98 – Civil War – 9
-Taang!
Yuria’s bullet flew towards the crown prince.
With the gunshot, the crown prince stumbled backwards and fell from his horse.
“Hey, Your Highness!”
Liam cried out desperately and the prince rolled on the floor.
The soldiers around the crown prince were astonished, but…
“Is he dead?”
Yuria was puzzled. It was correct. But I’m not sure if he’s dead.
Meanwhile, Liam de Bordeaux rushed to the Crown Prince’s side and examined his injuries.
There was a hole in the crown prince’s armor, and blood flowed out through the hole.
But the place where the armor was pierced seemed very dangerous. Blood was pouring out of the left side of his chest, making it seem as if his lungs or heart had been hit. He was sick of living either way.
“What are you doing! Protect Your Majesty! “I’m telling you to form a guard formation!”
Nevertheless, Liam did not give up. The surrounding knights blocked the space between the crown prince and the musketeers. The musketeers continued to fire at the crown prince, and each time, it was the knights who died instead.
“Your Highness! Are you okay? Majesty!”
“Liam… “
Fortunately, the crown prince was conscious. He wasn’t dead yet.
“Yes! What is! “Please give me your order!”
Liam thought to himself. He wondered if His Highness the Crown Prince would order him to charge while hiding his death so as not to lower the morale of his allies. However, the crown prince’s last words were different.
“Call the doctor…” “
After saying that, he lost his mind.
Liam felt the prince’s pulse. His pulse stopped beating. He didn’t just lose his mind. He was dead.
‘The crown prince is dead!’
Now the world falls into a vortex of turbulence.
“All troops retreat! The entire army retreats! Retreat while protecting His Highness the Crown Prince!”
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Now that things were like this, the war had to be considered lost. Since the crown prince is dead, the morale of our troops will plummet, and even if we fight further, victory is far away.
However, the death of the crown prince had to be hidden for the time being. That’s because it was obvious that as soon as there was a rumor that the crown prince was dead, a rebellion would follow in the Vinebian region. That’s why Liam decided to hold onto the body of the already dead prince and escort him as if he was still alive.
Liam led his soldiers and fled to the rear, and Leonia and the ambushers who were hiding all jumped out and started chasing after him.
Diane de Balboa, who was waiting behind, thought.
“Our team is losing. Should we send in the reserves?”
You can save the crown prince’s army by deploying the reserve force. However, the Balboa family’s army would suffer somewhat heavy losses.
“Or should I just fall in?”
If this is omitted, the crown prince’s army will suffer great damage. However, Balboa Army will be able to be fully protected.
Normally, when our troops are routed, the reserve forces in the rear will block them. This is because damage will be reduced and the lord can be protected.
But Dian couldn’t do that. This is because protecting the crown prince does not lead to protecting the Balboa family.
In Dian’s view, the Crown Prince was the setting sun and Leonia was the rising sun. The worst-case scenario was that the Balboa family, having exhausted all of her soldiers protecting her crown prince, would lose her power and her territory would be taken over by her princess.
If that happens, the Balboa family will be destroyed. For Dian, the preservation of the family took precedence over loyalty to the lord. Hundreds of people were looking only at themselves.
Of course, if it had been a year ago, Dian would have made self-sacrifice without hesitation. He must have tried to protect the crown prince even if it meant annihilating Balboa’s army.
But it is different now. The crown prince abandoned himself. He had been dismissed from his position as leader. Then…
‘I also abandon the crown prince.’
Thinking so, Dean de Balboa shouted to his soldiers.
“All troops, retreat!”
“Yes? “Are you saying that your role is not to protect our troops from being routed?”
“If you do that, Balboa’s army will be annihilated! “Our army retreats earlier than the main army to minimize damage!”
The soldiers of Balboa’s army, who had been very nervous at those words, breathed a sigh of relief. Balboa led his soldiers to retreat to Crotea Castle faster than the Dauphin’s army.
When a day passed like that.
The Eitrich Forest had become a sea of blood. Although the crown prince’s army did not suffer much damage in the battle, they suffered tremendous damage in the chase after the prince fell.
“Did they kill 5,000…?” “
Leonia muttered. There are about 10,000 left. Since the number of allies is 5,000, it is certain that there are still more than twice the number of allies. But…
“Yuria.”
“Yes!”
