“I’ll tell you about it later. These mercenary captains follow my orders, but they are not loyal. I thought about using them as cannon fodder, but that would only lower morale. They’re not so easy to handle.”
“But isn’t that how mercenaries are usually managed?”
Disorderly chaos far from orderliness, unpredictable loyalty, easily shaken morale. . . isn’t this what you take into account when employing mercenaries?
“There are loyal ones available, yet I do not wish to employ such individuals.”
Johan had a thousand men under his command, and a thousand dwarven mercenaries. He could easily inflate the number by recruiting servants, merchants, or villagers from nearby towns.
“I understand. To be honest, I think Sir Knight could conquer the count’s territory with just two thousand men.”
“Don’t be too flattering.”
Gurelic was sincere, but Johan laughed it off.
“But I don’t understand why you sent the mercenaries to attack the southwest before conquering the count’s territory. I mean, the mercenary captains were very unhappy, but. . .”
“What would you have done instead?”
“I would have raided the rogue’s den in the forest.”
They had been defeated once before, and their reputation was infamous, so there was ample justification for it. If they had raided them, the mercenary captains would have been somewhat satisfied.
“No, that’s impossible.”
“It’s ridiculous to say that a raid is impossible with six thousand men!”
“I was surprised to find out that the villagers in the nearby town were helping the rogue’s den. They had really won over the people’s hearts. With such a large forest and the help of the villagers, it would only be a waste of time and effort. And they must have been really angry after their brother was killed. So I turned my attention elsewhere.”
“!!”
Gurelic was shocked. Johan had already calculated everything?
“It was up to the lord of that fiefdom to raid them, not me. And even if I had done it, wouldn’t the mercenary captains have complained later if the situation changed?”
“That’s true, but. . .”
That’s just a natural phenomenon, isn’t it?
“The nobles in the southwest could be angry, or they could call up their troops and suspect your intentions. The Empire could send reinforcements. And most importantly, the church would be angry, wouldn’t they?”
“Why?”
“Yes? Well, you’re not conquering the count’s territory, but you’re attacking somewhere else separately. . .”
“I don’t think so. Think about it. If the mercenaries just split up and attacked another fiefdom, what would people think? Would they think I ordered it, or would they think they just acted on their own?”
“. . .!!”
Gurelic’s body was covered in goosebumps. Johan was right. Neither the nobles nor the church would think that Johan had ordered it.
It was not surprising that greedy mercenaries who were dissatisfied with their treatment would act on their own.
“Were. . . all of those. . . calculated. . .?”
“What do you mean by calculated? I thought it would be more trouble to keep them around, so I sent them to draw attention elsewhere.”
If Johan sent the mercenaries away, he would have an easier time with logistics, his advance would be faster, and only the loyal ones would remain.
In addition, he could confuse the enemy. Even if the church’s intention was not to occupy, but to hold a trial, they could not withdraw their troops when thousands of people poured into the fiefdom.
They would exhaust their strength fighting the mercenaries who had gone mad with greed.
“That’s why I sent the mercenaries. Do you understand?”
“Yes. . .”
“Then, let’s go back to what we were talking about earlier. I said that we need to capture the count’s large and small castles, right?”
“Yes, isn’t that right?”
Since the Order issued an excommunication and Johan proposed a punitive expedition, Count Coolia, or rather the acting count, is probably busy summoning her vassals by now.
However, this time the situation was a bit different. Since the enemy forces were so large, it was likely that they would rather stay huddled in their own fiefdoms than gather for no reason.
If we leave it as it is, we will be constantly harassed and beaten from behind.
“We will ignore them and march directly to the count’s territory.”
“Danger. . . it’s dangerous! We could be attacked from behind. . .”
“No. We will use the excommunication of the Order as a pretext, and the stupid younger brothers of the Asada family will stop them. The acting count is going around persuading her vassals about her being a sinner.”
A war that has been carefully calculated.
It even made Gurelic feel dizzy, as if the war was over before it even began. The young knight in front of him felt like a monster in human skin.
“A few families will come out, but we have the Eastern Warriors anyway. If they want to fight a guerrilla war, welcome.”
“It seems like you have already prepared, but I have one more question. If the siege drags on, they may change sides, and then it will be difficult to supply. . .”
“That’s why we will march along the eastern coast. The republic’s fleet will support us.”
“. . .I will pledge my loyalty. Thank you for the enlightenment!”
“Your flattery is clumsy, isn’t it?”
Johan treated it as flattery, but Gurelic was sincere. He couldn’t tell how much his eyes had opened in such a short time.
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
𝙖𝙬𝕖𝚋s𝐭𝘰𝘳i̇̇ᴇ𝕤.𝐜𝐨ṁ
Johan kept his promise. After splitting off from the mercenaries, he immediately marched east and began to advance furiously along the coast.
The count’s vassals, who were frozen with fear, were taken aback by Johan’s army, which passed by without looting or fighting.
Johan sent an envoy, waving a majestic holy banner.
━𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥!
“My guess was wrong.”
Johan muttered calmly.
“Not a single one came out.”
“Maybe the count chose the wrong vassals, Sir Knight.”
Among the vassals, there was not a single family that came out to fight from their fiefdom. It was a waste of time to send out scouts, thinking that there might be a few.
A few fiefdoms even brought bribes. This was their kindness to ask not to touch their towns in exchange for this.
Even though the lord and vassal were in a contractual relationship, Johan was embarrassed to the point of being ashamed.
2 weeks.
It took 2 weeks for Johan to arrive at the Karis Castle, the main castle of the count’s territory, from the time he declared the extermination.
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
It was truly lightning speed.
By the time the envoy arrived and had a conversation after the excommunication of the church, Johan’s army was already visible in the distance.
Of course, the count’s territory was turned upside down.
“What were the ones who swore allegiance doing?”
“Sister-in-law This is the will of the vassals.”
“If you forget to call me deputy count just one more time, I will cut you down according to the law. Be careful!”
Iselia brandished her sword with her long blonde hair flowing. The momentum of a large knight drawing her sword overwhelmed the surrounding area. The Asada brothers, who knew Iselia’s swordsmanship, shut up.
“Bring me armor. I’ll go out and fight!”
“No, sist. . .no, deputy count!”
Iselia’s vassals were terrified and stopped her. There were only about two hundred soldiers guarding the castle now.
If she went out to fight, she would be defeated immediately, even if she was defending herself.
“We must try to negotiate and drag out time.”
“No! We must surrender! Don’t you see their army? The one leading them is the famous Sir Johan! How can we fight against him, who is strong enough to tear the neck of a troll?”
The Asada brothers’ words made the vassals look astonished. Those greedy people could say anything that came out of their mouths.