Episode 102 Revolutionary Defense War – Archduke Leopold (3)
[Lafayette My brother! This Crocs has come to keep his promise!]
The cry that rang out over the plains, filled with magical power, covered all the shouts and noises of the battlefield.
However, what was heard was the Central Continent’s official language with a somewhat awkward accent.
In the momentary silence of the battlefield, Pierre de Lafayette’s cry rang out again at the moment everyone stopped, unable to properly understand what Crocs’ cry meant.
[Revolutionary reinforcements have arrived! [Push back the enemies!]
Only then did the joys and sorrows of the soldiers on both sides become mixed.
The Frangian army gains momentum upon hearing the news that reinforcements have arrived in a hopeless war situation.
While the imperial army was dispirited to see the enemy stubbornly holding on despite having a clear advantage, they were completely confused when they heard the despairing news.
“Your Majesty the Grand Duke. They are not Franzians! They are barbarians! “It looks like it’s well over 20,000!”
Archduke Leopold turned his gaze to the northwest with an expression of disbelief upon hearing the Hussar’s report, which belatedly came to his senses.
Through the raised telescope, the Archduke could see the army of Orcs approaching at high speed across the plain.
Duke Gunhild’s army, who had been routed several times and attacked to the limit, was completely exhausted and completely shaken as he saw the Orcs approaching quickly, not knowing what to do.
“The pagan barbarians have come to help them…”
The words the Archduke spoke in a situation where he did not want to believe them had no sense of reality.
At this moment, only one conclusion came to Archduke Leopold’s mind.
This battle was lost.
There was no card left in his hand.
The imperial army, which had been holding out with evil and cruelty as its only hope that the Marquis de Lafayette’s army would collapse, completely lost its will to fight due to the presence of unexpected reinforcements.
Should we retreat?
Where?
In order to trap the Marquis de Lafayette and the revolutionary army, he gave up the Count of Baden and the occupying army, who had already collapsed and were desperate for help.
I abandoned the supply line on my own and took the gamble of a short-term decisive battle, and it failed.
Is there any point in retreating when we don’t know whether Alsace and Lorraine will be okay?
Can you handle this kind of defeat?
The Archduke unconsciously grabbed the pistol he was wearing at his waist.
Rather here.
“Your Majesty the Archduke!”
“What should I do, Your Highness?”
The Archduke’s thoughts were broken by his subordinates who desperately called to him.
I could see the despair and fear in their eyes, as well as the desperation for some kind of answer from the Archduke.
The Archduke gritted his teeth when he saw that scene.
To throw away responsibility for all of his subordinates and try to escape.
Not yet.
The Archduke quickly turned his gaze and
saw an Orc, galloping across the plain like a cavalryman, leaping into the air and landing in the middle of Duke Gunhild’s infantry.
There was also the sight of other Orcs charging at the line infantry, who were completely confused by the momentum of a large, muscular Orc wielding a huge ax and cutting down several people at the same time.
If the Archduke were distracted just a little longer, the main army would be completely swept away.
“Full withdrawal! The destination is Alsace!”
“Yes old!”
“Deploy all of the surviving cavalry and stop the enemy’s pursuit even just a little bit!”
In fact, upon being ordered to die instead of the other troops-
“I follow your Majesty’s orders!”
The cavalry officer, who had been defeated in a cavalry battle and barely escaped with his life, answered without hesitation and rode off.
The command flag waved frantically, signaling a retreat, and the imperial army, which had finally come close to victory, turned around and started running frantically.
All that was left on the plain they were filling up was countless corpses.
Archduke Leopold looked at the miserable battlefield, then looked away and started running his horse.
* * *
“This is our victory!”
“I won! Waaaa!”
While everyone was cheering and relieved, I also collapsed on the spot, out of breath, roughly dropping my sword.
The dirt floor is stained with blood, but now there is nothing like the body of a nobleman.
It’s hard to keep my eyes open because of the sweat that’s pouring down like rain, and it feels like I’m dying.
“Wow…”
The soldiers were not much different from me, so they were all sitting there watching the sight of Crox’s army striking Duke Gunhild’s army from the side and crushing it.
At the front, Crocs and Orcs jump in like cavalry, followed by a mixed unit of humans and goblins holding swords and muskets.
Everyone in the revolutionary army is watching with interest at the unusual sight.
