The next day, he started playing games again as usual, right up until 10 a.m.
The scouts sent back word.
"Knights of Kazimierz are approaching from the northwest of Kazdel!"
Theresica let out a long breath, then put down the controller.
The real war had begun.
PS: I'm going to have to go too. Exams.
Collision
Within Kazdel's urban district, a shrill whistle rang out. Everyone—men, women, and children—who could lift a weapon began receiving armor and weapons. However, Theresica had no intention of sending them to the front. Instead, he had them remain in the city in case of emergencies.
The soldiers of Sarkaz Experiment Division One and Experiment Division Two ran rapidly through the streets in relatively orderly formations as the residents watched them go.
The sound of military boots striking the ground mingled with the encouragement and reluctance of their loved ones. For many of them, this might be the last time they saw each other.
"Why didn't you choose to defend the city?"
"There was no choice. This city has only just begun to recover. I don't want to see it return to the way it was a year ago, and neither do the soldiers."
Theresica shrugged helplessly, while Gladiia said, "But with this course of action, emotion has already taken precedence over reason."
"Thank you for your concern. Truly. But there's no way to determine which choice is correct right now."
Theresica sighed. Faced with Siege Rams, the Sarkaz forces had actually taken the initiative to leave the city. It certainly looked like suicide, but the decision had been made at yesterday's military conference. He had seen the reluctance filling the soldiers' faces when the proposal to defend the city was raised.
Kazdel was no longer the ruin it had been a year ago! And their mission was precisely to protect it!
"By the way, aren't you leaving? Once the fighting begins, no one will care whether you're Sarkaz or not."
Theresica looked at Gladiia. She saluted and said, "Thank you for your concern, but there is no possibility that my life will be threatened. I'll remain here and record a conflict in the landbound world."
On the desert, Kazimierz's probing force had already engaged the Sarkaz vanguard. Kazimierz sent its Foot Knights forward to fight the Sarkaz.
With the support of the casters and the Sarkaz's superior physical abilities, the Sarkaz maintained an advantage in the casualty ratio. However, once Kazimierz's Beastmaster Knights began circling around the flanks, Manfred had no choice but to order a retreat to avoid being split apart and surrounded.
Although the Sarkaz had won the battle, Kazimierz continued driving them backward.
While the Sarkaz were struggling with the Siege Rams, Tolk was also shocked by the Sarkaz's combat ability.
Although the Foot Knights had not undergone training as rigorous as that of the Beastmaster Knights, they were all veterans who had fought in the Uka War. Yet they had actually been disadvantaged in direct combat against Sarkaz soldiers!
However, this was normal. The Kazimierz forces had marched all the way here and, aside from the sleep they needed, had only stopped for an hour that morning to reorganize. The Sarkaz, on the other hand, had done nothing.
Sitting inside a temporary tent, Tolk looked over the casualty report and set it aside. He chatted with the officers beside him with a smile. At last, they had forced the Sarkaz into a direct engagement today. They were inflicting effective casualties on the Fiends, and the Beastmaster Knights remained Kazimierz's trump card.4
Hearing the cheerful laughter coming from the commander's tent, the junior officers nearby all breathed a sigh of relief. They had advanced deep into enemy territory alone, but if the commander could remain so relaxed, the battle must be going well.
Just then, a scout hurried back. An officer carried his report to Tolk.
"My lord, the Sarkaz army has moved back and established its position on a gentle slope."
On the simple sand table, the soldiers in charge had already placed the Sarkaz markers in position. Tolk studied the terrain, then pointed with his command baton at a parallel gentle slope opposite the Sarkaz formation.
"Move the entire army's position forward. Set it here."
The Kazimierz forces formally appeared in Theresica's sight. Both sides could now see the enemy formations with their own eyes.
However, it was already noon. The Sarkaz soldiers were distributing food, and Tolk did not continue the attack. Instead, he had his soldiers replenish their energy. The battlefield temporarily fell silent, with only small units probing and skirmishing.
Theresica looked at the situation on the sand table, feeling somewhat tense. Kazdel did not have many Siphon Drones, and they had only just come off the production line. The Kazimierz commander had also refrained from immediately sending out a large force of Beastmaster Knights, deliberately allowing them to rest. This was not good news for the Sarkaz.
"Report!"
A scout ran in at that moment. After receiving permission, he marked three locations on the sand table.
"On the northeast side of our army, we discovered Ursus forces. On the southeast side, we also spotted a group of people. Their nationality is unknown, but from their voices, they sound somewhat like people from Yan. They're all watching the battlefield."1
"And the last location?"
