46 – Operation Noose (2)

Although I won’t face any enemies as I make my way to Hellsman Castle, I am isolated in enemy territory anyway.

In other words, our military cannot even predict when, where, and what kind of crisis will strike.

Therefore, in a normal case, I would have to regret why I took on ‘this mission’ or go ahead, or be in a state of tension in preparation for various crises that may come at any time, but…

Despite such a situation, personally, having only Baron Creutel’s army in the enemy camp is much more comfortable than being with Count Schwein’s army.

Because, as history has proven, incompetent commanders are more terrifying to allies than enemies.

Typical examples are the great General Won Gyun, who is highly likely to have been dispatched by Hideyoshi Toyotomi after predicting the Battle of Chilcheonryang decades ago, and the great commander of the Korean Independence Army, Renya Mudaguchi, who said that all Japanese were herbivores…

With these people, it’s safe to desert right away, even if we outnumber the enemy and have an advantage.

As I was feeling grateful for being freed from the incompetent commander who was harassing me, Balt came up to me and said:

“Your Excellency, according to the skirmisher’s report, we will arrive in Helsman City within the next two or three days.”

“yes? It’s faster than I thought… I thought it would take about four days.”

“Anyway, it seems that only Health paved the way better than we thought. Rather, the cart is less damaged than when marching in the county of Nantes.”

As Balt said, Count Helsmann paved the way well, probably to revive commerce in his territory with many plains.

Even if the roads were well paved, they were not as well made as the ‘modern paved roads’ made by Roman soldiers…

Still, I didn’t have to worry about my horse tripping over a rock when I went along the road I had made.

“That’s good news. The enemies wouldn’t have thought that we would go first and besiege the castle… That would reduce the time to prepare for the siege battle. Then, proportionally… the enemy will lose time to stock up on that much food.”

“I guess so. Then the siege will take a little less effort. I’ve heard that it usually takes between half a year and a year to capture a county’s castle, but that’s good.”

Come to think of it, the method of attacking a medieval or modern castle that I researched when I was in college before was…

The most common method is to climb over the enemy’s wall using a tower, battering ram, or ladder used for siege, dig a tunnel under the enemy’s wall to penetrate the wall, or dig up to the wall and break the wall with an excavator.

Or, in order to minimize damage to troops, there is a way to hold out until the enemy runs out of food…

In order to show the enthusiasm and results of the siege, the enemy’s food should be reduced as much as possible.

And the best way to cut down on food is definitely…

“Baltic.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“Right now, I have about two months’ supply of biscuits, salted meat, beer, and pickled fish. If you eat sparingly, you can last up to three months.”

Hearing that, Balt stuck out his tongue and said.

“Three months… Carrying enough food to last for three months. That’s a figure I couldn’t have imagined in my wandering days. I heard that the duke or king’s army, which usually prepares the most, carries a month’s worth of food.”

“That’s why I mainly brought biscuits and salted meat. There is little moisture inside, so it doesn’t rot, and it’s light. Just because you bake bread on the battlefield, you have to bake it to make wheat dough baked on an iron plate. Biscuit is better than that.”

Upon hearing this, Balt put on a look of despair as if he was disgusted with the reality that he would have to eat only biscuits and salted meat for the next few months.

I said the same thing, but rather than eating only biscuits, I think it would be better to bake a dough made with only flour and water on an iron plate.

It’s warm and soft, but you can’t even chew biscuits unless you soak them in water or beer.

And salted meat means ‘meat’, but it’s actually made with half meat and half salt, so it tastes like chewing a lump of salt and chewing raw paper…

Huh, just thinking about it makes it really terrible to have to fight while eating this kind of food.

Of course, if you don’t prepare like this, you can’t help it because a ‘starvation situation’ may occur in the enemy camp, but…

To avert my eyes from this terrible reality, I again brought up the story of the war to Balt, who was running beside me.

“Then, did Count Helsmann’s army and His Excellency Count Nantes’s army start fighting now? If we start a battle, if we are in ‘this position’, we should go back and conduct a pincer attack.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. According to the messenger sent by the Viscount just now, Hellsman, who is outnumbered, cannot cross the river and attack first, and the Count is also reluctant to strike first, saying that the ‘knight’ will be powerless while crossing the river. It will probably be a confrontation like that for a few days to a few weeks.”

“In short, we’re waiting to see who gets impatient and ‘attacks’ first. Then we won’t have to hit first. And from now on, send messengers to every village along the route of our march, ordering them to supply all their provisions in time for our passage.”

Upon hearing that, Balt looked at me and expressed his doubts.

“No, it’s not looting, it’s just ‘food’. Wouldn’t it be better to allow the plunder to raise the morale of the soldiers?”

The plunder that Balt is talking about is not the kind of looting that takes money, food, and houses that we think of.

