Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 114

Enrico immediately called an emergency meeting of the council upon disembarking at the anchorage.

The council members were astonished to hear that he had failed to stop the causeway construction and that the fleet had suffered damage from the Empire’s new weapon, their mouths agape in surprise.

“How can such a weapon exist? Even the dwarves, who are unmatched in technology, have never been said to use such a weapon.”

“But it is the truth. The flagship was damaged by that weapon.”

The new weapon was a siege cannon.

The Imperial Army had used it once as a demonstration while occupying the fortress, but because all the witnesses were captured as prisoners, the information was not conveyed to the Republic.

Among the council members, the High Priest sought help from the Naga [a race of serpent-like humanoids] and belatedly obtained information about the cannon.

“It is a weapon that was used in Germania [ancient name for a region largely corresponding to modern Germany].”

The council read the report handed over by the priest.

According to the report, Edar had used a bronze weapon that fired projectiles, called a cannon, three times while conquering Germania, but it was a weapon lacking in many ways.

The assessment was that if it were to be used at all, it would be for sieges or to instill fear in enemies encountering the weapon for the first time.

“The content of this report is completely different.”

Enrico raised his voice in defense.

“The weapon that attacked our fleet was quite accurate and had high destructive power. It even pierced the side of a galley [a type of ship] and sank it.”

“Hmm… but considering that, wasn’t the damage not that great?”

Objectively speaking, the damage from the cannon was minimal.

One galley had its side pierced and sank, causing the loss of other galleys and catapults that were tied to it, and the flagship’s deck was damaged to some extent.

Enrico shook his head.

“The reason the damage was small is because the battle was short. The fact that there were only a few cannons is also a reason. If the battle were prolonged and the number of cannons continued to increase… we would have to endure enormous damage.”

“To that extent?”

The old council member frowned, looking at the report again.

“Yes. To stop the causeway construction, we must deal with this weapon. Otherwise, I can say with certainty that we will never be able to stop it.”

“……”

The council members were silent.

They thought it would be an easy fight, but they had run into a reef.

A reef that could sink everything they had.

The relaxed and amicable atmosphere that had been present until now disappeared.

“What if we send a commando unit? Could they destroy that cannon?”

“The possibility… is low. The Empire has no equal on land, and they know we will target the cannon. They will be sufficiently prepared.”

But the problem was that there was no other way.

Enrico, acknowledging the slim chance of success, sent a small number of hybrids ashore under the cover of night.

The hybrids belonging to the commando unit were close to being a subspecies, possessing gills that allowed them to breathe underwater.

Therefore, they approached the coast undetected, avoiding the need to mobilize ships—but only to the coast.

Clang!

As Enrico feared, the Imperial Army anticipated the Republic’s targeting of the coastal battery.

They had deployed Familiars [powerful, magically-bound creatures] in preparation for the commando raid and dealt with the commando unit the moment they set foot on land.

They didn’t even scream. Even with their near-complete transformation into a subspecies, the Familiars they faced were overwhelmingly powerful, ranging from Calliope to Gerhard.

“Fish!”

Gerhard shouted, holding the head of a commando member, towards a ship that approached to check the situation of the coastal battery in the morning.

“Are these the ones you’re waiting for!”

Whoosh!

Gerhard threw the hybrid’s head with all his might.

The head landed accurately on the deck.

“We will conquer you! That is what His Majesty has ordered us! Know that your resistance is futile and spend the rest of your lives trembling in fear!”

The failure of the commando unit was soon conveyed to the council.

“Damn it!”

The old council member slammed the table hard.

“What about the alternative? The work to dismantle the causeway underwater.”

“Progress is slower than expected. The amount the laborers are building is more than the amount we are dismantling. It seems they considered even this when making the width so wide.”

The number of citizens who had mutated enough to grow gills was small.

Even if they mobilized all of them to dismantle the causeway underwater, the Empire was lining up tens of thousands of laborers across the 120m width, pouring in all kinds of materials such as soil and gravel.

Moreover, the construction had no breaks. With tens of thousands of personnel mobilized, they were filling the sea without rest through shifts even at dawn.

“The construction is gradually slowing down as the water depth increases. But at this rate, Tissireddon will be connected to the mainland within a month, two at the latest.”

The council members gasped.

It was because a chill ran down their spines in an instant.

The worst-case scenario, which they had never even imagined, was approaching.

“If we can just hold out for a year…”

One of the council members muttered.

But Enrico said inwardly that it was futile.

‘Even if we hold out for a year, or even several years, the Empire will not collapse. Our fleet, which should have been weakening the Empire’s power, has returned to defend Tissireddon.’

