Episode 220 Abyss Crusade – The Longest Week (2)
“What is this attack from?”
“It’s a rocket! rocket!”
“what is that!”
“There’s something the Eastern Empire used!”
Piiiiing-
“That!”
“Ah….”
Piiiiing –
Piiii –
Rockets that make an ear-piercing noise burn and fly through the sky, causing explosions here and there.
Sparks flew here and there, the barracks caught fire, and screams erupted.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Fire light off fire!”
“Where’s the water! “Bring water!”
The camp was surprised by a sudden rocket bombing in the middle of the night and fell into chaos.
“Martin is in there! “We have to bring him out!”
“You crazy guy, if you go in now, you too will burn to death!”
The situation was in chaos as fires broke out here and there in the barracks and soldiers who had woken up poured out all at once.
In the face of rockets suddenly flying in from beyond the fog and pouring down, all the soldiers can do is run away and pray that they will not be hit directly by the rockets.
After running urgently, pushing and weaving through the confused soldiers, I arrived at the command post.
“Mirbo!”
Damien, whose hands were shaking and who had an anxious face, asked urgently as soon as he saw me.
“La la Marquis de Lafayette! “What should I do?”
“Deploy the artillery and return fire!”
Damien, who heard what I said, turned his head and looked in the direction where the rockets were flying and responded.
“Can’t you see anything through the fog?”
I followed Damien’s gaze and clicked my tongue as I looked at the thick fog.
However, while it may be a drone that only moves as specified, a rocket is a howitzer weapon using ballistics.
It’s not something that puppet drones can shoot, so it’s obviously a demon or something that’s coming out and shooting it.
It’s not like they’re looking through the fog over there, they’re just spraying it roughly in the direction where they think our camp is.
In fact, rockets are exploding here and there in the camp, causing chaos, but the actual damage from direct hits does not appear to be significant.
“I know! “Just shoot!”
“Oh, I understand!”
In any case, unless they can accurately understand the situation on this side, they will be reluctant if they decide that they have started a counter-attack.
“We are deploying a barrage in the direction where the noise of the artillery rockets is heard!”
After the artillerymen ran around and moved hard, preparations were completed and –
“Fire!”
Our deployed artillery began firing shells.
And after a while, the strange noise of the rocket flying stopped and I breathed a small sigh of relief.
I took a quick picture, but it looks like I got it roughly right. But that doesn’t mean it’s over.
“Send out a scouting party! Emergency alert posture! “Be prepared for enemy attacks, except for the troops deployed for firefighting!”
“ancient!”
Perhaps the rocket launch was stopped to avoid mistaken bombing by friendly forces. If the friendly camp was thrown into chaos this night, this could be an all-out offensive.
However-
“This is the report from the scouting party, His Excellency the Marquis de Lafayette. It seems that the enemy only uses rocket bombardment and has no intention of launching an offensive. “We didn’t find anything nearby.”
“Ha…”
I felt my tension melt away and my heart drained.
At first glance, it seems like I’m not the only one. Everyone is either feeling relaxed or wiping their tired faces with their hands.
Damn bastards. You made up your mind and sat down to provoke.
“Damn it, disband the unit. Just put the guard on duty again and let the rest rest.”
There is no way I can rest properly like this.
Although we know this in our heads, we cannot order a group to stay up all night to prepare for an attack that may come at any time.
The only thing I can do is let him get some sleep.
“Ah, I understand, His Excellency the Marquis de Lafayette.”
About two hours later, the unit was disbanded and I went to bed to get some sleep.
Rocket bombing began again.
* * *
Rocket bombings were carried out a total of four times from dawn to noon.
We tried to respond considering that the time between attacks was about 2 hours, but the enemy seemed to laugh at our attempts, changing the attack cycle irregularly, launching rockets in the fog and then withdrawing.
At least by noon, we were able to stop the devils’ rocket bombardment only by significantly increasing the scouting party without any changes, and at an emergency countermeasures meeting, the commanders, whose eyes were red and bloodshot from a sleepless night, gathered to raise their voices.
“We have to do something to overcome this situation!”
“The actual damage from rocket bombing is not that great! The enemies are just hiding in the fog and repeating inaccurate long-distance attacks-”
“You can’t sleep well at night because of those inaccurate long-distance attacks, damn it! If things continue like this, the soldiers will be exhausted before the actual battle breaks out!”
“Then what do you want to do? “What can you do against something that shoots and bounces from places you can’t see properly due to fog?”
Since I can’t sleep, I’m starting to feel tired and have a headache.
In all the long years of war, this is the first time I have seen such a fierce battle.
The enemy knows our location. At least they know the terrain better than we do.
We have a place to protect and our troops are limited, so we have no choice but to defend this place.
But we don’t know the enemy’s location.
We must allow continuous, unilateral attacks without even knowing where the enemy’s military base is on this fog-covered island.
“It is now the fourth day. If I somehow hold out for four more days, the door will be completed, and then…”
As I was speaking in an attempt to somehow calm them down, there was a knock on the door.
“Please come in.”
The person who entered was Louis Dakiten.
However, the face of the young man in charge of liaison between the Magic Division and the Allied Forces was extremely dark, and I intuitively knew that something had gone wrong.
“I am very sorry, Your Excellency the Marquis de Lafayette. The rocket barrage that continued during the morning hit the gate’s frame, and the wizards were unable to properly rest due to the continuous surprise attacks…”
I automatically raised my hand and touched my forehead.
