Episode 106 Revolutionary War – Noose
Revolutionary Army Headquarters in Valois.
A gathering of Frangia’s leaders, including visiting governors and Queen Eris.
“Hmm, let’s return the prisoners.”
Talleyrand, the leader of the Revolutionary Party, narrowed his brows and then opened his mouth again.
“I am deeply grateful to Her Majesty the Queen for her efforts in converting 2,000 people. But even then, there are still 10,000 people left.”
“The last battle was won thanks to the performance of the Marquis and Her Majesty the Queen, as well as reinforcements, but reinforcements have arrived from the enemy, and the enemy still has many troops. Isn’t there too many to return?”
Still, Nicola Brissot, president of the moderate Liberal Party, is also skeptical…
“The prisoners are being treated too generously in the first place. “Why don’t we just keep them captive and make them do labor?”
The Count of Anjou, the leader of the Central Party, is as extreme as ever, as he may not have been a knight.
In fact, we treated the prisoners rather generously.
They weren’t forced to work, they were given proper food, and they even had the luxury of being treated by the queen herself.
“But I don’t want to just keep holding on to it.”
But Eris’s will was firm, and I opened my mouth as well.
“It’s okay now that the battle is in a lull, but if we keep that number of troops, it costs money, and we have no choice but to withdraw some troops to control them.”
It’s not like we wouldn’t know if we had built a specialized detention facility to detain people like that.
“Hmm…”
“And I don’t think they will be an effective force even if they return to the imperial army.”
After hearing what I said, Talleyrand glanced at me and asked.
“What is the reason, Marquis?”
“Because we treated them well.”
Unlike soldiers who fought with cold weapons in the era of knights, line infantry basically had to fight while maintaining their ranks by approaching a hail of bullets.
Of course, it’s not something a sane person would do, and in order to stand on such a dangerous battlefield, they have no choice but to resort to extreme measures.
Our revolutionary army is different because it fights for itself under the banner of people’s revolution, but we are a unique case.
The most widely used method is to beat people to death and maintain order through harsh discipline and strict punishment.
If I run away or get out of line, I’ll die anyway, so I’d rather fight and pray that the bullet misses me.
“If you fight closely, even a single person leaving will cause a chain of collapses in the line, so the military enforces harsh discipline. But they have already figured out that if they surrender, we will treat them generously.”
Just by having people like that in the ranks, the ranks are like a cracked wall, and they are even living people who can talk to their colleagues and spread facts.
“If they go back, they will knowingly or unknowingly spread the truth about the treatment we received, and those types of rumors cannot be easily controlled by trying to control them. “Especially among those who share the burden of risking their lives on the battlefield.”
“Hmm…”
The governors were lost in thought for a moment.
“And one more thing: I don’t think a battle will break out if we send them right away.”
“How…?”
After receiving Talleyrand’s puzzled gaze, I turned my attention to Christine.
Christine, who received attention, waved her black fan as always and then opened her mouth.
“Some of the residents who refused to evacuate from Alsace-Lorraine, which will be occupied, have been bribed in advance and are being used as ganja. “They said they were busy fortifying the city in preparation for a defensive war and stockpiling supplies for a long-term war.”
“Oh… when will that happen again? “You are amazing, Count of Aquitaine.”
Christine nodded slightly at Count Anjou’s admiration, then turned her gaze to me and I continued.
“Based on the Count of Aquitaine’s investigation, we can assume that they have decided that it would be difficult to completely surrender us right away, or that they do not have the capacity to launch an active offensive. So, we are going to continue this confrontation and drag it into a long-term war. In such a situation, it would be better to hand over to them the prisoners who will only waste food and money.”
“It is a valid opinion, but we are currently in a situation where our territory is occupied. “There are residents who evacuated from Alsace-Lorraine and became refugees, but it is difficult to just continue the confrontation.”
Christine responded to Nicola Brissot’s words.
“They will be hired by the Aquitaine merchants to make a living by producing, supplying, and transporting war materials.”
“Umm, the top of Aquitaine…?”
Nicola Brissot looked a little uncomfortable.
For the Liberal Party, whose supporters are basically capitalists, it would be uncomfortable to see Christine’s influence grow any further.
