READ WEBNOVEL Chapter 87: The Road to King (27)
Chapter 87: The Road to King (27)
“The enemy’s strength is estimated to be around 20,000. Thanks to Master Medellin, it’s steadily decreasing.”
“I see. But how could that proud girl retreat?”
Fran twisted his head quizzically at Lamp’s report.
“They left Voltaire Castle without any supplies and retreated this way. Don’t you know what that means?”
Lucana answered Fran’s question with a clap of his hands.
“Isn’t it because Aintorian has supplies?”
“Yes, it does. After all, the heart of the enemy is in Aintorian. In fact, if the Fourth Army had held out a little longer, we could have reduced the number of enemies fleeing to Aintorian to a very small percentage…….It’s a pity.”
“We don’t have a clear picture of the situation. Every single allied soldier around Master Medellin is dead……”
Fran scratched his cheek. But right now, winning was more important than his sister.
“Let’s go for the straight and narrow. We’ll lay siege to Aintorian Castle. The supplies inside the castle are limited, and the enemy has only 20,000 men.”
The battle could have ended there if the Fourth Army had not been defeated on the plains, but unfortunately it did. However, the fact remains that their advantage is still overwhelming.
It was a battle between 20,000 and 160,000; in addition, there were still the Ten Warlords still alive and well
***
Fran’s large army of 160,000 marched towards Aintorian Castle at once. It was a situation where they were chasing the fleeing enemy, with the cavalry in the lead and the infantry following.
However, there was a change in the enemy that was fleeing. When Fran received the report, he had no idea what it meant.
“Are you saying that a small force has entered Aintorian Castle and the rest have moved south?”
“Yes, sir! Shall we go after them both? General, give me your orders!”
He wondered what this was all about. There was nothing good about dividing up the troops. If this was a tactic to confuse the enemy, it was not something a strategist like Erhin would use. There were only 20,000 troops left. It was quite a feat to hope for victory by dividing his forces.
A small force has entered Aintorian Castle…….For once, Fran couldn’t quite understand it. Of course, he couldn’t even predict it. He had completely ignored the fundamentals of general strategy.
“General, it seems there is no need to be concerned. I wonder if the predicament has caused an internal split?”
“I have the same feeling.”
Lamp and Lucana said. Istin was silent, but his thoughts seemed to be the same. So were Valdesca’s other vassals and warlords.
The Aintorian army that the vassals had pursued had been driven back, they had nowhere to go. Victory was in their grasp.
“In the end, a strategy is only as good as the troops you have. I am convinced of this from my long experience in the service of generals.”
When Lamp said that, Fran nodded. No matter what he thought, there was no way this time. No matter how much he overestimated Erhin, this was different.
“Where is Aintorian Erhin?”
“He went to Castle Aintorian!”
“Then we’ll head for Castle Aintorian, don’t worry about anything else!”
“Yes, General!”
Following the order, the second-in-command rushed out, and the entire Narja army also started running towards Castle Aintorian.
“We will lay siege to Castle Aintorian in multiple layers. We must not give them an opening.”
Fran decided not to think about anything else.
***
The last battle of Aintorian, from the way things were going, all the refugees thought so too.
“I can’t believe we’re being attacked when all we have to rely on is Aintorian to get around. What the hell is going on?”
“From what I’ve seen firsthand, there are far too many of them, so what can you do?”
“Can’t we beat them with numbers?”
The refugees who had gathered nearby were wandering around looking for a place to go, talking in whispers like this.
“That’s Aintorian over there, right?”
“Yes. The great war will soon begin.”
“Everyone is saying that this will be Lunan’s last battle.”
“It’s true, the king died on the run, and the only one who joined us late enough to fight was Lord Aintorian…….I wonder what the other lords are doing.”
“He was the only one who had the troops ready.”
“He stopped Narja in the last war, but will he be able to do it this time?”
