WeTried Translations

Translator: Nemui

Editor: Nemui

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◈ Friedrich's Battlefield

Chapter 173: Departure for War

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In late March of Western Unified Calendar 1013, after winter had ended, word reached King Samuel Arelia that the army led by Yorgos Caruna had departed from the northern coast of the Ludia continent.

Considering the time it took for the report to arrive, it would take Yorgos's great fleet about three weeks at the earliest, depending on the winds, to resupply among the islands of the Azure Sea and reach its final supply point, an island country located south of the western Ludna Continent.

This island country had maintained a neutral stance toward the countries of the western continent. Therefore, it would not actively cooperate with Yorgos's military action, but neither would it act for the sake of the Kingdom of Arelia. If Yorgos's army paid the regulated port fees and did not break the law, it would not refuse their stay.

Therefore, once supply and rest were finished, it was now certain that Yorgos's army would advance toward the Kingdom of Arelia. The grace period before they appeared on the coast of the Caruna region was a little over a month.

In both the Caruna and Muret regions, the mood for rebellion was rising further. In some noble territories where the control of the Arelian Royal Army garrisons no longer reached, movements that seemed to be preparations of supplies and weapons had begun to be seen.

In the Novakia region, officers and soldiers from the Muret region among the Royal Army garrison had deserted. It was believed that they would join the rebel forces in their homeland and take part in the rebellion.

Looking at these movements, it was now inevitable that rebellions would occur in both regions at the same time Yorgos's army arrived.

Taking this situation into account, Samuel ordered Countess Cecilia Fargier to march to the Caruna region. Having received the royal order, the army led by Cecilia completed the preparations for advancement that had been underway since the end of winter and began moving south.

About one week later, before Yorgos reached the southern island country, rebellion broke out in the Muret region earlier than the Arelia royal family had expected. Its center was near the mountain range dividing the western continent from the northern continent, in other words, northern Muret. As expected, the ones leading it were thought to be the mountain nobles. There was no sign that the old Muret royal family was involved.

The outbreak of this rebellion caught the Arelia royal family off guard, but the Royal Army responded calmly. Of the roughly three thousand troops stationed in the Loire region, one regiment that had been organized in advance, one thousand men in total, moved north. At the same time, an army of about two thousand consisting of the Novakia region garrison, the forces of the Duke of Novakia, and conscripts from the duchy's people began advancing west into the Muret region. Furthermore, in order to join this army, the Muret region garrison's scattered units began moving toward the eastern border area.

Aside from accidental and small-scale skirmishes, no fighting had yet occurred. Both armies gathered and prepared for full-scale battle in a quiet opening to the war. While tension spread throughout the Muret region, the Muret noble leading the rebellion received reports on the movements of each unit in a fortified city in the mountains.

"...Things are generally proceeding well. And it seems the enemy is cautious too. As we intended, this will become a long war."

The one who murmured this after considering the current reports arriving from each area and the information from scouts about the enemy's movements was Marquis Viggo Holmkvist. He was over sixty years old and a central figure among the mountain nobles. By bloodline, the blood of the Muret royal family also flowed in him, and he possessed at least nominal legitimacy to become king of Muret.

As Viggo said, the aim of the Muret rebel army was a long war, in other words, buying time. Defensive battles making use of scattered cities and fortresses. Guerrilla warfare making use of the terrain of northern Muret, where mountains and hills lay in complex layers. Combining these two ways of fighting and continuing the rebellion as long as possible was their objective.

In the past, even after the Muret royal family surrendered to the Arelia royal family, the mountain nobles had continued resistance for about two years with this method of fighting. There were mainly two reasons they had resisted that long. One was that compared to the south of the kingdom, where reconciliation with other countries had advanced, the north held by the mountain nobles had a strongly conservative character. The other was that, as militant nobles who had fought bravely at the front before the Muret royal family, they could not accept the surrender terms that the royal family had accepted.

The hatred toward the Arelia royal family that had grown even stronger through that resistance, and the resentment toward the old Muret royal family, had also led to this rebellion.

Last time, they had lasted two years. This time, they only needed to hold out for several months. If they did, the rebel forces of the Caruna region, having welcomed an army from outside the continent, would trample the Kingdom of Arelia, and Muret could achieve reindependence by taking advantage of that chaos. Viggo believed their prospects of achieving their objective were more than sufficient.

