69 – EEJ
We leave Fort Stanwick and head for the Philadelphia area.
There were two reasons why we were headed to the place that serves as the capital of the rebels.
One of them had to do with a prior appointment between me and General Franklin.
“Um… ”
“Are you nervous?”
“… Yes, a lot more than I thought.”
“Whoa, there’s no need to be so anxious about it. No matter how much he is, Cromwell and you will not be able to say anything carelessly.”
“what… Thank you for saying that, but… Anyway, it’s the first time I’ve experienced something like this. Visiting your lover’s home is… ”
“Don’t think too grandiosely, just think about being surprised by our house.”
Franklin speaks with a smile.
As I listened to her words, I let out a deep sigh in the tension that still lingered.
It was the first goal of this trip and the original goal.
To put it in a word, it was:
‘Meeting case… is it.’
Franklin’s wish to go to his parents’ house with me.
There was no particular reason for refusal, and more than anything else, as it was what she wanted, I gladly accepted it… Aside from that, at this moment I couldn’t help but be nervous about this.
In the original story, little information was given about Franklin’s family.
However, he was in the general position at a young age, and judging from his usual elegance, he was most likely from a high-ranking family.
In that respect, the scene that comes to my mind naturally at this moment is a situation like ‘Don’t meet my daughter’, which often appears in dramas.
Although Franklin said it was okay, I honestly couldn’t help but worry that something like that might actually happen.
‘Whoa… Let’s be calm, but as Little said, my name value isn’t that small… ‘
Even if it looked like this, Cromwell had a reputation even within the rebels.
In addition, as the achievements he has made so far since becoming a rebel are also formidable, I started to soothe my current anxiety, thinking that there would be no such thing.
“By the way… So how does that work out in the end? Actually, we had a promise, but isn’t that the reason we’re going this time?”
“ah… You mean that?”
In order to push the awkward feeling that doesn’t go away easily into a corner,
At the same time, in fact, the most important… To discuss the thing that actually determined this journey, I switched the topic of conversation,
Franklin spoke about this with a more serious expression on his face.
“To be honest, it is not easy to reverse this situation with our own strength right now. As you know, the number of 30,000 is actually almost all the forces our rebels can project, excluding the defenders.”
“Um… ”
15,000 regular troops and 15,000 militias that Gates blew up this time.
In the case of the militia, even if it was possible to gather public sentiment and supplement it somehow, the disintegration of the regular army was a painful loss in many ways.
It was not easy to train more than 10,000 troops, and above all, there was not enough time to train a regular army in the present situation, where the victorious southern imperial army might arrive.
In this situation, the defense of the North Caroline region, let alone the recovery of the lost South Carolina region, was uncertain.
“If even North Caroline is pierced, then the Northern Virgin Region. Next is Philadelphia, the capital city. I don’t know about North Caroline, but I have to defend the virgin area unconditionally.”
“But you don’t have a medical condition, do you? It is said that the situation here can be relieved for the time being, but even so, we cannot recklessly withdraw our troops in the face of the fact that the Imperial Army may come down from the Maple region at any time.”
“Okay, and… That is why this journey is so important to us.”
“… Is there any way? I guess you can tell me now.”
Franklin, who came this far, said something as if there was something, but for security reasons, Franklin did not explain as much as possible.
So I asked her once more, in this carriage with only the two of us,
Regarding this, General Franklin looked around once more and spoke in a low voice.
“Actually… There’s a very important person in the Philadelphia area right now. Perhaps, someone who can reverse the unfavorable situation so far at once.”
“that is… Who are you?”
At her words, which felt unusual weight, I asked the question again as if peeling an onion.
And about this
General Franklin whispered in my ear in a low voice.
“The Kingdom of Franz.”
“!…. Yes?”
An unexpected name appeared.
I couldn’t help but feel a deep surprise.
Franz kingdom.
It was a country that did not appear directly in the original work. A country whose name and setting have been faithfully described.
As a powerful country located in the immediate vicinity of the mainland of the British Empire across the sea, its own national power was evaluated as equal to or one level higher than that of the British Empire.
Due to its geographically close proximity, it has always had an antagonistic relationship with the Kingdom of Britain, and almost before the rebels rebelled, it waged a bloody war with the British Empire for 7 years in its colony and was eventually defeated.
Because of this background, the Franz Kingdom had a grudge against the British Empire that would gnaw their teeth, and even now they are only looking for an opportunity to give the Empire a shot… .
That was information about the country I knew called Franz Kingdom.
and now,
General Franklin was telling me that an emissary sent from the Kingdom of Franz was in the Philadelphia region.
“There is a saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. In that respect, if Franz Kingdom starts helping us, we might be able to reverse this difficult situation.”
So far, in terms of pure national power, there was a hopeless gap between the rebels and the imperial army.
In this situation, the fact that the rebels had endured to this extent was a great thing in itself in many ways.
At this time, even though it was defeated once, if the kingdom of Franz, which had national power equal to that of the empire, moved, it would be able to overturn the entire game itself.
But…
“But it won’t be easy. As far as I know, I heard that the internal situation of the Franz kingdom is not very good?”
“Yes, do you know? In fact, that’s why we’re summoned and headed there by order of the council.”
“Yes?”
I expressed my doubts about General Franklin’s words,
About this she told me in a serious voice.
“Aren’t we the ones who have made a lot of contributions in the war so far? Perhaps it is an intention to use that part politically. According to what I heard, the reason Franz Kingdom sent an envoy in the first place was to hear more details about the Battle of Saratoga.”
“okay… After all, it is being called a kind of mood maker… Can I interpret it that way?”
“Yeah right. To be honest, it’s a bit embarrassing to empty the wires because of this role, but the person himself asked for it…”
General Franklin, who speaks with a little dissatisfaction.
However, looking at her, who somehow feels a strange sense of anticipation, I came to think that this work has a slightly different meaning for her.
“Anyway, given the importance of the job, the answer is to help out a little. By the way… Who is the person who came as an envoy?”
In fact, since she is the most important person we have to deal with, I asked her a question to find out if I was someone I had heard of in the setting.
And about this.
said General Franklin with a slight wry smile.
“I don’t know exactly either. I heard that she is the godmother of King Franz… There is also a story about a teacher, but it is clear that someone of a fairly high level came. The name is clear… ”
*
A view of the city of Philadelphia in front of you.
To be honest, by my standards, looking at the place that has a look closer to the countryside rather than a city.
The person was listening to the story being told by the secretary behind him.
“So, it is said that the rebels have suffered a fairly fatal blow due to the shoveling of the man named Horrenshaw Gates.”
“yes? That means, if we don’t reach out right now, Franz Kingdom will be in danger… Can I take it like that?”
“maybe… It seems so. Of course, we will endure to some extent as we have done so far, but it seems clear that the war situation is back to square one.”
The secretary who finished the last report like that.
As he responded,
His master slowly turned his head and began to look this way.
A beautiful woman with red eyes and silver hair.
Looking at her appearance, she seemed to be in her late 20s or early 30s at most.
The traces of the years in those red eyes seemed to convey the long time she had lived.
“I get it. Please leave.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
After bowing to his master like that, the secretary left the room.
right after he left.
she’s quiet
His face began to show the emotion of calm interest.
‘It’s fun in many ways?’
Franz is France?