Theresica asked. The scout was somewhat old, and he hesitated for a moment.
"Babel's landship is parked southwest of our army."
Kal'tsit actually came.
Theresica was somewhat surprised, but since she had not come to see him, he could not determine her intentions for the moment.
"Your Majesty, should we drive them away?"
Manfred asked. Theresica shook his head.
"Forget it. Don't cause a diplomatic incident. But keep a close eye on their movements and report to me."
At exactly one in the afternoon, the silent battlefield suddenly erupted.
Some of Kazimierz's Beastmaster Knights, supported by ten thousand Foot Knights, launched a frontal assault on the Sarkaz position. Experiment Division One, arrayed on the gentle slope, did not retreat either. The two armies collided, and the sounds of slaughter echoed across the sky.
Theresica gathered all the spell-strike units and concentrated their fire on the enemy. Dense spells fell into the Kazimierz formation, causing heavy casualties.
Kazimierz's Beastmaster Knights also activated their Originium Arts. Their Arts did not directly attack the enemy, but they made the Siege Rams beneath them run faster, giving them greater impact.
Whenever the Beastmaster Knights charged into the Sarkaz formation, they caused considerable damage and disrupted its formation. However, this was where the squad leaders—one for every thirteen soldiers—proved their worth. Without waiting for orders from superior officers, they coordinated with one another and spontaneously maintained the lines, preventing Kazimierz's forces from ever tearing them open.
The battle fell into a stalemate.
The Sarkaz stopped retreating and began fighting Kazimierz to the bitter end. The casualties among the Knight Errants suddenly surged.
Tolk tossed the latest casualty report aside. Although trading blood for blood pained him, he had no intention of weakening the offensive. Everyone here was someone with no way out.
He stared at the sand table. To the left of the gentle slope where the Sarkaz were arrayed stood a huge birch forest. It was no beautiful ecological preserve; withered trunks and Originium crystal clusters covered the ground. On the right were some buildings abandoned by the Sarkaz a century ago. These two areas, which were unsuitable for Siege Rams, prevented the Fiends from being outflanked from behind.
He had to find a way to break through one of them, surround the Sarkaz, and then use the Beastmaster Knights' advantage to attack the Fiends from both sides!
"How many people are in front of the Sarkaz position?"
"About thirteen thousand!"
"What about in the ruins on the right?"
"Unknown. Probably more than a thousand. We haven't spotted any casters, but the terrain is difficult to attack."
Tolk pondered briefly. "Order! Send five thousand Foot Knights to seize those ruins!"
PS: Please vote for me. Exams should end around December 10.
Preparation for the Charge
Almost all traces of the Sarkaz's past had been reduced to dust in the flames of war. Now, only a few broken walls remained, revealing faint shadows of the past.
Today, a group of Sarkaz had returned to these ruins. They were not here to pay respects to their ancestors, however, but to set up defenses.
They drove away all the desert refugees who had gathered there, then created as many obstacles as possible. They carried furniture out of the abandoned houses to block the roads, or dug trenches so that any enemies who appeared would be unable to move freely.
"Squad leader, can our company hold this place?"
During a break from fortification work, a soldier could not resist speaking to his squad leader. Nearby, a Sarkaz missing one horn was struggling to move a boulder and had no mood to answer him. He merely said,
"His Majesty didn't fight for a year, letting me eat military rations for free for a year. He even gave my parents a house."
He gritted his teeth and shoved forward with all his strength. The boulder immediately blocked half the street. He gasped for breath.
"His Majesty wants me to guard this place and stop anyone from getting through, so I'll guard it. I don't know how many Kazimierz people I can beat, but I'll definitely make sure I've earned the food His Majesty gave me."
His words drew many cheers of agreement from those nearby, but a scout hurried through the crowd at that moment.
He lowered his voice. "Silence! The enemy is here! Silence! The enemy is here!"
The Sarkaz soldiers hurriedly put down their miscellaneous work and picked up their weapons. Archers quickly climbed to high ground, while melee soldiers carrying various weapons formed up near the narrow openings.
A drone flew over the soldiers' heads, its shape gradually vanishing into the air.
"The enemy is all infantry. We don't know the exact number, but we've already seen more than two thousand!"
Before long, the Mech-Accord Caster sent back more precise intelligence. Serious expressions appeared on every soldier's face.
The Sarkaz never feared battle—they were the Fiends! But they also did not want anything to go wrong on their own section of the battlefield and cause His Majesty's arrangements to fail, throwing the war into chaos!
