Currently, most of the troops deployed to suppress the army training center were from the co-opted National Guard and the Guards Division.
However, the problem was that these troops were mostly infantry with nothing but rifles and pistols for arms.
Originally, the site had been remodeled into a training center from the foundation of ‘Pavlopsk,’ which had served as the inner citadel and main defensive fortress of the capital Kajeif.
In other words, this meant that the once invincible walls of Pavlopsk still stood strong.
“d*mn it!!”
Colonel Offri Dunn, who was commanding the scene, clenched his lips.
Bang, Bang!!
“Aaaah!! Take cover!! Everyone, fall back!!”
“Retreat, retreat now!!”
Whenever there was any sign of approaching the walls, bullets rained down from the watchtowers set up all around.
That said, it didn’t seem like they intended to k*ll.
Since the forces panicked by the real aimed fire retreated to the rear, no further attacks followed.
Anyone could see that the group that abducted the Duke wasn’t acting like it. Doubts began to arise among the enlisted soldiers and non-commissioned officers who had initially followed the operation without question.
“If His Grace the Duke is here, why are we attacking them? Besides, they don’t even attack if we don’t approach.”
“Something’s not right.”
The success of a coup depends on how cleanly information is controlled.
Therefore, aside from high-ranking officers, key personnel, and a few units planned to be used from the outset, most of the troops scraped together by the coup forces were unaware of what was currently happening.
“Listen here, Colonel Offri! Hurry up and come up with a plan! There’s confusion spreading within the division!”
Thus, Division Commander Dmitri Zhukov, deeply involved in the coup, couldn’t help but feel anxious.
If it became known that he truly intended harm to the Duke, how many of his subordinates would follow his orders?
He had thought seizing power was only a matter of time, but now it felt like a b*llet to his forehead was inevitable.
But Colonel Offri Dunn of the Guards also had no solution.
To assault the walls, artillery or air force using airships would inevitably be necessary. However, both the Capital Guards Division, the Guards, and the Special Military Unit of the National Guard were mixed units consisting of infantry and cavalry.
They didn’t have an artillery unit. Why would they need one when they weren’t part of the regular army?
Unimaginably, they hadn’t considered that the Duke and Enok Revendale might take over the army training center and fortify themselves.
Thus, the coup forces found themselves in a situation where they couldn’t advance or retreat.
Of course, the immediate crisis wasn’t limited to the commanders on the field.
The real masterminds behind the coup were also thrown into great confusion afterward.
“Don’t we have the artillery battalion that arrived for the birthday celebration parade?”
At Major General Olek Stukov, commander of the Eastern Corps’ suggestion, Pyotr Kerensky, the Director of National Events Planning under the Duke’s cabinet who had organized the birthday military parade, shook his head.
“They’re from the Southern Corps artillery. We specifically selected a low infantry-stopping artillery unit so they wouldn’t get involved in unexpected situations.”
“d*mn it…!”
“Since we’re under martial law, we could request their mobilization through the General Staff’s order…”
“With Enok Revendale over there, do you really think they’ll cooperate with us well? It’ll just exacerbate unrest among our own troops!”
As for the commanders of the 1st Mountain Special Operations Brigade and the 9th Infantry Division under the Eastern Corps who were supposed to attend the parade, they too had no plans to offer operations in such a situation.
“Magi Soldiers! That’s it, the Magi Soldiers! Central Corps Commander! Can’t we mobilize the Magi Brigade?”
It was then that Olek seemed to have realized something and shouted.
The reason the Capital Guards could be co-opted was because the Central Corps Commander responsible for the central corps was also part of their coup forces.
Given that they hadn’t brought along their subordinate artillery and magi soldiers as a precaution against unforeseen circumstances, the Magi Brigade under the Central Corps was their only hope to break through the training center’s defenses.
But the response came with the Central Corps Commander shaking his head.
“Have you forgotten what happened to Brigadier General Hapenluk Helheim?”
“Oh…”
Just before the coup, Hapenluk, the top target for recruitment, not only rejected their proposal but attempted to expose the truth.
As a result, the key commanders of the Magi Brigade, including him, were currently detained at the National Guard Headquarters.
Detention, that is.
In reality, they were likely being tortured by the Strigoi who wielded Command Magic.
“Do we have any new information from those d*mn Command Magic users?”
“It seems everyone’s high-ranking magicians, so they’re struggling to maintain control over their minds…”
“We’ve reached out to help, yet they accomplish nothing. Who the hell suggested bringing in the Strigoi?”
“Watch your mouth! It was Magus Commander Rimann!”
Confusion at the front lines.
Confusion among the command.
