Episode 109 Revolutionary Defense War – Decisive Battle (1)
March is coming to an end.
Eventually, the imperial army led by Archduke Leopold began to advance, and we immediately convened a military council.
“Their deployed troops are estimated to be around 100,000.”
“That’s a lot. “The total number of troops is probably around 110,000, but at that level, we can barely think about the future.”
Chief of Staff Alexandre Werther nodded at what I said and then spoke again.
“Also, they are approaching the southern part of Valois, not Fort Verdun.”
“It seems like the intention is to force a short-term decisive battle even if it means taking unreasonable measures.”
As Louis Deset said, their intentions are clear.
Verdun is an area where a military fortress was built from the beginning, so it is difficult to fall in the short term.
Therefore, it seems that the Archduke is planning to bypass Verdun, which would take time, and fight a decisive battle in Valois to directly attack the capital, Lumière.
“Hwiyu~ Are you being reckless? How about bringing them in and harassing the enemy’s supply lines through Verdun? “We mobilized 100,000 people, so we would die quickly.”
I shook my head at Jerome Morel’s opinion.
“No, no. Alsace-Lorraine, whose residents have been introduced, may not be known, but the central region is the core of Francia’s national power. Besides, the Archduke must have had a bad mind this time.”
The fact that the Archduke bypasses the fortress and takes a direct route to the capital, ignoring the danger of the supply line, is an expression of his will to fight a short-term decisive battle even if it means plundering all the cities along the way and requisitioning local troops if the supply route is destroyed.
“Tactically, General Morel’s opinion may be effective, but if it does, politically, the National Assembly will be overturned. “The idea of winning a war by using the people as discarders is not a choice we can make.”
Only in the south could one expect the Archduke to stop for his men, but now wouldn’t that be the case?
“It’s difficult~ So are you going to compete head-on with them in a roundabout way? “It’s really strange that there are still more troops over there.”
“But they have suffered a crushing defeat. “There will be an impact from prisoners who have been influenced by Her Majesty the Queen, and an army with a large number of troops but low morale is unlikely to show high combat power in an offensive battle.”
“General Desais is right. Still, they must break through us and head to Lumiere, and we can decide the battlefield…”
I pointed to the hilly area of eastern Valois on the map.
“The battlefield will be here. “There are many hills on our side, so our intentions will be hidden, and the enemy will come from the plains outside the forest, so they will have to fight while being observed by us.”
“Old Marquis, Excellency! “That’s a wise decision!”
I nodded to Werther and opened my mouth.
“General Nicola, please command the vanguard infantry.”
“As ordered!”
“General Louis Desais, as always, will lead the Northern Army and act as commander-in-chief in my absence.”
“ancient!”
“General Jérôme Morel commands the Chasseurs. “This time, I’ll let you go to the front lines that you’ve been wanting so much.”
“Hwiyu~ Thank you!”
I next turned my attention to Damien de Mirbeau, who had made his presence felt during the meeting without saying a word.
“Then Count Mirbeau?”
“Yes yes?”
Why are you crying so hard? Isn’t this enough to get used to it?
“You played a more comfortable role in the last battle, so this time, I’ll have to play a more difficult role.”
As I watched Damien’s face rapidly distort, the corners of my mouth turned up, when Werther opened his mouth.
“Oh, there is one special thing. “Your Excellency the Marquis.”
“hmm? significant?”
“Count Albert von Wittelsbach, who came as reinforcements this time, is a young prodigy and is said to be the most outstanding knight in the empire.”
“Hmm, okay.”
I turned my gaze and made eye contact with Gaston, who immediately bowed politely to me.
“It looks like your enemy has appeared. Command the cuirassier cavalry and assist Count Mirbeau.”
“As instructed by His Excellency the Marquis!”
The best knight in the empire. I don’t know how great it will be, but I don’t think the gas tank will be pushed around.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I absolutely trust Gaston, so he’ll be able to cover up that slightly untrustworthy Count as well.
