Chapter 118
The next day, the Imperial Army abandoned its surprise attack and launched a full-scale assault using conventional tactics.
It could be said that this was the better choice any Imperial Army commander would have made.
They divided into four forces, surrounded the city, and attacked the four gates.
The enemy had been forced to divide their already small numbers further, so they should have been able to break through somewhere――or so it seemed.
But the result was different.
"Woooooah!!"
"Knock them down! Knock them down!!"
The knights and soldiers of Gels defended the walls with high morale.
Arrows rained down, and stones came crashing down.
The attack had been anticipated. Even so, every single one of them ended up hitting an Imperial soldier.
There were several reasons. The Imperial Army's strategy had been read perfectly the previous day, leaving its one thousand elite troops almost annihilated. Fire had been used in the attack. And that attack had been led by a mysterious strategist.
These rumors had given rise to caution and anxiety in the hearts of the Imperial soldiers.
Something must be waiting near the gates. If fire was used, something would happen.
That caution and anxiety dulled their movements and judgment.
"Get to the gate!"
"Understood!"
Following the commander's order, one soldier stepped forward.
But the moment the gate came into view...
Images of the many badly burned soldiers who had been brought in the previous day flashed through his mind, and he began moving as though to circle around from the side rather than approach the front of the gate.
But while making that unnecessary movement, the soldier became prey to the arrows.
The same thing happened at every gate. At that level, it would only have been enough to make elite soldiers perform like ordinary troops. It should not have resulted in this.
The fundamental cause lay with Gels.
They never let a hesitant soldier slip by, nor did they miss a command from their officers. Displaying exceptional concentration, they continued to take the best possible action.
It was enough to make you wonder which side's soldiers had actually been trained.
They continued their full-scale assault against such opponents. The casualties at every gate kept mounting, until Letz, the acting commander, realized that there was no hope of a breakthrough and ordered a temporary retreat.
■■■
"Is the enemy's strategist a monster!?"
Inside the tent, Letz slammed his hand on the table and shouted.
The commanders gathered there felt the same urge to scream.
They were the commanders responsible for the attacks on each gate, and they had done everything they could. The result had been a crushing defeat. They had lost precious time and soldiers.
Things had gone well at first. But somewhere along the way, everything had gone awry.
It was all because of a single man.
"It's like magic... The enemy soldiers are completely different from yesterday."
"I've never heard of magic that can turn amateurs into elite soldiers... Yesterday's victory gave the soldiers confidence and inspired them. They transformed..."
"A strategist who read the wind and turned a simple fire attack into a dragon's breath... Fear is spreading among the soldiers."
Letz bit his lip at the commanders' words.
According to the original plan, they should have already conquered the city and moved on. In reality, they had not advanced a single step and had lost many soldiers.
The member of House Simmel who had arranged for the snipers had gone silent, making it impossible to stir things up from within. Letz was running out of options.
If they could not break through Gels, not only would Gordon's plan be ruined, but Letz's own position would also be in danger. Even with the general assassinated, a battle was not what the Emperor wanted. Since Letz had defied that wish and opened hostilities, some kind of punishment would follow.
The balance of power within Gordon's faction would change as well.
Many things were at stake for Letz. That was precisely why he immediately made a sound decision.
"Call Sonia... It takes a strategist to counter a strategist."
"Are you really going to trust that half-elf?"
"She could wipe us all out!"
"That won't happen. As long as we have hostages, Sonia has no choice but to obey us."
"But..."
"Enough... The decision has been made. Just bring her here."
Following Letz's orders, a soldier went to summon Sonia.
After a while, Sonia entered the tent with a displeased look on her face.
"You called for me?"
"The enemy has a strategist. I want to hear your plan for taking the city."
"I believe I already submitted one."
"A strategy of attrition won't help us!"
Before the battle began, Sonia had proposed weakening the enemy through an encirclement.
Since Gordon's faction had to take the city within a few days, they had naturally rejected the strategy.
But Sonia had considered it the best course of action.
"We lost one thousand soldiers on the first day, and about as many today. That leaves eight thousand. Even a full-scale assault won't change the outcome. Your plan was already doomed when you failed yesterday. The enemy has already united and is defending the city with high morale. I wouldn't attack."
"We have to take the city! If you call yourself a strategist, come up with a plan! Don't you care what happens to the hostages!?"
"...No matter how much you pressure me, my answer won't change. If you wanted to achieve your strategic objective, you had to take Gels on the first day. Alternatively, you should have started with an encirclement and denied the enemy a chance to unite. I believe I've done everything I could to help."
