211 – Stockholm Attack Operation (2)
And three months later, the plain near the port of Visby, Kingdom of Stockholm.
“As of the current time, we will be entering into a strategy meeting for war against the Kingdom of Stockholm. “Let Captain Olga, or Captain, speak first.”
As Captain Keitel, commander of the Stockholm Expeditionary Force, spoke, a man wearing a fur cloak called Captain Olga stood up from a corner and spoke.
“I personally led a company of light cavalry under my command to scout from Visby to Lund and returned. “On the way back and forth, the army of the Kingdom of Stockholm was not seen.”
“What is the condition of the road to Lund? “Were there any elements that could interfere with the movement?”
“Although the road is somewhat narrow, I don’t think there will be any major problems even if a large army passes through it. At the same time, I roughly scouted the defense status of the fortress on the way to Lund, and it didn’t look that good. The number of soldiers seemed small, and their armament was only second or third level compared to the imperial army.”
“If that is true, just as Lieutenant General Yeager said, they knew in advance that we would invade here. So, I think they took out all but the minimum number of troops… They did a great job scouting.”
After hearing the praise, Captain Olga made a proud expression, shrugged his shoulders and returned to his seat.
The other chieftains saw this and looked at Olga with their eyes shining. They must be thinking this.
I want to make a great contribution in this war and be promoted to major, thereby raising my status to a high-ranking officer who is treated formally within the military.
“Lieutenant General Jaeger, do you think we should leave only 2nd and 3rd rank troops and attack the enemy’s abandoned castle? Or do you think we should just leave it as is?”
Even if only some 2nd or 3rd rank soldiers are left in the castle, attacking the walls and taking the castle may require great sacrifice and time consumption.
So when you advance very quickly, sometimes you just pass by the opponent’s main defense base.
The reason is that at the cost of revealing the weakness of my supply route to the opposing soldiers within the castle, the enemy army can be caught off guard by moving at an unexpected speed.
Taking advantage of this, nomads often destroy their enemies individually.
But I don’t think now is the time.
“Later, when a supply route is established, the soldiers inside the castle can rush out and carry out sabotage actions such as cutting off the supply route. “Once the supply route is cut off, stable supply becomes impossible, so I think it would be better to capture all the castles along the route, even if it means losing time.”
“I think that would be best. “Our troops number 110,000, but many of the castles along the route we pass through have a lot of defenders, so at most there are not many places with more than 10,000 soldiers.”
There is a case in history where a thousand soldiers perfectly blocked an onslaught of tens of thousands of soldiers.
In a siege, the side defending the castle often defeats a much larger force than itself with just a small number of troops.
That also applies when the difference in troops between the side defending the castle and the side attacking is about 3 to 5 times, but in reality, if the difference in forces is more than 10 times, it is very difficult to hold out.
Furthermore, even if they are second- and third-line soldiers, unless they just have air in their heads, they will clearly know why the higher-ups left them here.
In all likelihood, the castle gate will open as soon as we get close, and if the soldiers with low morale watch over the castle, we won’t be able to get far.
“After capturing the castle like that, I think it would be better to just disarm all the soldiers in the castle and let them go.”
“Are you considering public sentiment after the occupation? I don’t think it’s a bad idea. “Someone among them will escape and inform the enemy of our troops’ location and size.”
“Even so, the Stockholm Kingdom Army will not be able to force the marching route of our expeditionary force. Therefore, if location information is passed on to them, the only operation they can attempt is a surprise operation. Moreover, we have a scouting unit made up of northerners who can scout a distance twice that of regular scouts…”
“The point is that there is no need to suffer unnecessary loss of troops due to the enemy’s surprise operation. In other words, informing the enemy of our location would also mean that our allies could make the enemy move as they wish.”
In addition, near Visby Castle, where we are now, and in the south of Stockholm, there is a plain with no obstacles except forests.
Even if we let the enemy know our location, it is still difficult to surprise us since there is almost no terrain that is easy to ambush, which is essential for establishing a surprise attack.
Therefore, unless our Captain Kaitel insists on taking a bowl of medicine and attacking the fortress that has been thoroughly prepared for defense, it can be said that there is no need to fight in an unfavorable battlefield.
“Then do you plan to hold a grand battle on the plain like the last time you fought in Austria? It’s a good idea to fight head-on on the plains. In addition, we have absorbed a lot of northerners, and our cavalry ratio is higher than that of our opponent, so we have an advantage in many ways.”
In this era of warfare, the number of knights you have is actually the most important factor when evaluating your strength.
Light cavalry, especially archer cavalry, is as powerful as knights.
So, if you fight with the same troops, the Reich Imperial Army, which has 10,000 knights and 10,000 northern archer cavalry, is much more advantageous.
The chiefs here also knew this and shouted loudly, as if they thought their chance to play had finally come.
“I will definitely repay the favor of the Empire, which saved us from being oppressed by Ludvik Khan and allowed us to return to our original land and live!”
“If you give us the opportunity to play, we will repay you with results that exceed your expectations!”
“Commander-in-chief, please leave everything to me. “Our Olga Company will return with the best results.”
Although the conversation paused for a moment while the Commander-in-Chief and Deputy Commander were speaking, I did not expect them to hit it off like that.
But it wasn’t that I couldn’t understand their feelings, so I sent a signal to the captain, who was showing a bit of displeasure, to ask him to calm down.
Perhaps he understood my intention, Captain Keitel just nodded his head a few times and spoke politely.
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“I am not unaware of your loyalty and passion for contributing to the empire. So this time, I gave you the rank of captain and gave you the authority to command 100 warriors from each tribe. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to get too excited when we haven’t even told you what kind of strategy we will carry out yet.”
In fact, most people below major level do not even get a chance to enter the command center that commands more than 100,000 soldiers.
The chiefs over there acknowledged their special status as tribal chiefs in the north and allowed their participation in the strategy meeting.
“As you said, I do plan to run the giant slalom. But before that, I want to give the 10,000 northern archer cavalry a chance to be active.”
At those words, the captain changed his eyes and asked.
“It doesn’t seem like they want to end it by simply fighting head-on on the plains. “Okay, what are you thinking?”
“Nothing different, we plan to surprise the enemies. And this raid requires brave and nimble northerners.”
“A surprise attack, in this flat area? “It won’t be easy.”
It is certainly a difficult and difficult task to carry out a surprise attack in a flat area.
So, I decided that it would be okay to give the enemy approximate information about our location, even though the claim is contradictory.
“It’s certainly not easy, but it’s not impossible. Because we can march at least five times the speed of the enemy marching with infantry… If we properly understand the terrain and plan a useful strategy, we can pull off a surprise attack that will inflict quite a heavy blow on the opponent.”
Captain Kaitel looked at my face and sighed.
“Okay, instead, if there is any concern about the operation failing, please return immediately. Just by leading the archer cavalry and scouting the surrounding area, you will be of great help to our army.”
“Yes, Commander.”
**
A week later, a plain in Stockholm.
“Ka… ㄴ… No, Lieutenant General Jaeger! From here, you can see the great city of Stockholm, 30 km away. The size of his army was approximately 150,000 men, and it also had the banner of Ishtaven the Traitor. What would you like to do?”
I answered that with a smile.
“Which path do you think they will choose? “If you know that first, you can do anything, right?”