CH 239

Without soldiers, there is nothing you can do. I was thinking of getting the army out, but that’s not possible. If the remaining forces were to be directed to Koenigsvelg and a rebellion occurred in this area, it would be impossible for the remaining forces to protect the royal capital, the royal castle, and the royal family. Or rather, even I couldn’t have thought of and prepared for this.

How natural it would be to suspect that there is an insider and that such a large-scale preparation is a conspiracy made depends on the situation.

Cause a monster incident in the direction of Hessem and send the capital’s military forces there. In the meantime, the Kingdom of Polsky surrounds and attacks Koenigsvelg. If by any chance, the kingdom sends the remaining military forces inside the royal capital to help Koenigsvelg, they will occupy the vacant capital instead.

It could be……. or rather, it might be their lives. And if you think so and can’t move the soldiers, that’s fine.

In the first place, even though I don’t always participate, it’s strange that I, who should belong to the Royal Guard Division, haven’t been contacted at all. Claudia didn’t say anything either. In other words, I and Claudia were excluded from the expedition order involving the Crown Guard and the Royal Guard Division. This may have deep roots.

“I and Claudio belong to the Royal Guard Division, but we have not heard anything about this expedition of the Crown Guard or the Royal Guard Division,” I said.

“Hmm…” Wilhelm hummed as he touched his beard and closed his eyes.

Of course, since it was a top-secret operation, there may be cases where information was not leaked to anyone other than the participants. But does this matter have to be kept such a secret?

Besides, no matter how much I try to hide it, I usually only show up once in a while when they’re preparing for an expedition. It’s almost impossible to completely cut off information between the members, and it would be impossible to not notice the expedition of a large army, whether it’s in casual conversation or being seen preparing for an expedition.

The only way it can be done is if it is intentionally hidden. Unless you know that Claudia is close to me and try to block the information flow from her, that would be impossible.

“We will expose the enemies inside here,” Dietrich said. “We will grant Houses Carruthers and Caan all the freedom of action necessary to rescue Koenigsvelg. Is that alright, Your Majesty?”

“… I’m sorry for imposing a burden only on you all. But right now, I can’t move the soldiers within the royal capital. You have my blessing,” Wilhelm said.

“Right,” I said. “We will ensure we meet your expectations.”

I will show Wilhelm and Dietrich a knightly bow, not curtsy. To be frank, I am very troubled because I was expecting to be disappointed. I think we can’t do something about it alone, but… but I have to do it. This is an order.

“All freedom of action” from Dietrich weighs heavily on me. The kingdom’s permission is not necessary for the lord’s army to conduct military operations for maintaining public order within the territory or to guard their border. If they needed to, they may not be able to act in time when it matters most.

However, it is not possible to strike out against foreign enemies or to cross the border without permission even within your country, and send your army elsewhere. It’s not impossible, but…

For example, let’s say that the Kingdom of Frasia invades Carruthers territory. It is permissible for the Carruthers family, who were attacked first, to defend themselves within their own territory, and eventually survive the offensive of the Kingdom of Frasia, or to launch an offensive or surprise attack within the Kingdom of Frasia in order to disturb the enemy’s rearguard. This has happened over the course of offensive skirmishes on the Carruthers border.

But House Carruthers saying, “I’m sick of the Kingdom of Frasia, so I’ll invade it and crush it!” is not allowed. If that happens, the Lords of each region will be able to drag the Kingdom of Ploiss into a war with a foreign country without permission.

Defense in case of being attacked, offensive and surprise attacks on the invading side are allowed in this context, but it is not permissible to attack and start a war on your own.

Similarly, it is forbidden to send a large army across the border to other territories for no reason, even if it is within the same country. Even if they are from the same country, sending a large army for no reason is an act that can be perceived as starting a war, and is so serious that the kingdom could charge you with trying to incite rebellion, no questions asked.

However, there are exceptions here, and the right of way may be granted by negotiation. For example, when House Carruthers wants to go out to sea, it needs to pass through House Caan’s territory, so it will ask Caan for the right of passage.

And one more thing, if it is due to the request of the country or for some reason, it will be possible to pass through various places with the permission of Ploiss instead of the agreement between the Lords. There are military parades and ceremonies in the royal capital, so it’s necessary to bring soldiers, or the Kingdom of Ploiss is at war, so they’re requesting the Feudal Lords to dispatch armies.

In the case of ceremonies such as military parades, the number of troops is also determined, and only passage from the territory to the ceremony site such as the royal capital is permitted. In addition, the escort by normal movement is restricted so that it does not become such a large army, and if it is within the stipulated number within the range of the escort, you can freely bring them along.

In comparison, permission for wartime actions is very heavy. To put it in extreme terms, Houses Carruthers and Caan who have just received permission can do whatever they want in a military operation without having to ask the kingdom for permission. Of course, this time there is a restriction that it is necessary to rescue Koenigsvelg, but it is possible to lead the entire army from our territory to the capital.

It is possible to summon the entire army to the royal capital and suddenly start a rebellion while saying that it is for the rescue of Koenigsvelg, and it is quite possible that this will be permitted.

Well… in reality, this is only a superficial story, and citizens are allowed to move freely within the country. Even if a fully armed soldier can’t march across the border, it’s permissible if he hides his armor and pretends to be a commoner while he travels to his destination. There is no way to completely prevent him then.

At any rate, the fact that they were given the authority to carry out such heavy military actions speaks to the current situation. This time it might get a little crazy.

When I returned to the Carruthers Residence, I called my parents and explained the current situation. It wasn’t just me who received the order to rescue Koenigsvelg this time, but House Carruthers as well. That’s why it’s necessary for both Caan and Carruthers to work together.

