The Duke's Eldest Son Escaped to the Military

The Duke’s Eldest son Escaped to the Military (219)

The Great Southern War (2)

With the appearance of the Mobile Field Army which covered the sky, the giant army, which had been trying to push back the front lines (of the southern command army) with one move, stopped advancing. Instead, their artillery forces, carrying multi-launcher guns that were equipped with magic bombs, took over. They were trying to make up for their lack of aerial power with ground power.

The same was true for the sea as well. It was almost impossible for them to confront the eastern command army, which was renowned to have the strongest navy on the continent, with the navy that they had. So instead, they used their ground troops to the fullest. In various places on the island, artillery had been put in place and traps had been installed.

Perhaps because of that, the eastern command army that had wanted to drive the giant army back once and for all stopped their advance, and could only surround them.

“Long time no see.”

The eastern army commander came looking for Iron in the large-scale airship where he was to say hello.

“Nice to see you, sir.”

Iron smiled brightly as he welcomed the eastern commander.

“Eh, come on now, relax. We are now both commanders, you know.”

The eastern commander said to Iron, who had greeted him as politely as ever, while patting him on the shoulder.

While Iron was talking with the eastern commander on the airship, the southern commander also came in.

“The facilities in here are much better than I’d thought.”

The southern commander took in the view of the airship’s interior with an appreciative look. Unlike the regular airships, the Mobile Field Army’s airships were quite nice. It was still uncomfortable to live in, but at least it seemed like the facilities had been designed to lessen the discomfort of living inside them.

“Welcome, sir.”

The southern commander nodded at Iron’s greeting.

“The western command army cannot compare one bit to this.”

During his long tenure, the southern commander had visited the different armies on many occasions, including the western command army. He had ridden an airship of the western command army that had had the strongest airforce on the continent at one point, and compared to the Mobile Field Army’s airships, that airship was very shabby. The Mobile Field Army’s airships were much larger, and even the system used on the airships was miles away from that of the western command.

“Now that we’re all here, shall we start the discussion?”

At the eastern commander’s question, both Iron and the southern commander nodded. As the commander of the Mobile Field Army that was the driving force of this war, Iron spoke first.

“How about the navy? Will you be able to seize the harbour?”

“Hmm…… it’s not that easy. Because there are so many islands and submerged rocks, it is not easy to access the harbour, and there are also many mines. The biggest problem is that they have placed artillery on each island.”

After the eastern commander spoke, the southern commander began.

“As you can see, it is not easy to force their ground forces to retreat. Whoever goes in first will have to take some serious damage.”

The opposing forces had put up a near-perfect line of defence both on land and on the sea. If it was just artillery and traps, they would have risked taking on damage and advanced to push back the enemy. However, the iron giants were placed everywhere too. Without knowing, with certainty, what abilities the giants had or whether the giants had special abilities like the giant the Mobile Field Army had fought before, it was dangerous to hastily begin full-scale war with them.

“Their preparations are quite thorough.”

“Yeah, they do have the right to be confident.”

The two commanders said, admiring the southern confederation’s preparedness.

The opposing forces had a chance of winning in this situation, even though they were facing three of the Empire’s armies. It was also very possible that they were hiding one more hand too. The Empire’s armies had to advance under the assumption that there would be more creatures like the giant the Mobile Field Army had fought.

“The Mobile Field Army will advance first.”

“But the risk of damage is high.”

“We still have to advance, despite that. Since we are in the air, the damage will be the lowest possible when they strike.”

The two commanders nodded as they listened to Iron speak. It may be possible to attack if they were high in the sky. The problem was that there was a high probability of hitting civilians. If the bomb targets were inaccurate, it was possible for civilians to fall victim to the attack.

With the onset of the war, there was something that was bound to happen. But that was only from the perspective of the soldiers. The human rights activists and the nobles who were looking for Iron’s flaws would most likely use it to attack Iron.

However, Iron was ready to endure that.

“It seems your mind is already made up.”

