Chapter 15
Night is the stage for knights.
Ordinary humans can’t see in the dark. But knights, with near-superhuman eyesight, can identify their opponents even in darkness.
That’s why, since ancient times, nighttime wyvern raids have been a standard tactic.
...That said, I never imagined the Empire would try to mediate and then immediately rush in with something like this before negotiations even began.
Looks like we came across as a lot more threatening than I thought.
"What direction is the expected attack coming from?"
"The industrial district near the capital, toward Sector 5. Sector 5 has one air-defense battalion and thirty anti-air guns deployed there."
If sixty wyvern knights were shredded without a single casualty by sixteen anti-air guns, then thirty guns might have enough firepower too.
But I still felt uneasy.
It’s night now. No matter how many flares and tracer rounds we use, visibility has to be shorter than in daylight.
Looks like we’ll need additional troop support.
"What’s the estimated arrival time?"
"If they come straight along the recorded radar track, about thirty minutes."
Sector 5 is the port district right next to the capital. If that place falls, the army might just come rushing in along the same route.
Fortunately, we had the advantage of information.
And in a situation like this, the advantage of information was the most precious asset of all.
"Immediately requisition two air-defense artillery battalions and thirty additional anti-air guns from the Capital Defense Division, and deploy them to Sector 5."
Because now, I could make a strategic redeployment I’d never even dared to dream of before.
Conveniently, the staff was gathered right here.
My order spread through the entire Southern Army in just a few minutes.
"Your Grace! This is a message from the 3rd Air-Defense Battalion, which is responsible for defending Sector 3! They report that they can provide air-defense combat support for Sector 5!"
"No, tell them to stay in position for now. The wyvern corps might split off and raid another industrial district."
I turned my gaze toward the Minister of the Navy.
The destroyers that had just finished their trial runs were waiting at the naval base. If not now, when else would they get real combat experience like this?
"Contact the destroyer squadron and order them to sortie into the open sea off Sector 5. Use the destroyers to cut off the enemy wyvern corps from behind."
Of course, that still wouldn’t be enough.
The West could bring hundreds of wyvern units with them.
No matter how strong the anti-air guns were, it was night and there were too many enemies; some would inevitably slip through.
The army would fill that gap.
"The army will move in platoon-sized groups and monitor the area around the port. If there are any fallen knights, infiltrators, or knights flying too low, neutralize them with firepower."
"Yes, Your Grace!"
The operation was simple. Shred the enemy with anti-air guns, then pick off any who got close with machine guns.
"Do we have enough flares?"
"Yes, more than enough, Your Grace."
"Good. Then the battle preparations are finished with this..."
For now, the Western force that would arrive immediately was probably only the wyvern corps.
No matter how magical this world was, it still took time to transport a large infantry force over 400 kilometers.
What remained was to wait for the results.
If we utterly annihilated the Western knight orders here, we’d proceed with the operational plan for occupying the West.
Of course, a perfect occupation was unrealistic. As I’d said before, I had no intention of doing colonial rule either.
First, we’d strip them of railway construction rights, extraterritorial rights, mining development rights, and everything else like that.
And then, over time, we’d carry out propaganda and agitation by showing off the Empire’s internal chaos and the South’s orderly, developing society.
"Ah, and the Intelligence Bureau."
The final goal is the merger of the South and the West.
The Empire was originally a union of five nations, but a thousand years had blurred those differences. The bloodlines of the South and West weren’t all that different.
Because the Arbel Mountain Range, an impassable wall, separated the Empire’s center from the West and the South.
Thus, over the course of a thousand years, the North, East, and Center fused together, while the frontier regions of the South and West went their separate ways.
For a thousand years, the West had exchanged nothing but with the South, and the sense of kinship built up over that time was by no means small.
Enough that, if I played my cards right, I might be able to turn it into an absorption merger.
"Intelligence Bureau, try shaping public opinion within the West around that. For now, focus on highlighting corruption inside the Empire. If that seems to work, then shift toward emphasizing their ties to the South."
"Understood, Your Grace."
The pieces were all in place.
All that was left was to apply my plan to reality.
"Let’s cross the point of no return."
Up until now, everything had been nothing more than a clash of wills between the West and the South.
