Episode 125. Siege Technique (1)
“To appoint one of the two leaders of the rebel army as a knight… Is that okay?”
As soon as he was freed from the group of prisoners, Pellin raised a voice of concern.
It looked like he was worried about me being selfish and cutting the joint on the emperor.
But there was no problem at all.
The decision to appoint Darius as a knight after death was a decision made after thorough calculations.
“Not two leaders of the rebels. There is only one Duke of Lorraine who deserves to be called a leader.”
“Even Darius did not lead a slave revolt… Ah!”
As soon as he realized what I meant, Pellain clapped his hands and opened his eyes.
“Are you trying to bring the beasts here?”
“right.”
A slave revolt in the South.
There, a civil war broke out with the approval of the southern garrison of Lorraine.
Strictly speaking, the Southern Republic was a country founded by two factions, the slave slaves and the warlords of Lorraine, but it was not difficult to separate the two.
Lorraine’s abuse and tyranny of slaves provoked a rebellion, and this rebellion was used to achieve independence from the Empire.
In that way, the prisoners are victims and targets of liberation, and it becomes possible to limit the target to be hostile to Lorraine.
The veneration of Darius as a hero of the slave revolt was part of that.
There is no way to properly monitor and control the 200 prisoners in the first place.
It was easier to castrate their will of resistance than to do such an inefficient thing.
“Currently, the enemy is amassing armaments to face the empire. It means that the people’s blood is squeezed out. Until now, everyone would think that it would be good to sacrifice for freedom, but freedom is guaranteed even under the control of the repression army, and taxes are higher. What if I hear the news that it will decrease?”
“Ah….. I think I’ll be friendly with this side.”
The enemy’s power is still far stronger, so the villagers will not be able to openly attach themselves to the suppression force.
But when the tide really turned around.
Or when it is judged to be boiling.
Then the public will completely turn to us.
In the beginning, the suppression force assumed that it would solve all the supplies on its own, and hired a large number of upper ranks, so there was no need to requisition from the village.
So, there was a way to get the residents’ favor by lowering the tax rate considerably.
Of course, if we set a precedent like this, it will come back as a huge burden for the duke who will rule this land later…
What I didn’t know was that.
Shouldn’t we be winning the war first?
“But there is a problem, Schluss.”
“The problem?”
“Yes. The image of the residents of the suppression force must have already been greatly damaged.”
“It’s just that we have to gradually improve it.”
“In the past, the suppression forces have attacked and looted private houses, captured and enslaved free men, raped and killed them.”
“············”.
Uhhhh
You said you looted private houses despite the abundance of goods?
why?
Why the f*ck did you choose to do something to turn people’s back on you?
If you look closely, it was clear that the Imperial Knights were spirit soldiers when it came to warfighting.
How did you make a foolish choice than me, who was typing or pounding at home on a fictional day…?
“Damn it. That’s going to be a little tough.”
“Still, if we follow the policy as Schluss said, we may be able to change the public’s mind again somehow.”
“I should beg for that…”
They attack, loot, and kill for no reason, and after losing 90% of their troops, suddenly implement a friendly policy?
To me, this didn’t seem sincere.
I’m really going back
The poop that the suppression forces had packed was too large.
The only thing that can solve this is time…
It seemed that he had no choice but to wait for Iris to do something.
If it was Iris, a saint who was equal to all, wouldn’t it be enough to inspire the residents?
‘Is it a vain expectation?’
No, I didn’t think Iris would blatantly favor the suppression force.
The reason why they followed me was to heal the wounded, not because I joined the suppression force.
I’d like some help though…
“Listen everyone! We will retrieve all the weapons and armor left behind by the enemy! Let’s begin the recovery operation!”
“Yeah?”
As soon as Pellain’s order was issued, unpleasant noises came from all over the place.
Drunk with the afterglow of victory, he would want to pick wine right away, but there were a lot of things to do afterward.
If Iris had been here, he would have said that it would be better to retrieve the enemy’s body and bury it.
Iris wasn’t here, so I didn’t do it that far.
“Are you taking off all the equipment on the corpse?”
“Yeah. Everything. Don’t miss out on a dagger.”
“ha······.”
The knights, who had been valiantly charging towards Hakikjin, were now scouring the corpses and gathering armor and weapons.
Some were tasked with gathering equipment and putting them together, while others hung them on horses and transported them to the fortress.
Since there were as many as 500 people who died or were taken prisoner, it took quite a long time to retrieve them all.
Of course, this was all necessary.
Because the rebels blocked by the Empire would have no ability to produce additional equipment.
No matter how many soldiers there are, if the equipment is insufficient, it is impossible to achieve that much utility.
Rather, sending soldiers to the battlefield without proper weapons or armor will only lower morale.
So, consuming the enemy’s equipment was more important than consuming the troops.
“Huh? Commander-in-Chief! Look at this!”
“···········?”
Then one of the articles found an interesting thing.
The knights and soldiers who were working soon gathered in one place.
It was the corpse of a soldier who had died after being stabbed in the chest.
At first glance, it looks like he’s wearing full iron armor…
“Well?”
I knew it only after looking closely and touching it with my own hands.
This was leather armor.
It was also painted with silver and could be mistaken for iron.
“Do you have more armor like this? If there are, put them all together.”
“Yes.”
Leather armor painted in silver began to pile up in one place.
Watching this, Pellain’s expression gradually grew serious.
The proportion of non-iron leather armor reached a whopping 30%.
“The day the suppression forces were surrounded and annihilated. How many enemy heavy cavalry at that time, Vice Commander?”
“It is estimated that about 5,000 … … .”
