kronor’s army as well. Accordingly, the princess summoned her subjects.
“The Kronor army is coming down from the north. The Chronor army is a representative strong army that defeated the crown prince in his prime. Even from the perspective of our allies, they are not easy to defeat. “Is there anyone who has a sharp hand?”
Diane de Balboa responded to this.
“The answer is head-to-head competition. Just push it with force. “I will definitely win this time.”
Princess Leonia shook her head. No matter how much stronger Dian de Balboa has become, Emilia von Cronor must have also become stronger. If Emilia has become as strong as Dian, it is obvious that she will lose this time too.
“Head-on competition is not possible. Although the Kingdom of Binevia has succeeded in stopping Emilia so far, she is so outstanding that no one in our military can equal her military talent alone. “Going head-on with such a person is the same as kicking away an advantageous situation and giving the other person a chance to turn the tables.”
“But if it’s not a head-to-head match… “Isn’t there no other answer other than giving up the northern territory?”
“That could also be one answer. “The purpose of bringing you here was to choose the lesser evil, not the worst.”
“It’s not the worst, it’s the lesser evil… “
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One of the nobles let out a sigh. It wasn’t difficult to conquer Binevia, but the Chronor army was much more powerful than the Binevian army. The Vinebian army’s ability to block Chronor was entirely thanks to the abilities of Luna alone, and in terms of military power alone, the Chronor army was overwhelmingly stronger.
In the meantime, Charles spoke.
“Your Highness, may I express my opinion?”
“Speak.”
“I think the correct answer is a war of attrition.”
War of attrition. With that one word, the crowd began to stir.
“A war of attrition? “What does it mean?”
“Our army currently occupies the entire Taspilia Peninsula. In addition, it occupies the entire Claudia region and about 70% of the Binevian region. Do you know what this means?”
“… Does this mean that our troops’ production capacity is overwhelming?”
“Yes. You’re right. Our army was able to raise 25,000 elite soldiers in 5 years from near annihilation. Right now, each other’s troops may be similar, but as time goes by, the differences between each other’s troops will be so great that they will become no match for each other. “It’s not just the troops.”
“Supplies!”
“Yes, it is supplies. Taspilia, Claudia, and Vinebhia, all owned by our forces, are all very wealthy provinces. But what about the Grand Duchy of Chronor that your opponent owns? Snow fields occupy most of the area. Farming isn’t going well. The population is maintained to some extent through hunting and gathering, but since there is little farmland, there is no material to sustain the war for a long time. So, our friend… “
“I guess I’ll just have to take my time!”
“Yes. That is my opinion.”
Predict where the other person will come and take your time. That alone will cause irreversible damage to the opponent, and it will not itch as much as a mosquito bite to the ally. That was Charles’ idea.
“I think the answer has been found. I will give orders now. Charles Jean Rochepol. He appoints you as commander-in-chief of this operation.”
“Yes? “Commander-in-chief?”
“That’s right. It appears that you, the planner, are the only ones who truly understand this operation. I am afraid that if someone other than you takes over as commander-in-chief, the understanding of the operation will be low and things will go astray. So this time, I’m going to leave all authority to you.”
Even Salome and Diane were surprised by those words. The current ranking of our troops was Leonia 1st, Dian 2nd, Salome 3rd, and Charles 4th.
But the position of commander-in-chief was given to Charles, not Diane or Salome. The crowd couldn’t help but stir. This was even more so because Leonia had supported all wars up until now.
“What are you going to do if you leave me as commander-in-chief?” ?”
“The land of Binevia is not yet stable. “I will take care of affairs in Vinebhia and suppress the rebellion.”
“Ah… “
To be honest, that was the best. Leonia rules over the land of Binevia and Charles blocks the enemies in front of him. However, the boldness of entrusting the soldiers who were his lifeline to his subordinates was just admirable.
“Can you do it?”
If it was an advantageous fight, it would have been okay to give the ball to Diane or Salome.
But now the situation was not very advantageous. Emilia von Kronor was a woman of immense skill, even though her forces were smaller than those of her allies, and she had to show the best of her allies to stop such a man.
“Your Highness.”
“What is it?”
“If I lose, I will not come back.”
Leonia nodded in satisfaction at those words, and soon a defense force was formed with Charles as the commander-in-chief.
—–
The number of defenders was 24,000. It was a total of 25,000 existing troops, 3,000 lost soldiers, and 2,000 new troops sent from the rear.
Meanwhile, the enemy’s troops numbered 20,000. The enemy had few muskets and few cannons. However, there were wizards who were as good as cannons. Emilia von Kronor’s younger sister was a very talented sorceress, and with her powers, the siege wouldn’t be that difficult.
That is why our troops could not underestimate the Chronor army. The Chronor army was an all-round army with both excellent rotational and siege capabilities. More than anything…
‘You can’t let Emilia fight with Dian.’
Emilia is the ultimate weapon that destroys humans. In the game, there were quite a few cases where even battles that seemed unwinnable were turned around, with Emilia at the forefront, literally crushing her enemies. That’s why Emilia was considered a fraud character in the game.
If Emilia fights Dian, Dian will die this time. Emilia’s answer is to avoid her as much as possible and respond with her pikemen.
And I have to stop such scammers from now on. The good news was that our troops were elite enough to not be overtaken by Chronor’s army. Even though Emilia is the world’s strongest swordsman, she cannot possibly kill all of her allies by herself.
The friendly forces built a temporary fortress that could accommodate 24,000 soldiers on a hill near a small castle called Johannesburg and faced the enemy. And before long, Cronor’s army slowly marched towards the temporary fortress on the hill.
At dawn, when the wind was refreshing, war clouds hovered between the two armies.