107 – Allies – 1
Princess Leonia was staring blankly at the map. Charles, who was guarding next to her, asked.
“Your Highness, do you have any concerns?”
“Next battle.”
Next battle. That was definitely a difficult problem. This is because there is a high possibility that you will have to deal with 5,000 mercenaries from the Petrine Republic and 20,000 soldiers from the Principality of Plos at the same time.
“Since our troops took Petrio’s territory, the upper limit of soldiers that can be mobilized is 13,000. “But the enemy army numbered 25,000.”
“Are you afraid?”
“No, I’m not afraid. My head hurts. If you want to win, you can win. Because the strength of our allies is unparalleled. But the problem comes after winning. “I was thinking about how many of our troops would survive against twice as many enemies, and whether someone would attack the rear once our troops were weakened.”
Leonia is speaking now. Victory has already been decided, and the question is how much damage will be suffered.
“Your Majesty, there is a reason why the number of enemies is 25,000, not 20,000.”
“Okay. “This is because it is the result of the combination of two forces.”
“Then wouldn’t our army be able to combine the two forces?”
“… Are you talking about the Republic of Salerno?”
The Republic of Salerno was a country to the west of the Allies, to the north of the Principality of Plos, and to the southeast of the Kingdom of Swadia. The only ally that could be helpful in the current situation is the Salerno Republic.
“Yes. “I will try to convince you.”
“By what means?”
“The Republic of Salerno is weak.”
“What… It is weak compared to neighboring countries. It is sandwiched between the Principality of Claudia, the Principality of Flos, and the Kingdom of Swadia. “The surrounding countries are all powerful countries.”
“That’s what will make them tick.”
How can you be so sure?
What I am certain of is the situation and the character of the Governor of the Republic of Salerno. Roberto du Sancto. His name may be complicated, but he is a man who is serious about protecting his country. The only reason the Republic of Salerno, which was caught between powerful countries and had no answer, was because its governor had good abilities, and since that governor was the current governor, he would definitely show a reasonable attitude in diplomacy.
—–
The next day, I immediately led my entourage and headed to the Republic of Salerno. The Republic of Salerno is a country located in the northwest of the Taspilia Peninsula and is the country most exposed to invasions on the Taspilia Peninsula.
That’s because to the west of the Salerno Republic is the Kingdom of Swadia, and the easiest country for the Kingdom of Swadia to target was the Republic of Salerno. It was easy to invade because it was small and geographically closest.
Nevertheless, the reason the Republic of Salerno has been able to survive until now is because the five countries joined forces to block it every time the Taspilia Peninsula was invaded.
But the system was broken this time. Due to the betrayal of the Principality of Plos and the declaration of neutrality by the Holy Kingdom of Lydia. Now, the only countries that can take the same side are the Kingdom of Salabrica and the Petrine Republic, but the Petrine Republic has become a half-corpse that cannot even protect its own country, let alone sending reinforcements to other countries, and the Kingdom of Salabrica is too far away to be of help.
In the end, I had to stand alone from now on. This was without the help of his compatriots. As the once reliable five-nation alliance disappeared in an instant, the Republic of Salerno felt empty, as if the clothes it had been wearing had been taken off.
In such a situation, a diplomat from the Republic of Claudia requested an audience. Doge Roberto initially tried to refuse. He also advised all his subjects to refuse. But…
‘The Republic of Salerno needs an umbrella. And the Principality of Flos can’t be that umbrella. The purpose of the Principality of Plos is to unify the Taspilia Peninsula. ‘When they attack us, they attack us, but they never become our allies.’
‘But what about the Principality of Claudia? Princess Leonia currently has 13,000 troops. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t reach the 25,000 of the Plos Petrio Coalition. In that case, if she helps the Duchy of Claudia with only 10,000 of her troops, the combined force of Claudia-Salerno will be 23,000 and the combined force of Plos-Petrio will be 25,000. If that happens, the difference in power between the two powers will be 100 years old. It’s not a situation where either side can easily defeat the other. Moreover, the biggest problem is… ‘
Roberto du Sancto, the governor of the Republic of Salerno, thought. For the Taspilia peninsula, the old enemy with a long history is not the Principality of Claudia or the Principality of Flos. Rather…
‘Kingdom of Swadia. If necessary, they can lead a force of 25,000 and move south as a single force. If that happens, the Republic of Salerno will be trampled upon at once. In this situation, if I ask the Principality of Plos for reinforcements, will they listen? No, the only thought is to let Swadia trample on the Salerno Republic and attack and win against Swadia, who has lost strength from trampling on the Salerno Republic.’
