138 – Before and after (1)
It’s terrible.
It’s really terrible.
[What are you doing?! It’s already been a month, but why doesn’t that castle look like it’s going to collapse at all!!]
[Ha, haona… No matter how many stones you throw with the catapult, the pile of dirt behind that wall collapses and quickly closes the gap…]
[Stop making excuses!!]
It was good at first.
I was very happy just to have entered the territory of Rotaring.
However, his father was horribly murdered by Rotharing’s cowardly method, and without time to deal with the death properly, the pro-Rotharingpa nobles attacked him, so he couldn’t stand it.
In the end, some of the troops he led had to be returned to the mainland to defend themselves, and the results were disastrous.
The siege, which had been pushed forward with an overwhelming number of 20,000, was severely restricted.
As the number of people decreased, the siege and guard nets became weaker, and all kinds of skirmishers and light cavalry from Rotaring flew in through the cracks and harassed my army.
Of course, not only that, but also the structure of Rotaring Castle greatly influenced the result.
To withstand the impact of a catapult by stacking soil behind a castle wall… If it weren’t for the enemy, I would have admired the idea for being so ingenious.
[Your Majesty… The Rotarings are slaughtering the nobles of Neustria…]
[What about that? Isn’t it not the case that nobles who have been defeated on the battlefield die once or twice?]
[It’s not like that!! Literally killing all the nobles!! Even burning down the entire castle!]
[…What?]
The atrocities of Rotaring that followed made me feel even more terrible.
Rotharing did not intentionally accept the surrender of the Neustrian nobles and made them fight until the end and killed them. Of course, it was entirely up to the other side whether or not to accept surrender, but this was still too large.
Just as the words say, they search out and kill every single one of them.
How can a noble blood be killed like a mere soldier? It is said that the aristocrats of Rotaling who caused trouble were executed by putting them in a pig slaughterhouse, but I never dreamed that such a madman’s standard would be applied to aristocrats from other countries.
At first, he started fighting Rotaling out of anger at the illegitimate son trying to usurp the Carolingian kingdom, but as time passed, the anger gradually disappeared and a sense of justice took its place.
But that sense of justice soon faded away like the anger that preceded it.
“Your Majesty… Make a decision…”
“…Retreat.”
And where there used to be a sense of justice, fear now takes its place.
After decapitating the Duke of Neustria and literally burning down his entire palace as a sacrifice to the devil, King Lotharing turned his hideous army southward, towards me.
The siege is already stagnant beyond slowing down, and if you face Rotaling’s main army here, you can only see a terrible future.
Now, the only way left for me is to hurriedly evacuate the army from Rotaring, fight while conserving power as much as possible, and then negotiate with Rotaring.
The fact of negotiating with the devil who killed my father is beyond disgraceful and makes me want to put a knife to my throat… What can I do, if I die too, the Provence family will end here.
God, please take the life of that wicked demon.
…………
‘At least, these guys can talk a little bit.’
The loot will be reduced, but what about it? Wouldn’t it be nice to bleed less?
Neustria, where we didn’t kill the previous duke, didn’t surrender as if possessed by something, resisted until the end, and then perished entirely, and Provence, where we killed the previous duke, negotiated like this. It’s changed.
“Let’s finish by preserving the territory of the Duchy of Provence and renouncing the succession to the throne? Are you saying that now?”
Of course, if you look at it relatively, it makes sense, but if you look at it absolutely, it’s ridiculous.
To go back to before the war by simply giving up the right to succeed without any reparations is truly madman’s nonsense.
On top of that, it’s very disgusting to see that he only proposes to preserve his territory, but doesn’t say anything about the nobles who share his will. Aren’t you implying that he rip off those nobles instead of you?
“Your Majesty, won’t you get your hands on a whole Caroling?”
“Full Caroling? You guys should know enough that it’s already too late at the very least, right?”
“It is…”
“I won’t say anything more. I can’t guarantee you anything but the integrity of the dukedom, the land that deserves it, and your life. Go back and tell your lord.”
