novelraw Chapter 182: Krafte War - War's End
Chapter 182: Krafte War - War's End
Episode 182. The Krafte War - The End of the War
The rolling hills near Mittelmark, the capital of the Krafte Kingdom.
To occupy the capital of the Krafte Kingdom.
The Dukes of Saxony and Warsaw, who rose against Krafte's rule to win their independence, and the Northern Allied Kingdom, seeking to occupy the northern coast of the Krafte Kingdom.
The three monarchs of the Allied Forces were all confronting Crown Prince Heinrich's Krafte Army to seize the most crucial base for their own goals.
The troops numbered 30,000 from the Northern Allied Kingdom, and 10,000 each from the Dukes of Saxony and Warsaw.
On the other hand, the opposing forces of Crown Prince Heinrich consisted of only 20,000 standing troops and 5,000 hastily conscripted soldiers.
The Allied Forces planned to use their overwhelming numerical superiority to attack as if enveloping the enemy and break their flank.
However, once the battle began, the Krafte Army maneuvered ceaselessly, not giving up its flank, and the Allied Forces, who kept pursuing to attack them according to the operational plan, saw their formation fall into complete disarray.
Even a single nation's army would find it hard to maintain formation while moving nonstop, so for allied nations that had never properly coordinated with each other, the result was obvious.“Damn it, the distance has grown too wide! Why can't those Northern bastards keep up!”
The Duke of Saxony fumed, looking at the ruined formation, and his subordinate general advised him with a pale face.
“M-My apologies, Your Excellency the Duke! We are too exposed! We must fall back from here!”
“What nonsense! The enemy is continuously running away like cowards! During the strategy meeting, our mission was to engage the enemy's main force, what if we mess up our movements by doing that!”
“But, Your Excellency the Duke, if we're not careful, our forces will be too exposed and face a concentrated attack—”
“Your Excellency the Duke! It's an All-Out Offensive from the enemy!”
“W-What? Wait, they were running away!”
“They've turned around!”
At the sight of the enemy forces, which had only been retreating until a moment ago, now advancing in perfect order, the Duke of Saxony screamed.
“U-Engage them! Tell the Duke of Warsaw and the Northern King to come and help quickly!”
The Duke of Saxony, flustered, ordered his men to engage, but there was no way an army whose command structure was already shaking, with units haphazardly spread out and entangled, could withstand the concentrated attack of the Krafte Army.
The Saxon army, under the Krafte Army's concentrated attack, began to crumble first, and by the time the Allied Forces joined the battle, nearly half of their troops had already fled.
While the Center Army was collapsing so futilely, the situation on the flank was not much different.
King Gustaf XII of the Northern Allied Kingdom, who had personally led his army with great ambition, was watching the battlefield with eyes of disbelief.
“I-Is what We are seeing right now truly reality?”
“M-My apologies, Your Majesty.”
Gustaf XII watched his completely collapsing and fleeing regiments with trembling eyes, then muttered in despair.
“Our 12 regiments are being routed by a mere 3 regiments?”
The Dukes of Saxony and Warsaw were at best a Rebel Army; the proportion of standing troops was small, with many conscripts.
Therefore, the so-called sophisticated form of tactical engagement of Krafte or Francia, attacking as if to envelop the enemy, should rightly be executed by the Northern Allied Kingdom, which had many standing troops.
More precisely, he had insisted on it because he wanted to claim the most heroic role in this battle.
However, caught up in the maneuvers of the relentlessly retreating Krafte Army, the forces of the Northern Allied Kingdom advanced at different speeds and positions, their formation falling into disarray.
Still, as their allies came under attack, they were naturally able to attack the flank.
Crown Prince Heinrich, to overcome the overwhelming numerical inferiority, had placed only 3 regiments on the flank, and Gustaf XII believed his 12 regiments committed to the flank would surely be victorious.
But in reality, due to the messy formation, the 12 regiments were committed piecemeal, only to be shamefully defeated in detail and routed by the concentrated attack of the 3 regiments.
“Y-Your Majesty the King! The Duke of Saxony's army is being routed!”
“Duke Anderson is requesting permission to retreat, Your Majesty!”
“Th-This wasn't supposed to happen.”
Gustaf XII muttered with a soul-drained face.
He had seen the King of Krafte defeat the Empire and be praised as the Great King.
Seeing the young Marquis of Francia strike down the heroes of a bygone era, he thought his chance had come too.
But reality was bitter.
To expect soldiers trained for a short period without proper combat experience to perform such feats was an excessive delusion from the start.
Watching the Allied Forces being completely outmaneuvered by the Krafte Army, Gustaf XII recalled the two emissaries from Francia.
The seasoned man with poison on his tongue, and the black witch who whispered of sweet gains.
“Your Majesty! The center army has collapsed!”
“It's dangerous! You must retreat, Your Majesty!”
Gustaf XII watched his army crumble miserably and lamented.
“I-I was deceived, I was deceived! There was no way we could have beaten the Krafte Army from the start…!”
