The Blood Knight’s Villains

My Villains Episode 385

62. Tactics of Deception (12)

Altenberg’s Magic Bottles are beings that have been perfected through various drugs, spells, and brainwashing.

A ‘burning’ spell that burns one’s own life to recover mana and one attack spell according to role – half battle mages who learn only two spells like that……. Even though they are half, they

pour

out Spells such as ‘fireball’, ‘lightning arrow’ and ‘gust of wind’ were lethal enough. It was even more difficult to deal with because there were even a small number of people who used curses instead of attack spells – it wasn’t a huge curse, it was just blinding or deafening for a day.

Maybe that’s why some people say that magicians are much better at fighting than halfway wizards.

Unlike normal wizards who can learn as few as four or five spells and as many as ten or more spells, magicians are said to have great proficiency because they only practice two spells for the rest of their lives. It was said that the chanting speed was half as fast as that of a wizard of a similar level.

Also, since they are wizards made for war, they have no choice but to have much more practical experience.

In addition, the magic soldiers, who were immersed in the special brainwashing technique passed down in Altenberg, were braver than most elite soldiers and absolutely obeyed orders.

Even though they knew that each time they used a combustion spell, their lifespan was reduced by several years, they would immediately sacrifice their lives to unleash offensive spells when the overseer ordered them to.

When these living siege weapons cast spells at the cost of their lives, mana flames erupted from their mouths. This was the reason why magic soldiers were called ‘fiends of blue flame’.

Currently, there are five hundred such demons in the enemy camp. Seven percent of the Magic Troop under Altzenberg were mobilized for this war.

More than half of the 500 magicians dealt with fireballs, so it was a great power that could pour out 250 fireballs even if only using mana.

In addition, if you start using a burning spell, the number of fireballs will double in proportion to the remaining lives burned by the magicians.

The firepower of the magic corps alone is enormous, but more than thirty Trebuchets are constantly shooting boulders the size of houses.

Can the walls withstand this?

“dismissal! It’s urgent!”

An officer stormed into the castle tower alone.

At a large table in the center of the hall, the lord and about a dozen of his staff were gathered. They are the ones who make up the command of my castle.

All the other lords and officers were either fighting sword-to-sword with the enemy, or were injured in battle and were being treated in the cathedral of Andal-Viren.

Is that why? I was the only one sitting there, everyone else was pacing around the table nervously. As their gazes gathered, the officer who brought the messenger continued his report in an urgent tone.

“The outer wall is said to have fallen!”

The news was delivered eight hours after the full-fledged siege began.

“Is it a preamble?”

“Yes sir.”

“Uh ha r丁.

Marquis Landry, the highest-ranking person here, did not look embarrassed or surprised, although he was silent.

It was expected by the staff that at the west gate, where the enemy’s offensive was concentrated, at least the outer shell of the walls that doubled the city would be broken soon.

“You withdrew much later than expected.”

“Lord Ariad said he held on to force damage to the enemy.”

“is it. What is the damage to allies?”

“The damage between conversion operations is about thirty.”

“It’s slight.”

“The operation seems to have worked well.”

“is it.”

Marquis Landry nodded and leaned against the backrest as she sat down in the seat of honor. The staff also breathed a sigh of relief. One officer updated the casualty figures in the table next to the map.

“Is the conversion complete?”

“Except for the northeast gate, all other areas have been completed. The Northeast Gate is also moving troops to the inner wall under the command of Baron Ruyan.”

“Your Highness?”

“You are safe.”

“good. Please wait a moment.”

Was it because of the heavy cavalry led by Ulkar? The imperial army continued the siege persistently to the point of throwing up.

The wave of attacks that began in the early afternoon continued until the moon rose, so I said that. Is it the power that comes from the great army of 15,000? The intensity of the pressure was enormous as the brisk soldiers continued to pour in.

“I am glad that the conversion operation was a success. It will be much easier to hold on now.”

When an officer made an opinion, Viscount Cyril, the diminutive lord, nodded.

“It will be. The front is much narrower, and the inner wall is much taller and thicker than the outer wall.”

“Besides, the outer wall hasn’t completely disappeared, so it’ll block Trebuchet’s artillery fire or magicians’ attacking spells to some extent. From the point of view of the Gellans, the attack has become ten times more difficult.”

