Siege of Belta Castle

*The Girl Who Ate a Death God*Episode 15 - Episode 18

The Battle of Althia Crossing was a turning point for the Liberation Army. With it, they gained a massive amount of ground. After the Tenang Atrocity, the Liberation Army had complete and total control of the Belta Region, allowing them to properly siege Belta Castle. With the Fourth Army Corps of the Yuuz Royal Army cut off from retreat with no reinforcements in sight, the Royal Army numbered at a mere ten thousand men settled in for the long-haul.

## Key Moments

The Liberation Army Begins the Siege
After the position of the Liberation Army in the Belta Region is secure, Supreme Commander Altura begins the Siege of Belta Castle. It is a standard fair for a siege, except the Liberation Army requisitioned catapults from the previous battle. The soldiers in the castle defended against soldiers attempting to fill the moat, but the catapults eventually came into play. The castle was completely surrounded by a seemingly endless force. Under General David's command, the Royal Army refuses to surrender.
The Death God displays her prowess
Inside the walls of Belta Castle, Major Schera Zade uses her sickles to snipe catapult operators that are beyond the range of longbows. Her unit, Death's Cavalry, are being commanded by a member who is more versed in longbows than she, so Schera is free to slaughter to her heart's content. After her sickles run out, she throws rocks. Each throw is another life taken.
Officer General David is betrayed
Six days into the siege. Although General David completely abandons leaving the castle with his life because the Royal Capital refuses to send any reinforcements to break the siege, others are not so keen to follow him to the grave. The other Staff Officers decide it is high-time to abandon David by attempting to take his life and present his head to the Liberation Army. Unfortunately for them, David had taken an interest in Major Schera Zade due to her valor during the Tragedy of Sulawesi Grand Bridge, and presents her with a glorious feast for helping him with a little problem. David had counted on their betrayal, and Schera's hatred of the Liberation Army extended to traitors.
    Schera's meal is interrupted by Staff Officer Asar, the last traitor remaining. Things do not end up well for him when he eventually notices the heads of the rest of the staff officers lining the walls and hidden under the table. Unfortunately, he is so slow that Schera had also begun eating, and is rudely and violently ripped apart for interrupting her meal.
Major Schera Zade and Major Konrad Escape
In the final moments of the siege, David and Sidamo both order Schera Zade to attempt an escape from Belta Castle to the northern Roshanak Stronghold with Major Konrad. After a small bet with Major Konrad, it is decided that Konrad's unit will be the vanguard to escape into the forest where they are sure to meet an ambush to finish them off. Schera's intuition creates a change of plans, and instead of a rearguard, they run diversion, attracting the attention of Diener. Diener constantly sends out units to intercept Death's Cavalry, but Schera's brute strength and tactics, along with the tenacity of her soldiers, lead to many casualities for the Liberation Army.
Schera is eventually able to meet up with and save the vestiges of Konrad's unit by setting fire to the forest by using Katarina to make corpses of their enemies explode. They are pursued all the way to Roshanak Stronghold. Their forces are diminished from five thousand to two thousand, with five hundred casualities being from Schera's cavalry. Surviving forces of the Siege of Belta Castle: two thousand, fifteen hundred remained of Death's Cavalry.
## Aftermath

    In the final moments of the siege when Schera and Konrad are making their escape, the gates of Belta Castle are opened from the far side. Schera and Katarina both notice that Vander has gone missing, and they quickly surmise that he had turned traitor. Schera vows to kill him before heading out into the fields of slaughter.

Vander himself had opened the gates to the Liberation Army and taken the head of General David to present to them. He was assigned under Diener as his adjutant. Diener himself was reprimanded for single-mindedly ordering the deaths of thousands in the pursuit of Schera's cavalry unit. Ghamzeh used the opportunity of Diener's waning power in the ranks of the Liberation Army to offer a plan to take Roshanak Stronghold in the next battle.

Field Marshal Sharov had *finally* gotten approval to send members of the First Army Corps to Roshanak Stronghold, the final line of defense for the Royal Capital. He led an army fifty thousand strong to defend the Canaan Region from the invasion. He demotes and sends Lieutenant General Yaldar Gale back to the Royal Capital region under suspicion that the Liberation Army has traitors in the midst of the nobles in the region. Schera Zade is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, but sent with Yaldar in order to investigate the region under Chief Staff Officer Sidamo's orders.

2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Episode 16: If food dropped out of the sky, it would surely be delicious.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Episode 17: Prefer delicious food to a beautiful medal.
4. ↑ Episode 18: A feast in the royal capital is surely delicious