267 – Side War – Conquest of Brittanya (2)
Recruiting one enemy soldier to your side is equivalent to recruiting two allies.
Because first, since one new soldier enters the army, the strength increases, and the enemy’s strength decreases by that much.
If you consider that you can get more complex factors such as military morale, information, and strategy, rather than simply looking at numbers?
Sometimes bringing that one soldier has more effect than adding 10 or 100 soldiers.
Therefore, it is safe to say that all armies are carrying out operations to attract the enemy.
Not long after I called, Baron Short came into the barracks and asked if I had expected that I would find him and was preparing.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, did you find it?”
“That’s right, thank you for coming so quickly even when you are busy with your duties in the war. Would you like a beer first?”
“You can’t refuse a drink given by His Highness, the Crown Prince. Then we will drink well.”
After saying that, Baron Short drank all the beer in a 600ml glass at once and asked,
“So what mission do you have in mind? If you wish, I will send intelligence officers to find out even the sleeping habits of King Brittanya.”
“It’s a habit of sleeping… I’m personally curious about that, too. What I want to ask you today is to infiltrate the castle where the Britannia army is stationed and cause chaos.”
Upon hearing that, Baron Short asked in a serious voice if he remembered how many times he had infiltrated the Castle of Hostility.
“What kind of confusion do you want to create specifically? Your Majesty must have emphasized it several times, but without detailed instructions, it will be difficult to obtain the desired results.”
Although it may seem rude to make such a recommendation to me as the crown prince.
It is dangerous to fight in the enemy camp with numerous allied soldiers during battle, but if a small number of people secretly infiltrate and conduct intelligence activities, even the reinforcements may find themselves in a situation of crisis that they cannot hope for.
I have to take such a risk, but the proper instructions are not given?
Then all the agents who went inside would have no choice but to die, so considering that I was on my first campaign, this would be a moderate question.
“As you know, after capturing York Harbor and its surroundings, we, the Croytel Imperial Army, are doing our best to ensure that not a single serf in our arms goes hungry. However, in the territories ruled by the Grand Dukes of Brittany, English, Donover, and Chains, serfs are starving and sell themselves, or women with smooth faces are struggling to survive by becoming concubines or maids of nobles.”
“Yes. Britannia has already been completely devastated, but the difference between the places occupied by our imperial army and the places that are not is like heaven and hell.”
“However, the castles of King Britannia and the rest of the Grand Dukes will surely spread this kind of story. ‘Inhabitants of places occupied by the Creutel Empire are exploited by soldiers, and women are subjected to unspeakable s*xual violence. So those who want to live must believe in me and follow me.’ Even if the reality is not like that, the people will listen to their lord or king unless they see or hear it.”
Upon hearing that, Baron Short nodded in agreement.
“So I think we should help them escape the exploitation and harassment of their oppressors by telling them the truth so that they can get out of their misconceptions. How is it?”
“You are right. Seeing the angry people at York Harbor, there was a sense of betrayal that King Edward of Brittany had just abandoned them and had just been defeated. Britannia’s people already in the castle will not support their lord and monarch. They will always throw away their lord and king for a piece of bread or a bowl of porridge without hesitation.”
“That’s why my father said that the people should not starve no matter what. Alright, then I’ll give you the full command. Start by preparing to write it down.”
Then Baron Short took out paper and a pen from his bosom and prepared to write down.
After watching it, I gave the order carefully but firmly so that it would be easy to understand.
“Dispatch intelligence officers to the four cities of Brittany, Londimium, Chains, Donover, and English, as well as other places where soldiers and citizens are stationed together. And through them, you have to spread the rumor that the residents of the York area, where the Croytel Imperial Army is located, are eating plenty rather than starving. At the same time, since a battle is about to break out, encourage them to quickly defect to Kreutel if they want to live.”
These are people whose lives have been devastated by the civil war, and they have lived their lives trembling in fear of being caught up in a war and dying without even having a proper meal.
In addition, Brittanya and the other Grand Dukes would have maximized their fears by promoting me and our army, an unknown enemy soldier who crossed the sea to continue the battle with me, as villains.
But if me and the soldiers put a pot outside the castle wall where they are hiding and cook porridge and prepare for distribution, it will distract them a little bit.
No matter how ignorant the serfs may be, you should know that they will not be surrendered from the moment the siege weight, called the ‘custom of siege weight’, touches the gate.
If you tempt them with something to eat and threaten them with a little fear, infighting will break out in the castle.
“After a week here, we will divide the troops into 5 groups and break them individually through siege warfare. The detailed route is on the map here, so select the right people to infiltrate the castle along the way and carry out your orders. However, when it is judged that there is a risk to life in the performance of the mission, it is allowed to return at will.”
