EP.211
And three months later, the plain near the port of Visby, Kingdom of Stockholm.
“As of the current time, we will begin a strategy meeting for war against the Kingdom of Stockholm. “Let Captain Olga, or Captain, speak first.”
As Captain Keitel, commander of the Stockholm Expeditionary Force, spoke, a man wearing a fur cloak called Captain Olga stood up from a corner and spoke.
“I personally led a company of light cavalry under my command to scout from Visby to Lund and returned. “On the way back and forth, the army of the Kingdom of Stockholm was not seen.”
“What is the condition of the road to Lund? “Were there any elements that could interfere with the movement?”
“The road is somewhat narrow, but I don’t think there will be any major problems even if a large army passes through it. At the same time, I roughly scouted the defense status of the fortress on the way to Lund, and it didn’t look that good. The number of soldiers seemed small and their armament was only second or third level compared to the imperial army.”
“If that is true, just like Lieutenant General Yeager said, they knew in advance that we would invade here. So, I think they took out all but the minimum number of troops… They did a great job scouting.”
After hearing the praise, Captain Olga returned to her seat and sat down with a proud expression on her face and a shrug of her shoulders.
The other chieftains who saw this looked at Olga with their eyes shining, and they must have been thinking this.
He said he wanted to make a great contribution in this war and be promoted to major, thereby raising his status to a high-ranking officer who would be treated formally within the military.
“Lieutenant General Yeager, do you think we should leave only the 23rd level troops and attack the enemy’s abandoned castle? Or do you think we should just leave it as is?”
Even if only a few soldiers of the 23rd rank are left in the castle, attacking the walls and taking the castle may require great sacrifice and time consumption.
So, when advancing very quickly, there are times when you just pass by the opponent’s main defense point.
The reason is that at the cost of revealing the weakness of your supply route to the opposing soldiers within the castle, the enemy army can be caught off guard by moving at an unexpected speed.
Taking advantage of this, nomads often destroy their enemies individually.
But I don’t think now is the time for that.
“Later, when the supply route is established, the soldiers inside the castle can rush out and carry out sabotage actions such as cutting off the supply route. “Once the supply route is cut off, stable supply becomes impossible, so I think it would be better to capture all the castles along the route, even if it means losing time.”
“I think that would be best. “Our troops number 110,000, but many of the castles along the route we pass through have a lot of garrisons, so there aren’t many places with more than 10,000 at best.”
There are instances in history where a thousand soldiers perfectly blocked the onslaught of tens of thousands of soldiers.
In a siege, the side defending the castle is often able to repel much larger troops than itself with only a small number of troops.
This is also true when the difference in forces between the side defending the castle and the side attacking is about 3 to 5 times. In reality, if the difference in forces is more than 10 times, it is very difficult to hold on.
Moreover, even if they are second- and third-line soldiers, unless they just have air in their heads, they will definitely know why the higher-ups left them here.
In all likelihood, the gates will open as soon as we get close, and if the soldiers with low morale watch over the castle, we won’t be able to get far.
“Once you capture the castle, I think it would be better to just disarm all the soldiers in the castle and let them go.”
“Are you thinking about public sentiment after the occupation? I don’t think it’s a bad idea. “Someone among them will escape and inform the enemy of our troops’ location and size.”
“Even so, the Stockholm Kingdom Army will not be able to force the marching route of our expeditionary force. Therefore, if location information is given to them, the only operation they can attempt is a surprise operation. Moreover, we have a scouting unit made up of northerners who can scout a distance twice as close as regular scouts…” “
That means we won’t have to suffer unnecessary troop losses due to the enemy’s surprise operation. On the other hand, informing the enemy of our location also means that our allies can make the enemy move as they wish.”
Moreover, near Visby Castle, where we are now, and in the south of Stockholm, there is a plain with no obstacles except forests.
Even if we let the enemy know our location, it is still difficult to surprise us because there is almost no terrain that is easy to ambush, which is essential for establishing a surprise attack.
Therefore, unless our Captain Kaitel insists that we take a bowl of medicine and invade the fortress that has been thoroughly prepared for defense, it can be said that there will be no need to fight in an unfavorable battlefield.
“So, do you plan to hold a giant slalom on the plain like the last time you fought in Austria? It’s a good idea to fight head-on on the plains. In addition, we have absorbed a lot of northerners, so our cavalry ratio is higher than that of our opponents, so we have an advantage in many ways.”
In the wars of this era, the number of knights you have is actually the most important factor when evaluating your strength.
Light cavalry, especially archer cavalry, is as powerful as knights.
Therefore, if the same forces are mobilized to fight, the Reich Imperial Army, which has 10,000 knights and 10,000 northern archer cavalry, is much more advantageous.
The chiefs here also knew this and shouted loudly, as if they thought their chance to play had finally come.
“I will definitely repay the favor of the Empire, which saved us from being oppressed by Ludvik Khan and allowed us to return to our original land and live!”
“If you give us the opportunity to perform, we will repay you with results that exceed your expectations!”
“Commander-in-chief, please leave everything to me. “Our Olga Company will return with the best results.”
Although the conversation paused for a moment while the Commander-in-Chief and Deputy Commander were speaking, I did not expect them to hit it off like that.
However, since I didn’t understand their feelings, I sent a signal to the captain, who was showing a bit of displeasure, to ask him to calm down.
As if he understood my intention, Captain Kaitel just nodded his head a few times and spoke politely.
“I am not unaware of your loyalty and passion for contributing to the empire. So this time, I gave you the rank of captain and gave you the authority to command 100 warriors from each tribe. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to get too excited when we haven’t even told you what kind of strategy we will carry out yet.”
In fact, in most cases, anyone below a major does not even have the opportunity to enter a command center that commands more than 100,000 soldiers.
The chiefs over there acknowledged their special status as tribal chiefs in the north and thus allowed their participation in the strategy meeting.
“As you said, I do plan to run the giant slalom. But before that, I want to give the 10,000 northern archer cavalry a chance to be active.”
At those words, the captain changed his eyes and asked.
“It doesn’t seem like they want to end it by simply fighting head-on on the plains. So, what are you thinking?”
“Nothing different, we are planning to surprise the enemy. And this raid requires brave and nimble northerners.”
“Is this a surprise attack in this flat area? “It won’t be easy.”
Certainly, conducting a surprise attack in a flat area is a difficult and difficult task.
So, I decided that it was okay to give the enemy approximate information about our location, so although my claim is contradictory.
“It’s certainly not easy, but it’s not impossible. Because we can march at least five times the speed of the enemy marching with infantry… If we properly understand the terrain and plan a useful strategy, we can pull off a surprise attack that will inflict quite a significant blow on the opponent.”
Captain Kaitel looked at my face and sighed.
“Okay, if there is any concern about the operation failing, please return immediately. Just by leading the archer cavalry and scouting the surrounding area, you will be of great help to our army.”
“Yes, Commander.”
**
A week later, on a plain in Stockholm.
“Ka… B… No, Lieutenant General Jaeger! From here, you can see the great city of Stockholm, 30 km away. The army numbered approximately 150,000 men and bore the banner of Ishtaven the Traitor. What would you like to do?”
I answered that with a smile.
“Which path do you think they will take? “If you know that first, you can do anything, right?”
A word from the author (author review)
Thank you, zakuti.
See next episode
