The Great Battle of Zetta (5): The Cause

"Forty thousand in total!? That's impossible!"

A furious shout from one of the Fourth Knight Order's unit commanders echoed through the room where the commanders had gathered. Golbel's total attacking force numbered 40,000. Everyone's expression changed at this revelation.

"But given Golbel's national strength, its total military force should be around 50,000!? Were the spies we sent to that country fed false information!?"

Sazaby immediately denied another unit commander's question.

"That is impossible. That figure was calculated by the leaders in the royal capital based on information from the many spies infiltrating Golbel. There should not be that large a discrepancy."

"But that means they sent 40,000 of their total 50,000 troops here. That's insane!?"

"Could 10,000 to 20,000 of them be reinforcements from another country!?" one of the commanders suggested.

"No, that is difficult to imagine as well. If such a large force had come as reinforcements, our spies would surely have reported it," Sazaby said again.

This was no mere bold move. If Golbel suffered a major defeat here, the country might even be destroyed outright. It was only natural that everyone was shocked.

But I know why. This massive army was possible only because it was just before the snow began to fall. Once the snow piled up, pursuing a retreating army would become extremely difficult. Depending on the weather, the pursuers themselves could end up isolated.

In fact, this battle ended with both sides suffering heavy losses and neither side emerging victorious because full-fledged winter arrived in the middle of the fighting.

That was why they could make such a bold mobilization for an extremely short decisive battle, taking advantage of the brief window before the snow became heavy. It was still an outrageous plan, though.

Their target was here: Kitzar Fortress. If Golbel could capture Kitzar Fortress, it would be able to gain the upper hand in the battles ahead.

I believed Golbel wanted to capture either Kitzar Fortress or Riese Fortress, a key stronghold in the south—or both, if possible.

It was only after thinking this far that I finally realized it.

In the history I knew, the Sixth Knight Order lost the Battle of Haksha and was forced to hole up in Riese Fortress. If they were forced to hole up there, then an army must have been attacking it.

Although we had won at Haksha, the losses among the Golbel soldiers who retreated had not been particularly heavy.

If the troops who, in the original history, should have been fighting the Sixth Knight Order at Riese had instead been diverted here, the unexpected troop count made sense.

As a result of my changing history, I was now the one who had backed us into this crisis. It was ironic, but I still did not think I had made the wrong choice back then. So now I had no choice but to find a way out.

"I don't know what Golbel is after, but at this rate, the Tenth Knight Order will probably have no choice but to defend the southern fortress. If so, the 7,000 troops here will have to take on 20,000 at Kitzar Fortress without reinforcements. Even if reinforcements are possible, it would be best to assume that both the Tenth and Second Knight Orders will take time to join us. What are we to do...?"

Boldras-sama groaned. Despite the Fourth Knight Order's reputation for defense, repelling nearly three times as many enemy soldiers without reinforcements would honestly be difficult. A siege was effective precisely because reinforcements were expected.

In the future I know, the Fourth Knight Order managed to hold this fortress for several days against 30,000 troops partly because it knew the Tenth Knight Order was coming to reinforce it.

I still did not know how Rays-sama would act, but Schwaba Fortress, which was under attack in the south, was small. If the Tenth Knight Order did not come to its aid, it would fall in no time at all.

Once Schwaba Fortress fell, 10,000 Golbel soldiers would obviously pour into Rudek territory from there. It seemed Rays-sama would have no choice but to send aid to Schwaba Fortress.

Then it seemed reinforcements really were out of the question.

"Could we call for reinforcements from another Knight Order?"

"Which Knight Order? How long do you think it would take?"

"Then what about having the Seventh Knight Order at Riese Fortress attack southern Golbel?"

"No, that would be dangerous. What if it were a trap and we attacked without knowing the situation? Besides, how long would it take just to send a messenger to the Seventh Knight Order and then have them set out?"

Various suggestions flew back and forth among the commanders, and each one brought another problem to light.

"Then why not request reinforcements from the Holy Kingdom of Lifrea? It's nearby!" one of the commanders suggested, but unfortunately, that was not possible.

This had little to do with Lifrea targeting Rudek. It was largely because of the relationship between the Holy Kingdom of Lifrea and Golbel.

Golbel had originally maintained relatively friendly relations with Rudek, the Holy Kingdom of Lifrea, and, for that matter, the two countries to Golbel's west. In other words, it would be fair to call them loose allies.

Golbel itself was not a particularly powerful nation, so it never threw its weight around with any of them. For better or worse, it had an image as an inconspicuous country.

That changed drastically with the Empire's invasion. Once the Empire went to war with Rudek and Rudek became fully occupied fighting it, Golbel suddenly declared war.

Having concentrated its forces on the Empire front, Rudek was caught completely off guard and fell into the desperate situation of temporarily losing Kitzar Fortress.

The strategy Rudek adopted then was to send the First Knight Order, led by Lucifer. It chose to abandon the capital's defenses and drive Golbel back.

The strategy worked, and the First Knight Order brilliantly recaptured Kitzar Fortress and succeeded in driving Golbel's soldiers back.

Because of this, Lucifer came to be called, alongside Rays-sama, one of the "twin heads of the Kingdom of Rudek."

Whatever the case with Lucifer, Golbel and the Holy Kingdom of Lifrea had originally been on friendly terms.

When it came to its alliance with Rudek, the Holy Kingdom of Lifrea had promised not to hold back military cooperation against the Empire, but it sought peace in its relationship with Golbel.

Consequently, the Holy Kingdom of Lifrea was extremely reluctant to send troops against Golbel, taking an almost neutral stance.

Whether such a country could really be called an ally was debatable, but with Rudek attacked from east and west, it had no choice but to join forces with the Holy Kingdom of Lifrea.

"Roa-dono, what do you think?"

When Wickhart suddenly addressed me, I surfaced from my thoughts and saw that the officers and soldiers who had reacted to his words were all looking at me.

"Let's think of a way to hold out for three days—no, four days," I said loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"Four days? What do you expect to happen after four days? Are we expecting reinforcements?" Hock-san asked on everyone's behalf.

As for reinforcements, one was on its way—a powerful general.

General Winter, leading an army of snow spirits.

"It may be a little earlier or later, but it will probably snow in about four days. The snow will begin to pile up in earnest. When that happens, the enemy will have no choice but to withdraw."

At my words, everyone stared blankly for a moment.