Trade with the Holy Church? The trade blockade was lifted when Saint Eris ascended the throne as queen, but the Aquitaine merchants, who had maintained a monopoly on trade for a long time, had taken over all important areas.
I also led the trade with Crocs, so of course the Aquitaine upper class took up a large share.
Since the mithril received from Crocs is used as a trading material, the Aquitaine merchants are almost exclusively responsible for trade with the Alpine kingdom.
Aquitaine holds the core of domestic and international trade, and is largely responsible for the procurement and supply of war materials as well as naval construction.
In short, the backbone of Francia’s economy and military industry is already under the influence of Aquitaine.
“If you have any other alternatives, I’d be happy to hear them.”
However, when Christine smiled softly and spoke, President Brisseau cleared his throat and answered.
“No no. “Thank you for the Count’s dedication.”
Is it possible that the capitalists who were making money at Lumière have ever thought about employment measures for the residents they evacuated from Alsace-Lorraine?
Their number of people is in the tens of thousands, so there’s no way they could come up with a plan without prior preparation.
“As I said, there are very few residents left in the Alsace-Lorraine region, and they chose to remain. “If we ensure that only the evacuated residents do not have to worry about their livelihoods immediately, we will be able to suppress immediate complaints.”
I looked around at the governors one by one and opened my mouth again.
“We are in a situation where the territory has been occupied, but in reality, the area is an empty Muju Communist Mountain. “If we gain more time, it will be even more advantageous because the officers and troops who are still being trained through the Grande École course will be deployed.”
It was a bit surprising to me that they gave up the offensive and went on the defensive, but it was not a bad decision strategically.
Archduke Leopold is gathering the remnants of his army and wants us to attack a strong defense line to retake Alsace-Lorraine.
But we have no reason to do so.
“On the other hand, the empire is in a position to continue a long-term war after suffering a crushing defeat with a much larger number of troops in the war started to gain the throne of Francia. “Simply maintaining the war and continuing to spend on armaments will strain the empire with political rather than economic burdens.”
Strategically, defensive action is better than unreasonable offensive action, but this is a war started by a foreign empress under insufficient justification.
I don’t know whose intention it was to change the strategic goal, but the feudal lords who are sending out soldiers and paying war expenses do not understand the situation.
“So, all we have to do is leave the prisoners to them, wait leisurely, and strengthen our forces. Then, there will be a rift in their military and leadership.”
There were no further disagreements.
When the governors seemed to have made up their minds, Eris spoke.
“President Talleyrand.”
“Please speak, Your Majesty.”
“Please negotiate a prisoner exchange.”
“That’s right.”
As Talleyrand bowed lightly, Eris spoke with her purple eyes shining.
“It would be right to safely return prisoners who were only dragged into the empire’s war, but there is no need to show tolerance to the invading empire. “I trust that you will tear off everything that can be ripped off.”
Oh, this is what Eris said?
While not only me but also Christine laughed out of surprise and delight, Talleyrand, who was frozen for a moment with his eyes wide open, soon twitched the corner of his mouth and bowed to Eris.
“As Her Majesty wishes.”
* * *
The end of summer and the transition into fall.
The mood of the Imperial Army was quite optimistic when both Alsace and Lorraine were taken less than a month after the war began.
From the beginning, few people seriously considered the possibility of the empire being defeated by Francia, which had been wracked by a long civil war and revolution.
Immediately after that, Franzia’s activities to destroy supply routes were very annoying, and the impact of the supply contamination incident was significant, but it was also considered only a temporary difficulty.
However, after the last battle where they suffered a crushing defeat and lost tens of thousands of soldiers, despite thinking that they had completely trapped the enemy, the imperial army was not sure whether they would be able to win this war.
Archduke Leopold was sitting in the command post looking over reports.
When Francia made an unconventional offer to liberate prisoners at a time when the war was in full swing, the empire was shocked.
There is no need to launch an offensive right away, but it is obvious that taking in a large number of prisoners, whose condition may have worsened, will only save money.
But I couldn’t help but respond.
In the first place, many of the prisoners were not troops under the emperor’s direct control, but troops drawn from the feudal lords.
