CH 367

Now then, it’s confirmed that we’ll sortie, but I can’t say that we’re going to start the invasion now.

“We need an operation plan and… a just cause, as well,” I said.

“Don’t we have a just cause already?” one of the war council’s members asked.

“That’s right! They were the ones who caught us by surprise, first!” another said.

But even if it looks like that from our point of view, it doesn’t mean that it’s just a justification for the military action on the Blish Isles.

For example… if the Kingdom of Wessek had already been touting that we were the invaders and that we were the ones who invaded first, they would be the first to hear that information. From the person’s point of view, we could be called invaders.

Even before all this mess, we are an outside force, and fundamentally we have no just cause or grounds for our activities on the Blish Isles. What would make up for that is our goal of saving the Kingdom of Wessek from annihilation.

But now that justification has collapsed, and perhaps we are the ones who have been touted as the invaders who invaded Wessek. The fact that they ambushed us should prove as much. If not, don’t do something stupid like suddenly shooting us in the back.

It may seem like a winner’s self-justification, after all. There is certainly a side to that. But above all, it is to convince the nobles and the people of the occupied territories. A person who has no connection to or family in this country or land suddenly came, and said, “From today onward, I will rule this place!” Of course, everyone would object to the outsider.

On the contrary, “I will fight to protect this land that we have ruled since our ancestors!” The public will accept it. As a result, they will be grateful for the protection even if they suffered some damage.

We don’t have any ties or family to these islands, and we don’t have any just cause. Even if you rule by force, if you earn the resistance of the people, it will become an unstable country where you don’t know when a civil war will break out. Even if it takes time, the fires may subside, but it is better to cooperate with the people from the beginning as much as possible without incurring opposition.

“We need a legitimate reason to invade Wessek… so… how about something like this? We will restore the Kingdom of Essek,” I said.

“Understood……”

“In that case……”

The Kingdom of Wessek now rules over most of the Blish Isles. Although it was shaken by the war with Guillaume, everyone probably thinks that the former territory belongs to the Kingdom of Wessek. Therefore, I will destroy the reasoning that “the freed captured territories are all Wessek’s territory.”

The Kingdom of Essek is one of the countries that once existed on the Blish Isles. It is now divided into three powers, Wessek with Avlaland and Welez. However, there used to be many small countries in the territory under the control of Wessek. Among them, the Kingdom of Wessek won and expanded its territory.

It seems that Laudin, where we are, was once the royal capital of the Kingdom of Essek. That’s why we will restore the Kingdom of Essek as the legitimate successor nation of Wessek. By doing so, we will work out the legitimacy of our activities on Blish Isles.

Of course, in reality, we have nothing to do with Essek. Besides, even if Essek were to be revived, there would be no justification for invading the part that was originally Wessek’s.

But Essek was once invaded and destroyed by Wessek, so now we can launch a counter-invasion and destroy Wessek, right?

“I will become King Karruzer of Essek and unify the Blish Isles,” I said. “That will be our just cause.”

“Sire! I think that’s good enough.”

The revival of Essek and the legend of King Karruzer is, after all, propaganda aimed at the people. Something like this should be easy to understand and appealing. Luckily, I have a mask and mantle ready to hide my identity within Ploiss. If I wear a disguise that hides my face and body shape, I should be able to hide the fact that I’m a woman.

“Then I will leave the preparations for the restoration of Essek to you all,” I said.

“Sire… then moving on… what should we do with the flag?”

“Flag? Shouldn’t we use the Flag of Essek?”

Since we call ourselves the Kingdom of Essek, it would be better to reuse the flag of Essek. That should make it easier for others to understand.

“It’s been a long time since Essek perished…” someone countered. “And there aren’t many people who know about that flag anymore. In that case, I thought it would be better to prepare a new, easy-to-understand flag that resembles it to some extent.”

“I see……”

Is that so? Regardless of whether it was recently destroyed, if it were decades or even hundreds of years ago, the number of people who remember the flag would have decreased. There is a possibility that they know about it through some kind of folklore, but they don’t know how accurate it is. If that’s the case, is it okay to use something similar? It is not exactly the same, and there may be a strong feeling that the new one has revived while following the design to some extent.

“What was the original Essek Flag?” I asked.

“A sword within a shield.”

Not exactly the same, but similar enough that anyone who sees our flag will recognize it…

“Then let’s make an eagle in the shield.”

“That sounds good!”

“So the flag should look like this…”

House Caan has an eagle symbol… but we’re not manufacturing energy drinks… we just have an eagle, so it’s just right. If we cut out the eagle of our current flag, we will soon be able to prepare a flag for the Kingdom of Essek. Normally, I wouldn’t think of tearing up or cutting out my own House or country’s flag, but right now it’s an emergency, so I can’t help it.

If I cut up the flag of the Kingdom of Ploiss, they might get angry, but if it’s the flag of House Can or the House Caan Merchant Fleet, no one will complain. People ran quickly to arrange the flags, so this is fine.

“Then let’s think about a strategy to capture the Kingdom of Wessek,” I said.

“It would not be difficult to invade from here to Winchestel by land. And if we send out a fleet, we can blockade the southern seas. If we use the Caan cannons, it will be easy to capture Winchestel. But if it comes down to total annihilation, one has to wonder if we’ll need more of an edge…”

Hey, hey… Are you planning to kill all the citizens? I’m not going to go that far…

“No need to exterminate them,” I said.

“Huh…?”

Everyone’s eyes are wandering around with uneasy faces. Did they think that I was so angry just now and that I’m going to kill all of Winchestel as an example? I don’t know if there is collateral damage, but I’m not thinking of actively killing everyone from here. If you go into action with that misunderstanding, it may develop into a massacre. Let’s communicate properly.