"The company commander orders that the archers must not fire. Wait until the enemy engages, then fire so the arrows can be recovered!"
The messenger relayed the order to each squad along the line. This place was far from the main battlefield, and obtaining support would be difficult. They had to plan for the long term.
Before long, the figures of Kazimierz Foot Knights appeared in the Sarkaz's sight. They wore mostly uniform armor, with additional outer garments marked by the patterns of their families or knightly orders. From a distance, they looked dazzlingly colorful.
"They're really rich. Why are they coming here?"
The squad leader watched the approaching enemy and casually asked, "How do you know they're rich?"
"My father works in a dye factory. These dyes are really expensive."
"Then why did you enlist? Being a worker isn't bad. Just like soldiers, His Majesty assigns you housing and food. The food's a little worse, but there's no danger."
Faced with an enemy several times their number, anyone would feel somewhat nervous, so the squad leader did not stop his men from chatting. It helped distract them.
"Joining the army... I don't know. I just wanted to, so I came."
He smiled. "I learned to write here. I wrote out the names of everyone in my family, and my father was really happy."
"Archers, do your jobs and prepare to engage! Once they cross that stool, we charge!"
The squad leader suddenly spoke, and the surroundings immediately fell silent. By then, Kazimierz's Foot Knights had nearly entered the ruins.
Just as they climbed over the various obstacles, the Sarkaz soldiers suddenly charged out.
There were no unnecessary shouts. The soldiers followed closely behind their squad leader, and the dull impacts of warhammers mingled with screams as they rapidly spread from one entrance of the ruins to every corner.
Some attendant archers accompanying the knights drew their bows and nocked arrows to provide support, but hidden Sarkaz archers wielding semi-automatic crossbows shot two of them down with every volley.
"Accelerate the charge! Push inside!"
"Hold the line! Keep them back!"
The soldiers of both sides fought with all their strength amid the ruins from a century ago. The air reeked of blood.
"Your Majesty, the Kazimierz people have sent several thousand Foot Knights to attack the abandoned stronghold."
"Yes, I know."
Theresica nodded. It was once a residential district of the Sarkaz, but it had been abandoned during the war because of supply problems. The terrain favored defense and could protect the main force's left flank.
Although he knew the defenders there were insufficient, Theresica had no way to send reinforcements at present. The Palette Squad was stationed in the birch forest, and all he had left were Experiment Division Two and some Royal Court Guards as reserves.
These forces were meant to deal with the mass charges of Kazimierz's Beastmaster Knights. Several tens of thousands of soldiers had yet to enter the battlefield! Therefore, as Theresica watched the wounded continually being sent back from the front line, he still provided no support.
Tolk studied the sand table, calculating how to use his remaining forces.
Five thousand Foot Knights and thirty-five thousand Beastmaster Knights. These were the Kazimierz forces that had not yet entered the battlefield, and they were also the army's absolute main strength.
"Have we made no breakthrough on the frontal battlefield?"
"My lord, the Sarkaz have continued clinging on desperately. Their casters are extremely powerful. Their spell bombardment has caused our soldiers heavy casualties and immense psychological pressure."
"Send another thousand men to attack the ruins! We must take them!"
Tolk was becoming slightly anxious. It was already exactly two in the afternoon. After an hour of fierce fighting, the Knight Errants had exhausted much of their stamina, giving the Sarkaz a clear advantage in that regard.
Moreover, some Sarkaz units had yet to enter the battlefield. They would form a dense infantry mass. The Beastmaster Knights' impact was terrifying, but once they became trapped in such an infantry formation and lost their momentum and speed, they would instantly fall into an unfavorable position. Ursus had relied on massive infantry formations to tie down the Beastmaster Knights' edge before slaughtering them all.
However, he had more cards in his hand than the Fiends on the other side. He could afford to lose this time.
"Order the units on the frontal battlefield to prepare to move toward both flanks!"
Tolk did not want to continue wearing down his forces like this. He planned to launch a mass charge with the Beastmaster Knights and drive the Sarkaz behind the gentle slope.
This would create favorable conditions for the next Beastmaster Knight charge and give the Foot Knights a chance to reorganize their formation.
A vast cloud of dust suddenly rose over the Kazimierz position. Theresica held up his telescope and did his best to remain calm. Soldiers surrounded him, and he could not show any sign of nervousness.
The Kazimierz Beastmaster Knights, who had been awaited for so long, finally moved. The time had come to test the Sarkaz.
PS: No interludes between posts. I'm really not used to it, haha.
A Sudden Change in the Situation
Before you continue