Chapter 229 – Zenon Plain Restoration War (1)
Zenon Plain Restoration War (1)
Occupied area of Tesseito, Zenon Plain.
Duke Tiruen, who was concentrating on his attention today on training his troops, strengthening the defenses at 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.
“W-what? Bang, what did you just say? Please tell me my ears are wrong!!”
“The newly enthroned Pope has officially declared that the Holy Kingdom of Johannes will become a Balkan vassal state!! We have intelligence that the Holy Kingdom’s Inquisitor troops are currently gathering near his country’s borders, and that their poor supply needs are being resolved by the Balkan Empire’s supply corps. Has arrived!!”
Wow!!
The enraged Duke of Thiruen drew his sword and struck the table in front of him.
The table in the command barracks was overturned and numerous maps and documents flew into the air, but the staff did not dare to stop him.
“Aaaaah!! What on earth happened!! Is Johannes Castle suddenly falling into the hands of Balkan? And what did our intelligence department do that no one could catch such important information!!”
“So, I apologize. However, it is not easy to let Ganja into the Holy Kingdom… Please forgive me!! I will do my best to ensure that something like this never happens in the future!!”
“It’s hard for us to get information, so what did the Balkan Empire guys do to capture the castle so secretly? Did I tell you to capture the province or the empire? Just information!! Accurate. Did you say it was that difficult to get information quickly?!! There’s nothing more to say! Stick your neck out now!!”
Several of the staff members in charge of intelligence immediately fell down and begged for forgiveness, but Duke Tiruen, filled with anger, raised his sword high and tried to slash at their necks.
“Second, Excellency 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 we made a mistake this time due to Johannes’ work, they are the best contributors to building the best intelligence network in the Balkan region and accurately identifying troop movements within the Balkans prior to the occupation of the Zeno Plain!! Considering their contribution, this time Please forgive me.”
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 in 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 about not hearing from Alexander… But how can even the Pope change so quickly!!’
She had guessed that her plan to shake up her empire by conspiring with former Pope Alexander and causing a massacre in Adriatic had failed, but Tiruen had no idea that Angelina, who had been taken prisoner for that matter, had completely fallen for Juno.
“First, send a letter to Johannes’ side saying that our troops have absolutely no intention of engaging in combat with them! And the infantry commander, the Marquis of Graze, prepares three units of the Thousand-Man Regiment to stand by in the direction of Johannes in case of an emergency.”〈 Br〉
“I will follow your orders, Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief!!”
“Damn… A complete revision of the strategy will be inevitable… Johannes’ support is unthinkable, and three thousand ligaments are missing… It’s impossible to go on the offensive. Now let’s just focus on defense… In order to fill the gap with troops… From the reserve… No, rather than that…”
A junior staff member approached the Duke of 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. Don’t worry. It’ll be okay. It’s just that three of the thousand ligaments are missing, so is there a big problem? Tesseito’s soldiers sacrifice their lives for His Majesty the King and the country… Grrrr
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 men? It’s astounding to say that a guy 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 of Graze, chimed in while listening to Tiruen’s words.
“You are correct. I believe it is unlikely that Johannes will invade, as he has not trained combat troops other than the Heresy Inquisitor unit and the small number of priests who guard the temple. However, just in case, the heavenly men are “I will prepare three units.”
“We will also have some of our cavalry on standby. This time, there are about 300 cavalry gathered by the lords of the northern region of Streve, but they have not yet been jointly trained, so joint operations with our cavalry are difficult, so joining them will help in case of an emergency. I think this will happen”
“Okay! Then I’ll leave that up to you. Now I have to re-plan my strategy from scratch, so everyone please leave the room for a moment. Oh! 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 members 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 Zeno 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 it a vassal state without losing a single troop!!”
Wow
Long live your Majesty the Emperor!!
Long live the Balkan Empire!!
