NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 60
Carl von Clausewitz, known as the progenitor of Western military history, wrote in his work “On War” that three key elements are necessary for victory in war.
1. Destroy the enemy’s combat power to prevent further battles.
2. Occupy the enemy’s territory, which can support their military.
3. Eradicate the enemy’s will to fight, making war impossible.
Clausewitz claims that wars typically unfold in this order: first, the destruction of combat power; followed by the occupation of territory; and finally, the cessation of hostilities. However, when it comes to minimizing “our bloodshed,” the most effective method is to wear down the enemy’s will to fight rather than engage in battles to destroy combat power or conduct occupation campaigns.
This is because soldiers with strong fighting spirit can achieve victory even in extreme situations such as the Battles of Jinju, Haengju, or Myeongnyang, which witnessed odds of 13 to 333.
On the other hand, generals and soldiers with broken or weaker fighting spirits can lose even if they fight against overwhelming odds, as evidenced by the aforementioned battles.
Thus, in every war, we create justification to bolster our fighting spirit while eroding the enemy’s will to fight.
To fabricate this justification, I deliberately declared numerous reasons for breaking the “lord-vassal relationship” to undermine not only the enemy’s will but also to fend off idiots attempting to meddle in the “civil war.”
I never thought they would go so far as to commit such actions. Thanks to that, our army has leveled up to become “an army that upholds ideal chivalry.”
After beating the Schwabin, I returned home and explained this to Balt and Chris.
“So originally, the plan was to exclude ‘those who might support the Count’ by nitpicking at the justifications for breaking the lord-vassal relationship and aim to crush the Count’s morale. But that idiot over there touched ‘Ela,’ and based on that, he challenged me to a duel.”
“That’s impressive. You might not have intended it, but under those circumstances, it was the best course of action. Thanks to that, the ‘pig’ we aim to overthrow will now be branded as ‘a shameless man who even attempted to steal his subordinate’s woman.’ He is already incompetent, and if he does such a thing… no one will want to entrust their lives to him.”
“Chris, even so, you are being too cold. Ela is the ‘woman’ that His Excellency loves the most. If you’re a vassal serving His Excellency, shouldn’t you be angrier? Since hearing this anecdote, I feel like I’m turning inside out…”
After hearing this, Chris replied in a calm voice.
“His Excellency has said that all emotions should be set aside now to establish strategy. I too, being a servant of His Excellency… cannot forgive Schwabin for such actions.”
“Then…!”
Balt getting angry for me is appreciated, but now is the time to cool off completely and have a rational discussion, just as Chris mentioned.
Ultimately, that guy got beaten to a pulp without even laying a finger on Ela before becoming a pork cutlet…
Even so, as a ‘vassal’ without proper title or position, it’s problematic for Chris to discuss matters on par with Balt… as it could disrupt the hierarchy.
“Enough, enough. It’s time to derive a strategy. Cool off, Balt, and Chris.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
I placed my right hand on her chin, raised her face to meet my gaze, and pretended to slice my throat as I spoke.
“Balt is clearly a knight who has been granted territory. Do not mistake that because Chris Veladora has become my vassal that she stands on equal footing with that guy. If she were to act as such on the battlefield, she would face execution per military law. Even if you have no military experience, you must understand the punishment for ‘insulting a superior,’ right?”
Upon hearing that, Chris seemed to genuinely think I might cut her head off, her eyes darting side to side as she began to tremble.
Soon, she bowed deeply to Balt and apologized.
“Please forgive my reckless statements, Sir Balt.”
Balt seemed quite satisfied that Chris had bowed to him first, responding with a pleased expression.
“Be careful from now on. You may not have known due to your life as a wanderer without military experience, but that is no longer the case, is it?”
“Yes, Sir Balt.”
To lighten the slightly awkward atmosphere, I clapped my hands to gather their attention and continued the conversation.
“Balt, I had instructed the bards of the royal road to spread this story across the whole Count Nante’s domain. What is the progress?”
“I paid four gold coins to bribe a hundred bards, sending them to Nante. By the time the ‘war’ begins, it should spread like wildfire.”
“Perfect. Can you share the contents? You wrote the poem, so I gave you one gold coin, right?”
“I shall share it.”
After that, Balt stood up, cleared his throat several times, and began to recite the poem as if singing.
