After Kara’s success in two previous battles, the Robros troops were under huge pressure.
The difference in numbers of soldiers between Kara and the Robros army had diminished. In two battles, the Robros troops had 1,400 deaths and 4,600 soldiers were injured. Since most of the injured soldiers were unable to combat or had to receive treatments for a long time, they were sent back to the rear part of the supply lines. In the end, the Robros troops lost 3,400 soldiers.
So currently, the Robros army was about 55,000. They lost almost the same number of soldiers who came from Hussein, Alf, and other tribes to support them.
Their morale went down as well because Kara used the Fire of Georgant, which was known to be dangerously powerful, and other new weapons. They suffered great damage. They must be in fear of these unknown weapons right now.
Moreover, their Shikar allies started getting anxious. If they lost this war, the Robros army could just go back to their kingdom but the Shikar tribes, who betrayed Kara, were not in the same situation. They would all be slaughtered by Kara. Thus, they must make a decision before it would be too late.
“Sir, an envoy of the Emir of Alf has just arrived!”
Although our messenger reported the news in an excited tone, I didn’t give any attention to it. How could I trust a guy like the Emir of Alf who already betrayed his allies four times? I would surely take over his territory and grant it to one of us later.
“I’m very busy right now~ Just tell them to leave and stay on the side of the Robros army. Seriously, what are they thinking? War is neither a joke nor a business trade. They should have a little bit of conscience.”
“Yes, sir.”
Once the messenger left, I went back to work on preparation for an event.
Tonight, we would hold a memorial ceremony for those who died for Kara during this war. It was such an important event and today was the best day to hold it. We must not make any mistakes in preparation.
I pulled off a single strand of my hair and threw it in the air. It slowly flew in a gentle wind to the west. The wind was certainly blowing from the east.
“Be ready to fly sky lanterns.”
Flying sky lanterns was the traditional folk entertainment of the Eastern continent. They flew sky lanterns in various kinds of special events including a memorial ceremony for those who died because fire on these lanterns flew into the sky like souls.
Meanwhile, people from the Prosian continent never heard about these lanterns for a long time. They were introduced by people from the Eastern continent who fled to the Prosian continent during the Era of Destruction.
“Now! Fly sky lanterns!”
Upon my signal, people gathered around near the west gate lit up small candles in the sky lanterns. One by one, lanterns slowly flew up towards the western sky.
“Wow~.”
As tens of thousands of sky lanterns flew up in the air, the whole crowd looked up at the sky in awe. Some of them even climbed up to the top of the castle walls to watch it closer. Others were mourning and praying for the dead since it was actually the memorial ceremony for those who died.
This memorial ceremony with beautiful sky lanterns after arduous battles was a very meaningful and comforting event for people in Kara but not for the Robros troops.
In fact, the Robros troops were in a state of alert because the sky was suddenly covered with our lanterns which they thought were some kind of new weapons.
And what a coincidence. A few of the lanterns fell off and dropped inside some of the Robros tents which then were burnt in fire.
* * *
The Robros troops attacked the Castle of Kara in many different ways to conquer it but they failed every time. They once tried to cut our water supply by blocking the culvert but soon they realized it was a meaningless effort since there was Lake Kara, the unlimited source of water for Kara.
They also formed special forces who then tried to get into our castle at night in secret but they all fell into our traps, got captured, or killed. And to be honest, Armida played a huge role in it.
On the other day, they tried to burn our food warehouse by using spies but the volunteer army in Kara caught them right away.
As time passed by, the number of our troops kept growing more and more. Some patriots of Kara living in other regions came to save their homeland by taking portals. More peasants applied to join the army since they also had a chance to earn a title of nobility if they fought bravely in the war. Even though they weren’t recruited by the regular army at this point, they still joined the volunteer army which grew up to 26,000 in number. Not well-trained yet they were fully armored thanks to Kara’s mass production system.
‘So, it’s gonna be around 61,000 troops including our regular army.’
