155 – Crossroads (1)
From Noble mtl dot com
Rhine-Palatinate Imperial Palace, Grand Banquet Room.
According to the principle, the emperor of the empire and all the great nobles above the count should have gathered together and talked about this war…
The emperor had been ill for a long time and was not able to attend this event today or because he was due to sleep tomorrow.
So, before the meeting starts, the nobles are gathered together, and there is gossip about someone from one family marrying someone from another family, or that a count who is not here is revealing his woman, and it is so serious that he is on the verge of ruin. I have to come out…
“……”
The atmosphere was so dark and gloomy that no noble had the guts to tell such a frivolous and light story.
“Then, I, Duke Friedrich von Adelheidt, Marshal of the Empire, will discuss this war on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor, who is not present. “Honestly, I don’t think any of us deserve a reward, but there are some who deserve punishment.”
When the Marshal of the Empire, who served as chairman and a semi-honorary official, said this, everyone began to listen to his remarks with serious expressions.
The signs of civil war breaking out in the empire are ripe, but until it begins in earnest, they must be on one side anyway as great nobles of the ‘Rhine Palatinate’ empire.
We had to pretend to be allies gathered under the emperor’s banner.
If you stand out here for no reason, isn’t it a perfect situation for you to become a ‘traitor’ and get beaten up without even knowing who is your friend or enemy?
“First of all, as everyone knows, this war was a defeat for our troops. “There were two main reasons for the defeat.”
Friedrich spread one of his fingers.
“One is that the Medici’s fighting ability was much better than ours. “I had strengthened my castle’s defenses, but all seven castles, including Finehart, Brune, Hyllus, and Zergheim, fell in one month… It was unexpected.”
The castle or city mentioned here has a population of about 4,000, and is a little larger or smaller than the Villa Hora Castle that we captured.
Because the enemy also had to attack numerous castles in the border area, they would not be able to deploy that many troops, so they thought they would hold out for at least two months.
However, because the Medici fought better than expected, the castles mentioned here fell in an instant, so the premise of the original strategy was broken…
“The original plan was to mobilize a large army to strike at the back of the enemy army, which was exhausted after fighting a siege for about a month and a half, and as part of the plan, the first thing to attack was to destroy those besieging Villa Hora Castle. “It was.”
Friedrich ground his teeth before speaking.
“When we heard that Villa Hora Castle was surrounded, we quickly dispatched 6,000 troops. If only Custer had done a good job of protecting the castle… He would have been able to quickly defeat Baron Cassano’s 2,000 troops with nearly 7,000 troops. But they say that bastard Custer couldn’t defend the castle for even 15 days.”
At those words, one of the counts who had Custer as a vassal ground his teeth.
“I apologize.”
“I guess I have to apologize a lot. Because of that bastard Custer, this war was ruined. And what on earth is that idiot, Baron Maurer, doing?”
This time, the head of the Marquis, who had Baron Maurer as his vassal, went down.
“……I have nothing to say.”
Friedrich slammed the desk.
“No, how can you lead over 2,000 troops and be defeated like sh*t by those damn Whitebeard mercenaries! If the Whitebeard mercenaries had 2,000 troops, it wouldn’t make sense, but they were defeated by only 600?! “There are 700 prisoners, including the Baron himself, and 540 killed or missing?”
If the emperor was sane and had a strong desire for power, even if he used this as an excuse to take away the title of Baron Maurer, it would have been a mistake that the earl could not refute.
“Thank goodness His Majesty the Emperor is well. If His Majesty had been younger, he would have taken the title of Baron Maurer. “Your power would have been weakened that much.”
Then the Imperial Marshal sighed and sat down.
“So the plan started to completely fall apart. That piece of luck is thanks to the damn good Whitebeard mercenaries!”
Even if Martin had been here, he would not have been able to refute Friedrich’s words.
Because, it is true that the fact that he defeated the 2,000-strong Baron Maurer army with 600 troops and played a great role in capturing Villa Hora Castle was done through ‘his own skills.’
With just that level of performance, it was a matter of luck that it became the decisive blow that decided the victory or defeat of a war in which almost 100,000 troops from both armies were involved.
And Martin could not have guessed that his performance would have an impact on determining the outcome of the war.
“Since Your Majesty is unwell and the outside of the Empire is in turmoil, I will not ask Your Majesty to withdraw the titles of the two Barons.”
The word was a request, and in a situation where the emperor was sick, it was something like, ‘I will issue orders on behalf of the emperor.’
“Instead, I hope that Marquis Andalof and Count Kraut, who have those two as vassals, will reflect deeply. Of course, you will decide whether you pay their ransom or not.”
Having said that, the Marshal of the Empire stood up and quietly exited.
As soon as the Marshal of the Empire left, the eyes of the gathered nobles began to become animated.
Because from now on, full-scale ‘information exchange about war’ begins.
“Of all the mercenaries that fought on the side of the Medici Republic, which mercenary unit was the strongest? “Next time a ‘war’ breaks out, shouldn’t we hire people from our empire?”
This is information that will become known over time anyway, so there was no problem in sharing it with other competitors who were potential enemies.
