196 – Defense of the Yellow Plains (9)
The day after the battle with Marquis Simon was over.
I gave proper wages to the serfs of the Earl of Iris and entrusted them with arranging the battlefield, and immediately went to meet Marquis Simon to conclude peace negotiations.
In the process, I toured the camp of the French eastern garrison, but it was very quiet for a place where tens of thousands of soldiers were stationed.
So I got nervous and looked around…
There was no battle in the camp, so the tents were clean except for dust, but even the empty tents were not properly folded, as if morale had fallen to the extreme.
Also, except for some knights, the conscripts and low-ranking commanders lay motionless unless urged by the knights.
Some of them pulled out their swords as if they were going to judge them with military law. It was a situation where he even made a silent protest with his eyes.
According to the intelligence unit’s report, 30,000 casualties and 10,000 deserters were killed during the fight to occupy our fortress, so I expected morale to be low.
I didn’t think that it would become an army that lost the will to fight and showed a look of despair beyond the mess.
Even the commander of the enemy army came, if that’s enough… finished talking
At this rate, it is obviously impossible to fight further with us, and a large-scale peasant rebellion will occur the moment we return to the territory and collect taxes for reconstruction.
It’s not about our territory, it’s something we don’t need to worry about, but I can’t believe the army could be this miserable…
After 5 or 10 minutes of guidance and entering the barracks, the enemy knight spoke in a voice full of hostility.
“His Excellency, Marquis Simon, is waiting for you inside. Your Excellency, Marquis of Creutel… ”
However, I am on the winning side, and my opponent is a knight serving the defeated lord.
So I understood his feelings and pretended not to notice his angry feelings.
“Yes, thank you.”
After saying that, I took up the tent curtain with a leisurely gesture and went inside.
There, perhaps because of the defeat in the battle yesterday, the Marquis Simon’s face was old and haggard, as if it had been hit by a bomb, rather than a young and relaxed face compared to his age just before the battle.
When he saw me, he smiled and greeted me in a bluff voice.
“Is the Marquis of Creutel here?”
“Ah, Marquis Simon. Thank you for the warm welcome.”
“Originally, it would have been our duty to treat the marquis to a glass of wine, but… Please forgive me for not being so circumstantial.”
“no. Didn’t you greet me so kindly even though I visited unexpectedly? That is enough.”
We held out our hands to each other and shook hands warmly, as if best friends were seeing each other for the first time in years.
When modern Koreans see this kind of appearance, they may think that these children are crazy, but…
Even though I threw the romance of the knights into the mud with cannons, grenades, and matchlocks, the manners of the nobles did not change.
And the basis of the etiquette of the nobility is the principle of mutual respect when the title is the same.
Also, the law on the battlefield is similar to the spirit of sports showing mutual respect after the battle.
Even if it seems like they’re going crazy wanting to kill the other person right away.
And if you don’t keep this, there will be bad rumors, so it’s advantageous to protect it.
Also, even though I suffered damage, I won, so even laughing like this would make the defeated opponent feel burned.
“My visit this time is no different. Since the outcome has been decided in the last battle, I want to return the soldiers of both armies to their hometowns as soon as possible. So, I would like to start negotiations on reinforcement as soon as possible.”
Seeing my haste like this, Marquis Simon replied in a pretentious voice with an expression that seemed to have regained some composure.
“Then, please present the conditions first.”
“good. The condition that the allies want to demand is that the Eastern Army stop fighting based on the currently occupied territory. In addition, appropriate compensation, including ransom money, from the Marquis Simon, Count Louis, and Count Laurent, the commander-in-chief who lost the war. If these two conditions are met, our troops will not advance any further.”
There is nothing more to be received from Countess Iris and Countess Akitel, who have already taken away all of their lands, and the other three families plan to receive compensation in gold coins, not territory, even if they give away their lands.
Because right now, I have to get the lands of other nobles in France, except for the Countess of Iris and the Countess of Aquitel.
Although it will be faster than reclaiming the real wasteland, in order to revive it again, you will have to invest a lot of serfs and materials, so you will inevitably lose money.
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Marquis Simon heard my conditions for ending the war and thought about it, then sneered and said:
“The central army of our French Empire will soon defeat the army led by your emperor, and will personally support us. Also, your army now only has 25,000, no, 22, 300,000 left. Even though we have odd weapons that we don’t have, our eastern garrison still maintains over 40,000 men. Also, if the emperor of France succeeds in defending, he will send at least 20,000 to 30,000 reinforcements… Can you hold out?”
Hearing that, I almost sighed in amazement for a moment.