“My anger may have made me want to kill all of Winchestel as an example, but I have no intention of going that far,” I said. “But I won’t hesitate to do this plan even if we do end up causing collateral casualties…”

“Understood……”

For the time being, everyone seems to have agreed as they look at each other. I wonder what they would have thought if I asked them to kill them all. But that doesn’t make any sense. The capture of Wessek this time has an important meaning. It doesn’t make sense if you kill them all.

“If I may explain?” I said. “Our goal is, of course, to unify the Blish Isles, but it is also a fight to prevent anyone from opposing us in the future. If we kill all the population of Winchestel, it will be meaningless.”

“What do you mean? Wouldn’t it be better to kill all the Wessekians who participated in this war here and now?”

Fumu……. they don’t understand…

“Certainly there is such an aspect, but then only the number of rebels who have been dealt with in Winchestel will disappear,” I said. “In addition, there is a possibility that reckless massacre of the civilians will cause opposition in other regions. Even if we make them fear us and control them by force, we can’t sway their hearts.”

Everyone listens to my words.

“The mastermind and rebels of this time can be caught and executed after Winchestel is overwhelmed,” I said. “There is no need to kill them all in all-out war. All we have to do in the Battle of Winchestel… is to show our strength.”

Some are still scratching their heads. Even if I say this, there are still people who don’t understand… Well, strategists and politicians have different positions and ways of thinking.

“Right now, in Winchestel, there are lords and their subordinates who have gathered from all over the country to follow Harold,” I said. “Even if we kill them all, we will only kill hundreds or even thousands of enemy soldiers. What will happen if we show them an overwhelming difference in ability, and make them fall into such thorough despair that they flee back to their home territories?”

“””—?!?!”””

Some people stood up with surprised faces. I think they finally understood my intentions.

“If dozens and hundreds of returning soldiers trembled and fear that they would never be able to compete with King Karruzer of Essek, and started spreading the word in their territories that it would be better not to go against us in the future……” I said. “Our power will spread to many, many times more people than the original plan. We will crush the will to oppose us completely, and return those in the depths of despair to their territories with dignity. Then they will be willing to be conquered by us.”

“””””………”””””

The conference room falls silent. No one speaks ……did I say too much…?”

“Young Miss… you truly are the Devil incarnate…” Schwartz said.

What do you mean by that…? I reduced the battles and effort as much as possible, just presented how to efficiently unify the Blish Isles in the shortest time and with the least amount of expense. Rather, if the lords of each place give up on going against us, we can reduce the number of unnecessary victims. There is no other way to minimize the collateral casualties.

“Let’s formulate a strategy based on that. Ignatz, you must be tired, but could you tell us about the terrain around Winchestel?” I said.

“Sire!”

Ignatz’s forces marched to Winchestel once. They probably have some idea of the terrain along the way and the terrain around the town. As a result of hearing that, we decided on the general strategy.

“Let’s encircle the three sides with the troops that departed from Laudin, except for the south, and destroy the castle walls with artillery,” I said. “Let’s trap the enemies who are holed up in Winchestel so they don’t escape.”

“Then in the annihilation battle…”

Some people are surprised at the strategy of encircling and annihilating even though they said they would not be annihilated earlier. But that depends on how far you attack the enemy. The important thing is not to let the enemy escape, but to inflict complete fear and despair to break their hearts. It’s a siege for that purpose, and it’s fine to catch or kill those who try to escape, but it’s not necessary to kill everyone in the area.

“They’ll be in the midst of being surrounded, cornered by naval gunfire from the sea by galleons and artillery bombardment from the land. Those who are trapped in Winchestel will probably run away. However, the land and sea routes are blocked and there is nowhere to run to. In such a situation, if you are hounded by unknown weapons such as the Caan cannons and guns… how much fear would you feel?”

“Understood… Then you don’t dare to give a fatal attack at once and instead slowly drive them back, corner them, and torture them, huh…? Understood…”

What in the hell~… why is everyone like this? What’s going on? We minimize casualties and maximize effectiveness. Of course, the town might be destroyed and the residents might resent us. But… if you lose so thoroughly that you don’t even feel like going against the enemy anymore, you won’t even think about such stupid things. After that, if you give them some candy like reconstruction support, it might be easier for them to get hold of their hearts.

“Also, there is another meaning in not letting the enemy escape…” I said. “After the battle, I will execute all of the masterminds, collaborators, and even their immediate families and relatives. That is why I have no intention of letting anyone escape. It cannot be helped if they die in the Battle of Winchestel, but please keep this in mind so that none of them escape.”

“”””Ye-… Yes, Sire…!””””

Everyone gave a salute. Umu, umu. It seems that everyone’s hearts have become one. Poor coordination here can lead to unnecessary failures. We have to create a common understanding for everyone and keep communication close.

“Let’s complete the siege before the enemy moves,” I said. “We’ll leave Corchistel’s defense to the galleons standing by. The army will sortie at full force as soon as it’s ready, without thinking about Corchistel’s defense. We will be bringing slow-moving artillery, so please pay attention to your movement speed and escorts.”

I wonder if there was something else I’m missing…?

“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “We’re going to besiege Winchestel, but let’s make an assault landing from a galleon on the west side. At this time, we’ll secure a beachhead west of Winchestel and conduct assault landing training. It would be just right for the exercise, as it’s only a little further away from there.”

It is not necessary to land right in front of the enemy. Let’s dare to land far away in the rear and train once in the actual battle. There is also the possibility that the enemy will strike out in response to landing. I have to think about the vigilance and escort around that area. It doesn’t make any sense if the damage is done from a training exercise

In this way, the War Against Wessek and the strategy to capture Winchestel were devised, and preparations proceeded smoothly.