In Ark Simulator, why do I always get a tough start?

Chapter 65 The Collapse of Victoria, the Destruction of the Steam Knight

"Hey, did you hear that?"

"What did you hear?"

"What else could it be? It's the news that Lontinem has fallen!"

On the western front in Victoria, a slight tremor of morale has emerged among the elite Victorian soldiers under the Duke of Windermere.

But it was not because of the unfavorable situation in the war.

This elite group has been locked in a standoff with the Leitanian army for several weeks, but everything on the western front is unusually calm.

However, the calm of the war did not bring even the slightest peace to the hearts of these elites.

Anxiety, gloom, and oppression filled the trenches and echoed in the minds of every Victorian soldier.

Because they had heard a rumor.

Their capital, Lontinim, has been captured by the Sarkaz vanguard sent by Letania!
When this rumor, of unknown origin, reached the front lines, it did indeed generate some discussion among the soldiers.

But most Victorian soldiers believed it was just a rumor.

After all, Lentinium is a mobile city that has "never fallen".

How could they possibly be so easily conquered by a bunch of Sarkaz demons?

However, as time went on, the rumor not only did not disappear on the front lines, but spread further and further, to the point that it became common knowledge.

Some lies, if repeated ten thousand times, may be perceived as the truth.

Recently, many strange changes at the front have made Victoria's soldiers somewhat doubt the veracity of this dangerous rumor.

"I heard that the Duke recently recalled another batch of reserve troops to the country."

"Now we're the only army group left on the front lines. Do you think... Lentinium has really fallen?"

"Not only that, I heard that several of the steam knights that the Duke brought with him have been recalled, right?"

The Victorian soldier who was being spoken to was far more experienced than the soldier who anxiously inquired.

However, judging from his constantly trembling brow, the veteran was also quite uneasy.

"I heard that newspapers about the fall of Lentinium are flying everywhere in the rear, but we are on the front lines and don't know about it."

"However, I advise you not to talk about this."

"His Excellency the Duke has been in a terrible temper lately."

“Last time she came to inspect the front line, she caught someone spreading rumors and executed him on the spot on the grounds of ‘causing chaos among the troops’.”

"Huh? Then, does that mean the rumor might actually be true?"

But he didn't notice the moment the anxious recruit lost his voice.

Under the protection of his two bodyguards, Duke Windermere, who happened to be passing through the trench, stopped in his tracks because of his sudden loss of voice.

Almost instantly, the already extremely agitated Duke Windermere gritted his teeth and immediately rebuked:
"Somebody come!"

"Take these two traitors who are causing chaos in the army away! Execute them according to military law!"

"Yes!"

Upon receiving Duke Windermere's order, the guards immediately dragged the two soldiers, who hadn't yet reacted, away without a word.

The next second, the two soldiers, who had only belatedly started wailing, fell completely silent after being pulled into a corner.

However, the deaths of these two soldiers did nothing to quell the Duke of Windermere's anger.

Because the soldiers on the front lines may still just think it's a rumor.

But as a duchess, she knew that this was not a rumor, but a long-standing truth!
"Damn it, even at this point, these guys are still making excuses!"

"The news of the fall of Lentinium has spread like wildfire in the rear, and the newspapers have already published several issues about it!"

"If this continues, even the soldiers on the front lines will find out the truth!"

"Even now, they still haven't sent troops to quickly reclaim Londinium from the demons, and they're actually asking me, the one in charge of the western front, to send troops!"

The thought of those dukes who were not in charge of the front-line battles, who remained indifferent to the fall of Londinium in order to preserve their own power, is truly heartbreaking.

The Duke of Windermere had veins bulging on his forehead.

"Do these guys want to see all the soldiers under my command wiped out?!"

"If this drags on any longer, there will be no one on my front lines to stop the Leitanian army!"

Now, with the fall of the capital in the rear and the menacing presence of the Leitanian army on the front lines, Duke Windermere is filled with immense inner turmoil.

Now that things have come to this, she can certainly figure out what the Leitanian army in front of her is waiting for.

They were waiting for their army's morale to collapse.

They were waiting for the opportunity when the troops at the front would have to retreat in order to retake Lentinium.

At that point, they will be able to break through Victoria's defenses as if they were in an empty field.

However, faced with such a blatant scheme, the Duke of Windermere could not think of any way to break it.

She had to choose between two dangerous options and watch helplessly as she fell into the trap that Qi had carefully laid for her.

Finally, after weighing the pros and cons, the Duke of Windermere gritted his teeth and made a decision!
"—Order the entire army! Leave only 10,000 men and one steam knight to guard the front line!"

"No matter what moves the enemy makes, no retreat is permitted without orders! Hold your ground!"

