65 – Poitiers Family – 5
Meanwhile, Thilo, the mercenary leader of the Melina mercenary army, was arguing with Isabelle de Poitiers’ younger brother, Georges de Poitiers.
“When you signed the contract, you clearly said there were about 500 enemies! But not only are there 800 enemies instead of 500, but there are also hundreds of wizards! Hundreds of wizards are equivalent to thousands of regular soldiers! This is an obvious scam! “I deserve compensation!”
Bang! Isabelle’s younger brother was in trouble as Tiloe made threats by hitting the desk.
“We didn’t know either. Even with all of my assets, it was difficult to maintain more than 500 soldiers. However, we do not know why 300 more people were added or why the wizards joined the enemy. “I never intentionally deceived you.”
“Whether it was intentional or not! “We have suffered great harm because of you, and we must receive compensation for it!”
Tilo said that and stood strong. He said he would never leave until compensation was received.
And at that time, the old man who was standing behind Georges de Poitiers stepped forward.
“That thing.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to the old man at his words. The old man in front of me was a person who could never be ignored. He may have been the most powerful person in this position. That’s because the old man was a military advisor sent directly by the crown prince.
“That item is a new weapon called a musket. “It’s not magic or anything like that.”
“It’s not magic?”
“It is an object that contains gunpowder inside a wooden stick and uses the recoil of the gunpowder to fire iron balls.”
The old man who said that took out an iron ball covered in dark red blood.
“This is an iron ball taken from an injured person. In short, a musket is just a weapon that shoots metal balls instead of arrows and has nothing to do with magic. “If you think about common sense, would there be 300 wizards in a small town like this?”
“… “
That was correct. It did not make sense for there to be 300 wizards in a small town like this.
“The introduction of muskets has been tested several times in His Majesty the Crown Prince’s army. However, the rate of fire is much lower than that of a bow and it is difficult to maintain, so it was decided not to introduce it. Although it is a rare item, it is something that everyone who is knowledgeable about the military knows.”
“Okay… “Did you?”
“Tillo.”
Tilo couldn’t help but flinch at the old man’s gloomy voice. This may have been due to pressure from the old man himself, but he could never treat the old man carelessly when he thought that behind him was the crown prince with the most power in the world.
“Do you need compensation?”
“Yes? Yes. Apparently, a lot of mercenaries died… “
“We are probably responsible for not being able to recognize the existence of the new weapon in advance. So, I will give you 2,000 ducats as an advance and an additional 2,000 ducats upon victory.”
Tilo’s expression brightened at those words. 4,000 Ducats was enough to compensate the bereaved families of the mercenaries for the damage they suffered previously.
“This is actually money given to Tilo by His Majesty the Crown Prince. But officially you haven’t received anything. “If it is revealed to the world that His Majesty the Crown Prince paid money to the mercenary leader, it would be the same as giving Princess Leonia room to intervene.”
“Yep! “I will definitely keep it a secret!”
“And.”
The old man glared at Tilo. And then he continued speaking.
“You fight until you win. Even if it means dying.”
Tilo felt a little chilled by those words. Should I say that I will use the presence of the musket as an excuse to leave even now? However, the greed of 4000 ducats was great. Tilo quietly nodded his head, and a week later the next battle began.
—–
A week later, mercenaries began entering Isabelle de Poitiers’ castle. Charles, who woke up early in the morning to the sound of a commotion, immediately ran to the castle’s office and asked what these mercenaries were. Then Isabel responded like this:
“These are mercenaries newly hired by our army.”
It was a strange thing. Clearly, Isabel’s territory was a small baronial territory. Even though it is financially wealthy because it is an economic and military hub, there is a level of weight. Now that the family was split into two, no matter how hard we tried, it was nearly impossible to bring out more than 500 people.
“Where did all these mercenaries come from?”
That was the biggest question. Then Isabel bit all the servants and soldiers around her.
Before long, just the two of them, Charles and Isabel, were in the office and the man, Isabel, showed them a letter. That…
[I was deeply moved by the victory of the previous day. In particular, Charles and the musketeers were very active. In fact, the enemy was so strong that I had weak thoughts of giving up this time and waiting for another opportunity. But after seeing your performance, I became convinced that my thoughts were wrong. Accordingly, we hired and sent a new mercenary group at our own expense. Officially, we assume that they are a mercenary group hired by the Poitiers family and have no relation to Leonia von Arcadia. Well then, I wish you luck.]
