Episode 93. War to defend the revolution – skirmish (2)
Damien de Mirbeau, who arrived in Alsace with an army of 10,000 men, had a serious look on his face.
“Your Excellency the Count, are you okay?”
Damien’s knight, Peter de Casel, asked worriedly.
Damien slowly turned his head and looked at his faithful knight.
Excluding Jérôme de Huey, who was ultimately killed while charging at Lafayette’s orders, which was extremely reckless, in the battle against the Witch of Storms, he is the only knight who has been with the count since the days when he was aiming for the count as the second son of the count.
“Your Excellency, Peter de Casel, will serve you with all loyalty! “Don’t worry too much!”
“Casel…”
Damien de Mirbeau called him with an emotional face.
A loyal and trustworthy person who has been with me through life and trouble…
…and when I think about it, the only things I experienced with Casel were being robbed by Pierre de Lafayette, Christine de Aquitaine, and Archduke Leopold.
Damien’s expression crumpled as he recalled that point.
“Your Excellency?”
Unfortunately, his loyal knight is not very trustworthy.
“Ugh…”
It would have been more reliable if it had come with a gas bottle.
I don’t know how many of the 120,000 German Empire troops will come this way, but if they do, it is certain that there will be much more than his force of only 10,000.
Even though it is located next to a river, the bombardment will likely reach far beyond the river.
Damien got goosebumps as he recalled the sight of the stronghold he had painstakingly built during the battle with Archduke Leopold being shattered and collapsed by constant artillery fire.
In the end, it is impossible for an artilleryman to rely solely on strength to defend against an enemy that is at least larger than his troops…
“Ah!”
A thought like a flash passed through Damien’s mind.
All you have to do is hold on, right?
“Lord Kazel.”
“yes?”
“After all, I think I’m a bit of a genius.”
“…yes?”
Peter de Casel’s face looked like, ‘No, he’s doing this again…’, but Damien clenched his fists.
If you think about it, you have always been superior.
Even his father loved him, knowingly or unknowingly, and he was better than his dead brother. So, isn’t this how he became a count?
If the evil and cowardly Marquis de Lafayette or the Count of Aquitaine are not your opponents, you will be able to hold out!
Damien, who was burning with fighting spirit, ordered with burning eyes.
“Go around the surrounding villages or whatever and rake up everything with a shovel and cloth.”
“Uh…yes?”
“Anyway, the soldiers have nothing to do until the enemy comes, right?”
Kazel looked puzzled and Damien added with an evil smile.
“The commander is having a hard time. Shouldn’t the soldiers also share the trouble? Let’s make them work hard, hehe…”
* * *
Duke Gunhild, commander of the Germanian Empire Army who had been ordered by Archduke Leopold to occupy Alsace, arrived at the battlefield leading 30,000 troops.
-Attention, Duke Gunhild. In this battle, the Alsace direction is not the main front, but only a secondary front. If you can sufficiently disperse the enemy’s forces, that alone can be seen as doing its job.
Duke Gunhild recalled what Archduke Leopold had told him and raised his telescope to look at the enemy camp across the river.
-If the enemy has enough troops, there is no need to force yourself to cross the river. We’ll allocate enough artillery, so all you have to do is force the enemy to suffer losses through an artillery battle across the river. I leave the judgment up to you.
Duke Gunhild was completely swayed by Raphael Balian’s Frangian army in the last war, but Archduke Leopold believed in him and provided him with sufficient troops and support.
He even gave him specific instructions and autonomy, so he pledged that he would definitely live up to Archduke Leopold’s expectations this time.
But…
Duke Gunhild furrowed his brows as he looked at the enemy camp across the river seen through a telescope.
“…What is that?”
The enemy troops formed a long formation along the riverside.
No, I think so.
I wonder why it can only be seen that way because there are only flags lined up and no troops are actually visible.
Only after peering through a telescope for a long time with his advisor, the Count of Baden, was Duke Gunhild able to see the soldiers actually moving in the enemy’s defense line.
A soldier with only his shoulders and head exposed.
“Is that a trench?”
When Duke Gunhild muttered, Count Baden responded.
“…I see so, Your Excellency. “There have been cases where it was dug to avoid artillery fire from the fortress during a siege, but this is the first time I’ve seen it dug this long along the riverside.”
Duke Gunhild clicked his tongue.
“They dug all the trenches along that long riverside?”
“It seems so. “Time is running out and the enemy soldiers are likely to be quite exhausted. How about attacking right away?”
Duke Gunhild was troubled by the words of his advisor, Count Baden.
The width of the Rhine River, which flows between the Francia and Germanian empires, is not that wide.
