Chapter 21
Johan, the platoon leader of the 3rd Observation Platoon, was climbing the hill with his observation equipment.
"Haa, haa... damn, this observation gear is seriously heavy..."
His assigned position was the mountain overlooking the gorge at the entrance to the Arcal Plain.
Because they were short on time, he had to run up the mountain as soon as he arrived at the foot of it by horse.
And with heavy observation equipment on his back.
It was a forced march that would have left him sprawled out if he hadn't been an aura novice capable of using aura to some degree.
Even so, the reason he had volunteered for a mission like this was simple.
The chance to direct naval gunfire from a battleship.
Once he marked the coordinates, divine-punishment-like firepower would come crashing down on them.
How could a man possibly resist that?
Johan, and the members of the 3rd Observation Platoon, wanted to see with their own eyes the power of the weapon that had brought down Sarsen Fortress in a single blow.
"You guys! Just a little more! The summit’s right ahead!"
"""Wooooo!!"""
Thus, even while exhausted, the members of the 3rd Observation Platoon climbed to the summit in high spirits.
Driven solely by the desire to see the dreadnought's overwhelming power with their own eyes, they immediately began setting up their observation post upon reaching the peak.
The first thing they set down was an image-comparison rangefinder.
Image-comparison rangefinder.
Saying it like that makes it sound complicated, but the principle is simple enough.
The object, shaped like a long cylinder laid on its side, has lenses at both ends that bring the scenery each lens sees toward the center.
By adjusting it so that the scenes seen by the two lenses overlap, you can measure distance.
...Though the downside is that, since it's a lump of metal as big as an adult man, it can't be moved unless you're an aura user.
"Haa, haa..."
After he struggled to place the rangefinder on the mountaintop, the observation unit soldiers who followed brought up additional equipment.
By the time telescopes, spotting scopes, compasses, wind vanes, and the like were set up all over the mountain, the Western Army’s conscript unit was just emerging from the gorge.
"Ready?"
"Yes!"
The observation unit had already taken position, and the platoon members who had come along to guard them had mounted their rifles on rocks and were standing by.
After confirming that, Johan took the communications crystal ball from inside his pocket.
He tapped it lightly a few times, and the image of the battleship fire-control team appeared at once.
"Second Lieutenant Johan and the 3rd Observation Platoon have arrived at the observation point!"
[ Confirmed. Please acquire the coordinates and transmit them. ]
Johan handed the crystal ball to a soldier and immediately brought his eye to the rangefinder.
The arch structure over the gorge, through which soldiers kept pouring out, was exactly the kind of thing that was just begging to be brought down.
Carefully adjusting the lenses at both ends of the image-comparison rangefinder, the image of the gorge became clear in the eyepiece.
Johan didn't miss the chance and called out the observed distance to the calculation soldier in the observation unit.
"Zero-three-two degrees forward! Distance 2,835 meters!"
"Zero-three-two degrees, distance 2,835 meters confirmed!"
The calculation soldier checked his position on the map and began calculating the gorge's coordinates with a protractor and a special ruler.
It didn't take long for the exact coordinates to come out.
"Coordinate calculation complete! From intersection point 31S 17G, 0173 east, 1520 north!"
The report was immediately sent to the dreadnought's bridge.
The dreadnought, floating majestically in the open sea under the escort of five destroyers, began turning its main guns.
Kugugugug...
Along with the sound of heavy steel interlocking, the siren warning of naval gunfire rang out across the deck.
The deck trembled with the rhythmic footsteps of the crew evacuating into the ship.
The bridge was just as busy.
Reports from the fire-control team echoed from everywhere.
"Coordinates 31S 17G 0173 1520! From the ship's heading, 0-9-4 degrees! Distance 8,340!"
"Turret 1, aim confirmed!"
"Turret 2, aim confirmed!"
"Turrets 4 and 5 report aim confirmed!"
The reports came in one after another, hard and mechanical. The officers' voices filled the bridge in sequence, like interlocking gears.
The dreadnought's eight 305mm guns that could be brought to bear on one side totaled eight barrels.
To direct that immense power toward the correct target, cooperation was necessary.
"Waiting on the observation unit's signal."
A total of eight naval guns were aimed at the land.
The quiet bridge and the motionless warship looked like a beast of prey before the hunt.
As the silence before the storm weighed down the sea off the Arcal Plain, everyone on the bridge waited for the observation team's report.
About fifteen minutes passed like that.
