episode_0229

Zenon Plain Restoration War (1)

Zenon Plain, Tesseito occupied area.

Duke Tiruen, who was concentrating all his attention today on training his troops, strengthening the defenses on the front, and watching the progress of the imperial army, had to believe his ears when he heard the report from the messenger who had just entered the barracks.

“What, what? Bang, what did you just say? Please tell me my ears are wrong!!”

“The newly ascended Pope officially declared that the Holy Kingdom of Johannes would become a Balkan vassal state!! We have received intelligence that the Heresy Inquisitor units of the Holy Kingdom are currently gathering near their own border, and that their poor supply needs are being resolved by the Balkan Empire’s supply corps!!”

Wow!!

The enraged Duke of Tiruen pulled out his sword and slashed at the table in front of him.

The table in the command barracks was overturned and countless maps and documents flew into the air, but the staff did not dare to stop him.

“Aaaaa!! What on earth happened!! I can’t believe that the Holy Kingdom of Johannes suddenly fell into the hands of the Balkans!! And what did our intelligence department do that no one could catch such important information?!”

“So, I apologize. However, it was not easy to let Ganja into the Holy Kingdom… Please forgive me!! We will do our best to ensure that something like this never happens in the future!!”

“It is difficult for us to dig up information, so what did the Balkan Empires do to capture the castle so secretly?!! Did I tell you to capture a holy kingdom or an empire!! Just information!! Was it really that difficult to get accurate and quick information?!! Nothing more to say!! Stick your neck out right now!!”

Several of the staff members in charge of intelligence immediately fell to their seats and begged for forgiveness, but Duke Tiruen, filled with anger, raised his sword high and tried to slash at their necks.

“Second, Excellency the Commander-in-Chief!! Calm down!! Isn’t it true that, as the staff said, it is difficult to find out about Johannes’ internal circumstances!!”

“That’s right!! Although they made a mistake this time due to Johannes’s work, they are the best contributors to building the best intelligence network in the Balkans and accurately identifying troop movements within the Balkans prior to the occupation of the Zeno Plain!! Because of my merits, please forgive me for this incident”

However, considering the hand of Count Mula and the Marquis of Graze who were trying to stop him, it certainly made sense, so Tiruen had to grit his teeth, suppress the boiling anger, and put the drawn sword back into its sheath.

‘I know very well that there is no way an intelligence organization can operate properly among those fanatics… But… how on earth did the Balkans capture Johannes without anyone knowing? I was anxious that I didn’t hear from Alexander… but how can even the Pope change so quickly!!’

Although he had guessed that his plan to shake up the empire by collaborating with former Pope Alexander and causing a massacre in Adria had failed, Tiruen had no idea that Angelina, who had been taken prisoner as a result, had completely fallen for Juno.

“First, send a letter to Johannes saying that our forces have absolutely no intention of engaging in combat with him! And the infantry commander, the Marquis of Graze, prepares to take out three thousand-man units and stand by in the direction of Johannes in case of an emergency.”

“I will accept your orders. Excellency Commander-in-Chief!!”

“Damn… A complete revision of the strategy will become inevitable… Johannes’ support has become unthinkable, and with 3 Cheonindae missing… going on the offensive has become impossible. Now, let’s focus only on defense… to fill in the gaps with troops… in the reserves… no. Rather than that…”

A junior staff member approached Duke Tiruen, who was deep in thought as he picked up a map from the floor with a frown on his face, and offered words of comfort.

“Your Excellency. Please don’t worry. It’ll be okay. It’s just that three ligaments are missing, so what’s the big deal? The soldiers of Tesseito sacrificed their lives for His Majesty the King and the country…Grrr…”

Slam!

At that moment, a ray of light shone from Tiruen’s waist, and at the same time, the body of the junior staff member who had been comforting him fell to the floor, separated from his head.

“Only three thousand people? It is beyond absurd that a man who thinks the lives of 3,000 troops are nothing has been here all this time wearing a staff badge. Isn’t this guy a Balkan spy?”

The cavalry commander, Count Mula, and the infantry commander, the Marquis Graze, chimed in as they listened to Tiruen’s words.

“You are correct. It is judged that there is a low possibility of an invasion from Johannes’ side, which has not trained any combat troops other than the Heresy Inquisitor unit and a small number of priests guarding the temple. I’ll leave it”

“Our cavalry will also have some troops on standby. This time, there are about 300 cavalry troops gathered by the lords of the northern region of Streve, but they have not yet been jointly trained, so I think it will be helpful in case of an emergency if they join them as joint operations with our cavalry are difficult.”

“Good! Then I’ll leave that to you. I’m going to have to reorganize my strategy now, so everyone, please leave the room for a moment. ah! And please clean up this guy’s body”

When Tiruen’s anger seemed to have calmed down a little thanks to the sacrifice of one foolish low-ranking staff member, the intelligence staff, who sighed heavily at the thought of being alive, quickly removed the body and left the command barracks.

Soon, the other staff and commanders also left, and Tiruen, alone, fell into deep thought.

Meanwhile, a strategic meeting was being held at the Imperial Army garrison on the Zenon Plain under the leadership of Marquis Mayer, Minister of Defense and Commander-in-Chief.

“News has arrived that His Majesty the Emperor captured Johannes and made him a vassal without losing a single troop!!”

Wow

Long live your Majesty the Emperor!!

Long live the Balkan Empire!!