As Duke Gunhild’s army began to panic, the Archduke’s army immediately raised the signal to retreat.
After a while, when Duke Gunhild’s army was completely shattered and began to retreat, a familiar orc approached me.
Even though I watched them crush the enemies in real time, the revolutionary army hesitated and retreated without even realizing it, thanks to its huge size and intimidating muscles.
Crocs didn’t care about that appearance and came towards me, smiling brightly and holding out his hand.
“Hahaha brother! “This is ridiculous.”
“Haha… I’m embarrassed.”
When I took Crocs’ outstretched hand, he very lightly lifted me up.
“I knew it would come, but…”
I looked up at Crocs and grinned.
“I owe you a big debt of gratitude for coming so timely.”
“Haha, as a king, I have to keep my promises!”
Crocs made a promise to me as king. I will give you help commensurate to the help I gave you.
They need to buy time right now, but they have nowhere to go to narrow the overwhelming power gap, so they decided to ask Crocs for help.
“But even so, I didn’t expect it to come so quickly.”
There was a conflict going on in the Iberica Peninsula right now, and there were many who opposed it, saying that they could not just ask for help and that they could not bring unreliable barbarian troops into Frangia.
We also had to promise compensation in our own way and coordinate to bring them to the border, but since I was the commander-in-chief, I couldn’t do that because I had to go to the battlefield right away.
Crocs touched his fangs with his hand and answered.
“The guy I think is Talleyrand is quite good at negotiating. “We have decided to receive satisfactory compensation, so don’t worry too much.”
“That’s a good thing.”
Those who protested that barbarian troops could not be brought into Francia seem to have been silenced by Christine, and Talleyrand seems to have done well to bring about conditions that would satisfy them this time as well.
“It looks like your army is exhausted, so we will take care of the chase.”
“Please. … Thank you again.”
Thanks to them, I was able to make the decision to hold out here instead of giving up the trade route with the Alpine kingdom.
It was quite a reckless decision to fight Archduke Leopold’s 90,000 with 50,000 on the plain, but we knew that Crocs’ army was coming.
“Hahaha! “If I can pay my brother’s debt and feed my people, isn’t that a good business?”
Crocs laughed heartily, slapped my back, and ran away stomping away.
It’s a bit amusing to see the revolutionary army staring back with its mouth open.
In any case, this will greatly dilute the prejudice and hostility against them that remained within Franzia.
I sighed lightly, relieved my still tingling body, and looked away.
In the end, we won. At absolute inferiority, they held out against Archduke Leopold’s overwhelming force until Crocs reached them.
however.
I turned my gaze away from my soldiers who were sitting down and resting and looked at the corpses that covered the plain.
Ultimately, this battle left deep scars on both armies.
The wound was too deep and massive to be caused by the greed for power of just one person, the empress of the empire.
* * *
The result of the decisive battle on the western plains of Besançon was cruel.
The Frangian army suffered 17,000 casualties out of 50,000 troops.
The Germanian Empire suffered a crushing defeat, with 26,000 casualties and 12,000 taken prisoner out of 90,000 troops.
But the imperial army’s losses did not stop there.
They suffered enormous losses on the battlefield, but even without that, there was no way they could get the supplies they lacked during the disorderly retreat because their supply routes were cut off.
Arriving late in the battle, Crocs’ brothers quickly crushed the weak resistance of the imperial cavalry, and while retreating to Alsace, the starving, exhausted, and injured imperial army fell behind countless times.
“…40,000, 40,000.”
In the end, only 40,000 of the 90,000 troops succeeded in retreating to the vicinity of Alsace.
“I apologize, Your Majesty the Archduke.”
Archduke Leopold lifted his dazed eyes and looked up at the gloomy sky, as if it was going to rain at any moment.
The gamble he took completely failed.
gambling.
As a military commander, the number of subordinates lost as a result of risking the lives of soldiers was 50,000.
The Archduke tried to suppress his emotions as much as possible and spoke calmly.
“…Let’s improve the military’s posture even a little. “The Marquis de Lafayette’s army may not have the strength to pursue, but we may end up being attacked by the barbarians and Count Mirbeau’s army.”
The Archduke who gave such instructions also knew that if that were to happen, it would be the end of the world.