He would do that, too, because he had been defeated 3 times by me leading about 30,000 soldiers, and it was ridiculous that a nobleman who blew up his army as the commander of the defense army was acting out such a bravado.
Of course, as the nobleman says, if the Emperor of France comes to support with sheer goodwill, like an ideal monarch in a fairy tale, that might be the case.
No, since the emperor is also the lord of the lords anyway, he will unconditionally bring reinforcements to save his vassal Marquis Simon and other counts.
So, he’s not entirely wrong.
The problem is that the commander commanding more than 100,000 soldiers was broken twice, and in the third battle, 27,000 vs. 79,000 fought and suffered more than 30,000 casualties and deserters, reaching almost 70,000 to 80,000. lost a soldier
Since we lost so many troops, even if we were victorious, we would be cursed. What if we received reinforcements from the emperor and defeated us?
The emperor will punish the marquis with a heavy punishment that is impossible to recover from, and the knights and lords under his command will relinquish the oath of allegiance and try to serve other great lords.
However, it is impossible to escape by turning to Elaine, and the lords of neighboring territories are terrified that all but me will not be able to protect their territories.
Therefore, even if you receive reinforcements, your own family will be destroyed, and you threaten with it…
So, at the moment, ‘Did I lose too much in the real war or did I lose my concept due to the roar of cannons?’ The thought crossed my mind.
However, to put it mildly, Marquis Simon has already lost 70,000 soldiers to two counties even with a large army of over 100,000, and it is already politically over.
‘So even if you go when you go, I can’t see you doing well. This is a marquise croitel who has only learned bad things from her father’s father! ‘
If you are using this kind of brinkmanship tactic in negotiations… There would be no choice but to kindly face the situation of the Marquis Simon and step on and extinguish the embers of vain hope.
“There is nothing I can’t stand. Since our forces have enough food anyway, we will temporarily enlist serfs from Count Iris to replenish the number of soldiers and confront the Marquis. Also, I recruited and trained serfs as a reserve force before the start of this war, so even now I can get 50,000 volunteers trained in the southern Marquis of Creutel. In addition, about 40 ‘cannons’, an item that gave the Marquis a terrible experience.”
Although Marquis Simon must have heard the word cannon for the first time from me, he must have realized what it was when he heard that it was a cannon that gave him a terrible experience.
His face slowly began to harden.
“And as soon as we finish clearing the battlefield, our forces will mobilize the serfs conscripted from the Countess of Iris to build a bigger fence. A castle bigger and more elaborate than today. So, come wherever you are going. Your Excellency, Marquis Simon.”
Although I threatened the Marquis Simon in front of me like this, even if I mobilize 50,000 reinforcements, it is not very strong because I am a serf who has not received professional training.
In addition, it takes only one year to come to transport 40 cannons.
Also, if Marquis Simon drank a bowl of real drugs, overturned the negotiations here, and immediately attacked the fortress again… I don’t even want to think about it.
Fortunately, my story worked for the Marquis Simon, and he spoke in a slightly softer tone than before.
“then… good. What do you want?”
“Architel, the cession of the two counties of Iris, 600,000 gold coins from the Marquis Simon’s family, and 300,000 gold coins each from the Louis and Laurent families. If you pay for this, I will show you the way to survive.”
At those words, Marquis Simon laughed like a madman and threw away his manners.
“hahahaha, what kind of nonsense is this that a marquess from an enemy country tells me how to live behind the scenes while demanding reparations that I will barely be able to come out of by robbing the territory from now on? Is this the end of the world? The priests often say that the world will end when Deus returns… Was that today?”
He laughed at me like this, but I really want to give that man a chance to live.
Of course, I’m not sympathizing with the butcher who killed thousands of my soldiers, and I’m not suggesting a plan to save their lives.
However, if you use that guy… It is because it can reduce the shedding of blood of allied soldiers even a little.
In addition, you can deal a bigger blow to the emperor, a terminally ill patient of a suspected disease, who gave me a duchy and gave me candy, and then started such an expedition to reduce my strength.
“I am serious. Even if my words are false, isn’t it a situation where it is certain that the family of the Marquis Simon will be politically purged anyway? However, if you follow my advice… You will be able to avoid being completely deprived of your territory and avoiding the destruction of your family.”
“Listen. Well, it’s not a great plan anyway.”
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Marquis Simon said so, but he looked at me with shining eyes, as if my story was quite interesting.
I said pretending not to notice.
“good… First of all, please yield to me from Architel and the Countess of Iris. Those two counts have already run out of lives.”