Our troops were bigger than Fabius’s troops in number. Our soldiers were not as well-trained as them but we had our high castle walls. Thus, we had an advantage in this battle unless we went out of our castle to attack them.
Yet, we had our concern. We would be in trouble if the Robros army chose to prolong this war. Although we had plenty of food which we harvested last fall, it would last less than a year because the population and food consumption kept increasing due to war.
So if the Robros army prolonged this war until the next year, I would initiate a full-scale offensive before our food ran out. Every day, our soldiers were getting stronger with hard training so we would probably have a much better chance by then.
Meanwhile, I blackmailed all the Emirs and major aristocrats in the Great Desert via magic communication.
My message was very simple and clear.
It read, “Kara’s army is now over 60,000. After winning this war, we will begin an act of bloody revenge on the coastal cities who have taken the side of the Kingdom of Robros as well as those Shikar tribes who helped the Robros army during the fall of Braham.”
It might sound intimidating but actually, it was more like a friendly gesture because I mentioned only those Shikar tribes who actively supported the Robros army during the battles. Thus, it meant that other tribes would not be punished.
And just as I expected, some of the tribes started to send supporting troops to Kara in secret because they were not sure who would win this war. So, it was like an insurance for them. Kara’s army grew bigger and bigger.
* * *
“Sir! A new report has just arrived! The Robros army is on the move. Not a few units but the entire troops. Commander Akam requested you to come and check with your own eyes.”
Early in the evening, Padilla and I went to the center turret on the west side of the castle. As soon as I arrived, Akam came down from the top of the turret and reported the urgent news to me.
“Sir, the entire Robros troops are on the move right now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, sir. It seems something fishy is going on.”
I went up the turret and looked at the Robros encampment. My hands trembled a little bit. Just as Akam had told me, the Robros troops were preparing for a full-scale attack. Tens of thousands of soldiers were in various formations. They even pulled down some of their tents because so many soldiers were moving around.
“They will probably attack at night in full scale.”
“Oh, that’s…”
“Commander Akam, order our troops to prepare for battle. This is gonna be a pitched battle. Whoever wins this battle will win this war. Every one of us should fight to the death.”
“Yes, sir!”
Akam immediately ordered all the messengers to tell our entire troops to prepare for a huge battle.
I stared at the Robros encampment from afar in silence.
‘What a stubborn and old baldhead. He can retreat yet tries to fight.’
Currently, Kara’s army was getting stronger. Since a few more tribes in the Great Desert had secretly supported us lately, the number of our troops increased to 67,000. Our soldiers were well-trained and their combat skills were getting better every day.
Thus, the Robros army must make a choice between the two.
Attacking Kara before it would grow bigger or just retreating now? Between these two options, Fabius chose the former. Actually, he had to choose the former because the Robros king was very suspicious of him. Seriously, I felt sorry for Fabius.
In fact, the best war strategy was to win a war without having battles.
But right now, I had no choice but to fight with all my effort since the Robros troops were about to carry out a full-scale attack.
“Hey human, so they are about to launch a full-scale attack?”
Among the army commanders, Zenbe was the first one who arrived at the center turret.
“Yeah, I think so.”
With a serious look, Zenbe stared at the center of the Robros encampment.
“Fabius will fight in this battle, right?”
“Yeah, of course. He will definitely fight.”
“Which side do you think he’s gonna come?”
“Well, probably to the area which is being guarded by the 2nd Army led by Shura.”
“How do you know that?”
I shrugged my shoulder.
“Because nobody wants to attack that area. Why do you think he became bald? It’s because of the many hardships he has gone through. He always does all the difficult things by himself.”
“Hmm, I see… Then, I will go to the west side right now.”
The west side was the part of the area which Shura was in charge of defense. It seemed Zenbe really wanted to and would have a duel against Fabius after all.
“Uncle, take it easy.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Oh, you should also take the cavalry units from the Yosrahim Empire and Count Hick with you. Fabius’ favorite strategy is to use his cavalry units.”
