42: Ursna Front
—- Arakawa Shuichi Point of View —-
“Captain, this is bad. The enemy has broken through the Arachne-neesans in the left wing”
“Support them by using the machine-guns! Did the enemy use their Land Dragons? If rubber bullet doesn’t work, I give permission on using the blunt iron bullets. As long as no one dies, you can use everything”
The battle between the Princ.i.p.ality of Ragire and Ursna Empire began earlier this morning, Ursna was dominating at first however the main forces of Ursna crossed the border to pursue the reconnaissance unit of the enemy. As a result, they were surrounded by the main forces of the enemy and were ambushed by enemies attacking them from the other side of the hills.
It was fortunate that our Power Suit Unit succeeded in rescuing the Ursna main force at the point of their grimmer but there was no time to rebuild the defense line, all we could do is slowly withdraw and delay the enemy.
“Captain… We cannot go on like this, I think we should completely withdraw and reorganize the troops”
My current adjutant, Luis, was giving me advice while having a discouraged face and is covered in dirt. However, we cannot afford doing that right now.
“Noah might be able to do that quickly but what about Ursna? I don’t think that they can follow our withdrawal speed and if we completely withdraw right now, the left wing of our forces will crumble── get out of our way!”
I shoot at a soldier from Princ.i.p.ality who was approaching Luis using my rifle. The soldier who was shot by the rubber bullet with the high voltage current generated when it hit him, knocked him unconscious. There is no need to worry for that soldier to get up anytime soon.
I got up from where I was and check on the guy. He was shot from a very close range so some of his bones were broken. I think that he will not be able to continue fighting but he should just be grateful the he is not dead.
“Luis, let’s give up on this defense line and gradually withdraw to the front of the third line made by the Centipede of our Military Team. Let’s use the claymore here to stop the enemy advancement even for just a little… also, let’s pull the body of the Princ.i.p.ality soldier there, remove the pin from a stun grenade and leave it wedged under him. It’s a dirty trap but it should work”
“Roger that”
After I see Luis working on what we have discussed, I contact the Flying Destroyer, Ortho, who is flying over the sky to check on the current situation.
“Ortho, can you hear me? The right wing is retreating to the third line. How are the Ursna troops doing?”
“Currently, the Ursna Army is not organized in their defensive battle due to the left wing being broken. We are continuing to provide support fire but it is probably just a matter of time for the left wing to completely collapse”
d.a.m.n! We are not the only one having a hard time. We can earn time for Ursna Forces to withdraw by having Ortho shoot a Napalm Bomb to the frontline of the enemy… I did not think that fighting without killing is so difficult. I made my decision after burning the cigarette that I smoked which I light up using the lighter that I got as a birthday gift from Kouki before.
“Ortho, I will take full responsibility. Drop a Tear Bomb in the left wing and center formation. We are not organize in defending anyway, we need to stop the advance of the enemy even if it means. .h.i.tting them together with our allies” (TN: Tear Gas Bomb)
“Roger…… We will fire the Tear Bomb after 30 seconds”
After cutting off communication with Ortho, I open the line this time to all my subordinates who are scattered all around the battlefield and shout into the microphone.
“All troops, lower the visor of your reinforced exoskeleton! Ortho is about to start bombing Tear Gas indiscriminately”
While listening to the reply of my men, I also lowered the visor of the exoskeleton and lay down on the ground in preparation for the landing of tear bombs. Looking into the sky, I saw Ortho circling around and set aim their main gun in this area. The next moment, Ortho’s main gun was wrapped in fire due to it shooting the bomb. The battlefield was covered in white smoke along with the explosive sound where the tear bomb has landed.
“Sorry to bother you while eating, I have confirmed the number of injured”
“Ou”
After receiving air support from Ortho with its Tear Bomb, both armies fall into disarray. We retreat with the Ursna forces and reorganize the troops. The Princ.i.p.al Army is surprised with power of the tear bomb and withdrew from the battlefield as well. This cause for an unspoken ceasefire between us until evening.
