TGS - Chapter 156
Chapter 156: Repelling the Enemy
To take a heavily fortified city like Digebia by force would inevitably come at a heavy price—just as it had for the Sanur.
They had taken the city in a swift battle over a few days, partly by catching the defenders unprepared, but also by paving the way with flesh and blood, suffering countless losses.
With Kasnie to the south and the possibility of rebellion within its borders, Solancia naturally couldn't afford to squander its forces like that.
Besides a direct assault, the best method was a siege: cut off supply lines for food and military equipment, and wait for the enemy to run out of provisions, forcing them to either surrender or starve to death.
But when the opponent was the Sanur, the decision to lay siege became particularly cruel.
Everyone knew what the Sanur tribe's list of food sources included. If the city were besieged and supplies cut off, they could hold out longer due to this particular trait. And when the Solancian army finally retook Digebia, they might find nothing but an empty, lifeless city.
In other words, it was no different from letting the Sanur slaughter the city's inhabitants.
To attack or to besiege—in this situation, it became a difficult choice.
The generals argued at the side, but Alyuin did not participate.
Before her lay three sheets of dark brown paper covered in diagrams.
One was a topographical map provided by the defenders of Seaton City. Another was a rough sketch of the enemy's troop deployment within the city, drawn by Ashino from memory. The last one was different from the first two; it was a much more precise and detailed blueprint of the city's fortifications.
Border commanders growing powerful with their own armies had always been a concern for the kings of Solancia throughout history.
The stronger the walls of Digebia were built, the harder it was for foreign tribes to conquer. Conversely, if the army stationed there were to rebel, it would also be more difficult for the royal army to breach the city and quell the uprising.
When designing and constructing Digebia's defenses, the reigning King of Solancia had an idea—he demanded the architect leave a hard-to-discover defensive gap.
A secret passage or a weak point, built in secret so that even the future garrisons stationed there would not know of its existence.
The idea actually came to fruition. The architect exhausted his mind to fulfill this request, but after the walls were completed and confirmed to be without issue, that King of Solancia mercilessly sent him to meet the Death God.
He was ruthless and cruel, a classic example of discarding someone after they've outlived their usefulness. However, this did ensure that the secret passage in Digebia remained a secret known only to the royal family, undiscovered even by successive garrisons.
And now, this blueprint marking the secret passage lay before Alyuin, found in a hidden compartment of Horst's desk.
The question was, what could one do with a single secret passage?
It would be remarkably effective for breaking out or retreating. For example, Horst had used a secret passage in his bedchamber to escape the royal city, and who knew where he was gallivanting now.
But for an assault, such a narrow passage could not possibly allow a large army to pass through.
Too many people would attract the attention of the Sanur defenders, who could stand at the exit and cut them down one by one.
Too few, and they wouldn't have the desired effect. Could one really expect a few dozen or a few hundred men to rush out and defeat the heavily armed troops at the city gate, open it, and let the main army in?
Alyuin stared at the blueprint, motionless for a long time.
Suddenly, the Princess raised her hand and tapped her temple, a habitual gesture of some priests and scribes when deep in thought.
Normally, Alyuin's subconscious movements while thinking were not so pronounced. The moment Lotus saw it, she guessed Alyuin had something to say and drifted over.
"What have you thought of?"
Alyuin: "Assassination."
Her voice was as light as mist, audible only to Lotus.
Lotus repeated the short word, her gaze falling to the blueprint. "...You want to assassinate the Sanur prince?"
The Sanur prince, specifically the one holed up in Digebia.
Hamonge had ten sons. One was killed in the night raid on the Seaton City barracks, another was cut down in the duel outside the city, and a full seven were used as target practice on the battlefield. In truth, even with Alyuin's superb archery, it would have been impossible to hit them through heavy defenses. The fact that they had so little protection around them showed that these greenhorn princes had rarely seen a real battlefield.
Of the two who ultimately fled, one retreated to Digebia, and the other escaped beyond the border.
There was nothing to be done about the latter for now, but the former was a different story.
Lotus observed the Princess's expression again and found that she was actually serious.
"Thanks to Horst, I've been the target of assassinations since I was a child, but I've never experienced what it's like to assassinate someone else." Alyuin's voice was filled with emotion. "Isn't this a perfect opportunity?"
With a secret passage and knowledge of the city's defenses, it was indeed a suitable opportunity in that respect.
But who had ever heard of a commanding general going on an assassination mission herself?
If the plan went even slightly wrong, it wouldn't be the Sanur who lost their commander and fell into disarray, but Solancia!
Alyuin didn't insist, settling for the next best thing. "Then let's try another way, as long as it throws them into chaos."
She looked at Lotus and blinked.
Lotus: "...?"
The next day, a flock of blue herons flew over Digebia.
Flying further north at this time of year went against their migratory habits, but the Sanur tribe didn't know this. Such water-dwelling birds had never existed in the lands where they lived.
"What kind of bird is that?"
"I don't know, never seen one."
"Looks edible, though."
The ones talking were infantrymen on the city walls. They hadn't participated in the previous day's cavalry melee, having been stationed here the entire time, watching the battle nervously.
Although they didn't recognize the blue herons, such large birds had to be edible, right?
If the Solancians were going to lay siege, the more food, the better. With this thought in mind, a soldier drew his bow and shot an arrow at the flock in the sky.
He missed. The large birds were flying higher than estimated. Before the Sanur soldier could feel any regret, the flock of blue herons reacted.
The beautiful, large water birds beat their wings and let out a high-pitched cry at the Sanur, as if extremely angry. Then they flew higher and farther away, quickly disappearing from sight.
Some of the Sanur didn't know what they were, but the people of Solancia did!
