The Tragic Defender (Part 2)

  The Tragic Guardian (Part 2)

  "If bad weather could settle all our enemies, there would be no need for the army," Charlotte said, shaking her head. "Emon Harbour has hardly any defensive installations at all; we can't even think of how to deploy troops, let alone defend against them."

  "Didn't your cousin let the strategic goddess church's pastor help you as an advisor and come up with several defensive plans?" General Norm asked, somewhat puzzled. "Can't even use one of them?"

  "It's a fact." Charlotte pulled out several neatly bound documents and placed them on the table, "You see this plan, it suggests building artillery emplacements on the small hills on both sides of the harbor to blockade the bay. If necessary, long-range cannons can be used to break up the ice sheet, causing enemy troops attempting to force a landing to fall into the water and drown."

  "......Isn't that great? By deploying the artillery in high places as mentioned earlier, the range can be greatly increased and also make it impossible for the enemy's warship cannons to reach our artillery positions."

  "The problem is the weather, the weather! At this temperature, the mud on the mountain is frozen harder than stone, and it's snowing so heavily. With our army's equipment level, not to mention building a gun emplacement, even paving a road that can transport the artillery up the mountain would be enough to freeze all the construction personnel to death before they finish! I don't have a magical engineering corps in my hands!"

  "...How about this one?" Nuo Mu pinched his nose and pulled out another plan, "Set up a large number of camouflaged shelters on the beaches where the enemy may land, and arrange snipers to ambush the enemy's landing troops. Aren't there many mountain hunters in our team who claim to be 100% accurate? Let them go, isn't it just right?"

  "It's this blasted winter!" Charlotte exclaimed, waving her hands excitedly. "In weather as cold as this, in a makeshift shelter without heating, you can freeze to death in just two hours! And this plan requires them to lie in wait for several days! Do we have that many magical heaters?"

  "Let them light a fire to warm themselves..." The words had barely left his mouth when Colonel Nohm felt that something was wrong, but it was too late.

  "Indeed, Charlotte wore an expression of 'being defeated by you', and said with a mixture of tears and laughter, "Sir, where there's fire, there's smoke. Unless we can afford to have a magician at every bunker, using illusions to conceal the smoke, it would be like giving the enemy warships a target indicator!"

  "Alright, alright, these two are no good." Nuo Mu Jun flipped through the remaining plans again, feeling that they were even more unrealistic than the first two. It wasn't until he got to the last one that it seemed somewhat feasible. "This one your cousin wrote should be okay, building barricades in the city, setting up obstacles, preparing for street fighting. I think the feasibility is pretty good!"

  "Indeed." Charlotte nodded in agreement, but immediately added, "But if we are to defend like this, the premise is that we must evacuate all the city residents! Letting the enemy in to fight a street battle is equivalent to letting our home and the enemy perish together. How can we let civilians without combat power stay on the battlefield? Moreover, unless there are reinforcements that can arrive in time, the defender will ultimately fail in the street battle. Where is our reinforcement?"

  "In the end, you all want me to give up on Emon!" Nomu's middle general huffed and puffed, sweeping the plan book to the ground, shouting loudly, "Get out, get out, you bunch of cowards! Even if I'm the only one left, I'll defend this place! All of you, get lost!"

  "Alright, sir. I'll go continue training those new recruits who don't know a thing." Charlotte put on her hat with an equally unhappy expression and turned to leave the conference room. "Today is already December 15th, our time is running out, please make your decision soon, sir!"

  "I share the same view." Speaker Zena stood up immediately.

  "Get out!" Norman shouted, grabbing his teacup and hurling it outside, where it shattered with a loud crash in the corridor.

  As the meeting was going nowhere, Feli, who had been silent all along, could only leave the Governor's Mansion with his colleagues. In fact, in his opinion, neither Charlotte nor General Norm had done anything wrong, they just looked at the problem from different angles.

  From a military perspective, Emon Harbour is actually indefensible. The thick floating ice outside is a natural barrier that theoretically makes it absolutely impossible for large armies to pass through, but because of this, it's also impossible to predict where and how the enemy will land, making it impossible to set up defenses.

  The news that the Elf Army is going to launch a large-scale attack on New Delhi has been confirmed by the intelligence agency through ultra-long-distance communication. Rather than waiting in the city with eyes closed and getting beaten, it's better to abandon the port and leave only a small number of troops to monitor, deploying the main force outside the city. If the enemy is weak, take the opportunity to counterattack; if the enemy is strong, then retreat to the inland. This is basically the same logic as when the Japanese garrison troops abandoned their beachhead positions during the Pacific War and set up positions deep in the island to engage in a decisive battle with the US military.