“In that case, we have to back you up.” ??? ???

Since the youngest commander among them was willing to put himself on the line, it would be a shame on them as commanders of the Empire if they couldn’t follow in his footsteps.

With that settled, the eastern commander immediately began preparing for the navy to move, while the southern commander ordered all the troops of the southern command to prepare to attack.

As that happened, the southern confederations also quickly began moving. Since their opponents were preparing to attack, they had to prepare to defend against the attacks with everything they had.

“The enemy forces are coming.”

“Hoo…… there’s quite a lot of them.”

Muradin and Carlos, the two masters who had fought against the Mobile Field Army in the last war, felt nervous as they watched the Empire’s troops flocking towards them, their numbers so large that they seemed to become a dark swarm.

On land, there was the southern command army, in the air, there was the Mobile Field Army, and on the seas, there was the eastern command army, the three forces surrounding the southern confederation’s army. Just looking at their numbers was enough to make one tongue-tied, but on top of that, these were the Empire’s forces. All the elite troops of the Empire had prepared to march in order to crush the troops of the southern confederation.

“Will the Mobile Field Army be the first to move?”

“It seems so.”

Carlos looked up to the sky and saw the airships of the Mobile Field Army slowly being manoeuvred. Seeing that the airships had climbed to the highest altitude in order to avoid the land attack of the southern confederation, he sighed.

“Can Yolke stop the eastern commander?”

“No idea. But since we have the iron giants, I think we can bear it. It’s not like we’ll win anyway.”

Carlos answered Muradin’s question, still looking at the sky. It had hurt their pride that they could not control the course of the war, but now the times had changed. Now that the gods and the ancient creatures had appeared, masters were no longer the strategic weapons they once were.

For a moment, he remembered how Iron, with his mortal human body, had fought off the giant, but soon after he shook his head.

It was clear that, this time, not even Iron would be able to handle their secret weapon.

“Are you going to handle the southern commander?”

“I have to, since quick swords will gain the upper hand when fighting with a magician.”

After hearing Carlos’ response, Muradin nodded. He too concurred with that statement.

“Hmm…… it seems I’m the only one who’s got free time on their hands. Makes me feel sorry.”

“If you feel sorry, then go kill at least some of those Mobile Field Army bastards.”

“I should do that.”

Muradin answered Carlos, his face filled with resolve to do exactly that. Seeing Muradin’s determination, Carlos gave a small nod and walked off to deal with the Empire’s southern command army. Carlos was the commander of the southern confederation’s ground forces, and he left Muradin to be in charge of the troops that would defend against the Mobile Field Army’s aerial attacks.

“Feels quite heavy.”

Muradin felt that the weight on his shoulders was especially heavy today. If he failed to win this war, it would not be just him who died. All his subordinates and even their families could die too. If he chose wrong, if he made just one mistake, this would be the end for them. The decision made to avoid being destroyed seemed to lead them straight to destruction instead.

But there was no turning back now.

“Raise your swords, all of you! Today, we fight with our lives on the line!”

At Muradin’s shout, all the soldiers and knights lifted their swords. Muradin tried to raise the morale of the troops that had fallen as they watched awe-inducing forces of the Empire, and then made preparations to face the Mobile Field Army that had already begun its move.

At some point, the Mobile Field Army began dropping bombs from their high altitude position. Hearing the sound of bombardment, Muradin’s troops began their defence, their faces fraught with anxiety. As if the southern confederation’s side was not on the receiving end of an onslaught, drake knights flew up and their cannonballs shot at the airships of the Mobile Field Army. Even though the airships were at maximum elevation, some of the shells still hit their target.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Even though some of the cannonballs fell through their defence barrier, the southern confederation’s army did not stop their countercharge

“Their counteroffensive is stronger than I’d expected.”

“It is difficult to maintain maximum elevation.”

