Dragon Knight Chronicles ~ From a mere mercenary, rise to success through tactics! A small harem with the princess and the lord's daughter!? I'll also develop my territory! ~ - Chapter 115

Chapter 115   Commander Halder of the Arles Summit Fortress

Unified Year 568, Late February—

The snow still had not melted, and the mountain streams were frozen. There was not enough food for the animals.

Before the main force of Cade set off, Her Highness and I had come to scout Noel Castle. This was because Her Highness was eager to make a name for herself. As we did not have any troops under our command, reconnaissance seemed the only way to achieve any kind of merit.

“…Ah, this is bad,” I muttered.

Peering through the spyglass from the bushes, I saw an unfavorable sight around Noel Castle. Defensive installations had been set up on the summit of the low mountain, Arles. At a glance, there seemed to be about 500 soldiers guarding it.

“Wouldn’t that be easily overrun if we attacked with a large number of soldiers?” Her Highness said while looking through the spyglass.

“It’s winter now, and the footing is treacherous. In such conditions, it would be very difficult to seize a high ground position,” I explained.

“I see. I’m learning a lot,” Her Highness replied.

“We have a general idea of the enemy situation. Let’s withdraw,” I suggested.

“Yes,” she agreed.

We then retreated, heading back toward the Cade main force, which was assembling at Ramora Castle.

◇◇◇◇◇

Inside Ramora Castle

Headquarters of the Cade Forces

“What? Is this true?”

“Yes, it is indeed so.”

We reported the defensive installations on the summit of Arles to Don. He and his retainers were greatly surprised.

“Leader! What shall we do?”

“Wait, we can’t retreat now,” Don said.

The retainers were abuzz with chatter.

“Well, we’ve already made preparations, and retreating without fighting would affect our morale. We must advance!”

“Yes,” Don agreed.

Encouraged by the resolute Viceroy Dommel, Don resolved to advance. The elite forces of Cade, numbering 10,000, marched through the deep snow, heading straight for the Ridley Pass at the border.

◇◇◇

Unified Year 568, Early March—

Even in the snow-covered land of Roland, the snow began to melt and spring was arriving. The ice on the mountain streams thawed, and new shoots started to sprout everywhere.

At this time, the main force of Cade, numbering 10,000, had established a position at Ridley Pass.

“Is that it? They’ve built something troublesome,” one of the commanders remarked.

“Yes, it seems so,” another agreed.

The Cade commanders were disheartened by the sight of the fortress on the summit of Arles. It appeared to be surprisingly well-constructed.

“Gather everyone. We need to discuss countermeasures,” Don ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

Don quickly assembled the commanders and convened a war council.

Inside the Headquarters Tent, War Council Room—

“So, what shall we do?”

Don, asked everyone. The retainers fell silent.

It was surprising, but traditionally, the Cade commanders were not adept at siege warfare. There was also a cultural tendency to underestimate castle sieges.

“Lord Reister, do you have any good ideas?” Her Highness asked in a low voice. As a subordinate, it was appropriate for me to support the previous master’s honor.

I whispered a strategy to her Highness.

“…Hmm, that’s interesting,” Her Highness said. She then promptly presented the strategy for attacking the fortress in the council room.

“Oh! This might be a good idea,”

“Yes! Yes!”

Although it was a rather conventional and unremarkable plan, it was surprisingly well-received and, to my amazement, adopted.

“So, who will be in charge of executing it?”

“I will take on the task myself, as the proposer of the plan!”

Her Highness volunteered, which surprised me. I would have preferred if she had avoided the dangerous task.

“Alright, I will lend you 500 soldiers. I’m counting on you!”

“Yes, sir.”

Her Highness borrowed the soldiers from Don and officially became the person responsible for carrying out the plan.

◇◇◇◇◇

At the summit of Arles Mountain, a low peak to the east of Noel Castle, the fortress was under the command of a man named Halder.

Halder received a report from a lookout.

“Commander! A Cade logistics unit is advancing along the eastern road.”

“What?”

By this time, Halder and his men had already suspected that Cade’s forces were closing in. From his vantage point, Halder could see a unit transporting supplies below.

“…Hmm, it’s probably a decoy. They likely want to draw us down from the mountain. Ignore them!”

“Yes, sir!”

Halder determined that the Cade logistics unit was a decoy and decided to ignore it.

However, his subordinates were not satisfied. In battle, the spoils of war were considered a legitimate reward for the soldiers. They were furious at their commander for depriving them of the chance to gain these rewards.

“Commander! We should attack!”

“Let’s do it!”

“Wait, wait. That’s an enemy strategy. We shouldn’t fall for it.”

Halder, the defensive commander, tried to calm his troops. Not just the soldiers here, but soldiers everywhere were poor. The enemy’s logistics unit seemed like a treasure trove, but everyone managed to hold off for now.

The next day—

“Commander! The enemy’s logistics unit is still here!”

“What?”

Climbing up the lookout tower, Halder saw that the Cade logistics unit was indeed resting below. They had set up camp and were preparing breakfast. The guards numbered only about 100.

“Commander! We should attack!”

“Yes, that’s right!”

“…Hmm.”

Halder firmly believed that this logistics unit was a decoy. However, he also had no way to stop his hungry troops.

Should he quickly attack the enemy and return to the fortress?

As he pondered this, a report came in.

“Sergeant Lam and several of his men have descended the mountain!”

“Followed by Sergeant Arm as well!”

His allies, ignoring the orders, were descending the mountain and starting to attack the logistics unit.

“We have no choice! Everyone, down the mountain!”

“Oh!”

“We’ve been waiting for this!”

Defensive commander Halder decided to urgently descend the mountain and launch a surprise attack, planning to strike quickly and then retreat.