So we need a slightly different alliance. We need a lot of allies right now, and if the situation arises, we have an alliance strong enough to fight against the Kingdom of Swadia. But where would such an alliance be? If you have power, you don’t need allies, and if you don’t have power, they won’t help you. But…
“… There is!”
“What do you mean? “Your Excellency the Governor-General.”
“There is such an alliance! “Please bring in the diplomat from the Principality of Claudia who I mentioned earlier, right now!”
“Yes? But they are just invaders who came to conquer Taspilia… “
“What our troops need now is flexible thinking. Taspilia and what is not Taspilia. Splitting these two things starts nothing. The problem is to classify those who are helpful to our allies and those who are not. And although they may not be Taspilians, they will be helpful to our troops.”
“Yes? What is that… “
“Anyway, please let them in. “There is something we need to discuss carefully.”
After a few days like that. Charles was able to safely arrive in the Republic of Salerno by carriage.
When Charles arrived in the Republic of Salerno, he could not help but be surprised. This is because his army was so well organized that it was incomparable to that of the Petrine Republic.
I could feel it instinctively. These are strong. If a single city garrison is like this, the main army will be much stronger. And.
“The Count of Rochepol of the Duchy of Claudius is eating it!”
The moment I entered the Salerno Republic building, the eyes of dozens of officials were focused on Charles.
Their gaze was hostile. If possible, you probably want to kick Charles out right now.
No matter what, Charles is an ordinary person. He is an ordinary person who is only slightly good at games. Even though Charles felt like he was going to crumble under their pressure, he acted as confidently as possible. That’s because here he was not Charles Jean Rochepol, but the face of Princess Leonia.
‘I must show my dignity as a representative of a powerful nation.’
All they can do is stare. If Charles was killed here, it would literally be war. With that thought in mind, I shouted with as confident a look as I could.
“I request an audience with His Excellency the Governor-General.”
After a while, a knight came running and told me to follow him.
After following the driver, we were able to arrive at the governor’s office.
The governor’s office was incomparable to Leonia’s. In the case of hereditary nobles, the family itself would be looked down upon if it was not dignified, so there were cases where it was decorated as dignified as possible to show the family’s power, but since Roberto was only an elected governor and not a hereditary noble to begin with, he did not live such a ostentatious life. It seemed. And as soon as Charles sat down, Roberto spoke.
“I don’t like talking back. I want to get to the point as much as possible. I have a rough idea of what His Majesty the Duke of Leonia wants. “He must be a trustworthy ally.”
I was a little taken aback by the blunt and direct way of speaking that suddenly got to the point, but I realized that it was the same person I saw in the game. This person was a person who was quite practical even in the game.
“That’s right. Her Royal Highness Princess Leonia believes that the Principality of Claudia should also create allies to deal with the Plos-Petrionic alliance.”
“The value of our troops is incomparable to that of Petrio. The Republic of Salerno is on the border with the Kingdom of Swadia, so it has already been invaded several times, and is a country that pays a lot of attention to national defense due to the threat of invasion at any time. If you want to borrow the power of an ally like that, you will have to come up with reasonable conditions.”
Charles thought. He says he is reading our needs accurately. Perhaps he had read our plan from the moment we suggested visiting the Republic of Salerno. Then…
“But Swadia is a powerhouse with the strongest heavy cavalry in the world. Even if all the countries on the Taspilia peninsula worked together to stop it until now, they won’t be able to stop it from now on. “The unity of the Taspilia Peninsula has been broken, so from now on we will have to stand on our own.”
He heard that the other person didn’t like to talk back, so he decided to be blunt and attack their weaknesses first.