Chapter 670: Encirclement

The Kingdom of Velys lies in the middle of the continent. To the north it bordered high, frigid permafrost where crops were hard to cultivate; to the east it adjoined the human realm of the Valeria Empire; to the south it reached the Desert formed by the wreckage of the collapsed World Tree; to the west there was a small stretch of farmland relatively suitable for human tillage, and further inward toward the continent’s heart lay territories controlled by powerful magical beasts and other intelligent races.

From a topographical standpoint, Velys was higher in the east and lower in the west.

The Valeria imperial army advanced from the border toward the center; once they crossed the snowfields, what followed was flat wasteland.

At that point, Velys’s cities would have no natural defenses to rely on, its entire country would be like a wide-open door before the enemy’s raised blade.

And the Coldwind City under Duke Grant’s control was that door. If Valeria achieved a breakthrough there, their iron cavalry would plunge down from the heights onto the plains like divine soldiers descending from the heavens; no matter how elite a force Velys could muster, it would be difficult to stop them.

News of Valeria’s march on Coldwind City quickly reached the ears of nearby nobles.

With Astrid’s personal letter as warning, none of them dared to act rashly. The nobles who had originally wanted to negotiate with Grant to build a coordinated defense network, upon seeing how quickly the border cities had fallen and now facing an army at their gates, fully equipped with magical machinery, and led in person by the Regent Princess, Grand Duke Charles, completely extinguished any thought of profiting from the chaos by squeezing the duke for a windfall.

The king was already stretched too thin. Now the only one they could hope would stand up to resist the invaders was the pontiff.

If the Pope of Light chose to turn a blind eye, then Grant would most likely become the first duke in Velys’s history to possess early-stage Arcanist mage-level strength, yet lose all his fief and be left with nothing but an empty title.

For a noble who cares about face, that ending was scarcely better than death.

With no response from any of the factions, Grant repeatedly weighed his options before reluctantly deciding to fight.

Compared with the other cities in his domain, Coldwind City’s outer perimeter had relatively complete walls; the soldiers, provisions, and weapons transferred earlier were all stockpiled here. If Astrid wanted to force an assault, the price she would pay would be far higher than on the night the border fell.

Perhaps... if the Church of Light saw Coldwind City standing firm amid the storm, it would send reinforcements...

Compared with Velys nobles who blew with the wind and chased profit, Grant trusted these religious fanatics more, at least the faith war that invaded Valeria last year proved as much.

Because Hebrew had never cared about land or wealth; he only wanted to spread doctrine to neighboring realms and fulfill the will of the Lord.

War was his means, not his end.

Facing Coldwind City, managed by Grant until it was like an iron fortress, Astrid did not immediately order Charles to storm it. Instead, she convened a targeted military meeting, then continued sending letters to reach verbal non-aggression understandings with surrounding nobles.

When you plunge deep into enemy territory, the most dangerous scenario is for the enemy to become a single solid plate, supporting one another and constantly harassing logistics.

Valeria’s military might have been formidable, but in the end this was still an away campaign; in every respect, the odds were against them. An expeditionary force could deal with the Grand Duke Grant, but it could not swallow the entire Kingdom of Velys.

To break the deadlock, they had to divide the nobles and crush them one by one.

February 30th, Year 1734 of the Common Human Calendar. On a high slope not far from Coldwind City, Lyra, armored, looked down from above and surveyed the whole city.

Within her line of sight, the grand, imposing architecture of the kingdom reflected in her blue eyes; the tallest structures were even several times the height of the city walls.

"Astrid, our forces are enough to besiege it. But if we force it, casualties won’t be low."

With Crusader-level keen vision, Lyra caught the dense magical engravings on the walls, and the weapons hidden behind the high ramparts, glinting with cold light.

Coldwind City’s position meant that for Valeria to strike the royal capital, they had to take this city first. To meet the enemy he knew was coming, Grant had surely piled up a huge amount of arms and provisions inside, quantity ready to fight them to the death.

Unless there was no other choice, Lyra did not want to trade imperial soldiers’ lives for walls, especially when surrounding nobles only promised verbally not to participate. The moment Valeria’s army showed the slightest fatigue, their petty schemes would inevitably surface.