*
The allied forces of the Northern Allied Kingdom and the Duke of Saxony-Warsaw, on the verge of capturing Mittelmark, the capital of the Krafte Kingdom, suffered a major defeat in battle and retreated.
“Long live His Highness the Crown Prince!”
“Mittelmark is safe!”
Having achieved a great victory against allied forces more than twice his number, Crown Prince Heinrich slowly closed his eyes, listening to the cheers of the soldiers praising him.
As a nephew, not a son of the Great King, his ambiguous status as a provisional heir to the throne always made him careful of his conduct.
He always had to praise the Great King and be cautious in all his actions to avoid falling out of his favor.
Yet, to think that the praise directed at them would only turn to him after he admitted he was different from the Great King, and that he could never match the Great King or that Marquis Lafayette.
It was ironic.
Heinrich let out a self-deprecating smile.
“Congratulations on the great victory, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Heinrich looked at the relatively young generals bowing before him.
The old generals who had shared glory and victory with the Great King still remained by his side, but the young generals who had relatively fewer opportunities were now with him.
“Well done, General Scharnhorst. But this is just the beginning. They may be in shock now, but their strength is not yet completely depleted.”
“Of course. However, His Majesty the Great King was ultimately defeated at Barua. Even if we can achieve victory against the Northern Allied Kingdom and the rebel army, if the Francia army reaches our homeland, stopping them will be…”
Hearing Scharnhorst's concern, Heinrich also let out a deep sigh.
The Great King is a man of incredible ability, but fundamentally, the gap in national power between Francia and Krafte is large.
With the standing army, the main force of the Krafte Army, having suffered massive casualties, it would be nearly impossible for even the Great King to seize the momentum for victory now.
“Does it all just depend on their will to fight?”
If they decided to advance on our homeland to help the Northern Allied Kingdom, Saxony, and the Duke of Warsaw, we would be unable to stop them.
Heinrich had done his best. Nevertheless, the fate of Krafte was not in his hands.
Marquis Lafayette, who defeated the Great King at the same age as him. And the young Saintess Queen he serves. Must the fate of Krafte be left to their judgment?
Despite the great victory, another piece of news was delivered to Crown Prince Heinrich, who was wallowing in self-loathing.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“What is it, General Gneisenau?”
“A guest has arrived. It seems they were waiting nearby for the battle's result.”
“A guest? What guest?”
As Gneisenau approached and whispered in his ear, Crown Prince Heinrich's eyes widened.
He then went to the barracks where the guest was, almost at a run, only slowing his pace near the end to feign composure.
After taking a light, deep breath, he passed the guards and entered the barracks, where a woman sitting in a robe, waiting for him, slowly pulled down her hood.
“Congratulations on your victory, Crown Prince Heinrich. With this victory, you have earned the right to represent Krafte in both name and reality.”
“…Kaiserin Cecilia.”
The Empress of the Germania Empire, Cecilia, said with a smile.
“Shall we negotiate, future King of the Krafte Kingdom.”
*
Barua, Francia. Revolutionary Army base.
I was able to return to my duties after resting for one more day after Christine left.
“Welcome, Marquis-nim. Your complexion has improved a lot, hasn't it?”
Eris greeted me with a broad smile, but for some reason, the generals were also grinning, which was strangely unpleasant.
“…It is thanks to Your Majesty, the Queen.”
The time spent suffering and placating a thoroughly angry Christine wasn't as pleasant as they seemed to think.
…No, was it actually good?
Anyway.
I cleared my throat and opened my mouth.
“And has Your Majesty been well in a headquarters without its Commander-in-Chief?”
As I said that and glared, all the generals instantly lowered their gazes.
To think these guys really wouldn't send a single report while I was recuperating, just because the Queen told them not to.
“I have not been well.”
Eris's reply was unexpectedly sullen.
“Pardon?”
Then Eris chuckled and said.
“I received about seven marriage proposals while you were resting, Marquis-nim.”
“Ah.”
I see.
Until now, she was treated as a puppet of the National Assembly who would soon be defeated and dethroned by the Empire or Krafte, but now she would win the war and be proudly recognized as the Queen of Francia.
Moreover, a young, beautiful, unmarried Saintess who held the crown of a great power like Francia.
They couldn't be ignorant that King Louis's head was cut off at the guillotine by the National Assembly, but the fruit was too sweet to give up on that account.
In the eyes of foreign nobles and royalty, the Central party and I would be seen as Eris's personal guard.
“It's quite infuriating that they don't even bother to hide their impure intentions.”
“Haha, for nobles and royalty, marriage is inherently political.”
As I sat down with a bitter smile, Eris added with a pout.
“For your information, three of them were arranged by the Central party.”
“…My apologies, Your Majesty the Queen.”
Well, I have nothing to say.
Come to think of it, the main members of the Central party, including Count Anjou, were also so-called old nobles...
In their minds, an unmarried queen with no heir would be unthinkable.