Although it is natural for the purpose of building the double wall, the outer wall overlooking from the inner wall is completely exposed. There are no inward-facing battlements at all, and there is not a single blade of grass on the flat ground between the walls, so when arrows rain down, you have no choice but to take them with your body.

It also becomes difficult to operate trebuchet and wizards.

If you want to hit the inner wall, you have to catapult or cast a spell from beyond the outer wall, but since it is an attack with an obstacle in between, it was natural that the accuracy would be low. Even so, let’s attack inside the outer wall, and the archers and wizards on the inner wall will look down and snip.

“What about the enemy magic corps?”

“Since we broke down the West Gate halfway and retreated, we haven’t moved.”

“Then did all of the enemy’s magic power retreat?”

“It is not. A small number of battle mages are said to be mixed among the enemy infantry. It’s like a force to deal with the attack spells of friendly mages.”

The Magic Soldiers are obviously a powerful force, but if they engage in a close-range confrontation with skilled combat wizards, they are easily defeated.

Mages with a high understanding of magic, abundant magical power, and control over mana can interfere with other wizards by twisting or blocking the flow of mana before they can complete their spells. It is a feat commonly referred to as ‘C ounterspell’. Of course, several conditions are necessary, such as the fact that they must be close enough to be able to control mana, and that the caster must have a much higher level of magic than the subject. However, as long as all these conditions were met, it was possible for a high-ranking wizard to fool six or seven low-level wizards by himself.

The battle mages led by Ulkar and the battle mages brought by the lords of the west of the kingdom were all fairly high level. On the other hand, Alzenberg’s magicians were good at only two spells, and had no magical understanding or basic skills.

So, if the magicians put their heads inside the outer wall, it was obvious that they would be beaten like dogs by the spell blocking that fell from the top of the inner wall. If that happens, you’ll either collapse while vomiting blood due to magical regurgitation, or you’ll end up like a scarecrow who can’t even open your mouth.

Of course, you could use a headcount of 500 to push it recklessly, but it wouldn’t be a very economical way.

“…It’s a breath-taking situation, but the cumulative damage is quite large.”

General McNeil, who is acting as the representative of the staff, opened his mouth.

“We don’t know how the South Gate will survive, but the West Gate will need support. Move the reserve, sir.”

Marquis Landry quietly looked at the casualties.

About 350 people were killed or wounded at the West Gate, which Ulkar was directly commanding, and about 210 people were killed or wounded at the South Gate, which was commanded by Captain Arbecon.

Both the north and the east suffered fewer than 50 casualties. Based on the third gate, the northeast gate, the north was connected to Asag, and the east was the farthest from the enemy’s main camp, so it was not attacked properly.

“Already… if you count the damage to the heavy cavalry, the number of casualties must be over eight hundred.”

“Four hundred of them will be able to return during the war,”

“It will take time. At least as long as the priests don’t collapse from exhaustion for a few days.”

“Yes, sir.”

The priests staying at Andal-Viren’s Cathedral gave a huge advantage to the ally’s combat endurance.

It would take over an hour for the wounded soldiers of the enemy to be evacuated to the forest garrison and meet the priests of the Cult of Calandari, but twenty minutes for our forces. This much difference is enough time to separate life and death in the case of a stabbed neck, and normality in the case of a broken wrist.

In addition, Ulkar released a huge amount of money and had enough potions to heal wounds. Thanks to this, even in the brutal battle, the ratio of dead to casualties was less than 30%.

The situation with the Imperial Army will be much worse.

The staff estimates that the enemy’s casualties will be four times that of the friendly forces, and the death toll ratio will be well over four quarters. According to these calculations, it would be a story that more than 1,500 enemies had been killed so far.

Considering that it was a defensive battle, it was a great exchange rate, but none of the people gathered here were optimistic. If the inner wall collapses, that number game will be meaningless.

“Then should Harold’s troops be moved… I think it would be better for them not to be moved until Your Highness directly orders them.”

Commander Harold has elite soldiers who have performed scouting missions. The number reached 300, making it the largest among the remaining reserves. The unit where ‘Shield Girl’ Grania was serving as the unit commander was right here.

Reserves are one of Prince Ulkar’s most tactically important elements. He had emphasized several times during the mock battle that he must have a strong reserve in order to respond flexibly to the war situation, whether attacking or defending.