The messengers of the Goddess of the Yilu River, the spirits of the water, had been offended by these foreigners' arrows.
Somehow, a rumor began to spread among the Sanur army: the invaders had offended the river goddess's messengers, attempting to hunt them. This would incur the deity's wrath, and she would punish the offenders.
At first, not many took it seriously. But that very night, someone in the barracks died a bizarre death.
The state of the body was horrific. Strangely, the corpse looked as if it had been part of a ritual: the head was cut off, the heart was dug out, and the blood was drained, coagulating into a strange symbol on the ground nearby.
And so, a new rumor spread. People believed the retribution had begun and would not stop until the goddess's anger was appeased.
The Sanur prince, still recovering inside the city, heard these superstitious rumors. He immediately arrested and interrogated the local civilians who were spreading them, but the only answer he got was "the goddess's wrath."
The beleaguered prince went up to the city walls to dispel the rumors.
"Blue herons possess no mystical power! The vultures and eagles of the plains are the kings of all birds, a manifestation of divine power, the companions of the great Wolf God!"
"And there is no retribution from some foreign god! This must be the Solancians playing tricks!"
However, this couldn't explain the soldier's death. Digebia was heavily guarded; it was impossible for the enemy to have sent someone in.
The Sanur prince suspected the murdered soldier had enemies within the tribe, and that an enemy had used this opportunity to kill him and blame it on divine punishment.
That night, the same incident occurred again.
This time, the situation was more serious, and more people died. The soldiers in the nearby tents heard nothing at all, as if—as if it truly were the silent descent of a god's wrath.
The Sanur prince had no other choice. During the day, he held a small sacrificial ceremony, praying to the Wolf God and the Vulture God for help in expelling the foreign mystical power and protecting his people.
The ritual, on which so much hope was placed, had no effect. After several days of this, the morale of the Sanur army collapsed.
Why did the deaths continue?
Why hadn't the great Wolf God stopped the enemy's heretical deity?
Why, even with increased patrols and sleepless nights, could they not prevent these bizarre deaths?
If it was the Solancians playing tricks through some means, the decapitation and removal of the heart could be explained, but what about the symbols formed by the coagulated blood?
It didn't look like something a human could do at all!
In this atmosphere of terror, the Sanur, who already lacked a strong leader, began to fall into chaos.
The soldiers who had retreated into the city with the prince but were not under his direct command, along with warriors from other tribes, were the first to descend into disorder.
Some even tried to flee the city on their own. They were caught and immediately executed. The intention was to deter other soldiers with similar ideas, but it only made more of them waver.
Finally, Solancia began its assault on the city.
Fighting the tangible Solancian army was actually a relief to the Sanur. However, they had lost faith in their prince. Without a unified command that everyone would obey, and with unstable morale, their defense was like a tray of loose sand.
When the Solancian soldiers who had entered through the secret passage appeared before him, the Sanur prince's bloodshot eyes widened. He finally realized that everything that had happened these past few days was not divine punishment, but a man-made disaster.
Unlike his eldest brother, this prince couldn't speak the Solancian language well. He babbled something in a shocked tone, then raised his scimitar and charged forward, frantically hacking at the Solancian soldiers.
It was his final struggle, because the next moment, a longsword slashed down from behind, splitting open his back.
The Sanur prince used his last ounce of strength to turn his head.
In his blurry vision, there was only a pair of golden eyes, as brilliant as the sun, shining brightly.
With forces attacking from both inside and out, the gates of Digebia were breached.
The Solancian army poured through the gates, engaging in fierce combat in the streets and alleys.
The battle did not last long. The Sanur soon fled in a rout toward the opposite gate. Although a small number were cut down by the Solancian soldiers blocking the way, most escaped on horseback, just like the cavalry troop led by the other prince a few days ago. They fled Solancia's territory, heading for the vast plains.
No army could pursue them into the wilderness. Only the Sanur were familiar with that highland steppe. Once they returned to their own territory, they would be safe.
When the Sanur riders were beyond bowshot, Alyuin reined in her horse and signaled for the pursuit team to return to the city.
In this incident, Lotus had actively provided the bloody symbols for the charade, but otherwise remained an observer throughout.
She glanced back at the fleeing Sanur cavalry. "These men will come back, won't they?"
To put it bluntly, they were deserters. But to accurately describe their actions, it was more like a breakout. They had preserved the main force within the city, and the majority had successfully broken through.
The reason they didn't continue to resist was likely because they discovered their prince was dead and lost the will to fight, or perhaps they feared the so-called divine punishment and felt it was safer to return to their own territory first.
Alyuin nodded. "They will. But at least for the near future, the Sanur won't dare to make another move."
The highland wilderness was their natural shield. No matter how harsh the environment, the Sanur people could always recover.
Hamonge's last son would become their rallying point. Then, they would continue to watch the border like a pack of wolves in the night, waiting for a chance to return.
This was what made the Sanur tribe so troublesome.
As Alyuin spoke, her expression could be described as pleased.
Lotus watched her in silence.
The Princess said unhurriedly, "I just had an idea. I'll ask Ashino when I have time... But even if it comes to fruition, it will be after Kasnie is no longer a threat."
Lotus said faintly, "Never mind your ideas. Why don't you look at your left shoulder before you consider all that."
Hearing this, Alyuin looked.
The armor below her shoulder was split open, and a small spray of blood sizzled from the opening—likely a wound left by some Sanur in a desperate struggle.
It didn't hurt much, so the Princess hadn't paid it any mind, even chasing the enemy a mile out of the city gates with the wound.
Now that Lotus had pointed it out, Alyuin paused and lowered her gaze. "It hurts. I need it bandaged."
Lotus: "..."
You could at least wipe that smile off your face before you say it hurts
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