“Understood,” Father said.

“Before, I was just watching, but now I can fight alongside you, Flora dear,” Mother said.

“You’re quite calm, but… do you think we have a chance of winning?”

The forces of House Caan in the royal capital are insignificant. Add Steltin’s 2 galleons and well… still, the land force is overwhelmingly insufficient.

The same is true for House Carruthers, and the Carruthers soldiers in the royal capital are probably few. Even so, my parents are so calm and may have some kind of strategy…

“No, no matter how you look at it, the military strength is not enough,” Father said. “It would normally take about 6 months to be ready.”

“Oh, stop that,” Mother said. “You’re worrying too much. With us three, parents and child, we’re invincible.”

“Mother…………”

My father seems to have the same opinion as me. But my mother is too optimistic. I don’t know if there are thousands or tens of thousands of soldiers in Polsky’s command, but they’re the ones who invaded first with this much preparation. There must be considerable confidence and measures implemented. It would be impossible to defeat them so easily.

“We will complete preparations by the end of the night and head to Steltin first thing tomorrow morning with the entire Carruthers and Caan forces,” Father said. “We will rendezvous with Flora’s fleet and sail from the sea to Koenigsvelg.”

“Agreed…” I said.

I have no other choice. The forces of the Carruthers and Caan families in the royal capital are almost empty, but now we have no choice but to go with all units. For the time being, escorts from the Caanza Trading Firm will head to the construction site in Charlottenburg. If the enemy has read this far, there is a possibility that they will also interfere with Charlottenburg.

“First of all, as a rough strategy…” Father said.

After that, my parents and I gave instructions to several parties and had discussions late into the night, about how to break this siege.

After descending the Odel River and arriving at Steltin, we immediately boarded two galleons and set sail. I learned from yesterday’s discussion that my mother is usually like that, but as a commander, she’s pretty good.

My father excels in strategy as a top-level general. In comparison, my mother excels in tactics as a frontline commander. From my point of view, someone who is familiar with that messy behavior, I thought her mother was the type to order the entire army to charge without thinking or breaking through their lines with brute force, but that wasn’t the case at all.

This time as well, we still don’t know the enemy’s situation, so we haven’t decided on a specific strategy, but we discussed the possible situation. Among them, the differences in the roles of Father and Mother, and the adjustment of opinions that came out of the difference in their positions were so solid that it was a treat to watch.

My parents must have overcome various situations like this together. That’s why the two of them are able to communicate with each other in harmony, and because they believe in each other’s strengths, they can trust each other and talk more honestly.

I’m jealous, to be honest. You can clearly tell that they love each other, trust each other, are good husband and wife, have a good understanding of each other, and are good comrades-in-arms. I wonder if the day will come when I can feel that way with everyone from the bottom of my heart.

“General! The Polsky Navy is here!”

“Understood,” Father said. “Lord Floto, we have discovered the enemy fleet.”

“Their scale and placement…” I said.

We’re on 1 of the galleons at Steltin, the Santa Maria. Her captain is, of course, Schwartz. My parents and I are boarding here to use it as our flagship.

Since they were 2 fast galleons, they crossed into Danzij in no time, but it seems they found the Polsky Navy in no time. Well, rather than capturing it, it’s natural to find it because it’s wandering around the waters near Koenigsvelg and trying to blockade it.

“Four old-fashioned ships are sailing to the west. They are probably wary of rescue from Danzij,” Schwartz said.

“Hmmm…” I muttered.

Old-fashioned ships are all old-fashioned ships from our ship’s point of view… and, putting aside that kind of perspective…

“How would you fight them, Schwartz?” I asked.

“Our opponents are 4 old-fashioned medium-sized ships. We will continue to attack them with Caan Cannons in a counter-flow battle from the front, destroy them, and head for Koenigsvelg,” Schwartz said.

Yeah……. certainly, if it’s the shortest way to go, that’s fine. But this time I’m worried about weapons and ammunition. Last time, we were the attacking side. In the worst case, if we ran out of ammunition, we could just go back to the territory, but that won’t be the case this time. If you go to the rescue once and fail, the enemy will panic and attack Koenigsvelg. This would cause great damage to the town.

We don’t have time to go back to resupply this time, and the number of ships and ammunition is limited. Ammunition for the Caan Cannon, our tiger cub, cannot be wasted.

“We don’t have the opportunity to resupply this time,” I said. “Ammunition is limited and the number of enemies is unknown, so let’s conserve ammunition as much as possible.”

""

“Then do you want to ram the ship or come alongside and engage in hand-to-hand combat?” Schwartz asked.

Unfortunately, our ship is not equipped with a ship ram. We can still ram, but it’s less effective than punching a hole in an enemy hull with one. If they take advantage of the lack of damage and start hand-to-hand combat, we will also suffer losses. Losing soldiers to save ammunition is putting the cart before the horse.

“I will detour to the north side and cast magic from a distance where our enemy will not engage,” I said. “This is the only way to reliably kill the enemy while conserving ammunition.”

“Ah… aaaaahhhhhh.. so I see,” Schwartz said, making a strange face.

“?”

“If there is such a strategy, it’d be easy, won’t it…? I don’t think I’m needed as an admiral anymore…” Schwartz mumbled.

“What happened?” I asked.

“No, nothing,” Schwartz replied.

I don’t understand it at all. What happened to Schwartz? Somehow he emits a black aura and looks dazed.

“Then let’s take a detour to the north. First of all, this battle is the beacon of a counterattack!” I cried.

“”””Ooouuuuhhh~~~~!”””” the sailors cheered.

With their cries echoing, the war against the Kingdom of Polsky was already about to begin.