32 – Crown Prince vs Northern Grand Duke – 16
Crackle.
An uneasy sound resounded in the quiet army camp. It was the sound of the prince’s fingers repeatedly tapping the wooden table.
“majesty.”
“What! Did you get a call from the detached unit?”
bang! The prince hit the table and got up, but the servant’s answer was different.
“Meal time.”
“… ”
The prince sat down again and started knocking on the table again.
when about 5 minutes have passed since then.
“messenger!”
“What! Did you get a call from the detached unit?”
“Yes! It is said that Charles Jean Rochepole’s detached corps won a great victory and cut off the enemy’s supply lines!”
At that moment, the prince felt an indescribable joy. If the enemy’s supply is cut off, the enemy will now retreat. Then, Seizu Castle and Crotea Castle in front were the same as those of the crown prince.
Defeated by half the enemies. It was a huge humiliation. But now it was his turn to avenge the humiliation.
“Listen, everyone! The enemy is now in a difficult situation to fight properly because the supply line is cut off! So go ahead and destroy the enemy! It’s a revenge battle on the Imor River!”
At the prince’s command, the servants began to move busily. The prelude to the Seizu Castle chase has opened.
—–
What is the weakest army in the world?
An undertrained army? not. An army without discipline? Not even that. The correct answer was ‘an army cut off from supplies’.
Untrained soldiers can always gain experience and become adepts. Military standards can be changed at any time depending on the quality of the commander.
However, the effect of supply or not on the military is clear. An army without rice, with worn out weapons and tattered armor. This army was the weakest in the world. No matter how elite a soldier was, it could be seen that the moment the rice was cut off, the combat power of the army plummeted.
And the army of Grand Duke Kronor was like that now. The army of Archduke Cronor, whose supply lines were cut off by Charles, was more demoralized than ever.
Grand Duke Kronor first divided the army into two. It was 5,000 led by himself and 5,000 led by Emilia. He then placed 5,000 troops led by Emilia at the rear to block the prince’s army, and placed 5,000 troops led by himself at the front to force back Charles’ army, which was cutting off the supply line.
About 3,000 soldiers of Charles and Juan fought moderately, pretending to be pushed back, retreated to the side, and again aimed at the rear of the fleeing enemy. It was a move that Leonia would later call an artistic military operation.
Emilia von Cronor’s detached detachment was damaged by the prince’s army, and Charles von Cronor’s main detachment was damaged by Charles Jean Rochepole’s detached detachment. Since both armies suffered double damage, the army of the Grand Duchy had no choice but to suffer enormous damage.
This fight, which will later be called the ‘Says Castle Retreat’, is evaluated as a decisive mistake by the Archduke Cronor rather than an exquisite strategy by the Crown Prince. get on this track.
In this battle, 15,000 Kronor troops returned to the north and it is said that 5,000 remained.
The prince gained momentum and occupied several more northern castles. Originally, the crown prince, who was destined to lose the castle, got the castle.
It is said that after the battle, the crown prince had a happy expression on his face for several months. He would do that in a war where he almost lost more than half of his soldiers and even lost his castle.
After all these wars are over. The evaluation of the war was as follows.
Archduke Cronor was good at fighting, but he was ignorant of how to operate a large army. Because of this, he made a big mistake, and that mistake became a fatal blow to the Northern Army.
Meanwhile, the crown prince kept his face. Even though they lost a lot in battle, they took a few castles, so they could be considered victorious in their own way. That was the public opinion.
Even though he may have lost his soldiers, since he gained the territory, the crown prince would be able to rise again.
Meanwhile, what about Grand Duke Cronor? He would no longer lose face in the north as long as he lost countless soldiers of nobles who responded to his call.
And in a feudal society, a leader’s face was like a national title. Grand Duke Kronor would have a hard time ahead. Winter was coming to the Archduke.
—–
“Tell me what you want.”
These were the first words the crown prince uttered after the Seizu Castle retreat.
