Bombardment on Tetherswest City continues for several days. In that span of time, Braun witnessed the wall they painstakingly tried to destroy getting repaired overnight. Every morning, the wall stands tall and proud.
When he first saw it, he stood awestruck and disbelieving. Though he doesn't specifically know what material they use, he bet it must be Ryntum's technology. After all, how could the dents be perfectly filled?
Regardless of his feeling, Braun ordered an increase in bombardment intensity. As the site dragged on, he started to feel irritated with their resilience. He had already requested tons of additional resources to compensate for his losses. Time is ticking and his reputation is at stake. The entire country is waiting for a piece of good news from him.
Thus, he decided to move to plan B. He called his second-in-command to his tent.
"What you need for, General?" asked Kurt.
"This siege is becoming tedious. I fear we are wasting too much time and resources here without producing any real achievements. It's time for a backup plan." He's tapping his finger on the map. "We're going to take Nedideters in the southwest, further blocking help from reaching Tetherswest and gaining access to the gulf."
Kurt nods, "Understood, sir. Shall we abandon our siege here?"
Braun shook his head, "No. We'll maintain the siege as a diversion keep bombarding the wall. Don't let them have time to breathe. Nedideters has only a few thousand people living in the town. It won't pose much of a problem to capture the town with small forces. Tell the west and south army to chip in a couple of thousands of troops for the plan. The regular soldiers doing nothing anyway. It's not like they have to operate trebuchets personally."
His orders were immediately passed to both armies in the south and west.
As the sun begins to set, four thousand troops comprised of infantry, archers, and cavalry were gathered. Their movement was swift and quiet so as to not alert the garrison of the city.
"I'll leave things here in your hand, Kurt," Braun said with a commanding tone from the top of his black stallion. "Be sure to stay alert all the time. The tide of war could shift at any moment."
Braun knew that keeping his troops in good condition was essential to win this war. He doesn't want to strain the soldiers, both physically and psychologically with another fast march. Thus, he decided to move at a slower pace than usual which would take them three days or so to reach Nedideters.
"Don't worry, General. We'll keep them busy and make sure they don't escape our encirclement." His second-in-command replied, eyes glinting with determination.
The army led by Braun departs at night under the shimmering moonlight. The cobblestone path was enveloped in the forest on both sides.
The soldiers marched on with a sense of ease, expecting a swift and easy victory.
Their journey was uneventful. The weather was pleasant with clear skies and a gentle breeze. Along the way, they maintained a relaxed routine of marching, eating, singing, chatting and resting which boosted their morale.
By noon of the third day, the army has covered two third of the distance. They were reminded by Braun that they almost reaching Nedideters, and he urged them to prepare themselves.
Little did they know that their movement was watched by many eyes. Scouts from Nedideters secretly watched over them this entire time.
To Blande's army, the enemy is in the town. But Nedideters force was much closer, waiting patiently for the target to enter the trap they tirelessly prepared. Once they entered the narrowest section of the path, a rope was cut.
Thud—
A sudden sound of a heavy object falling to the ground echoed. Everyone including Braun turns around to the back, searching for the source. They see a tree fall from both sides and crash down onto the roads, inflicting injuries on Blande's soldiers, and their horses and damaging their equipped. Most importantly, the fallen tree blocked their retreat path.
As they were trying to process the incident that occurred to their fellow soldier, more and more trees began to topple. Chaos ensued as the four thousand army were separated from each other.
It gave Nedideters the perfect opportunity to launch a second wave of a surprise attack on Blande's army.
Before long, arrows came raining down on them from the forest on both sides of the forest. The air was filled with the piercing sound of arrows colliding with armour. It was followed by screams of the injured and dying Blande soldiers who were stuck under the weight of the tree trunks.
It was a well-coordinated ambush, aiming to divide and kill them. The enemy had strategically cut into the trees, leaving only a small portion intact and tying the almost-fallen trees with ropes. With forest vegetation growing wild, the ropes were difficult to spot.
The number of casualties began on Blande's side begin to rise. To avoid the ambush from becoming one-sided slaughter, Braun hurriedly shouted. "Gather and form a shield wall!"
The soldiers scurried to carry out his instructions while blocking the arrows that were being shot at them.
With trees blocking the path and hindering their movement, a simple instruction became harder to execute. The constant volley of arrows and sporadic clashes slow them down to a crawl.
With confidence in mind, the Nedideters emerged from the forest and charged at the Blande soldiers in the rearguard.
"Archers get ready to shoot at them! Infantry holds the line! Cavalry, rush to the town!!" A series of instructions come out of Braun's mouth.
The remaining soldiers obeyed his commands and took up positions right away. The soldiers created a shield wall around the archers. Cavalry, on the other hand, charged to the town. The ground trembled beneath the hooves of the galloping horses as they raced towards the target.
The archers released a volley of arrows towards the charging Nedideters, causing some of them to fall to the ground. But the enemy soldiers were determined and pressed on, slamming into the shield wall with a resounding thud.
It was his mistake to underestimate the enemy. However, it doesn't mean he lost yet. Braun was sure that the small port town was left undefended. Upon closer inspection, he estimated that the enemy numbered no more than a thousand.
"Sir, our number is dropping rapidly!" reported one of the soldiers.
"Keep fighting! They don't have many troops left."
The fight becomes more intense and chaotic. The Nedideters may have had a knowledge of the terrain and held an advantage in the early stages of the battle. Unfortunately for them, the battle shifted in Blande's favour when their troops gathered and launched a coordinated attack.
After a gruelling hour, both sides had lost a significant number of soldiers. In the end, the Nedideter soldiers were overwhelmed. Some fight until their last breath while some run away.
The battlefield was a grim scene, littered with the bodies of fallen soldiers from both sides. Braun doesn't think that anybody would want to walk on this path for quite some time.
Although it was a short battle, Blande soldiers were utterly exhausted and experienced a near total annihilation.
Braun let them rest for a while before order to collect the corpses of their fellow comrade. It was a heart-wrenching scene as they carried the lifeless bodies, some of which were still warm. The casualties of their side reached almost one thousand. Once the bodies were taken care of, Braun rallied his troops toward Nedideters.
As they approached the town, General Braun and his troops could see that the town gate was wide open. It appears that the cavalry somehow made to breach in. They also hear the sound of fighting coming from inside. The sound of clanging swords and the whinnying of horses echoed through the town.
Without further ado, Braun quickly organized his troops and led them into the fray. The infantry charged forward, with their shields held high, while the archers provided cover from the rooftops.
Due to Nedideter soldiers being outnumbered and outmatched, they were quickly defeated. The port town falls into the hand of Blande, giving them access to the Gulf of Napuna.
"Prioritize in securing the area." The soldiers were quick to work, setting up a perimeter and fortifying their position to prevent any counterattacks or surprises from the enemy. He also sends scouts to search for the remnant of Nedideters's soldiers who may be hiding in the vicinity of the town.
Once the situation is stabilized, Braun took a moment to sit down and write a letter to Wagner. In the letter, he informed his friend of the successful capture of the town and urged Wagner to bring more troops when he came down to the south.
As the war progressed, the number of soldiers required would increase over time. Braun needs to change his strategy and he tells the admiral a bit of his plan in the letter.
He sealed the letter and handed it to one of his soldiers, "Deliver this letter to Wagner immediately."
The soldier nodded before mounting his horse and rode off into the distance.
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