276 – Cleaning Up (4)
There was a lot of tension even before attending the first military meeting of the first princess faction.
No matter how much I contributed the most to capturing Otto, the fact that I am a traitor does not change.
So I thought everyone would be wary of me… But my bad premonition turned out to be spectacularly wrong.
“Viscount Cologne.”
“Ah, aren’t you Baron Oaks?”
My title is higher than that of Baron Oaks, so it doesn’t really matter if I talk to him, but the other person is over 20 years older than me.
Also, I am in a position where I have to be very careful in how I conduct myself, so I deliberately used an honorific.
Maria, the lord of this faction, is in love with me, so she won’t have her head blown off…
No matter when and where you are harmed, you have nothing to say, so be careful…
“I felt the same way when I met you a few months ago, but you are still very handsome today. “Do you take any special medicine?”
If you become an Auror Expert, you can say, with some exaggeration, that aging stops until the age of 60.
If you are an expert like me, your face will most likely be in your 80s when you pass the expert level.
So this flattering remark that makes me feel good is just bullsh*t trying to get me to talk.
“It’s medicine. “It’s just because I’m young.”
“Being young is the best. When I was young, I also flew around a lot. By the way, are you attending the banquet held after this strategy meeting?”
Not attending the banquet hosted by Maria would be the same as telling her to f*ck Maria.
Unless you break your leg, you must definitely attend…
“Of course I will attend.”
Baron Oaks gestured to me and whispered quietly.
“Today, we are going to announce that our son will soon be marrying Baron Tressen’s daughter. “Perhaps I could receive one of the Viscount’s weapons as a congratulatory gift on her wedding day?”
If you asked for the sword I’m using now, that’s honestly crossing the line.
That’s because the stuff I’m using is a luxury product that can’t be bought with money.
But if it’s one of the weapons I used, let’s see. I have a dagger that I used a few times in the past but no longer use, so I could give it to you.
‘I have more than ten daggers, and I only use a few of them.’
“If you don’t mind, I will give you the dagger I used to take the lives of several knights when I was a mercenary leader.”
“Oh, thank you. “This dagger will become a symbol of the friendship between the Baron Oaks and the Viscount Cologne.”
“I hope so, Baron.”
“hahahaha, it is truly an honor to have a close relationship with the Viscount, who is favored by Her Highness Maria.”
Seeing as he mentioned Maria’s favor, I wonder if Baron Oaks was also planning to use this opportunity to get closer to Maria, the core of his power.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but you shouldn’t cross the line and end up being hated by Maria.
She was chatting with several nobles until Maria came, and before she knew it, she announced that she was coming in. After that, she came in and sat down.
“Everyone had a hard time coming from far away.”
With a wave of her hand, she ordered her maids to bring us each a cup of warm tea.
“It’s still cold, so let’s warm up a little while listening to my story.”
The tension in my heart melted away for a moment at this small act of consideration that could not be found in Otto.
Is this the quality of consideration that a monarch should have?
Just a cup of tea can make everyone here feel cared for…
“My brother, the Third Prince, attempted to assassinate me, Maria von Rheinfalz, at a banquet in front of everyone here. “I’m sure no one has forgotten this, right?”
At those words, the sound of teeth grinding could be heard from everywhere.
Nobles, including myself, were caught up in the Maria assassination incident and almost lost our lives, so it’s natural that that resentment would come to mind.
‘Also, several nobles actually got caught up in assassinations and died.’
Many people will get chills down their spines when they recall the memory of almost dying at that time.
The Marquis of Schweig began to set the mood.
“No matter how much we are enemies, how can someone who wants to become the emperor of the Rhine-Palatinate Empire use a cowardly move like assassination?”
Other nobles also agreed with those words and condemned them.
“You must never forgive!”
“For the honor of the empire, they must be severely punished!”
“We must draw our swords and fight!”
Maria calmed them down with a wave of her hand.