“At the funeral of His Most Exalted Majesty, a promiscuous man coveted a beautiful maiden. Her name was Ela, the beloved of the invincible hero Count Croilet… Desiring her bountiful bosom, his master, fatter than a pig, reached out, but… Oh, the Count repelled him and fought honorably. That sight was like a legendary knight…”
The poetry sung by the bards is so juvenile that I never once heard it properly, but according to Balt, they sing this in the most nauseating manner at taverns, right?
With those overflowing, teenage angst-filled lyrics, to be uttered in a voice as cheesy as cheese, just thinking about it makes my skin crawl.
Yet, regrettably, without this kind of stimulation, it wouldn’t stick in people’s ears.
After hearing the entire poem, Chris sparkled with tears of emotion and said,
“Sir Balt, you have a talent for poetry. You told me I don’t know how to write well… but I think you write better than poets who have lived only by writing.”
“Haha, well, that’s because His Excellency the Count provided such a magnificent anecdote… And compared to those simpletons whose heads are filled with ink, wandering the battlefield and enjoying romance with numerous women, I am bound to be superior… It’s a matter of experience, isn’t it?”
Chris seems to be expressing admiration for well-written poetry, but perhaps out of concern that ‘if Balt and I don’t get along, your life is at stake,’ it feels like flattery…
Nevertheless, it’s fortunate for me that they are getting along so well.
“That was great, that’s enough. I’ll give Balt two more gold coins when he returns to the territory. It’s a perfect poem!”
Then, I took a moment to cool my head and improve Balt and Chris’s relationship by first praising Balt immensely.
While I praised him, Chris followed along with comments like “So that’s what you had going on!”
After about five minutes of praising Balt, Chris, probably thinking that was sufficient, asked again in a serious tone.
“Your Excellency, now about the place to wage war… where do you think it should be? We need to avoid locations with towns or where we need to cross rivers… Given the marching speed on the day the war starts, the best place would be Sengalo. This is our territory. Considering Schwabin’s reputation…”
“Given the Count’s character, it is undoubtedly a series of rape and pillage. That guy would devour all the village maidens. Chris.”
Upon hearing that, Chris, feeling the sentiment as a ‘woman,’ silently seethed with anger, though she did not express it outwardly.
Such things must never happen, and allowing an ‘army devoid of honor’ to pillage would be a failure as a ‘general commanding a war.’
Certainly, Schwabin would shout, “If you win here, do whatever you want!” permitting pillage and rape in the luscious Croilet compared to other territories…
Thus, the enemy would convert their desire for pillage into a will to fight and charge recklessly.
With our already limited numbers, enemy morale would rise?
The moment that happens, our army’s casualties will increase exponentially.
Moreover, I cannot allow that punk from Nante to dare to pillage my territory and serfs… Even now, I cannot forget the happy days I spent with my serfs in Windheim.
Thus, I drew the sword I had at my waist and slammed it onto the desk, declaring,
“Absolutely not! Our army will march as quickly as possible and engage in a decisive battle with the enemy in the ‘Stuttgart Plain’! We will achieve a significant victory and crush whatever remains of their morale to take down Nante Castle!”
Upon hearing this, Chris and Balt extended their right arms forward, bent them, and bowed their heads while seated, expressing their absolute compliance with my orders.
And Chris looked at me and asked,
“Based on the stories and records of Your Excellency’s past wars, I believe you will devise ‘strategies that can win even in such situations’… but how will you do it?”
“Well…”
After elaborating for a long time, they both applauded in understanding.
“Your Excellency is a genius…”
“The reincarnation of a master commander, following you has been the best decision of my life.”
Hearing both of their compliments, I waved my hand modestly and said,
“That’s enough for now. Oh, Chris, please organize the strategies we’ve discussed up until now and bring them to me tomorrow. The others will return to the territory and dictate to the scribes.”
The strategy for an inevitable victory, a gamble all or nothing, is about to begin…
**
Then we returned to the territory and introduced Chris to my vassals.
Of course, since Chris couldn’t prove her abilities at this moment, introducing her as ‘a woman’ would surely lead everyone to think of her only as ‘His Excellency’s concubine’…
So, I withheld the fact that she was a woman, sharing everything about our experiences with Chris.
After that, I immediately started a meeting about which knights and soldiers to select.
