Chapter 139: Siegfried’s Ambition (1)
“Brothers of the Republic! Champions of our paradise!”
Fuhrer Bahasten of the Hildes Republic encouraged the soldiers in a loud voice. He had come out to personally talk to them. This was rare since he only did this for extremely important battles. However, Siegfried had advised him to do it, and so, he came out to personally encourage his troops.
“The future of our Republic is at stake with this battle! Fight! Confront them! The glorious future of the Republic is in your hands.”
“Wahhhh!!”
“Long live the Republic!!”
“Hurray for His Excellency the Fuhrer!!”
Just by being the Fuhrer of the Republic, one possessed considerable charisma. Once the soldiers’ morale had been sufficiently raised, Fuhrer Bahasten looked down at Siegfried who was waiting directly below him.
“We shall capture the heart of that despicable kingdom today! All of you!!”
Siegfried drew his sword and shouted out loud as he pointed at their target.
“Advance!!”
50,000 elite troops ran with him towards their target.
“Wahhhh!!”
“Charge!!”
Their target was the outer wall of Tempeulliche, the capital of the Strabus Kingdom. This was what Siegfried"s 50,000 troops were aiming for from the very beginning. When the Hildes Republic separated from the alliance and marched towards the western regions, all the strategists who were looking at the war from afar thought the same thing — this is the counterattack meant to stop the Lester Kingdom from invading their country. However, they were all surprised by Siegfried’s actual intentions. Moving the army to the West had been a trick.
The Strabus Kingdom got careless thinking that the Republic was directing their attention towards the Lester Kingdom. Seeing the enemy’s speed as they advanced across the western region, the Strabus Kingdom should have realized then that something was wrong. They should have realized that by cutting through the western region at that speed, the enemy might be targeting their Capital. In fact, after moving towards the West, Siegfried abruptly changed directions in the middle and headed south. His goal was Tempeulliche, the capital of the Strabus Kingdom.
Before carrying out this strategy, Siegfried had spoken to Fuhrer Bahasten.
[The Strabus Kingdom must be destroyed in this war. I will try my best to make it happen, sir]
The original purpose of the war had been the Strabus Kingdom. Siegfried had put up a false front. From the beginning, he had fought in and led the war to accomplish his original purpose.
Tempeulliche’s guards realized the situation only after the Republican army had already gotten close.
“Stop them! Conscript the citizens of the capital and mobilize a militia. As long as they can carry a weapon, recruit all the men and women.”
King Bauchen declared a state of emergency and by royal decree, ordered them to devote all their efforts into defending. How could the enemy soldiers attack the capital? This was the first time in the history of the Strabus Kingdom. However, even if the capital was being attacked, it was still too early to despair.
The Strabus Kingdom was a military powerhouse. The capitals of other countries focused infrastructure and prioritized transportation and expansion, but the Strabus Kingdom was different. The outer wall of the capital, Tempeulliche, was 20 meters high and over 5 meters thick, and while the gate wasn’t a drawbridge, it was three layers deep and was impregnable. It was a wall that perfectly satisfied all military conditions. There were also 10,000 national guards to defend the wall and with the recruitment of the citizens, it was possible to have 50,000 troops at the very least.
“We will not be easily defeated. If we are able to hold one for a couple of days, the enemy will regret it instead.”
King Bauchen immediately released carrier pigeons towards the estates in the vicinity of the capital. He ordered them to raise their armies and to attack the rear of the Republican forces currently attacking the capital. Seeing how the enemy suddenly appeared at the capital, it could only mean that the enemy had ignored the surrounding estates and only focused on advancing. In other words, when the estates around the capital gathered their troops and counterattacked, the Strabus Kingdom had a chance to win.
‘It’ll take at least three days for the surrounding estates to gather their troops and arrive at the capital, one week at the latest. We can last until then.’