We use the ceasefire effectively by devoting ourselves in a.s.sessing the situation and looking into the injured, and it seems the checking has just ended. I look at the information displayed on the terminal which was handed out by Luis.
“More than half of Ursna people are unable to fight… at least no one died”
On the screen, more than 80,000 out of 150,000 Ursna Empire Troops were listed as people with serious injuries and if we include those with minor injuries, the number will exceed 100,000… It is not an exaggeration to say that the Ursna Troops is already annihilated. We are in a desperate situation, is there any way for their remaining troops and 500 soldiers from Noah to defeat the Princ.i.p.ality who are still reinforced with 200,000 soldiers.
“Is there any good news?”
I ask while returning the terminal to Luis, Luis answers while lighting a cigarette.
“Your son’s fleet bloodlessly occupied Asti in just 5 minutes, afterwards Miki-san’s troops broke through the line of Rinkudorubu Empire and are advancing”
So for this battle, Kouki and Miki are doing well despite being an amateur while the professionals are stuck… this is embarra.s.sing. I throw away the can of the cold beef stew that I finished eating and asked my subordinates who are also eating with tired faces.
“Sun is about to set. Is there anyone with good ideas? We need a plan for 40,000 soldiers to advance and defeat 200,000 enemies”
“We can just blow them off using a nuclear weapon. There is no treaty against nuclear weapon in this world. We can just ask Miki-san to blast them off. Problem Solved”
Everyone laughs at Jonathan’s joke. I also smiled and rephrase my question against the idiots.
“Alright, alright. I will rephrase my question. Anyone have a magical plan that will allow 40,000 soldiers to defeat 200,00 soldiers without anyone dying?”
When I correct my question, the men who were laughing suddenly fell quiet and only the sounds of chewing food is can be heard in the tent. This is bad… the disappearance of their smile is evidence that morale is considerably low.
This is similar to when we fought in Afghanistan in the past, small mistakes happened repeatedly and the troops fell to the edge of destruction. I was thinking for a good way to raise the morale when suddenly the entrance to the tent was opened and a group of beautiful women came in.
“Wa~i! We are from the Fairy Race, we are weak and cannot partic.i.p.ate in war but we can bring you warm food! Anyone want some soup?”
“Woooooooooo!!”
In that moment, the stupid fellows who were eating silently and saw the fairy race became energetic and ask for plates and cups in order to get warm food. I have forgotten how simple these guys are. They will be able to charge alone in enemy teams if they are cheered by beautiful women.
And here I am trying to seriously consider on how to raise their morale earlier. I was looking at the idiots while lighting a cigarette and caught sight on the head of Coat who was peeping from the entrance of the tent. He quickly looked inside and nods in satisfaction before leaving. I hurriedly go after him and ask.
“Coat, wait. Are you the one who called the fairies?”
“Yes, not only the Fairy Race but all the beautiful races from Ursna Army. I asked for each race to visit each tent. Since morale is low, they will be back to life with the beautiful neesans around them. By the way, her majesty Victoria said ‘No Touch’ so make sure to keep that promise”
After saying that, Coat walked away while saying “I will also check how the other tents are doing”. Originally, it is my role to take care of these things but I don’t know how to go about it when Claire is not around. If Kouki is here, he will be able to do better in this situation… No, if it’s Kouki, he wouldn’t have lost the battle in the first place.
I return to the tent while considering such things in my mind, the men who are now enthusiastic are exchanging ideas with each other.
“How about letting the Ursna Army attack the enemy main unit from the side while we are suppressing the front?”
“That’s impossible. They know that we are not ‘killing’ anyone and the Princ.i.p.ality will just crush us using human wave attack” (TN: The human wave attack, also known as the human sea attack is an offensive infantry tactic in which an attacker conducts an unprotected frontal a.s.sault with densely concentrated infantry formations against the enemy line, intended to overrun the defenders by engaging in melee combat.)
