Chapter 28: 28 - Deployment
Merlin arrived at the king's office and knocked on the door, after a few moments the door was opened by an old butler, Merlin's senses told him not to underestimate this old butler however
'At least the level of Jack… The sense of danger is about the same'
Merlin showed a smile as the ambient temperature around him dropped by a few degrees as his jacket reacted to the well-hidden hostility that the butler displayed behind his perfect smile, Merlin spoke
"I am here as requested"
The old butler stepped aside, then Merlin walked in and saw the king sitting behind the sturdy desk, from the time Merlin had spent with him he could tell that he wasn't in the best of moods, Merlin quickly asked
"What happened?"
The king sighed when he realized that he had been seen through by Merlin, then after a few moments he began speaking
"How much do you know about the political buildup of the Engir kingdom?"
Merlin looked blankly at the king as he answered
"I know there's a king who rules over the kingdom… There are also city lords that govern their own cities, As I see it the common people pay tax to their city lord, then the city lord pays taxes directly to the kingdom's coffers?"
"You are almost right, the city lords pay taxes to a region lord which also taxes the people of their region's capital that then pays taxes to the kingdom's coffers…. And the northern region lord as rebelled and sided with Helga who has launched an invasion through the north, thereby bypassing the fortifications that were in place, this news is 4 hours old"
Merlin nodded before he muttered
"So they pulled a Maginot line…"
The king looked a little confused before he asked
"Pardon?"
Merlin explained
"There is a country in my old world that was hostile with a neighboring country, so they built a great fortification line all along the border said to be impenetrable, then the other country simply invaded a 3rd country that bordered the two of them and thereby bypassed the impenetrable fortification line known as the Maginot line"
The king's expression soured before he looked resolutely at Merlin and spoke
"I am deploying you and your tanks to the front, of course, the regular army will follow, but it'll take time to gather it which we don't have"
Merlin sighed before his gaze hardened and he did a military salute as he spoke
"I'll comply… We'll depart right away"
"Take a look at this map first"
Merlin looked over the map of the Engir kingdom for a few moments before he nodded and rolled it up and put it into his inventory, then the king spoke
"Before you leave I'll give you a departing gift"
The king stood up and walked past Merlin out of the room as he spoke
"Follow after me"
Merlin followed after the king and after walking through the hallways and down some stairs before they arrived at a seemingly normal door, the king pulled out a medallion and held it up to the door that quickly seemed to melt away like a mirage and revealed a hallway, the king walked on and Merlin followed soon they arrived in what could only be described as a treasure vault, rows of treasure chests stood lined up, the king walked over and opened one up, Merlin saw the contents of the chest and muttered
"Magic beast cores?"
The king nodded before he spoke
"About half of the accumulated wealth of the Engir kingdom is stored as magic beast cores, I am giving 5 chests to you as advanced payment for your services this time"
Merlin nodded and swept his hand over 5 of the chests before he muttered
"Convert newly acquired magic beast cores to points"
[Ding! 7346 points added, new balance: 9908 points]
Then Merlin turned and directly left the treasury, the king showed a smile and nodded
"Not one to waste words… I like that"
Merlin walked out of the castle and arrived in a courtyard where one of the Centurion Mk. 3's were parked, the crew were currently doing minor maintenance on it but stood alert when Merlin arrived, Merlin nodded to them before he spoke
"We've received orders to sortie… Radio the rest of the battalion to prepare and be ready to move as soon as possible!"
"""""Sir, Yes sir!"""""
Merlin climbed up on the Centurion and soon the tank was seen driving through the gates north gate where the rest of the 38 tanks stood ready in an arrowhead formation, Merlin had taken over as commander of the tank when he did the android commander made a salute before it faded out of existence, Merlin found this convenient as the android would faze into existence again once it was needed, this helped as there was limited space within the tank, Merlin popped open the cupola and climbed up before he sat down on the edge of it, then he waved over at Jane that sat on the cupola of one of the King tiger's before he waved over at Geo that showed a smile and gave a salute, Merlin laughed before he looked ahead as the tanks drove North…
Five days later the tank battalion arrived at the edge of the Northern lord's territory, about a kilometer ahead of them were a border post, Merlin looked through his binoculars and saw that it raised Helga's flag, then he sighed before he quickly went over the strategy that he had gone over with Jane and Geo, then he gave an 'ahead' signal to Geo's scout group, Geo nodded before he gave an 'okay' sign before he went down into the M41 and closed hatches, the strategy was simple, they would smash through all resistance and intercept the main Helga army that would have to traverse through a mountain pass before they could enter the kingdom properly, to put it simply, they were on the clock and thus they didn't have time to be gentle with the enemy, in Jane's and Geo's command tanks were food and water stashed to last a month as they likely would be surrounded by enemies the hatches would remain closed for the foreseeable future, the voice of an android radio operator sounded out over the radio
"Moving to engage, 5 by 5, we're punching straight through!"
Merlin nodded before he spoke through the radio
"Roger, Merlin group, moving"
"Jane group, moving"
The M41's didn't shell the living crap out of the border post, they simply hit the sturdy gate with a few High-explosive shells before they passed through in a single file under a heavy rain of arrows and crossbow bolts, Merlin didn't like the way the soldiers were pelting the poor M41's, so he gave a command over the radio as they passed within 300 meters of the walls in response of the soldiers that began targeting his tank group with a ballista mounted on top of the wall
"Primus, canister shell ready!"
Primus, the first Centurion Mk. 3's quickly loaded a canister shell before the commander reported back over the radio
"Ready!"
"Target enemy infantry at top of the walls, fire when ready"
"Firing!"
The roar of the cannon was heard as around 1000 steel balls left the muzzle of the cannon and spread out in a conical shape and blasted away the soldier's on top of the walls, the canister shell effectively turned the Quick-fire 20 pounder tank cannon that the Centurion was mounted with into a shotgun, the effect was devastating and cleared about half of the soldiers on top of the walls while a quarter was injured and the last quarter fled in panic, Merlin called Geo over the radio
"Geo, next border post we pass through fire a couple of phosphor shells at their heavy anti magic beast weapons, we can't afford to take a hit from those, if one of the tanks gets immobile we'll have to scuttle it"
A long silence passed before Geo's voice sounded out through the radio
"...Roger"
Merlin nodded before he showed a smile and spoke
"Remember, being kind to your enemy is the same as being cruel to yourself, every soldier we leave capable of fighting will be a problem for the regular army that'll pass through here in half a month"
Geo's voice sounded out from the radio again after a few seconds
"I get it already… Man, I thought you couldn't teach an old dog new tricks…"
Then Jane's laughter sounded out from the radio before her voice followed
"You're doing pretty well already old man, keep it up"
Merlin showed a smile as the tanks passed through the gate in a single file, they were now officially in hostile territory, he breathed a sigh before he looked down at his shaking hand, the words to Geo was also spoken to himself
'A lot of blood is going to flow in the Northern Region in the coming days… but it'll be a drop in the bucket of what will happen if we don't intercept Helga's army…'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone