The Duke's Eldest Son Escaped to the Military

The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (109)

Translator: ChubbyCheeks

37 Lion Castle’s Temporary Commander! (2)

All the troops stationed in the Lion Castle Fortress were extremely busy. 

The supplies from the Northeastern Army arrived one by one via drakes and airships. While the Northern Army and the Leonhardt Family also brought in additional munitions in their own way. 

They immediately installed the munitions all over the Lion Castle Fortress and trained the soldiers to use them while training them to target the monsters’ weaknesses too. With the situation that they were in, the soldiers had no choice but to accumulate fatigue. Even if they had deployed the knights to help reduce their fatigue from both the training and fighting against monsters, it was still difficult to overcome this harrowing fatigue.

“Hoo…”

Iron sighed as he stared out of the window from the commander’s office. 

We have avoided the worst.

The worst situation that Iron had envisioned was the arrival of the large-scale monster attack while they were unprepared. Thankfully, the worst did not happen. 

With their situation like this, some were probably hoping that the monsters would not come anymore. However, as the commander, he knew that this was a futile hope. It was complete and utter nonsense.

Iron was able to directly receive real time information through the communication portals installed inside the Lion Castle Fortress after taking over the commander’s post. And the information that he received and was still receiving was telling him that their current situation was not that optimistic.

He was receiving the fastest communication from the Northeastern Army guarding the Northern Forest’s east side, the Northern Army stationed at the center of the forest as well as Leonhardt’s main force and the coalition of the Northern noble families blocking the west of the forest. From the information that they had sent, he could infer that the frontline would be pierced soon and a large monster corps would arrive in this place.

He was told that the main force were also having a hard time blocking the dark elves and their puppets from the frontlines so they had no choice but to intentionally let some of the monsters go for them to focus on the more dangerous enemies. Because of that, another front was created which was centered around Northern Command and some fortresses. Unfortunately, the Lion Castle Fortress was at the forefront of this second front.

And at a time when the entire North was in desperate need for support troops, it was difficult for them to send many troops out. And since the frontline was already clamoring for support troops, it was nigh impossible for the second front to request for more troops on their side. 

“Facing the monster corps with just these troops…” 

They estimated that there would be around 7,000 monsters in the monster corps that would arrive here. The frontline said that they adjusted the numbers and only sent down 5,000 but Iron did not believe it. At the very least, 7,000 was a sound estimate so he hoped and prayed that they would only be at that number.

‘Please let their numbers only be at that when they come.’

A few more days passed in that stifling anxiety. 

“The number of monsters attacking the northern gate has increased recently. What about the other places?”

“The same goes for the other places. It’s almost double the usual numbers.”

The regiment commander of the Northern Army sighed as he answered Iron’s question. When Iron looked sideways, he saw Silverstein, the deputy commander of the Silver Lions, looking stiff. It seemed that it was true.

Monsters have recently increased. It seemed like the situation that he was so worried about was just right around the corner.

“There has been no word from the frontline that they had intentionally let them go.”

Iron’s tone turned somber after hearing the words of one of Leonhardt’s executives.

“That’s even worse. The fact that so many monsters have been coming here despite them not intentionally letting them go means… that there have been a lot of breaches in the front.”

“That’s right. Perhaps… we can assume that the frontlines have faced their limits now. Maybe the monster corps will arrive here by tomorrow.”

The Northern Army’s regiment commander also answered solemnly. 

“If that’s the case, how many monsters are we expecting? Lieutenant Colonel Iron?”

Iron pondered for a while at Silverstein’s question before speaking heavily. 

“7,000. That’s the minimum amount. Perhaps they would even reach the 10,000 mark.” 

“You’re saying that they would reach that number? Even if the frontline is in an urgent situation, that scale is… are you certain?” 

Iron nodded at the shocked Silverstein. Even the Northern Army’s regiment commander nodded his head in agreement. 