“Yes, we are probably responsible for not being able to properly defend ourselves. So what is the conclusion?”
Lewis responded with a half-desperate look on his face.
“We need at least two more days of work. If this situation continues, it may increase further…”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“We’ve been waiting for just that!”
“It’s been four days now!” I met almost half of the requested deadlines, but now I’m starting from scratch. What’s the difference? “Where are all your wizards who boasted that it would be over in a week?”
In an instant, a wave of anger and dissatisfaction washed over Lewis.
I felt at a loss when I saw that, but the door wouldn’t be completed by arguing with Lewis. I gestured to Lewis to leave.
Lewis repeatedly lowered his head as if he was sorry and then walked out in a huff, leaving the conference room in complete disarray.
Alejandro, the leader of the Holy Knights, is so excited that he is ready to charge into the enemy camp at any moment. Crocs is flexing his muscles as if he is uncomfortable and staying silent. Scharnhorst is cynically talking about pessimism about the current situation. Jill is doing something else with a relieved look on her face. She is half in a panic. In addition to Damien, who is muttering nonsense about how we will all die, the other commanders are barking at each other… What
could be worse than this?
As I was suffering from quite severe frustration, Alejandro, the leader of the Holy Knights, shouted loudly.
“Our Holy Knights will stand by in advance and charge in as soon as the rocket bombardment begins to destroy the enemies!”
I’m going crazy. Those guys whose brains are filled with faith and courage must be crazy about wanting to die.
“It is a reckless assault without any countermeasures in a situation where visibility is not secured. So, do you think the enemy would just bring rocket artillery, fire and run away without any countermeasures? “Drones don’t sleep and don’t get tired.”
Before I could open my mouth, General Scharnhorst of Krafte spoke first, and Alejandro got angry.
“So you’re saying that I’ll continue to be beaten like a coward and then collapse? “Drones cannot stop our Holy Knights!”
“Oh, it’s so reliable it’s driving me crazy. I hope that the demons are as ignorant and thoughtless as the Lord and are completely destroyed by the Holy Knights. “If we don’t, we’ll have to deal with drones who were Paladins.”
“what? How dare you insult the sacred servants of God now!”
Alejandro was about to draw his sword, so I struck the conference table with my fist first.
“stop!”
At least the conflict between General Scharnhorst and Alejandro is over.
However, all the commanders’ eyes filled with dissatisfaction, annoyance, and anxiety that surpassed all of that were immediately focused on me.
I feel like I can’t breathe.
In a helpless and tired situation, everyone’s blood is rushing to their heads, rational thinking and consideration for each other are fading away.
At least Alejandro got one right.
It is obvious that if we sit still like this and suffer without sleep, the divided and exhausted Allied Forces will collapse without even being able to do anything.
Is the judgment I am making right now?
In fact, isn’t it possible that I, too, have lost my sense of reason and composure, and am so driven by anxiety that I make wrong decisions?
I have never been more desperate for Christine to show me trust and Eris to make me feel safe than I am at this time.
However, the longer I am silent, the stronger the commanders’ distrust becomes.
In the end, I let out a small sigh and said.
“I cannot agree with the policy of rushing recklessly into enemy territory. However, even if we continue to remain alert as we are now, we will be helpless against long-distance rocket attacks using fog.”
I swallowed dry saliva and spit it out.
“Instead of passively dispatching a small reconnaissance team and standing guard, let’s divide into groups and conduct large-scale patrols. “To prevent the enemy from firing rockets at the troops resting in the rear, we survey the nearby area with the entire group and block the enemy’s access.”
It’s more tiring than just standing guard, and scouting in the fog can be risky.
At least this way, the other group members left behind can rest for a while.
“But brother, in the end, it’s just an active defense…”
Alejandro said as if he was a little dissatisfied with even this.
Ha crazy guy. Then, why don’t we launch an all-out offensive against Pandemonium with these troops?
Maybe it’s because my leisure time is gradually disappearing, but it feels like my patience is running out.
“It is a search war involving large-scale troops. If the enemy tries to attack with a small unit, it will be possible to intercept it, and even if not, the search efficiency is higher than a small scout unit. At the very least, it will mean preparation for when we advance to Pandemonium after completing the ‘Moon’.”
“If you say so, the Holy Knights will follow suit.”
“There is certainly a risk, but it would be better to at least reduce the variables rather than remain silent.”
“I agree, Marquis de Lafayette.”
Fortunately, almost all commanders stepped forward without much opposition.
“Okay, it’s decided. For convenience, the group will be organized with units from countries that were in sync at the time of landing.”
In any case, there was no time to properly rotate missions and enjoy the luxury of mixing and matching between allied forces, and everyone was at their limit.
If you try to keep up with this situation and mix in the armies of countries that have never worked together before, discord will only break out.
“All right.”
“No disagreement!”
The commanders seemed to think the same thing and quickly answered.
Why is this self-mocking laughter flowing?
If it had been right after landing on the island and being ambushed by drones in the fog, if I had given the order to lead the unit to explore the fog and conduct patrol activities, everyone would have reacted and said I was crazy.
But I never thought that the reckless choice of the lesser evil would seem reasonable to everyone.
In just three days, or more precisely, in just one night.
The enemy has pushed us all the way here.
I never thought it would be easy, but to be honest, I never thought it would be this kind of fight.
4th day after landing on the island.
The most terrifying and longest week of my life has only just begun.
