And so, the trip continued on without any major issues. In the end, we were able to bring the airship to our new fort unscratched.
“Ooh, dang! They’ve done one hell of a job─look at that thing!”
No sooner had we arrived than Braham started singing the fort’s praises.
“I have to admit, I’d never think it was made in just a few days if I didn’t already know,” I agreed.
“That’s my teacher for you! Gotta hand it to Rietz!”
It was such a remarkable fort that it was hard to believe how quickly it had been thrown together. It had been raised with earth magic, so there were sure to be some little structural flaws here and there, but for a temporary defensive position, it was more than sufficient.
We stepped into the fort and made our way to its upper level.
“Lord Ars! You’ve arrived safely!” Rietz let out an elated shout the moment he saw me. Mireille, Thomas, and a few of my other retainers were there as well. It seemed we’d walked in on them mid-meeting.
“You’ve done an incredible job on this fort,” I said.
“You flatter me, Lord Ars,” Rietz replied. “Truth be told, I intended for it to be much more well-formed.”
I could tell he wasn’t just saying that. Rietz wasn’t satisfied with how the fort had turned out. He’d always been a bit of a perfectionist.
“So, seeing as we’ve got the airship on hand now, how about we decide how we’re gonna be using it to go on the attack?” suggested Mireille. She seemed like she was brimming with motivation, this time.
“You seem more excited about this than usual,” I commented. She was typically very casual about her work, if not downright flippant. It was strange for her to be taking the initiative like this.
“Oh, you can tell? It’s not every day I get to take down another duchy’s stronghold, see. Really works you up, right?” Mireille replied with a rather terrifying grin. Apparently, invading suited her preferences more than fighting defensively. Her high Ambition score was showing.
“I believe you’ve already been apprised of the situation, but for the sake of certainty, allow me to begin by updating you on how things stand,” Rietz said before launching into an explanation of the current state of the war.
Currently, five thousand enemy soldiers were stationed on Klax’s Hill. They’d shored up their defenses, and while they hadn’t gone quite so far as to build a fort of their own, they’d raised a low wall and constructed a number of simple towers along its perimeter. Each of those towers had a mid-sized catalyzer mounted upon it, as well. They’d structured their encampment to be as difficult to storm as possible.
The troops in Castle Auros, meanwhile, had yet to make any notable movements. They were biding their time in the castle, ready to move out at any moment if battle broke out elsewhere, it seemed.
“Regarding the forces stationed on Klax’s Hill, I believe that bombarding them from overhead would be a strategy worth considering,” said Rietz. “Fielding the airship without warning could spread panic throughout the enemy ranks─so much so that their formation could collapse, granting us a substantial advantage. It will also serve as an opportunity to train our own troops in the airship’s use.”
“I could see that, but wouldn’t it be better to make our attack on Fort Purledo the airship’s debut? After all, the less they know about it, the more likely the attack is to succeed,” I countered.
“Knowing about the airship does not guarantee that they’ll conjure up any countermeasures to it,” said Rietz. “I believe that the experience our own troops gain will offset any disadvantage imparted by the enemy’s knowledge, and then some.”
“I guess that might be true…” I conceded. Unless our foes were incredibly capable, it seemed safe to say that they wouldn’t have a way of dealing with a new and unknown weapon mere days after it was first used in live combat.
“Hmm, I don’t know… I think we might be better off not clearing out the troops on Klax’s Hill at all,” said Rosell.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Because I don’t think they’re going to abandon their position to attack us, even if we march toward the fort. From their perspective that hill is the perfect position, and they’ll want to keep it, even if it means letting us pass by. They’ll be planning on waiting until we’ve laid siege to Fort Purledo, then coordinating with the soldiers in Castle Auros to attack us from two fronts and drive us out of the duchy.”
“Hmm… Doesn’t that just make it all the more vital for us to clear them out of Klax’s Hill before we advance?” asked Rietz.
“Right, which is why we won’t totally ignore them,” Rosell replied. “We’ll split our force in two. Some of our men will stay back at Klax’s Hill to hold the enemy off, while the rest of us attack Fort Purledo.”
“So we’d stall them…? How many troops would you send?”
“I’d say seventeen thousand to attack the fort and eight thousand to hold off the troops on the hill, or so. If a force almost twice their size is blocking the path between them and the fort, they’ll be stuck in place─and if they work up the nerve to come down from the hill and attack, we’d just have to drive them back. Those five thousand men came out of Fort Purledo’s defenders, so there won’t be many troops left in the fort itself at all right now. If we make good enough use of the airship, we’ll be able to render the fort defenseless and occupy it in no time at all,” Rosell explained.