“If so, how about a night attack? Once the sun is down, our modern equipment will give us advantage. If we take out small number of enemy camps during that time, the battle will go into our favour”
Hmm… Night attack. If we attack the enemy at night while using night vision equipment then there is a chance in winning but our mobility is insufficient for that plan to work. If we use a suit, we will need to have the cooperation of Ursna Forces to balance our tactics against the noise. I pulled out my subordinate who proposed the night attack and took out from my breast pocket the Race Composition Table that I got from her majesty Victoria.
—- Inside Siren, Claire’s Point of View —-
After the battle, in Siren’s CIC which only had minimum level of light, only the observation personnel were in duty. I look at the clock attached on my wrist and saw that the time is 19 o’clock (7PM). The sun is setting, the northern army which I belong to and the Kingdom Rescue Army commanded by Miki-san already concluded their major battles.
Meanwhile, the Special Power Suit Brigade─ the unit that I originally belong to, are dispatched to Ursna Empire. They are still fighting the army of Princ.i.p.ality and they are in a tight spot.
“HQ, can you hear me? How is the battle situation of Ghost Unit?”
“Currently, battle is temporarily ceased. In the latest report that we received, the Ursna Troops are annihilated and the Ghost Unit is attempting to defeat the Princ.i.p.ality Army alone”
My heart tightened when I heard that information. Can members of the unit safely breakthrough the Princ.i.p.ality army? I wonder if information management and morale checks are properly done in the situation where neither I nor Elise is present.
While worrying about that, I was listening to the Ursna Front Soldiers who are reporting through the wireless communication. Now that I think about it, I haven’t heard any wireless communication from them for the past 2 hours.
Probably, they are resting or reorganizing the troops… I felt lonely that my fellow soldiers who always fought together with me are fighting in a faraway place. I am not complaining that I was a.s.signed to Siren but I hope they don’t mind me for letting out a lot of sighs.
“Kon!”
“Eh!?”
I look back in surprise when Kon-chan suddenly raised a voice from behind while I was sorting out the information sent by the Ursna Soldiers from HQ to my terminal. After I turned around, Kon-chan wrote letters on the communication card which is hanging in the neck.
“Are you worried about father?”
“Y-yeah, I can’t help but worry when they are fighting far away”
In response to my reply, Kon-chan shakes its cute tail while thinking for a while, and then writes letter again and shows it to me.
“I have an idea. There is a transportation device for me that mother made before, can you send me to Ursna battlefront using it?”
What in the world are you planning to do? Honestly thinking, even if Kon-chan goes there to the rescue, I do not think that there will be any change in the battlefield. However, somewhere in my heart have expectation on this child. Facing Kon-chan, I decided to use the transportation device dedicated for Kon using my authority.
“I gave order using my terminal to prepare the transportation device, will you help everyone in my unit?”
Kon-chan puffed its little chest and then holds a paper in its mouth while grabbing into me. The contents written on the paper is heart warming.
“Leave it to me! I will show master how amazing I am. Everyone is saying master is amazing but I am an amazing dragon as well!”
I gently stroked Kon-chan’s head who is so determined even though it had a small body. We began to walk toward the stern of Siren where the transportation device is being prepared.
“I think Oxygen is sufficiently applied, are you having any difficulty?”
“Kon!”
I put Kon-chan into the transportation device and let Kon wear a dedicated helmet on its head while checking if Kon can breathe properly. Looks like there is no particular problem based on Kon-chan’s reply while its tail swaying.
Even though it is called a transportation device, the mechanism of the device itself is not that much different from a cruise missile. The only difference is that, there is an area in the warhead where oxygen gas canisters are put in and for Kon-chan to stay in the center. The device was designed without the concept of landing. Once the device is around 100 meters above the target, the body will disa.s.semble and Kon-chan is released, dropping towards the ground without a parachute.