“I bet they are already there. As you know, they are very loyal to Shura, the Great Saintess of Yin and Yang.”
He was right. Since his arrival, Count Hicks always stayed by Shura to protect her.
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Once Zenbe left, I ordered Nazir and Bayan to prepare for battle.
It would be a pitched battle so we must use all our forces. After winning this battle, we would initiate our counterattack on a huge scale.
I had no intention to prolong this war at all.
If we failed to give them a deadly blow this time, we might lose this war due to Duke Wastein’s brilliant strategies.
We must keep attacking and make him confused so he could not react promptly.
* * *
After sunset, I could see a wave of torchlights from a distance. The number of the Robros troops was enormous. Yet, we had more troops. The Robros soldiers must feel intimidated as well.
Rub-a-dum-dum.
With the sound of drums and other instruments, the Robros military band started marching. They were followed by numerous torchlights closing in towards our castle.
The battle had just begun.
I took my Survival Kit #3 Magic Grenade Launcher out of my Subspace Pocket and handed it over to Padilla.
“Padilla, you must fight with all your effort. This is the most critical battle in this war. If we win, we could take over at least half of the entire Great Desert.”
“Yes, your highness.”
She tightly grabbed my Magic Grenade Launcher. I also thought about using Magic Lantern in my Subspace Pocket for a brief moment but I decided not to.
With my Magic Lantern, we could see everything within 100 meters from all directions so it would be very useful in our defense. But on the other hand, Fabius might think of the light from my Magic Lantern as the light from Dalahan and come to us.
If he came to our area of defense, our units would be in serious trouble. He had such a reckless spirit. It was best for us to avoid him as much as possible.
“Master, we have just arrived.”
Nazir and Bayan arrived as well as their corpsmen. Shortly after, the 5th Army led by Kasim also arrived. I deployed them to the right side of the castle and ordered them to be poised for battles.
Swoosh! Thump!
A huge stone flew over the wall and crashed into one of the temples in our castle. I made a subtle smile as I watched the whole building collapsing down. It was the Temple of the God of Earth. Of course, it wasn’t on purpose but still, it was ironic that the people who believed in the God of Earth destroyed his temple.
There might be no casualty though. During battles, most of Kara’s citizens stayed in shelters which were built everywhere in the castle before the start of this war.
Some priests could be inside but they were not my concern. And actually, they already devoted their life to their faith so they must accept their fate.
Bang! Thud! Swish~!
Our catapults and turrets started counterattacking. It was dark at night so their accuracy was poor but they could still give some damages to the Robros troops.
With a thud sound, the whole ground shook and parts of our walls crumbled yet our castle was intact. I could only see a few dents and cracks.
Kara’s soldiers were very lucky because their ancestors built the great castle. With huge, high, and sturdy walls, it could easily defend itself against the Robros catapults.
Thanks to its abundant wealth, Kara could spend enormous amounts of money and resources to build the castle in the past. And now, this castle saved their descendants big time.
Tantara~.
After dozens of rounds of stones shot by catapults, all the Robros troops started rushing towards our castle with their horn sounds.
Before long, I could see the Robros soldiers near the moat around our castle. It was time to shoot our arrows.
“Don’t save your arrows! Keep shooting your arrows!”
Numerous arrows shot by both Kara and the Robros archers were flying in the air and pouring down like rain. Our turrets were covered with Robros arrows like hedgehogs. Since they were fire arrows, some of the turrets started burning in fire.
While our soldiers quickly poured water over them, the Robros troops put bridges across the moat. Soon, their artillery weapons rushed in and put the ladders to the top of the castle. Next, the Robros soldiers started climbing the ladders.
“Pour oil and Loran’s Poison Gas over the enemies!”
Upon my signal, all our soldiers started pouring the Fire of Georgant and Loran’s Poison Gas over the Robros soldiers who were screaming and burning in fire. Stinking smoke covered the whole place. Yet, the countless number of the Robros troops were surging towards our castle, like a furious storm.