“Charles Jean Rochepole. you made a big deal I’ll give you a prize, so tell me anything you want. is it money honor? Or do you want me to marry the duke’s daughter?”
Marriage with the daughter of a duke. This was a great offer. This was especially true given that the person who made this proposal was the crown prince, who was a nationalist.
Marriage with a duke’s daughter. What does this mean? The answer was simple. The prince was saying this now. ‘Charles, your birthplace is your only drawback, but I’ll make up for it’
If he marries a daughter of a duke’s family, he will no longer have to listen to gossip about him being from a fallen local aristocrat, and he will not be hindered by his origin when he rises to an important position.
It’s good that the duke’s family can be seen well by the crown prince, and it’s good that Charles can overcome his Korean-American background. Then, what is the prince good for?
That part is the problem. Why the hell is the prince like this? What would the crown prince, who judges people by their origins, want to receive by even raising the background of others? It was another simple matter. The answer is…
“Charles Jean Rochepole. Become my subject.”
okay. It was this. The reason why the prince made such a shocking proposal from his own point of view was to attract Charles to the prince’s army. It was the prince’s calculation that as long as he married the daughter of his aide, he would not be able to escape from his army. If so, Charles’s disposition…
“majesty.”
“Speak.”
“I appreciate the generous offer, but I am still a student. I want to focus on my studies.”
At that, Liam put on a happy expression. He thought it was fortunate that his position would not be threatened.
‘Because I never aimed for your seat in the first place?’
thought Charles. I’m not interested, but it’s ridiculous to continue fighting alone.
“That heart is commendable, but it would be for you to just join right away. The reason cadets of Arcadia Academy gain experience at the academy is to eventually join the army. It means that the road will be opened earlier than others. Why should I refuse such a generous offer?”
To be honest, I’m not entirely wrong. Arcadia Academy is basically a military academy, so there are a lot of cadets who aim to join the most powerful prince faction. For the cadets of Arcadia Academy, the prince’s military advance was SKY and a big business.
But there was one blind spot here. It was that the prince’s power would collapse sooner or later. Even knowing that, there was no need to join the prince’s forces.
“Your Highness, of course I thank you for your generous offer. But my skills are still far off. More study is needed.”
“I will assign you a private tutor.”
“I don’t think there will be a place with as good teachers as an academy.”
Even the crown prince couldn’t refute those words. At Arcadia Academy, people with achievements from all over the place used to become teachers. A first-class general becomes a professor, and a first-class retired diplomat becomes a professor again. Arcadia Academy was a better place to study than any other place, as people who took top classes in various fields taught students.
“I see, then I’ll wait until you graduate.”
I’m sorry, but even when the time comes, I won’t join your forces… I thought so on the inside and bowed my head on the outside.
—–
Apart from working in the prince’s military camp, the crown prince received an award for his achievements.
I received this and that, but in all, it was about 10,000 ducats. For reference, how much is 10,000 ducats? If you do, the amount to build a real castle that can accommodate thousands of people, not a small fortress, is about 10,000 ducats.
For reference, it was also an amount that could buy a tolerable medium-sized mercenary. Not hiring! It is literally the amount you can buy.
It was nice to have such a large amount of money, but the bigger thing was that I was also famous.
The name of Charles, who made two consecutive achievements by securing a retreat route at the Battle of the Immor River and cutting off the enemy’s supply line at the retreat of Says, has already started to come up in the mouths of wealthy people, and there are many people who know Charles’ name even within the academy. just went away
And after vacation, on the carriage back to the academy.
“Why are people gathered over there?”
When Charles asked, the coachman just shook his head as if he didn’t know.
And when Charles’ carriage passed…
-Waaa!!!
Cheers were heard among the crowd.
“What, what?”
And let Charles panic.
– Charles! Charles! Charles!
Voices chanting Charles’ name could be heard from everywhere.
Politically, it was a war between the crown prince and Grand Duke Cronor, but externally it was a war between the Empire and the foreign enemy. Charles, who played a leading role in the victory in such a war, became a hero to the people.