Naturally, the command barracks was filled with cheers, and some commanders, as if they were already confident of victory, offered to take the lead, asking for a vacuum to be allowed immediately.

“It’s not that easy to think about. Obviously, since there is no longer any need to keep Johannes in check, our imperial army has the upper hand in terms of number of troops, but now they will be strictly focused on defense. Breaking through him won’t be easy”

“But I heard that Johannes is also sending troops to the border, albeit on a small scale… If that’s the case, wouldn’t they also be paying a lot of attention to that? Then now is your chance! When they lose their senses, I think we should attack them right away and seize the situation!!”

Several young, energetic young seals rose up in agreement with the words of one heavenly seal.

However, when Mayer shook his head, the corps commanders stood up with smiles and forced them to sit down again.

The commanders, who were afraid of the corps commanders they saw every day rather than the ministers who were far above them, had no choice but to sit back down with sullen faces.

“Hahahaha!! I know your loyalty and your care for your country, but you show that on the battlefield after the war breaks out. The premise now is to slowly pressure the front line and understand their defense strategy. I believe you are well aware that no war can be won without information”

Mayer gently comforted the Heavenly Seals, but their dissatisfied faces did not ease.

After overcoming all of Yuno’s tremendous training, they were full of confidence that they had become weapons of war, and in fact, they were completely overwhelming the enemy forces even in local battles taking place on the front lines, so even though they were given the perfect opportunity, they hesitated against Mayer and the corps commanders. I looked at him as if I couldn’t understand.

“Sleep! There will be many opportunities to fight in the future. Now, please leave the room for a moment. After a meeting with the staff and corps commanders, detailed tactics will be explained, so you can follow them and fight well. Do you understand?”

“…. I will follow your orders”

Baron Sigvald, who had been promoted to commander of the Northern Army, tried to scold the sight of some of the commanders leaving the barracks while giving forced answers as if they were disapproving, but when each corps commander stopped them saying they would scold them later, he had no choice but to clear his throat and sit down. There wasn’t.

“Hahaha!! Our Emperor is making the blood of very young people boil. In some ways, it’s good to see that the kids are upset because they can’t fight. Hahahahaha”

Baron Hassau, the commander of the Western Army, chuckled, but Baron Sigwald clicked his tongue as if he was so worried.

“….I’m worried that I might get into an accident. There are always people who cause trouble like that… Tsk…”

Baron Sigvald was also well aware that the combat power of his troops had increased dramatically, but he also knew that excessive confidence on the battlefield would inevitably lead to accidents, so he decided to strike them down properly after today’s meeting ended and returned to the meeting. I concentrated.

Mayer spoke first as he looked at the battlefield map.

“Under the current situation, the most troublesome thing for our imperial army, as it was then and now, is the reckless assault. As everyone knows, the breakthrough power of Tesseito’s heavy cavalry is considerable. No matter how heavy the imperial infantry is, you can’t guarantee that it won’t be penetrated”

“But the enemy commander, Duke Tiruen, is a very rational person. There is no way he would risk the fate of the country and make such a reckless attack, right?”

“That’s right. If that were to happen and the breakthrough was blocked by our army’s dense formation, the cavalry would be annihilated in an instant, and he would know very well that the remaining infantry alone would be no match for the imperial army”

The Balkan intelligence department was also risking its life to conduct espionage activities to gain as much insight into Tesseito’s troop composition and commanders’ tendencies as possible, so Mayer was privy to a lot of information.

“Then what tactics do you expect the enemy to use, Commander-in-Chief?”

“As a head-on fight is judged to be unreasonable, the enemy will basically try to shake up our military’s camp by utilizing their strength of mobility. Even now, a small number of enemy cavalry units are struggling along the supply route, but such activities will likely increase”

As Mayer randomly scattered several cavalry marks on the battlefield map, the foreheads of the corps commanders and staff furrowed.

“Then, how about dividing the army and setting up several barriers to counter the enemy’s mobility? If you set up a lot of barriers, the enemy cavalry’s breakthrough ability will be lowered in the process of breaking through them, and its mobility will also be lowered, which can lead the enemy into a melee.”

When Hans, the eldest son of Count Arnim, who was newly appointed as the commander of the Western 5th Corps, raised his hand and spoke, Mayer smiled softly.

“It’s not a bad idea, but if the enemy forces heavy and long cavalry to be concentrated, there is a very high risk of them being destroyed individually in an instant”

Other corps commanders and staff offered several opinions, but Mayer continued to reject their opinions.

After about three hours, no more opinions were raised, and seeing the expressions of the corps commanders and staff not looking good, Mayer explained why he had only listened to their stories until now.

“Now! After everyone has finished talking, I will explain the strategy I came up with. Please don’t misunderstand that the reason I haven’t talked to you until now is that I listened to your story out of convenience in case you had a better idea than my strategy. If a tactic or strategy that is better than what I thought is presented, I will always adopt it, so I would appreciate it if you could share your thoughts without any hesitation like today”

Despite being the commander-in-chief, Mayer’s humble leadership was enough to win the support of all corps commanders, and the strategy he explained was enough to make them exclaim in exclamation.

However, while Mayer was giving strategic instructions, their expressions instantly distorted into anger and shock upon hearing a report from a Cheon Seal who suddenly ran into the barracks.

“Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief!! About two hours ago!! A report has been received that two thousand-man corps from the 7th Legion, one thousand-man corps from the 8th Legion, and two cavalry units went into battle without orders!! Please give instructions!!”