Sonia was implicitly telling them that she had proposed a strategy and that they were the ones who had failed to adopt it. Even so, she had presented that strategy while thinking they would never accept it.
The surprise attack had stood a good chance of succeeding. Even Sonia had thought so.
The enemy was supposed to be made up of amateurs. But a single strategist had changed them.
"He's a strategist who has united them beneath their lord with clever words and uses effective defensive tactics. Gels is no longer the easy city it was at the beginning. If we attack recklessly, we'll suffer a painful counterattack."
"We have to attack recklessly! Just give us a plan!"
Prompted by Letz, Sonia let out a sigh.
A castle assault without siege weapons would result in heavy casualties as it was.
It would be different if they had a mage corps, but there was no way such a unit would accompany a mere reconnaissance mission.
There was no move she could think of that would have an immediate effect.
But if she did not offer a plan, she had no idea what would happen to the hostages.
On the other hand, if they broke through Gels, the South and the Empire would go to war.
Sonia thought for a while before asking a question.
"How much time do we have left?"
"Probably two days at most. After that, the imperial envoy will reach Kruger."
Even if they somehow broke through Gels, if the enemy's leader were taken out, war would be out of the question.
The Imperial Army's real battle was not against Gels but against time.
That was why Sonia presented a single strategy.
"Then let's build makeshift siege weapons within a day."
"Didn't I tell you we don't have time!? Are you going to waste time at a moment like this!? The imperial envoy could arrive as early as tomorrow!"
"That's only a possibility. We have no choice but to gamble on that possibility. If we have up to two days, we should use them. If I may say so, are you still underestimating the enemy at this point?"
Letz was left speechless.
They would cut down trees and build several makeshift siege weapons. Doing so would buy them time while giving them a chance to conquer Gels.
The only concern was the possibility that the Imperial Army might break through, but Sonia chose to trust the enemy's strategist.
Normally, if you did not attack for a day, the enemy would let down its guard. But an itinerant strategist like Grau would not make such a foolish mistake. He would be preparing countermeasures.
Since he had come to Gels under these circumstances, he must have been counting on holding out for a few days to turn things around.
Sonia read Grau's thinking and presented a plan with even odds.
It was a plan in which either side had a chance.
That was the limit of what Sonia could do, and the Imperial Army's only path to victory.
"Good... Get to it immediately! We'll start building siege weapons now!"
With that, Letz began issuing orders.
Seeing this, Sonia left the tent and began walking slowly.
She was headed for the hill where Galbar had been shot by a sniper.
She climbed it and looked out over Gels.
She could not make out the details, but she could tell that the city was brimming with life. That was the mark of a formidable opponent.
If she had time, she could use a strategy to crush that spirit, but there was no time.
Realizing this, Sonia gave a wry smile. Before she knew it, she had been devising a plan to defeat the enemy strategist.
"What kind of person are you, Grau? Are you kind, or cold-hearted?"
She asked a question no one could possibly hear and kept her eyes fixed on Gels.
Then a man came up onto the wall.
He was clad in a gray robe pulled up over his head.
The man looked in Sonia's direction.
Then he gave an elegant bow.
Taken aback by this unexpected move, Sonia stood dumbfounded, and the man called out in a loud voice.
"Conducting reconnaissance, are you? You seem awfully relaxed, enemy strategist! I've heard rumors of the half-elf strategist who manipulated the candidates for the imperial throne in the Imperial Capital! Let's see what you can do in this situation!"
"...You even know that? You must be quite well-informed!"
"Yes, I know all sorts of things! You must be fighting against your will because hostages were taken, right? What a difficult position! I pity you, unable to choose the master you serve!"
"What!?"
Sonia's eyes flew open at his shocking words.
Seeing Sonia's reaction, Grau chuckled softly. Then he straightened smoothly and declared,
"Think only of the hostages and give it everything you've got! Come at me with all your might! I'll turn it all to ash!"
"...Then I'll do just that!"
Having heard Grau's words, Sonia turned her gaze forward.
It was a provocation.
Don't use the hostages as an excuse. Give it everything you've got. He was saying that she still would not be able to win.
Then she would accept his challenge and fight for real.
With that thought in mind, Sonia entered the army's tent and had the soldier drafting the siege weapon blueprints step aside.
"Let me have that. I'll do it."
If he was going to provoke her so openly, he must have made preparations to match.
A halfhearted set of siege weapons would not stand a chance against him.
To avoid being called uncooperative by Gordon, Sonia threw herself into building siege weapons with all her might, just as Grau had challenged her to do.