403

Episode 403: War is like X. (3)

Claude shouted as the floodgates opened.

"Alpoy! Start!"

Alfoy, who had been holding the knights back by casting spells here and there, nodded.

"Fog Cloud!"

A thick fog began to form in front of the fortress. The fog gradually spread and expanded its range.

Because it was so wide, it became a little faint, but it was enough to block the view of Rodrik's army in front.

"It's magic! It's full of fog!"

Soldiers shouted everywhere.

In war, it is a great danger to have your vision obscured. Even if you can't see ahead, the defending side can just shoot arrows, but it becomes difficult for the besieging side to evade or counterattack.

"Damn it! What are our wizards doing!"

The soldiers grumbled. They could not understand why their magicians were standing still.

In their eyes, those so-called great people just looked like they were playing around with a few fireballs flashing in the sky.

Gulp... gulp... .

As Rodrik's army was in disarray, water from a small sluice gate seeped into their feet.

But no one cared, because even though the view was obstructed, it was soon possible to build siege towers and ladders to climb up the castle.

And there was one more thing that took away their concentration.

"Hey! Marquis Rodrik! You're uglier than your mirror, you little punk!"

A constant stream of curses could be heard from the walls. It was so loud that it seemed as if a wizard was using a sound amplification spell.

Even in this noisy battlefield, it was so loud that it pierced my ears like thunder.

Hearing those insults, Rodrik's command center also continued to urge the soldiers.

"Push quickly!"

"Catch that bastard and kill him!"

"There are no enemy attacks! Don't be afraid and go! The fog will be lifted by the wizards soon!"

As Marquis Rodrik continued to run wild, the other commanders were also in a state of panic. They only harassed their own soldiers and did not pay much attention to their surroundings.

Squeak… … . Squeak… … .

After some time, the soldiers realized that it was becoming increasingly difficult to move. The siege towers and rams were not being pushed properly, and it was difficult to walk.

Clink, clink.

"What? The ground is wet."

"When did this happen?"

"Ugh… … It's become difficult to walk."

The ground was muddy, but Rodrik didn't know why. Water was flowing out from the very bottom of the fortress walls, making it hard to see, and the fog made it even harder to see.

The advance of the 60,000-strong army was gradually slowing down. The commanders of the Rodrik army shouted impatiently. They only had to go a little further, but they felt like something was not going well.

"Quickly clear the fog! Archers, quickly launch a defensive attack!"

Since the front view was blocked, the troops at the rear could not advance properly.

Rodrik's archers quickly advanced forward, never knowing when or what kind of attack might come from the walls.

Phaaaat!

They fired arrows at the walls, which were barely visible. They were trying to at least create a deterrent.

Bang! Tata tang!

The Fenris army was already standing by with their shields raised. They didn't move to attack, so there was no way they would be harmed by the arrow attacks.

Even the archers in the rear ranks of Rodrik's army approached the walls and mingled with the soldiers in the front ranks.

A few wizards came forward and dispelled the fog magic first. Most of the magic coming from Fenris' side was low-circle magic anyway, so even if they were hit without being dispelled, there was no significant damage.

Swish… … .

As the fog gradually cleared, visibility began to widen again.

At the same time, Claude shouted.

"Open the second floodgate!"

Rattling! Rattling! Rattling!

The sluice gates, slightly larger than before, opened. Water began to pour out of numerous holes beneath the Silverlight walls.

Kwaaaaah!

As soon as the fog cleared, what came into Rodrik's sight was a large amount of water covering them.

"what?"

"Why are you spraying water?"

"It's nothing! Just go forward again!"

The amount of water was quite large, but not enough to threaten the soldiers. It was just enough to soak them as they walked along the slope.

But because of the water, the ground was now completely sloppy. It was very difficult to move on the ground that had become muddy.

That's so so so...

"Damn it! The siege towers won't budge!"

"My feet are all falling off!"

"Try harder!"

Walking became difficult as their trousers and shoes became stuck in the mud. The siege engines were no longer being pushed properly.

"This is to keep these bastards from getting siege weapons!"

Only then did the enemies realize Fenris's intentions. In this situation, it was impossible to build a siege tower.

It's so hard to even walk, how can you push these heavy, large siege towers through the mud?

"They modified the water gate on purpose! They did it to do this!"

All castles and fortresses have small water gates and drains to protect against disasters such as floods.

Silverlight clearly opened up that floodgates to a wider audience.

As the soldiers were running around in confusion and not knowing what to do, the commanders shouted again from various places.

"Archers, continue to launch defensive attacks! Knights, stick to the siege towers and push together… … ."

"Hey! Marquis Rodrigo, you little shit who needs to take a shit but can't take one once you sit down, you punk!"

