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🕑 Added 2025-08-10 00:05:43 +0000 UTCEP.32 The Blood-Soaked Battle of Streve Fortress (3)
A month had passed since the assault on Streve Fortress began. Crown Prince Prinz was deep in worry.
After the defeat on the second day, he acknowledged that a full-scale siege would not work. He tried deploying the knight order, catapults, and even tunnels, but the solid walls of Streve would not yield easily.
The knights charged ahead of the light infantry to deflect arrows as they climbed, but they couldn’t withstand the boulders hurled down and fell to their deaths, resulting only in the loss of precious knights and failure.
Next, they used catapults to hurl massive boulders and managed to destroy the arrow towers that had slaughtered so many imperial troops, but since it was hard to keep up a steady supply of large stones, the catapults were repurposed to fire large amounts of gravel to support the archers.
For the past month, Prinz invested heavily in the last resort: tunneling. Three days ago, they finally thought they had dug a tunnel to a corner of the fortress wall and launched a surprise attack at night, but it ended in failure.
Count Redelmo, having sensed the vibrations in a cup of water, realized the imperial army was tunneling. He deliberately let the tunnel break through, then, as soon as the hole opened, had his waiting troops ambush the emerging imperials and set fires inside the tunnel, suffocating all the soldiers within and sealing it off completely.
To make matters worse, just yesterday the 11th Corps was annihilated, and reports came in that 6,000 enemy cavalry were merging with local lords’ armies and marching to relieve Streve.
In this dire situation, the corps commanders and staff racked their brains, but no solution emerged. In the end, Prinz spoke of retreat.
“Sigh~ There’s nothing we can do. At this point, we must admit the expedition has failed and retreat…”
“That can’t happen, brother!!”
“Yuno? How did you get here in a single day? I thought it would take at least two. Did you come alone?”
Prinz had immediately approved Yuno’s request to join after receiving word yesterday. Even Prinz himself thought that, now that the enemy was sending real reinforcements, it would be best to combine their forces.
“Half the 10th Corps has already joined at Streve, and the other half is gathering the 11th Corps survivors and will arrive tomorrow. Not knowing when the enemy might strike, we marched through the night to get here as quickly as possible.”
“Good decision. But you say we shouldn’t retreat? We’ve tried everything over the past month, but couldn’t get over those high walls. Even tunneling and blocking the water didn’t work.”
“Please give my 10th Corps a chance. Unlike the 1st Corps, which is exhausted from a month of siege, my 10th Corps is still fresh, having seen little combat. Once the survivors arrive tomorrow, let me take the lead the day after.”
“Do you have some special tactic? That fortress won’t fall just by charging blindly.”
“The defenders must be as exhausted as the 1st Corps. If my fresh corps attacks, it might introduce a new variable.”
Prinz thought over Yuno’s proposal for a long time. Eventually, he leaned toward supporting Yuno. Yuno’s reasoning made sense, and as vice-commander of the expedition and a corps commander, he had the right to act independently. Prinz decided another attempt wouldn’t hurt.
“Alright! You can use all the siege equipment we’ve been using. The engineers from the 5th Corps will support you.”
With his brother’s permission, Yuno confidently gave orders for his soldiers to learn how to operate the siege engines, and personally learned from the other corps commanders how the previous battles had unfolded.
The next day, when the 11th Corps survivors arrived, Prinz and Yuno rushed out to greet them.
The group of about 3,000 survivors was mostly Windrage troops, led by Windrage family knights. Prinz singled out one knight and questioned him.
“What happened? How far did the enemy cavalry advance?”
“I’m sorry. We fought hard against the enemy cavalry, but couldn’t stop a group of knights who broke through our flank. After defeating us, the enemy occupied the area and is now gathering their forces.”
“And the 11th Corps commander?”
“Lord Kent fled as soon as the enemy cavalry neared headquarters, and the other officers began to run as well. The army collapsed, and we tried to regroup around the Windrage troops, but couldn’t stop the rout. We believe Lord Kent has returned to the empire.”
“Tsk… Fleeing instead of dying in battle! How can commanders abandon their men and run? Once he returns to the empire, I’ll have them all arrested and executed on the spot!”
Prinz’s anger made Yuno give a bitter smile. He regretted ignoring his grandfather’s advice and appointing Kent as 11th Corps commander, and realized his uncle was unlikely to escape execution. The Duke of Windrage would be furious, and by imperial law, any commander who fled in the face of the enemy was to be executed, no matter their rank.