For them, the best ending was a costly imperial victory, Grant dead, and Astrid unable to fully digest such a huge territory, forced to reconcile with them and jointly carve up Grant’s lands. Of course, that seems unlikely for now: the city might be tough, but it still couldn’t withstand the double suppression of Charles’s troop numbers and troop quality.

"Then what does Lyra plan to do?" Beside the girl, a silver-haired beauty in an elegant black dress asked softly.

Coldwind City truly was a hard bone. Based on the information Astrid had from scouts, Grant had begun stockpiling military supplies in the city before the border fell.

The provisions inside were enough to feed the army for at least half a year; Even if they cut off resupply, the defenders wouldn’t face starvation anytime soon.

Astrid had chosen to invade Velys at this moment exactly to take advantage of its internal turmoil, no suitable commander to unite the factions, so they could achieve their strategic goal in one push.

If they wasted too much time on a single city, it would not only blunt morale, it would also give Velys more room to breathe.

"I think the same as Grand Duke Charles," Lyra said. "First, surround the city. At the very least, we can’t let messages slip out easily."

Every extra day of siege was another day of torment for the garrison.

"And then? Camp at a point and strike reinforcements?" Astrid asked.

In truth, there probably wouldn’t be any reinforcements to strike. The nobles were already prepared to sit on the sidelines and watch two tigers fight.

Lyra shook her head, her voice gentle.

"Astrid has already transported the large-scale magical machines for war, hasn’t she?"

"After concentrating our troops and sealing Coldwind City so tight it can’t breathe, we use those large mana machines to bombard the walls day after day without pause, creating the appearance of a constant feint."

"Grant has concentrated a huge force in Coldwind City, which will inevitably leave the other cities militarily hollow. Once the mana machines are in position, we can start from the flanks, gradually nibbling away, encroaching step by step, tightening layer by layer."

In theory it was effective. The only pain point was the need for immense manpower. One side had to keep Coldwind City sealed; the other had to separate forces to take other cities. Mismanage it, and you’d collapse on both fronts.

Astrid naturally understood the danger, lips parting slightly.

"If the Church of Light takes the chance to cause trouble, sending troops to lift the siege of Coldwind City, what then?"

Crushing a duke’s private troops was one thing. Facing church knights, each at least a great knight, was another.

Especially after splitting forces, the main battlefield will be weakened. There would be no conditions to stop the church’s relief force.

"I’ve considered that," Lyra said, raising her hand. Light-element motes scattered in the air formed a phantom map.

"North of Coldwind City is Kaelrent City. To the south are scattered towns and villages. The latter has no solid walls or magical arrays to resist an army; we can control that region relatively easily."

Her fingertip tapped, marking the mentioned locations on the light-map. Having reviewed the defense maps countless times, Lyra had long memorized them; what she conjured now was accurate down to the proportions.

"As for the former, Grand Duke Charles will lead personally. Taking advantage of the weak period when Grant has heavily redeployed troops, we strike. Taking that city will be far easier than Coldwind City."

Or rather, from the beginning, Grant had known those ordinary cities with low walls couldn’t be held. He could only gather his forces in one place and try to block the empire’s advance.

After that, Lyra extended her hand again, pointing to several cities behind White Maple Town, lips parting.

"If the Church of Light makes a move, from gathering troops to advance steadily, to reach Coldwind City, there will be at least several days of vacuum."

"Judging by distance, if we only take these two places, Grand Duke Charles can return in time to strengthen."

If they aimed for cities farther away, they would face a dilemma of being unable to tend both ends, Lyra did not consider it. In her use of troops, she favors steadiness over risk.

"..."

Astrid narrowed her eyes slightly, thinking carefully about Lyra’s plan.

Taking more cities meant splitting even more troops to control them. It wasn’t always a good thing. If they only took these two, first, it wouldn’t achieve a complete encirclement of Coldwind City; second, it would increase defensive burden; third, it wouldn’t support bypassing the hard bone and thrusting straight at the royal capital.

Lyra wanted these two areas for another reason.

After a long moment, Astrid spoke softly.