The troops in the frontline did not have enough time to pay attention to the monsters. Therefore, the monsters would be sent as far back as possible. Even if they limited the amount that they let go, the long length of the frontline meant that there would be hundreds once they gathered. But, if they intentionally let them slip, then the size would inevitably reach the thousands. From what they have gathered, the frontlines were roughly sending them here since their situation was urgent so they were bound to increase drastically once they had gathered together. 

Iron had seen a lot of these cases in his previous life. And the regiment commander from the Northern Army was a veteran so he was knowledgeable on this matter too. Although he couldn’t go beyond the wall that blocked his swordsmanship, Iron could see that he had a lot of experience in the battlefield, just like himself. 

“I can’t believe Regiment Commander Zukov also thinks the same way…”

Silverstein’s expression hardened when he was made aware that the situation was far more serious than what he initially thought. 

Right now, all he could do was desperately pray that they would arrive a few days later.

They had no other choice but to desperately hope and pray. However, their hopes were immediately shattered at midnight of the very same day.

―Awoooooo!

The wolf’s howl rang loudly in the silence of the night. However, the wolf’s howl was not just a simple howl. It contained mana which led to the sharp decline in the soldiers’ morale. Some of the weak soldiers even sweated right on the spot. 

“Dire wolf.”

The sound of horn and the military’s alarm began to ring together from the ramparts as Iron mumbled those words to himself.

Vwooooooong―

When Leonhardt, a family that valued tradition, blew their horn together with the military’s alarm, all the troops in the Lion Castle Fortress assembled by the walls. At the same time, a magic flare flew up in the sky.

“Heok! Th… That!”

With the firing of the magic flare, the troops were able to see the number of monsters that were coming their way. There were countless dire wolves dashing straight towards the walls while a gigantic figure could be seen from afar that shook the ground with its every step. 

“The monster corps vanguards…” 

Iron’s expression hardened as he stared at the dire wolves. He realized that this wasn’t just a monster corps that had gathered from one place to another accidentally. This was a well-organized monster corps. Something that he had experienced several times in his past life. 

That was what they were facing right now.

“Leave only the minimum number of troops in the southern gate. Do the same for the eastern and western gates and tell them to gather at the northern gate!” 

“ Yes!” 

“Understood!” 

“…I will.” 

The commanders guarding each gate answered Iron’s orders with their heads down. 

Silver Lions’ Silverstein was the commander in charge of the southern gate. 

Zukov, the Northern Army’s regiment commander, was the commander in charge of the western gate. 

And Kaiden was serving as the temporary regiment commander of the allied forces of the Northern territory and was in charge of the eastern gate. 

All of them immediately went to the places where their troops were. While they were moving their troops, Iron moved to the northern gate. 

There were so many dire wolves that the swarm looked black under the glare of the magic flare.

“There must be more than 1,000 dire wolves.”

Iron immediately gave his order when he saw their enemies flocking towards the northern gate. They looked like they were here to target only a single place in this fortress. 

“Artillery, ready!” 

The guns and cannons installed at the walls moved and aimed, all ready  to fire at Iron’s command. 

“Fire!” 

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The leading dire wolves fell down one by one at the loud explosion coming from the mana cannons.

However, despite a huge number of them falling down from the first volley, the number of dire wolves that rushed towards the walls still remained in the hundreds. What was worse was the fact that they were quick on their feet which allowed them to avoid the volleys of cannons sent their way. Thankfully, the modern firearms that were recently developed were specialized for long distance so they could still shave away at their numbers despite the distance.

Clang, clang, clang!

The leading dire wolves received injuries or were killed as the magic cannons and bombs flew out. No matter how thick the dire wolves’ skin were, they had no choice but to die if they got hit continuously. They inevitably received grave injuries after being hit by the magic cannon balls and bombs that rained down from the walls and the skies.

