Lord of Training - Chapter 13
Only Krnovel
13. Fairing City Battle (1).
13. Fairing City Battle (1).
“Captain.”
Captain Gus Navon looked back.
“Why did you come out? Let’s eat first.”
“I’m fine. How are you, Major Nicole?”
“If it’s just a wound, it’s not something to worry about.”
“Did you go back to the unit?”
Captain Gus nodded.
“I just rode the airship with the item I found at the labyrinth gate.”
“okay.”
Fortunately, there seems to have been no other mention of the legacy.
That means no one knows about the dimensional core fragments I collected.
“What is the situation at the front?”
“What’s so urgent? I’ll let you know before we move tomorrow.”
“I just want to hear the gist of it.”
Captain Gus chuckled.
It might seem strange to me, since I never asked any questions about such things before.
But, only by knowing the overall flow of the battle lines could I make a plan, even if it was small.
The situation at the front line that I heard from Captain Gus was indeed going in the Allied Forces’ favor.
The number of troops that landed in the third wave was a whopping 400,000.
He had already reclaimed the eastern part of the Kingdom of Lutes and was advancing towards the Lutes capital, Loire.
The Imperial Army was creating a new front with 250,000 men, and the Allied Forces were concentrating their forces in various areas and directions to break through the front.
And the 7th Mobile Corps of the Atlan Kingdom and the Airborne Magic Unit of the Republic of Arica were scheduled to attack the port of Pascaltes, near the capital city of Loire.
“Our airborne brigade will move to Pering City tomorrow.”
“Isn’t it a city too far south of Ferring?”
“Huh? You know that?”
“I saw a map of the Kingdom of Lutes.”
“Then I guess we know what’s north of the city of Ferring.”
For a moment, I thought I knew why we were going to the city of Ferring.
“It’s a gate.”
“Yes, the largest dimensional gate in the Kingdom of Lutes is in the Tulis Valley. We will advance north from the city of Ferring, and the Arica Republic army will advance from the eastern side of the valley. Of course, there will be strong resistance from the Empire, but whoever takes control of the valley first will be able to obtain the right to use it after the war.”
“What a thoroughly calculated move.”
“They say that they participated in the war because the next in line for the empire is our Atlan Kingdom, but no fool would send their bloody troops to a foreign war. If there is no benefit, why would they bother sending troops?”
I understand.
The Atlan Kingdom has fewer dimensional gates than other countries, and resource gates that produce magic stones needed for all industries are scarce.
However, the Kingdom of Lutes had so many dimensional gates that the Lacrosse Empire was forced to occupy them, and the gate with the most magic stone resources was the Tuiles Canyon Gate.
“It’s going to be intense.”
“that’s right.”
Captain Gus looked bitter.
“The Empire will dig trenches and hold out. But for the sake of the kingdom, we must take the gate before the Republic of Arica does. That way, we can repay the blood of our fallen comrades.”
Trench warfare.
A battle where the Allies had the numerical advantage, but we were on the offensive while they were only defending.
It was obvious that our sacrifice would be greater.
The natural enemy of the troops hiding in the trenches was the aerial magic unit, but both the Allied Forces and the Imperial Forces were currently focusing their attention on Pascaltes, a port city and industrial city near the capital, so there was no way the aerial magic knights would be deployed.
It’s going to be a brutal trench war······.
“Huh? Come to think of it, you’ve lost weight.”
“I couldn’t eat properly inside the gate, so I must have lost about 5 kg.”
“Oh! You went on a forced diet. I like how your jawline is starting to come out.”
“thank you.”
“Come on in. Your men will be waiting.”
“yes.”
The company commander returned.
But I didn’t go into the tent.
But, as an officer, I have to step aside so that the soldiers can eat comfortably.
‘It’s a gate with more magic stones than that······.’
Wouldn’t it be much more efficient than linking a magic bullet?
I opened my status window.
[Choi Yeon-seong]
[Class – Alchemist (F)]
[Level – 3]
[Unique Skills – Disintegration (F), Manipulation (F), Construction (F)]
[Dimensional Energy – 20/20]
[Alchemist’s Workshop]
‘Already level 3!’