“Sigh… For now, recover your strength. The honor of the defeated Windrage troops must be restored in victory. Rest for a day, and at noon tomorrow, we’ll begin the assault on Streve. Please join us.”
“Yes! As you command, Your Highness!”
Yuno consolidated his 10th Corps with the 11th Corps survivors to prepare for the next day’s assault.
Fortunately, the Windrage troops, trained under the duke’s strict discipline, integrated smoothly into the 10th Corps. The now 12,000-strong 2nd Army checked their weapons and armor and steeled themselves for the coming siege.
The next day at noon, as Yuno assembled the corps and prepared to give orders, Prinz approached.
“Yuno, Teseito reinforcements are approaching Streve. They’re expected to arrive in three days. If we don’t take Streve today, I’ll order a full retreat.”
“Yes, brother. Before sunset today, I’ll plant the imperial flag atop Streve.”
“Haha, I like your confidence! A commander must never shrink back. Maybe I failed to take Streve because I lacked your confidence.”
Prinz patted Yuno’s shoulder and returned to headquarters.
Yuno then stood at the very front of the 10th Corps and shouted to his soldiers.
“Men! Our 2nd Expeditionary Army is in unprecedented danger! Teseito reinforcements are coming from the west, and the cavalry that destroyed the 11th Corps is closing in from the south!”
Seeing the soldiers swallow nervously, Yuno continued.
“But don’t be afraid! All our problems will be solved if we take Streve Fortress. Isn’t that a simple solution?”
“Yes! That’s right!!”
“You all ate a hearty lunch, right? After a hard fight with your corps commander this afternoon, we’ll eat dinner inside Streve! I’ll prepare a delicious feast, so if you want that special meal, make sure you survive!!”
“Yes!! Understood!!”
“Move out!! Let’s go!!”
Bwooooooo
With the blast of the war horn, the 10th Corps began its assault, Yuno at the forefront.
A veteran beside Yuno asked,
“Sir… Are you coming with us? Shouldn’t you be commanding from the rear?”
“Hm? What’s the point of being a master if I don’t use that strength? Someone else will handle command don’t worry.”
When the veteran looked back, he saw a soldier wearing a centurion’s insignia standing at the command post where the corps commander should have been.
‘Damn… What kind of corps is led by a mere centurion? Has the corps commander lost his mind?’
The centurion at the command post was thinking the same thing.
‘That crazy prince… Why is he making a country bumpkin like me command the corps? I should’ve just said I didn’t know when he asked… I shouldn’t have submitted that proposal… What glory did I think I’d get from this… ugh…’
The centurion, named Erich Meyer, was from a small barony at the foot of the Monster Mountains and had been a village guard who sometimes hunted monsters.
With limited manpower, he’d studied military manuals to devise efficient monster-hunting tactics and had risen to captain of the guard. When his baron moved to the capital, he was asked to lead the baron’s private soldiers, and, eager for new experiences, he accepted. The ambitious baron sent his troops to the expedition, and so Meyer found himself in the Teseito campaign.
‘Oh, my fate… I just wanted to save money in the capital and return to my hometown to live peacefully… How did I end up here, acting corps commander? Damn Third Prince…!!!’
But contrary to his worries, Meyer’s command was quite skillful.
“Windrage troops haven’t fully recovered, so take the left wall and just keep the defenders occupied. Don’t let them shift forces to the main attack on the right!”
“Hm… Can 3,000 survivors manage that?”
“Eight out of ten knights are still fit, so they can handle it. When I give the signal, switch to a full assault with ladders.”
“The main assault is on the right wall. At the gate, the 5th Corps engineers and the 103rd Heavy Infantry will advance the battering ram slowly.”
At first, the staff had strongly opposed Yuno’s idea of making a mere centurion acting corps commander, but seeing Meyer’s command, they quietly relayed his orders to the units.
While Meyer deployed the troops, Yuno stood at the very front of the main assault on the right wall, advancing the siege tower with the heavy infantry, blocking the rain of arrows with their shields.
“Hm… unless we do something about those archers…”
Yuno occasionally unleashed his aura, killing quite a few archers, but the arrow rain continued unabated. He would have liked to sweep the wall with aura blasts, but that would quickly exhaust him, so he couldn’t.
No matter how well the soldiers blocked with their shields, some arrows slipped through, and the imperial troops fell one by one. Yuno’s anxiety grew.
