As tribesman of the garrison tribe of Cape Loducus City, Rimando was rather satisfied with his position.
It was indeed a good place to retire. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was pleasant.
He even planned to write letters to his relatives to have them move there from their hometowns and set up farms and manors there so that his family could become famous in the colony.
Rimando was already 43 years old and had served Goddess Verona in Fochs for 25 years.
He rose from a mere apprentice sailor to a lieutenant-commander in the navy and the captain of the transport ship Fat Fish.
For a naval officer of humble birth, it was quite an achievement.
In his hometown, a small fishing village, Rimando had already become a legendary figure.
However, his luck wasn't good. Two years ago, he was ambushed by pirates and his left wrist was cut off, forcing him to retire from the navy.
The Fochsian ministry of the navy, however, decided to transfer him to the local garrison force to appease the hardworking lieutenant-colonel. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel as the tribesman of Cape Loducus City's garrison tribe.
However, Rimando didn't understand why Fochs would interfere in the colonial war between Shiks and Aueras.
Shiks was the hegemon of Northern Freia, while Aueras was one of the hegemons of Eastern Freia.
Even though Aueras was weakened by the five-year war in Eastern Freia, Fochs still couldn't afford to offend them.
Perhaps it was because Shiks' Gold Kepton Shield shone so brightly that Fochs decided to lease an entire colony.
Fortunately, it was clearly stated in the lease agreement that Cape Loducus City wasn't under Shiksan jurisdiction. Otherwise, Rimando would lose his job after less than a year.
Given that, Rimando had no choice but to deal with the Shiksans every day like the other local officials.
While Cape Loducus City was still under the jurisdiction of Fochs, most of the residents made their living outside the city, so it was inevitable that they would come into contact with the Shiksan troops. Both sides had countless conflicts and the local officials had to work hard to mediate between them.
Rimando's job was much simpler. He was only in charge of maintaining order and protecting Cape Loducus City.
Even if the Shiksans caused trouble in the city, all he had to do was put them in his carriage and send them back to base.
The way he saw it, the Shiksans were all rather decent fools who had plenty of money on them.
Ever since they arrived, the brothels in Cape Loducus City became much more lively and the prices of the goods increased.
It was a rather normal night for Rimando.
He was used to patrolling the walls before going to sleep, a habit he developed on his warship.
On the vast sea, the captain's night patrol would keep the soldiers on duty alert and not let their guard down. At the same time, it would give them courage and confidence to face the endless darkness of the sea.
When he was almost done with his patrol, Rimando was about to leave the walls when he suddenly heard gunshots. They weren't loud, so he guessed it was a drunk Shiksan soldier who accidentally fired his gun. Something like that had happened a few times before.
Lemando looked at the Shiksan supply base in the distance and froze on the spot.
Gunshots and explosions rang out in the usually brightly lit supply base. Under the illumination of the bonfires, one could clearly see the silhouettes of people falling to the ground and fleeing in panic.
Countless dark figures seemed to be approaching from the dark wilderness outside the camp. Gunshots, explosions, cries and cries of agony rang out nonstop from the camp.
What shocked Rimando was how the assailants seemed to have entered unhindered territory.
With the help of the bonfires at the entrance of the camp, one figure after another could be seen charging into the camp. They knelt on one knee and shot or used their gleaming bayonets to stab the fleeing figures.
The Shiksans in the camp didn't seem to be able to mount an effective counterattack. All that could be heard were the sounds of gunshots and explosions from the outskirts of the camp.
A night attack!
I actually witnessed a real night attack … Rimando's body trembled on the city walls. This wasn't out of fear, but excitement. There was nothing more shocking than witnessing a real battle. This wasn't a drill. What was going on in the camp was a real battle. Countless lives were being lost, and blood flowed on the ground …
"Lieutenant-Colonel, wh-what should we do?
W-will we be attacked by those people as well? "A trembling voice snapped Rimando out of his stupor.
"Quick!
Close the gates!
Don't let anyone enter or leave! "Rimando yelled," Light more bonfires on the walls. Don't have any firewood?
Then why aren't you gathering more?
Put up more Fochsian flags so that anyone can see them clearly from outside the walls!
Why, idiot? I'm trying to protect everyone's lives! Don't forget that we're neutral and won't take sides in this war!
Quick! "
Under Lemando's urging, the local garrison regiment on the city walls finished setting up everything in less than an hour. Following that, all the soldiers who were resting in the barracks were woken up and hurriedly went up the city walls with their muskets in hand. After setting up the various defensive cannons on the city walls, Lemando finally calmed down.
