Chapter 1271
“From this moment forth, heed my commands and deliver punishment upon my enemies,” Emperor Stuttgart said to the three Grandmasters kneeling before him.
At that, the three Grandmasters lowered their heads before the emperor.
Each of these Grandmasters was capable of shaking an entire kingdom to its core. Not only that, they were even capable of hunting a dragon all alone. However, there were three of them here.
‘Siegfried von Proa... Will you still refuse to kneel before me?’ Emperor Stuttgart thought.
With three Grandmasters as his slaves, the thought of defeat did not even cross the emperor’s mind. How could he even think about losing when he was commanding the three most powerful beings in the world?
“Go to the battlefield. Let them have a taste of my wrath,” Emperor Stuttgart commanded.
“As you command, Master.”
Emperor Stuttgart gave a few other orders to the researchers before leaving the secret facility and returning to the imperial palace.
“Your Imperial Majesty! We have received word that the Proatine Empire’s navy has attacked our naval base in the Piaro River!”
“Five divisions of Proatine Imperial forces have crossed the border into our lands, sire!”
As soon as he left the secret facility and entered the imperial palace, Emperor Stuttgart was bombarded by troubling reports.
However, Emperor Stuttgart looked far too calm and composed.
“Tell our commanders to stay composed. The great Marchioni Empire will not lose. In just a few days, the world shall witness the might of our grand empire.”
“As you command, sire!”
Thus, Emperor Stuttgart decided to take things slow until the three Grandmasters were unleashed upon the battlefield, just like a tiger crouching low and biding its time for the perfect chance to pounce on its prey.
***
The war between the Proatine Empire and the Marchioni Empire kicked off with a decisive victory in the first battle for the Proatine Empire.
The naval bombardment had laid waste to the enemy fleets, and the land battles that followed also ended in a decisive victory in favor of the Proatine Empire.
Thanks to Siegfried stirring up the naval base, the landing operation proceeded far smoother than expected.
“Long live the Proatine Empire!”
“Long live His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!”
“Long live the Allied Forces!”
Shouts of victory echoed throughout the naval base.
“Your Imperial Majesty! Commander Hansen is requesting communication!”
“Put him through.”
“Yes, sire!”
The communication device lit up, showing Hansen on the screen.
— Congratulations on your victory, sire.
Hansen offered his sincerest congratulations to Siegfried.
“It’s still too early for that. This is only the beginning,” Siegfried said, his expression dark.
He looked terribly tired after the battle, and the reason he was so tired was simple.
[Alert: Status Ailment!]
[Alert: You are suffering from anemia!]
[Alert: Replenish nutrients quickly!]
Siegfried had so much of his blood drained just before he left for battle that he was still suffering from it.
“Why are you calling me, though? Did something happen?” Siegfried asked.
— I am calling to inform you that the transport ships have just departed.
“Huh? Transport ships?”
— Three allied corps are on the transport ships, and they will soon arrive at the naval base you have just captured.
“Why, though?”
— I intend to use that naval base as a foothold and establish another front. The more area of the Piaro River our forces control, the more land will come under our control, too.
“Ah!”
— Using the naval base as a stronghold, we can wage amphibious warfare on the enemy and expand the front as widely as possible.
“T-That’s quite impressive...”
Siegfried was quite surprised by the idea. He had not expected Hansen to have devised a second operation right after securing the Piaro River.
As expected, Hansen was perfectly handling the things Siegfried had failed to account for.
— But as Your Imperial Majesty said, this is only the beginning. Since the Marchioni Empire has yet to make any significant movement, it is crucial that we seize control of the Piaro River as quickly as possible.
That was the decisive reason that Hansen sent Siegfried to the Piaro River instead of the frontlines. Hansen’s strategy heavily depended on controlling the Piaro River, so he deployed the most powerful warrior among the allied forces—Siegfried.
— You must keep going. You must secure as much of the Piaro River as possible before the Marchioni Empire starts moving.
“Okay. Got it.”
Siegfried felt his fatigue double at Hansen’s words, but he held on.
What other options did he have?
They were severely outnumbered, and the only way to even the playing field was by establishing as many battlefronts as possible.
“I’ll keep pressing forward.”
— May fortune be with you, sire.
“Thanks.”
As soon as Siegfried ended the call with Hansen, he ordered the men to start clearing the naval base and began preparations to assault the next naval base.
Their goal was to go east and then east again.
The plan was to use the mobility offered by the Piaro River and hit the Marchioni Empire from all sides.
***
Two weeks had passed since then, and dark rumors began to spread throughout the continent.
“Is the Proatine Empire going to defeat the Marchioni Empire?”
“What? Does that mean they will absorb all those territories?”
“The world has really changed...”
“Five hundred years... It’s finally over.”
People started believing that the Marchioni Empire would be defeated by the allied forces led by the Proatine Empire.
Their reaction was only natural.
At present, the Marchioni Empire was suffering from the calamities ravaging its lands.
As if that was not bad enough, the death toll from the plague was even greater. Though medicines and vaccines had recently been developed, they came a bit too late, as fifty million people had already perished.
Then came the war.
Over the past two weeks, the Marchioni Empire suffered defeat after defeat against the Proatine Empire, making this the most humiliating period in its entire history.
