Chapter 84: Ghost Special Corps (4)
Siegfried unfolded the map and earnestly mulled over it. His commanders found this rather odd, unused to seeing this side of Siegfried.
“Mr. Secretary, what is it that you are so concerned about?”
Siegfried answered the commander’s query without taking his eyes off the map.
“I am searching for an opening in the enemy.”
This only served to make the commanders all the more bewildered. Searching for an opening? Wasn’t the current Lester Kingdom so full of openings, they might as well be swiss cheese?
Princess Leila was accompanying her people on an evacuation, while the other n.o.bles – including the king of the country – had scattered like sand, leaving the Capital as empty as could be.
It was the picture of a nation on the brink of collapse. So what did he mean by ‘looking for an opening’?
Right then, a messenger came frantically running into the makes.h.i.+ft barracks.
“Secretary Siegfried, I have an urgent report to make.”
“What is it?”
“Sir, the army of the South that we were tightly reconnoitering has…”
“I a.s.sume they’ve managed to conceal their whereabouts.”
“Ye-…Yes. They’ve disappeared as if they were never here.”
The messenger meekly confirmed as Siegfried took the words right out of his mouth. Siegfried sighed and murmured to himself.
“The enemy’s got someone with a very good head on their shoulders. To think they would get me like this…”
While Siegfried lamented, the other commanders remained perplexed.
“Mr. Secretary, what is the matter?”
“Have you perhaps conjectured as to the enemy’s motives?”
At their questions, Siegfried muttered in a barely audible voice.
“It’s such a bother to work with incompetent fools.”
“…pardon? Did you say something?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Never mind that, I shall explain the present situation.”
Siegfried spread the map in its entirety and began his explanation.
“At present, the enemy has vacated their Capital and fled. It has been reported that their king, as well as most of the n.o.bles of import, have begun their flight to other nations accompanied by their private troops. The one who holds the strongest sway in this country at this point in time, Princess Leila, has joined her people as they evacuate from the Capital. And as of now… we cannot attack her.”
The commanders did not understand.
“Might there be a reason we cannot attack Princess Leila and her evacuees?”
Siegfried sighed inwardly.
‘I can’t believe these fools can go on with their ‘long live the Republic’ rhetoric to their men ten times a day…’
Siegfried found the commanders pathetic, but showed no hint of such sentiment and answered coolly.
“What are the most important values of our Republic?”
“That would certainly be the liberation of the people from the oppression of the cla.s.s system, and the building of a new paradise where everyone may be equal and have equal opportunities.”
“That is so. We are a nation that was founded for the people, by the people. Yet… Princess Leila is currently moving together with all the people that are following her party. We speak of not just one or two individuals, but hundreds of thousands of citizens.”
“Ah…”
“Indeed, that is so.”
The commanders finally looked as if they understood.
The Republics’ justification for waging war was ultimately to liberate the people and abolish the feudal cla.s.s system. Therefore, needless attacking or looting from civilians was taboo. Of course, the unfortunate reality of war was that it never progressed so cleanly, and there were incidents from time to time where ordinary citizens were pillaged or even ma.s.sacred.
But anything could be managed in moderation. Incidents that were of sufficiently small scale to not spread externally could simply be buried in history, or chalked up to a group of soldiers acting out of line.
However, the refugees that Princess Leila was guiding amounted to hundreds of thousands of civilians – and they were greatly moved that she did not abandon them and were leading them to safety.
Was it possible to attack Princess Leila without stirring this public sentiment?
No, it was impossible.
Then, could they turn a blind eye just this once and attack the civilians as well, since they were up against an enemy state after all?
No, it was impossible.
The Lester Kingdom’s n.o.bles labelled Princess Leila as foolish and childish for joining the people on their path to refuge. But from the perspective of the Republic, her actions were as shrewd as could be.
As long as the Princess had the people’s support, it would be difficult for the Republican army to touch her. If they tried to force the issue and caused too many civilian casualties, the commanders of this war would not be able to avoid the repercussions – regardless of whether they won or lost.