A commissioned officer with cold sweat flowing down his back said, as Iron watched the fierce counteroffensive with a serious look on his face. It would be much easier for the southern command army to attack if the Mobile Field Army caused chaos inside the southern confederation’s forces, but attacking the confederation’s army was not as easy as he had expected. It was even harder because Iron was working alone. The opposing side had Muradin and even a secret weapon that they had know idea what it was.

* * * *

The battle that was supposed to become a full-scale war unexpectedly ended with them just figuring out the limits of the opponent’s power. The aerial war, ground war and naval war all came to a stand-still. They had not figured out what hidden strategies each other had, but the tensions were higher than ever.

“They are stronger than I thought.”

The southern commander said, thinking about how their attack had already been blocked even though the iron giants had not been deployed yet. Iron stood next to him, his face serious.

Despite lacking a main force unit, the enemy troops had still fended off the southern command army’s offensive. Yes, the southern command army had not gone all out, but seeing the fierce counteroffensive made them think that this war would not be easy. They had thought that this war would not last that long, but now they had to drop that thought.

The eastern commander felt the same way too.

‘Someone on that side knows the sea well!’

The eastern commander thought so as he looked on solemnly. The most important thing for a navy was to understand the sea. Nothing was more important than that.

But the opponent had someone who had mastered the sea. He knew where and how they would move, and had guessed how they would appear. In such a situation, they were sure to fail if they’d attacked based only on their numerical advantage.

As neither the land troops nor the navy were able to quickly deal with the southern confederation, they began to approach the battle more carefully, causing the course of the battle to lengthen.

The first skirmish did not develop into full-scale war, and neither did the second and third battles.

Contrary to the expectations of many strategists, the morale of the confederation’s army began to rise as signs of the war becoming protracted appeared. On the other hand, the morale of the Empire’s troops began to dip slightly.

It was for no reason other than the other-worlders who had joined the Empire. Seeing that they were unable to destroy the southern confederation immediately, causing the battle to be drawn out, and that the southern confederation was stronger than expected, they began wondering if they had participated in this war without thinking it through. Their expressions worsened day by day as the dangerous battle continued, different from when they had thought that they would just fight in the battle and gain a reward.

However, the soldiers of the empire were different. Even though their morale had fallen a little bit because of the other-worlders, their willingness to fight was still strong. Because they knew that the outcome of this war would determine the fate of the Empire and that of all humans, their courage was different from that of the mercenaries and other-worlders who had just come to receive a reward.

Small face-offs and occasional battles continued. On the surface, there was nothing rousing about them, but the leaders were busier than ever. In order to understand each other’s might and hidden stratagems, they had made their scouts infiltrate the enemy camp. Once the scouts returned, they had been busy organising the intel the scouts had collected the entire time.

“The incarnations aside, you are saying that those things are just simple mechanical giants?”

“Yes, sir. Their machinery is complicated, but they are very similar to golems.”

As Iron listened to the magician’s words of certainty, his eyes shone brightly. If one of the enemy’s main force units was made up of just some big machinery, then the worst had been avoided. Iron immediately relayed this to the southern commander, and the southern commander immediately decided to launch a war under the cover of the night.

The surprise attack came at a time when everyone was exhausted from the constant small battles.

“It’s a shame that we have to show our cards first, but it can’t be helped.”

The southern commander said, looking mildly disappointed. However, if they were able to deal great damage to the enemy, then having to show their hand early was no loss.

Later that night, just after midnight, the southern command army began marching. In order to distract the enemy and make them let down their guard, the Mobile Field Army moved very slowly.

And that carelessness had fatal consequences for them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Along with the sound of cannons exploding came the sound of the temporary wall they had built crashing down.

“How…… how is this happening?”

A commissioned officer who had come out asked with a puzzled look on his face. The scouts had definitely said that the artillery of the artillery unit was not close yet. As he was thinking to himself, a huge gun completely covered in iron began approaching them.

“Wha- what is that?!”

The commissioned officer asked in a shaking voice, but no one answered him.

As the soldiers of the southern confederation stood with their mouths ajar, staring at the object they had never seen before, the answer came from among the other-worlders.

“A tank……”

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