He didn't know if the garrison troops that were tasked with dealing with the pirates would be able to fend off the night attackers. Rimando mulled over the question in his mind.
At that moment, cries and screams could be heard from the camp two kilometres away. Only the occasional gunshot and explosion could be heard. It was obvious that the main supply base of the Shiksans had been taken over by the night attackers and they were still in the final stages of the battle.
How fast … They actually managed to take over such a huge camp in just a little more than an hour. There was even a folk of Shiksan garrison there … Rimando couldn't help but be shocked by the might of the night attackers. Was that the so-called Aueran theatre's forces?
Didn't they say that they only had two irregular legions?
If the two irregular corps of Aueras were that strong, it would be hard to tell who would emerge victorious in the colonial war between Shiks and Aueras.
It wasn't that Rimando hadn't seen the might of the Shiksan corps before. In his eyes, the Shiksan officers weren't worth mentioning.
The logistics officers and high-ranking officers were all greedy and lustful people. They were even using the war as an excuse to make more money for themselves.
Rimando wasn't unaware that they were spending public funds every night in the city and even came up with excuses to increase the cost so that they could profit from it.
Sometimes, Rimando even believed that the citizens of the city were already overcharging the Shiksans for their goods.
What he didn't think was that the Shiksans in charge of purchasing were even more outrageous. They even doubled the price of the goods they bought and sold them for the price of a cow.
No matter how much he despised the high-ranking Shiksan officers, Rimando couldn't help but be impressed by the might of the Shiksan veterans.
The way he saw it, the Shiksan soldiers were the best of the best. However, they were a little older and didn't like to talk much.
Even so, they were very obedient and performed flawlessly in their training exercises. No matter which nation they were in, they would be considered the best of the best.
That was why Rimando believed that no matter how incompetent the high-ranking Shiksan officers were, they would still be able to easily win the war with such elite troops.
After all, Shiks had prepared ten standing corps for 600 thousand men. That was already considered a powerful force on Freia, enough to wipe out some small nations and duchies.
But after witnessing that night's attack with his own eyes, Rimando understood that the news the high-ranking Shiksan officers revealed during the banquet was true. They weren't trying to hide the truth. Instead, the Aueran troops in the colonies were far stronger than the Shiksans.
A commotion could be heard from the back.
"What's going on?"
Rimando turned around angrily, only to find that a large group of high-ranking Shiksan officers in the city had heard about the attack on their supply base. They all rushed to the walls to see if someone was playing a prank on them.
A few drunken officers were still cursing and asking the garrison troops to open the gates so that they could leave the city for a look.
"Strip them of their uniforms and let them onto the city wall."
Rimando gave it some thought and felt that since they were still cooperating with the Shiksans, it would be best to give them some face and let them on the walls. However, he couldn't let them wear their Shiksan uniforms.
"Rimando!
What's the meaning of this?! "
A high-ranking Shiksan officer who knew Rimando had his uniform stripped off before he was allowed on the walls. He was so mad that he didn't even bother to call him Lieutenant-Colonel Rimando's rank and just called him by his name. That was already incredibly rude and insulting. It could even lead to a duel to the death.
However, Rimando didn't hold it against them and merely looked at them with a pitiful gaze. "I'm saving your lives, idiot!
"Your enemy has already taken over your supply base. If you're still standing on the walls in Shiksan uniform, I guarantee you that the enemy who attacked the base will turn around and attack our city.
Do you think a garrison tribe of less than a thousand people like Cape Loducus City will be able to withstand their attack? "
The high-ranking Shiksan officers on the walls were speechless. While they were lustful and greedy, they weren't fools. They knew that Lemando was telling the truth. All they did was look in the direction of the camp. Some of them even had their own binoculars to look at the camp non-stop.
"W-was our camp really attacked? Attacked?" a fat Shiksan chief logistics officer asked with a trembling voice.
The camp seemed rather peaceful now, with only the occasional gunshot. The explosions had stopped, but there were still cries of agony.
The fire in the camp was brighter than before, but it wasn't as orderly as before. A few tents were on fire, but nobody seemed to care, nor did anyone bother to put them out.
At a distance of two thousand metres, even though the camp was lit up brightly, they still couldn't see clearly through their binoculars.
Quite a number of silhouettes were coming and going at the entrance of the camp, but the high-ranking Shiksan officers on the walls couldn't see what they were wearing even with their binoculars in their eyes.
"That's right. The attackers only spent an hour or so to take over your main camp."