* * *
After the strategy meeting was over.
As everyone was leaving for their respective units, Damien apologized and asked me to join him alone.
“What’s going on? “I have no intention of changing the strategy.”
“That’s not it…”
Damien secretly looked at me.
What’s wrong with this person?
“I’m busy preparing for battle, so it would be nice if you could tell me quickly.”
“Why did a woman come to my unit as an officer?”
Oh, is it that way?
“You mean Giselle Darby? My grades are extremely excellent. Especially towards tactics. “There won’t be any problem with my service, but do you hate me because I’m a woman?”
Damien nodded.
“I’m sorry, but I would like you to transfer me to the Northern Army…”
Although it is certainly unprecedented to be a female officer.
“no. “I have no intention of causing confusion by changing the organization right before the battle because of a single officer candidate, and Her Majesty the Queen is on the battlefield. Is there a law that says women can’t be on the battlefield?”
“That’s why, Your Excellency!”
“ok?”
Damien was surprisingly crying.
“I have a gynophobia…”
“….”
For a moment, whenever I saw Christine, I remembered Damien playing and screaming while being whipped by Eris.
Well definitely.
If you suffer and live like Damien, that could happen…
No wait.
What are you understanding right now?
“Are you telling me to go to Desais and tell him that the commander of the Confederate Army asked for an officer candidate to be transferred because he was afraid of women?”
“That’s not it. Please hide it, Your Excellency the Marquis! “I will be absolutely loyal!”
Damien started begging so I let out a small sigh.
“Hey Count Mirbeau. “Would you like me to tell you one thing?”
“Yes yes?”
“That officer candidate, the Count of Aquitaine, is interested.”
The color quickly drained from Damien’s face and he turned completely blue.
“But if that candidate is suddenly transferred, will she ask me or not?”
I smiled while looking at Damien who was shaking his head.
“You’re not expecting me to lie to her, are you?”
“I made a mistake! “Your Excellency the Marquis!”
Immediately after saluting, Damien turned his back, creaking like a broken doll, and I smiled and spoke to his back.
“Take care and raise it well.”
* * *
The eastern foothills of Valois.
Archduke Leopold frowned as he looked through a telescope at the French army’s position on a hill.
“They picked the right battlefield.”
Only then can this side’s movements be clearly visible and this side cannot observe the insertion of reserve forces moving behind them.
“But it’s a rotation of this magnitude anyway. “There may be limits to strategy.”
“Hmm…”
The Archduke tilted his head at the words of Duke Henry, the Chief of Staff.
Is that really the case?
They brought a trump card to this battle, right?
“First combat is important to them, Your Highness.”
The Archduke also nodded at Count Wittelsbach’s words.
Knights basically fight by shielding themselves with magic power to protect themselves.
It is an enemy that ordinary soldiers would not dare to deal with, but that is why they are accustomed to magic barriers.
Assassins who can destroy the magic barrier and deliver fatal poison with a single blow can be said to be the knight’s natural enemies.
However, if their presence is discovered, the enemies will naturally cherish the knights. Therefore, the Archduke did not want to send them in, hoping to catch a few rank knights.
The Archduke looked at the revolutionary garrison with narrowed eyes, then turned his head to Count Wittelsbach.
“I’ll drive out all the cuirassiers. Move with the assassins. So…”
Their cuirassiers are mainly commanded by two people.
The Marquis de Lafayette or General Gaston.
The Marquis de Lafayette, the commander-in-chief and the de facto symbol of the revolutionary army, is the strongest knight who can do more than one hundred per day.
These are people that we would not even dare to defeat on the battlefield so far, but if it was a surprise attack by assassins, it would be a different story.
The Archduke hesitated for a moment before speaking, but recalled his men dying after eating contaminated food and spoke calmly.
“Bring out their cuirassiers. “Bring out the assassins and attack those who will lead them.”
