Otherworld Adventure 285 Strategy Mee

Once Lucia and Serilla grouped up with Fatima's unit, the rest of the army had finished reorganizing neatly into their ranks. The infantry at the vanguard, the cavalry in the center, and the bowmen and war weapons at the rear, the army began to march and Lucia couldn't help but feel a little bit in awe at the situation they were currently in.

Serilla was already used to this kind of thing because she was once a part of Anglaria Kingdom's army as a knight. It was a first for Lucia so she was a little giddy with excitement when she saw the large army move uniformly on the road.

The Wanderers were placed near the center of the formation where the 3 Princes were at. Fatima's unit was trailing just a little bit behind them.

It took about a week or so of marching before they finally came across the main army of the Merkruz Princ.i.p.ality. After suffering from defeat after defeat, the Merkruz forces had constructed a fortress for themselves in the neutral territory to act as a bastion to stave off the Regulus army's attacks.

First Prince Albert had indeed sent a few of his divisions to attack this fortress during its construction, but the Merkruz army was able to constantly repel the attacks and constant hara.s.sments until it was finally finished.

The royal family had dragged back Fatima into the battlefield again because they needed her help to take down this obstacle.

They began setting up camp on a large hill overlooking the hastily built fortress. It was made of a mix between rocks, concrete, and steel. It looked haphazardly built, but Fatima could tell from the distance that it was pretty st.u.r.dy.

She didn't have Mana Eyes like Cecil, but she could acutely feel that the fortress was covered in a thick layer of mana, meaning that the entirety of the stronghold was layered in innumerous magic formations.

Fatima frowned when she noticed this. Right now, they were still under the influence of the M-Jammer so she couldn't understand how the Merkruz Forces were still able to use mana. She could only hope that it was limited to those magic formations layered onto the fortress.

If even the soldiers were able to use mana, then the upcoming battle was bound to be an uphill struggle.

A few of the kingdom's scouts reported back to camp and immediately informed Prince Albert of their findings.

"d.a.m.n...so this M-Jammer is only affecting us?"

"It appears so, Your Majesty," A scout reported with a bitter look on his face. While doing their scouting earlier, the scout's squadron had nearly been wiped out when they tried to return.

The Merkruz forces were still able to use mana, but from the reports, they had only used low-tiered magic and the casualties were mostly because of the scouts' negligence so they were caught off guard by the enemy.

They were complacent since they thought that the enemy was also in a similar situation as them. Even if this was the case, the scouts should have still been on alert. This could only be attributed to the fact that they lacked training and discipline.

The times of peace had blunted these warriors' sense of danger and battle sense. Fatima couldn't help but shake her head inwardly at this. It was a large contrast to her family's kingdom. Silvaria Kingdom was now protected by the walls constructed on the outer edges of the valley so the monster attacks have been occurring less and less since the walls were completed.

However, her father, the overseer of the kingdom, had nonetheless made sure that their soldiers were still in tiptop shape. Kaiser always personally inspected the training of the troops and this only caused all of them to stay more alert since Kaiser would punish anyone who was being negligent.

"Fatima," Prince Albert called out.

"Yes?"

"How do you propose we fight this battle?"

Fatima stepped forward and hesitated for a moment. The geographic layout was a little to the enemy's advantage. The fortress was built in a location where two of the neutral territory's major rivers intersected.

This place was originally a neutral force's city, but when the Merkruz Princ.i.p.ality pa.s.sed through, they had directly conquered this force and taken over the city. It was only recently that they had reconstructed the city into a fortress.

They also had the advantage of being on the defense while the Regulus Kingdom was on the offense. With the use of magic and mana being out of the picture, the siege was just going to be that much more difficult.

"Your Majesty, can we have someone test whether or not we can still use low-tier spells just like the enemy?"

"Conrad," The Prince called out.

The court magician of the kingdom stepped up and tried invoking a low-tiered spell, Fireball.

It took a while, but once the minute amount of mana gathered into the spell formation, the Fireball was invoked. Seeing the slow invocation of the spell, Fatima furrowed her brows.

"Your Majesty, I think we can leave the use of magic out of our battles. The mages can still try and send spells over, but low-tiered magic spells have a low range so it's still not plausible to use them effectively. I also have other plans for them if they aren't usable for the battle later, is that alright?"

The Prince nodded at Fatima and so did the other generals in the tent. Once she got their agreement, Fatima immediately gave the Prince the simplest strategy that she could come up with.

"We can try poisoning the rivers and slowly push them out of the city."

Many in the room frowned at Fatima's words. This was indeed a war, but to rely on poisoning the enemy to win the battle was a little underhanded. Also, there was the problem of whether or not the water was able to be purified by the enemy. The river was also the only source of water that the Regulus Army could get water from so it was a double-edged sword.

"Your Majesty, if I may add," Conrad said.

"What is it?"

"Cleanse is an intermediate-tier magic spell. The possibility of them being able to use it is nil since they are being obstructed by their weapon."

"You have a point...but what happens to us? We also rely on that river to get drinking water. The enemy also knows this so they'll be on high alert and would also want to protect the river...is there no other plan?"

"That's just the most effective and quickest strategy, Your Majesty," Fatima said. "We can also try to flood both rivers and use Mother Nature to do the work for us."

"Oh?" Albert grew interested in this plan. "Tell me more."

"It's like this, Your Majesty," Fatima began explaining the plan using the map stretched out on the table.

The battle plan was to split the army into 3. 2 divisions would split off from the main army and travel to two specific locations on the river that Fatima had specifically picked out. The two locations that Fatima picked out had a lower elevation in comparison to the other places.