Naturally, the command barracks were filled with cheers, and some commanders, as if they were already confident of victory, asked to take the lead and ask for a vacuum to be granted immediately.
“It’s not that easy to think about. Obviously, since there is no need to keep Johannes in check, our imperial army has the upper hand in terms of number of troops, but now they will be completely focused on defense. Breaking through him will not be easy. “
“However, I heard that Johannes’ side is also sending troops to the border, albeit on a small scale… If that’s the case, wouldn’t they be paying a lot of attention to that as well? Then now is your chance! I think we should charge in right away and seize the battle when they don’t come to their senses! !”
Several young, energetic young seals rose up in agreement with the words of one seal.
However, when Mayer shook his head, the corps commanders stood up with smiles and forced them to sit down again.
The generals, 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 in their seats with sullen faces.
Haha!! I know your loyalty and your care for the country, but you will show that on the battlefield after the war breaks out. For now, the premise 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, making May and the corps commanders hesitate even though they were given the perfect opportunity. I looked at him as if I couldn’t understand.
“Now! There will be many opportunities to fight in the future. Now, please leave the room for a moment. After the staff and corps commanders hold a meeting, they will explain detailed tactics, so you can fight well according to them. 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 displeased, but when the commanders of each corps tried to stop him saying that they would scold him later, he had no choice but to clear his throat and sit down. There was none.
Haha!! Our Emperor is making the blood of young people boil. In a way, it’s good to see that the kids are getting anxious because they can’t fight. Haha,”
Baron Hasau, the commander of the Western Army, chuckled, but Baron Sigwald clicked his tongue as if he was worried.
“… I’m worried that I’ll get into trouble like that. There’s always people out there who get into trouble like that… Tsk…”
Baron Sigwald 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 and returned to the meeting.
Mayer spoke first while looking at the battlefield map.
“Under the current situation, the most troublesome thing for our imperial army is the reckless assault of the enemy. As everyone knows, the penetration power of the Tesseito heavy cavalry is considerable. Even the imperial heavy infantry cannot be guaranteed that it will not be penetrated.”
“But the enemy commander, Duke Tiruen, is a very rational person. There is no way he would risk the fate of his 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 carry out espionage activities to find out as much as possible the composition of Tesseito’s troops and the tendencies of its commanders, so Mayer was privy to a lot of information.
“So then, Commander-in-Chief, what tactics do you expect the enemy to use?”
“As a head-on fight is judged to be unreasonable, the enemy will basically try to shake up our army’s camp by utilizing its mobility, which is its strength. Even now, a few enemy cavalry units are struggling on the supply route, but such activities are becoming more and more frequent. It will increase further.”
As Mayer randomly scattered several cavalry marks on the battlefield map, the foreheads of the corps commanders and staff frowned.
“Then, how about splitting 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 ability to break through them will be lowered in the process, and its mobility will also be lowered, which can lead the enemy into a melee.”
As Hans, the eldest son of Count Arnim, who was newly appointed as the commander of the Western 5th Corps, raised his hand and spoke, Meyer smiled softly.
“It’s not a bad idea, but if the enemy uses heavy cavalry densely, 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 very good, Mayer explained why he had only listened to their stories until now.
“Okay! If everyone has finished talking, I will explain the strategy I came up with. Please don’t misunderstand that the reason I haven’t talked about it so far is because I was listening to you comfortably in case there was a better idea than my strategy. I am better than I thought. If a tactic or strategy is presented, I plan to adopt it at any time, so I would appreciate it if you could share your thoughts as freely as you did 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 with exclamation.
However, while Mayer was giving strategic instructions, their expressions instantly became distorted with anger and shock upon hearing the report of a thousand seals who suddenly ran into the barracks.
“Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief!! Approximately two hours ago!! A report has come in that two 1,000-man corps from the 7th Corps, 1 1,000-man corps from the 8th Corps, and 2 cavalry units went into battle without orders!! Please give me instructions!!”
