Chapter 69: The Führer and the Forced Breakthrough
Northern part of Lusiya Kingdom. In the forest at the foot of the Barbarossa Mountains.
A lone adventurer girl desperately running for her life through that forest.
She is a fledgling adventurer who lives in a nearby village. “Hmph, I can gather medicinal herbs on my own,” she said, and so she came to the dangerous forest.
“Haa, haa, this is the worst… I can’t believe I’ve been found by the orcs!”
And then, this is the result.
The ones chasing the girl from behind are three pig-faced monsters known as orcs. They raise their spears, clubs, and other items of weaponry. They chase after the girl with a nasty laugh.
Should they grab her and devour her?
Or should they impregnate her and make her bear their children?
While carrying out such dirty schemes, they run after the girl’s back… By the way, the girl claims to be reasonably cute.
It seems that in her village, she was reputed among the elderly as, “So cute, just like our grandchild.”
……I wonder how true her claim is?
“Why is this happening! I could manage if there was only one, but why are there three of them?”
The young adventurer girl raises her voice in anger at the orcs that are chasing after her.
She has no intention of fighting, knowing that she cannot win against such monsters alone.
Orcs are a popular monster, and they are relatively common in this world, but they are by no means a weak monster.
Rather, they are known for killing novice adventurers because of their large numbers and swarms, but they are also quite strong individually.
The smallest individual is about 170 cm in height and the largest is over 2 meters tall.
A monster covered with muscles as strong as those Balka people and powerful enough to rival a well-trained warrior.
To defeat them, you will need either the teamwork of skilled adventurers, magical attacks, or powerful attacks using well-trained muscles…
The girl is all alone, she can’t use magic, and she doesn’t have strong physical strength.
She’s just an ordinary person who became an adventurer in search for a fortune.
If she doesn’t run away, she will be eaten or something worse… Just the thought of it makes her shudder with fear.
No matter what happens, she cannot afford to get caught.
That’s why the girl is running desperately.
But orcs are also fast on their feet. Due to their good physique and excellent muscles, they have both power and explosive strength.
Muscles, and indeed muscles are the answer to everything.
The girl is gradually being caught up… The orc’s hand reached into the girl’s clothes.
“H-help me!”
The girl screams as the presence of the orcs closes in on her from behind. I’m sorry for saying that I can at least gather medicinal herbs by myself! Mom, Dad, please help me.
A familiar sound could be heard in front of the girl.
It’s the sound of the tank engine and the sound of the caterpillar.
“Eryu-san, there are orcs ahead.”
“Full throttle ahead and crush it. Look, just go forward, keep going forward without stopping.”
“We are going forward single-mindedly without any hesitation? Understood.”
A lump of iron is hurtling down a forest path at a speed of 40km/h.
It’s a high-speed tank.
There’s no turret or any advanced features, just a 20mm cannon mounted directly on top, it’s a small, basic tank-like vehicle that can only hold two people.
You could say it’s a lot like everyone’s favorite Italian tankette, the Carro Veloce, and you probably have an idea of its general appearance.
A tankette with a total weight of about 3 tons, a tiny tank that is even smaller than a light truck, the Führer onboard it and charges against three orcs with full throttle.
“Buhieek!”
Two of the three orcs on the left and right sides screamed and jumped sideways to avoid the tanks that were charging at them.
The adventurer girl also takes advantage of her light body to avoid it and shouts, “Whoaa! What the hell is that!” She shouts while avoiding it.
But the orc in the middle was not so lucky. Just as it thought it could catch the girl, suddenly there was a lump of iron in front of it.
“Puggieek!”
And with a pathetic scream, the orc was blasted away.
No matter how small the tankette might be, and no matter how muscular the orc might be, the orc is no match for a tank.
If one is run over by a vehicle traveling at its maximum speed, it’s simply a car accident.
The orc was sent flying. It disappeared into the trees of the forest.
“What’s happening?”
The adventurer girl whispers.
In front of her were dozens of Imperial Guard tankettes, followed by military trucks, Balka’s machos, and the half-beastkins.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
As if they weren’t aware of the girl’s presence… They just focus on what is in front of them and move quickly along the narrow path through the forest.
The number is around 50,000.
A force of 50,000 is moving through the forest. Even the formidable orcs were frightened by this large crowd and retreated into the depths of the forest.
What the girl encountered at that moment was the Albatross Liberation Army led by the Führer.
Unwilling to waste time going around the forest, they forced their way through the forest. A forced march while crushing monsters in the forest with the tankette.
By the way, there is no official name for this tankette yet.
The reason for this is that it is simply an ammunition carrier vehicle that has been fitted with a 20mm gun designed for anti-aircraft use.
It was originally an ammunition carrier vehicle that was modified by soldiers dispatched to the Manchuria continent, where there was no infrastructure, with the purpose of being used on the spot as an anti-monster vehicle.
Even so, there is no doubt that it is a valuable armored force that can be used even in the United Kingdom of Albatross, where the roads are so bad that even light tanks can’t be operated.
So the Albatross Liberation Army is marching forward.
Crossing the forest and reach the first key point, the Barbarossa Mountains.
