Ch.221Rotaring Punishment War (1)

“—Thus, it has been determined that this is riddled with the Holy Empire’s petty schemes from beginning to end. The Holy Empire has not a single piece of physical evidence, and they dare to pin the cause of the Emperor’s death on me based on the ramblings of a senile emperor who lost his mind!”

“Waaaaaah!!!”

Dijon had become a veritable cauldron of madness.

The people of the Lotaring Kingdom had been greatly hostile to the Great Lotaring Alliance that had begun several years ago—unless they were from rural villages completely cut off from outside information.

Creating an alliance targeting the Lotaring Kingdom for absurd reasons and attacking the Lotaring Kingdom using the Emperor’s senility as an excuse—this was something that any Lotaring citizen would naturally be furious about.

“I declare before you, my loyal subjects, that I shall do my utmost until the end to protect our homeland!”

“Long live His Majesty!!!”

From the public appeals posted to the numerous military policies implemented to protect the people, there was no one within Lotaring who did not know of His Majesty’s efforts.

The people sent enthusiastic cheers to His Majesty, who had continuously strived with self-sacrificing dedication to overcome this situation.

Above all, being far removed from power, the common people had neither seen nor experienced Claude’s decade-long purges and divisive tactics.

All they had seen and felt was the daily strengthening national power and improving quality of life.

From the people’s perspective, His Majesty might be slightly eccentric in character, but when it came to caring for his subjects, he was an exceptionally wise ruler. To slander such a wise ruler using the dying words of a senile emperor was absolutely unacceptable.

“God, protect His Majesty!!!”

“Let us go forth and fight!!!”

“…Haaaaah.”

Looking down at the cheering crowd from above, Claude felt tremendously conflicted.

Though there was no evidence, he had indeed killed the Emperor.

‘This is unbearable…’

Lying to people and driving them to their deaths—even I have to admit I’m… ugh.

I should never have killed an innocent person just for personal gain, though I might understand if it were a criminal who had committed crimes.

…Still, it’s too late for regrets now, so I must do my best to escape this situation.

“Let us return.”

“Waaaaaah!!!”

Claude turned his back on the people visible below the balcony and headed back to the conference room.

Even though the king had disappeared, the people continued to shout loudly, burning with enthusiasm.

……….

“…I think I misheard. Could you repeat that?”

“The Albion forces are merely engaging in piracy while patrolling the coast, Your Majesty. They occasionally come ashore to plunder coastal villages, but they do not occupy them and withdraw promptly. Thus, the troops stationed in the coastal regions have never properly engaged with the Albion forces.”

These bastards… what are they doing?

If Albion had landed, occupied, and then advanced their troops based on the captured ports, it would have been quite troublesome, but Albion seems to dislike such unprofitable activities and is solely focused on piracy.

That’s not necessarily good news, though. Since the Albion forces only plunder and immediately withdraw without occupying territory, our troops deployed to fight them have consistently missed their targets. Moreover, economic activities in the coastal regions have been severely curtailed, significantly increasing war expenses.

“…For now, evacuate all coastal villages and relocate the residents inland. Burn down all ports so that the Albion forces cannot properly use them even if they occupy them. Send scouts consistently to monitor the coast, and if the Albion forces land and occupy territory, immediately dispatch the prepared troops to annihilate them.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Phew, fortunately I didn’t build ports when developing infrastructure. If I had, I would have gone mad from the financial loss.

“Enough about Albion… So, what about the Holy See?”

The Holy See referred to here is the one established in Dijon.

The original Holy See? That’s no longer the Holy See but merely an impostor wearing its shell.

Other countries aside, the church territories within the Lotaring Kingdom and the Caroling Kingdom no longer recognize the original Holy See.

“Work is still in progress. His Holiness will likely grant Your Majesty’s request today or tomorrow.”

Although Armand is loyal to me, he is still a clergyman who became a bishop through legitimate procedures, so he seems slightly reluctant to manipulate the Pope at will. Nevertheless, it’s a necessary task, and what I’m asking the Pope to do is not unreasonable but justified, so he is faithfully following my orders.

“Good.”

Given the urgency of the situation, I’m trying to use every available means, even if they might appear somewhat immoral.

The Holy See, having been kidnapped and with its leadership filled with clergymen who follow my orders, can no longer exercise its former authority. However, even such a diminished Holy See still holds considerable religious authority.

