Chapter 444 - Episode 427: Military Council ①
Noein, who had left the reception room with Oscar, faced him in a corner of the hallway, sufficiently far from the room's door.
"What did you think of their story?"
"...That young man, Norman Foster, I believe there is no doubt he is General Foster's younger brother. Not only is his appearance similar, but his voice, way of speaking, and even the atmosphere he exudes are exactly like General Foster's. A complete stranger would not be like that... Since he, the younger brother, and his uncle Lord George have come as secret envoys and hostages, I believe we can take their words as truth."
Offering one's own biological younger brother and uncle as hostages is far more believable than any amount of sincerity expressed in words. That is what Noein said.
"Furthermore, if they were to carry out a re-invasion across the sea, there should be reasonably large movements within the Republic of Betumia several months prior. If we have heard in advance that a re-invasion is coming, wouldn't it not be difficult for the Kingdom of Rhodeberg to grasp the precursors?"
"True. There is a world of difference in difficulty between grasping the movements of the Republic of Betumia far across the sea and searching for its intentions with no information at all, and searching for precursors knowing that the country intends to re-invade here. If we are on guard from the start, we can determine whether the re-invasion is a fact or not."
The Kingdom of Rhodeberg, which had been completely defenseless against the Republic of Betumia before the war, is now striving to collect information.
Since they have no means of reaching the continent where the Republic of Betumia is located on their own, the amount and freshness of the information they can collect are limited, but it is not difficult to grasp something like the precursors of a large-scale military action. At the very least, there is no worry about exhibiting such clumsiness as being suddenly ambushed one day like last time.
"Regardless of what the re-invasion plan is, as long as we can grasp the specific timing, there are plenty of options for a response. As long as we can prevent a surprise attack, we can gain the advantage of terrain and numbers."
"That is correct. On the other hand, the more quickly the Republic of Betumia's side has the precursors of the re-invasion plan grasped, the more disadvantaged they become... The disadvantage of the existence of the re-invasion plan being known should outweigh the advantage of deceiving us by feeding them a fake re-invasion plan."
If the Republic of Betumia were to invade the Kingdom of Rhodeberg, since it would be a large army, the landing points would be narrowed down to a few locations with large ports. It is easy to keep all of them under surveillance. If the Kingdom of Rhodeberg side is prepared for defense, the difficulty of the Republic of Betumia's re-invasion jumps up.
For the Republic of Betumia, the best move was to keep the existence of the re-invasion plan hidden for as long as possible so that the Kingdom of Rhodeberg side would not grasp it. To continue doubting Irene, who threw away that option herself and sent her precious kin as secret envoys, would be endless.
"...In the first place, if the talk of re-invasion is a fact, we, who are on the side being attacked, have no room for choice. We have no choice but to take General Foster's offer."
Oscar said with a smirk. Noein responded with a fearless smile.
"What will the Grand Duchy of Arqvist do? Will you fight alongside our country?"
"Currently, our country is in the position of a friendly nation independent from the Kingdom of Rhodeberg. However, in our country as well, there are not a few who lost family, friends, and acquaintances in the Betumia War... The subjects will likely wish to participate. While I cannot say we are prepared to throw away our lives for the Kingdom of Rhodeberg, we will provide as much assistance as we can."
Since the current Grand Duchy of Arqvist is surrounded by friendly nations, there is no worry regarding territorial defense.
If it were any other war, they would consider the pros and cons of participation, but this time the opponent is the Republic of Betumia, with whom they have a deep-seated grudge. The vassals, the soldiers, and the bereaved families of the previous great war would all wish to achieve revenge. Noein himself, if he could, wanted to clear the grudge of having his lovely people killed by Betumia.
Settling things with the Republic of Betumia's army, bringing a close to an unforgettable hatred, and crushing the forces of the wealth-building faction of that country so that the peace of this region would never again be threatened by the Republic of Betumia. That was the act Noein had to perform in order to realize lifelong happiness.
"I am glad to hear that... Then, let us return to them and tell them. That our country will take General Foster's bait."
Noein followed after Oscar, who returned to the reception seats.
.....
Oscar Rhodeberg III, who found a certain level of credibility in the information brought by General Foster's secret envoys, used the 'Far-Talk' communication network to summon the leaders of each regional noble faction to the royal castle.
In response to this emergency summons, the leader of the Northwestern faction, Marquis Siegfried Bechtolsheim, the leader of the Northeastern faction, Marquis Reinard Staufenberg, the leader of the Southeastern faction, Marquis Bronislav Bittenfeld, and the leader of the Southwestern faction, Marquis Lubomir Galdwin, along with their aides, assembled at the royal castle.
A meeting was held with the kingdom's heavyweights, who had assembled secretly from the public, with a lineup including King Oscar, Minister of Military Affairs Count Ragnal Burkhard, and additionally, Grand Duke Noein Arqvist.
"—The above is the information on the current state of the Republic of Betumia as conveyed by General Foster's secret envoys, and the accompanying information regarding the re-invasion plan for the Kingdom of Rhodeberg."
"Hmm, it is surprising that that country has fallen into such a situation... but if His Majesty the King has judged to take this offer, we shall say nothing."