"The rest of the troops, come with me back to the capital!"

"Next stop: Londinium!"

Faced with the slow death of a demoralized army, which could lead to a rout of the front lines by the Letanian forces, Duke Windermere had no choice but to gamble.

She was betting that the emperor's intelligence network wouldn't infiltrate her front lines.

Before the emperor could react, he had already taken Londinium back from the demons.

They were even more inclined to gamble that the dukes who stood by and tried to preserve their strength would send their troops to reinforce the front lines once they sensed the threat.

After three gambles, the Duke of Windermere, already in dire straits, had no other choice.

Moreover, the Duke of Windermere had another little-known reason for having to return to fight for Londinium.

She also has an infant daughter in Lentinium.

Originally, Sarkaz was invited to stay, and she was not worried that her daughter, who was the daughter of a duke, would be harmed by these demons.

But now, facing this situation where things are blossoming in the center.

The Duke of Windermere was truly beginning to fear.

However, what the Duke of Windermere, who issued this military order, failed to notice was that...

In a nearby blind spot, the body of the soldier who had been executed for spreading rumors turned into a pool of fluid and merged into the soil with a sudden ripple.

When the fluid coalesced again, it appeared in a wilderness several kilometers away from the front line.

The fluid then reformed, transforming into a small, androgynous child figure.

Judging solely from the child's harmless and weak first impression, it's likely that...

No one would consider "him" to be an elder with the same lifespan as the continent of Terra, or one of the three royal court lords that Theresis brought this time, or a group of shapeshifters.

"The infiltration has been successful."

"The intelligence has also been obtained."

“Now, it is time for ‘we’ to convey the message to His Majesty the Emperor of Letania, as ordered by His Highness the Regent.”

The swarm of shapeshifters murmured softly to themselves, and without anyone noticing, they slowly made their way towards the Leitanian military camp, dozens of kilometers away.

……

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Late the next night, the 10,000 elite Victoria troops, ordered to remain in the trenches, were awakened by the tremors of the earth and the deafening roar of artillery shells.

Several weeks of calm had already made these Victorian soldiers complacent.

Although Duke Windermere had warned those stationed there before leaving to be wary of a possible attack by the Leitanian army.

But no one expected your attack to come so quickly!

[But by the time they frantically grabbed their weapons and rushed to the trenches, it was already too late.]

[Upon receiving intelligence from the Shapeshifter swarm, you immediately arrived at the frontline command post and personally directed this crucial battle!]

At your command, a large number of steel chariots, along with Letanian infantry and sorcerers, advanced to within a kilometer of the Victorian army's lines before they could react!

[And many of their steam-powered war machines, which hadn't even had a chance to start, had already been completely destroyed in the previous round of artillery fire and the continuous barrage from the Leitanian tanks.] [You know, the remaining Victorian army is no longer a threat.]

"Quick! Run away!"

"There's no way we can hold them off with just our numbers! Retreat!"

Faced with your overwhelming force, the already demoralized Victorian army collapsed almost instantly.

With one soldier, seemingly on the verge of collapse, leading the desertion, the weakness of "fear of death" began to spread rapidly across the front lines like a plague.

First one, then ten, fifty, a hundred...

[More and more Victorian soldiers, realizing they were outnumbered, abandoned their weapons after someone started the attack and began fleeing for their lives.]

"No retreat! Hold the line!"

A Victorian officer, having witnessed the collapse of the battle lines, desperately roared, trying to pull the deserters back into the lines.

The officer was met with the retort of the steel tank's cannons...

"boom!"

"—Reporting to command, we have breached Victoria's first line of defense."

[Soon, a report from a lieutenant's communicator reached your frontline command post.]

However, you know very well that this is not the end.

Because you haven't seen the strongest guardian on this front.

"Lieutenant, have you discovered the steam knight mentioned in the intelligence?"

"Reporting to command, my soldiers are searching the scene, but have not found any trace of the Steam Knight."

"We suspect the Steam Rider may have been destroyed in the shelling, or may have escaped—wait! What is that!"

Suddenly, the lieutenant's voice on the comms became increasingly agitated.

"*Leytania profanity*! He's in the sky! When did he fly up there?!"

"Quick! Adjust the gun barrels! Aim all firepower at him! Fire! Fire—"

"boom!!"

[With a deafening roar, the lieutenant's voice on the other end of the communicator turned into static, and then the connection was completely lost.]

Meanwhile, in the command post, dozens of kilometers from the front lines, you and everyone else present could feel a distinct tremor emanating from the ground.

[And the field of vision transmitted by reconnaissance drones.]

[You quickly found him, the majestic steam knight who had descended from the sky and now stood proudly at the first line of defense.]