In just half a day, I reached level 3.
This was all due to the dimensional energy emitted by the dimensional core fragments.
My level went up, the amount of energy in my dimension doubled, and the Alchemist’s workshop also grew by 1.5 times.
In addition, the level of the disassembly (lv. 2) device has increased, doubling its capacity, so now twice as much can be synthesized at once.
Although Sergeant Phelps’ subspace warehouse was stocked with mana bullets, the efficiency of extracting mana liquid by combining mana bullets was still extremely low.
The extraction ratio increased to 1:0.02, but this was because the amount of magic stone powder contained in the magic bullet was so small.
However, if you were to directly synthesize the magic stone, you could extract much more mana liquid than you can now, and if you solidified it into mana powder, you could provide mana pills to all of your platoon members.
Then you could take it when you were low on mana, and it could be life-saving in an emergency.
‘Then should I just take care of a little bit of the magic stone?’
Somehow I felt like I had to go into the Tuileries Canyon Gate.
I have a small goal.
“Sergeant! What are you doing there?”
Sergeant Phelps suddenly popped his head out of the tent.
“huh?”
“Come in. These guys are waiting for you without eating.”
“What? Me? Oh, I’m sorry.”
When I was leaving the tent earlier, I saw some guys biting into a chicken leg and slicing steak, and I thought you were holding it in!
Those are some special guys.
Then, I guess I’ll try oiling my boat for the first time in a while.
I went into the tent.
***
[Outskirts of Ferring City]
I could see numerous houses at the bottom of the hill.
A large city with a population of 200,000.
Originally a small city with a population of 10,000, 20 years ago, a large dimensional gate appeared in the northern valley, and an army was stationed there to block dimensional monsters coming from the gate.
The Lutes Kingdom army stopped the monsters and advanced into the dimensional gate.
However, when a magic stone mine was discovered within the gate, workers and merchants from all over the country flocked to this place in hopes of making money.
And as the magic stone processing plant and various industrial facilities were built on the outskirts of the city, the population exploded and it grew into the metropolis it is today.
We were excited about taking a warm bath in the city, but we had to stop marching suddenly.
Captain Gus stopped a passing horsepower jeep.
“Sergeant, why can’t we get in?”
“They say there’s street fighting going on at the entrance to the city.”
“What? Street fighting?”
Captain Gus frowned.
He sent a jeep and told us.
“Graph Company, take a seat around this tree and rest!”
“yes!”
We lay down or leaned against the military uniform as a pillow.
While the higher-ups traveled in horsepowered jeeps and trucks, we marched 80 kilometers on unpaved roads for three days.
And in full military gear too.
So, some of the soldiers had blisters on their feet, and some were exhausted, so they needed to rest.
After a while.
The jeep is back again.
“Captain Gus, this is a call from command center.”
Captain Gus looked at the deputy company commander and 1st Platoon leader.
“Lieutenant Gilliam, stay where you are and wait here.”
“Yes! Have a nice trip.”
Captain Gus rode his jeep to the command center.
Lieutenant Gilliam yawned loudly and spoke to the Graf Company men.
“Did you all hear that? We don’t know when we’ll be dispatched, so get some rest.”
“yes.”
Now, Sergeant Herman, now promoted to sergeant, turned to me.
“Lieutenant, didn’t the Imperials just run away into the valley? Why is there so much street fighting?”
“I think they’re doing this to buy time to dig trenches.”
“A trench?”
“They’re going to hold the Tuileries Valley no matter what. We’re going to bombard them to retake it. So we’re going to need time to dig deep trenches.”
“Then what about those guys who fight in the streets? Are they like suicide squads?”
I nodded.
“At best, it’ll be a battalion. There’ll probably be some snipers. That should be enough to buy a day or two.”
“If the company commander was called out, I wonder if our company will be deployed to urban combat. I’m worried.”
“well······.”
On the surface, with three more Awakened members appearing in our 3rd Platoon, Graph Company had the most Awakened members among the other companies.
Having a lot of Awakened people means that the firepower is strong.
