232 – Battle of the Hanseatic County Conquest (5)
Viscount Aachen, who belonged to the Second Prince’s faction, looked at the castle in front of him with a devastated expression.
At the castle, a flag symbolizing that the Baron of Cologne was here was waving majestically, and soldiers were densely lining the castle walls.
When the 3,000 soldiers under his command saw that, they fell to the ground.
“f*ck, it’s ruined.”
Among the congregation, those who were deeply religious got down on their knees and hit the ground to find God.
“Deus, do you have any grudge against us?”
In an organization called the military, during a war, even a single word that could lower morale is beheaded.
Because such a small thing can sometimes lead to the annihilation of hundreds of people, or even the entire army.
As their commander, Viscount Aachen’s principle was to deal with those who made a fuss, but he could not bring himself to do so.
“f*ck, I ran for hundreds of kilometers while eating only biscuits and salt water!”
As one soldier shouted over there, Viscount Aachen and the army he led marched for over 15 days, eating only biscuits and salt water.
I also reduced my sleeping time to a minimum and it was a waste to set up a campsite, so I slept on the dirt floor.
Viscount Aachen didn’t live on the battlefield without any luck, but for the first time in his 40-year life, he ended up sleeping on the street rather than in a tent.
He went through such hardships that he thought he might die after going on like this for several days.
Because of my pride as a nobleman and commander, I could not complain like them, but I sympathized with them emotionally.
So instead of scolding his soldiers, he came forward with a story that this crisis might be an opportunity.
“Everyone calm down! “No matter how great the Baron of Cologne is, isn’t there only a few hundred people in that castle at most?”
The Viscount’s desperate appeal began to spread from top to bottom.
“If we take this opportunity to capture that evil man, Baron Cologne, we will be able to change his fortune!”
Some of those who were exhausted and exhausted, and who had even lost hope, came out to distort the rumors somewhat.
“He said that if you cut off the head of the Baron of Cologne, you would be rewarded with a ceiling of gold coins!”
Just when morale was about to revive for a brief moment, Martin, who had become Baron of Cologne, stood at the castle wall.
Normally, nobles standing on the walls of a castle with the intention of breaking the enemy’s will to fight usually use a solemn, serious, and stern voice to explain why they are at a disadvantage.
As Viscount Aachen watched from afar, the Baron of Cologne seemed to have no intention of doing so.
I didn’t even say anything, so how could I know that…
Martin was now pretending to put his hands on his ears and was in a funny pose.
If an ordinary commander did something like that, you would think he was just crazy, but the opponent was a monster who led 4,000 soldiers and serfs to defeat Count Hansa’s 15,000-strong army.
Perhaps because of that, even such clown-like behavior seemed like the crazy actions of a mad genius.
Not only the soldiers but also the knights could not hide their nervousness.
“They say Baron Cologne is the mad dog of the Whitebeard mercenaries.”
“What on earth are you planning to do?”
“There are only a few hundred people in that castle at most, right?”
When everyone’s attention was focused, Martin, Baron of Cologne, shouted to them in a loud voice from the castle walls, as if proclaiming:
“Even though I am your enemy, you have gone through a lot of trouble to come running to stab people like this in just a few months! “I haven’t been able to rest for several days, and seeing my morale skyrocket makes me tremble with fear.”
Martin knew in advance that those guys would come, and instead of being trembled, he wasn’t at all afraid of the guys who came in such a hurry with only the bare minimum of weapons.
On the contrary, seeing him panting like that made me think it was cute.
Of course, cuteness is separate from the feeling of being cute when looking at a dog or cat, but it is also a feeling of seeing pitiful and pitiful people who make you worry about how to cook and eat them.
Even the soldiers under Viscount Aachen, who did not know Martin’s true intentions, knew this much.
‘Ah, that kid was never scared.’
“Even our soldiers couldn’t sleep after hearing the news that you were invading!”
This was half right and half wrong.
The serf conscripts, who made up 50% of the soldiers stationed in this castle, trembled when they heard that thousands of enemy troops might attack.
So, we often talked about whether we would die like this…
Instead of beheading or whipping the guys who said these things according to military law, Martin put them through all kinds of hard training without even giving them time to think about anything else.
