222 – All-out war in Alas (5)
A few days after the meeting, the army of the Elain Empire, the enemy of our kingdom, arrived in Brightenfield.
In order to get a rough idea of the enemy’s morale, discipline, and fighting ability, I took a closer look at the enemy’s headquarters.
Since it was more than 1km away, I couldn’t confirm trivial information such as the soldiers’ lives and training… Still, you can guess the fighting power of the enemy unit to some extent just by seeing it with your own eyes.
What kind of bullsh*t is this? It may sound strange, but in the case of our highly trained unit, the campsite looks like bricks from a distance.
On the other hand, in units with low training levels, the military discipline is not properly established, so the location of the camp and the shape of the barracks are often distorted.
After looking around the enemy units for about an hour, I began to get a sense of the strength of each unit of the Elaine Empire.
First, as a single unit, the largest number was the main body of 50,000 led by the emperor, but the highest level of elite soldiers was the 30,000 soldiers led by the Duke of Brussels.
The rest of the units were almost at the same level, but I don’t know if the Duke of Brussels told them to form a ‘Standing Army’ starting with the commander of the Ten Commandments who command more than 10 subordinates…
I could see that the sloppy appearance I saw when acting with the Duke of Orléans had improved considerably.
Damn it, it’s only been 3 years since the alternative expedition, I don’t know what kind of lightning strike this is…
It’s not a variable enough to require a strategy to be reestablished from scratch, but I have to tell the commanders who manage the soldiers to be more determined.
But there are unexpected weaknesses…
“Those idiots, just because they were burned once last time, even reduced the access of warlords who are in charge of supplying them. Really, isn’t your head empty?”
Even if the number of warlords is reduced like that, they will not be starving because they have food procured on the way.
However, from the soldiers’ point of view, it was the officers and guards who were in charge of the gunpowder magazine and the cannon that were blown away due to the failure of vigilance, so there must be a lot of complaints about why they have to go through hardships even when they did nothing wrong.
Also, compared to our kingdom army, with the food rations prescribed by the Elain Empire, the serf soldiers barely get enough to eat, let alone fill their stomachs, so if you think about what you have to buy to give you strength to move your body…
You stupid emperor, I’m just going to blow the necks of some idiots who failed my guard and reinforce the guards of the cannons and gunpowder stores… Tsk tsk.
It’s really pitiful to be so distracted by an accident right in front of your eyes.
Well, for us, the more the emperor does crazy things like that, the better.
Thank you, terminally ill patient.
And I looked around at the few escort knights next to me and ordered them.
“Let’s all go back to base and prepare for the final battle.”
The combat method itself won’t change much, but I’ll have to go back to the barracks and find a policy to use this.
**
Three days after scouting the enemy camp from afar, the Emperor and I set out on the plains of Brightenfield with our entire armies.
We halted the troops at a distance of about one kilometer from each other and stepped forward to give them a ‘last chance to surrender’, the last precedent before the start of war.
As I, who still have the sensibility of a modern person, I am fully prepared to fight at the point where I have come this far, but I do not understand why I am doing this…
In fact, the fact that this custom exists also has the bluff of aristocrats pretending to be generous and the pragmatic aspect of breaking the enemy’s morale… I have no choice but to do it.
As I drove forward while thinking about all sorts of things, the emperor and the regent, the Duke of Brussels, rode side by side on the other side.
I halted my horse at a distance of about 100 meters from them, took off my helmet, and said hello.
“I served the Eline Empire before, but it’s really unfortunate that we have to face each other swords like this because of the disastrous incident that happened between me and Your Majesty. Isn’t it?”
Actually, I don’t have any regrets, but from the Emperor’s point of view, I’ll be much more upset if I show him how sorry I am.
Because it was the emperor’s arbitrariness that caused that incident, and as a result, I alone ate two counties.
And I, who took advantage of that opportunity to claim the title of king, show a regretful appearance?
Looking at that, it’s like politely but openly revealing one’s mistakes.