Even so, to think such talks happened while I was away from the capital.
Eris seemed to stare at me intently for a moment, then grinned.
“I thought as much, but it seems your influence wasn't involved, Marquis-nim. Then it's fine. This isn't the time to be idly discussing such things.”
I also nodded my head to Eris.
“Yes, Your Majesty the Queen is right.”
Then I turned my gaze to the generals.
“Report.”
Alexandre Berthier cleared his throat and began to speak.
“The total casualties from the last battle are 67,382.”
I was prepared for it, but this is beyond imagination.
I barely suppressed the feeling of my breath catching in my throat.
“Of these, the number of personnel who have recovered or are expected to return with the help of Her Majesty the Queen and the priests is 34,179.”
Then the rest must be warriors who fell, or can no longer serve in the military.
“I see. …Thank you, Your Majesty the Queen.”
“You're welcome. It's my job.”
Eris replied with a light smile.
I hadn't noticed because of her usual lighthearted demeanor, but looking closely, Eris's face also showed signs of fatigue.
Did she attend the meeting while taking a short break?
Seeing her manage her condition without pushing herself to the point of collapse like before seemed admirable, yet I also felt sorry.
“And the Krafte Army?”
“We can't determine the exact number, but casualties seem to be around 80,000.”
“…How desperate.”
Having fought until nearly half their forces were lost before being routed, one must assume that even the Great King has effectively lost his offensive capability.
“Good, driving the Krafte Army out of Francia will be a matter of time. The problem is what comes next.”
Once we drive the Krafte Army out of Alsace, they will eventually try to negotiate for peace. Any more than that, and their homeland would be under attack.
But since we've dragged the Northern Allied Kingdom and the Duke of Saxony-Warsaw into this…….
“What's the situation in the Krafte homeland?”
“Well…”
When Berthier trailed off, I subtly raised an eyebrow, and Louis Desaix answered for him with an awkward smile.
“Their 50,000-strong allied force is said to have been crushed by the 25,000 troops led by Crown Prince Heinrich.”
“Crushed? By them?”
“I'm afraid so. It seems Crown Prince Heinrich is now being praised in Krafte as much as the Great King, and there was a request from the Northern Allied Kingdom to advance quickly into the Krafte homeland.”
“……. This is absurd…….”
I thought that even if they couldn't push the Krafte Kingdom to the brink of collapse, they could at least get into a brawl.
Just having a part of Crown Prince Heinrich's standing army tied up because of them was all the gain we needed, do we now have to advance all the way to Krafte's homeland just to take land for those bastards to eat?
I don't know about the National Assembly, but at the very least, Eris probably wouldn't want it.
While I was thinking that, a messenger entered.
“Apologies for interrupting the meeting, His Excellency the Marquis Lafayette. There is urgent news.”
“Urgent news here? What is it?”
“The Germania Empire is said to be preparing a mobilization order!”
“What? How long has it been since they said they were busy suppressing rebellions?”
“W-Well, it seems the suppression was completed during the street battles in Barua. News also arrived that the feudal lords held a ceremony to pledge their loyalty before Empress Cecilia and the Crown Prince.”
“Hah.”
They forcefully suppressed the feudal lords in that mess of an Empire who were demanding their defaulted debts back?
I glanced sideways at Damien De Millbeau.
“What do you think?”
Still, he is a general famed as the number two of the Revolutionary Army, so I should at least hear his opinion.
However, Damien's reaction was utterly pathetic.
“Y-Yes? M-Me? About what?”
Ah, and they call this man a Master of Defense, really.
I glared at the flustered Damien De Millbeau, then turned my gaze to Louis Desaix.
“They probably don't want another war. Even if they've suppressed the rebellion for now, their internal situation must be a mess. The fact they're still making a move suggests a high probability that they're trying to check our entry into the territory of the Krafte Kingdom, which is part of the Empire.”
“…It's likely they were promised something from Krafte, isn't it? Probably not from the Great King, but from Crown Prince Heinrich.”
As I said that, Chief of Staff Berthier replied.
“Yes. Most likely, it's support for the Crown Prince as a Prince-elector. In other words, by asking the Krafte Kingdom for help, she's trying to regain the next imperial throne that she had practically given up on. Additionally, if the Krafte Kingdom were partitioned by us, Francia's influence within the Empire would become immense, so she probably wants to prevent that as well.”
“Hoo….”
Cecilia, no, it was Kaiserin Cecilia.
She really is something else. She's going to defend her bottom line even in this fucked-up war?
If we were to push all the way to Krafte, honestly, it wouldn't be impossible to smash the messy Krafte or Imperial armies, and lead the Northern Allied Kingdom and the Duchy of Saxony-Warsaw to partition Krafte.
But at the same time, that would ultimately become the embers of another war, and above all, we would have to endure more sacrifices.
I let out a light sigh and looked at Eris.
And the answer that would come from her lips was already set.
“…Let's end this war now, Marquis-nim.”