The Tale of the Nation That Banished the Saint - Chapter 15

Episode 15: Let the War Begin

The knight bearing the white flag turned out to be a young woman.

She was Shellsie, the daughter of a local lord who sided with Zopondort. She had recently become the new head of the family after her predecessor retired and recommended her as the successor.

She came forward to offer full surrender. She was willing to accept any punishment.

My reputation as a womanizer is well known.

So, bypassing her father, she must have thought that by presenting herself as someone I might fancy and making her the new head, she could expect lenient treatment.

—She underestimated me.

I am a man capable of making ruthless and cruel decisions when necessary.

…However, right now, I need to quickly gather the local lords together.

We don’t know when Zopondort will stabilize its territory and advance westward.

And most likely, she’s just a figurehead.

If I impose harsh conditions, she might change her stance and resist fiercely.

It’s better to absorb surrendered enemies and expand our forces than to battle with the enemy who chooses to defend.

I informed her that if we execute the retired former head of the family as a criminal, there would be no further consequences, and she accepted it.

A few days later—

I absorbed the four hundred troops led by Shellsie and the newly recruited personnel into our army, increasing our forces to about seven thousand, and began our march towards Zopondort’s territory.

Our target is a fortress located at the western edge of Zopondort’s territory.

The garrison at the fortress chose to defend it, so we besieged it.

Zopondort is still entangled in a peasant rebellion.

So, we plan to secure a defensive stronghold within enemy territory while they are occupied.

The strategy is to besiege the fortress and starve them out.

However, if we take too long, Zopondort may resolve their peasant rebellion and send troops our way.

In that case, we might end up in a pincer attack situation.

We want to capture the fortress before that happens, but siege warfare takes time.

Although it’s considered a last resort, if Zopondort decides to send a mobile relief force to us, we can counterattack and sandwich them between our forces.

In that scenario, we’ll need to decide whether to confront them head-on or temporarily retreat to Alderan’s territory based on the number of troops Zopondort sends.

So, I was paying attention to the enemy’s main force, but the first move came from the fortress we were besieging.

Zopondort’s territory was experiencing a chain of negative consequences due to reduced food production, decreased tax revenue, and disruptions in distribution. Moreover, Zopondort, which had been contemplating an advance towards the royal capital, likely didn’t even consider the food reserves at this fortress.

They fell into food shortage much earlier than anticipated and made a desperate attack.

Breaking through our siege, they aimed for anywhere with food—

We intercepted their assault with a defense-focused unit armed with shields and spears and pushed them back.

After a while, realizing they couldn’t break through our defense, they raised the white flag at the fortress.

We executed the fortress’s commander and treated the surrendered enemy soldiers as prisoners of war.

—

Several days passed.

It’s about time for those Zopondort scoundrels to start marching towards the royal capital.

We’ll meet them here at this fortress.

I began repairing the fortress and constructing defensive positions around it.

About two months since the Zopondort rebellion was discovered, I gathered the local lords and assembled an army of about seven thousand, preparing for a showdown with the enemy.

I’ve made all the necessary preparations.

Now—

“Let’s settle this once and for all… Zopondort.”

As I surveyed the surrounding terrain, playing the role of a warlord in my room on the top floor of the fortress, a messenger bird from the Information Guild landed urgently, bringing news.

Apparently, Zopondort had been defeated by the peasant rebel army.

“…What?”

Seriously, that guy…