"Catch that bastard and kill him!"

The commanders' shouts were drowned out by the loudness of the swearing. Everyone was getting extremely annoyed by the constant swearing.

Chulbuk! Chulbuk! Chulbuk!

The thick layer of dirt and sand quickly absorbed the water that flowed out. The sticky mud dragged my feet.

The knights had to use up their mana to push the siege towers, and they were barely able to push back. So everyone got tired of walking before they could even fight.

And it was exactly what Claude had intended for the battlefield to turn into a complete mess.

"Pull!"

At his shout, the knights waiting beneath the fortress pulled hundreds of chains.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Hundreds of iron chains rose from the ground.

The chain itself is nothing special. It's just a bunch of chains that were hidden underground, pulled up and made them pop out.

But it was enough to make Rodrik's soldiers stumble as they walked with difficulty.

"Ouch!"

"what's this!"

"It's a trap! There's a trap!"

Rodrik had no idea what was going on.

The soldiers on the side where the chain was pulled fell over, and the ranks were broken in an instant. The soldiers next to them also fell over and had no choice but to roll around in the mud.

The chains didn't do much damage. They just knocked some soldiers down, disrupting their formation and making it difficult to move sideways.

"You're just blocking my path!"

"Come quickly! Quickly! Those who have fallen, get up quickly!"

"Stop making a fuss and get moving! Knights, cut the chains!"

At the moment when Rodrik's army was about to move again due to the commanders' nagging, Claude shouted first.

"Alpoy! From the front!"

"okay!"

A truly extraordinary sight unfolded as the two most discordant people in the realm began to cooperate.

"Fire Burst!"

Kwaaang! Kwaaang! Kwaaang!

Alpoy poured all of his remaining magical power into attacking the heavy infantry in front.

"Eww!"

"The enemy attack has begun!"

"Stop it!"

The ranks collapsed as flames erupted everywhere, as most of the knights who were blocking the magic were attached to the siege towers.

Because their numbers were so large, the damage was relatively minor. They only disrupted the ranks of the heavy infantry.

But that was enough.

"Shoot!"

With Claude's shout, the Fenris army's attack finally began.

Paaaaah!

Countless arrows flew towards Rodrik's army. And the place where the arrows rained down was not the front ranks of Rodrik's army, but the middle and rear ranks.

"Eww!"

"Get out of here! Get back out of here!"

"Shield! Protect our allies!"

Behind the heavy infantry, the light infantry followed. The archers in the rear ranks also moved closer to the wall for defensive purposes.

As the arrows flew, everyone tried to regroup, but they were stuck in the mud and their steps were too heavy to move quickly.

The chains and the fallen soldiers they struck made for a formidable obstacle in the ankle-deep mud.

Even though the light infantry were carrying shields, they were forced to fall here and there as arrows rained down.

"Stop it! I said stop it! Shoot together! Keep it in check!"

Rodrik's army also tried hard to shoot arrows, but it was no use. In the first place, they were no match for Fenris' army, who were wearing full-body galvanium armor.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Eww!"

Rodrik's men were in complete disarray. Every time someone fell, the person next to them rolled in the mud.

The knights rushed in and quickly cut the chains, but many soldiers were already caught up in them.

Kwaaang! Kwaaang! Kwaaang!

The magic of Alfoy exploding here and there also got on my nerves.

In an instant, the battlefield became a mess. Only then did Rodrik's soldiers realize.

In this mud that reaches up to your ankles, you have to take the enemy's attacks as they come.

The staff members who were watching the situation from behind cautiously spoke to Marquis Rodrik.

"We must retreat for now."

"The soldiers can't move properly. It seems like it will be difficult to approach the siege towers."

"We need to separate the wizards and dry out all the moisture in that mud."

If things continued like this, the soldiers would continue to suffer. They had to retreat first and then reorganize.

"Euuuuuuu… … ."

Marquis Rodrik trembled, his face flushed.

The 60,000-strong army couldn't even properly cling to the walls and was just rolling around in the mud. I've seen records of people winning field battles by luring their men into mud, but this was definitely the first time I've seen someone deliberately create mud during a siege.

"The Earl of Fenris is in the West, so what kind of a bastard would think of and prepare such a thing!"

Marquis Rodrik was on a rampage, but his staff had no idea.

"Retreat for now! We'll regroup and then plan our operation!"

Only after Marquis Rodrik's words did the trumpet for retreat sound.

The soldiers moved back with joy. The problem was that even retreating was not easy.

Chulbuk! Chulbuk! Chulbuk!

Moving my legs was harder than I thought. There were corpses rolling around beside me.

There were countless soldiers who fell over as they retreated for fear of being showered with arrows if they turned their backs. This was why everyone had no choice but to move slowly.

