I Don’t Need a Guillotine for My Revolution

Chapter 114: Revolution Defense War - Collapse (1)

When I left Eris, who had fallen asleep exhausted, in her quarters, the battle was already over.

“Waaaaah!”

“Long live the Revolution!”

“Victory for Francia!”

Grand Duke Leopold’s Imperial Army had fled in disarray to Nancy, and the Revolutionary Army was cheering the endless procession of prisoners.

Looks like Eris’s intentions worked better than expected, huh? With so many prisoners, it’ll take even longer to sort things out.

At this rate, will it be possible to advance on Nancy immediately?

Nancy was a city the Grand Duke had fortified throughout the winter. A conventional siege would mean heavy casualties. We need to seize it before the Imperial Army recovers.

As I walked through the Command Tent, lost in thought, Damien De Millbeau ran up to me, panting, and chattered.

“A great victory, Your Excellency Marquis Lafayette! Truly a legendary achievement! Who would have thought such a great victory possible in such a disadvantageous situation! Only I, Damien De Millbeau, Your Excellency’s loyal servant-”“Count Milbeau.”

“Yes, yes! Your orders, Your Excellency Marquis Lafayette!”

“Did you receive my orders? How far have the preparations to advance on Nancy progressed?”

Considering the time it was delivered, it should be ready in about two hours at the earliest.

That’s what I thought, but Damien immediately snapped to a salute and replied.

“Preparations are almost complete, Your Excellency Marquis! We can move out within 30 minutes! Just give the order!”

“…Immediately?”

Is that even possible?

Even if he started preparing right after receiving my orders, that’s excessively fast.

Is this man filing a false report again?

As if sensing my suspicious gaze, Damien straightened his posture even more and spoke immediately.

“Hasn’t Your Excellency Marquis always moved with an eye on the larger picture, rather than focusing on minor gains! I believed Your Excellency would prioritize the capture of a more important key strategic point over pursuing remnants, so I prepared in advance!”

Damien’s face, as he replied, was filled with an undeniable joy and pride.

I, however, was unimpressed.

“R-Really?”

No, damn it.

Of all people, Damien De Millbeau has analyzed and understood my behavior patterns and psychology to this extent?

Having such a competent subordinate should definitely be a cause for joy, but…

Something about this is hard to describe, but there’s a strange unpleasantness…

The one who read my intentions is, of all people, this guy.

I couldn’t shake off a very sour feeling, yet the job had to be done, so I nodded to Damien.

“Good, Commander Damien De Millbeau, very commendable. Lead the Southern Army and advance on Nancy immediately. Shandra and the Iberian forces have delayed the enemy’s regrouping as much as possible through their pursuit, so if things go well, the Southern Army might be able to capture Nancy on its own.”

It’s unsettling that Damien was the one who read my intentions, but since the Southern Army’s preparations are almost complete, it would be more effective to send only the Southern Army here and have Desaix’s Northern Army handle the cleanup and prisoners.

“I will follow shortly after reorganizing things here with the Northern Army. This is an important opportunity, so do not disappoint me.”

The Northern Army would remain here, and the Southern Army would have the chance to crush the disorganized enemy and achieve the merit of capturing a key strategic point. Damien, understanding this intent immediately, replied with a face full of delight.

“Is there any doubt, Your Excellency Marquis! I will pave the way for Your Excellency’s arrival in Nancy and await you!”

“Yes, I expect great things.”

I watched Damien’s retreating figure as he ran off excitedly for a moment, then turned around and came face to face with the Northern Army Commander Louis Desaix, and the Revolutionary Army Chief of Staff, Alexandre Berthier.

“Congratulations on the great victory, Your Excellency Marquis Lafayette.”

“It was a crisis, but thanks to Your Excellency Marquis’s brilliant strategy, we were able to secure victory!”

“You both worked hard as well, Commander Desaix, Chief of Staff Berthier.”

These two essentially allowed me to leave the command post and join the front lines.

They must have been extremely busy overseeing the army in my stead during this battle.

I smiled faintly at Desaix, and Desaix looked slightly embarrassed.

Before deployment, he and I had a considerable argument.

-I will lead and fight the enemy cuirassiers. The main force, as always, I leave to Commander Desaix.

-Have you perhaps gone mad? Or do you truly wish to be remembered as an incompetent commander who died acting recklessly? Assassins! They use a poison that put even the great General Gaston at death’s door in an instant, and Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief intends to charge into them?

-If I don’t show that level of desperation, I can’t reliably draw in the Imperial Army. I am simply the most suitable person for the necessary role. And while a surprise attack by unknown assassins might be dangerous, I am not so careless as to be taken down by assassins I know are present.