At the very least, the volleys of cannonballs and bombs would be able to halve their numbers by the time they reached the walls. In addition, the bombs and magic circles that were pre-installed would be able to decrease their numbers even more. And even if they did not die, they would still be hit and injured. Even the contaminated monsters were not spared thanks to the purification magic installed earlier too.

Thankfully, there weren’t any aerial monsters present so their two airships could hover and fly all over the Lion Castle Fortress. They did not need to worry about their supplies since their supply line, the airships, were secured with the absence of such monsters. In this battle, the most important thing was to ensure that their supplies of munitions and modern weapons were secured. This meant that they could dominate the air and indiscriminately use their artillery against the monsters.

It’s not that different here either.

Just like how America had taken control of the skies during the modern times and showed their overwhelming power, they could also dominate the skies and imitate their might even if it was just temporary. After all, the monsters wouldn’t be able to endure the merciless bombings that would rain down on them.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

Numerous bombs poured down from the airships.

As soon as the bombs fell on the ground, the dire wolves approaching the walls began to die from the loud and strong explosions. If it was a monster that was far larger than the dire wolves then this wouldn’t be possible at all. The waves of dire wolves that rushed towards the Lion Castle Fortress were swept away by the bombs.

When the soldiers saw this scene, their eyes widened in surprise and they began to cheer loudly. 

“Waaaaaaaah!” 

They screamed happily as if the war was already over. The soldiers couldn’t help but cheer at the sight of the dire wolves being swept away by the bombs while they stood on the ramparts free of any injuries. 

Iron’s expression did not ease at all despite the soldier’s cheers. In fact, his expression even turned more solemn.

Even if the dire wolves were swept away, they were just the vanguards. 

“Hoo… Is the real thing coming now?” 

The ground shook strongly as the sound of horns coming from afar began to ring once again. It was a sound that was different from Leonhardt’s horn. However, the sound that came from these horns made the injured dire wolves turn more ferocious.

There were even strange monster howls resonating loudly from afar. The sound was like a song, a monster’s song to be exact, with a strange and unique pitch. It was a song that decreased the human’s morale while making the monsters turn more ferocious. 

Iron was well aware of the identity of this song.

“Shaman’s song.” 

The orc shaman’s song. It was a song that had the power to gather and rally the monsters together while amplifying their power at the same time. 

This song alone made it difficult for the humans to deal with them, but there were still many other reasons why the monster corps had been dubbed as the worst in his previous life. 

Troll sorcerer’s blood strengthening sorcery.

Goblin sorcerer’s black magic. 

And the ogre lord’s battlecry that they had heard earlier.

The sorcery of the different monsters as well as the buffs from the lords overlapped and made the monsters stronger. This was on top of them being strengthened by the contaminated mana that corroded their body. 

So, what would happen if the contaminated mana’s strengthening and these buffs were both given to the monsters?

The worst will come.

“Dire wolves’ howling, orc shaman’s song, troll’s sorcery, and goblin’s sorcery? There’s also the ogre’s battlecry. So, there’s at least five races present here.”

For a monster corps at the scale of 7,000 monsters, there would usually be around two or three races gathered together. But having more than five races would mean that the scale would probably be at around 10,000. 

Since he had experienced them countless times in his previous life, he could easily estimate the size of the monster corps even with his eyes closed. And based on those experiences, he could easily assume that there would at least be 10,000 monsters this time around. 

The worst scenario that he had thought of was unfolding right in front of him. 

Thud! Thud! Thud! 

A huge number of monsters.

Silence fell over the cheering soldiers when they realized that they couldn’t grasp the number of the monsters flocking to the walls. 

Iron remained cool-headed and calm as he stared at the situation from inside the Lion Castle Fortress. 

“Hoo… Is the war just beginning?”

Iron mumbled to himself as he stared at the shadows of the monster corps revealed from the magic flare in the sky. He stared at the 10,000-strong monster corps advancing forward the Lion Castle Fortress and raised his sword.

“Artillery, ready!”

***

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