Chapter 24
Aquitten is the gateway into Porvin, the capital of the West.
The river that cuts through the heart of Porvin meets the sea in the Aquitten region. In other words, if Aquitten is breached, a direct road to the Western capital opens up.
It is the capital’s throat and lifeline. The moment this place is cut off, Porvin, the Western capital, will be strangled to death.
That is why Aquitten Fortress is sturdier and more solid than any other fortress in the West.
The three-layer seawalls alone averaged ten meters thick.
They were so thick that not even primitive siege weapons like catapults, let alone cannon fire, could leave so much as a scratch.
On top of that, there were five resident 7th-circle mages and two 8th-circle mages.
Even if it were besieged, there was no problem.
The wyvern knight brigade stationed inside the fortress could move freely in and out even under siege, throwing the enemy into confusion.
That was why Aquitten Fortress was regarded as one of the Empire’s strongest fortresses.
So Aquitten’s lord, Louis Armand, viewed the situation as a crisis he could withstand.
It was because he still had not properly realized the fleet was there.
He had heard roughly how impressive their weapon called a “cannon” was, but if they fought on the plain, he was confident as well.
He believed the mages’ firepower would be able to inflict sufficient damage on the enemy artillery.
"Use scorched-earth tactics! Sweep away every house outside the fortress and burn every crop to ash! Make sure they cannot procure any supplies outside the fortress!"
Hold out until reinforcements arrive from the imperial center.
And in the meantime, prevent the enemy from obtaining any supplies whatsoever.
Because the Southern Army had advanced so quickly, the “scorched-earth tactics” were also carried out in haste, and acts bordering on plunder were committed against the people outside the fortress... but that was none of his concern.
The survival of the West was far more important than the lives of commoners.
The fact that public sentiment in the West was shattered in the process was just a bonus.
In any case, Aquitten had succeeded in preparing for a long war. By squeezing the people dry, they had gathered enough resources to hold out for at least a year.
[ You know better than anyone how important Porvin is, Louis. Defend it with your life. Reinforcements from the center will arrive within a few weeks. ]
Aquitten’s lord Louis replied to the letter from Porvin like this.
[ I, Louis Armand, am in Aquitten. Not a single enemy will pass through here. ]
At that time, it was noon on the day the siege of Aquitten began.
It was when the dreadnought entered within 50 km of Aquitten.
***
A battleship’s main guns are not very precise.
More precisely, they are not weapons that can destroy only the exact point you want.
A battleship’s purpose is destruction.
Because its job is to obliterate everything around the target with overwhelming firepower.
Up until now, that hadn’t mattered.
Sarsen Fortress was a military fortress with almost no civilians living there.
Sarsen Fortress was a thoroughly military fortress. Since it existed to block the road and extort tolls, it didn’t matter if it was smashed at will.
The Battle of the Arcal Plain was the same.
Because on the Arcal Plain, the gorge was brought down to separate the conscripts from the elite troops.
A place where the elite troops had gathered could be hammered all you liked.
But... Aquitten was a little different.
A port city right in front of the Western capital, Porvin. In terms of my past life, it was like the relationship between Seoul and Incheon. The only difference was that it held far more weight and importance in the West than Incheon did.
Naturally, Aquitten’s population was enormous. In an era somewhere between the medieval and early modern periods, it boasted 30,000 inhabitants.
There was no way we could just blindly shell a metropolis like that.
In any case, our goal is to annex the West, isn’t it?
If Aquitten’s downtown got blown away like Sarsen Fortress and its population of 30,000 were massacred? Then public sentiment would be ruined as well.
Because the battleship truly had the power to blow away Aquitten Fortress along with the magic tower if it fired wrong, I was even more cautious.
And to blow away only the magic tower where the mages were exactly...
"So we have to get close to the enemy and fire direct shots."
From the report received through the crystal ball, I could sense the hesitation of the bridge crew.
Come to think of it, that made sense. The dreadnought had never yet fought mages head-on and won.
It was only natural that they would get anxious when faced with mages.
Of course, for me, who knew the combat record dreadnought-class battleships had shown in the World Wars, it was no big deal.
"No need to worry."
Worried we’ll lose to mages?
I didn’t really have that kind of concern.
Why would a battleship be called a battleship rather than a gunboat or an ironclad warship?
Because a battleship is neither merely a ship armed with cannons nor merely a ship with armor plating.
A vessel built solely for combat, equipped with massive naval guns and thick armor.
The reason dreadnought-class battleships exist is to stand at the very front of a naval fleet and engage enemy battleships in close-range slugfests.
Thus, battleships are fundamentally built for counter-fire. In other words, they can block attacks with their own main guns.