Since the armies of the feudal lords who cooperated with the weak war waged for the Empress have been taken prisoner, it is not an issue that the Empire can just give up on.
The problem was that a man named Talleyrand, who came as a representative of the Frangian side, tenaciously tried to rip off the empire, as if he knew the internal circumstances of the empire very well.
Archduke Leopold frowned as he recalled the situation during the negotiations, when the talk of liberating prisoners was more like a hard sell.
Archduke Leopold, who had been reading the report for a while, lifted his gaze with a relaxed expression and looked at Duke Henry.
“So the morale of the soldiers is falling further because of the rumors spread by the returning prisoners.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s true. “Your Majesty the Archduke.”
The Archduke was heartbroken as the prisoners were practically sold out to Francia, but he still tried to show some consideration to the prisoners who had been captured while fighting under his orders and had gone through hardships before returning.
The prisoners I encountered were in suspiciously good condition, so I didn’t know whether to be relieved or sad.
Looking at the situation, neither of them should have been angry.
Archduke Leopold touched his forehead with a very tired face and let out something he couldn’t believe and didn’t want to believe.
“…their queen went around the wards, treated the wounded, and said there would be no fighting until the new year, so she went back carefully and even sent them off, telling them to have a happy end of the year? To the prisoners? directly?”
“That’s right…”
Duke Heinrich also answered with a chewed expression on his face, then hesitated and added.
“It seems that all the returned prisoners respect their queen, calling her the benevolent saint-king…”
Archduke Leopold let out a laugh.
If they had attacked, that atmosphere would have subsided quickly.
It may be shocking, but if you don’t fight back, you’ll die, and such trivial favors will quickly be forgotten.
However, hostility and tension are also emotions that consume mental energy. There has been no battle for several months, but forcing such feelings on your subordinates will not maintain them.
Even in this atmosphere, we’re going to have a standoff until next year?
“Maybe we should have gone on the offensive instead.”
Right now, we’ve received reinforcements, so we have a lot of troops.
However, the Archduke already knows that this is not possible.
This is the news that the front-line soldiers look forward to the most, as there will be no fighting for the time being. It is obvious that it has already spread throughout the entire unit.
But ordering the soldiers, who are relieved to believe there will be no fight, to abandon the fortified positions they worked so hard to go on the offensive again?
Even if not, it is obvious that low morale will fall to the bottom.
“…There’s nothing we can do.”
There was a deep feeling of helplessness in the words the Archduke spoke in vain.
With Alsace-Lorraine occupied, I thought they would be able to force the enemy to launch a defensive battle, but they are willing to openly unleash their poison and wait kindly until the imperial army destroys itself.
The Archduke was more inclined to hope that their queen’s words were a deception and that the Marquis de Lafayette would surprise them.
Then at least the betrayed subordinates of the Archduke will regain their will to fight with a burning desire for revenge.
…Even if the Grand Duke himself thought about it, the Marquis de Lafayette was not that foolish.
“Still, since we have received information that there will be no offensive until the end of the year, perhaps we should post a report…”
As Duke Heinrich spoke hesitantly, the Archduke’s brow furrowed even more.
Even without that, I made a direct statement to the Kaiser and obtained permission for a defensive battle with great difficulty. What on earth would Kaiserin, who would be troubled by his feudal lords if this news was spread, say?
Archduke Leopold sighed as if the earth was sinking.
“…I have to raise it.”
In the tactical battle against the Marquis de Lafayette, Archduke Leopold was clearly victorious.
In the first battle, they eventually took control of Alsace-Lorraine, and although they were somewhat pushed back in the battle surrounding the supply route, they even took advantage of the Marquis’s trap to trap him.
If it weren’t for the reinforcements from the barbarians, victory would have been the archduke’s.
Archduke Leopold fought a series of battles worthy of being called the greatest general of the empire.
Nevertheless, as the battle continues and the war continues, the situation is getting worse.
Something different from the fear shown by the Blue Knight’s overwhelming inaction and from the intimidation of the army that seemed to embody the discipline itself led by the Great King of Krafte.
The Archduke shuddered and lamented the feeling that the whole situation had become a noose that was slowly tightening his grip.
“We are still losing this war.”
