Chapter 197: 197

The next day, Jacquerie came back with news.

“The army of Brittany has entered the imperial capital.”

“Hm. It has been exactly 20 days since they crossed the border…….”

I dropped my gaze to the map that was spread out on a table.

“They are quite literally moving at a violent force.”

“A vigor that breaks bamboos……? It does feel like that.”

The dwarf, Jacquerie, nodded. The idioms I say would occasionally get translated literally. How exactly does this mechanism work?

Oh right, I found out after coming to Frankia that my pronunciation was incredibly refined. Jacquerie pointed this out to me one day while drinking.

‘Your Highness speaks like a palace noble. Did Your Highness receive an education somewhere?’

‘Ah, well. Something like that.’

‘I heard that you are also fluent at Habsburgian. Are there other languages that you are proficient at?’

I’m probably fluent in every single language that currently exists. The people of this world usually don’t try to learn foreign languages, especially the people who are rich enough to buy magic artifacts. A translation spell exists, after all.

‘Mm. I know most human languages.’

‘Really? That is amazing!’

Jacquerie was surprised.

‘Most Demon Lords are lazy when it comes to studying……. no, Your Highness is unlike normal Demon Lords. You are truly amazing.’

‘Hm. Hm.’

Jacquerie started to look at me with a more respectful gaze ever since we had that conversation. I kept my mouth shut. I felt a pang of guilt, but who cares? When it comes to feeling guilt, I’ve already sliced it up and put it on display hundreds of times now.

In any case, the situation within Frankia was more important than my elegant pronunciation right now.

A foreign army had invaded and entered the capital in only 20 days. This was abnormally fast. It was something that would only be believable if they had marched there without getting into a single battle. If they didn’t have to fight even a single time…….

“Frankia may be helpless, but are they not being too helpless?”

“The Kingdom of Brittany is a lot stronger than expected. The queen’s fame is also extraordinary.”

The situation was like this:

The nobles of Frankia panicked at first when the foreign army suddenly invaded. The war with the Crescent Alliance had yet to end. No one could’ve expected that an army from the same human side would invade when the Demon Lord forces and the human armies were still fighting fiercely.

“To make matters worse, the nobles within Frankia had sent a lot of their soldiers to fight against the Crescent Alliance. The surveillance of their borders must have been weaker than usual.”

Jacquerie stroked his beard.

“The Frank nobles are criticizing Brittany vehemently for attacking another human nation when humanity is in the middle of a war with the demons.”

“What fools.”

This was enough to clearly outline the difference in ability between Brittany and Frankia.

“Queen Henrietta of Brittany has already deduced that the Crescent Alliance’s expedition is over. The new Habsburg Republic would definitely be unable to endure an attack from the Crescent Alliance. Despite this, the Crescent Alliance had yet to attack them……. She was most likely able to derive the reason from this.”

She realized that the Demon Lord army had split apart again.

The Demon Lords were infamous for doing utterly useless things all throughout every successive Crescent Alliance. They were enough to make me regret being reincarnated as a Demon Lord if you lined them all up.

Queen Henrietta was probably laughing at the Demon Lords on the inside. Even though the opportunity to wipe out all of mankind was right before our eyes, something idiotic like a dispute between factions was enough to make us miss this chance of a lifetime. It was pathetic…….

“According to the spies, Queen Henrietta had drafted another army beforehand. She most likely thought that humanity would lose completely at Habsburg, so she had prepared another army.”

That army was used to invade Frankia.

Frankia didn’t only have idiots. A local army was quickly created with some marquises at the center.

The veteran marquises were going to fight back while leading that army, but―a bombshell of a directive was suddenly sent from the capital.

‘Brittany is not our enemy. They are our allies. All forces are ordered to open a way for Brittany and provide them with the supplies that they require.’

What was there to hide? It was the Emperor of Frankia who had ordered this.

That was the moment the commanders around Frankia fell into chaos. What sort of emperor would open the path for a foreign power and also provide them with supplies? Regardless of their disbelief, it happened.

Were they going to retaliate against the foreign forces or listen to the Emperor’s decree? A fierce debate was held between the commanders. This was an unprecedented predicament.

Brittany took advantage of this chaos to advance leisurely through Frankia.

Even if someone tried to block their path,

‘This is the directive that was given by His Excellency the Emperor of Frankia.’

‘We are here to defend…….’

‘Quiet! You bastards! Do you intend to go against the Emperor’s decree!?’

Queen Henrietta would shout at them like this.

She actually was carrying around a piece of parchment with the Emperor’s orders written on it. Normally, people would laugh at it and say that it was forged; however, the imperial army could only take a step back this time…….

“A total of 3 armies had to act like blind men as they watched the kingdom’s army advance. They say that a garrison was even unarmed.”

