WeTried Translations

Translator: Nemui

Editor: Nemui

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◈ Friedrich's Battlefield

Chapter 134: War Council for the Decisive Battle (1)

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Winter came, and military movement slowed on both sides.

Neither army could abandon the front, and enough troops remained in place to answer any surprise attack. Behind the lines, however, preparations advanced without pause. Weapons were repaired, supplies gathered, messengers sent, and men counted.

During that winter, Claudia came to the battlefield once more.

With her were Gustav, Rebecca Eisenhut of the Albrecht Regiment, and Foreign Minister Alphonse Barten. Several major nobles also accompanied her. Publicly, the visit was an inspection of the front. In truth, it was a war council.

If Friedrich and Diethelm both left the front for the capital, the army would become uneasy. Claudia had therefore come to them.

Friedrich and Diethelm walked together toward the large tent prepared for the meeting.

"We are both regimental commanders now, meeting the queen as generals," Diethelm said. "Two years ago, I would never have imagined this."

"Two years ago, I was a rural orphan."

"And now Count Hosenfeld sits in a royal war council. In the history of the kingdom, there cannot be many men who rose from orphan to that position."

"Queen Waltrude began as a commoner, did she not?"

Diethelm smiled.

"Exactly. This kingdom has at least one tradition worth praising. Talent and results can raise a person high. Stand proud, Count Hosenfeld."

Friedrich gave him a look.

"You enjoy saying that."

"Of course I do."

The exchange lightened the mood before they entered the tent.

Claudia arrived shortly after. Everyone stood, bowed, and waited for her to take her seat.

"Looking at the faces here," Claudia said, "I suspect Edelstein currently has the lowest average age of any sovereign and generals on the continent."

There was a ripple of restrained laughter.

It was true. Claudia was still in her twenties. Diethelm was thirty. Friedrich was twenty-one. Rebecca, who was not yet forty, was the oldest of the field commanders present. The generation that should have stood above them had been killed, wounded, or forced from the front.

"It reminds me of the time before Lord Matthias became a hero," Diethelm said. "The kingdom was driven into a corner, and young men had to carry burdens too heavy for them."

"Can we carry them?"

"We may not match our predecessors in experience," Diethelm replied, "but we do not fall short in duty. As for ability, we will make up the rest with effort."

His words warmed the room. Friedrich thought that Diethelm had inherited more from Joseph than even he realized.

Claudia nodded.

"Then I will trust you."

The council began with Alphonse's report.

"First, our own strength. The royal army can gather roughly three thousand men. This includes the replenished Hildegard and Ferdinand Regiments, the Albrecht Regiment, troops from the former Bachstein duchy guarding the Elzass Corridor, and support from the Royal Guard."

He moved a marker across the map.

"The noble domain troops will number about two thousand. Most will come from the west and south. The north and east must retain troops to watch Novakia and the Empire."

No one objected. It was a painful limit, but the kingdom could not empty every border.

"Mercenaries should number around two thousand five hundred. We are hiring from within the kingdom, former Novakian territory, and even Myurei in Arelia. The reserve budget and emergency funds will be used."

The nobles stirred at that, but no one spoke. Money could be rebuilt after victory. A ruined kingdom could not.

"Volunteers will number about five hundred. Many are former soldiers, retired knights, or men with military experience. They will be used chiefly as leaders for the conscript militia."

Alphonse paused before the largest number.

"The conscript militia will be between twelve and fifteen thousand men. Half will come from the royal demesne and half from noble territories in proportion to population. Lord Helmut Dahlmeier has calculated what the budget and supplies can support."

Even knowing the plan, hearing it stated made the scale clear.

"Finally, the Rigald Empire has promised three thousand reinforcements. In total, Edelstein can place between twenty-three and twenty-six thousand men on the field."

Diethelm let out a low whistle.

"An army of that size is unprecedented in our history."

"It is," Alphonse said. "But Arelia's numbers are greater."

The air tightened again.

"Their army will be at least in the low thirty thousands. At maximum, it may approach forty thousand. Their regular army and domain troops should total around ten thousand. They will add several thousand mercenaries. The rest will be volunteers and conscripts."

Silence fell over the tent.

Even after gathering everything Edelstein had, even after securing imperial aid, the enemy still outnumbered them.

The war council had truly begun.

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