Chapter 445 - Episode 428: Military Council ②
"I am considering daring to allow the Betumia Republic Army to land at Osterreich, and letting the enemy advance deep into the Kingdom."
Hearing Oscar's statement, the faction leaders—with the exception of Marquis Galdwin—did not move a muscle in their expressions. Noein, who had been told of this plan beforehand, also showed no reaction. Only Marquis Galdwin, who was still young and lacking experience, tilted his head in confusion.
"I shall explain in detail... Count Burkhard."
"Yes, sir."
Prompted by Oscar, Count Burkhard began the detailed explanation of the plan.
The landing of the Betumia Republic Army at Osterreich. Regarding this, the Kingdom of Rhodeberg would not interfere. While about a hundred soldiers were stationed at the Osterreich reconstruction site for the maintenance of public order, no reinforcements would be sent.
Simultaneously with the approach of the Betumia Republic Army, the residents of Osterreich and the reconstruction workers would be evacuated in haste, and the port itself would be handed over to the enemy. They would make it appear as though the fall of the city was permitted without resistance.
Following that, the villages and cities along the path from Osterreich to the royal capital, Lichthagen, would also have only their residents evacuated, allowing the Betumia Republic Army to occupy them.
And once the enemy had penetrated deep into the Kingdom and pressed toward Lichthagen—they would launch a sudden counterattack.
First, against the enemy's main force approaching Lichthagen, they would meet them with their own main force gathered in the royal capital. The royal lands and the armies of the hereditary nobles surrounding them, the armies of the northwestern and northeastern faction territories, and the conscripts. In total, tens of thousands could be assembled. In terms of numbers, it was sufficient.
Then, they would strike the enemy's supply lines, which would have stretched from Osterreich to the very doorstep of Lichthagen, from both the left and right. Preparations would be made in advance to quickly assemble armies of a certain scale in the southwest and southeast respectively, and they would launch a simultaneous attack at this timing.
The enemy would likely have prepared a certain amount of troops to maintain their supply lines, but there was no doubt that by flanking them from both sides, the supply lines could be severely pressured.
Pressuring the supply lines would also lead to tightening the retreat path of the enemy's main force. With supplies stalled and retreat to the rear no longer easily achievable, the royal main force would annihilate the enemy main force in one fell swoop.
If the main force were crushed, the enemy's strategic goals would become unattainable, and their capacity to continue the war would be lost. The Kingdom of Rhodeberg would be protected, and the regular army of the Betumia Republic, which was strongly influenced by the Wealthy Nation Faction, could be destroyed. All that would remain was to take the enemy volunteers in the rear, who would have become a disorganized mob after losing their main force, as prisoners.
In terms of fulfilling the role requested of General Foster, this would yield more than sufficient results. That was the Royal Family's thinking.
"Furthermore, as you lords likely know, the Kingdom of Rhodeberg is currently proceeding with the establishment of a full-scale navy, using the territory of Count Kivileft's Laden as a base and inviting technicians from the Green Dragon Empire to the east. We could also use that navy on a trial basis to strike the Betumia Republic Army's maritime supply lines."
As part of the preparations for the navy's establishment, which was being carried out by borrowing a portion of the port of Laden from the House of Count Kivileft, training voyages for several large ships owned by the Royal Family were being conducted regularly.
Prior to the invasion of the Betumia Republic Army, this training fleet would be dispatched—again under the guise of a training voyage—and after taking a detour, they would ambush the transport ships from the Betumia mainland. They would stun the enemy, who would never imagine being attacked at sea.
Tightening the enemy's supply lines on both land and sea to paralyze and collapse their function as an army was the operation devised by the Rhodeberg Royal Family.
"Marquis Galdwin. You have doubts. Do not hesitate; speak them."
Intending to use this opportunity to give Marquis Galdwin a lesson, Oscar spoke to him. Called upon, Marquis Galdwin opened his mouth with a timid air.
"...T-then, excuse me. Your Majesty says we will intentionally allow the enemy to land and invade deep into the Kingdom... but why not stop the enemy at the port of Osterreich?"
"Hmm, your doubt is reasonable. The reason for daring to permit the enemy's invasion of our territory... is to neutralize the enemy's main force in the most certain manner possible. It is also so that Betumia does not realize that our country has prepared in advance for their re-invasion."
According to Norman and the others, the Betumia Republic's intelligence network regarding the Kingdom of Rhodeberg had weakened dramatically. The means to accurately and quickly know the movements of the Kingdom of Rhodeberg no longer existed in that country.
Even so, if a large-scale army were moved, they would surely notice. If they attempted to meet the Betumia Republic Army at the port, it would require assembling a large-scale force at Osterreich in advance, and the Betumia Republic's invasion force, upon learning this, would brace themselves.