You were only a true master of the military if you were able to overcome national difficulties. How could they plan for an empire once this war was over if they couldn’t even defeat the Republic? King Bauchen encouraged himself once he was done with the mental calculations.
But, there was one thing he didn’t know. One week? Three days? Siegfried didn’t intend to take that long attacking the capital.
***
“Without a doubt, that is a strong wall.”
In principle, a siege would eventually incapacitate a castle’s defenses. There were three ways to do so: go over the walls, open the gates or destroy the walls. At this moment, Siegfried planned to use the third method.
“Group 9, Group 10.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Carry out the operation. I a.s.sume you know what that is?”
“Yes, sir. Of course.”
At Siegfried’s command, two groups of Ghosts moved.
“Move out! Siege Operation 3.”
“Yes sir!”
Group 9 and Group 10 began to move, but their appearance was different from the other Ghosts. Until now, Ghosts had moved with minimal equipment for agility reasons. They wore light greaves and their main armament was a long sword with a round s.h.i.+eld. Their only backup weapon was a dagger.
However, Groups 9 and 10 were different. Their armor seemed much thicker and heavier than a normal chainmail. Their swords weren’t a sleek longsword, but a short and thick Gladius sword while their s.h.i.+elds was a thick and wide kite s.h.i.+eld instead of their standard round s.h.i.+eld. In addition to this, the Ghosts wearing this equipment were as tall as giants with broad shoulders. They were more similar to a heavy infantryman than a knight, and when they moved, there was a sense of weight to the movement; it felt as if a wall was moving.
They gathered together and marched towards the castle’s wall. The peculiar thing was they were dragging a wagon covered with a cloth behind them. Of course, they were very noticeable and soon, arrows were raining down upon them.
“Shoot them! Don’t let them get closer.”
He didn’t know who they were, but the commander decided it was better to stop them from approaching the wall and had the soldiers continue to shoot arrows at them. Arrows rained down upon them from the wall. However, the Ghosts were fully armored and continued to advance without flinching.
Ting! Ting ting ting!
The Ghosts interlocked their s.h.i.+elds and lifted them at an angle, then, as if they were walking in the rain, continued to march forward. When they finally appeared at the foot of the wall, the Ghosts pulled out something large from the cart. It was a huge stake that was over a meter long.
“A stake? What are they going to do with that?”
The commander couldn’t determine the reason for it. However, his curiosity was soon answered.
Bang!
The Ghosts lifted the stake horizontally and then started driving it into the wall. Two people placed one end of the stake against the wall and a third lifted a hammer, then began striking the other end vigorously.
“Huh… are they trying to break the wall with that?”
A commander clenched his teeth. The wall would not collapse just because a few stakes were pounded into the wall. In the first place, a wall wasn’t something that would easily collapse. The enemies had to know that as well.
‘Or maybe they plan on making a scaffolding with that? No. That would take forever if they pounded in stakes like that.’
The commander couldn’t guess the enemy’s intentions. Either way, the important thing was…
“What are you doing? Don’t let them do whatever they want. Shoot arrows and drop rocks on them!”
It didn’t matter what the enemy was doing, the important thing was to NOT leave them alone. Arrows, rocks, etc. continued to rain down on the Ghosts Groups 9 and 10. However, the Ghosts just lifted up their s.h.i.+elds and continued to block the attacks coming down from the walls. In particular, they prioritized protecting their fellow Ghosts who were pounding the stakes into the walls.
Ten stakes were driven in just like that. It took about an hour to pound all ten stakes at roughly one meter intervals. Once they finished, Ghosts Groups 9 and 10 took a step back.
“Wooow! Looking good, you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”
“You think the walls would collapse with that?”
“Are all the Republican dogs dumb as rocks? You moron!”
The regular soldiers’ ridicule was heard from above the walls. The commanders laughed as they joined in.
“What on earth were you trying to do?”
It seemed like the Ghosts had been trying to do something grand, but in the end, they retreated without accomplis.h.i.+ng anything. Watching them leave, the commanders felt they themselves were pathetic for being worried. However, one of the commanders found something strange.