This design is adopted because Kon-chan demanded to extremely simplify the device and also Kon-chan said “I will be fine even if I fall into the ground, though it will hurt a bit if it is above 1,000 meters”.
“Kon-chan, will you hand this to the captain for me? It is an organization chart of the troops, I thought he might find it useful”
“Kon, Kon”
I stroke Kon-chan who carefully hug the paper that I’ve given on its chest. I then close the lid and fix the bolt. I move to the launching device located short distance away from it. A countdown is started so that Kon, who is inside the device listening through an earpiece, can expect the shock of launch.
“5 seconds before launch, 4, 3, 2, 1, launch!”
Human beings will not be able to tolerate the speed of the Transportation Device which accelerated to mach 12 in just a matter of seconds. The device which flew to the other side of the horizon quickly disappear from my sight. After confirming that the transportation device is flying smoothly at the terminal on my hand, I send a message to captain who is fighting at Ursna Frontline.
“Captain, can you hear me? This is Claire. Kon-chan is heading there as reinforcement, also Kon-chan is holding a unit organization chart of our troops, please make good use of it”
After sending my message to the captain, I wish on the “3 moons” floating in the night sky for the cute little dragon who rides a missile to save my troop companions──
—- Arakawa Shuichi Point of View —-
“Thee want me to lend troops from Ant and Arachne race?”
“Yes, the cooperation of the two races is indispensable to make the night attack strategy successful”
After we work on the details of the night attack strategy, I had come to Ursna Army’s HQ Tent where her majesty Victoria is staying to request their cooperation. I was amazed when a centaur soldier who is in charge of guarding the tent was surprised on my sudden visit but was quick enough to allow me to go inside the tent so that we can do the strategy meeting without wasting any time.
“I doth naught mind but what is their role? Noah troops art far better, be it in equipment or strength”
“No, they have special skills that we do not have. We would like for the ant race to carry us on their back and bring us to the enemy camp. Is there anyone among the Ant Race that had powerful bite and thick armor on its body?”
“Art thee pertaining to Fire Death Ants? t.i.thther art only few of them on this battlefield”
So there really is one… The Fire Death Ant is most probably a race similar to ‘Dinoponera’ on Earth which Kouki taught me. It has powerful bite that can make a man pa.s.s out in pain. I believe that the strength of an enlarge version of this ant is comparable to tanks.
“Then there is the Arachne Race, is there anyone among them who can produce tough threads? I would like to ask them to neutralize the enemies by getting them tangled with their threads. I think their body should be yellow with pattern of black spots…”
“In yond case, art thee talking about Queen Arachnes. Thither art only two on the field, would they suffice??”
“No problem”
Yosh! It seems that there are also ‘Joro Spider’ in their race. On Earth, it is a species that prey on birds by making big nests with its web. I told her majesty Victoria that we will have a strategy briefing in two hours and ask to gather the ant and arachne race at Noah’s Camp and left the HQ Tent of the Ursna Army. (TN: It was originally ‘大女郎蜘蛛’, which when translated means ‘Big Lady Spider’. There is no such thing as Big Lady Spider so I search google using the raw and what I came across is Nephilia Clavata, which is also known as Joro Spider)
While I was operating my terminal to gather my subordinates and explain the details of the strategy, a communication came in from Claire.
“Captain, can you hear me? This is Claire. Kon-chan is heading there as reinforcement, also Kon-chan is holding a unit organization chart of our troops, please make good use of it”
Wait, what did Claire say just now? Why is Kon coming!
“Claire, how is Kon going to come here? I know that Kon is clever but Kon can only use magic to turn stone into metal, there is nothing for Kon to do here”
“Kon-chan had an idea so I put the dragon into a transportation device missile here in Siren and launch it to your location. Besides, Kon-chan is Kouki’s pet. I’m pretty sure there is something than Kon-chan can do”
Muu… If you say it that way, there is nothing I can retort about it. Since Kouki raised Kon carefully, there may be some kind of special skills that it have besides from refining metals. At present situation, I will welcome anyone with open hands because we do not have enough man power but it still kinds of affect my pride as a professional if our small dragon is worried about me.
