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Sabinelli, leading 30,000 soldiers towards Kansho, feels his heart racing.
As a child, he had been educated as a bureaucrat, but he had wanted to become a knight.
However, realizing he lacked the qualities to fight on the battlefield, he soon came to terms with reality.
It was understandable since his family had excelled in administration for generations, not in knightly deeds.
Moreover, seeing him wanting to be a knight in the family made him laugh.
So, he quickly gave up on his dream of becoming a knight, but participating in the war like this was satisfying enough.
“Count, we will soon arrive at Kansho.”
Sabinelli nods at Bernstein’s words.
“Then let’s surround it as planned.”
Suppressing his excitement, Sabinelli makes great efforts to conceal his eagerness about being adopted into Nicaea and achieving a great victory through his own thoughts and schemes.
“Will you really do that?”
However, when Bernstein frowns as if he doesn’t like Sabinelli’s plan, Sabinelli inwardly smirks.
‘Hmph, seems like I’m not well-liked.’
But in reality, it’s not easy for Sabinelli to blatantly ignore Bernstein, who commands the soldiers.
Although Johannes appointed Sabinelli as the commander, he lacks significant war experience.
While Sabinelli can plan and prepare, Bernstein is overwhelmingly superior in optimal troop deployment and command experience.
“Do not worry, General Bernstein. If we fail, I will take full responsibility.”
Upon Sabinelli’s words, Bernstein forces a smile, feeling relieved inwardly.
“Thank you for saying so, it lightens my heart.”
From Noble mtl dot com
Sabinelli eagerly wants to occupy Kansho as soon as possible to show off his abilities.
Therefore, Bernstein is worried that if Sabinelli makes a mistake, he will be blamed for not treating him properly.
Sabinelli, favored by Johannes in Nicaea.
Johannes had always dealt with Nicaea’s diplomacy through Alexander, who handled Nicaea’s diplomacy when problems arose.
The wise Johannes sought advice from the Minister of War for military issues and the Minister of the Interior for security.
However, after meeting Sabinelli, the situation changed slightly.
Meeting with the ministers in times of trouble was natural, but always bringing Sabinelli along for advice indicated to those in the Nicaea royal court that Johannes had absolute support for Sabinelli.
As someone outside the royal family receiving such strong support from Johannes, fears of becoming a scapegoat if things go wrong are inevitable.
“Then please proceed to build the supply warehouse as planned,” Sabinelli said to Bernstein.
Bernstein nods in agreement.
Looking at the flag of Count Raccio, General Kanchu falls into contemplation.
“Count Raccio Sabielli must have some experience in war, right?”
As he gazes at Sabielli, who confidently came as a commander, General Kanchu feels a deep sense of insult, looking towards the enemy camp lost in thought.
Among the fortresses forming the first line of defense, Kanchu is the most important.
Since Kanchu is in charge of supplying the fortresses forming the first line of defense.
If this place is breached, the fortresses of the first line of defense will inevitably fall into the hands of the enemy.
Of course, the enemy is not foolish; they anticipated that Kanchu would be here.
However.
“Yohannes… this guy! How dare he send me such a greenhorn.”
When besieging a fortress or castle, multiple layers of encirclement are formed.
It is textbook strategy to block them from coming out, cut off their supplies, and starve them out, but Kanchu’s provisions are abundant, and there is no need to surrender.
But looking at Sabielli’s formation now.
The enemy’s encirclement seems too fragile.
There are many gaps in between, and whoever set up the encirclement, Kanchu thinks, did a poor job.
Until the sun sets, General Kanchu observes the enemy’s movements closely.
He attentively watches as quite a few carriages head towards the enemy camp near the encirclement.
And seeing the boxes and gun barrels being unloaded from the carriages, the general’s eyes widen in shock.
“No. What are the enemies doing now?!”
Seeing such a large number of carriages, it clearly looks like they are storing war supplies.
However, the reason the general is surprised after seeing so many carriages or so many war supplies is not that.
The warehouses built close to the encirclement.
As a general who knows that supplies are as vital as life in war, at this moment, Kanchu sympathizes with Yohannes.
“Damn, they said he was a genius. They said he was wise. It was all just a sham. Seeing this, he seems foolish and naive.”
The general, puzzled by the reckless arrangement, soon changes his expression to one of realization.
The commander of the enemy, Sabielli’s family, is an outstanding administrative family with no military achievements whatsoever.
Furthermore, considering this as his first battle, the general, excited in his thoughts, commands his adjutant with an enthusiastic voice.
“Adjutant, prepare the knights. We march out tonight.”
“Yes, sir!”
***
The dim moon.
Is it because of the thick clouds?
When the night feels darker than usual.
In the knights’ building of Kanchu, the general is conducting a briefing.
“Alright, the enemies foolishly set up a supply warehouse near the defense line. If we burn only that place, the enemies will have no choice but to retreat.”