Upon receiving Count Burkhard's explanation, the first to speak was Marquis Bechtolsheim.
"The enemy's landing point is Osterreich in the royal direct territory... well, that is a reasonable place."
"If the surprise attack on the royal capital, Lichthagen, is the basic strategy, I would devise the same strategy even if I were the enemy army's general."
Next to let words slip were Marquis Staufenberg and Marquis Bittenfeld. The current Marquis Galdwin, still in his teens, remained silent with a somewhat nervous expression.
While waiting for the faction leaders to assemble, Oscar and Noein had further dialogues with the secret envoys, Norman and George. And they obtained information on specifically what kind of strategy the Republic of Betumia was devising for the re-invasion of the Kingdom of Rhodeberg.
It was information from the time they left the Republic of Betumia, so it was already more than two months old, but the possibility that the contents of such a large invasion plan would change so drastically is low. In the unlikely event that the situation changed abruptly, General Foster would find another means to send a liaison at that time.
The contents of the Republic of Betumia's army's invasion plan as told by Norman and the others were as follows.
First, the military strength planned for mobilization is approximately 80,000. Of those, 30,000 are regular army and 50,000 are volunteers. Compared to the mobilization number of nearly 200,000 in the Betumia War, the scale is less than half, but it can still be called a sufficient threat.
Of those, the first wave of 20,000, with the regular army as the mainstay, will land on the coastal areas of the Kingdom of Rhodeberg's territory. The landing point is planned to be exactly around the border between the kingdom's southeastern and southwestern parts among the coastal areas.
In this place, there once existed the territory of a ducal house that was a relative of the Rhodeberg royal family. However, because it was devastated by the Betumia War and many members of the ducal house died, it is currently managed by the royal family as an exclave of the royal territory.
As the central city of this exclave, there was a port town called Osterreich. Compared to the two great port cities representing the kingdom, the capital of the Kivileft Earldom in the kingdom's southeast and the capital of the Ahatz Earldom in the kingdom's southwest, its scale is inferior, but it still boasted a certain presence as the kingdom's third port.
Osterreich, which suffered immense damage in the Betumia War and became ruins that were almost uninhabited, began reconstruction several years ago after the reconstruction of various noble territories in the southern part of the kingdom had progressed to some extent. First, the function as a port was restored, and currently, the reconstruction of the urban area is underway, and along with that, former residents and new immigrants are gradually migrating.
Once reconstruction is complete, it is planned to be utilized thereafter as a royal direct port city in the kingdom's coastal area.
A place with a port of reasonable scale, but as a city, its defensive power is still extremely fragile. It is convenient as an entrance for an invasion.
In Osterreich, which is in the midst of reconstruction, the current settled population is about 2,000 people. Even including the manpower for reconstruction work, it does not reach 3,000, so with an army of 20,000, landing and suppression are easy. The Republic of Betumia's army will establish a beachhead here, land the remaining forces, and from there, invade all the way to the royal capital, Lichthagen, in one fell swoop.
In Osterreich, which is an important base for the reconstruction of the kingdom's southern part for the royal family and will become an important great port in the future, the maintenance of the highway connecting to the royal capital, Lichthagen, is also progressing. Using this highway, they will approach Lichthagen faster than last time, and cause it to fall with more than half of the invasion army, 50,000.
By destroying the royal capital and the royal family, they will collapse the Kingdom of Rhodeberg, and then land units of volunteers further gathered in the home country, using an army of several hundred thousand to defeat each noble territory.
That was the Republic of Betumia's army's plan as told from the mouths of Norman and the others.
"Even so, whether to call it opportunistic or optimistic... it's a sloppy plan."
"Yeah, exactly. Our country has been looked down upon... or rather, General Foster likely intentionally presented an optimistic plan that would sound pleasant to the ears of the wealth-building faction members to get it approved."
To Noein, who muttered in a cold voice, Oscar said so and nodded.
A surprise attack on the port, establishing a beachhead, and then invading the royal capital is, to put it plainly, a rehash of the Betumia War. The scale of the royal capital invasion force is also unchanged from last time.
There is the advantage that one can reach the royal capital faster from Osterreich, which is directly south of the royal territory and has its highways maintained by the royal family, than from places like Laden... but that's about as far as it goes in terms of novelty.
If a complete surprise attack were possible like last time, there would be a possibility of success, but in the current situation where the Kingdom of Rhodeberg has grasped the information of the re-invasion itself more than half a year ago, it does not look like it will go well at all.
"S-so, as for the Kingdom of Rhodeberg, does that mean we will meet them at Osterreich and prevent the enemy's landing...?"
The one who spoke in a stiff voice was Marquis Lubomir Galdwin, the grandson of the previous Marquis Galdwin. It was obvious to everyone's eyes that he, who is intelligent but still far too inexperienced, had opened his mouth out of a desire to say something.
No one laughed at such naive behavior, and Oscar, viewing him as a faction leader, answered with a serious face.
"No. While that would be the royal road as a strategy... I am considering intentionally allowing the Republic of Betumia's army to land at Osterreich and letting the enemy advance deep into the kingdom."