Emperor of Steel

The river city, Sherwood.

Gigants and troops were constantly entering the city using the two bridges and the boats of the city.

They were all the defeated troops that were retreating to the south.

“Move it! Enter the city quickly!”

“Once the rebels are here, we’ll break the bridge! Hurry up, everyone!”

“Yah! The Gigants aren’t supposed to enter at once! Take turns! One after the other!”

From the observation deck that was overlooking the entire city, a fragile young nobleman was anxious after seeing the situation.

He was Count Darland, the commander of the Southern Army.

Darland frowned after seeing the lords who were trying to step into the city gates.

“They are stupid people. In such battles, Gigants are of very little use.”

Maybe it was a typical place, but Sherwood was located on an island that was covered by a river.

And as the width and depth of the river was quite deep around the city, steering the Gigant was a difficult task. And there was a possibility for a ship or a boat to sink the moment they were attacked.

In addition, the winters of the south weren’t so harsh, so there was no possibility of thick ice forming on the river.

In other words, it was purely unlikely for Gigant battles to take place in this battle.

It would have been a lot more helpful if they were bringing in fortress canon instead of Gigants.

However, the conservative nobles who always stuck to the old fashioned chivalry didn’t value the use of canons in the battles.

‘However, when it comes to the cost, Gigants are much more valuable than canons.’

That was indeed true, and there were nobles who were bringing in their wagons of riches and trailers.

It was annoying for Darland. A situation in which a handful of gunpowder would have been more useful than any silver or gold.

“Commander, we have completed reinforcing the southern wall.”

At the response of his lieutenant, Darland nodded and asked, “Good work. Do we have enough of that Vigorous burning fire?”

“Yes, all available bottles and jars were filled. How are we supposed to deal with the defeated men?”

When asked by his lieutenant, Darland seemed worried.

Unlike the other men that abandoned their forts, there were too many unarmed soldiers that were defeated because of the enemy’s quick attacks.

The problem was that there weren’t enough weapons or food that the region of Sherwood could provide to them.

The reason was that Emperor Rudolf devoted himself to attacking the Libiya Kingdom and provided the South with minimal supplies.

“If we keep feeding the desperate ones, we won’t last until the reinforcements from the capital arrive,” said the lieutenant.

“Then should we starve them?”

“Would they rather be kicked out of here?”

At the words of his lieutenant, Darland jumped up.

“Kick them out? Are you saying that while not understanding what that would lead to?”

It wasn’t uncommon on the battlefield for the defeated soldiers or abandoned ones to turn into robbers and raid the nearby villages or noble households.

And if such things happened, the public sentiment could take a hit for worse.

And once bad sentiments find a home in public, everyone knew what would happen next.

‘Those Symphonia men, they are doing this intentionally.’

Well, it wasn’t their plan for such things to happen. They surely must have had other thoughts too.

With such thoughts, Count Darland gave orders to his lieutenant.

“First, ask the defeated soldiers to remove their weapons and give them some work. And keep a closer look at them. There is a possibility for the enemy’s men to have infiltrated the defeated ones.”

The most dangerous thing in battle wasn’t the enemy bombarding them with arrows.

What was dangerous was for fights to broke out inside the castle because of the enemy.

“Understood. We will do a thorough identity check to make sure that no spies had entered the castle.”

Once the lieutenant went out of the room, Darland went to the communication room.

It was so that he could urge the capital to send a few supplies along with reinforcement troops to the north of his province.

“Can’t we speed things up anymore?”

Marquis Vanden, who received 20,000 knights as reinforcements, was heading to the South in a hurry.

However, unlike his restless mind, the speed of his march was slow.

It was because the morale of the Central Army was greatly affected because of the recent turn of events in the capital, and the trailers that were holding the Gigants would often get stuck.

“Most of the trailers are new, but they seem to be of poor quality. It seems like there was some kind of defect in the process of producing them in urgency.”

“Hugh, even though it is new, it is no good.”

“The most concerning aspect isn’t the trailers but the regular soldiers. We are constantly trying to encourage them to march, but even with such words…”

Maybe the number of desertions could increase, or in a worst-case scenario, there could be internal riots.

‘Dammit! Because of that stupid emperor, everything seems to be out of line!’

The horrible trailer conditions and the low morale of the soldiers, all of this happened because of Rudolf.

If only things were done more smoothly, such a crisis wouldn’t have happened.

Vanden, who was cursing Emperor Rudolf in his mind, talked to the communication wizard who was standing next to the lieutenant, “Has Sherwood contacted us?”

“An hour ago, the commander of Central Army, Count Darland, contacted us to urge us about the advancing speed.”

“Is that so? Was there no word about the enemy?”

“The enemy still doesn’t seem to have reached them. Just some small scout troops appeared near the city and tried to keep them on alert.”

“If that is all, then it is a good thing.”

With the reports he got from there, the advancing speed of the enemy was unimaginable.

Maybe the cavalry was their main force, or maybe they had some other means, which they haven’t revealed yet.

And Count Darland, the commander of the Southern Army, said that he would concentrate all his remaining power on Sherwood City and try to expand his land.

It would be fortunate if they weren’t defeated before that happened, or their communications weren’t being intercepted.

If they arrived late and Sherwood was occupied, Vanden’s chance to gain merit would be gone, and the emperor would surely punish him.

“Tch, speak to the soldiers and the wizards so that they can speed up the march.”

Marquis Vanden, who had let out a deep sigh, spoke to the others.

Maybe the battle wasn’t going to be as easy as he had initially expected.