As the meeting wrapped up, as expected, my father, Paul von Croilet, the former Count, who I had intentionally excluded from the meeting…
Burst into the meeting room, donned in armor and armed with a sword.
He marched straight up to me and said,
“Siel von Croilet! How could you plan to suppress Count Nante without even a word to me!!!”
“I had to. You already know what that pig Schwabin has done to our family, don’t you?”
“Y-yes, but…”
I seized this opportunity to eliminate any lingering hesitations in their minds by coldly reciting just the facts.
“He did not send a single soldier to assist us when we were up against two Counts, and the battle with Count Helzman was merely a love affair over Count Gent’s lady. Of course, fifty knights died because of his reckless lance charge. Then, he dishonorably forced you to resign from the position of ‘guardian’ for nonsensical reasons.”
“That’s true… He did…”
“I might have been able to endure this much. Perhaps because if we disbanded the vassal relationship, ‘Maxburg’ and ‘Franche’ might invade in the meantime. To be blunt, it might be better to be under garbage than to die.”
Though I said this, I’d much rather command a thousand troops alone than be under a trash commander overseeing ten thousand; what would be the point?
It was just some ‘rhetoric’ to silence the people around me and to also gag my father.
“However, at that sacred funeral of His Excellency, the Emperor, the damned pig had the audacity to lay hands on the woman I love the most, Ela. That wretched human being. Therefore, as a knight who knows honor, and as a standard-bearer to show the path forward for these people, I initiated the duel to break the lord-vassal relationship. Let’s be frank: we’re already done.”
Upon hearing that, my father displayed a face of despair, his color drained from his face.
To deliver another blow, so that my father would not dare oppose this campaign, if it came to that, I’d have to either confine him or execute him…
To avoid that tragedy, I declared more coldly.
“If it weren’t for you preventing me right here and now, I could spare no one—not even Ela. However, because you are my father, who has trusted me wholeheartedly, and the respected ‘former Count’ to these people, I will overlook your past misdeeds, but… there will be no next time. What will you do?”
As soon as I finished speaking, I signaled to two knights around me to escort my father to a room.
However, just as the two knights grasped my father’s arm to lead him away, he broke free with superhuman strength and shouted.
“Then, Siel von Croilet, what about the Count’s vassals? What will you do if you truly acquire the title of Count? What will you do with them?”
“I will kill them if they interfere, and if they do not, they can serve me. Moreover, they will become wealthier than before, unlike these fellows.”
Hearing this, my father glanced at the armors worn by powerful knights in our territory, like Jack, Balt, Helmut, Weiss, Beerman.
Their armors were not the dull silver ones I had worn when I first reincarnated in this territory.
As if to demonstrate there was now prosperity, the armors gleamed with silver brilliance, and in the middle, they bore their family crests engraved with ‘gold and various dyes.’
Compared to the armors that poor Counts wore to maintain their dignity in other territories, just this sight alone speaks volumes—they could grasp the kind of wealth I guaranteed them.
With that, my father seemed to have given up entirely, sighed deeply as if the earth itself had sunk, and boldly said,
“It is my duty to eliminate the disgraceful behaviors of Count Nante, who has already given up on the ways of a knight. This is my final obligation as a guardian and my last loyalty to the late Count Nante. Also, persuading his comrades and excellent vassals to unite them as ‘one Nante’ is also my duty… so let’s go, Siel.”
If my father joins, he could further diminish the will to fight among the Counts, preventing hundreds or even thousands of troops from acting independently.
If that happens, my soldiers and the noblemen who will become the foundation of this territory in the future will not be lost.
However, due to his previously shown attitude, I couldn’t entrust him with any soldiers…
So, I smiled at my father and extended my hand.
“I cannot assign a single soldier to you…”
My father took my hand and replied.
“My task is merely to persuade the Counts and observe the end of Count Nante. And as a father, this is perhaps the first and last chance to witness my exceptional child’s war. Let me be by your side. Let us share some drinks at night and discuss the things we haven’t been able to.”
In his gaze, I could feel no further hesitation.
Only pure concern for his child… A father’s love felt after decades in this life and the last.
Thus, unlike before, I spoke sincerely.
“I will show you beyond what you expect. The entire army will depart in three months. Prepare as instructed.”