The Marchioni Empire lost six of its seven naval bases along the Piaro River, and about eighty percent of its fleet was sunk. This effectively cut off their access to the river, which was vital for transporting supplies to the frontlines.
After nearly annihilating the Marchioni Empire’s navy, the Proatine Imperial Navy seized full control over the Piaro River, using it as a highway to ferry troops into the Marchioni Empire’s lands.
These troops marched along the river and began occupying lands, and in just a single week, the Marchioni Empire had lost a fifth of its territory.
Though over a million troops were stationed near the border with the Proatine Empire, they couldn’t be mobilized at all because moving them meant certain doom for the Marchioni Empire.
The allied forces were now deep within the Marchioni Empire’s territories, so they would surely surround the Marchioni Imperial Army from all sides if they recklessly marched out.
Thus, the Marchioni Imperial Army found itself unable to do anything.
Unable to mobilize their great army, they had no choice but to be dragged around helplessly by the allied forces.
The Marchioni Empire had a few options to resolve this crisis, and the most effective solution was to rapidly conscript troops and drive out the allied forces from their lands using numerical superiority.
Unfortunately, an unexpected problem arose.
“Damn these punks!”
“Arrest them all!”
“Kill those who refuse to be conscripted!”
“These bastards are rebels! Traitors to the empire!”
“Have you no shame?! Your motherland needs you!”
The Marchioni Empire faced difficulty conscripting soldiers, as the young men of the empire were refusing to do so.
With the country already in ruins and the people barely surviving from day to day, getting dragged to the battlefield where defeat seemed certain was the last thing these young men wanted.
Forget about patriotism or whatnot, they didn't want to end up dead in some ditch on the battlefield, so they decided to flee. Those who fled took to the mountains to hide, and naturally, more and more of them gathered until they became quite sizable in numbers.
And with no means of income, these young men became bandits.
It was a national crisis.
The hegemony of the Marchioni Empire that lasted over five centuries was now falling apart; it was on the verge of collapsing like a house of cards.
Meanwhile, everything was proceeding smoothly for the Proatine Empire and its allies.
‘We will win the war within two weeks if things just keep going at this pace,’ Hansen thought as he studied the map.
There was no way they could lose now.
Unless the Marchioni Empire brought a secret weapon that could turn things around, the Proatine Empire’s victory was already set in stone.
And yet...
‘It’s too easy. Our opponent is the Marchioni Empire, so there’s no way they will collapse just like this,’ he thought.
Despite his skepticism, there were no clear ominous signs.
The Proatine Imperial Army was receiving real-time updates on the movements of the Marchioni Imperial Army from the Guardians.
Based on Hansen’s calculations, he concluded that it would be difficult for the Marchioni Empire to turn things around.
But for some reason, he couldn’t help but feel anxious.
The anxiety and dread he felt kept him awake until late at night.
Hansen struggled with it and stayed awake until the late hours before he finally drifted to sleep at around dawn.
Roughly two hours later...
“Gasp!”
Hansen bolted upright as if startled by something.
“W-What was that...?”
Sweat poured down his face as he looked around the tent. Then, he quickly rushed to the command headquarters.
‘Was it a nightmare? Or was it something else?’ he wondered while walking.
He had a strange dream.
In his dream, a massive eyeball hanging in the sky was devoured by a golden chimera.
The golden chimera was the symbolic beast of the Marchioni Empire, which made him feel uneasy.
Thus, Hansen grew anxious that something could have happened in those few hours while he was asleep, so he decided to go and check.
“Has anything unusual occurred?” Hansen asked.
“No, nothing in particular,” Oscar replied.
“I see. That is a relief. Phew...”
Finally letting out a sigh of relief, Hansen patted his chest.
Then, as always, he contacted the Guardians. He wanted to check on the movements of the Marchioni Imperial Army now that he was already at the command headquarters.
— Sir Hansen...
The face of the Guardian agent who usually related satellite intel seemed troubled by something.
“What’s the matter?”
— Well, that is...
“Hm? What is it?”
— The satellite was intercepted around an hour ago.
“What?! A-Are you certain?!”
— That is the only explanation. We have lost connection with the satellite for quite some time now.
“Good heavens...”
Losing the satellite was a huge blow to the Proatine Imperial Army. The maphack they had been relying on had disappeared. This was a big problem, as they had been relying on the satellite to get ninety percent of their intel.
‘Could it be...? Was it that dream?’ Hansen thought.
“Sir! One of our divisions has reported that they are under attack!”
“We have lost contact with the fortresses along the supply line!”
“Our troops that infiltrated behind enemy lines have been ambushed! The fighting is so fierce that they cannot even send communications to us!”
Out of nowhere, bad news poured in like crazy.
It was the counterattack.
After more than two weeks of being pummeled, the Marchioni Empire had finally begun to retaliate.
***
“Your Imperial Majesty! We have received an urgent report from high command!”
Early in the morning, Siegfried logged in and was on standby when he received the urgent news and rushed to the communication device.
— Your Imperial Majesty...
Hansen appeared on the screen, his face dark and riddled with guilt.
— We have received word that... the enemy ambushed the division of the allied forces led by Duke Taycan and... His Excellency has fallen in battle.