☆☆☆☆☆
Looking up from the top of the tankette is the Barbarossa Mountains, a majestic mountain range with white snow visible on its peaks.
Somehow we managed to arrive at this location at the scheduled time.
Hmm, leaving aside the Balka machos, the half-beastkin army did a surprisingly good job as well. From Moskau to here, it was about a week of non-stop march, but they did well to keep up.
“…Huf… huff… Fuu… We can’t afford to be weak here, can we? After all, this battle is an important war that determines whether we, the half-beastkin, will be recognized by the international community.”
“That’s right, Miike-san. You can take a short break.”
“…Huff, I’ll take you up on that.”
Miike-san is breathing heavily next to the tankette that I am riding.
I was able to come here easily because I was riding in a tank, but this person came here on foot, following the motorized unit.
You worked very hard. Please have a rest.
Oh, by the way, the tank is driven by Ayame-san.
She recently got her driver’s license for a tracked vehicle and bragged about it to Captain Nishi as she got into the driver’s seat, saying, “Let’s go for a drive date.”
Since this is a tankette, it can only accommodate two people, so if Captain Nishi is the one to drive it, there will be no space left for Ayame-san.
Ayame-san stubbornly wants to drive herself no matter what because she doesn’t want that.
“So what will you do, Eryu-san? The only way to cross this mountain range is through that mountain pass… The elves’ forces have already been deployed. It seems that they also have the cannons captured in the recent Battle of Gahara Gate.”
Ayame-san looked at it from the driver’s seat.
From here, just a few kilometers ahead, the Dark Elf army has already deployed on the mountain path extending towards the mountain range. They were waiting for us with cannons that they had plundered.
That mountain pass is the only route to cross the Barbarossa mountain range in this area. Unless we get through that mountain pass, we cannot move forward.
The number of defensive positions of the elves guarding the mountain pass is four.
It seems that the defensive positions are arranged along the road, and we have to break through them in turn.
There are two cannons in each of the defensive positions. It seems that the final fourth defense position is equipped with four cannons.
Hundreds of elf soldiers are stationed at each defensive position to protect the cannons.
Their number is not large, but…
Having to deal with cannons on a narrow path is very troublesome. If we were to just charge down the road, we could easily be wiped out in one fell swoop if we were hit by grapeshot cannon fire.
After all, it’s just a garrison, their numbers are not so great even when combined, just a few thousand, but… On a narrow mountain path like this, we can’t take advantage of our number.
As expected it’s impossible to attack by climbing up the steep slope of a mountain, so how do I break through?
“…Let’s go breakthrough with our tankette.”
“It’s impossible. The armor is so thin that even that old-fashioned cannon can penetrate it.”
Oh, I see. It’s a front-loaded old gun that has a slow initial velocity and can only fire an iron ball, but… The armor on the tankette is virtually non-existent.
I mean, if we were trying to climb a mountain, it is likely that we are going to fall down.
“As I thought, isn’t it better we take a detour? I can’t put Eryu-san in danger… We can conscript more army from our home country, right? See, that way is more certain.”
That’s what Ayame-san is saying, but…
I’ll think about it for a bit.
Certainly, once we have an army in our homeland that is ready to be deployed for an attack, we could definitely exterminate the dark elves.
However, it will take more time… First of all, it is very doubtful whether we can use modern weapons, which consume a massive amount of supplies, in the land of the Albatross, which lacks not only railroads, but even decent roads.
Unlike with the situation of the Moruro Front, we do not prepare ourselves in advance…
Not only that, but there would be a no better feeling than defeating them with the limited forces that we have at our disposal.
I looked around and wondered if there was anything I could use…
“…Ayame-san, what is that group cavalry over there? The one adorned with a large feather.”
“Are they the ones? They are Porlant cavalry. They cooperate for the independence of Porlant.”
A cavalry unit adorned with a large feather ornament on the back of their horse, like a samurai carrying a flag. They are like the Polish hussars heavy cavalry?
As a military type, it might be similar to cuirassiers?
The number is around 150. You could say it’s the equivalent of a battalion of cavalry?
“What’s their morale?”
“It should be pretty high.”
Hmm, Is that so?
Then…
“I am issuing an order to the Polrant cavalry. Have them take the enemy’s defenses.”
“Eryu-san, you can’t do that. Breaking through that position with cavalry is suicidal.”
“Don’t worry about it, leave it to the Porlant cavalry.”
Well, if they plunge into it with some spirit, they should be able to at least get to the first position. We only need the Porlant cavalry to take one defensive position.
We will eventually break through if we repeat it several times… It shouldn’t be impossible.
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A brief explanation of the weapon: Tankette
Weight: approximately 3 tons
Armament: 1 20mm autocannon
Armor: there is no such thing.
Maximum speed: probably around 40 km/h
Engine: liquid-cooled four-cylinder 45 hp
Two crew members
A vehicle that closely resembles a small tank from the Italian army. Although it is not an officially adopted weapon, it seems to be made by modifying ammunition carriers on-site.
In a different world where the infrastructure is so poor that even a 6-ton class light tank can be difficult to operate, even a tiny tank like this can be surprisingly effective.
Currently looking for an official name.
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