Perhaps the emperor was really annoyed by my sarcastic appearance, and as the emperor, he spoke in a double voice.
“You dirty and despicable bastard, worse than a cockroach! A bastard who dared to take advantage of the mistake of his emperor, Jim, to fill his own teeth, froze to death… “
However, before he could finish his words, the Duke of Brussels approached and blocked the emperor’s mouth.
Instead, he uttered vitriol at me with a very polite expression.
“I, the regent, am not unaware of the fact that you, the Marquis, have pointed their swords at us because of a misunderstanding. So I think it’s good to solve the accumulated core. Then, how about returning the Duchy of Orléans first?”
“When did I become independent from your filthy empire, do you still call me Marquis? Are you getting old and not being able to judge properly?”
“Heh heh, when the misunderstanding is resolved, won’t you return as a Marquis of the Empire? So forgive this old man for beating his heart.”
The Duke of Brussels is throwing a message to come back like a generous grandfather, but a person with his head straight won’t believe that even if his head is broken.
From Noble mtl dot com
From a common sense point of view, there is no way that the one who led the rebellion, especially the one who claimed to be the king, would be spared.
So the intent of that statement is… ‘It’s not nice to see a guy who used to be a marquis in our empire call a king, so figure out your subject and kneel under the empire.’
Not a single one of our soldiers believes in bullsh*t like this…
Among the nobles and commoners of Elaine, when this word circulates, morale will rise, saying, ‘The country is over now that a man who does not deserve to be king has become king!’
Damn it, I just want to know where it gets worse if I fall for the provocation like the emperor.
“You can’t put the spilled water back into the bucket, Regent. Also, I said it was a pity, but the Duke of Orléans, who acted as the emperor’s authority in the expedition I was serving as deputy commander, fled to live, leaving me alone in the limb. In other words, the person called the emperor’s agent drove me into a corner to die on my own, isn’t this the emperor’s will?”
When the emperor heard that, he looked at me as if he couldn’t stand it any longer and said, mad like a madman.
“Isn’t that because you claimed to be the rearguard, and Orléans recognized it! But you kept blaming me and the Duke of Orléans, who had already died. Besides, didn’t you defeat an army of close to 80,000 men led by Marquis Simon in the Yellow Plains and devour two counties? Seeing that you only benefited while everyone was losing money… Didn’t you bring it all on yourself?”
I was the only one who benefited from the fact that I said I would serve as the rearguard, and in terms of the results from this damned expedition.
And usually in this situation, the person who benefited alone was often in a relationship with the enemy from before.
In other words, what the emperor said is not unfounded, but… If you hadn’t started a war, I wouldn’t have been in a situation where I could see a half-profit by myself.
“You talk bullsh*t carefully! Since he was the lord he served in the past, he was at least polite, but now he doesn’t even need to be that way. What I was left behind was a final allegiance to you! If I had withdrawn from there, the French Empire would have driven its momentum and pushed into the three territories of Orléans, Delon, and Creutel. Then it would have been dangerous not only for me, but also for the empire of the four emperors.”
Then I would have lost the territory, but the French Empire would have mobilized more soldiers to split the Elain Empire by widening the gap in the east as much as possible.
In the process, the Elain Empire would have lost numerous victims and territory.
So, depending on the perspective of interpreting the results, it is correct that Ciel von Kreuttel sacrificed himself for the Elain Empire.
“I was disappointed in you, but I fought against an army three times the size with the thought that I would do my last duty. And now that I’m completely divided, I’m going to fight against you who threaten my kingdom!! What is the problem, rebellious emperor?”
The Emperor and the Regent were speechless for a moment as if they were stunned by what I had to say.
The emperor said that and tried to retort my words, but the regent whispered to him, ‘This is the end, so that we can say that our troops scolded the enemy and start the battle with morale raised’ and then retreated. .
In line with this, I rode my horse in the direction of my soldiers and grabbed the baton.
And then, the trumpets announcing the start of the war rang out from both armies.