At least, there had still been no direct, unjustified invasion of each other’s territory.
But... once war began, everything would be different.
The center would definitely try to intervene.
The original story’s 'heroine' might even notice that something had gone wrong.
The moment I pushed past the center’s intervention and reached for the West, the original story I knew would no longer mean anything.
Still, there was one thing I could be certain of.
The future I would change would be far happier than the path the original Empire was headed down.
***
The southern night sea is dark.
When people think of the 'South,' they imagine beautiful seas and resorts—but those are much farther south. The waters around Albion are gloomy and rough, with waves crashing year-round.
And above that sea, a group of wyverns was flying.
A total of 300 wyverns across ten knight orders. The knight orders the Western Grand Duke had gathered, fully prepared for war.
"The remaining distance to Albion, the southern capital, is approximately 25 kilometers! We will arrive in 15 minutes!"
"Yeah. I can see it too."
In the eyes of the wyvern knights, the gorgeous southern coastline came into view. Even at night, the port of the satellite city shone as brightly as noon, a splendor starkly different from the West.
However, not a single knight was intimidated by that fact.
No matter how dazzling it looked, it was still just a sandcastle that would collapse with one push.
"All right, everyone, get ready!"
They had flown for hours without rest for this moment. Crossing the sea with no light at all, relying only on the dim moonlight of night.
It was a flight only seasoned knights could manage.
"No one would have expected us to launch a surprise attack like this!"
And even if they had expected it, it wouldn’t have mattered.
For stealth, they had deliberately painted the wyverns black and worn black armor. In the dim sea at midnight, it would be hard to identify black knights.
Even if that weapon they’d first seen in Sarsen was terrifying, it didn’t matter.
By the time those bastards finished preparing for battle, the wyvern knights would already be inside minimum range and slaughter them all.
Charles Raymonz gave the order in a confident voice.
"Burn them all down! Smash everything, kill everything! Those bastards are the enemies of the 12th, 13th, and 14th Knight Orders!"
"Waaaaaah!!!"
The wyvern knights roared in unison and picked up speed. Before long, the city’s high-rise buildings began to appear one by one.
The wind was on the wyvern knights’ side. The strong gusts pushing in from behind made the flight feel much lighter.
The conditions were favorable as well. The cloudy night, with the moon completely hidden, perfectly concealed the wyvern knights’ flight path.
The distance kept closing. 25 km, 20 km, 15 km, 10 km...
Charles Raymonz realized something was off right then.
Charles Raymonz, who had originally been from the West, didn’t know much about Southern cities. Ever since Kyle took the position of Grand Duke of the South, he hadn’t even looked back toward the South.
So Charles Raymonz didn’t know how the South’s developed cities actually worked.
Still, even Charles had one basic common sense.
Cities are always crowded.
"...It’s unnaturally quiet."
In the eyes of a knight as skilled as him, the city looked silent. There wasn’t a single person in the port that should have been bustling in the middle of the night.
That wasn’t the only strange thing.
Anti-air guns were pointed precisely in this direction from the tops of the high-rise buildings.
As if they were preparing for war.
"How..."
He had definitely told no one. There could have been signs that they were preparing for war, but he had never revealed which direction the attack would come from.
Feeling some instinctive unease, Charles Raymonz tugged on his wyvern’s reins.
"Everyone, halt!"
But the other wyvern knights following him couldn’t do the same.
First, the noise the wyverns made was far too loud. In the flapping and the wyverns’ cries, Charles’s voice didn’t carry properly.
Besides, because they had covered themselves in black for a nighttime raid, even their own side couldn’t properly tell that Charles Raymonz had stopped.
As a result, there was a slight delay before the order reached the other wyvern knights.
And that delay was fatal.
A moment after the wyvern knights surged ahead of Charles.
Aaaeeeng!!!
A chilling siren echoed over the port’s quiet waters.
"All units, fall back for now! Re-form the line and..."
Boom-!
And then, a tiny sun rose beneath their feet.
Dozens of flares began to light up the dark night sky.
Black-clad knights floating in the bright sky.
They were the ideal target for an air-defense force.
The anti-air guns arrayed in battery all opened fire at once.