**
From Noble mtl dot com
A corner inside the walls of Londimium, a temporary refugee camp.
There are wooden pillars inserted in every gap you can see between the rocks on the walls of the castle here, and tents were built one by one based on them.
There were rows of temporary lodgings built that way.
It seems that there are families living in it, but the security has become unstable due to the fact that there are too many refugees and preparations for war.
The tents in this area were full of men and had a very musty smell.
However, as the saying goes, no matter how dangerous the environment, people seek ‘entertainment’ or fun in order to survive if they can afford it even a little bit.
Lieutenant Hutchins, a member of the Creutel Imperial Army intelligence department who infiltrated this place, was also spending time with men around here in small groups, talking about his family, marriage, and love affairs.
“So, James, have you confessed to that Maria? Maybe like mugwort…”
“hahahaha, don’t worry. I will confess right away when the siege is lifted and I return to the village. Could it be that Maria and another man will meet eyes in the meantime?”
“Damn it, crazy man! Hey! Then what? Someone snatched it up in an instant! Didn’t I hear from you, Maria, that girl had a pretty face and a nice body? If this goes wrong, becoming the noble’s second or third concubine is a matter of seconds! Even when I was young!”
“Old James, my mother has told me many times that those words are fake. She had a childhood friend named Lily, but she would rather be the concubine of the Lord of Kentucky next door than old James.”
Generally speaking, spies would either not get involved in a story like this or would try to hide their presence as much as possible.
Because if you try to hide yourself like that, you will look suspicious.
Hutchins actively intervened in the stories he could intervene in, and quietly shut his mouth on the stories he didn’t, so he was able to completely melt into them without standing out before he knew it.
Like that, they continued to chat, trying not to think about the “Dark situation ahead” In their free time.
As the night deepened and the moonlight shone brighter and brighter, some young people muttered while looking at the moon.
“I have to go home. No, because the civil war destroyed all the fields. Could you marry me?”
“Shut up, it makes me feel dirty. It just reminds me of my daughter. Of course it’s on the other side of it. He is a child who is looking for Dad every day. Do you know how much I miss her and how painful it is for her to be away from me?”
“You two are still better. I was raped 2 years ago by the chainz bastards Jennifer broke in with! And with that shock, he just left, damn it. What will happen now.”
As the atmosphere subsided, an old man asked Hutchins hesitantly, his eyes quivering with anxiety.
“Look, I heard that you came here while dealing with a transaction from the York branch of the Medica Merchant Merchant. Well, as the high-ranking people say, we won’t lose. Just in case, ask me.”
When Hutchins heard this, he sang for joy in his heart.
Because rumors like this are effective only when they are naturally let go, and the grandfather in front of me was famous among the refugees for being lighthearted.
So, if this person heard and found out, it could covertly spread information about the Creutel Empire among the refugees.
“According to Clerk Martin, who often visits the York branch, the Kreutel Empire is cruel to hostile nobles and soldiers. I heard that after the war, ordinary soldiers and serfs take good care of themselves and try hard not to starve. Also, the people of the mainland of the empire said that every three o’clock they eat bread made with fine flour.”
The old man and the rest of the people who heard that said with a look of absolute disbelief.
“Where is such a country in the world? Somewhere, like the citizens of a city, rich and well-to-do people eat wheat bread. Isn’t it our wish to eat 2 bowls of wheat porridge every day? No, at least some barley porridge…”
The lieutenant said to the old man, ‘In the Kreutel Empire, even serfs eat wheat bread and salted herring every day. In addition, I would eat salted meat or sausages at least once a week.’ I thought.
He swallowed the words and then said.
“Then would you lie to me if I was starving to death? If I were going to lie, I would have said that the serfs also eat three loaves of rye bread every day. Isn’t that a much more likely lie?”
In these words, there was sympathy for the refugees who were still starving because they foolishly followed the king of Brittany, and Lieutenant Hutchins’ sincere feelings about why I was sent here and suffering.
That’s why the old man and other people who talked to him began to slowly settle in the idea that he wasn’t completely bluffing.
“If that’s true, I’d like to live in a place like that. I don’t have to worry about meals every day, and I want you to live with a smile. When the hell will the civil war end? This war too. I wonder if there was a time when we lived without war.”
“I hope so.”
And after that, neither the story of the Croytel Empire nor the gloomy story of the Kingdom of Brittany came out.
His grandfather, a gossip-loving, light-mouthed man, did as Hutchins predicted, often wandering around and secretly spreading stories about the Kroytel Empire.
There were times when some low-end soldiers secretly listened to it, but they also pretended not to hear it and moved on because they thought it would be okay to replace the king as long as the damn civil war ended.
After two weeks, William von Kreuttel arrived at Londimium himself with 40,000 troops.