In the narrow area, the width of the river is less than 200m, and since it is still spring and the snow in the Alps has not melted, the water is not very deep.
There is a bridge and, if necessary, several crossing points, so it is possible to charge directly across the river.
However…
Duke Gunhild furrowed his brows as he looked at the flags densely planted along the trench line beyond the riverside.
There were quite a few flags and the enemy had dug a long line of trenches along the riverside.
If there really are as many troops as there are flags hiding in the trenches, they may cross the river hastily and suffer serious damage from the troops who would be ambushed in those trench lines.
It is said that it is possible to cross the river, but it is not easy to cross the river again and retreat while being attacked by the enemy.
“Holy shit. Mischievous things….”
Duke Gunhild whetted his appetite by looking at the artillery that Archduke Leopold had given him in abundance.
If the enemy had clumsily fortified and guarded the riverside, they would have poured artillery fire on the defense line at random, but with the enemy digging into the ground like that, there would be no point in firing direct fire.
He, as well as Archduke Leopold, had no idea that the enemy would do something like that, but Duke Gunhild’s appetite was sour as he sucked his fingers with the artillery that would have played a big role if it had remained on the main front.
If it weren’t for the river, he would have poked around the other side to at least understand the situation…
In the end, Duke Gunhild frowned and gave an order.
“First, let’s deploy the artillery and fire a few shots. If the enemy artillery comes out to return fire, we will at least try to neutralize the artillery.”
“ancient!”
* * *
Boom boom boom.
A loud noise and the roar of flying steel cannonballs rang out from across the river.
In the face of overwhelming artillery fire, the revolutionary army…
was eating inside the trench.
“Wow, that’s loud.”
“Do you know….”
Occasionally, shells would fly over their heads and hurt their ears, but that was all.
At first, when Damien de Mirbeau told them to dig trenches along the riverside, the soldiers had been confused as to what kind of crazy ordeal this was, but as they were leisurely eating with the noise of artillery fire as accompaniment, their commander seemed different.
“Heh, Count Mirbeau, you have more foresight than you think.”
“I thought I was incompetent because I always get robbed.”
The soldiers talked loudly and munched on bread in their mouths.
“Well, he’s the commander appointed by the Marquis de Lafayette, so he’s probably incompetent…”
“Keok, didn’t you swear until yesterday that you were going to die while shoveling because of the cowardly count?”
“Keuhum khum. “Give me some water there.”
The soldiers, who had worked hard to get a rough assortment before the arrival of the Germanian Empire, were quite relieved as they rested in the trenches.
There’s no way I could have enjoyed such a leisurely experience if I was being hit by that artillery fire on the bare ground.
The bombardment continued for a while without any response, let alone a response, and then stopped.
When the revolutionary soldiers had finished eating, a voice amplified by magical power was heard from the Germanian Empire’s position.
[What a cowardly thing to do, hiding like a rat under the ground and not responding to the battle! Do the rebels of the Franzian puppet regime have no honor? On behalf of His Excellency, the noble Duke Gunhild of the Germanian Empire, I demand an honorable battle from your commander!]
At this point, the revolutionary army also began to stick their heads out of the trenches and look at those who were on horseback on the other side of the river. .
It was so far away that I couldn’t even see their faces, but the generals on horseback and the wizard who amplified their voices with magic seemed to be angry.
It was only natural that the revolutionary soldiers gathered in the trenches, with only their heads exposed, were watching them as if they were a spectacle.
[The valiant army of the Germanian Empire is ready to fight against you in an honorable and fair battle under the command of the noble Duke Gunhild! Who is your commander?]
After a while, a shout amplified by magical power erupted from this camp as well.
[This defense line is commanded by Damien de Mirbeau, commander of the Southern Army of the Revolutionary Army!]
[Count Damien de Mirbeau! I request a fair battle to protect the honor of the nobles-]
[No.]
There was silence for a moment.
The soldiers watched with amusement as Duke Gunhild on the other side of the river looked dumbfounded on his horse.
[Why are you saying that? Count Mirbeau! Show yourself! How can there be such a mean fight on an honorable battlefield? Where did the honor of a Franzian knight go?!]
[I serve the government of the common people you speak of, and I have no need for such honor. If you want to fight fairly and honorably, you come across the river. We’ll sit back and wait.]
As soon as Damien finished speaking, the revolutionary soldiers in the trenches burst out laughing.
“Puhahahaha!”
“Hey, I kind of like our commander.”
“I thought he was just bragging about being an earl, but it’s a masterpiece.”
In the end, time passed without a proper battle being fought.
* * *
next day.
The Count of Baden, under the command of Duke Gunhild, crossed the bridge on horseback with only a small number of attendants and holding a white flag.
