215 – An unexpected crisis
After encountering a disaster that made me think, ‘Isn’t the world planning to put me in crisis?’, I tried washing my ears. I did it.
Because I wanted to believe that I was hearing nonsense because there was so much earwax in my ears.
“Ensign Hawkman, I haven’t been able to wash my ears for a few days, so I think I’m hearing nonsense. “Could you please bring me some water to wash my ears right now?”
After hearing those words, the second lieutenant made a bewildered look and went to get water to wash my ears. Captain Keitel in front of me sighed and shook his head.
At the same time, the person who had treated me only in a public relationship based on rules and principles and showed little of his human side looked like he understood me completely and patted me on the shoulder and said,
“Lieutenant General Jaeger, everything you heard is true. I am ashamed to say this to you, who has just returned after leading 1,000 Northern Archer Cavalry to attack the main camp and performing a great feat that lowered the enemy’s morale. This is a document sent directly from the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “You still don’t seem to believe me, so let me show you a copy of the document.”
With those words, the captain handed me a copy of the document, and I immediately read it.
[This is a report to General Gerhard von Keitel, Commander of the Stockholm Expeditionary Force of the Reich Empire.
Three days after the expeditionary force left the north and was dispatched to Stockholm, Grand Duchess Irina von Augusto of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and the Crown Prince of Stockholm were married.
Accordingly, the two countries entered into a marriage alliance and signed a mutual defense agreement.
At the same time, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw could not tolerate the Reich Empire’s invasion of the Kingdom of Stockholm, the country of its son-in-law, and criticized His Majesty the Emperor, saying that charging the innocent Chief Ishstaven with treason was against human principles.
Based on this, according to the results of analysis by the Imperial Intelligence Department, it is estimated that Słupsk will send reinforcements numbering at least 30,000 to up to 50,000 to Stockholm.
In addition, we hope for your deep understanding that military material support may be disrupted because the Duchy of Morenzia and the Duchy of Belgium, on the west side of the empire, mobilized 80,000 troops to attack the western part of the empire, aiming for a crisis in the empire.
Compensation to Marquis Wenzel Zwei von Kaunitz, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Reich]
It is fortunate that the Swedes did not break their promise to attack northern Stockholm, making the excuse that they could not afford to provide soldiers.
No. Since our army is only 110,000 strong and the enemy army is 200,000 strong, we can say this according to the beautiful rules of diplomacy of this era.
‘Aww, Reich Castle. Don’t we also have to live as we please? There’s no need for it, and we don’t know we’ve formed an alliance. So, since the back of your head looks sticky, I’m going to hit you.’
If that’s the case, I’ll be in a situation where I have no choice but to go crazy and go crazy because I don’t have any answers.
When I was about to sigh in despair, the captain looked at me and said.
“You don’t have to worry about the Kingdom of Sweden’s betrayal. Because around the time the alliance between the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and the Kingdom of Stockholm was announced, the engagement between Her Majesty the First Princess of the Reich Empire and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Sweden was established. “No matter how bad those noblemen are, they couldn’t betray the empire they formed a marriage alliance with.”
In this era, on the Europa continent, stabbing countries that have signed alliances or non-aggression pacts is as common as eating bread and soup.
However, in the case of a marriage alliance, unless it is a very serious case, it is not possible to help the other party, and declaring war or backstabbing by breaking the agreement is implicitly prohibited.
The royal family held an engagement ceremony and got married, but betraying within 3 years is subject to criticism and contempt, except in very special cases.
If the country that has been stabbed is unlucky, it may be excommunicated by the Pope and suffer all kinds of disadvantages.
In other words, like in the Francois Republic, a civil war could break out where the people and nobles, who feared excommunication as much as death, overthrew the emperor and took a train to heaven in the afterlife.
So, when the First Princess and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Sweden become engaged, there is no need to attack us in the back.
“It is truly a blessing in disguise. If Sweden had betrayed us as well, there would have been no other answer than to flee as quickly as possible like we did in Richen rather than defeat Ishtaven.”
“It’s terrible just to think about it. But I completely agree with that judgment. No matter how much you do, it seems unlikely that you will be able to come up with an answer if you are being attacked by the three countries of Stockholm, Warsaw, and Sweden. However, I thought we could do something with two countries and 200,000 people, so we decided not to retreat.”
The fact that a commander who doesn’t joke started clumsily mixing jokes or his own gags is like saying that the situation is really bad.
This means that the situation is so bad that a person who does not joke has to at least joke and pretend that nothing has happened to maintain the morale of the surrounding soldiers to some extent.
“Then what is the current supply situation? According to your letter from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, didn’t you say that supply should be reduced? “Is our supply also decreasing?”
As a commander, I mentioned the most unpleasant thing to hear about supply, namely the decrease in supply, but the commander’s face was quite bright.
No, he answered with a slightly confident expression.
“I am the one who was promoted to general in the Empire while only doing staff work such as supply, training, and operations. Are we just going to watch supply decrease because of this problem? “We found a way to maintain, or rather increase, supply by attaching an appropriate justification.”
From noble mtl dot com
…… No matter how hard I searched, it seemed impossible to increase supply in this situation. What kind of magic did you use?
“Aren’t there a lot of northerners conscripted for this battle? Not only those who were warriors when they lived as barbarians, but also the commoners (serfs) now have the same right to military service. In return, His Majesty issued an edict that if we win this war, we will collect taxes from the north at the same rate as the imperial serfs.”
To be exact, it was an edict that would allow them to receive the same treatment as the serfs who had long lived in the empire in return for carrying out military service.
It is not entirely wrong to say that one of the steps to receive such treatment is to win this expedition.
But how can we utilize it to increase supply beyond maintaining it?
“Perhaps that’s why, when I met Colonel Kergit and other northerners, I noticed that they had a passion to do anything if they could be treated on an equal footing with the people of the empire. So, we decided to collect a special tax without burdening northerners too much. All the deer, wolf, and bear skins collected through special taxes were handed over to the merchants of the empire, and then a contract was made to use the money to purchase military supplies such as grain, weapons, armor, and horses. “This way, even if the General Staff reduces supply, we will be able to continue supply without problems.”
“No matter how much they hope for the victory of the empire, they are collecting additional taxes. Isn’t there a problem in many ways?”
Increasing taxes more than necessary can very easily lead to rebellion.
That’s because the feeling of deprivation that arises when the money you earn is taken away from you more than the appropriate amount directly leads to rebellion.
“In other regions, wouldn’t the northern army commander be in charge of both administration and military affairs? So, there is no legal problem if I, as your superior, use the authority I have to increase taxes. In addition, northerners also want to be recognized by the empire, so we just gave them an opportunity to dedicate themselves.”
“Are you telling me to show dedication in order to be recognized?”
“Also, I promised that if we win this war, I will repay them with a portion of the compensation. “The cash is about 1.3 Times the price of purchasing the leather.”
“If the empire wins and pays 1.3 Times the amount in cash, all northerners will be truly loyal to the empire.”
However, if Captain Keitel and I are defeated, we will both be criticized by the northerners for collecting useless taxes.
At least it is 10 billion times better than losing because you didn’t do what you should have done now.
“By the way, where do you think this battle will be fought?”
“Shouldn’t we bring in the enemy directly? In that sense…”
After saying that, I marked a dot on the map and said,
“It is best to fight in Osby Plain, Osby.”