About half a year later, it was February.
　Winter was coming to an end, the snow was beginning to melt in the mountains, and new life was beginning to sprout little by little....

　The world situation has begun to move.

　The trigger was a trivial matter.
　Two villages on the border between one of the western nations and Gilbed's country clashed over a water dispute.
　Originally, the village in Gilbed's country had the upper hand, but when it joined the Romarian Commonwealth, one of the Western Nations, which had become very good at taking advantage of the Kingdom of Romalia, reneged on its previous agreement.

　The conflict between the two sides quickly erupted into an armed conflict.
　In response, the Kingdom of Romalia, the federal ally of Romalia, reacted excessively.

　They mobilized their troops and demanded an apology from King Gilbed.
　It was no good if the king had broken his knee over a water dispute between two small villages.

　Naturally, King Gilbet refused.
　He then asked the Kingdom of Romalia to punish the western nations and villages for violating the old agreement, after a glimpse of cooperation between King Fardham's country and King Domorgal's country.

　The response of the Romalian kingdom was very straightforward: "Good, then it's war".

　'Good, then let's go to war.'

　This took the whole world by surprise.　
　Even though the Kingdom of Romalia was growing in strength, it was insane for one country to go to war with three other countries.

　But the war had begun.
　First, the Kingdom of Romalia and the member states of the Commonwealth declared war on King Gilbed's country all at once.
　Then, in response, the Kingdom of Roselle and the Republic of Pofenia, in accordance with the secret agreement, declared a favorable neutrality.
　And the Empire of Persis, while declaring a favourable neutrality, showed a pro-Romalian kingdom attitude.

　Once King Gilbed's kingdom was conquered, Domorgal and Fardham were next.
　This is what it means to be a Wu'ete and Fardham, and for the first time the three countries truly aligned with each other and jointly declared war on the Kingdom of Romalia once the Kingdom of Romalia had turned on them in earnest.

　Thus began the great war of the Great Northern Conquest.





　'Oh no, it's tense. Raimondo.
　You don't seem that nervous for all that.
　Well, we have a plan to win.

　I smiled.
　I was currently on the march with Raimondo to King Domorgal's country.

　At present, the Romarian Commonwealth has mobilized an army of 130,000 troops.

　The Kingdom of Romalia alone is 70,000.
　Twenty thousand from the allied forces of the Cilician nations.
　Ten thousand from the Kingdom of Alva.
　20,000 from King Belvedere's kingdom and 10,000 each from King Evil's kingdom.
　10,000 from the newly added western nations.

　In other words, 70,000 from the Royal Army and 60,000 from the Alliance, which is about half and half.

　By the way, if you divide it into infantry and cavalry, the infantry was about 110,000 and the cavalry was about 20,000.

　The three opposing countries were each

　King Gilbed's country is about 40,000.
　King Domorgal's kingdom is about 30,000.
　King Fardham's kingdom is about 30,000.

　We know from the secret reconnaissance that the two countries mobilized about 100,000 men in total (about 30,000 in King Fardham's country and 30,000 in King Fardham's country).

　However, we cannot be sure of an accurate figure as both countries are expected to mobilize more in the future, and new information is coming one after another from surreptitious sources.

　It is likely that the three countries will eventually have more troops than we do.

　Therefore, our policy in the Kingdom of Romalia is simple and clear.
　Before the enemy finishes mobilizing, we will defeat each of them with all of our limited military strength.

　Before the enemy finishes mobilizing, we will defeat each of them with our full strength.

　The first front, as we call it, is the defense of the border between the Kingdom of Romalia and King Domorgal's country.
　The 30,000-strong army led by General Tonino, which has been advancing ahead of us, will be held back by 20,000 troops led by me and Raimondo.

　Of the 20,000, 10,000 were from the Royal Army of Romalia.
　The other 10,000 are the allied troops from King Evil's country.

　"Well, we have already built up a fortress on the border. We just need to keep holding them. "Well, we'll just have to keep defending it. I'm pretty good at defensive battles, let alone field battles.
　You don't have to move.

　As me and Raimondo laughed, Julia and Tetra interjected from the side.

　''The bottom line is that you're going to run it according to the manual Bartolo left for you, right?
　They're not very good at war...

　Me and Raimondo chuckled at Julia and Tetra's tsking.
　Me and Raimondo are both terrible at war.
　No, to be precise, we're not so bad at it as to be bad at it, but....

　Compared to Bartolo, right?



　When Almus and Raimondo entered the group of fortresses near the border line, the Domorgal army led by Tonino was also just approaching the border line with the Kingdom of Romalia.
　When Tonino heard the information about the fortress from the cavalrymen who returned from scouting, he held his head in his hands.