“That’s right, Commander. I’ve seen it. I’m pretty sure it’s between 4,000 and 6,000.”
“············”.
5,000 heavy cavalry.
Something was strange.
The rebels, who only occupied four castles and the southern steppes, had 5,000 heavy cavalry?
Gunma, Horses are often raised as livestock in this grassland area, so there must have been a lot of them, but the armor was a different story.
Even the hegemony empire could not exceed 20,000 heavy cavalry in the standing army due to the high cost of armor.
There’s no way they would have supported all that much armor in the great forest that didn’t produce steel.
I thought maybe all of this was a trick.
“Is it an illusion…?”
It seemed that Pellin was thinking the same thing.
There was a good chance that he inflated the number of heavy cavalry by at least 1.5 times, or as much as 2 times.
“Reversal of charter…isn’t it really possible?”
“Is it worth doing?”
The expressions of the knights and soldiers were gradually becoming lively.
Even those who had just repulsed 1000 cavalry and were startled, seemed to be starting to see them.
The road to victory.
***
“That’s how deputy commander Darius was killed….”
“Yes······.”
Military base of the Southern Republic Army.
Lorraine placed her hands on her lips and remained silent.
The soldiers who made the report were only shaking with their heads down.
“Are you sure he’s dead?”
“Yes. I’ve seen you get hit by fire magic with my own eyes.”
“Huh. Heh heh. f*ck you. You dragged out 1,000 people, lost half of them, and he didn’t even come back?”
Lorraine grinned and grinned.
From the dawn of the night, Darius has been moving around in the four castles.
I didn’t know that the cavalry had been dragged out without notice.
I believed that it must have been that urgent, but I’m sure I’ll be defeated.
“What the hell happened? What did you do to lose 500 cavalry each?”
“After charging in a dense formation, the formation was destroyed in an instant by fire magic… and then…”
“done.”
Lorraine felt a severe headache and shook her head.
Then there was nothing more to hear.
“Since last night, the magic ceremony has been taking place on the 4th Castle. Why did you charge in a dense formation that didn’t assume the enemy wizard?”
“That’s it. The deputy commander seems to have decided that even if the enemy had magic power left, he would have poured all his magical energy into the 4 star sky.”
“Does that make sense? There is still a wizard, but you expect to pour all your magical energy into a craft that can only scratch the walls a little? Darius Did you drink that little bastard?”
“Commander-in-chief. It’s a disgrace, but I need to correct it.”
“···········?”
At that time, the wizard mercenary who had been listening quietly came forward.
“It’s not just a technique that makes a little scratch on the wall.”
“Then what was the level of making a hole in the wall? Then at least 20 more wizards remained….”
“No. It’s a skill that will engulf the entire castle with flames.”
“What?”
Lorraine’s mouth widened.
Is it enough firepower to burn the entire castle down?
With that much magic power, at least 60 wizards would be needed, right?
No, does it mean that there is a human being who can write such a huge formula to work without errors in the first place?
I’ve heard of the technique of destroying a fortress for siege purposes, but I’ve never heard of the technique of destroying a fortress.
“You’ve been fooled….”
Perhaps if I had been there, I would have made the same judgment as Darius.
Read at noblemtl.com
Judging that the opponent had no magic left at all, he would have attacked to find and kill the magic caster.
Darius was indeed a rational judge, but in the end he was defeated and died.
Lorraine rubbed her forehead and felt chills all over her body.
It felt like all of this was happening under someone’s thorough calculations.
“How many people have recently joined the suppression force?”
“It is confirmed that there are five people including the saint.”
“············”.
The other four thought that they were servants who came with the saint.
But among the four, there was definitely a wizard who did this absurd thing.
Maybe all four of them…
“What about Darius’s body?”
“It could not be retrieved. I think it must have been burned without even recognizing its shape….”
“Damn. This is not the time. We should think about dealing with magic in the sky above the 4th star right now.”
Losing Darius was a great loss.
It was as if the prisoners had lost the center of gravity, but that did not immediately lead to the dissolution of the republic.
As long as the repression forces continue to oppress the prisoners and the republic guarantees their freedom, the prisoners will have no choice.
It would be quite difficult to lead a beast without Darius, but the urgent fire was not like that.
“I think there is still time left until completion. Shall we gather the army and attack again?”
“no.”
That was a coincidence.
The enemy had already brutally defeated 1000 elite cavalry.
Even if the infantry were rushing in, the monstrous wizards would only consume their troops.
“Then it would be better to evacuate the villagers.”
“············”.
That was the best.
Either way, it was the right choice.
morally speaking.
“Who knows about the big rite?”
“No one knows but those in here.”
“Then don’t tell anyone like this. I won’t let you evacuate.”
“Commander-in-Chief?!”
How about evacuating tens of thousands of residents and putting them all together?
It was the worst if there was an atmosphere of chaos as so many people fled, or an ominous atmosphere that they were losing the war.
It wasn’t the best, but I had to choose the worse option.
options to win the war.
It was just watching the 4th castle fall as it is.
I had to make that scene visible to everyone in the South.
Only then will all the prisoners shed tears of blood, hate the suppressors and resist the Empire.
“Leave only the main forces secretly from the castle. I will give up the 4 stars for the sake of the cause.”
“Commander-in-chief! Are you serious?”
“Prime Minister!”
Ignoring the shouts from all directions, Lorraine just closed her eyes.
I didn’t mean to do this either.
Sacrifice was inevitable to win the war.
Of course, the best number of cases is that that type of magic is a magic trick…
It didn’t seem like things would turn out so hopefully.
The war is too long
I hate war