The very ideology with which the Republics were founded was to put the people first; and if they ignored this cause to do as they pleased due to the inconvenience of upholding it in their present circ.u.mstances, they had to face the fearsome consequences.
“Then what of seizing the empty Capital?”
“Indeed. If the enemy has abandoned the city, we should be able to enter without spilling blood.”
Siegfried sighed at their suggestion.
“Well, seizing the Capital would indeed be easy.”
The commanders nodded. Siegfried continued.
“However, while the Southern army continues to be an anomalous factor, it would be difficult to take further action after successful capture of the city.”
“Ah…”
“That’s right…”
The commanders were reminded that the Southern army had erased all traces of their presence.
“We would be able to make an informed decision on the movement of our troops if we knew the whereabouts of the Southern army – but now is a different story.”
The Southern army could strike them from behind while they attacked the Capital.
“Do we not simply need to hunt for their location?”
“That would be difficult as the scope to cover is much too wide. There is a large possibility that they divided their army into many segments and are remaining hidden – for that is what I would do if I were them. It would thus be a tall order to uncover them.”
“That’s… could we not likewise divide and dispatch our mountain troops?”
“While our Hildess mountain troops are skilled at reconnaissance and survival, this is a foreign land at the end of the day. The advantages of terrain ultimately lie with the enemy. Furthermore, if we spread our troops too thinly for the creation of search parties, we run the risk of needlessly losing our precious elites.”
Siegfried knew by reports that Milton had completely destroyed the reconnaissance network that Albert’s mountain troops made. With that knowledge in mind, he could not afford to meaninglessly divide his mountaineers in similar fas.h.i.+on and command them to do long-distance recon.
‘How could this be? How could we be unable to move as we please when we are the ones winning this war?’
Siegfried could only laugh mirthlessly. He did not know who on their side devised this strategy, but there was no doubt that they were considerably capable. Even Siegfried had to admit this operation was exquisite, inhibiting their movement without so much as a fight.
‘They say that no matter how weak a country is, bringing it to complete ruin is not an easy task. Is this why?’
Siegfried admittedly thought that dealing with the Lester Kingdom would be as easy as pie.
They had become a mess from a civil war, and their present king was trash that was only concerned with conserving his own power. It was a country without a future, and it seemed it would collapse on its own within the next 10 years.
However, even a backwards country such as this one had its own heroes that emerged from the shadows as it fell into crisis. There was Milton Forrest, who entered the limelight leading the army of the South as the Lester Kingdom’s hero. There was Princess Leila von Lester, who swooped in to grab hold of the people’s adoration when the royal family was crumbling to ruin. And there was this new individual, who despite being unknown was nevertheless causing difficulty for Siegfried with an operation he devised and was likely not a greenhorn.
‘Right, so how shall I do this?’
Siegfried fell into deep thought as he surveyed the map.
It had truly been a long time since he had been coerced into making a decision on the battlefield.
‘No, is this pretty much a first?’
In any case, now was the time to choose.
The path that most benefited them and minimized the risk of danger was…
“First of all…”
After an aeon of deliberation, Siegfried finally spoke.
“First of all, we shall capture the Capital.”
If anything, this was the card that their opponent had discarded.
Though Siegfried would have preferred to avoid dancing to the tune of their enemy’s fiddle, he could not stand idle with the completely empty Capital in front of their eyes.
“For now, we will size the Capital as quickly as possible.”
With that, Siegfried mobilized his army and advanced towards the Lester Kingdom’s Capital with haste.
***
Arriving at the Capital after a few days, Siegfried occupied the empty Capital with no shedding of blood. However, capturing the Capital did not mean that they had succeeded in subjugating the Lester Kingdom.
Siegfried made a detachment consisting of approximately 2000 men from his main forces and issued them a new command.
“Time is of the essence. Move as quickly as possible to blockade all the roads that lead to a border.”
“Yes, understood.”
The small force moved at once to complete their a.s.signment.
Meanwhile, Siegfried resided in the Capital’s royal palace, murmuring as he scanned a map of the entire Lester Kingdom.
“You could drag this along all you want, but I’ll show you that this is nothing but a temporary stopgap at the end of the day.”