　''This one, we can't drop it for thirty thousand.

　Tonino sighed.
　The group of fortresses built by the Kingdom of Romalia were just things like turtle shells that specialized in defense.
　There was nothing playful about it.
　However, once you enter all of the fortresses, you can just move them according to the manual.

　The fortresses mesh with each other like gears, mutually enhancing each other's defense capabilities.
　A truly troublesome defense.

　''This is definitely General Bartolo.........''

　A man drinking and grinning comes to Tonino's mind.
　The habits of a man named Bartolo Pompeius are still emerging from this.

　'Well, it's going to be hard to attack him because he specializes in defense.

　Each of the fortresses, which are arranged to enhance each other's defensive capabilities, are very strong.
　However, if one of them is pulled out, it will fall out like the teeth of a comb.

　That's why we must continue to defend them.
　It is impossible to strike out.

　Normally, Bartolo Pompeius wouldn't make something like this.
　I mean, this is....

　This one's a shield. He's a shield. That means he has a spear ready to go. You should give your report to His Majesty first. Ensure that the situation is not misjudged.

　Tonino stands up and begins to think of ways to bring the fortress down.
　Tonino is not incompetent. If anything, he's on the side of a great general.

　The opponent is not a great general, King Almus.
　Then it's not impossible to win.

　Well, I'll give you two months. "Well, two months, I guess, including reinforcements.

　Tonino sighed.



　At the same time that Almus and Tonino were clashing, the Romalian and Gilbed armies led by Bartolo and the Gilbed army were staring at each other in the Gilbed king's national territory, forming a second front.

　It's hard to move them. ''This army,''

　Bartolo is led by the main force of the Royal Army, 30,000.
　... and the Royal Army of 10,000 and the Alliance Army of 20,000.

　The Alliance Army is the army of the 10,000 western countries and King Belvedere's country.
　Compared to the Royal Army, the Alliance Army is not as powerful as the Royal Army, and it's also difficult to subdue.

　That's why it was entrusted to Bartolo, a renowned general.
　In addition, in order to make sure that the enemy does not know, all of the troops use the flag of the Kingdom of Romalia.

　It is hard to tell whether the Romalian army is an allied army or not.

　Against such Bartolo is the 40,000 Gilbed King's Army.
　This was a genuine, official army of King Gilbed's country.

　After all, since they were one of the strong nations, their equipment was all first-class iron weapons and a large number of cavalry.

　''Your Excellency. I have a report from a secret agent. It seems that the powerful families of King Gilbed's country are gathering here one after another with their troops. The number is 20,000.''
　'So that's 60,000 in King Gilbed's country alone. Now the enemy's total army is 120,000. The difference is 10,000. That's as much as we have. In the end, the total strength of the enemy is about 160,000?

　Bartolo grins and smiles happily.
　This is the kind of fight I've had in my lifetime, or maybe not in my lifetime.

　His blood boils as a general.

　''When will the dullest of the Gilbeds' dullards arrive here?
　It'll be three days.
　Okay, so we're going to have to hold out for... what, a week?

　Bartolo takes a drink.

　''In this alliance army, we'll lose if we go on the offensive. Let's just fight as we see fit and buy ourselves some time so that morale doesn't fall.



　
　About three days passed after that.

　On the first front, the troops led by Tonino and Almus clashed with each other.
　The structure was structured, Tonino attacking and Almus defending.

　The army led by Almus remained the same as 20,000.
　On the other hand, the army led by Tonino was increased to 50,000 with the addition of 20,000 troops led by the country's great families.

　This was almost the entire army of King Domorgal's country.

　On the second front, Bartolo had skillfully defended against the attacking King Gilbed's army.
　The alliance army led by Bartolo remained the same at 30,000.
　On the other hand, King Gilbed's army, with the addition of 20,000 troops led by the great family, became 60,000.

　This was almost the entire army of King Gilbed's country.

　Fardham's country had sent 30,000 troops to King Gilbed's country as a reinforcement.
　On top of that, they began to mobilize another 30,000 or so troops, albeit slowly.
　Perhaps because it was not directly attacked, King Fardham's country was moving slower than the other two countries.


　At present, the Union Army (the Royal Army of Romalia and its allies) has 130,000 troops.
　In contrast, the allied forces (Domorgal, Gilbet, and Fardam) are 140,000, and as soon as King Fardam's country is mobilized, the number will increase by 30,000 to 170,000.

　The war situation is subdued.
　Morale is rising on both sides.

　Operation One, Operation One of the Federation's campaigns to stop the enemy on the anvil was a success.

　And so begins the second mission.

　The fourth day of the fateful day.

　The third and fourth fronts are formed, and the battle situation is set in motion.