"Is that the Steam Knight?"

Beside you, gazing at the enormous steam-powered armor in the scene, a hint of warlike interest flickered in his eyes.

[In the drone's footage, you can see how that steam knight, armed with cannons and wielding a massive impact hammer and a flaming lightsaber, tears your vehicle apart.]

This symbolizes the pinnacle of Victorian military and technological prowess, representing Victoria's most expensive, powerful, and loyal warriors.

[Furthermore, it represents the true strength of Victoria's military power.]

Against the steam knight, the chariot's cannon fire could only reach his "ankles," barely even causing him the slightest tremor.

His impact hammer and flaming lightsaber, each strike could destroy one of your war machines.

But, regarding this most terrifying weapon of war in Victoria, you showed not a trace of fear on your face.

[Because you know, the entire Victoria province has at most thirty or so steam-powered knights.]

For every Steam Knight you destroy, Victoria will be unable to resupply temporarily.

Moreover, you are already aware of the Steam Knight's strength.

In the original story, even when these seemingly intimidating beings gathered together, they couldn't withstand the siege of the Sarkaz elite forces, and almost all of them perished within the "Breath of Kings."

Therefore, you know that the Steam Knight is not invincible.

On the contrary, defeating them might not be as difficult as you imagine.

[Especially after your military and technological reforms in Letania, the threat posed by the Steam Knights, whose equipment hasn't been updated in over a decade, will only diminish!]

"—Relay my orders!"

"Eight artillery regiments, aim all howitzers at the Steam Knight's position and fire in batches!"

"Order the warlock corps to use bombing drones to carpet bomb the steam knights on the ground!"

"Send another order to the fleet! Launch the 'Victory' and 'Honor' to block the Steam Knights' air routes and keep firing on them!"

A cold smile appeared on Chen Qi's face as he said calmly:

"Let me see just how tough this Victorian steam armor really is!"

At your command, hundreds of howitzers, over a thousand drones, and two high-speed warships simultaneously launched an attack on the steam knight!

Unlike the cannons of the chariots, howitzers fired from over ten kilometers away couldn't hit the steam knight with such precision.

However, under the firepower of eight artillery regiments and hundreds of howitzers...

[With each volley of cannon fire, one or two projectiles would inevitably strike the massive body of the Steam Knight, or explode around him.]

With each howitzer shell that struck, you could clearly see the massive body of the Steam Knight tremble violently.

In comparison, while drone bombing may not be as powerful as howitzer bombing, it excels in quantity and accuracy.

The barrage of magical bombs struck many of the Steam Knight's vulnerable spots.

Countless damaged parts detached from the Steam Knight's body, further exacerbating its injuries.

However, the pilot of the steam-powered knight, who was being passively attacked, clearly also considered using flight to escape the bombing zone.

However, under the bombardment of the two high-speed warships you had already deployed, the steam knights that had just taken off were almost immediately shot back down.

He had nowhere left to run.

Under your watchful gaze, the desperate steam knight could only struggle in his death throes, wielding his warhammer and lightsaber to destroy every drone and vehicle within his reach.

He resisted desperately, as if defying Victoria's inevitable fall.

Drones were cleaved in two by lightsabers and fell from the sky.

One by one, the war chariots were crushed under his hammer, reduced to fragments scattered across the ground.

But under the relentless bombardment of your legion, his movements grew increasingly sluggish, and each swing of his weapon became more and more powerless...

The shelling and bombardment lasted for a full fifteen minutes.

[Until the very last moment, when he was no longer able to wield his weapon, and his massive steam-powered armor ceased to obey commands.]

With intense resentment, he uttered his final words before dying.

"Victoria...forever immortal."

"boom!!"

[With a cloud of dust, Victoria's strongest trump card, the Steam Knight, fell to your firepower.]

Compared to your overwhelming force, where casualties are less than ten percent, his struggle seems utterly futile.

This powerful steam knight probably never imagined that he, as Victoria's strongest weapon of war, would one day die in such a humiliating manner.

As the steam-powered knight crashed to the ground, everyone around you was stunned.

They also never imagined that the weapon of war that had destroyed Kazdel and left such a deep shadow on the warlike Gauls would be used against them.

[They were almost completely helpless against their bombardment.]

While everyone else was still reeling from the shock, you calmly raised the communicator in your hand.

"—The Steam Knight has fallen."

"Victoria's invincibility has now been broken by us."

"The heroes of Letania, the steam knights of Victoria, can no longer stop our advance."

"There is no longer anything in this country that can threaten us."

"Let us crush this nation and all the enemy forces that dare to stand in our way, just as we crushed this steam knight!"

"Leytania, victory is assured!"

(End of this chapter)