Side: Yuki
We took our seats and settled in to hear Hivia's detailed briefing.
"Now then, my apologies for delaying the briefing due to my own actions earlier. I will keep it as concise as possible. If there is anything you don't understand, please ask."
Hivia drew a simplified map on the whiteboard and marked our current position.
Then she added three triangles farther north. Those were probably the targets for conquest.
"As you can see, this location is our current base, and the ▲ marks above are the enemy strongholds and our targets for conquest."
Well, our position was certainly troublesome. Or perhaps it had been chosen for defensive reasons.
Our camp sat almost exactly in the middle of the three objectives, as though we were surrounded by them. There was enough distance that we could still respond to threats, but this wasn't really a formation designed for attacking. It was more a position intended to maintain this base and prevent enemy forces from slipping behind us.
Which meant the enemy was almost certainly aware of our location as well.
"Our current deployment was originally intended to defend the town of Feil, which we captured from Enaria and now hold in the rear. As you know, Princess-sama had to return to deal with some troublesome nobles. Then she picked a fight with a powerful mercenary force and came back after losing. After that, she was summoned back to the capital, only to return with those same mercenaries as allies. It's been a rather turbulent five months. Thanks to that, the enemy has gathered troops at these three locations and strengthened their defenses during that time."
Hivia spoke with a pained expression as she summarized the situation so far.
It would have been fine if it had just been cleaning up noble affairs, but after the defeat — which they tried to hide — it was exposed, leading to a summons from the capital. Both for Marley and Hivia, it must have been a stomach-churning situation.
On top of that, the invasion of Enaria had effectively been paused. No wonder they looked stressed.
"If I recall correctly, when we first crossed paths with your forces back in Feil, you had already held the town for about three months, right? But it's not as if you guys were sitting entirely on your hands the whole time without launching a single offensive, correct?"
"Indeed. At the time, we had already launched an offensive against this central fortress. However, once our strongest combat force was withdrawn, we had no choice but to retreat. The enemy had suffered significant casualties as well, so they lacked the time to pursue us or attempt to retake Fail..."
"But they had enough time to strengthen their defenses."
"Exactly. Five months is more than enough time to repair damaged fortifications and bring in reinforcements."
"By the way, are the targets on the left and right of the central fortress also fortresses?"
"No, they're different. The one to our right is a town like Fail. It's about the same size and has no particularly important industries. The one to the left is also a town, but it has about three times the population of Feil, and while its defensive facilities are inferior to the central fortress, it has one of Enaria's most capable lords, so we can't recklessly attack it."
"So, the town similar to Feil has low strategic value. And if we take it, we'd have to allocate troops to defend it. The town with a capable lord and large population would take time to pacify, so we'd rather avoid it. That leaves attacking the central fortress — the key to their defense — and then encouraging the two towns to surrender on their own, right?"
"Assuming too much time had not passed."
"Ah. Then Marley got recalled, everything became a mess, and that plan stopped being viable."
"Yes. The fortress's defenses have been reinforced, and both towns have received some reinforcements from mercenaries and other towns. We also have two magic sword users, and... although we don't know how effective they will be in actual combat, we have the mercenary band that overwhelmed those magic sword users. Our total force is 25,000. In contrast, the enemy currently has 30,000 at the fortress, 7,000 at the capable lord's town of Betan, and 4,000 at the town of Sueito. Moreover, these are current numbers. We expect them to increase further."
On top of that, they have defensive positions at their bases.
Since they had time, their defensive preparations are complete.
What an absolute pain in the ass.
"Furthermore, while they have strictly prioritized a defensive posture up to this point, the moment their concentrated numbers hit a definitive threshold, they will undoubtedly launch a massive breakout. Their objective will be to thoroughly crush our vanguard and reclaim the town of Feil."
"So we don't have much time for the conquest."
"Yes. If we waste too much time, rather than conquering, the possibility of defeat becomes high."
Oh, great.
If that happens, the Magic Sword wielders we went out of our way to bail out will find themselves marched right back to the execution block.
Now that we've formally established a cooperative agreement with the empire, letting the broader military situation for Jilva take a catastrophic turn would be incredibly inconvenient for my own goals.
"Facing a grim, uphill battle is a standard baseline for our house. Now that we are here, the enemy's numbers are completely irrelevant."
"Indeed. We should simply launch a massive frontal assault to shatter the central fortress in a single decisive strike, and then leverage that absolute leverage to force the immediate surrender of both flanking cities."
Olive and Mist spoke up in rapid succession, both strongly advocating for an aggressive, immediate push against the central fortress.