“A missile will arrive in there in a few minutes. Kon-chan will directly descend from the sky to the ground, so please recover him”
“Understood”
I confirmed the arrival point of the missile sent by Claire to my terminal and leave the soldiers of the imperial army for a while. I bring with me the recently unseen Stupid A and Stupid B, and head towards the point where Kon will arrive.
While waiting at the arrival point, I saw a fire ball flying from the west to this direction. There is no doubt that it is the missile that Kon is riding. I used the night vision goggles and look at the sky, the missile broke apart above me and Kon jump from inside it.
“Alright… alright, maybe a little bit further?”
I was muttering on myself as I was trying to recover Kon the same way as catching a fly ball in baseball. Looking through my night vision goggles, Kon seems to confirmed my appearance and is skillfully gliding towards me using the small wings on its back. Kon make itself round as it land on my arms. After looking around, Kon face me.
“Kon!”
It’s like Kon is saying “Long time no see!”, I cannot help but smile. After handling a paper which I think Kon write in the missile for me, Kon jumped into the ground and look at the sky. I read the content of the paper while having a doubtful question on what Kon is doing.
“I came to help you. I have an idea, so can you please leave it to me? Also, at the back of this paper is the Unit Organization Chart that Claire-san made”
Kon has an idea huh. Ma~a, I guess even if Kon do something, the situation will not become worse than it is now. Deciding about that, I told Kon “I leave it to you” and Kon’s tail shook as a reply while still looking at the sky.
While sitting and looking at the Organization Chart that Claire made, Kon suddenly raised a loud roar towards the sky.
“Gurraaa~aaa~aaaa!!!”
I was surprised on the loud sound and when I look at the direction, Kon is pleasantly shaking its tail while walking towards me. Kon shows a card from its neck upon reaching me.
“Please pick me up”
As written in the card, I pick up Kon who is still looking at the northern sky and not moving. I also look in the sky but there is only stars blinking in there. There is nothing. We wait for 1 minute, there is no changes in the sky. We wait for 5 minutes more… still nothing. I tried to talk to Kon who I am holding in my arms after 10 minutes but the words did not get out because the sky suddenly changed. Something similar to ‘magic circle’ used by the people of Ursna appeared in the northern sky.
“Captain… What is that?”
Stupid A asked me a question but even if you ask me that question, how should I know! Kon who is in my arms is shaking its tail violently as if feeling pleasant on what is happening. What in the world is going on? While thinking about such things, more magic circles appears in the sky, rapidly increasing in number that filled the northern sky.
“Dragon? Captain, a dragon appeared from the magic circle. Is this for real? Are dragons going to come out from all of that?”
Idiot B is shouting, but… is that what will really happen? The number of magic circles in my field of vision has exceeded several hundreds. Among them, a black dragon that appeared from the largest magic circle flew slowly into our location and landed in front of us. The black dragon lowers its head to the ground, as if showing a posture of obedience, and spoke to Kon who I am holding in my arms.
“It’s an honor to meet you. In response to Ancient Dragon-sama’s call, the Dragon Race has journeyed to this location”
“Kon! Kon Konkon, Kon?”
“Ha! I am unworthy of such words. As you wish, then we will lend our strength to the people of the alliance”
The Black Dragon who was talking to Kon raised its head and spoke to me while looking straight at me this time.
“Human, as per Kon-sama wish, the Dragon Race will help you. What would you like us to do?”
While the Dragon in front of me is talking to me, countless other dragons from the sky is landing one by one near us. I cannot keep up with the abnormal development. A paper with new words written on it was shown by Kon using its tail.
“Sa~ it’s time to fight back!”
I came back to my senses when I saw the paper. I pat Kon who is gradually starting to resemble Kouki on doing things. I informed my subordinates on my radio that we will about to start the night attack operation.