Lemando's words sent chills down the spines of the high-ranking officers on the walls.
They were well aware of how the loss of the supply base would affect the colonial war. They wouldn't even be able to explain it to Majid III.
Suddenly, a commotion could be heard from the wasteland in front of the walls. It sounded like many people were charging towards the gates.
Rimando immediately ordered, "Everyone, get ready! Extinguish the slow matches and don't fire!
The cannoneers on the walls, be careful not to light the cannons! "
In the darkness, a large group of people charged into the range of the flames on the walls. Only then did Rimando realise that it was a large group of Shiksans who had escaped from the camp.
They ran until they were out of breath and were in a sorry state. Some of them did not have a hat, some of their military uniforms were untidy, some of them were barefooted, and most of them were empty-handed. They were not holding any weapons at all.
When they reached the gates of the walls, they breathed heavily with their tongues out and relaxed their bodies. Those who still had some strength cried for their superiors to open the gates and let them in.
"Ignore them! Don't open the gates!" Rimando ordered hatefully.
A high-ranking Shiksan officer rushed over and grabbed Rimando's collar. "Why aren't you letting them in? They barely managed to escape and we still need to get information from them! Tell them to open the gates!"
The soldiers of the garrison tribe beside him panicked. They either reignited their slow matches to aim at the high-ranking Shiksan officers on the walls or pointed their bayonets at the officer who grabbed Rimando. "Let go!
Let go! Back off! "
Rimando calmly waved his left hand. He no longer had his left palm, only a large metal hook, to tell his soldiers to calm down.
"Do you know what it means to have these soldiers in front of the city walls enter the city?
It means that the garrison tribe of Cape Loducus City is siding with Shiks and becoming your enemy's enemy.
"We, Fochs, on the other hand, have already declared that we will remain neutral in your colonial war with Aueras and won't interfere in it.
If the enemy doesn't invade Cape Loducus City, we won't retaliate or provoke the enemy. "
Lemando pointed at the begging Shiksan deserters with the hook in his left hand. "If I let them into the city, it means that I'm on your side and protecting the remnants of the camp.
Your enemy can legitimately attack Cape Loducus City and we won't be able to blame them, as we were the ones who broke our promise to remain neutral.
"If I fulfill your request, it would mean that the whole of Cape Loducus City is in danger. The moment the enemy that attacked your camp attacks this city, it won't just be the defeated soldiers, but you too will be taken captive.
I will also become the greatest sinner of our kingdom for sending the citizens of Cape Loducus City into the hands of your enemy for them to be trampled on, pillaged and killed. "
The high-ranking Shiksan officer let go of Rimando's collar weakly and sat on the ground, crying as he covered his face with his hands.
The high-ranking Shiksan officers on the walls knew that Lemando was right. There was nothing they could do about the large group of soldiers at the foot of the walls. All they could do was watch as they cried and begged for mercy.
Time passed little by little. The large group of defeated soldiers under the city wall had changed from crying and begging to cursing loudly and gnashing their teeth in hatred. However, the guards on the city wall remained indifferent. They had no intention of opening the city gate to let them in.
"Let's retreat. Have Colonel Berklin gather the deserters.
The officer in charge of Cape Loducus City's garrison tribe is wise enough to not open the gates to let them in. Since we can't find a reason to attack the city, let's just let them go, "Claude instructed.
"But General, the high-ranking Shiksan officers are still in the city. Are we going to let them go just like that?" Moriad said with a hint of dissatisfaction.
"So what?
Fochs has long declared that they will remain neutral in the colonial war. Leasing a colony to Shiks is just a business deal.
They won't care if we fight to the death with the Shiksans in their colonies, but if we attack Cape Loducus City for no good reason, it'll be a declaration of war. The Shiksans will be overjoyed. They can't wait for us to have another enemy.
"Even though Fochs' army isn't worth mentioning, their naval fleet is indeed powerful. They'll easily cause trouble for our ports and coasts.
There's no need for us to add another powerful naval enemy to our list. So what if we let the high-ranking Shiksan officers stay in the city and avoid the fate of being captured? I can't wait to see more of such incompetent officers in Shiks. "
Since Claude had already made his decision, Moriad didn't hesitate.
Instead, he sent a messenger to inform Colonel Berklin, who was waiting in ambush at the walls.
He watched as Thundercrash's soldiers appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the cursing Shiksans in front of the city gates. Ignoring their pleas, they swiftly took them captive.
Rimando, who was on the walls, felt a chill on his back. He reached out to touch it and found that his clothes were drenched in cold sweat.