As for how she got this information, Fatima had already asked her men to investigate the rivers long before the army had reached the fortress. She was already strategizing for the battle even before they arrived.

With the information on hand, she was able to pick out the specific areas that the army divisions would use to build a dam. It wasn't too far or too close to the Merkruz Fortress, just at the right distance where a flash flood would be able to affect the fortress and the enemy soldiers' movements.

To maximize the water quant.i.ty, she also tasked the soldiers that would split off with the duty to make an artificial basin by digging out the ground around the river so that it would accommodate more water when it was dammed up.

It was going to be an arduous task which would require days to fulfill, but the Prince was satisfied with this arrangement. Conrad however still had some doubts.

"So we build a dam...but even if we fill the artificial basin full of water, how long are we going to wait? This plan is indeed brilliant, but if the enemy notices what we're up to, then they'll send people to destroy the dam before it can accomplish its goal."

Fatima nodded in understanding at his concerns, that's where the magicians and the main army would come into play.

"We'll have the main army keep the Merkruz Forces in check. If they indeed catch wind of our plans, the main army will be there to hinder their forces from advancing up and down the rivers. Also, the mages will be split into two and accompany the two divisions in this undertaking. The mages will also contribute by moving the earth and hastening the construction of the artificial basin. After that, they'll create water using low-tier magic to help fill the basin and they'll also be tasked with destroying the dam."

"Ah!"

"Brilliant! Water ball is only a low-tiered magic spell and simple earth manipulation is well within low-tier magic standards. If it's destroying the dam, then a few fireb.a.l.l.s can be used! Now, our useless mages can play a large part in the upcoming battle!"

"Yes, we can still use the mages like this. Also, we'll leave a portion of our mages here with us. Just in case we do need to poison the water, we'll have them create and store water for us." Fatima added.

"A contingency plan...alright, we'll proceed as how you've suggested," Albert said in appreciation. He couldn't help but lament that his little brother was so lucky to meet such a fine woman like Fatima.

If he was the one to have met her first, Albert wouldn't hesitate to crown her queen since she had the beauty and the brains worthy of the t.i.tle. He was envious, but there was little he could do since even the King had already given his consent on the couple's marriage. All that was needed was for Rowan to gain the Silvaria Royal Family's consent.

Albert couldn't help but frown at how arrogant the Silvarias were. His brother, a member of the Regulus Royal Family needed to gain another family's approval to wed a woman. He was also dissatisfied with his brother for letting such an offense pa.s.s.

'Whatever, that's his decision.'

"General Lewis and General Blake, prepare your divisions. You will be the ones in charge of this undertaking. Make sure not to fail!" Albert commanded.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The two generals responded firmly in unison. The two walked out to prepare for their march and the strategy meeting for the main army's duties ensued in the next moment. Fatima was still the one talking while others in the tent would give their opinions and suggestions.

Lucia and Serilla couldn't help but stare in awe at the way their sister-in-law had taken command of everyone in the room, which naturally included all the n.o.bles, generals, and the two princes, Albert and Rowan.

These two had been invited to come as escorts and bodyguards for Fatima. Fatima had caught wind that the 2nd Prince wouldn't be attending the strategy meeting because he planned to chase and flirt with her two sisters-in-law.

To prevent the stupid prince's advances, she took the two with them as guards. Naturally, Lucia and Serilla were covered in a black cloak so they could hide their ident.i.ties. Of course, the prince will catch wind of this sooner or later, but at least he wouldn't be able to openly flirt with the two since Fatima and Rowan would be around to keep Armano in check.

"Our sis-in-law is so capable!" Lucia whispered in excitement.

"Yeah...she can come up with such a plan...I didn't even think about using those two rivers to our advantage...she even prepared 2 ways of using them! Also, I think that sis-in-law even has another use for them," Serilla nodded back and quietly said.

"Really?"

"Yeah...it's a hunch, but I think sis-in-law has one or two more plans she could use which would revolve around the river...then there are those other strategies which don't include the use of the river..."

"O-oh! Our husband's family seems to be filled with all sorts of talented people!"

"Mhm..."

Serilla was correct. Fatima did have plenty of other strategies she could use to her advantage, but the ones she suggested were the most efficient and less time-consuming.

If she had full command of the army, she'd have them construct traps just outside of the fortress and then have the army split up. One half would stay on this side while the other half would cross over to the other side, effectively surrounding both sides of the fortress on either side of the rivers. She'd then send some of her soldiers to build a dam on the two rivers and simply wait until the people in the fortress either died of thirst or ran out of the fortress.

Sure, they probably had the means to create water from magic, but just how many mages were there in the enemy army? How much water could they produce before their mana ran dry? Fatima knew that it wouldn't be enough and sooner or later they would crack.

Once they turned desperate and try to look for a source of water outside of the fortress, Fatima would simply lead the army and engage them in combat outside of the fortress, taking away their home ground advantage.

Between an army that was weak from dehydration and an army that was fully prepared and rested, it was obvious which side was going to win. It was a little bit inhumane, but if that was what it took to get the job done, Fatima wouldn't hesitate.

She had long since figured out how this world worked. It wasn't like Earth. Here, the strong survive while the weak perish. Fatima was using this war as a means to whet herself because now that her family also had a kingdom, there was bound to be conflict knocking on their door someday in the future.

If she hesitated then it would only bring harm to her family. This war was a way for her to abandon any hesitation when it came to making the hard and bitter decisions.

It was only after the discussions had finished that the Second Prince had appeared. When he saw the two black-cloaked individuals who were at Fatima's side, his brow couldn't help but twitch as his face visibly crumpled in annoyance.