The Last Fight Of A Dying Kingdom (3)
- - Visigoth Kingdom POV - -
A garrison was organized a short distance from Voltaire Castle, and Duke Fran immediately sent a scouting party.
"Supreme General! There's something wrong!" <Scout >
"What do you mean?" <Duke Fran>
"The castle is unusually quiet." <Scout >
Voltaire Castle is located on a flatland.
Therefore, it was difficult to get close to it for espionage.
Here, scouts were quickly spotted and repeatedly killed by archers in pursuit.
Besides, the refugees were now so sparse that it was impossible to blend in with the crowd.
Especially after Julius's return and the search for scouts, they hadn't been able to gather any information, so it was only when they got close that they realized the castle was empty.
Duke Fran wrinkled his brow as he received the report.
"You said it was quiet...? What do you mean? Explain it to me!" <Master General Lamp>
Lamp asked in a frustrated tone.
"The flags are still up, but the gates are closed and there are no soldiers in sight along the walls. It's like an empty castle!" <Scout >
"An empty castle?" <Master General Lamp>
Lamp looked at Lucana.
"I knew it. They didn't plan to do anything in that low castle from the beginning. The plan was probably to split us up with the iron cavalry and take us by surprise. The second army should use the ladders to climb the gates and scout the area. Pay the utmost attention." <Master General Lamp>
"Yes, sir!" <Lucana >
Lucana replied, and Istin nodded and led his troops to the castle gate.
However, when the soldiers heard that the castle was empty, they became even angrier.
They had planned to take out their anger on Voltaire Castle, but the feeling of emptiness that there was no one there and the anger that had nowhere to go showed no signs of abating.
Therefore, the vassals hoped that the castle was not empty, but when Lucana returned, he reported to Fran with a furious face.
"General, the castle and town completely is empty!" <Lucana >
Hearing this, the officers all bit their lips tightly, as their prey had escaped them.
"I see." <Duke Fran>
Of course, Fran was the only one who remained calm, as usual.
"The captain said he would check the entire castle just to be sure, but there seems to be no danger of a fire attack, and there are no signs of oil being sprayed or wood being gathered." <Lucana >
"All right, then. As soon as the reconnaissance is finished, open the gates." <Duke Fran>
"Yes, supreme general!" <Lucana >
Soon after Fran's order, the gates of Voltaire Castle were opened.
However, there was still no one found in the castle.
The only thing they could get was a comfortable place to sleep, an empty castle with no supplies available.
But even the comfortable beds were useless in a situation where they should immediately pursue the Aquitania army.
Even as tired as their army already was longing greatly to be embraced by sleep in a place they couldn't be ambushed finally.
"Well, it's not an important castle, so I expected it...I don't think they left without a plan." <Duke Fran>
Fran thought that there must be some kind of trap, but the officers had a different idea.
"General, he's human, too. Don't you think you're overestimating...?" <Master General>
Although they were obeying orders, the Ten Warlords were actually surprised by Fran's nervousness about Julius.
The king of Visigoth was the same way.
He thought that Fran's defeat in the last battle was due to the fact that he did not have a proper general with him and was careless, so he thought that this time, with the Ten Warlords, would be different.
The only person who thought differently was Fran, who had the experience of being thoroughly beaten.
"We will pursue the enemy immediately. Your anger has gone nowhere, but I have been waiting for this moment. I've been waiting for this moment when the Aquitanian army would return to their territory. Now, as they are retreating, is our chance. We must pin them down from the front and back and corner them!" <Duke Fran>
"So, the fourth army is finally...?" <Lucana >
In response to Lamp and Lucana's questions, Fran nodded and pointed to the map.
"He will probably continue his retreat until Aquitania. I don't know what strategy he'll use, but...I'm confident in my plan. Let's destroy him from the front and back in this area. After that, the rest of the soldiers will enter Aquitania and defeat him with the mana formation that we have prepared to attack the Aquitania castle. He won't be able to escape." <Duke Fran>
***
- - Roserun Kingdom POV - -
"Your Majesty, I think it's time for us to make our preparations. If Visigoth continues to conquer the southern part of Lunan, the next target will be the weakened Roserun Kingdom." <Noble >
The royal palace of Roserun was noisy.
"Has my sister asked for reinforcements?" <King Roserun>
"There has been no word from Her Highness as of yet. Your Majesty, and we do not have the strength to send reinforcements right now." <Noble >
"But we do have...Julius. I'm sure he will protect us again." <King Roserun>
The young king said, but the nobles were quite upset.
"He was right in telling us not to send the promised supplies to Lunan. Because of that, we can now say to Visigoth that we have broken off relations with Lunan. So, wouldn't it be better to take this opportunity to cut ties with Julius and prepare for a new era, we could even vassalize with Visigoth to keep our nation alive?" <Noble >
"How dare you, no matter how bad the situation is!" <Faction Noble>
The nobles of the princess faction stood up.
The nobles of the king's faction also opposed them, and a fight soon broke out.
"There is a difference between Bridget and Visigoth. Visigoth has at least ten warriors like Bridget's Ganev. In addition, there's also the Duke Fran, a genius strategist from the Twelve Families, which means we need to be prepared for any eventuality!" <King Faction Noble>
No matter how much they discussed it, they could not come to a conclusion.
In the end, they settled on a cautious argument that they would come to a conclusion after assessing the war situation a little more.