If that happened, the invasion force might attempt to change their landing point. The response of the Rhodeberg Kingdom side would suddenly become much more difficult.
Furthermore, assuming the invasion force attempted to land at Osterreich as planned, if the interception force waiting there were to be defeated, there would be no second chance. This side would lose its main force in the first stage, while Betumia would have the majority of its invasion force land unscathed—and the Kingdom of Rhodeberg would fall into crisis once again.
Conversely, if the Rhodeberg Kingdom side were to successfully block the invasion force's landing, that would also be inconvenient.
While Irene was carrying out a revolution in the Betumia Republic mainland, if the Betumia Republic Army's main force, which was under the influence of the Wealthy Nation Faction, were to return, the revolution would fail and Betumia would remain under the control of the Wealthy Nation Faction. If that happened, the citizens of Rhodeberg kidnapped by that country would not return, no reparations would be obtained, and the fear that the country might re-invade again someday would remain.
To achieve the goals of the Kingdom of Rhodeberg, rather than clumsily engaging in a frontal battle, it was more certain to surround and annihilate the enemy, who had become overextended by their land invasion, from multiple directions.
When Oscar spoke thus, Marquis Galdwin appeared convinced.
"To supplement this, this operation remains effective even if the information regarding the landing point brought by the secret envoy was a deception, or if the contents of the enemy's invasion plan were changed. If we proceed with preparations to assemble troops in the territories of Count Kivileft and Count Ahatz in advance, they will exhibit a certain defensive function even if the enemy attempts to land there, and in the meantime, it will be possible for armies from other regions to head for their rescue," Count Burkhard explained, stating that this was a two-tiered plan.
"It is certainly an effective operation. However, I also have one point of doubt... even if the people on the enemy's invasion route from Osterreich are evacuated in haste, if there is not a single soldier of defensive strength, the Betumia invasion force will surely find it suspicious. How do you intend to handle that?"
If they handed over everything from Osterreich to Lichthagen without any resistance, the Betumia invasion force would surely notice that it was too empty and that something was wrong.
That said, if they had a small security force offer token resistance to avoid making the enemy suspicious, the soldiers of that unit would certainly die. There was a problem either way. The one who voiced this opinion was Marquis Staufenberg.
"There is no need to worry about that. On the route from Osterreich to Lichthagen, we will place a small number of expendable soldiers. Mimicking ordinary road guard units... there are those who will gladly fulfill the role of expendables."
Oscar answered.
In the Betumia War, a not-insignificant number of the enemy's invasion force had behaved cruelly in the occupied territories. Not a few citizens of the Kingdom had seen their families subjected to gruesome violence and killed before their eyes.
Among those war victims, there were those who wished to strike back at the Betumia Republic even at the cost of their own lives, those who wanted to kill even a single soldier of the Betumia Republic, even if it meant taking the enemy down with them.
Driven by that obsession, many had entered the military and willingly taken on duties that would expose them to danger first if a Betumia re-invasion occurred, such as the defense of the coastal areas including Osterreich.
From among them, they would gather volunteers to serve as expendables in this battle. Oscar stated that if becoming a sacrifice would enable the encirclement and annihilation of the Betumia Republic Army, volunteers of several hundred people could be easily gathered.
"...I see. It is as Your Majesty says."
Marquis Staufenberg answered. He said nothing about the act of using soldiers on the premise of discarding them. As a statesman, the Marquis was also accustomed to the thinking of sacrificing the few for the sake of the whole.
"The mobilization of each faction to flank the enemy supply lines should be able to be carried out swiftly if the preparations of the past seven years are put to use. I can expect that, yes?"
When Oscar asked, the faction leaders nodded immediately.
Since the Betumia War, the Kingdom of Rhodeberg had been proceeding with preparations for an unexpected invasion.
In each noble territory, lists of those to be mobilized in wartime from the cities and villages within the territory had been made in advance, and they had been given rapid mobilization and combat training. Plans to quickly assemble and move the forces mobilized by each noble had also been drawn up by each faction.
If necessary, each faction could assemble five thousand troops in a few days. In a week, they could assemble double that. After the landing at Osterreich, it would be easy to pinch the enemy, who had extended their supply lines toward Lichthagen, from the front and both sides.
Daring to let the enemy land, luring them deep into the national territory, and then thoroughly striking them from multiple directions. There were no obstacles to executing this operation.
Once that was confirmed, the meeting moved into more concrete details.
[Author's Note]
Starting today, I have begun posting a new work, "The Coronation of Rutile Quartz."
It is an internal affairs and war chronicle story set in a small country, featuring a protagonist who rose from a commoner to become the next king.
It is still the very beginning, but I plan to gradually build it up into a work where everyone can feel the same emotion as in "The Happy Tale of the Twisted Lord."
I would be happy if you could read it. Thank you very much.