Sergeant Phelps’ detection technique, my sniping and defensive techniques, Sergeant Herman’s induction technique, Sergeant John Cutter’s explosion technique, and even Medic Watts who uses the healing skill, a biological technique.
Even though I hid my strength as much as possible, it was like this.
‘Damn, even if I were the commander, I’d send our company.’
I guess I need to prepare······.
***
The expression on the returned Captain Gus’ face was not very good.
“Our 3rd and 2nd Battalions will be deployed first into urban combat.”
Bad feelings are never wrong.
“Easy and Fox companies will push into the city center from the south, while our Graf and Howe companies will advance from the east, mopping up the enemy and advancing all the way to City Hall.”
Lieutenant Gilliam, the 1st Platoon leader, raised his hand and said.
“Why don’t you just fire a few cannon shots and push in? Why do you insist on sending us to fight in the streets?”
“People live in the city.”
“yes?”
“They’re blocking the escape route of the citizens of the Kingdom of Lutes and using them as bait. That’s why we can’t bombard them, but we can’t attack them indiscriminately either. As you all know, the citizens here are the ones who need our continued cooperation after we secure the dimensional gate. So we have to do as little damage as possible.”
There were also conditions attached to the street fighting.
We must fight without harming the citizens of Pering as much as possible.
Everyone shook their heads.
“There’s also a good point. If we stop fighting in the streets, we won’t have to dig trenches.”
These were not bad terms.
First of all, urban combat is very dangerous, but considering the capabilities of our platoon members, it was a battlefield worth fighting in.
But it wasn’t trench warfare.
To approach the enemy’s trenches, we had to dig trenches ourselves and advance little by little.
Because they have cannons too!
The problem was that digging a trench while the fire was pouring down was similar to digging a grave.
This was something that could lead to death at any time, regardless of the platoon members’ abilities.
***
[East of Ferring City]
Bang! Ta-tang! Bang!
“Damn it! Where are you shooting from?”
The sound of gunshots rings out and seems to come from all directions.
“Not this way. It’s Howe Company’s side.”
The thing about street fighting is that the enemy is hiding and shooting, and we have to find them and deal with them.
At that time, the 1st platoon ahead of us advanced first.
“Kalin Squad, advance!”
“let’s go!”
Kalin’s squad followed the 1st Platoon.
The enemy has not been seen for a while.
We made our way forward, moving from building to building along the main road.
But it had to stop soon.
Tata tata tang! Tata tang!
The sound of machine guns filled the streets.
“Damn it! Those guys are just shooting!”
Although there were people living in the house, the Imperial Army paid no attention to it.
Sergeant Kalin poked his head out.
“Three members of the 1st Platoon were hit.”
“Check the enemy’s location first.”
“yes!”
Sergeant Kalin, who had awakened the detection technique, had a night vision skill that allowed him to see night as day.
And his eyesight also improved during the day, and he had the best eyesight among the members of his platoon.
“There is a machine gun in the middle window on the third floor, two soldiers in the window on the second floor, and three soldiers in the window on the first floor. And there are about a dozen soldiers manning the barricades on both sides of the alley.”
A platoon of Imperial troops is blocking the road.
I also glanced at the end of the street.
The road is about 200 meters long.
It appears as if a wide road continues in a straight line and is blocked by a three-story building.
It was the perfect condition to block the road.
Taang!
At that moment, one of the 1st Platoon members was seen being shot and falling.
As soon as I put my head above the wall, it happened.
“Wow, we have a great sniper.”
At that moment, Sergeant Phelps came running quickly from behind.
“There is a magic reaction in front.”
“How many people are there?”
“I feel a fairly strong mana from one person.”
“Are you a sniper?”
“I think so.”
“Where is it?”
“The bell tower roof is at the back of the building.”
“He’s a weakling.”
The sniper was hiding on the roof of the bell tower just behind the building guarded by the Imperial Army.
It was the perfect hiding place, since I had to pass that building to get there.
Taang!
Then another soldier fell helplessly.
“If we continue like this, the 1st Platoon will be annihilated.”
“Sergeant Herman.”
“yes.”
“Follow me.”
I ran to the building right next door with Sergeant Herman.
It was time to use Sergeant Herman’s induction technique.
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