139 – Operation to conquer Switzerland (2)
Everyone’s attention was focused on His Highness the Crown Prince’s confident attitude, and there were three main reasons.
First, the response process will reveal how much the person closest to the position of next emperor in the empire understands about war and military affairs.
Secondly, through the answer to the first question, those who have joined another prince’s faction or remain neutral will check the prince’s abilities and consider whether or not to change factions.
The third is purely because I wanted to satisfy my curiosity about what was the least understood in this war plan.
“First of all, you all know that, unlike other countries, the Principality of Switzerland is run based on the mercenary dispatch project, isn’t it? And, according to information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a month ago they committed a huge number of mercenaries to the war between the Medison family and Spinola family and the war between the pagans and Corinthians.”
The foundation project of the Principality of Switzerland, as the Crown Prince said, is to send soldiers from their country into other countries’ wars in return for money.
Therefore, although the number of soldiers in that country is overwhelmingly large compared to the population, when war breaks out in a neighboring country, soldiers are dispatched.
This is a structure that inevitably reduces the number of people who can protect Switzerland.
Furthermore, if there is an opportunity to make money as a mercenary, they are willing to fight any fight, so their defense power would have plummeted by deploying mercenaries to a level close to the limit.
“Also, according to rumors, the Montegro family is going to war with the city of Milan, so it looks like more soldiers will be missing.”
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Well, because more than half of the rumors about where and where there will be a war are not true.
No way, Montegro and Milan city start a war before we declare war.
There is no guarantee that the federal government of the Principality of Switzerland, which is crazy about making money, will deploy more mercenaries.
The Republic of Switzerland has always been based on the mercenary business compared to other countries, so the ratio of soldiers to the number of citizens is high.
Not all farmers or artisans can fight in times of emergency with the same level of training as soldiers who have been trained for several years.
Considering the size and population of each canton, it would probably be possible to fight without problems even with each unit divided into one division.
No, in this situation, it is unconditionally advantageous for us to occupy a large area as quickly as possible, and the reason is…
“Furthermore, this is where we have no choice but to split our forces. “I know that our Imperial Army has used mercenaries from Switzerland several times, but their contracts include a clause that if wages are not paid on time or if their hometown is attacked by someone, they will unconditionally return home regardless of the war situation where they are deployed.”
If it were a standing army like the soldiers of the Empire, they would not give up the battle to save the capital from a crisis when they were fighting against Czechoslovakia on the Western Front and there was no order to return even if the capital was attacked.
The mercenaries of the Republic of Switzerland are almost always winning the war, or even if there is a high probability of defeat if they are left out.
If a problem that falls under those two clauses arises, they will force their employer to sign a contract and immediately return home to protect their homeland.
In the wars I participated in, Swiss mercenaries were never used, so I have never experienced or worried about such a thing.
If you look at the records of the Imperial Army, there are often stories that Swiss mercenaries deserted because their salaries were delayed by two months, or that they returned to their homeland the next day because their hometown was attacked.
“So, while we are waging war, the mercenaries dispatched to Corinth may not be included, but the troops engaged in battle in the Peronia City Alliance will definitely join us. “At this time, in order to gain the upper hand in the war, I think we must occupy as large a territory as possible before the returning mercenaries arrive and reduce the number of soldiers that the enemy can mobilize.”
Having said that, the Crown Prince leisurely returned to his seat near the bulletin board and sat down, while the generals and officers, including me, applauded thunderously with sincerity.
Even though it is a war that he personally leads, the fact that the crown prince knows the post-war situation in such detail and can design a strategy.
It was the same as saying that if this person ascends to the throne in the future, the empire will almost never be defeated by another country in a war.
In addition, the generals next to me will wait until my brother comes out again.
“Up until now, I have remained neutral, but I think it would be better to support His Highness the Crown Prince. “If he rules the Reich Empire, won’t the borders definitely become stable?”
“Ah, well… Still, I have been the second prince for two years…”
“Brigadier general, don’t you plan on being promoted to major general? Unless you are someone like Major General Jaeger, who is sitting over there, or His Excellency, Minister of Military Affairs Otto, you have to take politics into consideration as well to get promoted.”