“…I will, Your Majesty.”
If the condition they were talking about had been in the past, that is, before he invaded the Rota Ring, he would have accepted it with a nod of his head.
However, as some fortresses have already been captured and a lot of damage has been suffered in the process, we can never negotiate on that condition anymore.
Apart from losing my prestige, there is a huge difference between the armies, so even if the war is prolonged, there is nothing to lose.
Of course, Provence has 20,000 available troops, so if they fight properly, they will suffer a lot of damage, but with only Provence remaining and there are pro-Lotharing nobles, I’ll win in the end.
And even if the damages are a little bigger, I can make up for it enough because I can sign an agreement with Provence under very harsh conditions.
But the war did not continue.
The Duke of Provence accepted my proposal on the condition that the negotiations be held in the territory of Provence for security reasons.
The war is not completely over as no formal treaty has been signed yet, but with this, the bloody winds that raged in Carolingian have completely stopped.
…………
It was quickly rumored that the three powers, the Duchy of Anjou, the Duchy of Provence, and the Kingdom of Rotaling, had decided to gather in Clermont, a border city northwest of Provence.
No matter how much security is maintained and information is blocked as much as possible, it is very difficult to prevent the leakage of information as the matter is the matter.
In the first place, the soldier in charge of the security was talking excitedly.
“What is this?!”
“Currently, Clermont is sealed off and does not accept outsiders. Please return.”
And the result was Clermont’s tight guard.
The Duke of Provence, greatly concerned that Lotharin might inadvertently infiltrate Clermont by taking advantage of the commotion, chose to blockade the city entirely with his soldiers.
As a result, various merchants and lower nobles who flocked to get something to eat or to catch the eye of high-ranking nobles had to return without even crossing the gate, and all outsiders could be cut off very effectively.
“Huh…”
“…What are they doing now?”
Of course, no matter how good the performance of the blockade was, it was inevitable that it looked very dirty visually and instinctively.
The envoys from Anjou and Rotaling each shook their heads and stuck out their tongues at the sight of Clermont, which had changed a lot compared to the past.
Of course, the two envoys knew very well why Provence went so far as to block outsiders by causing a match, but they couldn’t insult the King of Rotaring, so they didn’t dare say it out loud.
…………
“Excellent. You did a great job.”
“That’s too much praise, Your Majesty.”
“To praise you too much, doesn’t it sound like you’re questioning my eyesight for praising you?”
“…! Sorry!”
“hahahahaha, just kidding, kidding.”
Won.
“From now on, just give me a compliment and I’ll take it. You really did a good job.”
“Thank you…”
Anyway, the envoys dispatched to Provence accomplished their mission very well.
I am very satisfied that you have carried out all of the things I have told you in advance, such as the recognition of the Carolingian throne, the division of territory in Provence and the amount of compensation, the dissolution of factions and the transfer of vassals.
With this, the nobles who did not recognize me as king within the Carolingian territory disappeared, albeit only on the surface, and Provence, which had emerged as a risk factor with a sudden rash, spit out various territories and vassals, disbanded the faction, and paid a large amount of compensation. By spitting out, it is no longer possible to recover the previous age.
The Carolingian civil war was finally over with the endowment of the Carolingian minor nobles as vassals to the aristocrats who stood up to support me, or by creating and distributing appropriate titles.
There are only two left.
One is to restore my bad image by hosting frequent banquets or giving to charity from now on, and the other is…
‘…sh*t.’
From nob le mtl dot com
Management of vassals.
From nob le mtl dot com
Managing vassals with only the existing territory of the Rotaling Kingdom was a very head-scratching task, but having the map in front of my eyes like this is so depressing.
At a rough glance, the territory has increased 4-5 times, and these visual effects tell me what I need to do very painfully.
Besides, since it’s post-war and I’m a foreign power from their point of view, there are more things to consider, so if you treat them like you’re dealing with the nobles of Rotaling, it’s sure to go wrong.
…This is why I didn’t want to eat caroling.
Ehh, the water has already been spilled, so there’s nothing we can do about it.