Emperor of Steel

Chapter 122: The Battle of Torlot Fortress 3

The south side of Torlot Fortress.

A group of people appeared far from the Fortress.

They were being led by Anna and Hobart as stealthily as possible away from the Torlot Fortress.

“Halt!”

When the command fell from Hobart, all the soldiers stopped.

While the soldiers were resting, Hobart approached Anna.

Before they departed from Torlot Fortress, they were given an operational order from Luke.

And it stated that they had to go to their current location.

“What is written there? Is it for us to go to the Northern Command office and ask for help?”

“There is no way such obvious information would be written here.”

Anna responded with a pained look. It wasn’t because she was pissed at Hobart, but it was the Command office that she didn’t like.

After the war had started, the message had been sent over to the Command office through magic several times.

Each time, the command office only sent them disappointing responses like: ‘We can’t send you any more troops because we don’t want the Volga to increase any more assault.’

The knights and soldiers of the Fortress knew that the North Command office had left them for themselves.

However, they didn’t think that it was to an extent where they wouldn’t even be supported when faced with battle.

‘The commander was angry at this as well. So, there is no way that it is a simple request for troops.’

And Anna’s expectations were on point.

Anna and Hobert were surprised when they saw what was written in the order letter.

“Can we really disturb the flow of the enemy in this way?” Asked Hobart

“Well, it sure is something we have to try,” responded Anna.

The two of them decided to carry out the operation Luke had given them and ordered the soldiers. The soldiers listened to the instructions and began to move quickly.

“Move right away and collect the branches.!”

“Now, hurry up! We need to finish this before sunset!”

While a group of soldiers cut and collected branches, the other bunch of them tied them together and made them into brooms.

Dozens of brooms that had been made were hung on the saddle of a horse, and some soldiers began to run up and down the path with horses that had the brooms attached.

Srrrr!

As dozens of horses ran diligently on the past, bluish dust rose.

The dust began to grow thicker and scattered high in the sky with the adding of horses.

Tyron was looking over at the Torlot Fortress from the camp, which was on the other side of the river. He was looking at the fierce battle that was happening under the bloody sunset.

The officers who were behind him asked,

“Commander, the enemy defense is still strong and stubborn.”

“What about changing operation…?”

They had been attacking alternately, one after the other, but the Imperial forces in the Fortress were so strong that they were able to resist the force and the damage given by the Volga republic.

Of course, their morale was falling, and their will to fight was dropping too.

Even if they won, they would win with a fair amount of ill-feeling.

However, Tyron’s thoughts were different from those of his staff.

“Let the attacks continue.”

“Sire!”

“The flame burns brightest before it dies. If we keep going from this point, the enemies will not be able to stand anymore.”

After hearing those words, the staff had nothing to say.

It was because of the status and the knowledge of the person who was speaking. The man who had led the revolution of the Volga to a Republican when everyone else thought it was impossible.

“Sir, this is important!”

A knight had rushed in to report.

“A large army is coming in from the south of the fortress.”

“What? Is that true?”

At the question from Tyron, the knight nodded and said,

“I saw a lot of dust on the highway. There must be a whole bunch of Imperial army coming for their aide.”

“Hmm…”

At the end of the words from the knight, the staff began to think again.

If the knight’s words were true, they had to reconsider their order to attack continuously.

If they were going to be attacked from inside the fort and from the outside forces, there were chances for them to be defeated by the imperial army.

‘But, is this is a deception by the enemy?’

Tyron suddenly felt something.

He wanted to send in scouts and check. However, he couldn’t just waste time.

‘If we encounter the enemy while we’re unable to reorganize our battle line, it is like getting stabbed.’

The confusion and doubt would only get bigger as night time approached.

The Republic army would probably get greater damage if it turned out to be true.

For most the troops were the directional troops of the territory with the exception of the 10,000 central forces who were currently targeting the Fortress.

The directional troops were created after the Republican revolution.

After the revolution, the Volga Republican government agreed to preserve the wealth, status and honor of the local lords, and for that, they took in the knights and soldiers into the state for being minimum bodyguards.

The elite knights were included in the Central Army, and the remaining troops belonged to the directional troops.

The directional troops were mainly responsible for the local security and defense from monsters. Unlike the central army, they didn’t have excellent force or power.

Right now, the number of troops was dominating, but if the Central army had collapsed, then it would get troublesome for the Volga.

‘It is a pity that we can’t do the final blow just yet, but… even then it is always better to retreat than suffer.’

After judging the situation, Tyron ordered to retreat.

“Stop the attack. Ask the troops to come back. We will rearrange the line of battle at the river.”

“Understood, sir!”

When the commander gave appropriate orders, the officers sighed out of relief.

But if they knew that what was happening on the highway was a deception from Luke. They would have all hit the ground out of disappointment.

“The enemy is retreating!”

“Phew, we barely managed!”

The imperial soldiers of the Fortress, who had endured the onslaught of the Republic’s army, sighed out of relief when they saw the enemies retreating.

But Luke wasn’t sharing that relief.

He pulled out a separate bunch of people and tried a strategy at the right time.

“It was fortunate that they got deceived.”

Philip opened the hatch of the Gigant and heard what Luke said.

He knew of the deception that Luke was planning to use.

“However, it is just a matter of time before the enemy notices. How would they respond?” Asked Philip.

“We need to do a lot of thinking. But first, let’s drink a little and enjoy.”

“Sorry?”

Philip doubted what he had heard, but Luke was serious.

“Tell the soldiers to rush to the Fortress right away. Then take out all the food from the Fortress storehouse and prepare a feast.”

“… Like the last supper?”

Philip’s expression went dark.

He remembered a story he heard when he was taking the military classes in the Royal Military Academy.

When there was no way out of a defense, the Lord would spend some time at the manor, feed the soldiers, talk with his family, and fight the final battle which would result in his fierce death.

“The last supper? Don’t make me laugh. Do you really think I’m that pessimistic?”

“You aren’t?”

“Of course not. I have a lot of things I want to do. Do you really think that I want to die in this hole, this Fortress?”

After saying that, Luke went down the defense wall.

Philip, who was feeling down, smiled.

‘Yeah, my Lord isn’t the kind to be upset or frustrated with this.’

His Lord was young, yet he was a brilliant young man.

Others would normally try to find a way to break away from such a crisis, but his Lord was someone who would take that opportunity and grow bigger.

It was the same as the time when he was in debt with Alon and the battle with Count Monarch.

Rather than running the estates, he grew the estates dramatically, and Luke’s skills grew stronger and stronger.

‘Yeah, I trust him. I need to believe him since I don’t know what to do. Didn’t I already decided to follow him till my death?’

Moreover, it couldn’t be told to anyone, but his Lord was learning dark magic that belonged to Saymon.

He might not use it, but something told Philip that Luke might come up with something that no average person could think of.