I created the Holy See, but Pope Andrea within it was legitimately enthroned by bishops and the faithful.

Even the fake Holy See, which completely denies the one in Dijon, couldn’t elect a new Pope and has only repeatedly asked for the return of His Holiness.

‘…I’ll pressure the Pope to declare the Emperor as a villain who assassinated the Crown Prince out of greed for the throne, and simultaneously send orders to the bishops and churches in the Empire to engage in sabotage. The reward will be the restoration of seized church territories and episcopal rights.’

To be honest, even though clergymen are supposed to follow only the Pope’s orders, they are still imperial citizens and are mostly angered by the Emperor’s testament, so the latter part might not work well.

Still, I have to try everything I can.

For priests living in this era where religion holds a very high status, the Pope is God’s representative, and the Pope’s orders are equivalent to God’s commands.

No matter how angry they are, there will certainly be churches that follow the Pope’s orders.

‘As for the former… I don’t know if the Emperor assassinated the Crown Prince, but it sounds plausible that I didn’t kill him.’

And there isn’t a single piece of evidence that I instigated the assassination.

The only supposed evidence is the Emperor’s testament, which can be easily dismissed by claiming that the elderly Emperor made a mistake, or that unidentified assassins tried to frame me. That would be quite convincing.

Moreover, from a third party’s perspective with no additional information, it would appear that the Holy Empire declared war on the Lotaring Kingdom based solely on the Emperor’s testament, without finding any evidence that the Lotaring Kingdom attempted assassination.

Of course, if my very bad reputation is factored in, the story might change slightly… but as I said before, I have to try everything I can.

Undermining their justification while strengthening mine is never a disadvantage.

“What is the Imperial Army’s advance route?”

“The Imperial Army is entering through Linerant, which was ceded from the Empire during the Holy War, and is expected to move primarily through the surrounding plains afterward. There are several routes from Linerant to Dijon, but being a large army, they have no choice but to move mainly through plains.”

“Indeed, even a few thousand men struggle with supplies and prefer to move through plains, let alone a hundred thousand.”

The fortunate thing is that predicting the enemy’s position is quite straightforward. If this were lacking as well, the situation would have become much worse, so that’s at least a relief.

“The plains from Linerant to Dijon… Wait, come here.”

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“This river here, how large is it? Is this where a reservoir was being built?”

While examining the map and pondering how to stop them, my eyes are drawn to a river between Linerant and Dijon.

It cuts perfectly through the plains between Linerant, where the Imperial Army has entered, and Dijon. If the Imperial Army wants to continue marching through the plains, they have no choice but to cross this river. If they don’t want to cross the river, they would have to go around through the forest.

“Yes, Your Majesty. However, that reservoir is still incomplete, so it doesn’t hold water. A strategy of breaking the dam to flood the area is impossible.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. If the river is large enough to build a reservoir, its width and depth must be considerable. Couldn’t we station troops on the other side of the river to block the Imperial Army’s river crossing?”

“That… has potential.”

One cannot build a reservoir on a mere stream, so the very existence of a reservoir construction site on the river vouches for its size.

Large enough that an army would need to conduct a river crossing operation rather than simply wading through.

“But given the enemy’s vast numbers and our army’s incomplete mobilization, it would be difficult to completely block the crossing with our small force. Moreover, they could simply go around.”

“True, they could go around. But if they do, they would have to pass through the forest, wouldn’t they? I think that alone makes it worth trying.”

“Hmm… Indeed, Your Majesty is correct.”

Even with numerical superiority, it’s common sense for generals to avoid unfavorable battlefields. No matter how numerically superior, that doesn’t guarantee victory.

Anyone would choose to go around if they discovered enemy forces in an ironclad defensive position across a large river.

“And we need to tamper with the forest on the detour route.”

“Are you planning an ambush in the forest?”

“No, an ambush would only raise their vigilance without yielding any benefit.”

“…??”

Simon seems not to understand my words.

He naturally assumed I meant an ambush when I said “tamper,” but what came out of my mouth was completely different.

“Haaaaah…”

Turning my head briefly to look out the window, I see tree leaves that have turned red.

It’s a sight I’ve seen dozens of times in my life, but seeing it in the current situation gives me a remarkably new feeling. It’s almost as if it’s showing me the future.

…Not just the leaves, but the tree trunks will also turn red.

No, to be precise, they’ll ultimately turn black? Well, whatever.