‘It’s like the shame of an aristocrat who owes money to such lowly people as the Count who knows neither courtesy nor honor!’
Count Baden gritted his teeth as he rode his horse.
As an aristocrat who thought war was a duel between nations that were honorable in their own way, he could not tolerate such a vicious act of avoiding battle and forcing an unfavorable offensive.
The Count of Baden, who quickly crossed the bridge by riding his horse, was able to see the person rushing out in a hurry.
“I am the Count of Baden, who has come as a negotiating messenger under the order of His Excellency, the noble Duke Gunhild of the Germanian Empire. “Who are you?”
“Hehe heh. Oh, it came so suddenly and left in a hurry. “This is Count Damien de Mirbeau.”
The Count of Baden, who was in his 30s, twitched his mouth and glared at the face of Damien, who looked to be only in his early or mid 20s.
“Oh, I’m finally seeing that expensive face that you didn’t even show when you asked me to show it.”
Damien easily ignored Count Baden’s sarcasm.
“So what’s going on?”
“…I would like to negotiate.”
“Hyeopsaaaang? What kind of hypocrisy? “Do we have something to exchange?”
The Count of Baden twitched his face as he felt the blood on his forehead bubbling out.
“Please guide us inside first. “Isn’t it rude to talk while riding a horse?”
“We only dug trenches, so there are no command barracks or anything like that. So please talk here.”
‘This damned brat…’ The Count of Baden has two main missions.
One is to coax Damien de Mirbeau into retreating or engaging in battle. To be honest, neither Duke Gunhild nor he had much hope for this.
The more important task was to enter that damn trench line under any pretext and estimate its shape and the size of the troops.
“At least there will be a place for the commander to rest! “Does Frangia really have no common sense or manners to not even offer a seat to a guest?”
“I don’t have any.”
“What what?”
But Damien de Mirbeau was more cunning and shameless than they imagined.
“Why are you eating it raw? Would you like to see Damien de Mirbeau’s masterpiece ‘Mirbeau Son’? If you really want to see it, bring an army across the river and see it for yourself. “The cost of viewing may be a bit expensive.”
The Count of Baden was trembling with blood on his face, which was on the verge of becoming distorted.
Of course, there were not enough soldiers in Damian Tan, so the section where the trenches had been made to look like they had been roughly dug was left empty and the few soldiers were scattered in, making a desperate attempt to hide it.
But the Count of Baden had no way of knowing.
“Are you still a knight of Franzia? How can I do that as a nobleman?…”
“I am a knight of France and a nobleman, but those old-fashioned traditions did not save me. So, don’t be so foolish and leave~ Oh, I am an honorable and noble duke~ Come in honestly~ Come in~ Why? Are you scared?”
The Count of Baden’s patience ended there.
He took off the gloves he was wearing and threw them in Damien’s face.
Clap.
As attendants on both sides watched, the glove that hit Damien’s face slowly fell off.
“Know your shame! “Benedict von Baden, Count of Baden, Prince of the Germanian Empire, challenges you, Damien de Mirbeau, to a duel!”
I did it because I was feeling feverish all the way to the top of my head, but I had no regrets.
He was robbed by the Marquis de Lafayette’s southern aristocratic faction throughout the civil war, and even in the battle with Archduke Leopold, he would have been defeated if not for Lafayette, and he was a coward who stayed in hiding because he was afraid of battle!
If he acts like a coward here, he can at least break the spirit of his enemies.
“Are you scared? “A coward like you is fighting a duel?”
The Count of Baden, who was provoking Damien by imitating his tone, quickly drew his sword and caught Damien’s sudden swing.
However, Damien swung his sword fiercely before the Count of Baden could even straighten his stance.
“line! bread! Phil! Win!”
“Ugh! Now wait a minute! “Wow!”
Although he withstood a few sword strikes, Count Baden eventually lost his balance and fell from his horse due to the continued attacks.
It happened while none of the attendants on both sides could react, but even after the Count of Baden’s attendants came to their senses, they did not dare to come forward and did not know what to do.
“That’s nonsense…”
It was obviously a duel requested by Count Baden and he lost.
“I lost.”
The Count of Baden, who had fallen from his horse, was in a daze, and when he saw the sword thrust to his neck, his face turned pale and he raised his hands.
“Sigh…”
Damien, who actually won, suddenly started whimpering, confusing everyone around him.
“Did you see it? saw? I am not weak! Lafayette That guy was strange! Look, children! I am strong!”
“Oh wow-”
“Long live His Excellency Count Mi Mirbeau!”
The Count of Baden despaired at the cries of the revolutionary army and attendants who praised him belatedly and without understanding.
‘I can’t believe I became a prisoner of this idiot…’