Everything became opaque. Finally, unable to endure, the Eastern Corps Commander slammed his desk and stood up.
“The longer we drag this out, the more disadvantageous it becomes for us. I will order the Eastern Corps to march all their forces toward the capital.”
“You’re serious?”
“Our fate is already sealed either way. Might as well crush the capital completely.”
As extreme as it was, none of those present dared to object.
Because it was true, as Major General Olek Stukov of the Eastern Corps had said.
At the point where they had failed to secure the Duke, waiting around would only lead to being labeled as coup forces and suppressed.
Rather, forcing the army forward, accepting “some” losses to secure the Duke, would be the best option.
“Contact all artillery units under the Eastern Corps divisions and the Corps direct artillery regiment. The Corps Air Force as well!”
“I’ll contact the Northern and Western Corps sides.”
“Proceed quickly, as fast as possible!”
From now on, it was a real race against time.
*
“The Corps Commander has issued the order to march. Brave cavalrymen of Okhraine! Let’s sweep away the traitorous factions trying to plunge our homeland into the fires of war!”
“Glory to the Homeland!!!”
“Glory!!!”
The Cavalry Brigade directly under the Eastern Corps, secretly stationed near the capital as a precautionary measure, began advancing toward the capital faster than any other unit as soon as the order was given.
Being essentially the personal guard force raised by the Eastern Corps Commander,
They firmly believed that his judgment was correct for the future of Okhraine.
The coup had already begun, and the operation wasn’t progressing as expected.
Then shouldn’t the relief pitchers, themselves, step in?
But the wildly charging warhorses met a unit blocking the road completely.
“What is that? There shouldn’t be any troops stationed here, right?”
Along the road passing through a small village, a small trench had been dug.
Thinking it might be a defensive line for the capital, it wasn’t marked on the operational maps they possessed except for the village itself.
As the vanguard battalion approached while riding at full speed,
A loud voice echoed from the village.
“This road has been blocked! All forces return to their units! I repeat, all forces in the standoff must return to their units!”
Surprised by the news relayed from the vanguard troops, the Cavalry Brigade Commander asked curiously.
“Blocked? What nonsense! Send out reconnaissance teams to assess the situation!”
Worrying whether it might be another unit under the Eastern Corps with different orders, they temporarily halted their advance.
However, the reconnaissance team returned with leaflets bearing the emblem of the Northern Corps urging the troops to return to their units.
“Northern Corps?”
“Why the hell are the Northern bastards here?”
The Brigade Commander, close to General Olek Stukov, recalled the list of recruited forces the general had mentioned.
Most were from the Central and Eastern Corps, but some were from the Northern Corps as well.
“Why are they here?”
“They’re not allies! They’re definitely forces loyal to the Duke! How could the Northern Corps block the road ahead of us, who received orders first from the Eastern Corps?”
Indeed, that was the case.
Besides, why would allied Northern Corps forces bother to descend to the east?
“Charge! Issue the charge order!! Those guys are the ones eating away at our country!”
With the Brigade Commander’s decision, the large cavalry formation lined up and charged en masse against the twilight sky.
Since the unit had merely paused briefly, the distance to the village was less than a few kilometers.
For cavalry, it was a sufficient distance to reach and pierce through the enemy trenches in an instant.
At that moment,
A light shot up into the sky above the village.
Red magic flare.
As soon as the hidden forms of the cavalry were revealed in the darkness, subsequent cannon fire erupted from beyond the village.
BOOM!!! KA-BOOM!!! TATATATATAT!!!
“What, what is this?!?!”
“Artillery? Enemy artillery is here!!”
“There are no hills here in this flat ground—where could artillery possibly be?!”
The fierce bombardment burning the night air with blazing flames. The barrage of shells coming not from the village but from behind it.
Right before their eyes, their comrades were being torn apart. Before even reaching the trenches, horses were falling, and cries of agony rang out everywhere.
“KYYYYAAAH!! My leg!! My leg!!”
KA-BOOM!! BANG!!
“That…that’s…”
Finally, the Brigade Commander spotted the steel snake entrenched on the other side.
A precisely landed shell turned his body to dust in an instant.
His shouts of glory and sacrifice for the homeland ultimately failed to save him.
“…Madness, fortunately, they’re on our side.”
“It looks like there won’t even be a corpse left.”
After such a bombardment,
The infantry battalion of the Northern Corps that had been deployed in the village against the cavalry shuddered in awe of the overwhelming firepower.
The local production model of Mordoke armored trains produced in Fedro Industrial District.
The dazzling debut of the ‘Bliskavka.’
Of course, from the planners to the assembly workers, no one had imagined their weapons would ever be aimed at their own people.