“I understand, Your Highness.”
It’s best if you succeed in killing it, but it doesn’t matter if you end up wounding it.
It is said that assassins’ weapons are coated with extreme poison, so if you rely on the magic barrier and let your guard down and allow an attack, you will be poisoned.
“If their important person falls to the point of death, their Saint Queen will be in need of treatment.”
The Marquis has already won the battle, and the Assassins will be able to make it more than worth it just by removing Gaston and the Saint King from their ranks.
“I understand, Your Highness. “Please trust me.”
The Archduke is Count Wittelsbach. He looked silently at the son of his former comrade and nodded heavily.
“I believe it.”
“It is an honor to stand on the same battlefield as His Highness the Archduke.”
* * *
Gunfire rings out and the familiar roar of flying shells rings out.
Revolutionary Army General Lan Gaston stood on horseback and watched the incoming enemy artillery shells fall helplessly as they were blocked by a barrier of light.
The white uniforms of the Imperial Army were billowing like waves on the battlefield, which was visible at a glance below the hilly area.
Gaston, who was watching the gunfire and the acrid smoke of black powder rising from below, heard a familiar voice.
“It’s fierce down there, but we’re free.”
A brown-skinned woman wearing a revolutionary cavalry officer’s uniform instead of the exotic outfit she first saw.
“Shandra.”
“It’s just Shand.”
Although he had already heard this many times, Gaston gave the same answer this time.
“I cannot do that to someone whom His Excellency the Marquis has as a guest.”
“Wow, an iron wall.”
Shandra stuck her tongue out.
At first, I was very uncomfortable with Shandra pushing me so hard, but now, perhaps because she noticed and started to restrain herself a little, I got used to it, so I felt comfortable.
“I feel it again, but you speak as if you live completely for the Marquis. “A person as good as a general.”
General.
Gaston still considers himself more of a knight of Lafayette than a general.
It is also true that he received the rank of general after following Pierre as a knight in the first place.
“Isn’t Shandra also a confidant of His Majesty Crocs?”
“That is true, but the reason our henchmen follow King Crocs is for their own reasons, not because they obey him because he is the king. “In the first place, he was an elected king, not by bloodline.”
Gaston answered after thinking for a moment.
“I am not loyal simply because you are the Marquis.”
“is it so? That’s surprising. “Just looking at his attitude, he seems like a knight with absolute obedience.”
Gaston laughed lightly at Shandra’s words.
It was only 8 years ago.
-What a piece of trash.
The look of resentment that Pierre turned towards him when the marquis, who was a minor marquis at the time of the knighthood, shattered his sword and threw it into pieces, still remains vivid in Gaston’s mind.
The catastrophe that came after a battle between reason, which said that he should not win against the Little Marquis, and emotion, which said that he could not just give up the path of becoming a knight that he had longed for since he was young, just because of the misfortune of crossing swords with the Little Marquis.
Fortunately, the son of a mercenary who dreamed of becoming a knight became a knight, but he did not have the honor he had expected.
Even though a civil war was in full swing on the stage where knights would fight, instead of being given the duties of a knight, he was treated as if he did not exist. To the extent that he was secretly prepared that he would soon be kicked out of the marquess.
There was no feeling of resentment. I tried even harder to look like a perfect knight.
I consoled myself by training fiercely. Even though the marquis doesn’t recognize him, he says he is loyal even to this marquis.
After his father, who worked as a mercenary and told him not to live like him, died, he left his hometown to become a knight, and that was all he had left.
Surprisingly, Pierre de Lafayette avoided him for several years and left him alone as a knight.
Then one day.
-This time, your loyalty will be rewarded.
Pierre, who had been trying to avoid and ignore him, suddenly changed.
Not one of the marquis, but the man who had been called a disgrace to the nobility, treated him as a knight. I began to believe in him, rely on him, and be moderate.
