Chapter 49: Battle in the Wasteland 1

I had actually discussed with Hans before the strategy meeting. "Hey, do you have something in mind?" I asked Hans. "Leave it to me. Lord Han, do you know what's most important when traveling through a wasteland?" "Well, that would be food." "Yes, that's correct, but there's one more thing. Water." "I see, water..." "In a wasteland, you can't survive without water. In a way, it's more important than food." "I have a strategy to make their water completely unusable." "First, we'll use all our cavalry to search and locate the enemy's supply base." "Then, I'll bring a machine I made long ago from my family home. I think we can use it to render the enemy's water unusable. Ah, I'm so excited! Who would have thought that machine would be useful in a situation like this?"

Hans's eyes were sparkling. Hans is dangerous when he gets like this. It probably won't result in casualties this time, but it's still going to be quite an ordeal.

The cavalry scouts began returning one after another. The Empire had built a massive supply base at a place called Usou, located at the midpoint of the wasteland. It was practically a fortress, heavily guarded by numerous soldiers, making it difficult to capture. Large quantities of food and water were being transported there.

"Please report the detailed terrain around Usou." A detailed topographical map of the Usou area was completed. An identical terrain was reproduced using soil and wood, and rehearsals using the machine were conducted multiple times. "I think attacking from this hill would be best. We've collected all the data for attacking the supply base from here. There are absolutely no problems. I'd like to proceed with the actual attack."

We secretly transported the weapon at night. The enemy didn't seem to notice. We set up the weapon on the hill as planned. It was a small-scale catapult. "When building the catapult, I first made a small-scale model to verify that it worked properly. I'm happy it's proving useful now," Hans said, looking very pleased. I became increasingly anxious, but seeing Hans so happy made me feel a bit excited too.

There were two catapults. We had repeatedly confirmed the distance to the target and the elevation difference. We had created the same terrain, conducted multiple test launches, and meticulously collected data. We knew we'd only get one shot each in enemy territory. But the plan was foolproof.

The operation was executed at dawn the next day. "Firing the first one," Hans ordered. The catapult fired. The projectile was lead shot about the size of small stones. After scattering somewhat in the air, it rained down on the large barrels thought to be storing water in the fortress. Holes appeared in barrels everywhere, and water began leaking out. We could see enemy soldiers swarming out of the fortress. They'll be coming this way soon. "This amount of damage isn't that significant." "That's where the second catapult comes in." "Fire!"

This time, it was a cluster of small covered jars. After being launched, they scattered to some extent and fell onto the group of leaking barrels. When the jars hit the ground, they broke, spilling their contents. It was excrement. Jars broke throughout the barrel area, releasing excrement. It mixed with the flowing water, contaminating the surroundings. "Ugh, this is unbearable. The stench is reaching all the way here." "But couldn't they just wash it off somehow?" "Lord Han, what do you need to wash things?" "Water, of course... oh, I see." "Yes, you need water to wash, which makes their shortage even worse. Besides, would you want to drink water like that, Lord Han?" "Absolutely not." "Exactly. On top of that, I mixed all sorts of poisons in the excrement—arsenic, lead, mercury, monkshood, poisonous mushrooms, and more. Anyone who drinks it will certainly die."

Ugh, what a disaster. The enemy definitely can't advance any further now. "Mission objective achieved. We'll leave the catapults behind and retreat quickly." "Yes, sir." We fled in haste.