“““Yes, sir!”””
Everyone responded to my command. The time was ripe.
I spoke. “Now, let the subjugation war begin.”
— 30th Day, 9th Month, 1,546th year, Continental Calendar.
Souma, King of Elfrieden, had raised an army to subjugate Georg.
A message bearing this information was delivered to the armies of the Duchy of Amidonia massed near the border.
When Gaius VIII heard this report he said, “The time is come! Now, we shall achieve our long-held desire!”
With that declaration, he finally led the 30,000 strong army of the principality to begin the invasion of Elfrieden.
There were two routes into Elfrieden from Amidonia.
One was the route passing through the Carmine Duchy in the northwest. It was an open plain, easy to traverse, but Gaius did not use this route.
That was because this route was entirely blocked by the Carmine Duchy. Even if it was purely for appearances, Gaius had claimed that he was aiding both the king and Georg, so he needed to avoid any route that made it look like he was in league with Georg. Furthermore, the Carmine Duchy was where the king’s and Georg’s forces would collide, so if the principality’s army appeared there, there was the risk that the war would be stopped. The principality wanted the conflict between the king and Georg to last as long as possible.
Because of that, the principality’s army chose to advance along the other route, the one that passed through the mountainous region to the south. The Ursula Mountains stood along the southern half of the border between the Principality of Amidonia and the Elfrieden Kingdom. This route passed through the Goldoa Valley in the mountains.
While the path was steep, once they crossed the valley, they would come to the city of Altomura. Fed by the mountain streams coming out of the Ursula Mountains, this was one of Elfrieden’s few grain-producing regions. What was more, it had also once been part of Amidonia.
As he rode his horse among the 30,000 soldiers of the principality’s army, Gaius VII had a glint in his eye and a bold smile on his face.
“Heh heh heh. Souma and Georg can fight as hard as they want. While they do, we will reclaim our lost lands.”
As he passed through the shadows of the valley, Gaius VIII had no doubt that his dearest wish was about to be granted.
Extra Story: The Story of a Certain Group of Adventurers 2
It happened a few days before the ultimatum to the three dukes.
I was in a dark room with Hakuya, poring over a big map of this country that was spread out across the table. There were pawns of various sizes, all shaped like upside-down “T”s, at various points on the map.
At the point representing the royal capital, Parnam, there was a large pawn and a medium-sized pawn. In the central city of the Carmine Duchy, Randel, there were four large pawns. In the central city of the Vargas Duchy, Red Dragon City, there was a single pawn that was smaller than the others. These T-shaped pawns represented the forces positioned in each location.
Hakuya was using a long stick to explain each of the pawns.
“The large pawns represent a force of 10,000, the medium ones a force of 5,000, and the small ones a force of 100. In other words, the number of troops you can mobilize is 15,000, while Duke Carmine has gathered around 40,000. There were many deserters from the Army, such as Glaive Magna, but they seem to have made up their losses from that with the personal troops of the nobles who were engaged in corruption.”
“So, no change to the numerical values, there, huh,” I said.
“Correct. Furthermore, according to the information we received from Duchess Walter, Duke Vargas has done as he declared he would. He has not called up the Air Force. It seems he intends to go into battle with only 100 of his own troops.”
“Hm… Still, if they’re Castor’s troops, they’re all wyvern cavalry, right?” I picked up one of the medium-sized pawns from beside the map and replaced the small pawn at Red Dragon City with it. “I’ve heard a single wyvern knight can do the work of 500 soldiers from the Army. If we’re looking at comparative power, we should think of them as being equivalent to 5,000 of our troops. Even if there are only 100 of them, we can’t afford to underestimate their power.”
“I am awed by your astute powers of observation.” Hakuya bowed reverently. He made a big deal of it, but I knew he was probably just flattering me.
“Please, stop. I take no joy in being able to point out how bad the situation is for us.”
“I suppose not,” he said. “It appears as though the situation is still worsening, too…”
With those words, Hakuya placed three large pawns on the southwest border with the Principality of Amidonia. These three large pawns represented the forces of Amidonia which were about to invade this country.
“The armies of the Principality of Amidonia are prepared to advance through the valleys of the Ursula Mountains to invade,” he said.
“Their total manpower was 50,000 or so, right?” I asked.
The Principality of Amidonia was only half as powerful a nation as the Elfrieden Kingdom. Because of that, they could only maintain half the standing army. On top of that, the Principality of Amidonia shared borders with three other countries in addition to us, so they had to leave troops to defend against them.
“Given their circumstances, 30,000 is a lot to be sending,” I said.
“You can see how serious Gaius is just from that, I suppose,” he replied. “He is ready to win or die trying.”
“That’s just going to mean problems for us,” I sighed. “…What will the principality do from here?”
“They likely mean to occupy the southwestern city of Altomura,” he replied. “Once Altomura falls, they will sweep all opposition from the surrounding area and move to secure the grain-producing region. Once they have de facto control of this area, I expect they will declare it part of their domain.”
Gaius was mobilizing his army with the resolve to win or die trying, but then he was just going to do the equivalent of burglarizing a building while it was on fire.
“For all his resolve, he’s not doing much,” I said.
“With the manpower Amidonia has, I believe this is the most they could accomplish,” Hakuya responded. “If they get too out of hand, the nobles who have been taking a wait-and-see approach to your conflict with Duke Carmine would likely gather to your side, after all.”
“I see… What’s the strength of our border defense force?” I asked.
Hakuya moved the medium-sized pawn that was in Parnam to the southwest border. “I have already dispatched 5,000 from the Forbidden Army to the area near the border.”
“We’re sending a land force of 5,000 to face a force of 30,000 which will have air forces as well, huh…” I murmured.
We were outnumbered by more than six-to-one. I had known this would be the case, but… I didn’t feel good about those numbers.
“…How long can they hold out?” I asked.
“Even if they shut themselves up in the fortress near the border, they would be doing well to last a day,” he responded. “The intent is only to buy time, so the commander has been ordered not to be reckless, and to carry out a staged retreat.”
“That’s easier said than done… She can pull it off, though, I guess. But even if we assume the troops are fine with all this… what do you plan to do about the people living in the area?” I turned a harsh eye towards Hakuya.
Unless they were expecting an ambush, armies would avoid the steep slopes and advance along roads across flat land. Those roads saw the daily coming and going of people, and people gathered at them to form towns and villages. There would be towns and villages at points along the route the armies of the principality would be advancing through to reach Altomura, as well.