For Gaston, who had grown up admiring the story of a knight who was loyal to his lord and achieved honor, Pierre’s change was a greater salvation than anything else.
Only then did the son of a mercenary who had longed for a knight become a true knight. That was really all it took for Gaston.
So, even though he gave up the position of commander, he remains in the position of receiving orders from Pierre and wielding a sword.
“I also follow His Excellency the Marquis de Lafayette for a reason.”
“Okay. Well, I’m glad if that’s the case.”
As Shandra shrugged, a messenger came running.
“General Gaston! It’s the enemy cuirassiers! “They are coming around to target the left wing of our troops that are engaged!”
“hmm. “Okay, let’s go.”
“I’m bitterly jealous. “When are we going to be deployed?”
Gaston spoke to Shandra, who clicked her tongue and muttered, now smiling a little less awkwardly.
“Then I will come back.”
“Yes, please destroy everything this time too.”
Gaston smiled secretly at Shandra’s words and rode the horse.
At his order to march, horns sounded and the cavalry units that had been preparing in advance began to gallop down the hill in unison.
Gaston loved this moment.
The wind blowing in from the front and the sound of the ground conveyed through words.
The momentary sensation of the horse’s muscles being stretched tautly through his legs and his muscles coming together.
He became the knight he admired more than anything and destroyed his enemies for his master.
It would have been nice if his father, who had come home from his mercenary work after a long time and lamented his situation with a body covered in scars, had seen him like this, telling him not to become like him.
What kind of expression would my father make when he heard about the kind of lord he serves as a knight and what kind of person his lady is?
Gaston, who was galloping on horseback, saw the enemy cavalry approaching in front of him, immediately stopped thinking and raised his great sword.
My muscles swell at the feeling and weight of that heavy handle and-
“Go, gas tank!”
“Hi-”
The moment he felt the embarrassment and astonishment of his enemies, his head went into a trance.
Just swing it.
The spears heading towards him were split in two at the same time, and the enemy cavalrymen, unable to withstand the wind pressure of the huge bayonets, fell from their horses.
When he withstood the recoil and swung again, this time the three cavalrymen were cut to pieces with their war horses.
Forgetting the fear and screams of the enemies and the heat of the charge, he swung, swung, and swung his sword, leaving it to his instincts.
When the weight of the great sword and the recoil he felt were all that remained in his world.
I felt an instinctive sense of heterogeneity.
‘dagger?’
A dagger just like the one Pierre is using is flying towards him.
You wouldn’t know it if Pierre had thrown it, but even a dagger thrown by Pierre wouldn’t be able to pierce his magic barrier.
So, it’s something you can just ignore.
The moment I felt puzzled by the sensation of my senses ringing an alarm.
The dagger touched his magic barrier and there was a cracking sound.
Goosebumps ran down Gaston’s spine.
I have seen it.
It’s the same phenomenon as when the Count of Aquitaine shattered Halfas’ magic barrier with a consecration bomb!
“Ugh!”
Gaston urgently twisted his body, and the dagger that destroyed his magic barrier narrowly grazed his chest.
“Be careful! “There are enemies who use memorization to destroy magical barriers!”
“Aaaah!”
“Ugh!”
Gaston shouted urgently, but several of his subordinates, who were simultaneously memorized, screamed and fell from their horses.
Gaston’s eyes turned from him to the person who was running away. My intuition told me that the author was a master of memorization.
“dare…!”
“Ugh, stop it!”
He cut down all the charging cuirassiers, but eventually missed the assassin.
As I took a moment to catch my breath, I felt a persistent pain in my chest.
It must have just been a simple brushing –
the moment I thought that, blood flowed from the corner of my mouth.
“Go General Gaston!”
Gaston ordered with bleary eyes as he watched his subordinates hurrying towards him –
“Spread the message immediately. The enemies have destroyed the magic barrier and used poisoned weapons. His Excellency the Marquis of Lafayette is in danger-”
His consciousness was cut off there.
