EP.168
Reich Imperial Palace conference room.
The imperial ministers gathered here have now become one regardless of political faction, and with their unity, they have begun to criticize the head of the intelligence department in charge of intelligence.
“What on earth were those belonging to the Imperial Intelligence Department doing? You took the budget and only used it to go to bars and touch women’s breasts, right? “Thanks to you, His Royal Highness was almost captured by the Duke of Switzerland.”
“I acknowledge the mistakes of our intelligence department, Excellency the Minister of Finance. But I couldn’t help it. I never thought that a man called the earl of a country would be sharpening his sword for three years.”
“With that in mind, even though His Majesty the Crown Prince was put in danger due to your negligence. It’s not like I have a neck on your shoulder until now! “If it had been any other time, several of you, including yourself, would have had their heads blown off!”
After hearing those words, the intelligence chief gave up making any further excuses and quietly bowed his head to express his apology.
And even the ministers who reprimanded him knew that, if they thought rationally, it was virtually impossible to detect that Count Bern was acting as a double agent.
The head of the intelligence department was a person who had paid a huge price due to an unavoidable mistake such as a natural disaster or natural disaster, including being dismissed from office a few days ago and having one baronage taken away.
Just as the ministers were slowly changing the topic to something else and trying to continue the conversation, the door opened and the emperor came in, looking quite displeased.
The emperor signaled the proclamation to keep quiet, then quietly sat down in his seat and spoke.
“I think this expedition to Switzerland was essentially a failure from a strategic perspective. What does the Minister of Military Affairs think? “Let’s talk about it from a neutral perspective.”
“We failed to achieve our original goal of taking over three cantons in Switzerland, so our strategic goal was not achieved. However, since he succeeded in luring the Swiss army to the vicinity of Dolfino Castle and killing a huge number of enemy soldiers, it can be considered a great tactical victory. “When you think about everything, it’s a decisive victory for the Imperial Army.”
“What happens from a long-term perspective?”
At those words, Oto Moritz, the leader of the group, thought for a moment and answered.
“The Swiss lost 40,000 soldiers. Therefore, a sharp decline in military power cannot be avoided. However, unless the duke is an idiot, he will try to thoroughly protect the interior by minimizing the number of mercenaries he dispatches. Therefore, it will be difficult for us to attack them again and occupy the land of Switzerland.”
Emperor Fernando gritted his teeth when he heard those words.
Because even in his own eyes, this battle could not be said to have been won because the strategic goal was not achieved.
However, Major General Jaeger, who always creates miracles in the worst situations, killed many Swiss soldiers through his plans.
Based on this, the answer was obtained that it was a strategic victory from a long-term perspective, and as a result, the crown prince’s plan to claim victory went awry.
“Right. Then, before we discuss the reward for the most important person, let us first discuss the punishment of the others who participated in this expedition. First of all, I plan to order the five division commanders below the deputy commander to be discharged before the personnel announcement next year. Although they say they did nothing wrong, it is true that they put the crown prince in danger. Instead, I plan to allow him to be treated as a retired soldier.”
The emperor who said this felt sorry that the empire’s talented people had to be forcibly discharged due to an unfortunate accident.
As expected, the deputy commander did his best with about 2,000 knights and succeeded in returning the crown prince safely to the Reich Empire.
The remaining five division commanders did not make any particular strategic or tactical mistakes while carrying out the operation under the Crown Prince’s command.
Following the instructions of Major General Yeager, they fought and worked hard to ensure that the 50,000 expeditionary forces returned safely to their homeland.
Without them, the crown prince might have been stranded in Switzerland and fallen into the duke’s hands, but having to blame them for being key officials is the cause of the emperor’s regret.
‘Publicly, even if they are held responsible for putting the crown prince in danger and are discharged from the military, personally, I should take the time to call them to the palace with their families to comfort them and provide them with financial compensation. In addition, the relative should be given many opportunities to make a contribution and even rewarded generously.’