“The northern part of Lunan had already fallen by the time he returned from Roserun?”
“Yeah. That’s exactly where I came from, and I got beat up like crazy.”
The refugees began to lament their misfortune, but the thought of becoming a citizen of another country made them feel uneasy.
“I’m going to see the last fight.”
“You’ll die if you do that!”
“If we climb that mountain over there, we can see it, right? I have to see it just in case.”
“It’s not safe.”
There are many times when curiosity overcomes fear.
Many people began to climb the mountain to watch the battle here and there. Rumors were already spreading about the situation, so no one thought that Lunan would win.
But on the other hand, rumors were spreading that he was the only lord in Lunan who would fight to the end, and people were flocking to watch.
Everyone knew that it was dangerous.
“Aren’t the Aintorian people too quiet?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
In the midst of all this, the refugees had one question. There was no sign of evacuation among the Aintorian’s people. Or perhaps there was no one in the territory.
“It’s as if there’s no one else in this huge territory but the soldiers.”
They were not talking about the inside of the castle, of course, but about the entire Aintorian territory outside the castle.
***
Eventually, this moment arrived, the assembly of the entire Narja army.
The missing troops have joined up and become a complete unit. In other words, we must make sure to inflict damage on them here.
To be honest, Aintorian was not in a good position to build a country. Especially in a situation like this, with few reliable personnel and soldiers, and surrounded by Narja.
In addition, most of the troops of the Lunan Kingdom have gone to Bridget in this situation. This was the main reason why the northern part of Lunan could not even resist and was easily defeated. Of course, it was part of my plan to throw the huge bait of Bridget and move the army of the Lunan Kingdom there.
I wanted the destruction of Lunan more than anyone else. Even if all those troops were to join me, it was impossible for me to build up my strength in such a position.
However, even if I set up my base elsewhere, it would not matter if I don’t destroy the army of Narja at least once. There would be no time to catch my breath. In order to get such time, it was necessary to influence the refugees, denounce other troops from the Lunan Kingdom, and inflict heavy damage on the Narja army at least once.
The reason I moved my headquarters troops elsewhere and came into Aintorian Castle with only a small force was to lure Fran.
I surveyed Fran’s army from the top of the castle walls. They were surrounding Aintorian in multiple layers on all sides, it was a moderate movement.
I was glad to see such a gathering. In fact, all of this maneuvering was possible because of the secrets hidden in Castle Aintorian.
There were hidden passages in Aintorian that were built during the time of the Ancient Kingdom.
The room with the gold and the room with the perks had nothing to do with the Ancient Kingdom.
The room with the gold was created by the descendants of Aintorian, and the room with the perks was created by the game’s management. However, there was another secret room in this castle that shared the end of the Ancient Kingdom.
That is exactly the hidden passage in the Ancient Kingdom that can only be entered with Yurasia’s ring. It was because of this power that I gathered Fran large army, using the Aintorian castle and myself as bait.
The sun was setting, but Fran was planning an attack. He didn’t even know that the castle was empty.
Fran wouldn’t give me time, he would use this momentum to try and take down the castle Aintorian in one fell swoop. That’s exactly when the opportunity would arise. Fran waited breathlessly, as he thought it would be easier to attack at night, and finally ordered an attack as soon as the sun went down.
“All troops, charge!”
For the sake of the kingdom Fran had absolutely no intention of prolonging the capture of Castle Aintorian.
The entire army charged towards the castle. It was the Third Army that was the first to charge using the ladder. Because of the mistake of Kediman’s death, Lamp asked Fran to spearhead the charge in order to redeem the honor of the Third Army.
With no one to stop them, the large army quickly entered the castle and the gates were quickly opened. As soon as the gates were opened, the 40,000-strong army of lamps poured into the castle.
The burning gates of the castle provided illumination, and the speed of their advance was quite fast. The incoming troops also opened the other gates of Aintorian, resulting in even more soldiers pouring into the castle.