In short, they said they would deploy more soldiers because they thought they would win. I couldn’t hide my joy. The 400 soldiers sent by the princess plus the existing soldiers amounted to 1,200. Meanwhile, the number of enemies was 1,000, but since about 200 died yesterday, there would have been about 800 left. In short, it was a number that was enough to win.
“I guess it won’t be that difficult now.”
“That’s right. In fact, the situation had been so difficult before that they were ready to surrender and give up their territory, but the situation suddenly changed with Charles’s participation in the war. “For this, I am deeply grateful.”
Isabelle bowed down to say her thanks, but Charles helped her up.
A warm day passed. And the next day, I received a call from the spy Isabelle had dispatched to the enemy camp.
[Soldiers continue to enter the enemy camp. Considered a mercenary. The number of new mercenaries, approximately 1,200, combined with existing soldiers, 2,000.]
“What the f*ck! Why are there so many?”
Charles shouted in embarrassment, and Isabelle said this.
“It looks like the crown prince has deployed mercenaries.”
“The crown prince?”
“This war is not only the war of the Poitiers family, but it is also a proxy war between Her Majesty Princess Leonia and Prince Leonhard. Crown Prince Leonhard is trying to secure an invasion route to Epiloria, Her Royal Highness’s territory, by somehow obtaining Oxenberg, the Poitiers family’s territory. In other words, in the front, I, Isabelle de Poitiers, and her younger brother, Georges de Poitiers, are fighting, but in the back, it is the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness who are controlling the situation.”
It’s a proxy war. It was a story we heard a lot in modern times. The Korean War in Korea was also a proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union.
“So, are you saying that all of those mercenaries were hired and sent by the crown prince?”
“… “It seems like that.”
To be honest, I knew the information that the crown prince was supporting the other side. But I didn’t know it would be to this extent. Even if up to 1,000 people are reasonably inconspicuous, 2,000 people are too blatant. It was as if the crown prince was advertising that he was stepping forward.
‘Prince Leonhard, just like in the game story, he uses a very aggressive strategy in real life as well.’
To be precise, it could be seen as blocking rather than aggressive, but in any case, it was not a very good situation for Charles.
“Can you win this?”
When Charles asked, Isabelle just quietly lowered her head.
“I think there are two options.”
“Well, I have a rough guess… One is to have a decisive battle on the plains, regardless of whether it is at a disadvantage, and the other is to retreat to the castle and hold out somehow?”
“Yes. But neither provides a clear answer.”
“If you fight on the plains, you are bound to lose to an opponent twice your size, and if you stay in a castle, you will be surrounded with no reinforcements, and if you run out of food, you will starve to death.”
“… “
Isabel’s expression became even darker. That’s because the current situation was that desperate.
In fact, it is close to impossible to win against twice as many enemies when fighting in an open plain with only a bunch of mercenaries. If there is a mountain, a river, or at least a forest, there is room to explore. This is because a general skilled in strategic tactics has an advantage in complex terrain, but this is not necessarily the case in plains.
Because each other’s movements are clearly visible on the plain, there is very little room for both armies to use complex strategies, so the battle on the plain is closer to a fair fight between numbers versus numbers and soldier against soldier. There is little room for tactics to intervene.
Of course, throughout history, there are geniuses who have won battles on the plains against overwhelming enemies, but that is because of various circumstances, and with command authority not properly unified, fighting against twice as many enemies is close to suicidal.
“As a third option, I am thinking of just giving up the territory and trying to make a comeback by the side of Her Majesty the Princess.”
“… “
If you think rationally, that was one way. Charles felt sorry for Isabelle, but that didn’t mean he had any sharp thoughts.
“Ha… “I have no choice but to give up.”
From Charles’s perspective, giving up now wasn’t very happy. In Charles’ case, he was promised an allowance in case of victory, so if he lost the war, he would not receive even 1 ducat. But…
The moment we left the military camp, Juan de Balboa handed Charles a letter.
“I thought you were in an important meeting, so I was keeping your letter.”
“Huh?”
I looked at the sender and it turned out to be Manfred, the mercenary leader of the Crudia mountaineer mercenary group and Maris’ adoptive father.