"Well, that's what our two Magic Sword wielders are proposing. But Hivia, what's the actual, realistic time frame we have to successfully conclude this siege?"
"...Let's see. If we take too long, the towns' forces might move to our rear or ignore us and head for Feil. Well, the possibility of them heading for Feil is almost zero. They have defensive units in the towns, and even if they sent the same number of troops, the chance of it falling is low. If we retreat and attack from behind, they would likely be annihilated."
"So they're not going to risk a reckless gamble like that when they have a golden opportunity to systematically pin down and crush our main army right here."
"Exactly. If they intended such a strategy, they would have attacked when Marley-sama was absent. Taking all factors into account, we have a minimum of three days and a maximum of one week."
"...Even one week is a bit..."
"...Yes, it's harsh."
Even Olive and Mist looked troubled.
As for me? I wasn't worried about us getting surrounded and wiped out — at least not our mercenary unit.
Still, capturing a fully fortified fortress in three days to one week? Normally, that'd be impossible. You'd need one of those legendary, genius anime strategists to suddenly pop out and declare, "Our victory is officially assured! Move out now!"
"Well, we've heard the situation. How would you move, Yuki?"
Marley, who had been silently listening until now, finally spoke.
"Hmm. Given the circumstances, I'd still capture the fortress and use it to pressure the cities into surrendering."
"Even with your strength?"
"No. If I actually unleashed our full capabilities, I could comfortably drop all three locations simultaneously."
"""What!?"""
The room erupted.
Well, of course. Our individual combat capabilities were on an entirely different level, and more importantly, we didn't need to destroy entire armies.
If we can suppress the commanders or lords/top officials at each of the three targets with small squads, that's enough. Anyone who resisted would be eliminated.
Launching a large-scale assault would be difficult, but infiltrating with small squads isn't particularly hard.
"The real issue, however, is that if we execute the operation that way, the entirety of the military credit will be explicitly attributed to my faction. And you guys don't exactly have the luxury of letting someone else steal the spotlight right now, do you?"
"""Ugh..."""
All three Magic Sword wielders winced.
Exactly. The primary reason we couldn't simply deploy that optimized strategy was because the resulting accolades would be undeniably categorized as my personal achievements.
Even if my standing within the empire skyrocketed, it wouldn't do a single thing to rehabilitate the heavily tarnished reputations of the Magic Sword wielders who marched into the conquered territory after the dust had already settled.
The three of them needed to restore their honor on this battlefield. If we were officially their subordinates, our achievements could simply be counted as theirs. Unfortunately, both the king and the imperial leadership regarded us as an independent force.
"So instead, here's what I'd do."
I pointed at the fortress.
"Assume we'll eventually be surrounded. Capture the fortress within three days, then use it as bait to lure the town armies into attacking. After that, either destroy them or convince them to surrender."
"There's no way a fortress would fall in three days so easily..."
"Ah, we'll take care of that part. You won't lose in a head-on fight once the gates are open, right?"
"That's true. Once the gates are gone, the enemy's formation will be meaningless. The moment we break in, victory is assured. Furthermore, although they outnumber us, we have three magic sword users. At that point, there are almost no elements that could lead to defeat."
"But if your forces are the ones who achieve the great feat of opening the gates, won't that take away most of the glory?"
Mist worries about the achievements that would result from our actions, but there's no point unless everyone recognises it as our achievement.
"Don't worry. We just need to make sure nobody realizes it's our achievement."
I looked at Olive and Mist.
"You two experienced it yourselves, didn't you? One moment everything was there, and the next everything had been blown away."
"D-Don't tell me..."
"You're planning to use that?"
"No, I plan to use that in combination with something else to open the gates in one shot."
""?""
Marley and Hivia tilted their heads, but the others seemed to understand my intention.
Yes—I plan to use repeated long-range mortar fire to silence the defensive installations. As for the walls and gates? I'd use a certain weapon I'd been keeping hidden and literally blast them open in one shot.
I also want to test how well this weapon works in this world and what kind of countermeasures the enemy will take. We only have two, but since they can be carried in item boxes, transportation is overwhelmingly better than on Earth.
Well, the operating costs are ridiculously high, but I'll leave that to Britt and the others.
The real grueling labor for me would come after the battle, where I'd have to sit down, lower my head, and desperately beg for financial forgiveness from my lovely wives—specifically Seraria, our head accountant Eris, and Ratz—for burning through our state funds.
Hmm... To be honest, I doubted it'd even take three days. This might be over in a single day.
Let's hope the enemy puts up an unexpectedly good fight.