“Huh?! Why are they changing formation?”
“That’s odd. Why’re they lining up like they’re preparing to rush forward?”
The intentions of the enemy still couldn’t be read.
***
Meanwhile, the leader of Ghost Group 9 returned back after finis.h.i.+ng their work.
“My Lord, the preparations are complete.”
“Good work. Then…”
Siegfried got up from his seat and muttered as he looked towards the wall.
“I feel like I’m revealing our secret plans too early, but… it can’t be helped.”
Then, Siegfried called out to someone who had been behind him.
“Eliza.”
“Is it my turn?”
A woman wrapped up in a robe responded to Siegfried. Her name was Eliza. When she took off her robes, the people around her were astonished. Although they knew she was a woman, her outward appearance was more beautiful than any one of them had imagined. Her face was the kind of s.e.xy that any man would be fascinated by. Her makeup style was strong, but she wasn’t overwhelmed by it and didn’t feel awkward at all. Instead, it made her seem more mature. If Milton was there, he would have been greatly surprised. The woman named Eliza looked exactly the same as Bianca.
She gave Siegfried a captivating smile.
“Can I really do it?”
“It’s better to use it when we need to then to keep it hidden away.”
Eliza smiled at Siegfried’s response.
“I see. If that’s the case…”
She recited an incantation towards the stakes in the wall. Then…
“Enlarge!”
The moment she spoke the pa.s.scode, the stakes in the wall suddenly grew exponentially and became a huge log. As a result…
“Huh? What?”
“Ugh… this is…?”
“Ah… Ahhh!! It’s collapsing…”
Boom!
The thick and st.u.r.dy outer wall of Tempeulliche collapsed.
Siegfried gave out his command.
“Charge!”
“Wahhh!”
“Charge!!”
Having already prepared to rush in, the Republican Army quickly charged through the collapsed walls. The commanders had never thought their walls could collapse like this and fell into a panic. They were unable to give proper commands.Eventually, Siegfried and the Republican Army, who had gotten through the walls, quickly captured Tempeulliche.
Just one day. In fact, in less than half a day, the capital was captured.
***
In just one day, the capital of Strabus Kingdom was captured. The Republican Army quickly attacked the palace and captured King Bauchen and all the royal family members.
Who do you think was the most pleased with this phenomenal achievement?
“Hahahahaha! As expected of Siegfried. Excellent. You’re indeed a treasure of the Republic.”
The correct answer was Fuhrer Bahasten. Not too long ago, he had rebuked Siegfried, but now, his att.i.tude took a 180 degree turn.
He had finally entered the capital of Strabus Kingdom. He had put his priorities over the other two Fuhrers. He sat on the throne of the Strabus Kingdom and had a very satisfied expression.
“Now, in this war, our Hildes Republic will be able to occupy a far more advantageous position than any other country.”
Siegfried responded as he looked at Fuhrer Bahasten’s happy smile.
“Congratulations, Your Excellency.”
“Hoo…. You’ve accomplished a lot. Now, all we have to do is solve the problem of the Lester Kingdom invading our country.”
“Yes, sir. That’s right.”
“I’m sure you have an excellent idea. Tell me.”
“It’s not an excellent plan, but I do have an idea, sir.”
“Hoo…as expected.”
Fuhrer Bahasten waiting for Siegfried to tell him the answer. It seemed as though Siegfried had been waiting to be asked.
“First of all, we have to understand the situation back home, sir.”
“Continue.”
“Currently, it’s said that our country’s capital and more than two-thirds of the country is captured by Duke Palan.”
“What? The capital was captured?”
Fuhrer Bahasten looked startled.
“Yes, sir. It has been.”
“When was the capital captured?”
“Three days ago, sir.”
“Three days ago? Why wasn’t I told about this?”
“I blocked any reports from being delivered to you, sir.”
“Wh… what?”