Duke Henry, who was receiving orders, and Duke Gunhild, who had a bandage on his head due to an injury from the previous battle, knew that ordering the remnants, who were in complete disarray, to repair them would not go well.
“…I understand, Your Highness.”
Nevertheless, Duke Henry bowed his head and moved to carry out his duties.
As Archduke Leopold quietly reached out and adjusted the pistol on his belt, Duke Gunhild let out a hopeful voice.
“This is a messenger from His Majesty the Archduke!”
When the Archduke raised his head, he saw a hussar riding on horseback in the distance.
It seems that at least the Count of Baden had enough strength to send a messenger.
The Grand Duke mentally prepared himself, adjusted his posture, and waited for the messenger to arrive.
By the time he abandoned his supply route and attacked the army of the Marquis de Lafayette, the Count of Baden would have lost the means to defeat Count Mirbeau’s revolutionary army.
The question is how many troops Count Mirbeau would have to block their path, and whether the barbarian army would still be chasing them.
“This is a message from His Highness, Count Baden!”
The Grand Duke swallowed dryly and opened the paper the messenger brought, but the news the messenger brought was far beyond his expectations.
“…Count Mirbeau retreated?”
Duke Gunhild and the commanders heaved a sigh of relief, but Archduke Leopold furrowed his brows.
The Count of Baden must have lost his senses and was beaten, and there were no reinforcements, so he retreated from here? Why does Count Mirbeau do that?
“What happened?”
“50,000 reinforcements have arrived from the Home Kingdom and the Northern United Kingdom, Your Highness.”
“Oh oh…!”
“These are reinforcements recruited and sent by Kaiserin to overthrow the puppet government of the French rebels. Count Mirbeau launched an offensive against Metz, but retreated as soon as they arrived.”
“Oh, I am reducing the size, Your Majesty the Archduke!”
While the commanders rejoiced, the Archduke laughed.
The army was mobilized and drafted despite opposition from 120,000 provincial feudal lords, but as they expanded their hands to foreign countries, another 50,000?
How much did the Empire pay for this?
What on earth did Kaiserin give up to let them go?
The Grand Duke considered Kaiserin, who had assisted the Kaiser who had devoted himself to the empire for such a long time, to be for the empire.
But is that really the case?
“If you do this, you will have another chance!”
Hearing the shouts of supremely delighted commanders, Archduke Leopold looked back at his troops, who were resting in a mess on the street.
They have already been devastated, and the corpses of his subordinates, which covered the plains he left behind, cannot be erased.
Are you going to force them into battle and fight again?
Does his Kaiser, who trusted him until the end and entrusted him with the military and established him as a hero of the empire, really consider this a war for the empire?
-If war breaks out again, both sides must see it to an end. The cause of the empire has already been shaken, so should we fight a war that might shake the empire for the sake of the empress’s ambitions?
The words he heard from the Marquis de Lafayette pierced the Archduke’s heart like a dagger.
“…Kaiser, my Kaiser.”
The Archduke quietly asked for an answer, but there was no answer from the Kaiser in the heart of a distant empire.
The Archduke saw the hope in the commanders’ eyes.
Although they were defeated due to unexpected reinforcements, there was an expectation that the Archduke, who had cornered the Marquis de Lafayette, might lead them to victory this time.
I saw the despair in the eyes of his soldiers.
A feeling of defeat, having lost both honor and strength, and longing only to return home safely.
The light of false hope and the darkness of despair mixed together to paint the Archduke’s chest in a black, squishy color.
In that deep, dark, suffocating feeling.
The loyalty and faith I had as a soldier faded to black, and only the fatigue that made me want to let go of everything remained.
He would rather have the Kaiser scold him for his failures, punish him, and relieve him of his title.
however.
-Blindly following the wrong path even though you know it is. Is that really the way to protect it, Your Highness?
-Even if we mourn the sacrificed soldiers, a soldier always fights for what must be protected. If the Kaiser takes a dangerous path, I am willing to become his sword and open the way.
That’s what he said. Even if it means sacrificing soldiers, I will follow the Kaiser’s will.
The words he himself spoke became a chain.
The weight of the soldiers who were wasted and lost their lives through the stakes he had wagered to give victory to the Kaiser became shackles.
He has neither the freedom to escape nor the right to let go of responsibility.
“…prepare for a defensive battle.”
The voice the Archduke spoke after a long silence resembled his pitch-black image.