“The Red Lion mercenaries are no joke. They have as many as 20 expert-level prosecutors. “The first unit that encountered them was reduced to rags.”
“The Blue Shark Mercenaries are also very dangerous mercenaries. “The mercenary corps did not show explosive offensive power, but in the first battle, in the field, they did not collapse at all in the face of soldiers more than twice their size…”
“The mercenary unit called the Golden Barley Mercenary Unit was also amazing…”
That’s why we solved it by mixing information that would be released anyway with false information that cannot avoid being ruined if you believe it.
“Ah, Count Colin.”
“Yes, Margrave Estelle.”
“It’s no different, there are guys who fought under our command called the Brown Wolf Mercenaries. It’s only about 100 people, but it’s worth keeping an eye on. “Even Martin Mayer, the guy I praised so much, can’t rub against Peter Mainz of the Brown Wolf.”
Margrave Estelle lied without even changing his expression.
But Count Colin, who was a bit stupid, looked intrigued when he heard that.
“Are you sure?”
“Well, during the time of Martin Mayer, the traitor Pappenheim died and the position of the owner of the barony became empty, so he offered to make him a baron. Now, I can’t do that because Rittenheim, a senior knight under my command, has received the title of Baron Pappenheim. So, crying and eating mustard, I offered him a knighthood, but Peter Mainz refused, saying he was not worth that much.”
After saying that, Estelle took out the letter of appointment proposal that she had actually written, and on it was written the refusal signature of Peter Mainz.
“… It’s a rumor that will spread anyway, so I’m only telling it to those of you who are likely to be on the same side as me.”
“It is an honor, Margrave.”
And some of the great nobles who believed in Estelle’s abilities wrote the name ‘Peter Mainz’ on a notepad in their hearts…
The proposal for appointment as a senior knight recommended by Estelle was actually a fabricated document.
Strictly speaking, it is true that Estelle herself wrote the appointment proposal and that Peter Mainz personally signed it.
‘This is the signature I received from that bastard Peter Mainz, who said he would give me 100 gold coins if he would sign a rejection of the proposal to become a senior knight.’
If anyone really believed this and hired Peter Mainz at a high price, he would not avoid incurring a huge loss.
Because if you pay a high price to hire them, they will be placed in important places and you will suffer huge losses.
And in the meantime, someone brought up the story of the Whitebeard mercenaries.
“So, is it the Whitebeard mercenaries or what is it like there?”
At those words, Count Kraut, whose vassal was Baron Maurer, who had been completely destroyed by the Whitebeard mercenaries, opened his mouth.
“Isn’t Dalton von Prime, the leader of that mercenary army, a better person than the guy who thinks he’s Martin Mayer? “The young guy named Martin is only good at using the ‘sword’ and his brain is a little better, but Dalton is the one who accepts it all and puts it into action, so in fact, wouldn’t he be even more amazing?”
This statement itself makes a lot of sense.
Because, no matter how much your subordinate is Yi Sun-sin, what if there is an ancestor of Pallangwi above him?
Just as it is impossible to avoid the foolish act of going out and destroying the Joseon navy, no matter how capable your subordinates are, if you do not have the ability to handle good subordinates, it is of no use.
So, among commanders, there were many cases where commanders with competent subordinates were evaluated as ‘slightly more competent’ than competent subordinates.
“Then how much do you think the captain named Dalton von Prime is worth?”
Count Kraut chuckled at those words.
“It would be enough to give him a senior knighthood and bring him under my command. “We defeated more than three times as many troops, but it was all luck, right?”
Once you can say it’s luck, but if you show results the second or third time, it’s purely skill.
So there was no fool who would believe that.
After several hours of meetings, the nobles finally dispersed…
As soon as Count Kraut left this conference room, he made a hint to his close associate, Baron Nifelheim.
“Estel, that guy thinks Martin Mayer is higher than Dalton of the Whitebeard mercenaries, but the really great thing is that Dalton trusted and put into practice the opinions of a lowly soldier. “Isn’t that right?”
Nifelheim heard those words and nodded his head.
“For a bold operation to succeed, you need insight into whether the numbers will succeed or not. A discerning commander who can judge that is the most capable person. To put it bluntly, out of 100 bold strategies, aren’t 99 trash, Count?”
“So I really need to get this guy named Dalton before the civil war breaks out. “If that bastard falls into the hands of another faction, I don’t know how much it will hit me in the back.”
A good weapon makes me feel reassured when it is in my hand, but when it is in the hands of an enemy, it makes me tremble.
It is basic common sense that if you do not have a truly capable talent in your hands when a crisis is approaching, you will pay a heavy price later for losing that person.
“I will bring Dalton Von Prime of the Whitebeard Mercenaries and the Whitebeard Mercenaries under my command. “If you give Dalton about 3,000 troops, he will provide at least 6,000 to 7,000 troops.”
“This is a wise decision.”
“I happen to have a baronial territory waiting for me, so I’ll use that as bait.”
“You mean Baron Maurer?”
“For the loyalty the Baron Maurer family has served us, we must pay the ransom one last time. But that’s it.”
And at the same time, there were quite a few nobles who had similar thoughts.