“So, Your Highness must have a plan for their operation. There must be a reason why he placed his trusted commander and his own soldiers in the reserve near the west gate.” “Yes, that is what I mean.” Ulkar has the best tactical insight in High Castle, and Ulkar has the best understanding of the war situation. If the prince had a plan for Harold’s troops, it would not have been a wise move to use them carelessly.

General Macneil looked sideways at his young lord, Earl Oss, who was standing next to him, and added his words.

“I think it would be better to move the reserve at the northeast gate.”

“…If it’s the Northeast Gate reserve,”

Marquis Landry stroked his chin as he looked at the horses arranged on the map.

“It’s Baron Toset’s unit.”

“Yes sir.”

Baron Thorses is a vassal of the Marquis of Eavon, the high lord of Antrum.

Now he is following Ulkar’s command to fight the foreign enemy. However, as was customary between master and servant, his real superior was Count Os, the heir to the Marquis of Eavon.

“Hmm, since the damage is small there, it doesn’t seem to matter if the reserve team is moved. Still, tributes might come… Marquis Landry had an appetizing look on his face. However, he glanced back at Count Ossu to see if it was burdensome to arbitrarily decide the direction of the troops, which was not his direct line.

“Uh,”

the sixteen-year-old Earl Oth looked at General McNeil and Marshal Landry alternately with a puzzled look on his face. Even the one who looked at her like that nodded her head slowly for a while.

“…Baron Tosets is a great help to the prince since he has a lot of bones in the battlefield as he is his age-”

“You don’t have to worry about the Northeast Gate either.”

Before the young lord could finish his words, the old general spoke in a firm tone.

“It is said that Baron Ruyan, who is only thirteen years old, is raising the flag himself and energizing the soldiers. Also, the person named Gilbert next to him is a talented person who proved his ability at a young age and became a senior sergeant to the 3rd Prince. As long as the two of them are together, there won’t be any tributary issues breaking through the Northeast Gate.”

Unlike Marquis Landry, who only nodded silently, Count Orth kept his mouth shut.

Os was kind, but not an idiot. And General McNeil’s words were so bone-chilling that they were more difficult to ignore.

“That’s right.”

The boy who had something to gain from this war forcibly raised his mouth. He seems to be trying to copy Ruyan’s confident expression, but it just looks awkward.

“Baron Thorses and his troops… are native soldiers from Antrum that I personally led. If His Excellency permits it, I would like to personally command them and support His Highness, the Three Princes.”

“…umm.”

Perhaps realizing the circumstances, the Marquis Landry smiled bitterly.

“How could the person who came on behalf of His Excellency the Marquis of Eavon talk about permission from me, who is not His Highness? Please do as you please.”

“thank you.”

“It’s not a substitute, but I’ll supplement the troops a little with the lightly wounded who have completed their recovery. Lord Dieut, there must be a prepared unit, right?”

“Yes sir. We will prepare for dispatch immediately. It would be better to resupply supplies on the way.”

“Very nice.”

By the time the knight of the Marquis disappeared like the wind, the boy’s face had already turned pale. I felt sorry for him, so I opened my mouth with a wry smile.

“Your Excellency, can I attach some of my men?”

“…Sir’s men?” “yes. They are all useful guys, so if you take them with you as escorts, at least you won’t get hit by blind arrows.”

I was thinking of attaching about 10 people, including the heavy soldier Dervish, the spearman McKay, and Fritz, who had recently recovered. However, Count Oss shook his head politely even though he looked like he was about to burst into tears.

“Thank you very much for the meaning… but I have to decline.”

The boy Count, who succeeded in hiding his frightened expression as he spoke, smiled broadly as if sincerely thanking him.

“Beside me are several vassals and knights of the golden age, including Sir Jebi Eo. Accepting Sir’s offer would be an insult to them.”

“Hmm, I was short on my thoughts.”

“No no. You can’t take away the goodwill you showed during the chaos

. I thought about it before, but he’s such a nice guy.

nothing special will happen There are four skillful escort knights, and they won’t go into battle directly.

And above all else, Prince Ulkar doesn’t want Orth killed or injured. If Ulkar were to take a ragtag to deal with Burkard’s army of slaves, he would take care of the little count’s safety as if he had eyes on the back of his head.

No, maybe it will give you a chance. An opportunity to make a big contribution to show off to your strict grandfather.

Hungry and drooping in my chair, I hurriedly got up and saw off the young count.

…Hayla should be asleep soon, so I’ll have to ask Rowen to make me a late night snack.