Mysterious Job Called Oda Nobunaga - 145

According to the tortured account of Viscount Force Molesey of Kark, the original plan of the battle was to force the western army led by Hasse to retreat.

The former royalists thought that it would be possible to do so with only half of the forces of the army of the conquered West.

That is not such a strange calculation. In fact, it is said that it is desirable to have three times as many men to fight against a besieged enemy.

The Seongseongun had only about twice as many men as the besiegers, and even in sporadic battles, the besiegers were winning.

However, if there was a problem, it was that the Seongseo forces were more stubborn than expected and did not retreat easily.

There were various reasons for this, such as Hasse’s insistence on face value and the fact that there were no outstanding generals who knew when to retreat, but as a result, the siege side ran out of provisions, which created a problem for them.

The number of troops was too large for a siege. It would be difficult to fight for a long period of time.

So, we turned to attacking the conquering Western forces, which was successful, and Hasse decided to retreat.

However, when I arrived there with a new army, the former royalists in the siege were in a difficult situation.

I heard such reports from Mistletoe. I was sitting on an easy chair in the home of the chief of the village where we were camped. Parts of the village had apparently been slightly damaged during the retreat of Hasse’s conquering army and were in a state of disrepair. I offered my protection and a verbal promise that I would execute those who had wrecked the village. They are probably already on their way to King’s Landing.

“I see. It’s good to know that the enemy’s main force won’t be around for a while.

“Yes. It seems that they still intend to fight a decisive battle across the straits in the territories of the Counts of Talmud and Samyut.

Mistletoe answered in a whisper.

The main body of the enemy is far in the back, and until then, their plan is to force our forces to bleed out in small forts and the like for a long time. Each region has its own lords, of course, and it would take quite a long time to crush them all.

If we can hit them on the way, we will hit them, and if not, we will let them extend their forces and hit them when they cross the Sanado Strait. Well, the strategy is almost the same as we had expected.

We also asked them to give us the names and sizes of specific enemies to the best of their knowledge. However, the lords who were only in charge of the front line did not have such a detailed knowledge. After all, we could not know the details until we entered the area.

“And what about Viscount Kark?”

“He bit his tongue out during torture and died.”

Well, I had intended to kill him originally, so I didn’t feel anything special about his death.

“I can’t believe you would make such a mistake. Most likely, you intentionally set him up to kill himself after you were done getting information out of him.”

As a matter of fact, yes.

Without smiling at all, Mistletoe answered nonchalantly.

“All right. Our immediate plan remains the same. We will continue to march forward, dropping the enemy fortresses and deploying our generals. If possible, we would like to reach the straits, but even if we can’t reach that far, we would like to control two prefectures.”

It is meaningless if the enemy takes back the territory after we retreat as soon as we take control. We must increase our territory without fail. We should seize the strongholds so that we can march safely when we retreat.

“I don’t think we will have any strong enemies for a while. There are no big lords until the straits. That’s why the former king must have relied on the great lords of the Talmud and Samyut.

“Right. Well, it’s an easy job up to the straits, but we’ll score some points with the king anyway. And what about the detachment?”

As for the detachment, I did not tell Hasse and the others about it. I am in sole charge of the operation this time, so there is no problem. That’s the position of a regent, after all.

“Solstice Nistonia is advancing westward with 6,000 men along with the other lords. There are no particular enemies, so I think we are on the right track.

I nodded my head in exultation.

“Then there’s nothing to worry about. You may step back.”

With a small bow, the mistletoe quickly disappeared.

Solstice Nistonia has the enemies of the former royalists attacking westward from the province of Brantar, which had been ruled by Ailes Quartis. This will allow us to expand our territory efficiently.

At an early stage, we will increase the kingdom’s – no, my – territory at the level of the plane.

The lands I acquire in the course of my military operations will be at my disposal for the time being. Since the former king is my sworn enemy beyond that point, King Hasse will have no choice but to approve it. This is an emergency measure in a time of war. We don’t have time to ask the king’s opinion.

And I’m going to make this land my own. I will treat it as if it were my own.

Preferably after the fall of the former royalists.

Then most of the kingdom will be under my control. I will be able to force the royal family to give up their power, and I will be able to choose Hasse’s son as a son-in-law for Rumi’s daughter.

This battle is not only against the former royalists. It is a fight to make me king.

–You look good now. You have to be.

I don’t feel so alone now that I have Oda Nobunaga.

–The High King is a lonely man. But the High King must have time to enjoy it. After all, the view that only he alone in the world can see is spread out all the time.

Of course I will.

I will be king. The Kingdom of Serwil will end with Hasse. Well, there’s no need to change the name of the kingdom, but posterity will have a different name for the next dynasty.

In the meantime, I will write a handwritten letter to King Hasse.

The letter says that we have successfully defeated the bandits and liberated the land. It also says that the bandits in the north are also under attack. I wrote that I would liberate the land as far as the straits, but Hassan might think that I was partly paying lip service to that part.

But I intend to do it seriously.