The enemy’s commander, Duke Ashude of Seitz, took to the front lines to rally his panicking troops. The Seitzan vanguard formed up anew around him, and put up a far better fight than I’d ever expected it to. The loss of their large catalyzers, however, was a heavy blow, and left them without the heavy firepower they needed to fend us off. The army of Missian still held the upper hand. Ashude seemed to realize that, and before long his army began to retreat, leaving behind a rearguard that laid down their lives to delay our pursuit.
Couran seemed to believe that letting Ashude escape would lead to trouble down the line. He ordered his forces into a very aggressive chase─and that order ended up being his greatest misstep of the whole battle. The enemy, it seemed, was laying magical traps as they fled, and one Missian soldier after another fell to them over the course of their reckless advance. Even a few Missian nobles in positions of command were slain, and ultimately, Couran was forced to call off the pursuit.
We’d destroyed their large catalyzers with our airship, but had lost plenty of soldiers in the following battle. In other words, the engagement had ended in a draw. Ashude’s swift action pulling his troops back into fighting shape had been a major setback, and his choice to retreat had been well-timed on top of it. The way his troops had laid traps even as they fled spoke well of his ability as a commander, too. I’d never met Ashude in person, so I’d never been able to appraise him, but I had a feeling that his stats would impress me if I ever did. He was certainly a troublesome foe to face.
“We lost more men than we had to today…but we drove the enemy back and claimed the land they were hoping to hold. I suppose I can call this a win,” Couran said, though his scowl didn’t quite seem to match up with his words.
We had achieved our objective, so I wouldn’t have said that we lost the battle. Our casualties weren’t great, to be sure, but considering the size of our army, they also weren’t an enormous problem. We still held an advantage in that field.
“Breaking the enemy’s formation and destroying their catalyzers with the airship was what led to this victory, to be sure. With the bulk of their large catalyzers disabled, a swift retreat was the enemy’s only option. An airship is a wonderful tool to bring into battle indeed,” Couran said. His opinion of the airship seemed to have grown higher than ever. “Once this campaign is over, we’ll have to produce more of them as quickly as possible. In fact, I’m of the mind to do so as soon as the battle for Castle Kuat is concluded.”
“I believe that would be wise, Your Highness,” Robinson chimed in.
I agreed as well, internally. One airship had its weaknesses, but having more than one would give us a dominating advantage.
“Since the only workshop ready to produce them is in Canarre, we’ll center our efforts there. Ars─all the money and resources you could ever desire are yours for the taking. I trust that you will construct more airships with all due haste.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” I replied at once.
It seemed that Couran would be throwing as much money at the airship project as he had to in order to get a fleet into the sky as quickly as possible. For the time being, though, we didn’t iron out any of the specifics regarding that investment and focused instead on the upcoming assault on Castle Kuat.
Our operating theory was that the enemy would once again engage us in the field rather than hole up in their castle. They knew that defending a fortress was a lost cause when we had an airship on our side. Unfortunately for them, while the army of Missian had suffered losses in the last engagement, we still held the upper hand even in a field battle. The fact that we had more soldiers to work with than they did was enough to give us a major advantage on its own.
We began to advance toward the castle, taking care not to fall into any traps this time. Our broad strategy when battle broke out would be the same as it was in the first engagement: the airship would destroy as many of the enemy’s large catalyzers as possible, reducing their firepower before we charged. We knew now, though, that the enemy army would be quick to recover from that blow, so this time we staged our attack in a slower, more careful manner, not letting the chaos in their ranks lure us into a state of overeagerness. Our experience in the last battle had allowed us to learn and adjust the fine details of our tactics.
In the end, however, the enemy army made a choice that none of us had anticipated: the bulk of their army, the duke included, streamed out of the castle and fled, leaving only a small number of troops to defend the fortress in their absence.
○
“We’re retreating.”
Ashude made his decision known the moment he called his meeting to order. The nobles who’d gathered up with him were unable to conceal their astonishment at his declaration.
“B-But, why?!” one of them exclaimed. “We may have been forced to fall back before, but we felled droves of enemy soldiers as we did so!”
“If there’s one thing we learned through that engagement, it is that not only do we stand no chance of victory in a siege, we also find ourselves at a considerable disadvantage in the open,” said Ashude. “Would that we had been able to decimate their forces, but alas, Couran Salemakhia has proven himself to be not entirely talentless. He will not let his guard down again─no, he’ll advance with caution. All we would gain from clashing with him is the needless deaths of our soldiers.”
“B-But what of Castle Kuat?! If we fail to protect this fortress, then what will become of Seitz?!”
“The castle will fall one way or another. I have chosen the path where we will suffer fewer losses before that happens. We are nothing without our soldiers─if we lose them, then the war is lost as well,” said Ashude. His advisors fell silent, unable to refute his words. “We will pepper Kuat with our agents, and ensure that the Missians will not have an easy time ruling it. The county’s population is high enough that it will be challenging─and, vitally, time consuming─to bring stability to these lands, and Missian will not invade the neighboring counties until they have a firm handle upon Kuat.”
“You mean to say, then, that we have a means of buying time? And I suppose that while Missian is occupied with Kuat, we will be working out a means of counteracting their airship,” Lacan the tactician theorized.