117 – Appointment – 6
After the voting was over, Salome and I returned to the princess’s side.
The princess was already leading her soldiers and marching towards the Duchy of Plos.
And when the princess saw me and Salome joining the camp, she suddenly ran over and hugged me.
Diane, Isabel, and Yuria were startled by the sudden action, but the princess did not care.
“Why, why are you like this?”
She said, “She heard that there was an assassination attempt on you.”
“Nothing was injured. Do not worry.”
“But… I was scared. “I’m afraid you might get hurt.”
When Princess Leonia saw her standing at the head and holding her polearm on a battlefield raining down arrows, she wondered if she was a fearless person, but she didn’t seem to be that way. She did and she hugged me for a while.
Not long after, Princess Leonia, who had left me, spoke to Salome.
“I heard that the Hiron family provided great help in the Holy Kingdom. “But she wants the dukedom.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. “I think nobles are more suited to my temperament than priests.”
“Even if you become a noble, the things you have to do won’t be much different. “If you become my subject, I plan to entrust you mainly with dealing with priests.”
“But that will determine the future of the world, not the future of the kingdom.”
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In other words, if you play within the Holy Kingdom, you won’t be able to become big, but if you play under Leonia, you will be able to become big. Leonia laughed softly.
“It may be a good fit, but it is something we have to look into gradually to see if it is a good fit. Since his political power has already been proven, we need to check whether he has military talent. I’ll give you 2,000 soldiers, so try your best in the final battle, the Battle of Plos. “If you lead the soldiers and play an active role in the battle to subdue Plos, I will give you an operational commission.”
The crowd began to stir at that bombshell.
Most nobles were negative about Salome’s granting of the dukedom. That’s because many of them were born unmanned, so many people didn’t know the importance of politics and how much help Salome gave us this time.
But I know. Right now, wars that take away other people’s territory are the main focus, but as time goes by, the political power that protects the stolen territory will become more important. Therefore, a noble with outstanding political power like Salome is absolutely necessary. Salome bowed her head at this.
“Yes, my lord.”
Although he had not received any title yet, he seemed to have already become a vassal at heart.
—–
Meanwhile, the Principality of Plos virtually gave up all of its territory except the capital. All newly recruited troops were gathered in the capital and the remaining territories were left unattended.
Plos’ calculation was as follows. Although Leonia has consumed numerous territories, not a single gram of food has yet been produced in those territories. Therefore, it was believed that even though the army had increased, there would not be enough soldiers to maintain it.
Because of this, the idea of the Principality of Flos was to somehow gather mercenaries, block the capital, and hold out until winter. When winter comes and Leonia retreats, it tries to make a comeback next year. That was Lucrezia du Flos’s calculation.
Of course, that was common sense. Our army has 13,000 soldiers, while the Flos family has 8,000 soldiers. Although our troops had the advantage, they did not have the numbers to successfully siege a castle.
Meanwhile, Leonia had completely different thoughts. Contrary to Lucrezia du Flos’ expectations, Leonia had no intention of just laying siege and sitting still. Leonia planned to attack the Duchy of Flos by pushing hard, even if the damage was great.
This is because Leonia had strong faith in the skills of her soldiers. Even though they were at a disadvantage in many ways, they believed that if they entered into a battle of proficiency between soldiers, their allies would definitely win.
“Count Rochepol. “Lead the family’s soldiers with Salome Hiron and take charge of the western side of the castle.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Isabel de Poitiers, Uriah Russell. “Lead the family’s soldiers and take charge of the eastern side of the castle.”
“Yes.”
“Dian de Balboa. “Lead the family’s soldiers and take charge of the northern part of the castle.”
“Yes.”
“Finally, Georg Adele, Taiki Lopes, follow me. “I will lead the soldiers under my direct control and take charge of the south gate.”
“Yes!”
Leonia began the siege with 12 cannons, adding 4 newly airlifted cannons to the existing 8 cannons.
However, the cannon firefight was at a disadvantage. Lucrezia had much more money than Leonia, and as a result, she owned more cannons.
As we fired at the castle wall, cannonballs flew towards us from the cannon mounted on the castle wall. As such, the siege using cannons did not last very long.
Instead, our troops began to push the enemy hard using battering rams, siege towers, and ladders.
As the full-scale siege began, the soldiers of the Duchy of Claudia felt a sense of discomfort.
‘It’s not as difficult as you think, is it?’
The enemy has more cannons than our allies. The siege engines were blasting away at the enemy’s cannons on the walls.