- Confirmed: all conscript infantry units have exited the gorge!
At last, the claws of the giant steel beast were unleashed.
The dreadnought's gunnery officer gave the fire order without hesitation the moment he heard the report.
"Fire!"
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwang-!
A fierce storm of flame erupted from the dreadnought's starboard side.
***
- Kwang-gwa-gwang!
The sound of the eight 305mm naval guns roaring at once also reached the members of the observation platoon through the crystal ball.
The roar of the steel beast was more chilling than anything they had ever heard before.
A 76mm field gun that could blow away a knight in one shot?
A 20mm anti-aircraft gun spraying dozens or even hundreds of bullets the size of golf balls?
No, it was a sound that couldn't even be compared to those things.
Even knowing that the monster's naval guns weren't aimed at them, the fear buried deep in human instinct slowly began to rise.
"Ha..."
Johan forgot where he was and stared blankly toward the gorge.
Because with his meager imagination, he couldn't dare picture that weapon's power.
Mountains, and nature itself, were that kind of existence.
Massive beings that made human power seem like nothing. Humans were always weak before nature.
Could they really destroy a granite mountain range that couldn't even be scratched by 76mm field guns?
Just as that doubt began to surface little by little-
- Time to impact: 5, 4, 3, 2... 1!
There was light.
A tremendous flash burst out from the eight shells that struck the mountain beside the gorge. Johan instinctively shut his eyes tight, and a split second later the explosion rolled over him.
Kugugugung-!
The sound, like the sky itself collapsing, made his skin prickle. His heart pounded wildly and cold sweat broke out.
What on earth had happened?
Opening his eyes with that thought in mind, Johan could only stare in shock.
"Whoa..."
A mountain wreathed in billowing smoke came into view.
The surface of the mountain, which had still been a lush green forest just fifteen seconds ago, had been crushed into a muddy brown.
That wasn't all.
Kugugung-
A different kind of sound from the shell impact echoed out.
The sound of the mountain writhing in pain.
The granite foundation collapsed, the soil that made up the mountain caved in, and cracks spread through the arch forming the gorge.
And right below it, the Western Army's main force was passing through.
The soldiers at the very front of the Western Army's main force were crushed beneath the collapsing mountain just like that.
"So this is... the dreadnought..."
A battleship that knew no fear.
It was power worthy of that name.
"Second Lieutenant Johan, impact confirmed. The shell was a direct miss... but the mountain collapsed as is and covered the vanguard of the enemy main force."
Even as he spoke, he still could not believe it.
It had missed the center of the gorge and struck the mountain instead.
In other words, it had landed a little too far from the target.
And yet the 305mm shell simply brought down the whole mountain and achieved the objective.
- Direct miss. Adjust target data. Turret 1 and 2, add 2 degrees to starboard and lower the elevation angle by 3 degrees.
Listening to the mechanical voice, Johan thought to himself.
That he was, truly, truly glad that that monster was on their side.
***
Eric Smith was mentally reviewing his operation as he passed through the gorge.
The enemy weapons were certainly threatening.
But if they charged with the conscripts up front, there was more than enough room to create an opportunity.
He had seen the battle footage from Sarsen Harbor as well. Their anti-aircraft weapons looked capable of firing at ground targets too.
So first, he would shove in the conscript infantry.
The moment the conscripts forced their anti-aircraft guns to look down at the ground, the wyvern knights would swoop in.
While the wyvern knights drew the enemy's attention, the cavalry would charge.
If everything went according to plan, victory was certain.
But battle never goes exactly as planned.
Eric Smith's plan went off the rails before it even began.
Kugugugung-!
Without any warning, a deafening boom rang out as if the heavens and earth were collapsing.
"W-What..."
In an instant, one side of the mountain was covered in a massive burst of flame. Before Eric Smith could even issue an order, an enormous amount of earth and rock came pouring down over the gorge.
There was nothing a mere human like him could do beneath a collapsing gorge.
"Raise your aura!"
All he could do was draw up his aura and pray to survive.
One-fifth of the main force was buried under the collapsing earth and vanished just like that.
The surviving soldiers fell into chaos.
Faced with an unknown attack that had erased the mountain's surface entirely, there was nothing those mere humans could do except tremble and pray.
"It's an ambush! Everyone, hold formation and fall back! Don't panic! Panic will only get you killed faster!"
Eric Smith desperately tried to rally the army into order.
Unaware that the dreadnought's second shell had already begun flying toward his head at that very moment.