In Korea, there is a saying that in order to be promoted from manager to manager to director, one must not only have outstanding ability but also be good at internal politics.
The saying applies similarly here.
Especially after becoming a colonel or a brigadier general or after becoming a general, only a few people survive the competition.
If you look at situations where the abilities are almost similar, in the end, you can only get promoted if you receive the power of the faction you belong to.
In that sense, Duke Otto von Moritz, who was promoted to Minister of Military Affairs without any interest in politics, even though he is the head of the ducal family, can be said to be a monster in itself.
After everyone chatted for a while, the older brother continued his speech by hitting the bulletin board with his baton.
“Now, we will continue the announcement of the operation again. Therefore, the Reich Empire’s Swiss Expeditionary Force will have His Highness the Crown Prince as the commander-in-chief, and the deputy commander will be Lieutenant General Erwin von Witzleben.”
Count Witzleben, although he is a member of the Crown Prince’s faction, is not that close to Marquis Vener, so he is someone I have only had a few opportunities to see.
According to what I heard through the grapevine, he is a warm and conscientious person who does not carelessly hit or curse at servants and even takes care of them on birthdays and wedding anniversaries.
Among lower-ranking officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers below the rank of captain, he is highly praised as a lieutenant general with good character who truly cares about them.
He is a type of general who is weak to the weak and strong to the strong, as he is said to personally crack joints at the slightest mistake among high-ranking officers and generals above major level.
“In addition, you said that the composition of the remaining units will be notified after further review by the Chief of Staff. From now on, we will begin the explanation related to full-scale distribution.”
In that way, my brother continued to explain everything related to supply, detailed operations, and equipment in as detailed and easy-to-understand manner as possible.
Even though he sometimes stuttered due to nervousness due to the huge number of difficult questions that were asked along the way, he somehow managed to answer well.
When approximately 4 hours had passed.
“Then, I will conclude the explanation of the surprise operation on the Principality of Switzerland planned by His Majesty the Crown Prince.”
With these words, my brother quietly left the room, and the generals and officers, including myself, applauded generously for the excellent presentation.
After that, I went straight to where my father-in-law, Captain Benner, was.
“hahahaha, now that I’m this age, I’m most happy to see my children growing up. My daughter already has a child, not to mention her son-in-law. Although he was a little ugly, my nephew, who will succeed me, has grown up to be so proud.”
When I looked around, there were a lot of scary people with 4 and 3 stars gathered around Captain Benner.
Looking at the faces, they all belonged to the anti-Crown Prince faction.
They sent a look to their colleagues around them as if they were trying to stop that scolded old man, but they gave in to the power of the next Marshal who was awarded the Diamond Knight’s Sword medal.
I froze, unable to say anything.
Furthermore, if you reach the rank of major at the age of 27, you are in the top 1-2% of the empire at a promotion rate, so to look at your nephew like that and say he is not good enough.
It’s like threatening the people here, saying that if you think your children are capable, you should switch to the Crown Prince faction, which gives more opportunities to young officers other than Major General Jaeger.
Sure enough.
“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is very fond of young talents. If your children have the ability, wouldn’t you have the opportunity to succeed? Also, to be honest, I am also honest. “Oh, that was too long.”
When my father-in-law saw me, he chased after me as if he were Captain Patton.
“This is our son-in-law. That’s just it. It feels good just to look at it. Then, I have a meal plan with my son-in-law today, so I’ll just go. “In addition, His Royal Highness doesn’t have any special plans today.”
Then, he took me with him, turned around and left the main hall of the imperial palace, whispering in my ear.
“Before I met you, those guys were subtly teasing me, saying I didn’t have a biological son, or making sarcastic remarks about your older brother’s slow advancement. But thanks to you, Max was quickly promoted to major, and my daughter Laura, with the body of a woman, is already a lieutenant colonel at the age of 25.”
“hahahaha, isn’t it because my brother and my wife are excellent?”
My father-in-law spoke in a serious voice.
“Laura would have been promoted to major by now even if you weren’t there. Captain Max would have been his limit. Although he is very good, he is not a genius. So, son-in-law, please take good care of him even if he inherits the marquis family line.”
And that day, my father-in-law said she wanted to see my unborn grandchild, and she actually came to my house and had dinner.