Nevertheless, some soldiers who climbed the ladder were unilaterally massacring the enemy. While the enemy was struggling, our troops were easily expanding their space.
‘What happened?’
The soldiers were puzzled, but Charles knew the reason.
The Principality of Claudia has experienced several battles so far.
As such, it had accumulated enough practical experience to become an elite.
However, the soldiers of the Principality of Flos were quite the opposite. The strongest mercenary groups had already been hired, and the current mercenary groups were only beggars who had not been hired before. There was no way that they could compete with the powerful Leonia just by matching the numbers. So that…
“Charge! The enemies are beggars! “As long as we stick together, our team wins!”
“Climb the castle wall! “Just climb the castle wall and you’re done!”
“All forces charge!”
Diane de Balboa at the North Gate, Isabel at the East Gate, and I at the West Gate were easily pushing back the enemy.
Meanwhile, Salome was wearing armor and stepping forward to lead her soldiers.
In the midst of the threat of death swirling around her, she gracefully wielded the Ceylonian rapier sword and seemed to sparkle like a star on the battlefield.
I was just envious of him because I couldn’t stand on the front line due to my lack of swordsmanship skills.
“Mr. Glacia.”
I spoke to Glacia who was watching next to her.
“Yes.”
“How good is Salome’s swordsmanship?”
I asked because the sight of her acting in front of her was gorgeous.
“Um… “I am below Countess Uriah Russell, but above Countess Isabelle de Poitiers.”
“Then compared to me?”
“It’s insulting.”
“… “
I knew I wasn’t good at it, but is this even insulting? I was a little taken aback by Glacia’s merciless words.
“But I think Charles is superior in strategy and tactics.”
Glacia, who said that, looked away as if embarrassed. What is this? Are you comforting me?
‘If it were the same as before, I wouldn’t have imagined it, but Glacia has also changed a lot.’
I wonder if your stamina has gone down a bit since you walked around with me. I felt worse than before.
And soon Salome let down her gates. The battle began to degenerate into street fighting.
—–
3 Hours later. My temper dropped. Duke Lucrezia du Flos was captured by Diane de Balboa and dragged out of the castle.
Duke Lucrezia, who was kneeling at the city gate, was raised up by Princess Leonia.
“It’s been a long time, Duke Lucrezia.”
“… “
Lucrezia could not easily open her mouth, perhaps because she could not believe the current situation or because she was greatly shocked.
“Duke Lucrezia. There will be no apologies between those who share the same ambition. “I just had a little more skill and luck, and if it weren’t for that, I might have been the one kneeling at the castle’s main gate.”
“… “
“I was lucky to get the Duchy of Flos. The Principality of Plos produces 40 percent of the world’s gunpowder weapons. Another 20 percent is the Petrine Republic. In the end, I took control of 60 percent of the world’s gunpowder weapons producers. From now on, fever weapons will become the exclusive property of the Principality of Claudia, or rather, the Kingdom of Taspilia, which will be established gradually. “The future war will be a battle between cold weapons and heat weapons, and the war will naturally be won by heat weapons.”
“… “
Nevertheless, Duke Lucrezia did not open his mouth. However, Lucrezia is astonished by the princess’s next words.
“Duke Lucrezia. Your commission cannot be maintained. This is because your knights have worked hard to take over your territory and you need a lot of territory to grant them. But… “
The princess, who was speechless for a moment, soon continued her words.
“It would be okay to appoint you as the local governor. I own the capital of the Principality of Plos, but you are the one who actually rules it. Well, I don’t care whether you plan to revolt or obey from the bottom of your heart and become my subject. “You know the best about the Flos region, and I need you.”
“Gun… poison?”
“Yes. I would like you to serve as my local representative. “If you agree, it’s okay for me to take office right now.”
What this means is that instead of recognizing the existing monarch of the capital Plos, they will receive tribute and military support. There have been quite a few cases like this in Earth’s history.
“But… why?”
“Because from now on you will gain the world. If I show generosity to world leaders, there will be more people who will take my side. So, what do you think?”
“… “
After thinking for a moment, Lucrezia du Flos’ eyes began to return to fire. And Lucrezia du Flos stood up and said:
“Please take care of me in the future, my lord.”
Well, I don’t think Lucrezia will truly obey Leonia. He will be looking for a crisis in Leonia, and when it falls, he will try to stab her in the back.
But even so, Lucrezia’s resourcefulness will be of great help in governing the Principality of Plos. She is a capable duke.
At this Leonia laughed, and the distribution of the rest of her territory began, except for her capital, Plos, which she granted to Lucrezia.