The Republic’s basic strategy, the advance to the sea, was a scorched-earth tactic to undermine the Empire’s combat capabilities. But if the fleet that should be executing this was mobilized to defend Tissireddon?

Naturally, the Empire’s combat capabilities would be fully preserved, and the Republic would go from unilaterally striking the Empire to being on the defensive, getting beaten instead.

“This won’t do. We must endure the damage and contain them.”

The council members looked at Enrico.

“What about the cannon?”

“The cannon’s accuracy isn’t that high. It can’t easily hit ships moving on the sea. If the number of cannons increases, the amount of shots fired will increase, so the number of hits will also increase… but the Empire doesn’t have enough cannons yet. If we endure the damage and engage in a war of attrition, the Empire will also suffer considerable damage.”

Even if the advance to the sea was impossible, they had to weaken the Empire’s power.

They had to weaken their power to the point where the front line would collapse.

“……”

In a gloomy atmosphere, the council adopted Enrico’s plan.

The way for the Republic to win had been determined from the beginning.

‘Buy time. Cause a war of attrition so that forces that should be going to other fronts have no choice but to be deployed to Tissireddon, and if we buy time until one of the three fronts is breached, we win.’

Once the plan was decided, the Republic desperately took action.

“Target the laborers as much as possible!”

Ignoring the coastal guns and approaching close to the causeway to shoot arrows, landing cavalry units in the rear to attack supply units, attempting inland infiltration to seize the cannons, etc…

The Republic took all the measures it could.

But all these measures failed.

“Germania and Wallachia [historical region roughly corresponding to modern Romania] didn’t have this kind of capability…”

The council lamented.

Unlike a country fighting local wars on three fronts—north, west, and south—the Empire overwhelmed the war of attrition waged by the Republic.

Even if four-digit numbers of laborers died in a day, they were replenished the next day, even if supply units were raided, materials were not lacking, and the number of cannons continued to increase.

The Familiar administrators dispatched throughout the Empire due to the administrative system reform were showing tremendous efficiency, scraping the bottom of the barrel in their respective areas.

Despite the uprisings and civil wars, and the fact that a considerable number of feudal lords remained, the Empire’s power was higher than when Germania and Wallachia were running smoothly.

“The consumption is too severe. We are running out of wood!”

Eventually, what they feared came to pass.

The Republic, which prided itself on being no less wealthy than the two kingdoms, ran out of resources before the Empire, which was fighting enemies on three fronts.

“Make ships that can carry soldiers, even if they are just ferries! The Empire can’t wage naval warfare anyway! We only need to be able to attack from afar!”

To cope with the consumption, the Republic made transport ships that were no different from ferries and sent soldiers on board.

Bang! Thud!

A new problem arose as the height of the ships decreased.

The cannons that the Empire named field guns were deployed on the causeway instead of being produced locally, hunting down the Republic’s soldiers on the ferries.

If the ship was large, it was targeted by coastal guns, if the ship was small, it was targeted by field guns.

But the unbearable consumption was not the worst.

“Even though we tried so hard to stop it, half of it is done…”

The distance between the island and the mainland was less than half.

The fact that the distance was less than half also meant that the walls were within the effective range of the siege cannons.

Bang! Bang! Thud!

The Imperial Army deployed coastal guns at the end of the causeway.

The coastal guns returned to their original role as siege cannons and struck the walls of Tissireddon.

“Aaaaaaah!”

“How can Tissireddon be!”

“Good heavens…”

Now, all the citizens of Tissireddon realized the reality.

That the Republic was in a desperate situation and that the enemy was right in front of them.

“……”

The council members climbed onto the walls with heavy hearts and looked down at the causeway. Even as they looked down, the Republic’s navy was shooting arrows and trying to contain the construction near the causeway.

But the construction proceeded regardless of the containment efforts.

The distance between the causeway and Tissireddon was only about 200m.

“Let’s ask the Elder for help.”

“I boasted to Mother that we would never be defeated, what face would I have to ask her now.”

“Isn’t this not the time to worry about saving face!”

At that moment, as the council members were raising their voices and arguing.

A chill ran down their spines, and they shuddered.

Forgetting their behavior of raising their voices and arguing, they turned their heads.

Amidst the navy’s retreat, a man stood at the end of the causeway.

“That man is…”

The council members avoided looking or raised their hands.

Because a light that they could not dare to look at directly arose from him.

They instinctively cowered and cautiously looked at him.

No one had ever seen him directly before, but they knew his identity. There was no one on the walls, at least, who did not know that he was the Emperor of the Human Empire, Edar.

In the midst of the increasingly strong light, the Emperor quietly, but so that everyone could hear, declared.

“Surrender. You who are neither human nor Naga.”