Ch.228Rotation (1)

“Execute the general who led the remaining troops in the rear immediately!”

The Holy Empire was in an uproar, naturally, after losing nearly 30,000 men—almost half of their 70,000-strong vanguard.

Such casualties in a single battle were unprecedented—numbers not seen since the collapse of the Ancient Empire a thousand years ago.

The Emperor, who had moved to a province adjacent to Lotaring to receive battlefield reports quickly, was furious and working to resolve the situation.

“B-but… he is from the House of Lux—”

“Silence! How can rank matter when this criminal commanded 40,000 men, yet fled before the enemy and lost 30,000 soldiers!”

As a result, the Emperor made a somewhat desperate attempt to frame this terrible incident as the mistake of a single general rather than an imperial failure.

The general from House Lux couldn’t properly assess the enemy’s size due to rain, had to be cautious in battle because of the vast difference in his soldiers’ abilities, and couldn’t pursue the Lotaring forces when the river suddenly flooded after momentarily stopping—but none of this mattered to the Emperor, far removed from the battlefield.

Results matter more than how things happened.

Had he not been Emperor, he might have considered these mitigating circumstances, but he is the Emperor and a politician. Politicians only consider the process when they themselves make mistakes.

If it was one general’s error rather than the Empire’s, the Emperor’s prestige and imperial morale would remain largely intact—an unavoidable choice for an Emperor, regardless of how noble the general’s family might be.

“How long do you think they can hold out?”

“Pardon?”

“The proud sons of the Empire surrounded in enemy territory!”

“W-well… I believe they could last up to 40 days.”

“40 days? Longer than expected.”

“However, that calculation only accounts for food supplies, assuming the Lotaring forces don’t attack. Their strength will greatly diminish from hunger before then, and if the enemy attacks, it will be extremely difficult to hold out.”

A person can survive without food for about 20 days. But this is mere survival—being alive even as the body withers away.

Imperial soldiers typically carry ten days’ worth of supplies, so the imperial official combined this fact with common knowledge to arrive at the 40-day conclusion.

“Hmm…”

The Emperor fell into contemplation.

At 40 days, ignoring them was no longer an option.

If they could only last ten days, he might have given up early, knowing rescue would be impossible. But 40 days changed everything.

Abandoning over 20,000 surrounded soldiers to die for 40 days without attempting rescue wasn’t just a matter of imperial face—it was a moral issue.

No amount of prayer or repentance would earn divine mercy after death.

‘But… from a strategic rather than moral perspective, attempting to rescue those 20,000 could result in even greater losses.’

What does being surrounded in enemy territory mean? It means enemy forces are swarming around like packs of dogs.

Moreover, since imperial forces would have to move with the specific purpose of rescue, the Lotaring army could easily predict where they would attack.

In other words, when the Empire mobilized to save their surrounded troops, the Lotaring forces would be fully prepared to meet them—with all imperial movements completely exposed.

“…The surrounded imperials are desperately fighting even now, waiting for salvation. As Emperor of all imperials, I cannot remain idle while they do their utmost in their positions.”

“Your Majesty…”

But the Emperor ignored such practical concerns.

Why did this war begin in the first place? Wasn’t it to punish the wicked bastard king?

‘In a war waged for morality, I cannot prioritize practicality over morality—especially when human lives are at stake.’

Such calculations could be made in other wars.

At least this war must be fought for humanity, not profit.

“How many troops have the nobles raised from across the land? What percentage of the maximum possible force does this represent?”

“Ninety percent, Your Majesty. Combined with the forces not surrounded, we have 190,000 men.”

“190,000…”

More than 80 percent of that number would be common rabble, but had any emperor in the Holy Empire’s history commanded such a force?

Despite the population multiplying several times over the past millennium, no monarch had assembled an army of this scale due to the strengthening of feudalism and the rise of lords who ignored their sovereign’s wars, considering them not their own.

But that was now in the past.

This war was not just the Emperor’s—all nobles of the Empire had risen up to realize goodness under the conviction that this was a righteous war for morality.

How moving, truly moving.

“We march. Our objective is to rescue the surrounded imperials.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!!”

This time, they would not fail.

……….

“Oh…”

I had given Jeanne permission when she asked to handle things if Albion came to negotiate a peace treaty. Since she wasn’t making the agreement on her own authority and it had been so long since she’d asked for anything, I was prepared to accept even mediocre results.

But she spoke unexpectedly well.

If this report is accurate, Jeanne truly gave those Albion bastards a magnificent thrashing. As expected of someone with her experience in inciting—ahem, addressing crowds.

“Will you place Lady Jeanne under house arrest?”

“House arrest? What nonsense. If anything, I’d like to reward her.”

But my vassals and attendants seem to disagree. They appear to think Jeanne overstepped by saying too much, when she should have just said what needed to be said.

No, why are you all like this? She made all the right points with perfect delivery.

As for her claiming to be Burgundy… well, it’s happened enough times that I’ve grown used to it.

Besides, Jeanne has built such powerful authority that no one can challenge her for claiming to be Burgundy anymore, so there’s no need to restrain her.

“Well… let’s set aside Jeanne’s matter. What’s the status of the surrounded imperial forces?”

“They’re still holed up deep in the forest. However, the fire attack you previously ordered appears impossible due to lack of combustible materials.”

“Lack of combustible materials? What does that mean?”

“It seems that during the recent rainy days, the surrounded imperial forces completely cleared the forest. They moved all flammable materials like leaves and wood to their defensive line to use as barriers.”

Hmm… that’s unexpected.

I thought they would try anything to escape the forest, but instead they built barricades during the rainfall.

“Moreover, since there was already a major fire in this forest, all easily burnable leaves are gone, making it difficult to create another large fire, according to the general on site—”

“Enough, I understand. It would be better to maintain the encirclement and starve them to death.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will convey your orders.”

With their supplies cut off, the imperial forces are certain to die eventually.

Rather than attacking first, we should just maintain the siege, and when we enter after about a month, they’ll all be skin and bones, on the verge of starvation.

The rain has stopped so we can use gunpowder weapons again, and the barricades the imperial forces set up now actually restrict their movement, so there’s no way they can break through our encirclement.

If there were no barricades, I might have judged differently… wait, barricades?

‘Do they have some certainty of rescue?’

Their refusal to surrender, and their preparation for a prolonged battle by setting up barricades rather than attempting escape…

They’re acting as if they’re absolutely certain the imperial army will come to rescue them.

“What are the imperial forces’ movements?”

“Due to the foliage cover, proper confirmation is difficult, but they appear to be preparing for a long—”

“I mean the imperial forces that aren’t surrounded.”

“Ah, I see… They’ve retreated to occupied Linerant, seemingly in shock. Given the distance, detailed reports will take some time.”

…This isn’t conclusive.

Let me think from the Emperor’s perspective.

The imperial Emperor is someone who declared war to punish me, even at great cost. And not just for show—he mobilized an unprecedented large army.

That means he has a very strong sense of justice, if nothing else.

There are countless Lotaring troops surrounding the 20,000 imperial soldiers, and rescuing them would require accepting casualties on a similar scale, but it’s hard to imagine an Emperor with such a strong sense of justice—strong enough to declare a war with no material gain—would fear such losses.

“…When will the conscription be complete?”

“Of the 100,000 registered in the conscription rolls, nearly 90,000 have been mobilized, so we can consider it almost complete.”

“Good. Summon all conscripts, standing forces, and mercenaries to the forest where we’ve surrounded the imperial forces.”

If I’m wrong, it will just be wasted effort… but it’s better to be prepared than not.