277 – Skirmish (1)
Hilde sighed and complained.
“No matter how much it is for the sake of Her Majesty’s victory, I am not that reluctant to plunder. “You can’t believe they are plundering the poor serfs.”
I also didn’t like plundering serfs ever since I was a mercenary.
It may be true in a war where one is risking one’s life, but isn’t looting a one-sided way to rob the weak?
Dalton has similar thoughts as me, so he has never done anything like raiding rural areas before, but…
Just as I was about to say something, Karin interrupted.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s chivalry or anything else. What matters is winning. Isn’t that right, Hilde?”
“But…”
“And Martin said that no civilians would be killed in this operation. “Don’t worry too much.”
Usually, when looting, you also kill civilians, but doing so puts you at a disadvantage to your allies.
Because they are not fools, they say that they will die one way or another, but it is the same, and they will fight with the mindset that they would rather fight and die to protect their family.
‘Crime and looting must be planned out.’
Otherwise, you will face backlash and become a threat in an instant.
After a while, a knight who had been out scouting hurriedly ran over.
“Here’s a report! “There’s a village up ahead!”
Is it finally time to play with fire in earnest?
“How big is the village?”
“It is a fairly large village with about 400 people living together.”
This is a village where only serfs who don’t even know how to hold a spear live, so there won’t be a need to bring many soldiers.
Probably taking about 100 people, including me, would be enough.
“Okay, then 10 guards knights and 1 hundred troops under them will follow me. Let’s lead the soldiers straight away. In addition, have the remaining troops disperse in units of one hundred units and plunder each village.”
It is effective to annoy the enemies by plundering at least one more village as quickly as possible.
And if we make the angry guys lose their senses by bursting out of their costumes and run to attack us, then we can play with the guys who are showing their weaknesses due to their excitement.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Then we will gather here in 10 days. However, if you are being chased by the enemy or think you are being chased, immediately run away to friendly territory. “If you are defeated in a skirmish that is not a full-fledged war, you will die.”
As I said, if you die in a skirmish, it would be an easy death, but in this type of guerrilla battle, if even one ally is captured, everyone is in danger.
What if the captured guy gets tortured and destroys our rally?
If the nobles under Matthias are not idiots, they will bring their soldiers to the place where we agreed to gather and ambush us…
Because we have no choice but to risk our hands and feet.
“Everyone disperse, good luck.”
**
After giving the order to disperse, I went straight into the village in front of me.
Perhaps because it was a village under Matthias’s power, the residents were scared and trembled as soon as they saw us.
“Hey…”
“Could it be that they are trying to kill us?”
“Damn it, why do we who are innocent have to die?”
Even if I don’t kill them, there’s no way they can feel safe when the enemy is right in front of them.
Unless they are idiots, they probably know that we can annihilate everyone in this village in an instant if we put our minds to it.
Still, there is a difference between saying you won’t kill someone and not saying so.
“Quiet!”
When I told them to shut up, everyone became quiet.
“I am Viscount Martin von Cologne, serving Her Highness Maria von Rhine-Palatinate, the rightful heir to the Rhine-Palatinate Empire. “The reason I came here today is to carry out the plunder order given by His Majesty.”
As I said that, an aura erupted from my entire body.
Then, the farmers, who showed signs of trying to resist with weapons or at least farming tools, dropped what they were holding.
“Your Majesty does not want to see blood. So if you follow my instructions, there will be no need to see each other bleed. So, where is the village chief?”
From the crowd of residents, a man with a slightly stooped back and graying hair carefully came out towards me.
As soon as the man saw me, he got down on his knees and showed his utmost respect.
When I see someone with a bad back doing something like that, I want to tell them to just stand up comfortably and talk.
‘It is beneficial to show an authoritative attitude now.’
“I am Max, the chief of this Brun village, Viscount.”
“Good. First of all, your lives will not be harmed. “You will have to give up all of your village’s livestock and other food.”
We will take everything we can take with us, excluding livestock and items that are too heavy, and burn the rest.
Because if I leave it here, it will end up belonging to the soldiers under Matthias.
‘If I can’t have it, I’ll burn it.’
The village chief trembled and bowed at my words.
“Oh my, thank you. Thank you for saving the lives of us lowly people.”
“It was not I, but Mary, who told me to save you. So let her thanks go to him.”
“Yes, yes. “I will not forget Her Majesty Mary’s grace.”
I can’t believe I had to flatter them and say thank you for saving their lives even though all their money was taken away.
It’s like I ordered it, but I feel like I’m going to laugh out loud when I see it.
“So what should we do now?”
I held out two fingers to the village chief.
“I’ll give you two options. “You can choose the one you like among these.”
The village chief tilted his head as if he hadn’t thought he would be given a choice.
“The first is to tell us every inch of the terrain near this village and receive an appropriate reward. The second is to just run away, losing all of your belongings.”
If this suggestion had been made to the nobles under Matthias, they would probably have been split in half.
However, the serfs, including the village chief, would not bother to show loyalty since they received nothing from the lord other than a guarantee of safety.
“How much reward can I get?”
“It will depend on the quantity and quality of information you provide. “If you give me good information, I will give you enough money to start over after the war.”
I said this, but in reality, the quality of information these guys provide doesn’t really matter.
Therefore, as long as the village chief and other villagers do not lie and provide correct information, we plan to give them money to start over.
Then, when the war breaks out in earnest, they will spread the word that there is no need to fight to the death because nothing will change even if they go under Maria on their own.
Also, as long as they receive money, they are just like potential spies who can be used at any time.
The village chief’s eyes lit up when he heard what I said.
“Are you sure?”
“This is an order given by Her Highness Maria. “He doesn’t give two words.”
Then I threw a gold coin to the village chief.
“What are you going to do? Are you going to live in misery just barely surviving like this? Or will you rely on Her Grace, Her Highness Mary?”
“I want to be of help to Her Majesty the Princess.”
After saying this, the village chief handed over all kinds of information to me and the other soldiers.
Things that only those who have lived in the area for a long time may not know, such as where the side roads are near this village and the location of the main roads that are good for soldiers to travel.
‘The other guys are probably moving similarly.’
I then traveled to various villages and used similar techniques to collect as much local information as possible.
**
Meanwhile, the Viscount of Bohemia, who was in charge of the recently plundered borderlands under Prince Matthias, felt the lid being lifted.
“What a damn bastard! “Is doing something cowardly like looting to catch us something a noble would do?”
If Martin had heard this, he would have definitely responded like this.
‘War is cowardly, love is proud.’
And the Viscount knew very well that the more he got angry, the more he would be admitting that he had been wronged by the Viscount Cologne.
“Holy sh*t! Lord Rhineland!”
Rineland quickly responded to those words.
“Yes, Viscount.”
“You don’t know how many troops there are led by that bastard running rampant in our territory, do you?”
“Yes, that’s right. The refugees said that Viscount Cologne had dispersed his troops and was plundering the village.”
“Has the location been determined?”
“I can guess roughly where it is, but unless he’s an idiot, he’ll keep moving…”
“Holy sh*t! I can’t just let go and suffer like this! “Mobilize 1,500 knights and horseback infantry to chase them!”
No matter how much a knight trained with aurors is instantly stronger than a horse, it is said to be rarely used in battle…
Because horses were the best when moving quickly, horseback infantry was also mobilized.
“Cut off Viscount Cologne’s head and come back! “We cannot be pushed back in the skirmish!”
“Yes!”
And Rhineland led a force of 1,500 and moved straight to pursue the Viscount of Cologne.
those who heard Martin’s reputation also agree. War is cowardly