And the real thing that Claude had prepared was from now on.

"Let's get started."

At his command, the catapults of the Fenris army, which had been waiting until now, began to move.

Paaaaang! Paaaaang!

A large number of stones flew towards the Rodrik army that was stuck in the mud.

Fenris has quite a few catapults that were taken from the wars they fought in. The dwarves have improved them, making them even more powerful.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

"Eww!"

"The enemies have started a catapult attack!"

"Get out of here! Get out of here quickly!"

When a large rock flies at you, blocking it with a shield won't work. In this case, you should turn your back and run away.

Because of the range of the catapult's attack, the soldiers in the front ranks were relatively safe, but the soldiers in the middle and back ranks were unable to dodge properly and died.

Kwaaaaang!

"Run! Get out of the way!"

No matter how much the commanders shouted, it was not easy to follow. The soldiers, whose bodies were already heavy from the mud, could not quickly escape the battlefield.

The fallen soldiers in particular were the biggest problem. They were just getting hit as soon as they fired the catapults from Fenris.

Soldiers who turned their backs to avoid the stones were hit by countless arrows and died.

"This, this crazy… … ."

The soldiers in the front line were so scared that they couldn't even run away properly.

Because I didn't have the confidence to run away and avoid the rocks falling in front of me.

But they couldn't stay here forever. At some point, the Fenris knights began throwing spears filled with mana, piercing through the heavy infantry in the front lines.

Tennant, the commander of the Marquis's Knights, gritted his teeth at the sight.

"You got hit."

At first, I taunted Marquis Rodrik by cursing. Ironically, it worked very well. Without even assessing the enemy's strength, the entire army moved.

Moreover, they did not attack with catapults or arrows at all until they got close.

If they had attacked early on, they would have moved a little differently. After all, they had to respond to the opponent's attacks to save damage.

Fenris was confident that he could kill anyone who came close, so he tried to lure as many as possible.

"Get out of here! Get out of here! Drop all siege weapons!"

There was no way out now. Since the wizards could not use their power, the soldiers had to retreat on their own. They could not afford to run away with their siege weapons.

Kwaaang! Kwaaang! Kwaaang!

"Eww!"

The battlefield was filled with the screams of Rodrik's army. Claude looked at them and spoke haughtily.

"What do you think? Does it all work? That's why you have to piss the other person off first."

"… … ."

The people around them were speechless and remained silent.

It wasn't hard for Fenris to prepare for this operation, since they were the best in the kingdom when it came to construction.

The dirt and sand were overflowing from the construction that had been done so far, and there were even dwarves. Preparations could be completed in no time.

But it was amazing that the other person did everything I had prepared for.

It was similar to Jiselle in that she drew her opponent into the game she had set.

With his powerful weapon and excellent troop management, Giselle is able to outwit his opponents and achieve victory. However, Claude has a stronger personality that calmly implements prepared strategies rather than relying on his individual strength.

"Whew… … War is easier than gambling. This will be over soon, right? Are you going to hit everything I shoot?"

Everyone nodded as Claude spoke arrogantly. Even people with powers like Gillian had nothing to do.

Kwaaang! Kwaaang! Kwaaang!

Rodrik's army was cursed at and died without even being able to properly run away. Many soldiers were unable to move their heavy bodies after rolling around in the mud and crawling.

Claude deliberately waited for all the enemies to approach him in order to achieve maximum efficiency.

Ascon, who was watching the scene, stopped cursing and looked at Claude.

'This kid is really acting like a war X.'

It was the highest praise for Ascon.

After rolling around in the mud for a while, Rodrik finally managed to escape. Once he got out of the mud, it felt like he had entered a completely different world.

"Get your troops back! Get back! Get back!"

At Tennant's shout, Rodrik's army retreated a little further. Only then could the wizards end their mutual defense and retreat.

"Wow! We won!"

As Rodrik's forces retreated after suffering heavy casualties, the shouts of Fenris' forces echoed throughout the battlefield.

The soldiers of Rodrik who barely survived could only look at the sight with bitter expressions.

When the situation was somewhat resolved, Marquis Rodrik asked Tennant with an angry expression.

"How many casualties?"

"… … About half."

Everyone closed their eyes at those words. Half of the troops were blown away at once by an unexpected method.

It was a good strategy. They made it difficult for them to move, and then they were shot with arrows and rocks, so they had no choice but to take it.

"Euuuuuuu… … ."

Marquis Rodrik was about to tremble and scream again, but a knight covered in dust interrupted him.

He arrived looking haggard and shouted urgently.

"Linderstein has been taken over by Count Fenris!"

At those words, everyone in the Marquis' household looked incredulous.