—- A soldier of Princ.i.p.ality of Ragire’s Point of View —-
I was eating when I suddenly notice a commotion outside the tent, I asked what happened to an archer who was also running nearby.
“Oi~ what’s wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?”
“Baka! You, did you not see the sky in the north? A large army of dragons appeared” (TN: Baka means Idiot/Fool/Stupid)
Did you say dragon? Those lizards live in places with strong magical concentration like the north continent. There is no reason for them to visit this place, they probably mistook flying wyvern as true dragons.
I snickered at the ignorant archer and decided to return back to the tent for me to eat the rest of my dinner when suddenly a ‘Dragon’ descended from the sky.
“Guu~ruu-ruu”
The Dragon in front of me threateningly growled while looking at me and striking the ground with its tail. The ground deforms with each strike and a strike hit an unworn armor nearby, destroying it and with some of the parts rolling over to my feet.
“Uwaaaaaaa”
I will be killed! Feeling that my life is in danger, I run in full power towards the direction where there should be knights erecting a tent. It’s alright… The Heavy Knights led by Irudo-shogun would easily eliminate such dragon. I run desperately while also leaping over the fence of the Heavy Knight’s Camp but I further feel ‘despair’ when I see the knights already defeated and lying at the middle of the camp.
“Kisama, are you here to challenge me? It is so bothersome keeping myself from not killing any of you”
“No way… Why is Marvelous in here?”
There is only one Black Dragon in this world. The ‘Dark Ruler Marvelous’ who reign over all dragons and cla.s.sified as a SSS-Cla.s.s Dragon. The dragon, which even heroes are unable to defeat, is standing right in front of me─ I stand frozen and wet my pants in fear, when a white dragon landed next to him.
“Anata, I am done suppressing the humans over there. Kon-sama praised me and said ‘Good Job’. By the way, who is this dirty human?” (TN: ‘Anata’ literally means ‘you’ however it is mostly used by wives to call their husband. There are few people however that uses ‘Anata’ as ‘you’ in their sentence but they are most of the time received as rude remarks or only used if they are talking to someone who they are really close)
“I don’t know, I thought he was a brave man trying to challenge me but he just started leaking after I glared at him. The knights fallen over there are much more challenging than this one”
The White Dragon who called Marvelous as anata is without a doubt, his partner, the ‘White Queen Ririn’. A SS-Cla.s.s Dragon, with records in history where a country was completely destroy because they angered her.
We are done for… The Princ.i.p.ality will perish, there is no way to survive when fighting against such monsters. I was prepared to die while feeling the overwhelming difference in our power when Marvelous look at me as if looking at a garbage and spoke.
“Human, I will spare you so go back to your country and report what happened here. Tell them, ‘The Dragon Race will support the Alliance’. Quick! I will eat you if you are slow”
“Hii~ii!?”
I began running like crazy when hurried by Marvelous, I help an archer nearby who is also leaking the same way as I. Together, we ride a horse in top speed and aim for the fortress in the front line where the Defense Corps are stationed.
Midnight, the leaders of Rinkudorubu Empire and Princ.i.p.ality of Ragire felt despair after listening to the report of their ‘Defeated Soldiers’. Especially the report that they heard from two Ragire Soldiers, it cause great confusion.
The next morning, the information about the Dragon Race who officially announced their hostility towards the Union, including the rumors about the ‘Dark Ruler Marvelous’ and ‘White Queen Ririn’ spread like wild fire from castle soldiers to its citizens. The two country were driven to a situation where they could not ignore their citizens calling for ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the two country of Capus Kingdom and Rikuru Nation who are still into war are planning on how to defeat the Alliance─
Author Notes:
This time is the story of Ursna Battle Front. The Dragon Race answers the call of Kon!
Deruta-sama taught me about the magnificence of ”Dinoponera” and “Joro Spider”, these insects are surprisingly amazing life forms.