***
Back in the day, Count Knockmern was one of the n.o.bles who carried a presence in the Capital. He was a man who rattled on about how the n.o.bles of the Central region were n.o.bles among n.o.bles, and that they needed to be around for the country to run properly.
But when a crisis actually befell the country, what he did was pack all his wealth and flee for another country with his family. Packing as much of his fortune as he could into their carriage, they were well on their way to crossing the border.
His first choice for defection was the Strabus Kingdom. He a.s.sessed that there would be no need to be afraid of the Hildess Republic anymore if he deserted to the Strabus Kingdom, what with their formidable military strength.
“Father, we will keep being n.o.bles even if we go to the Strabus Kingdom, right?”
As his daughter sitting opposite him in the carriage queried, Count Knockmern laughed.
“Of course. House Knockmern is a storied House with a history of 500 years. The Lester Kingdom may fall to ruin, but that will not stop us from being n.o.bles.”
“I see, that’s a relief.”
“It is only that we will need to become n.o.bles of the Strabus Kingdom from now on. Our peerage may be demoted one or two levels, but it would still be a hundred times better than living as a n.o.ble of this country.”
Count Knockmern’s wife smiled.
“Such a weak nation that was not able to stop a Republican invasion is bound to fall to ruin. There is no need to be loyal to a country that cannot even protect its n.o.bles.”
“Hahaha… indeed. From now on, our House shall have a fresh start in the Strabus Kingdom.”
The progenitor of the Knockmern County was a knight who died in battle while gallantly fighting an enemy in the name of king and country. The birth of their n.o.bility originated from the peerage that was rewarded to his House for his achievements.
But how easy is it for the sweet nectar of power to bring rot with the pa.s.sing of time? All that remained in this family were pigs who did not hesitate a moment to abandon their country for wealth and repute, with the loyalty and creed of their forebears long gone. If their ancestor saw the state of his House, he would be turning in his grave from shame. No – if anything, what happened next may as well have been divine punishment from their progenitor.
“Halt!”
All of a sudden, a small company appeared and blocked the path of the Knockmerns.
At first, Count Knockmern thought they were mountain bandits – but he was in for a shock when he stuck his head out the carriage.
“Huh?! It’s the Republican army.”
The Republican army that was meant to be attacking the Capital around now had appeared in an outlying area of no relevance to the war.
Count Knockmern was astonished by this development, but the Republican troops had already surrounded their carriage completely.
“We are aware that n.o.bles of the Lester Kingdom are on this carriage. Surrender obediently without resistance, and we will spare your lives at the least.”
Count Knockmern shouted back.
“Do not make me laugh! There is no rhyme nor reason for the Republic to spare us!”
n.o.bles that were captured by the Republic were enslaved and sent to work in the mines or farms. This was a disgrace worse than death for the n.o.bles. Along these lines, Count Knockmern was barking back with the intention of resisting until the very end.
However…
“If you resist, we shall kill you all.”
The moment the Republicans’ officer warned them, Count Knockmern’s escort soldiers and knights all discarded their weapons.
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds… you ungrateful b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”
Count Knockmern lashed out against them, but it was all in vain.
In the end, the Count and his family were captured by the Republicans and their entire fortune was confiscated.
“We’re making more bank than I thought we would.”
“Indeed we are, sir.”
These soldiers were commanded by Siegfried to keep watch on the roads that led out of the kingdom and shake down any n.o.bles that pa.s.sed by.
At first the men thought now was not the time for this; but as time pa.s.sed, they generated a much larger profit than they had antic.i.p.ated. The rotten n.o.bles were conveniently packing all their wealth and presenting it to them – and that sum was greater than they had thought.
This operation was not bad at all, as at the least it meant that they could replenish some of the funds the army had spent for this war.
Siegfried smiled when he received news that the units he detached were easily arresting the fleeing n.o.bles as planned. There were considerable gains to be made whenever they captured a n.o.ble as they packed their sacks full to the brim with their wealth.
But there was another reason why Siegfried was keeping a tight check on the roads that led out of the kingdom.