At the same time, a military meeting was being held in the NONO and ELSMO armies occupying the Karza Castle. Nomasa was speaking by himself, and it looked like a talk show.
He was proposing a night attack on the Seifand troops camped in the back hills tonight. He was eagerly explaining how important this operation was and that its success or failure would determine the life of this army.
However, the assembled staff members were all drooping, and not a single one of them uttered a word. Normally, one of the staff members would have responded to his words with a chorus of hands or at least a nod, but on this occasion, they remained frozen in place like puppets.
Even his own army was like this. As for those in NONO's army, ...... had no idea what to expect.
Nomasa was not happy. Normally, the Nono army should have been more proactive. But all they could do was stand there, as if their souls had been drained out of them. I knew what was in their hearts. They just want to wait for the rain. They think that as long as it rains, the situation will be resolved. It was a naive, naive idea. It was an acceptable idea until a few minutes ago, but now the situation is different. It was obvious that if left unchecked, the castle would fall on itself.
Nomasa could not just surrender to the enemy forces. He had a secret thought in the back of his mind. He wanted to fulfill it at any cost. ....... That was the motivation that was driving him now. In fact, if he could get out of this critical situation, his fame would reverberate not only in Elsmo, but also in the Kingdom of NONO, and eventually in the Seifand Empire. This would bring me much closer to fulfilling a long-held dream of mine.
But now, his voice echoes in a small room made of stone. He raises his voice to inspire his men, who are drooping before him, motionless as if they were wax dolls.
This is a battle for our lives! This is a battle that will ultimately lead to the devastation of our country! All of you, be uplifted!"
After saying this, he takes a deep breath and regulates his emotions. Once again, he turns his head to look at the assembled staff members, but none of them make eye contact with him.
I could understand how they felt. I do not see any future in this battle. Even if they won tonight's attack, there was no way for them to return to their homeland at the moment.
The scouts have informed us that a huge wall has been built overnight to the northwest of the castle. ....... It was easy to guess that it was quite sturdy, seeing that it completely blocks the water of the river. The scouts were saying that it was a huge wall, high up to the top of the mountain and made of hardened steel. If we are to retreat, we must tear down that wall as soon as possible. Otherwise, the water level would rise on the other side of the wall as time went by, and it was obvious that breaking the wall would cause flash floods that would inflict severe damage on their forces.
However, Nomasa wondered if he could take advantage of this.
If he could capture the mountains in the back and secure water, he would use them as a base of operations. In other words, he wanted to abandon the Karza castle.
As soon as the back hill was occupied, they started to break the northwest wall. Even if they could not destroy it completely, if they could make even one hole in the bottom of the wall, a flash flood would occur. This would surely destroy the Seifand forces that are positioned downstream of the river. In addition, the water would enter the empire and cause a huge flood that would cause tremendous damage. Nomasa's plan was to retreat with his army ...... while the floodwaters were still flowing.
Of course, he had to be prepared for a certain amount of damage to his army, and if the wall could not be breached, it might even be destroyed.
But even so, he believed that it was the operation with the best chance of survival.
Fortunately, NONO had many sorcerers in his army. Most of them had warding skills and some were skilled in earth magic. The army of Elsmo also had such people in its ranks, and the total number of those who could manipulate earth magic was nearly three hundred. He thought that if he could mobilize all of them, he could at least make a hole in the wall.
However, in order to do so, it was absolutely necessary for them to succeed in their night raid tonight. At this point, he had to say that it would be difficult to achieve that goal.
Nomasa let out a small sigh and left the room, leaving his staff behind. In the corridor, soldiers were sitting on the floor carelessly, with their backs against the wall. All of them were lying face down, not moving a muscle. They do not even raise their hands in salute when he walks by.
Normally, this would have been a serious violation of military regulations. They could have even executed him for it. Until just the day before, no soldier in the army of El Salvador had ever behaved in such a disrespectful manner. When the soldiers saw him, they all straightened their backs and raised their hands in salute, as if they were mechanical dolls. But now, just like the staff members, the soldiers had become wax dolls.
At that moment, the soldier in front of me suddenly looked up, stood up and awkwardly raised his hands in salute. Seeing this, Nomasa opened his mouth in disgust.
"......, you'd better get your act together. What a mess.
"Sh...... pardon me."
He took one look at the soldier and strode toward the balcony. The staff members tried to follow him, but he held them back, told them to leave him alone, and walked away.
He looked at the sky from the balcony. It was cloudy, but there was no sign of rain.
The worst possible scene comes to my mind. The night attack strategy I had just advocated would fail, and I would be forced back into this castle. The enemy does not attack us, and we live in idleness. The castle is completely cut off from water, and the soldiers are in such a state of commotion that they can no longer maintain their military structure. Once that happens, all that remains is for the soldiers to scatter, fall prey to the demons and the Safan army, and be destroyed. .......
The image of my own head being exposed in the enemy's imperial capital comes to my mind. He shakes his head from side to side as if trying to counteract the image and calm his mind. However, I could not help but feel that this thought would come true.
The enemy is not stupid. They would expect a night attack tonight. A night attack is a strategy that is effective only when the enemy is caught off guard, and it is of little use against a well-prepared army. Nevertheless, the enemy's numbers were almost twice as large as ours. The odds were in their favor.
The anxiety of the bureaucrats was understandable. Even the location was not advantageous. In addition, they did not know the enemy's position well. To attack there in the middle of the night meant taking a considerable risk. Their advice that it was not too late to gather more information was reasonable.
However, Nomasa intuitively felt that if they were going to launch an attack, it would be tonight. To probe the enemy's movements is like saying that you are going to attack. If the enemy knew of our move, they would strengthen their defenses even more. If that happens, the success rate of the operation will be much lower. The more days you spend, the lower the success rate will be.
......We must somehow raise the morale of our soldiers, and launch a desperate attack on the enemy, and make them run away, or else there is no way out.
He takes a deep breath with such a feeling of determination in his heart. A strong wind was blowing down from the back of the mountain. It was as if the NONO-Elmo allied forces were trying to prevent them from attacking. Nomasa shook his head again and walked towards the small room where the staff was waiting.