“You said you shot the crown prince.”
“Yes.”
“Did you kill him?”
“… To be honest, I don’t know.”
“Where did I hit it?”
Yuria, who had been searching through her memories for a while, said.
“I saw blood pouring out of her left breast.”
“Is it her left breast…? There is a high possibility that he is dead, and even if he is not, he will not get better easily.”
“Yes.”
What does that mean? Although the prince’s army could not be annihilated, the prince’s attack ended here.
Why?
Without a monarch, his soldiers cannot fight with peace of mind.
Leonia had prevented an invasion of an enemy that was nearly three times as large.
“Our troops pursue the retreating prince’s army. However, do not chase after them with the intention of annihilating them. All you have to do is keep a reasonable distance and chase the enemy. The enemy will probably try to retreat to their base to protect the crown prince. And we… “
Leonia recalled what Dian said earlier. Did they say that the real war begins after the battle is over?
“Siege Crotea Castle.”
If you just pretend to surround him properly, Dian de Balboa will let you go.
—–
A week has passed. Under the command of Liam de Bordeaux, the Crown Prince’s army returned to its home base of Vinevia, and the Balboa army led by Diane de Balboa was blocking the army of Princess Leonia at Crotea Castle, the castle at the forefront.
However, Princess Leonia’s army did not attempt to bring Crotea Castle under her power. She simply pretended to lay siege and let her troops rest.
Diane de Balboa sent a letter to the Crown Prince. Crotea Castle is under siege, so reinforcements are needed. Please send reinforcements right away.
But there was no way the dead crown prince could see that letter. Moreover, even if he were alive, there was no way he would be able to send reinforcements. Although it was the crown prince’s army, it was not entirely owned by the crown prince. About half of the troops were possessed by the Crown Prince, while the other half were troops possessed by his subjects.
In such a situation, there was no way the crown prince could send meaningful reinforcements. This is because if he takes out about 5,000 of his soldiers to defend Crotea Castle, the base will be empty and there will be no troops left to defend it.
In other words, the crown prince is in a situation where he cannot send troops from the beginning.
Despite knowing that this was the situation, Dian deliberately sent several letters requesting reinforcements.
“Diane de Balboa, this b*tch… !”
Liam de Bordeaux, who accepted the letter on his behalf, was able to guess Diane’s intentions. Dian is building up a justification for betrayal.
In a centralized state, loyalty is the blind loyalty that a subject gives to his lord. However, it is different in feudal countries. The lord protects his subjects. He summons an army and performs military service for his lord. It is merely a contractual relationship made up of such contracts.
In this situation, if the lord cannot protect the subject, the subject has a legal justification to betray the lord. Breaking a feudal contract is not really a violation of the contract. That’s because the lord failed to protect him first.
Diane de Balboa, aiming at that point, continued to request reinforcements from the crown prince, and when reinforcements never came, he opened the castle gates and welcomed the Leonian army to Crotea Castle.
Leonia entered Crotea Castle holding a high flag and was greeted by Diane de Balboa on the streets of the castle.
Dian de Balboa was on his one knee on the ground, and Princess Leonia was on her horse.
“Listen to Dean de Balboa!”
Princess Leonia shouted.
“You were my faithful subject from the beginning, but you abandoned me and turned to the crown prince. However, since you have been defeated again and have bowed down to me like this, I regret your bravery and will forgive you and submit you to my military once again. Will you accept my offer?”
Hearing these words, Dian de Balboa lowered his head.
“I wish to become your subject once again.”
That’s how Diane de Balboa became the princess’s subordinate.
All of this was according to Charles Jean Rochepol’s plan.
—–
Although Princess Leonia prevented the Crown Prince’s invasion and conquered Crotea Castle to her allies, that did not stop her from going on the offensive against Vinebhia.
Leonia’s army currently numbered about 5,000. Excluding reinforcements, the number was less than 4,000.
What does that mean? Although Leonia was victorious, she had to take some time to replenish her strength.
“It’s been two years.”
I won’t be able to fight for the next two years and will have to focus only on recovery. Even though he captured the world’s most powerful force, he did not become the world’s most powerful force. And…
“After two years, he will graduate.”
Charles Jean Rochepol. He promised. If Princess Leonia is victorious over the crown prince’s army, she will become Leonia’s subject.
Now it was Charles’ turn to keep his promise.