“In addition, depending on the severity of the mistake, some of the staff members who approved this plan will be severely punished, such as demotion in rank or dishonorable discharge. “The Minister of Military Affairs will review this directly within the General Staff and submit a report.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. “Then how do you plan to deal with those who designed the operation together with His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“As originally stated, it is a crime for which the death penalty can be considered for putting the crown prince in danger by planning the operation poorly. However, since the reason for the failure of this operation is the misjudgment of the intelligence chief, the punishment will be reduced. We will discharge all of them dishonorably and deprive them of their right to inherit their titles. However, in the case of Major Venner, considering that he is the only male heir of the Marquis Venner, the punishment will be confiscated of all property owned by the individual.”
Being deprived of the right to inherit a title during a dishonorable campaign not only takes one’s life, but is effectively a social burial that obliterates one’s status as an aristocrat.
Once you are dishonorably discharged, from then on wherever you go in the Reich Empire, you will be labeled as a ‘dishonorably discharged person’.
So even if you go out and try to do something, the label of being dishonorably discharged prevents you from creating a new beginning.
Still, it would be better if he could at least inherit the title and go down to his fiefdom in the provinces, lay down everything, and manage the fiefdom in his mansion.
Since he was stripped of his title, he was effectively branded by the state as someone who could not do anything.
The only reason Major Benner survived this disposition was simply because he belonged to the families of the Marquis Benner and Major General Jaeger, candidates for the next Marshal.
“Then what do you think about Major General Jaeger’s award instead of military service?”
At those words, Otto Moritz smiled brightly and spoke in a serious voice.
“When Major General Jaeger fell into a trap set up by the Swiss army in the Ticino canton, he made it a point to kill 2,500 enemy soldiers, creating a way for His Majesty to escape. Furthermore, he sensed before anyone else that the Count of Bern was a double agent, and after detecting that it was an enemy’s elaborate plan to capture His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he informed the entire army of the fact. We also devised a plan to safely retreat the entire army.”
Otto Moritz, the military official, said this and was secretly envious of Major General Jaeger.
‘If I had been there, it would have been possible to return His Highness the Crown Prince safely and the loss of troops would have been stopped at a level of about 40%. However, they would not have dared to cause great damage to the enemy during the retreat.’
“He stood at the forefront every day as a major general to ensure the safe return of His Majesty the Crown Prince and to save at least one more soldier. And over the course of a month, he personally killed 240 Swiss soldiers.”
When the ministers heard that, they could not believe their ears.
Even monsters commonly called sword masters cannot deal with more than three knights in one battlefield, and there are also situations where they cannot kill even a single enemy in battle.
The fact that a major general was at the forefront and cut down 240 enemy soldiers was something that was beyond their common sense.
“Thanks to this, even though our troops were completely isolated during the Swiss expedition, our expeditionary force suffered only about 10,000 deaths. Compared to that, the Swiss lost almost twice as many soldiers as we did. And…”
I tried to continue talking, but the raid at Castle Dolfino was something that Director Jaeger’s request was accepted and was decided to be an achievement for the crown prince.
So the Minister of Military Affairs took a deep breath and spoke again.
“It is no exaggeration to say that his achievements single-handedly saved the country from a crisis that threatened to collapse. So, I think it would be a good idea to reward him very generously and make him an example, Your Majesty.”
The ministers, who knew how to read the mood, raised no objection to those words, and the emperor spoke resolutely with an expression that said he had made a big decision.
“In recognition of his accomplishments in saving the Crown Prince, Major General Peter Yeager is promoted to lieutenant general. In addition, his title was raised to count and he was granted the Count of Ingolstadt, the Count of Augsburg, and the Barony of Angol. Additionally, in recognition of his achievement in saving the crown prince, he was awarded the Diamond Knight’s Sword Cross. Lastly, in recognition of his contribution to saving the empire from crisis, we will award him the Twin Dragon Medal and commemorate him by engraving his name on a pillar of the imperial palace.”
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