That means even 305mm naval guns, which can tear fortresses apart and melt knights, cannot pierce a battleship’s armor.
And according to the interrogation of the captured Western officer, the enemy fortress had only four 7th-circle mages and two 8th-circle mages.
Besides, coastal mages had only ever dealt with flimsy ships, so they used spells focused on weak-penetration area attacks.
If compared to shells, they were high-explosive rounds, not armor-piercing shells.
In game terms, low-damage area attacks.
Magic of that level?
You could shrug it off with standard armor alone.
"So, make sure you go and teach the enemy exactly why this ship is called a dreadnought."
dreadnought
Literally, it means “knows no fear.”
It’s time to show them exactly why this ship knows no fear.
***
May 18th. 17:03.
The dreadnought’s bridge, which had been stationary on the high seas off Aquitten, began to bustle with activity.
Officers ran to their assigned positions, and resting sailors moved to their stations. As the massive mana engine pulsed, the ship trembled faintly.
It was like a giant creature waking from a deep sleep.
From the combat bridge, the dreadnought’s captain watched it all and turned to give orders.
"Everyone, did you hear what the Grand Duke said!"
If someone else had said it, it might have been worth doubting once.
But if it was the words of Grand Duke Kyle, who personally designed this ship, that was different. There wasn’t a single thing he’d ever said that was wrong.
"From here on out, we’re going to beat those mage bastards down right in front of our eyes!"
Everyone on the bridge swallowed hard.
Up to now, the South had fought many enemies head-on. From ordinary infantry with no abilities, to knights, and even aerial cavalry called wyverns.
But going into a close-range brawl with mages, the ship’s natural enemy, carried a different meaning entirely.
It meant directly giving up the range advantage the Southern Army had always held.
However, no one objected.
Because everyone knew this ship’s power.
"All hands, battle stations!"
As the siren announcing battle stations sounded, the massive ship’s screw began to spin furiously.
"Full speed ahead on both sides!"
Leaving the destroyers waiting in the distance behind, the dreadnought moved its huge bulk toward the fortress.
Naturally, that sight was observed by the scouts of Aquitten Fortress.
A gray citadel cutting across the crimson sea as it approached.
The fortress scouts who recognized what it was from 10 kilometers away were thrown into high alert.
Because the monster that had smashed Sarsen Fortress in one blow was heading toward the fortress.
By the time the mages hurried up to the offensive magic tower, the battleship had already closed to within 8 kilometers of Aquitten Fortress.
But they couldn’t launch an attack recklessly.
Magic grows weaker the farther it gets from the mage. That was why a mage’s effective range in war was only about 1 to 2 kilometers at best.
Considering accuracy, the range could shrink even further than that.
That was why mages had strenuously blocked the development of guns and artillery until now.
"Battle stations! Deploy shield magic!"
Even as the mages hurriedly raised shields, the battleship kept drawing closer by the second.
The enormous iron fortress advancing at 40 km/h gave the mages an indescribable sense of pressure.
Because everyone had heard roughly what kind of power those monstrous naval guns possessed.
Thus, the moment the battleship entered range, the mages unleashed the strongest attack they could fire.
At a distance of 1 kilometer.
By then, the fortress and the battleship were completely close.
Elvin, a 7th-circle mage, gathered all his strength and cast his spell.
[ Explosion ]
Kugugugung-!
The fireball struck the battleship’s front armor, causing a massive explosion that swallowed the ship. Jet-black smoke billowed high into the sky.
The immense shockwave it unleashed shook the sea surface, and a thunderous blast rang out.
It was proof that the spell had landed perfectly.
"Hah, no matter how much those bastards struggle..."
Only then did Elvin let out a breath and prepare his next spell.
It was a spell cast with all the power a 7th-circle mage could muster. No matter how large the ship, it should have been enough to split it clean in half.
"After all, those guys still can’t stand against mages."
Once the tension eased, a smile naturally came to his face.
The moment Elvin, regaining his relaxed expression, pointed his staff toward the rising smoke—
"Huh?"
Something he should never have seen came into view.
The dreadnought’s gigantic hull.
There was the ship, silently sailing over the sea blazing with the remnants of magic.
Seeing that, Elvin had no choice but to doubt his own eyes.
"W-What... no damage?"
It was the moment when all the common sense he had held until now was shattered.
And it was also the last sight he ever saw in his life.
Before he knew it, the distance between the fortress and the battleship was down to 750 meters.
The dreadnought’s 305mm naval guns, now right before their eyes, erupted in a fierce blaze.
Two direct-hit shells literally split one magic tower in half and sent it flying into the sky.
It was the beginning of a one-sided slugfest.