-With all due respect, Your Excellency Marquis, historically, no commander who died leading from the front ever thought they would die.

-Your concerns are valid, but we are already in a sufficiently disadvantageous situation. If this continues, this battle will end in a major defeat. Then the Imperial Army’s momentum, which we’ve managed to shake, will reignite, and the capital will be in immediate danger. I trust you to cover my rear, so I hope you will trust me a little as well.

Eventually, Desaix remained silent for a moment, then opened his mouth with an awkward smile.

“You kept your word, Your Excellency Marquis.”

“Yes, and you successfully carried out the responsibility I entrusted to you.”

Desaix let out a light sigh and bowed his head to me.

“I apologize for my disrespectful words before deployment, Your Excellency Marquis.”

“I willingly forgive your loyal counsel. That aside, there are more prisoners than expected, so the Northern Army will have to handle the local cleanup. The advance on Nancy will be entrusted to Milbeau. The Northern Army wouldn’t be ready anyway, right?”

Desaix gave a bitter smile and replied.

“Well, I will obey Your Excellency Marquis’s command. Since I lost such an easy prize to that fellow, I suppose I should offer less counsel next time.”

“Ah, that would be problematic, so I shouldn’t let Milbeau take all the credit for capturing Nancy, should I?”

After exchanging jokes, Desaix and I looked at each other for a moment, then burst into laughter.

This feeling of trusting each other and fighting is not bad.

*

The state of the Imperial Army, utterly defeated at the Valois Rolling Hills, could be summed up in two words:

Despair and terror.

Shandra’s mixed unit of Orcs, Goblins, and humans clung to the Imperial Army with terrifying persistence, and countless men fell behind and surrendered.

Pierre de Lafayette had not only lured the Empire into a trap and achieved victory at that crucial juncture, but, not content with that, he had immediately launched a pincer attack on the light cavalry on the flanks, causing their collapse.

The Hussars, who had long been responsible for reconnaissance, covering the retreat of allied forces, and simultaneously acting as messengers between units within the Imperial Army, were completely shattered.

Thanks to this, the Imperial Army’s chain of command was in shambles, unable to even grasp the situation properly, and they could only flee in panic from Shandra’s pursuing forces.

After such an arduous retreat, Grand Duke Leopold, who had barely reached Nancy, was listening to a desperate report.

“Currently, 45,000 troops have returned, Your Highness.”

Of the 100,000 who set out, not even half had returned.

Although many units were still making their way back to Nancy, it was a devastating defeat, one he hadn’t even imagined.

The losses in the battle on the Western Plains of Besançon were also significant, but that was due to an unexpected enemy reinforcement attacking from the rear.

The fact that they had suffered such enormous losses, surpassing those of the previous battle, in a head-on decisive battle under equal conditions was unbelievable and something he didn’t want to believe.

Nevertheless, faced with the stark reality, words akin to a lament escaped the Grand Duke’s lips.

“…Count Baden. He was never found, then.”

“I am deeply sorry, Your Highness…”

His Chief of Staff, Duke Heinrich, who bowed his head to him, had a mouth but no words to say.

As Chief of Staff, he should have foreseen such a situation and warned against it.

If he had grasped the mood of the Imperial Army, which, having suffered only defeats at the hands of the Revolutionary Army, craved revenge and victory, and had warned them beforehand, perhaps they could have avoided being so easily lured by Marquis Lafayette.

But he had failed to do so, and Count Baden, who had craved revenge against the Revolutionary Army more than anyone and led the charge, was missing.

Missing was a euphemism. It was obvious what had become of him, who would have charged at the forefront.

He would have become one of the countless corpses on the battlefield.

Grand Duke Leopold raised a hand to his face, which was etched with deep exhaustion.

“Count Wittelsbach?”

“He suffered a thigh wound and rode for a long time, so his injury is severe. First aid has been administered, but immediate recovery is difficult, so we have summoned a bishop from the Homeland.”

“Yes, I see.”

The Grand Duke replied dejectedly.

The Empire’s finest knight, Count Albert von Wittelsbach.

He had been defeated in a duel not by Gaston, their strongest knight, but by Marquis Lafayette.

The sight of his standard falling, broken, at the very moment when everyone in the Empire was desperately holding on, expecting their sole hope, the Empire’s finest knight, to strike down their Commander-in-Chief, had etched deep despair into the entire Imperial Army.

The Grand Duke bit his lip.

Pierre de Lafayette, Marquis.