It is a ‘genocide’ that includes ‘war crimes’ that are often committed even in the Middle Ages or even in modern times, that is, crimes symbolizing the horrors of war, such as murder, rape, and arson.

Since there is no human rights awareness in this world yet, these things are taken for granted when facing one’s enemies without feeling guilty, ‘to raise the morale of the soldiers’ if necessary.

As I have memories of living in Korea, I do not want to commit a massacre against the serfs who did not directly participate in the war, even if it is a war.

Also, if we kill all the serfs, we could end up fighting a hellish siege where we cover the deaths of our allies with the blood of our real enemies…

So, in order to warn the soldiers, I decided to pick Balt and reprimand him.

“If Your Excellency the Count of Nantes wins this war, this county will be yours. By the way, if I plunder here and kill the serfs, won’t your Excellency get a territory without a single people? Then, Your Excellency will be in a worse situation than obtaining the territory. Stop talking nonsense.”

Balt seemed to understand my intentions, and after receiving my reprimand, he turned his head toward the soldiers behind him and shouted.

“In this battle, according to His Excellency’s orders, looting is prohibited! Therefore, harassing women or killing village serfs for wealth will be governed by military law.”

And with a gesture, I summoned and ordered one of the knights riding near us.

“Mobilize the messengers assigned to each company and order the bailiffs or village chiefs along the march route to offer all the food in the village. If they don’t, tell them they’re plundering.”

“all right.”

After saying that, the knight who received my order started to run to deliver the order directly to the procession behind.

**

After marching all day that day, when I arrived at a village, the village chief greeted me.

“Welcome to. As you said, we have brought all the food in our village…”

Although his words were very polite, the village chief’s face showed resentment at having been deprived of all the food he could eat for a year.

However, the village chief soon knelt down in front of me and said while banging his head, as if he had figured out what he had to do ‘to live’.

“So, please guarantee our lives and the safety of our wives and children as you promised…”

“I swear on Ciel von Kreutel’s name that I will guarantee your lives. And a soldier there.”

The soldier whose name was called ran up to me at high speed and saluted me.

“Loyalty, Corporal Mainz!”

“If the serfs walk from here, how long will it take to Hellsman Castle?”

“Probably, it will take three days.”

“Then give them food to eat for three days, and we take the rest. As promised, the serfs of your village, we will not harm your lives, so leave immediately.”

Hearing that, the village chief bowed his head towards me and thanked me, then quickly ran to where the villagers were.

Then the villagers, dumbfounded, gave our soldiers biscuits to eat for three days and went into Hellsman Castle.

Looking at the scene, Balt looked at me and asked.

“Why did you give the serfs enough food to eat until they reached the castle? If I hadn’t given food and just sent it away, I would have been commended for an act of honor enough…”

“That’s right. But, Balt… I hope that at least one of them doesn’t die and enters the castle safely.”

Upon hearing this, Balt asked with a puzzled expression.

“They are also people with arms and legs, so if you go in, won’t the castle’s guards increase by that much? But why did you have to… just chase it somewhere else?”

“Bald, look at the people who have passed over there. There were very few men who seemed sturdy, most of them old men, women and children, men who were not good enough for war. It will be of little use in the Mercury Battle. However, even entering the castle will consume food. then…”

“If you haven’t been able to gather enough food yet, and the number of mouths you eat increases, then the amount of time you can last in the castle will be shortened.”

And in a situation where there is no problem with ‘looting’, it is a good propaganda that they gave enough food to enter the ‘castle’ without looting.

‘Even though I didn’t kill the serfs in the enemy’s territory, I gave them food so they could be protected so they could go to the castle.’

If I advertise like this, I’m sure other barons will look at me a little differently right after this war ends.

Also, personally, I don’t want to kill more people than necessary.

“We will continue to follow this policy going forward. You have to save as many serfs as possible and send them into Hellsman Castle to cut off their ability to wage war. So, if you don’t want to die, order again not to touch women.”

“all right. dismissal.”

“Then, eat here, rest, and set up camp.”

**

So over several days, we continued to march while collecting food from each village until we reached the vicinity of Hellsman Castle.

As a result, our troops were able to gather enough food to eat for almost 8 months.

That said, we don’t have to endure a life of nothing but biscuits and salted meat during the siege of Helsman Castle.

The soldiers cheered as soon as they heard the news.

And now we have to lay siege to the castle and set up camps for the soldiers to stay…

I was riding my horse, lost in thought, when suddenly the soldier in front of me shouted loudly.

“I see the castle!!”

From now on, although we do not intend to start a full-scale siege warfare, it is a type of battle that is considered one of the most brutal in all medieval warfare…

The siege begins, and here we must not damage our forces as much as possible and weaken the enemy’s ability to wage war so that we can return safely.