Pointing to the location of the supply warehouse he saw a while ago on the map, the general says.
“I saw it a little while ago, we will attack the place between Encirclement 1 and Encirclement 2 using torches to burn down the warehouse completely. That will likely prompt the enemies to try to form an encirclement.”
And he points to the castle.
“Then, when the supply warehouse is burning, we will send archers, crossbowmen, and spear soldiers to break through the enemies together and escape. Any questions?”
-None!
As quietly as possible, they were to exit the fortress and approach the enemy’s encirclement, then quickly set the target ablaze and retreat. Everyone prayed for good luck.
With those words, the briefing concluded, and the knights began preparing for battle.
“Ugh… Why the heck did those Nicaeans come all the way here to mess with us?”
“What the heck are they up to this late at night?”
“Let’s see those bastards try to blow up the supply depot for once.”
Grumbling and preparing, the knights soon mounted their horses, and the thick gates of the fortress opened.
*Creak~!*
The chilling sound of rusty chains turning seemed particularly sharp to the knights today.
As the gates opened, the knights moved forward discreetly and slowly.
Since the sound of galloping would be too loud in the night, the knights calmly urged their horses forward without haste.
In the distance, a bonfire could be seen.
The knights, realizing there were not many guards around the bonfire, anticipated an easier operation than expected.
Casually draping their cloaks over their shoulders and seeing a sleepy soldier yawning, the knights’ charge began.
*Clatter! Clang!*
Watching the knights advance, the soldiers suddenly exclaimed, “Enemy! Sound the alarm! It’s the enemy! Ahh!”
A long spear pierced through the bewildered soldier.
The knights, orderly yet swiftly, rushed towards the positions marked on the map.
*Clang! Clang! Enemy! The enemy is attacking! Defend the supply base!*
Armed for stealth and quick strikes, the knights in chain armor, rather than their usual plate armor, swiftly dealt with the approaching soldiers on horseback and headed towards their target.
As they climbed a gently sloping hill, they saw the enemy camp.
Piercing the sentries with their spears and entering…
Silence surrounded them.
“What… is this?”
“Commander? Something’s not right.”
The knights, seeing the dark and deserted camp, felt a sense of dread.
Their instincts told them that the current situation was far from normal.
At that moment…
*Boom!*
A fireball came flying from somewhere, setting the camp ablaze.
*Kwaang!*
As the camp seemed to explode, with wood flying in all directions or the camp blazing brightly, the knight commander shouted, “Everyone! Retreat! It’s a trap! Retreat!”
Shouting to fall back down the hill, they saw numerous guards surrounding the camp.
“Damn it! It all makes sense now.”
Gripping their reins tightly, the knights dashed down the hill.
With the slope aiding their descent, the knights hurried down, only to despair upon seeing the guards in front and the crossbowmen behind them.
Seeing bolts (crossbow arrows) flying much faster than arrows leaving their quivers, the knights felt the approach of death…
-Whoosh! Whoosh!
-Clang clang…
-Hiing!
-aaargh!
Thousands of bolts hit, and knights and horses begin to fall.
Watching the knights writhing in pain on the ground after falling from their horses, a spearman grips his spear tightly, walks slowly towards the knights, and pierces them with his spear.
The knights’ blood stains the ground.
***
Right before the clash.
When a mysterious blue light covers the whole world.
Sabinielli, waiting for news while looking at the battlefield, feels like a minute lasts a year.
“Your Lordship! It’s a perfect success! We’ve defeated the enemy’s knights and the soldiers who came to support them.”
Upon hearing the news, Sabinielli nods as if he already knew, forcing a smile.
“That’s fortunate. It’s good that it went well.”
Sabinielli’s orders are simple.
They decorate a supply depot and fill it with boxes of oil and rocks.
“If we make the supply look immature and close to the enemy’s camp, they’ll be eager to attack.”
It would deal a significant blow to the Nikea army if it were a real supply depot.
And if they attack, they would do so on the first day.
That would be when the Nikea army is most exhausted.
But this is all Sabinielli’s speculation.
That’s why he believed that they would follow his plan to some extent.
Well… even if he’s wrong, Sabinielli has nothing to lose.
If things go awry, only the soldiers who couldn’t sleep that night will die.
“So, how many died?”
In response to Sabinielli’s question, Bernstein laughs heartily and replies.
“We’ve killed all 400 knights and around 3,000 infantrymen.”
For a Khan who barely surpassed ten thousand, losing 3,000 infantrymen and 400 knights would be quite painful.
As the thought sinks in, Sabinielli laughs heartily.
“hahahaha! A great victory indeed. Tell the soldiers to rest deeply until tomorrow morning and start the siege in the afternoon.”
Upon hearing this, Bernstein nods.
“Yes! I will convey your orders.”
‘The first battle is satisfying. Now, let’s swiftly capture the fortress.’