The Forgotten Field Novel - Chapter 234

They did not know how many days and nights they continued riding.

Sometimes they stopped at the priests’ offices to receive healing magic, but the continuous journey without rest day and night remarkably exhausted the cavalry warriors; the horses began to stagger, and foam filled their mouths.

In the end, Varkas decided to divide the unit into two sections. While the vanguard unit, composed of light horsemen who stood out for their speed, advanced along the shortest route, the rest of the armored knight squadron followed them, gathering the available forces from the lords of the regions neighboring Kalmure.

Thanks to that uninterrupted ride without catching their breath, they managed to reach the entrance of the Arad forest two days ahead of schedule.

“Do not worry too much,” Daren said, approaching while panting and speaking in a heavy tone, when they had crossed half of the dense birch forest. “The guards of Kalmure are not easy prey. Even if the people of ‘Zaram’ attack them all at once, as soon as they close the castle gates and enter a war of siege, they will be able to resist for months.”

Varkas did not answer, for he knew that Daren’s words were solely to comfort himself.

Bjorn Blodar Heimdall had disguised himself as a holy knight with the endorsement of the order of priests, which meant there was someone among the high clergy of the central church who was helping him. If there was also a traitor within the eastern church, resistance could not be guaranteed for even a single night, much less for months.

He spurred his horse “Turk” to cross the thick forest quickly, and shortly after, a charred military base appeared before them. Varkas approached the collapsed wall, and his features contorted upon seeing the corpses scattered around the scorched watchtower. There were about twenty bodies, and judging by the degree of decomposition, it seemed they had been killed at least fifteen days ago.

It appeared they had cut the communication lines in advance to isolate Kalmure.

He gritted his teeth; if the rest of the military bases were in the same state, then Kalmure was now in absolute isolation. He shook the reins like a whip to increase the speed, and the cavalry warriors, understanding the gravity of the situation, followed him, spurring their mounts hard.

They continued riding for a while longer, and when they emerged from the forest and cleared a steep hill, a village turned into ruins appeared before them. Upon seeing the thousands of invaders encamped behind it, Varkas drew his sword immediately.

The enemy was encamped on the north and south sides, launching a double attack at the same time. Insults poured from the mouths of the knights upon seeing dozens of siege engines lined up on the plains, hurling projectiles toward the castle towers.

Fortunately, it seemed the city had not yet fallen completely, but parts of the castle wall were severely damaged, and enemy soldiers were pouring in like a torrent through the breaches of the collapsed wall.

Varkas charged down the slope of the hill without hesitation. He crossed the burned village and reached the rear of the enemy camp in an instant; the head of a soldier trying to repair a catapult went flying with one strike of his sword, and at the same time, fifteen hundred horsemen fell upon the enemy’s rear like an enraged wave.

The siege units, whose total focus was on attacking the city, could not react quickly to the surprise attack from behind. The hooves of the horses that burst in with force crushed hundreds of terrified soldiers, and the enemy lines crumbled in an instant.

Some lagging infantry units attempted to support the siege units, but Wolfram’s elite knights had already devastated the enemy camp.

Varkas slit the throat of a soldier attacking him with a wild cry and immediately leapt inside the collapsed wall of the castle. The raiders guarding the place brandished halberds toward him, but he deflected their attack lightly and pulled the reins of his horse violently, causing “Turk” to raise his front legs and crush the spearman’s head without mercy.

Seeing that, the savages retreated hesitantly, so Varkas took the opportunity to enter the city streets, and his eyes quickly scanned the wide avenues where hand-to-hand combat was unfolding. The loud sounds of fighting echoed everywhere amidst the thick dust.

“Your Excellency the Duke!” one of the veterans shouted upon seeing him.

Varkas recognized the man’s identity and narrowed his eyes; Modrian, heavily armored, was fighting a battle against two raiders. Varkas rushed toward him and thrust his sword into the back of one of the enemies. The man, whose body was pierced by the sword, turned around letting out a beastly cry. Varkas swung his sword diagonally to tear the man’s flank, then decapitated the other one attacking him with an enraged face in a single blow.

When the soldiers saw two burly men sliced like butter in the blink of an eye, they retreated immediately, but Wolfram’s cavalry was already behind them: dozens of horses that entered with the speed of lightning swept away the enemies in an instant.

A cry full of emotion burst from Modrian’s mouth upon seeing that:

“You have arrived at just the right moment! It seems God has not yet abandoned Kalmure!”

Varkas did not turn toward him, but instead inspected the surroundings meticulously. Although the city’s suburbs were submerged in chaos due to the intrusion of the enemies, the central area seemed relatively intact, which meant the enemies’ feet had not yet reached Raidegu Castle.

As soon as he understood that reality, a wave of relief washed through the deepest part of his body.

Varkas gripped the handle of his sword with his hand, which was trembling violently; only then did he realize he had been submerged in a state of extreme tension and fear. He caught his breath after feeling a weakness that almost made him lose consciousness, then composed himself and turned toward Modrian:

“Present a summary report of the situation immediately.”

“Since two weeks ago… actually, today is the third week. A few weeks after Your Excellency departed on the campaign, the savages began their attack.” The veteran took a deep breath and continued his explanation in a calmer tone: “Thanks to the timely closing of the castle gates, we managed to repel the first attack with difficulty… but since then, they brought siege engines and continued throwing stones daily, which destroyed many of the city’s facilities.”

“What is the extent of the human casualties?”

“The casualties among civilians are not large. Even though some residents living outside the walls were injured, the majority quickly took refuge in the city, allowing us to avoid the worst. And thanks to the prior evacuation of the inhabitants living in the suburbs to the interior of the walls, major human losses were reduced to a minimum.”

The man paused for a moment, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and added:

“All of this is thanks to the efforts of Her Highness the Duchess Consort. Thanks to her quick decision, the lives of many citizens were saved.”

Varkas, who was inspecting the streets in combat, turned toward him dumbfounded:

“What do you mean by that?”

“Immediately after the attack began, Her Highness the Duchess Consort took swift measures to evacuate the citizens to the interior of the castle. Not only that, but she took the initiative alongside the maids to tend to the wounded soldiers and did not spare any effort in providing aid supplies. The fact that tens of thousands of citizens have resisted until now is thanks to Her Highness.”

Varkas looked at the veteran’s face, left speechless; Modrian’s tone was filled with deep respect, and he was the man who used to show a more critical attitude toward her than anyone else. What had happened in a matter of a few weeks for his stance to change to such an extreme?

While he remained stunned amidst strange, inexplicable feelings, he heard the roar of an explosion that almost broke his eardrums in the distance. Varkas raised his head abruptly and saw black smoke rising from the north of the city, so he spurred his horse immediately to cross the destroyed urban center.

After passing through the empty square and reaching the northern wall, he saw that the outer wall and the castle tower were beginning to collapse. His eyes narrowed fiercely upon seeing thousands of ‘Zaram’ warriors encamped behind them. Their number seemed to be at least four thousand.

He turned back. The number of horsemen who had followed him to support him was only three hundred soldiers, while the rest were occupied eliminating the enemies concentrated in the southern gate area. However, if he waited for the main force to arrive, the enemies would break into the interior of the castle.

The entrance of the enemies had to be prevented at any cost until the arrival of reinforcements. Varkas made his decision quickly and charged immediately, clearing the castle wall—turned into a pile of stone rubble—straight toward the enemies.

Chapter 234

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