“So we immediately tried to subdue Matthias, the third prince, but Viscount Cologne let us know that if we did that, Otto would wait for us to attack Matthias and then attack us from behind to easily win the victory. I gave it. So we attacked Otto first, and thanks to that, we were able to avoid being ambushed and finally win.”
If I hadn’t told her that Otto would be moving, Maria would have been attacked by Matthias and Otto.
It would probably have been difficult for the first princess faction to overcome the two men’s joint attack.
She drew an ‘X’ at the base of the Third Prince’s faction on the map.
“However, Matthias, who tried to assassinate me and the officers, is still alive, so now we plan to take him one step further toward ending the civil war.”
Once you defeat the Third Prince, there will be only one enemy left.
‘If the Montmartre guys come in with swords, the story will be different.’
“First of all, we will stabilize the newly acquired territory over the course of a year. Then next spring we will move our troops.”
Spring is the most suitable time to move the army.
Because it is so hot in the summer that the soldiers become overheated while marching before they can even fight the enemy, making them unable to fight properly.
And because the weather is so cold in winter, the priority is not on fighting the enemy, but on fighting against the cold, so those who want to fight during that time will not be able to fight at all.
“The size of the troops mobilized will be 65,000, and the place to confront the enemy will be the Frelim Plain.”
Third Prince Martius’s faction will probably mobilize a roughly similar size of army.
Of course, I wish they could mobilize around 80,000 people…
The larger the scale of mobilization, the more issues that need to be taken care of regarding supply…
‘I guess this is appropriate, right?’
“Is there anyone who has a separate opinion they would like to suggest?”
I took action in response to Maria’s words.
“I think it would be best for us to plunder the border area where Matthias’ territory meets our territory before going to war.”
Maria tilted her head.
“Why do you think that?”
“It is to break the morale of the enemy army.”
“If I were Mathias, if the border area was plundered, I would use it to boost the morale of my troops. It was used to threaten the soldiers that their hometowns would be plundered if they did not fight with all their might.”
From ancient times to the 21st century, there is only one reason why soldiers fight desperately.
‘To protect one’s hometown and one’s family.’
For this, men throw away fear and fight even at the risk of death, even in situations where death cannot be avoided.
So, as Maria said, looting can lead to higher morale of enemies, not allies…
In this world, it is very difficult to come up with the idea of raising the morale of allies and lowering the morale of the enemy through looting.
‘No, honestly, it doesn’t make sense.’
“I know. So, we will have to use a slightly special method.”
Maria tilted her head.
“It’s a special method. “What number are you talking about?”
“Plunder the villages located in the border area, but do not touch the serfs and send them to other lords under Matthias. In addition, when they leave the village and go to another Martius territory, we must pack food with them so that they do not starve on the way.”
Not taking the lives of the people by plundering is something that is often done in order to manage public sentiment, but no idiot even gives food so that they can easily escape.
Because just allowing them to escape is merciful and generous, but giving them food so they can return to the enemy faction…
Because it is something that deviates greatly from the common sense of plunder.
However, if this rumor spreads, there will be an evaluation in Matthias’ territory that Maria is a fairly good monarch.
Even though the parties who looted the village may not know, other soldiers will think this way.
‘If I surrender like this without fighting, I don’t think I will die and my hometown will be safe.’
After listening to everything I said, Maria nodded her head in agreement.
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“We, the Cologne family, will step forward and plunder Matthias’ territory. Then he will immediately send his army to pursue. “We will repel some of them.”
No matter how much Mathias flies and crawls, he cannot move thousands of troops to chase me, who moves as a small elite.
So, if we move quickly in small numbers, the enemy will come after me with a small number of troops to kill me.
‘We can deal with an enemy of that size.’
In addition, if they lose once in a skirmish like this, the repercussions will be very severe and their morale will plummet.
‘To overcome the stigma of being a surrendered nobleman and survive, you must fight, risking your life above all else.’
“Good. Then, I will entrust the 25 knights and 300 soldiers under my command to you. “When the time is right, let’s go wild.”