"Lyra... are you trying to attack their hearts?"

Grant had gathered so many soldiers in Coldwind City; he surely hadn’t recruited only locally. Many of those soldiers’ hometowns had to be elsewhere.

"...Yes." Seeing Astrid understood, Lyra explained warmly.

"Coldwind City is hard to chew. The key lies in its solid walls and abundant logistics. The defenders’ morale won’t drop quickly."

"As long as we take the scattered towns and villages and the neighboring Kaelrent City, we can greatly weaken their will to fight, while creating the illusion that the army is pressing in and they’re isolated with no aid."

They didn’t need to conquer every city in Grant’s territory. Just one or two adjacent ones, then block information channels by besieging Coldwind City, and with prolonged bombardment by mana machinery, they could soon force the defenders into panic and disorder.

Astrid’s lips curved slightly as she continued.

"Next, we collect letters from the residents inside the captured cities, and further strike the defenders’ morale?"

Astrid knew this kind of tactic well: with overwhelming armaments, press to the gates, encircle the trapped beast, and shatter the enemy’s will.

At Astrid’s words, Lyra froze for a moment, then spoke.

"Astrid... what a viciously sharp idea..."

She had only planned to confuse Coldwind City’s defenders with an encirclement posture, using feints and truths to force Grant to send troops to break out. She hadn’t expected Astrid to go further, killing and condemning the heart.

"Still, it’s worth trying," Lyra said.

Not every soldier was determined to die for Duke Grant. Especially after Astrid took the border cities, she strictly enforced discipline, actively maintained production order, and the original residents continued living much as before. Even the taxes they had once paid to the duke were temporarily waived. Whether life was better now is, frankly, an open question.

Use the residents in controlled areas to shape public opinion: tell the besieged soldiers that everything is fine, that the Valeria army flies the banner of benevolence and will not harm noncombatants, urging them to lay down resistance.

Even if intimidated by Grant’s tyranny and unwilling to openly rebel, once morale scattered, it scattered.

A will weakened to fight was not something harsh men could rekindle through killing and punishment, doing so would only intensify conflicts among the troops inside the city, making it, in practical terms, even more favorable for Valeria’s advance.

Astrid nodded, expressing approval of Lyra’s decision.

"The plan is good. But whether it works in practice depends on you and Charles’s command, and on the soldiers’ willingness to put in the work."

The Regent could only talk strategy on paper. How many troops a siege required, how much logistics, how many forces to split for assaults, the best timing of attack, those all needed professionals to calculate and allocate.

"After yesterday’s meeting, when you went to inspect the transport of the mana machines, I already drafted an initial schedule," Lyra said.

"Grand Duke Charles also looked it over once and felt it had a certain determination."

"..."

"So I’m the last to know?" Astrid looked at Lyra, her red eyes calm like an ancient well.

"The bulwark of the Valeria Empire and the grand duke plotting military action, and you don’t even inform the Regent Princess in advance?"

She was right here with the army, not thousands of miles away in the imperial capital like Delphiss. Reporting it wasn’t excessive. If one insists on formality, Lyra’s move was, in fact, somewhat overstepping.

At Astrid’s words, Lyra let out a small "eh," lashes trembling; clearly she hadn’t thought of that.

"I... I just wanted to make the plan more complete before telling you..."

After answering softly, Lyra raised her eyes. Astrid’s gaze held no trace of anger, as if that moment of sternness had been an illusion.

No... Astrid didn’t seem like someone who would get angry over this kind of thing.

Especially not to her.

That much confidence Lyra still had.

Seeing Lyra straighten her legs and suddenly become unusually well-behaved, Astrid curved her lips, her tone gentle.

"Pfft... don’t be so nervous. Besides being the bulwark of the Valeria Empire, you’re also my lover. Talk of ruler and subject doesn’t apply. Opportunities vanish in a blink, if you have a judgment, try it. Don’t worry too much about what I think. You understand military affairs better than I do."

"I just want to remind you, Lyra: don’t be such an idiot when it comes to politics~"

With her, the Regent, as backing, a little political dullness on Lyra’s part was hardly a problem anyway.