74 – Tercio – 2
After the Spanish-Holy Roman Empire army achieved a great victory in the Battle of Pavia in 1525 thanks to the musket’s performance, the era of the musket came to Europe.
And the victor who benefited the most from the musket was Spain.
In the 1500s, the Spanish army was the strongest in Europe and it was difficult to find a battle in which it lost. You could think of it as modern-day America.
And it was the Tercio Regiment that created such a Spain. Before the creation of Tercio, Spain in the Middle Ages used a class called Rodellero, who carried a sword and a small shield, to surprise the enemy and engage in guerrilla warfare.
The problem was that this was a tactic that had evolved to suit the Iberian Peninsula, which has many deserts and hills, so it did not have much effect north of the Pyrenees.
So, what was developed under the leadership of one general was the tercio tactic, which was a mixture of long spear soldiers and muskets. Using this tactic, Spain became the strongest country in Europe with almost no experience of defeat.
And this was the same in [The Age of Gunpowder and Magic]. If ‘reform’-oriented forces conduct technology research until the mid-stage, they will be able to use Tercio tactics.
And Charles skipped the technology tech tree for a long time. Tercio, which only appears in the middle, was already developed early in the game.
The problem is that we developed Tercio, but it takes time for soldiers to get used to this formation.
But Charles knew. He said that once he perfected this tactic, he would have an army of impermanence, perfectly capable of countering any cold weapon.
But the problem is how to train soldiers in tercio formation…
‘In the current situation, Tercio tactics are only in my head. ‘No officer or soldier knows what tercio is.’
In this situation, it is difficult to make the soldiers familiar with Tercio, which is only in Charles’ head, and to use it perfectly.
‘Above all, if you rush into actual combat, you may lose the soldiers you trained for nothing.’
Tercio is a highly difficult tactic. Growing stronger through actual combat is only possible when the supply of personnel is smooth. In the current situation, losing a soldier directly leads to financial loss, so it is difficult to hastily send it into actual combat until the soldiers become accustomed to Tercio.
‘Then… ‘
Charles thought of a way to teach Tercio to the soldiers.
‘I should look for someone who can help me.’
And there was only one person who could help in this situation.
—–
“So, you need my help?”
Despite her shamelessness, I asked her for her help.
“Yes. “I guess you’ve already created the Tercio Regiment anyway?”
That’s right. I asked for help from the only person other than myself who was familiar with tercio tactics. She was Princess Leonia.
“Why do you think that?”
“You avoided a direct confrontation with the crown prince, didn’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“Originally, Her Royal Highness would have tried to protect Oxenberg at all costs. In any case, if Oxenberg falls, Her Majesty the Crown Prince will be able to enter Her Majesty’s territory even deeper through Oxenberg. Nevertheless, Her Royal Highness left Oxenberg alone. Just send 400 mercenaries. “I wondered what the reason might be.”
“Um… “
Actually, Princess Leonia does not give up Oxenberg in her original story. Her original story was that she sent reinforcements to Oxenberg, but was defeated by the Crown Prince’s overwhelming forces and driven further back.
But in this world, Leonia tried to just give up on Oxenberg. I couldn’t help but think about why.
And Princess Leonia smiled.
“So, what did you think?”
“Didn’t you think that if you had time, you could win against His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“Hoo? “I guess I’ll be the one at a disadvantage as time passes?”
“From a strategic point of view, yes. But His Majesty tried to overcome that with a tactical advantage. That is the Tercio regiment.”
To put it simply, this is what it meant. Princess Leonia is probably having similar concerns as me. She is training Tercio, but she has only just started training, so her soldiers are not yet skilled enough. Because of this, she probably thought she was a little inadequate to be sent into a real war.
So Leonia was trying to stall for time, and she sent a sufficient number of troops to Isabel to prolong the time. Although it was a little cruel, he used Isabelle as bait to gain time to train Tercio.
“It was too much to hide it from you. That’s right. From the moment I bought the book from you for 3,000 ducats, I began to raise what I call the Tercio Regiment. “That was eight months ago now, so it’s already been more than half a year.”
“Yes.”
“After half a year of training, the Tercio formation is partially complete. In particular, the accuracy rate of musketeers is quite good. But there are some parts that are somewhat dissatisfying. That’s it… “
“It must be the proficiency of a long spear soldier.”
“I like that about you. Even though I’ve never seen it, I know it well. It’s really convenient because you don’t have to explain it. “I wish others had as much insight as you.”
I don’t think it’s a notice at all. I wasn’t particularly perceptive since I was young. However, when it came to rational reasoning, there were only some areas where he was slightly ahead of others.
“You are right. A musket is a much easier weapon to handle than a bow. Even when I taught it to rural youth who had just moved to Seoul, they learned how to shoot to a certain degree within two weeks, and they became decent shooters after just one or two months of hard training. But the problem was the pikemen. It was really difficult to raise skilled pikemen. So, I planned to raise pikemen while Oxenberg held on at the front.”
“… “
That is unavoidable. Long spears are inherently difficult weapons. The long spear is 5 meters long. It is a path similar to three 163cm tall people joined together. How easy would it be to fight on the battlefield with a weapon like this? This requires tremendous training.
“Okay. You are right. I was going to abandon Oxenberg in order to raise pikemen. “If you had died there, I thought you were just a human being who ended up there.”
“I guess you said you fell in love with me.”
“Didn’t you know? “I love you, but I love my ambition more than you.”
Yes. She was this kind of woman. Loves ambition more than men.
“So, I understand that you are having difficulty using tercio tactics. I also went through a lot of trial and error to achieve the level of progress I have now. But let me ask you one question.”
After drinking the black tea she had imported from the East Continent, she continued speaking after a while.
“To be honest, it is not difficult for me to help you. Your army is only a thousand men at most, and mine is over 6,000 men, most of whom are equipped with pikes and muskets. But wouldn’t there be no benefit to me if I helped you?”
“Crudia mountaineer mercenary group.”
Her eyes lit up for a moment at my one word. I guessed. This is the correct answer.
“Didn’t you say that the training of long spear soldiers is still insufficient? Our pikemen may be small in number, but they are the strongest pikemen in the world. “If Her Majesty the Princess helps Tersio with her training, I will also send Mannfred and his men to help train Her Majesty’s pikemen.”
In other words, in modern terms, it could be called a technological partnership. They shared their skills and helped each other.
“It is…” “
She thought for a moment and then answered.
“That’s a pretty reasonable line.”
From Noble mtl dot com
I felt like I chose the right answer.
—–
The next day, we immediately arrived in Königstein, Princess Leonia’s fiefdom and the capital of the Duchy of Chlonia.
Königstein was the heart of the northeastern part of the empire and a commercial center that depended on commerce with the eastern continent rather than agriculture.
Originally, in cities like Königstein, which had a moderately warm and flat terrain, the people’s combat power was not high. The more rugged the terrain, such as the North, the higher the basic combat power.
But the story began to change when Princess Leonia became the duke of the Duchy of Clonia. As soon as Princess Leonia became a duke, she hired outstanding foreign generals to train her soldiers, and the Chlonian army was instantly reborn as a strong army.
And when it came to technical cooperation with Leonia’s army, Manfred made a strange expression.
“Princess Leonia is one of the powerful nobles in the northeastern part of the empire. She is also the guardian of balance within the Empire, maintaining the balance between Crown Prince Leonhard von Arcadia and her second prince, Albert von Arcadia. She said she would cooperate in technology with someone like this… “
“Are you dissatisfied?”
“No. “I thought Charles was bigger than I thought.”
It’s still too early to say that because it’s a big deal. Although I was active in many battles, my original strength was poor.