The Grand Duke had entered the battle considering that man an equal, no, an even greater threat.

He had by no means underestimated him, nor had he been careless.

Rather, during the time they refrained from launching an offensive, he had prepared many things to somehow gain an advantage.

But neither the assassins meant to catch them off guard, nor the Dragoons to counter their Chasseurs, nor the greater number of troops, nor even the Empire’s young genius.

None of it could ultimately break them.

Grand Duke Leopold had been defeated by Pierre de Lafayette even in a direct, decisive battle under conditions he had painstakingly made equal.

Pierre de Lafayette has many reliable cards up his sleeve.

Count Damien De Millbeau, master of defense, practically a wailing wall for the Imperial Army.

Louis Desaix, calm and composed, capable of leading the entire army flawlessly and executing operations even when Marquis Lafayette dives into the front lines.

Gaston, the strongest knight, fully upholding the reputation of the Knight Kingdom; Jerome Morelle, the Chasseur commander who overwhelms the Hussars, once the pride of the Empire; Nicolas Nere, a brave commander who always shares dangers with his soldiers at the vanguard.

And even the Saintess Queen Erisliste, who performs all sorts of miracles, her very existence boosting enemy morale and crushing theirs.

But Grand Duke Leopold, he.

He has no such people.

The relatively capable Count Wittelsbach was broken head-on by Marquis Lafayette, and even by the Grand Duke’s own most conservative assessment, the Empire’s commanders fell far short of those of the Francia Revolutionary Army.

“We… have lost this war.”

“Your Highness…”

Coming from none other than the Empire’s greatest commander and hero, the despairing words carried an even heavier weight.

“This war must end.”

No matter what, he could see no way to win this war.

Even the relatively reasonable goal demanded by Empress Cecilia—to achieve a small victory, secure Alsace-Lorraine, and end the war—was unattainable.

No, rather.

Now, they had to worry about a total defeat.

“We must somehow quickly regroup the units. Nancy is sufficiently fortified, so we must reorganize the troops, re-establish defensive lines, and quickly request a ceasefire. Defending Nancy, returning occupied territories, and recognizing their queen’s ascension as conditions to end the war is the best we can-”

“Messenger! Your Highness! Urgent news!”

However, even the Grand Duke’s last hope was cut short by a hastily arriving messenger.

“What is it?”

“The Revolutionary Army led by Count Damien De Millbeau is approaching Nancy! Estimated to be at least 30,000 strong!”

Grand Duke Leopold’s eyes flew open, and he shot up from his seat.

After that great battle, they’re already here?

How on earth?

To make that possible, they would have had to be preparing to move and regroup before the battle even ended.

That young Marquis prepared for this, even during that battle?

Grand Duke Leopold couldn’t hide his shiver as he looked at Duke Heinrich, but the Duke merely bowed his head with a despairing face.

“Our forces are now exhausted soldiers who have just barely reached Nancy, and their equipment and morale are in tatters. In this state, we cannot possibly fight them.”

Grand Duke Leopold let out a hollow laugh.

He had desperately ordered the completely collapsing Imperial Army to retreat to Nancy.

Even now, countless straggling Imperial soldiers must be heading here, trusting the Grand Duke’s final order.

“Abandon… Nancy and retreat. To Metz… Go there… and defend at least that place until a ceasefire agreement is signed.”

Again, yet again.

He, who had driven countless subordinates to their deaths in a war whose purpose was unclear, had to once again order his subordinates to be abandoned as he retreated.

“…I obey your command, Your Highness.”

After Duke Heinrich rushed out with the messenger, the Grand Duke unfolded a piece of paper to send a dispatch.

However, a drop of water fell onto the unfolded paper, and the Grand Duke scowled and threw the paper away.

Yet, water kept falling, so the Grand Duke bit his lip and reached out for a quill, dodging the falling drops.

[Father of the Germania Empire, Great Kaiser.

I must report that the Empire's total defeat is now unavoidable. The war is lost; the situation is utterly hopeless, and victory is no longer conceivable.

I bear the weight of grave sin. I have failed to honor Your Majesty's trust and have sullied the Empire's esteemed name. My profound incompetence and folly have sent countless sons of our Empire to their graves.

I plead with you: punish me for my grievous failings.

Despite my culpability, I implore you, great father of our Empire, to act with mercy. Negotiate a ceasefire, and allow what remains of the Empire's sons to find their way back to their homeland.]

Looking at the terribly messy script written with a violently trembling hand, the Grand Duke laughed.

As the continuously falling drops of water soaked the uniform and medals he once wore with pride, he could only let out hollow laughter.