  Norman's situation is precarious due to the recent upheaval in Wysteria, and his position as commander of the war zone is still extremely unstable. If he doesn't win a battle at his own base in Emon Port, he won't be able to account for himself to his supporters across the land. As the highest leader of all thirteen states of New Toulouse, he can't just flee with his tail between his legs without even seeing the shadow of the enemy.

  However, if the decision is made to make a final stand at Emon Port, then once defeated, it's likely that there won't be enough power left to retreat and defend New Marais City and its vast hinterland. The Great Bear Legion may be General Nomm's elite troops, but they are also the sons of New Marais State, and Speaker Zenna is not willing to sacrifice them just for General Nomm's prestige.

  "Ah, everyone's having a hard time." Feili sighed and walked onto the streets still covered with thick snow. After hesitating for a moment, he didn't return to the Garrison Command but instead went to the new recruit training camp in the suburbs.

  ****

  On the training ground after a snowfall, new recruits were being driven out of their warm barracks by instructors with military clubs and whips, listlessly forming up in formation on the drill ground as the military band played, beginning the routine morning exercise that had been delayed due to the weather.

  "Hey, Rick, how's it going today?" Ferri asked, greeting Rick Torryni who was supervising the new recruits' training. "Isn't Charlotte coming?" After recovering from his injuries, Rick Torryni officially joined the Giant Bear Corps and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He had become quite familiar with Ferri, but that serious tone of his hadn't changed much.

  Rick turned his head to look at Phil, then turned back to continue watching the new recruits on the drill ground. "The Legion Commander said he was in a bad mood and went out drinking with the Speaker."

  "Drinking in the morning already?" Phil asked with a surprised blink, but seeing the new recruits before him, he somewhat understood Charlotte's mood.

  "It's better to be out of sight, out of mind!"

  Due to the lack of cooperation from various places, combined with the exhaustion of the past few months of war, these new recruits looked really pathetic. Because helmets couldn't be found in the warehouse, a large number of pots were hastily purchased and had them wear on their heads to make up for it. Due to the urgency of time, there was no time to produce military uniforms, so they had to wear the miscellaneous clothes brought from home. Not only did it look completely unarmy-like, but it also brought the problem of being unable to distinguish between officers and soldiers from appearance. Under duress, another rule was added: officers wore copper pots on their heads, while soldiers wore iron pots...

  I believe any self-respecting general would have an urge to bang their head against the wall upon seeing such subordinates. It's really admirable that Charlotte, this newly promoted brigadier general, has managed to hold on for so long.

  Fili circled around the area but didn't see the massive figure of Grand Druid Vini, so he walked back to Rick's side. "Rick, isn't Vini coming either?"

  "The deputy commander of the legion took his guard out for recruitment early in the morning."

  "Recruit soldiers? It's recruiting bears instead." Phil immediately burst out laughing.

  Ruike's usual poker face also revealed a wanting-to-laugh-but-not-daring-to expression, "It would be better to recruit more bears, at least it looks more intimidating."

  Mr. Vinnie has been feeling down since returning to Emerald Port, showing signs of entering hibernation with his bear cubs. To avoid missing the upcoming war, the great druid tried all sorts of methods to fight against this instinct, even wanting to transform himself into an old eagle that doesn't hibernate.

  Unfortunately, he had been a bear for too long and his transformation technique was a bit rusty. He failed to turn into an eagle, but instead inflated himself into a giant rooster two stories high. After reverting back to his original form, he also developed the bad habit of crowing every day. The problem of hibernation was solved, but unfortunately, his bear brothers were forced to eat highly stimulating drugs prepared by Phil, and they had to hold back their heavy sleepiness to accompany the enthusiastic Great Druid running east and west. It's really bullying that this world has no labor law, abusing employees at will.

  In the vast and sparsely populated land of New Zealand, outside the city lies a vast expanse of desolate mountains and hills. The animal resources are extremely rich, also providing a sufficient source of soldiers for the Grand Druid's personal guard. On these days, as long as it doesn't snow, the Grand Druid would take a huge iron rod, over three stories high, and bring a large group of bear cubs to sweep through the wilderness outside the city. With his rod and magic, he would pull out one by one the hibernating bears from their warm dens, then bind them back to the city, using food and bear paws to "educate" them to "voluntarily" become the Grand Druid's loyal subordinates, a glorious member of the ill-fated Bear Corps. Now, the number of members in this special forces has reached over 200, and is still rapidly increasing, making the name Giant Bear Legion more and more apt.