The Biography of Albrecht - Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Translator: Nezu

Editor: Daed

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After the personnel arrangements for the center, left, and right flank were completed, detailed substantive meetings were held. They discussed how many rows the formation were to be arranged in, where and how many would be deployed. In fact, these had been discussed even before Albrecht came, so it was more of a continuation for confirmation.

Once the meeting was over, the other lords left, leaving Albrecht and Sigmund alone in the command post. Albrecht spoke first.

“I have a favor to ask of you.”

Sigmund answered with his eyes fixed on the map.

“You’re not going to ask the ‘King’?”

Albrecht turned his gaze away from him and looked to the side.

“You want to hear me say I was wrong?”

Sigmund smiled at Albrecht’s reply.

“Haha, alright, I won’t argue with you. I don’t like arguing much either.”

Sigmund rose from his seat and took out some glasses and wine from somewhere inside the tent. He poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Albrecht.

“So what is it?”

Albrecht took the glass but didn’t drink.

“There’s this village called Wittenheim. It was founded by villagers of Penbacht after escaping the massacre of their mad lord. If we win the war, I want their village to be officially recognized.”

His request had to be made in advance whether they won the war or not. It wasn’t that he was assuming that their victory was certain. He just knew that the request for rewards could be way more intense than the actual war.

Sigmund returned to his seat, looking more relaxed than he did during the meeting. Contrary to his neat appearance, his slightly languid posture created a particular atmosphere.

“Is that all?”

“That’s all.”

Sigmund took a sip of wine. “Can you tell me the reason why you’re doing this?”

“You wouldn’t understand even if I tell you. I owe them. Since they’re in a difficult situation, I’m paying off my debt.”

Sigmund nodded his head as he stroked his beard.

“How noble. I was like that once. But it’s best not to care too much about commoners. They tend to become overfamiliar.”

Albrecht studied Sigmund again. He didn’t care about how he viewed commoners but it was a little strange that he could relate to him, saying that he was the same as him once.

Sigmund continued, “Which territory does it belong to?”

“I heard that they’re from Obobern.”

“If we win the war, then that territory will belong to you.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Then give it to someone else. It’s up to you whether you give it to beggars or sell it to merchants.”

Albrecht found Sigmund cautious yet daring, complicated yet simple. He seemed to have various faces—contradicting faces—in one body.

“Thanks. But let me ask you a question.”

Still drinking his wine, Sigmund said, “Go ahead.”

Albrecht looked up, “How great are your ambitions?”

Sigmund smiled, seemingly unperturbed.

“Usually, people who are good at fighting are simple-minded. But your mind seems to be on par with your fighting skills.”

Sigmund continued as Albrecht stared at him in silence, waiting for his answer.

“You’ll have to guess. That said, I hope you don’t go against me since I already like you a bit.”

Once he was done speaking, Sigmund finished his glass in one gulp. Albrecht bowed slightly to him then walked out of the command post.

It was almost noon when he left. He and Randolph went back to the blacksmith to collect the armor and to buy a surcoat. However, since Randolph didn’t have a family crest, they had the Hoenkaltern’s family crest drawn instead.

To have a crest meant that the person was a noble or a knight belonging to the family the crest pertained to. Albrecht didn’t mean to bind Randolph to that formality. He simply found his surcoat empty so he had his family’s crest drawn.

Though Randolph had yet to be officially appointed, he already had a warhorse. In terms of his skills and abilities, he was already as good as a knight.

Randolph helped Albrecht wear his gear. After that, they went to the stables to get Schwarz since Albrecht planned to gather the knights of the right flank. There were about 70 of them. Most of them were knights of the lords or from their own family.

There were about 30 knights in the left flank, which meant that they had more than 100 knights in total. It was quite a big number, almost on par with the number of knights of King Leopold.

“If you haven’t heard already, I am Albrecht von Hoenkaltern, the newly appointed commander of the right flank. I won’t give you a long speech. I just want to say that I want to get along with you all.”

Though they weren’t surprised to see their new commander—probably because they had heard the news already—they looked at Albrecht with some kind of anticipation for a famous knight.

They went to the plain behind the garrison and trained to charge. Before Albrecht came, they had already formed groups of 12 to charge forward in a straight line. They were training to charge at a fast pace, gradually increasing their speed as they moved and sprinting at top speed in the end.

Albrecht and Randolph quickly adapted to their method after a few tries. Afterwards, a knight walked up to Albrecht and asked a question.

“Is the commander planning to charge forward alone?”

“I am.”

The knights seemed a bit opposed to his decision. Another knight spoke up.

“It’s dangerous to do it alone. The commander may be good at fighting but if something goes wrong, who’s going to give us commands?”

Albrecht turned not only to the knight who asked him but to every knight present.

“Listen. Our number is less than our enemies but we, more or less, have the same number of knights as them. That means that our victory depends on how we fight. At the most critical moment, I have to personally attack the enemy’s weakness without delay. If I had a way to command you from behind and still win, I would do that—but I don’t. You can tell me if you don’t agree with me.”

The knights didn’t answer. They only knew of the common way, and planned to fight the way they had always fought, with no concept of tactics.

Not only did Albrecht train them to charge in a straight line, he also put the 70 knights into a wedge formation, practicing to move while switching directions while he was in the vanguard.

It was impossible to change the troops’ direction while charging with a straight line formation, but it was a way of crushing the enemy’s defense with an impactful, wave-like attack.

On the other hand, the wedge formation gave them the choice to change direction, depending on who was at the forefront. It focused on breaking through the enemy lines and causing their formation to collapse.

However, it was important that the person in the lead had the ability to accurately judge their situation on the spot. He must also have the courage to be able to take advantage of the enemies’ openings. The spearhead in a wedge formation was the most dangerous position with the highest chance of dying.

Albrecht wanted to use the wedge formation for the reason that it could maximize his strength and abilities, as compared to the straight line formation that depended on the knight’s individual strength.

Though the wedge formation was nothing new to this world, it wasn’t really well-known. The knights, who had only practiced with one formation all their lives, found the new formation unfamiliar and were confused. They all followed Albrecht’s training feeling half-excited and half-worried.

Albrecht joined the meetings in the morning, had lunch with the soldiers at noon, and trained the knights in the afternoon.

Their meetings were a constant confirmation of all their decisions so everything they talked about was the same. It was so they wouldn’t forget and so the center, left, and right flank wouldn’t have any problem working with one another.

Otto didn’t ask for Sigmund’s opinion nor did he feel uncomfortable with him. He simply checked and commanded the left flank as he should.

Vassals approached Sigmund almost everyday, doing him favors or flattering him. Over time, Sigmund’s status became almost indistinguishable from that of the king. The king was never seen coming out of his tent.

Without notice, February had already passed and March came. Two weeks later, King Leopold’s army could already be seen at the end of the horizon.

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