Their real fighting strength was about three thousand in total, including the private troops of the nobles and commoners who had joined the rebellion of their own will. Those commoners varied widely, from people who held grudges against the Arelia royal family because of the previous invasion, to those who wanted to rise in the world by earning military achievement, to those seeking reward money or plunder. Since they had gathered because they were confident in their strength, all of them could be used depending on how they were handled.

And there were many people who would cooperate even if they were not combatants. Providing supplies such as food, helping their units move secretly, and conversely providing information on the movements of enemy units. The rebel army, which could receive both tangible and intangible cooperation, should be stronger than its actual numbers suggested.

"The beginning has proceeded smoothly. Inform each unit once more not to move in haste for glory... It may be unsatisfying to the young nobles, but tell them to respect the face of the man who is, at least nominally, overall commander."

"Understood."

At Viggo's order, an aide answered with a wry smile and gave instructions to the messengers.

Viggo, who was old enough that it would not have been strange for him to be retired, had become the banner of the rebellion by his own will because he thought of the future of the Muret region, no, of the Kingdom of Muret.

At present, the countries surrounding the Kingdom of Muret were all led by young rulers. Claudia Edelstein of the Kingdom of Edelstein. Samuel Arelia of the Kingdom of Arelia. And in the Duchy of Novakia, or rather the hostile Kingdom of Novakia, which would surely become independent again soon after making some secret agreement with Arelia, Julius Novakia.

Their temperaments were different, but all of them were displaying competence. Young and capable monarchs were extremely dangerous from the standpoint of those who had to deal with them. One could never know where they might reveal ambition. And when these neighboring monarchs held ambition, the current Kingdom of Muret, with the cowardly head of House Muret, could not possibly stand against them.

That was why, instead of meekly accepting reindependence through the mercy of the Arelia royal family, the mountain nobles should take the lead and achieve reindependence by force while the Arelia royal family still had an opening. They would coordinate with the rebel forces of the Caruna region, carve large pieces from central Arelia and the Loire region, and restore the Kingdom of Muret with national power far greater than before. They would build a strong Kingdom of Muret that would not lose to surrounding countries, beginning with their old enemy, the Kingdom of Novakia, and also including the Kingdom of Caruna, which could become an enemy later.

If he could become the banner that marked the first step toward that, it would be more than enough as a role for an old man with little life left. The future of the restored kingdom would be opened by his children and grandchildren. That was what Viggo thought.

......

A little over one month later, the army of Yorgos Caruna reached the western Ludna Continent. Upon receiving that report, the Ferdinand Regiment of the Edelstein Royal Army immediately completed its preparations to advance in anticipation of the rebel forces of the Caruna region responding.

Then came the morning of departure from the royal capital. The Ferdinand Regiment left Royal Army Headquarters and proceeded down the main avenue while drawing the attention of the capital's residents. The people lined along the road gave a grand send-off to the marching column of the hero's regiment.

The column entered one of the many plazas in the royal capital. Since a bronze statue of the late hero Count Matthias Hosenfeld had been erected there, the residents of the capital had called it Hero Plaza.

The column temporarily stopped in the plaza with the regimental headquarters group positioned in front of the statue, and the knights dismounted. Friedrich, the regimental commander, faced his father's statue.

It did not show him displaying martial valor. Instead, the statue stood quietly, watching over the royal capital. Looking up at the statue that had eternally carved the image so typical of his late father together with his glory, Friedrich remained silent for a while. The members of the regiment and the gathered crowd quietly watched him.

At the end, Friedrich saluted, and everyone in the regiment followed. Friedrich returned to his horse, the knights mounted again, and the column began moving once more.

Before long, the regiment passed through the gate of the royal capital. It also passed through the city area outside the walls, where buildings stood beyond what the walls could contain, and the scenery became nothing but plains, hills, and forests.

Then one rider left the column. It was Countess Yurika Hosenfeld.

Friedrich turned around and met the eyes of Yurika, who sat on horseback off the road. Yurika smiled faintly, and Friedrich smiled back. They nodded to each other.

Yurika would remain behind and protect House Hosenfeld and their young daughter. Friedrich would advance and protect the Kingdom of Edelstein and the mission he had inherited from his late father.

The Ferdinand Regiment marched toward the Kingdom of Arelia.

Yurika watched their backs alone.

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