By doing this, we were able to quickly cure the sleeping disorders of the soldiers who were suffering from insomnia due to fear.
In addition, the soldiers on top of the castle walls also added a word.
“I was so scared that I could only sleep 10 hours a day!”
“Thanks to you, I can only use this old person’s stuff three times a day! “Take responsibility!”
“Oh my, my. If we just hang a ladder on the castle wall like this, I’ll have to surrender.”
There was not a single fool under Viscount Aachen who believed those words literally.
No, the Viscount also fell into trouble after hearing those words.
“Will I be able to go in and cut off the head of that damned Baron Cologne and succeed?”
No matter how exhausted his soldiers were, Ludendorff Castle, where the Baron of Cologne was stationed, did not look very well defended…
There were at most a few hundred soldiers, and even if only that castle was captured, the second prince could regain some of his reputation by cutting off Cologne’s head.
Then, Viscount Aachen will be able to greatly increase his influence within his faction.
The problem is that a premonition kept holding him back.
‘Is that a trap?’
As he thought that, skin began to grow on his arms.
“Isn’t it strange that that crazy guy could have predicted months ago that I would come here with thousands of troops?”
Like a snowball rolling, his thoughts continued to flow in a negative direction.
“Furthermore, it wouldn’t be surprising if that crazy guy really had a plan to annihilate us if we invaded.”
In fact, Martin had no such strategy.
That’s why he was bragging like that, but war is a battle of numbers.
Viscount Aachen, who was shocked by the failed surprise attack and the current state of his soldiers, was depressed and began to worry.
This is based on the premise that Baron Cologne has a crazy plan to annihilate his people.
And at this time, Martin, who was on the wall, gave orders to his soldiers.
“If those bastards attack when they are tired, we will win! “All troops, prepare to march outside the walls!”
However, if they abandoned the walls and attacked like this, there was a much higher chance that Martin would be defeated.
So, Martin instructed several of the drivers next to him to just ‘pretend to leave’ with a wave of his hand.
However, in the eyes of Viscount Aachen, who did not know this, he had the illusion that he was being cornered.
No matter how many soldiers there are, it is difficult to exert full force when they are exhausted.
This is especially true in situations where morale is low.
And when you think about common sense, would a capable commander like Baron Cologne go out and prepare to fight without any confidence?
There was only one answer that came out of his head.
“f*ck, f*ck! Baron Cologne That son of a b*tch was reading what we were going to do! “We were playing in the palm of his hand!”
If you run away from here, you will end up playing in the palm of your hand…
In any case, at the point when the Baron of Cologne had successfully conscripted soldiers from the Hanseatic Counties, including this castle, the Baron of Aachen had no chance of winning in the long run.
He had to retreat anyway.
“Retreat! Retreat, damn it!”
The adjutant tried to stop the viscount.
“Viscount, what do you mean by that? “You’re retreating already!”
“The orders we received were to exploit the Baron of Cologne, who was in a hurry to occupy the Hanseatic County, and to reduce his share even a little. It wasn’t an order to siege. Also, what if that crazy Baron Cologne has planned something?”
The adjutant could not even protest at those words.
“I feel bad that our march up here was in vain, but if we attack that castle like this, we’re the only ones who will die! Retreat! Retreat! “Don’t get so caught up in decapitating Baron Cologne that you’ll ruin the elite soldiers!”
Because the Viscount’s words were somewhat logical…
“Retreat! Retreat! If you don’t want to be left here, get out quickly!”
Those who ran quickly on the way back rushed back quickly on the way back.
**
“Baron Cologne, did you even manage to anticipate this?”
I thought about being pretentious when I said that, but I decided to just say my honest impressions.
“Their goal is to prevent us from completely taking over the Hanseatic County. “The goal is not to fight with us.”
If that were their goal, they wouldn’t have been able to rush in like this.
“So, they would have thought about running away just to show that their defense was strong. What if I tell them that if they attack this fortress, I will annihilate it? “It’s like getting slapped in the face when you want to cry.”
“Then are you going to pursue it?”
“The chase is such a freezing chase. Don’t serve alcohol, but serve plenty of meat. And spread the word.”
From Noble mtl dot com