It was an Emperor who did retarded things that even the Demon Lords couldn’t compare to.

Brittany’s army passed through the border and the fortified areas without incurring any sort of losses. It was around this point that several Frank nobles started to think that this was wrong.

The republican nobles were especially shocked. In comparison, this was like the king of the Joseon Dynasty bringing in Japanese soldiers for the sake of teaching his own vassals a lesson.

‘The Emperor had invited Brittany, our sworn enemy, just to get rid of us!’

Several nobles could no longer stay silent as they stood up. The supreme commanders of Frankia’s armies, General Montmorency, Duke Guise, General Saint Andre, etc, the nobles from both the Empress Dowager’s side and the neutral side gathered. They hastily called together an army.

They were only able to gather about 15,000 soldiers. Brittany was approaching like a storm. They had gathered all they could within the short frame of time that was given to them.

In contrast, Brittany’s army had roughly 9,000 soldiers. Frankia had an overwhelming advantage in terms of manpower. For a country that calls itself an empire, should I offer them praise here? The imperial army and the kingdom’s army clashed at a strategic point.

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“The Frank soldiers most likely believed that they stood a chance with their numbers.”

“Well, they probably thought that they could chase Brittany away entirely.”

Anyone would’ve thought this.

Except for one person.

* * *

The Kingdom of Brittany’s army was having a loud strategic meeting.

“We must wait until the Emperor of Frankia sends reinforcements.”

“Can we really trust that emperor? We should just keep doing what we have been doing all this time. If we tell them that we are here under the Emperor’s decree, then they will all panic and run away in fear!”

“I wonder about that. General Montmorency is their supreme commander this time. He will most likely snort at any sort of threat.”

Most of the nobles were under the opinion of waiting a little longer. Facing off against 15,000 soldiers with only 9,000 soldiers would put too much of a strain on them. This was simply a natural reaction.

Queen Henrietta was watching the meeting from the seat of honor. Queen Henrietta finally spoke up once the generals were about to reach a compromise.

“We will be carrying out an all-out attack tomorrow at dawn.”

Marquis Coligny, an old veteran, acted as the representative and spoke up while the other nobles remained silent.

“Your Highness, the Frank Empire has promised to send us reinforcements. We believe that there is no reason for us to deliberately put ourselves in a dangerous situation when we are clearly outnumbered.”

“The imperial soldiers before us are only figureheads that look sturdy on the outside. Their insides are completely empty.”

The young, scarlet-haired queen spoke confidently.

“Their numbers may seem formidable, but they do not have many mounted troops. Out of their 15,000 soldiers, they have less than 3,000 cavalrymen. On the other hand, we may only have 9,000 soldiers, but 5,000 of them are mounted. Men. You are all misunderstanding something.”

Queen Henrietta put up 4 fingers.

“They do not outnumber us. We outnumber them by 4 times.”

“……Pardon? What do you mean by 4 times, Your Highness?”

“Their nobles are still hesitating because of the Emperor’s orders. A majority of the soldiers in front of us are conscripts. Therefore, they are not knights. They are already lacking in mounted soldiers, but they must have even fewer knights. At most, a hundred.”

Queen Henrietta smiled.

“On the other hand, we have 900 knights. We overwhelm them in terms of quality. This is the reason our army is above them by ‘2 times’.”

Now then, the Queen uttered as she folded two fingers down.

“Even if the enemy forces have gathered, they are still anxious about the idea of going against the Emperor’s orders. They are as reluctant to fight as we are. The enemy is probably split between going on the offense or biding for time. ―The enemy is currently split into two sides. Therefore.”

Queen Henrietta lowered her last two fingers.

“They have to face our army which is twice as strong as theirs and while their military power is also currently split in half. This is why I am saying that they are weaker than us by 4 times. Men! We are united while they are divided.”

The nobles stared at the Queen’s fist without a word. They were being drawn in by the Queen’s passionate voice.

“The more time passes, the more time the enemy forces who are against the Emperor’s orders will have to gather. Our opportunity is now while a majority of their nobles are currently sitting on their hands!”

The Queen slammed her fist down on the table.

“Coincidentally, Montmorency, Guise, and Saint Andre are a part of the enemy forces! They are the leaders of the Empress Dowager’s faction. If we get rid of them, then the center of the Empress Dowager’s faction will weaken greatly. Men, the Goddesses have prepared a banquet for us!”

Queen Henrietta smiled.

“Inform the knights. The Gods will have prepared the most glorious victory for Brittany tomorrow at dawn. The enemy will not be allowed to scream and will instead die like pigs.”

* * *

The imperial army was completely defeated.

The fundamentals of warfare were like this: infantrymen are positioned in the center while mounted troops are positioned on the sides. The cavalry surrounds the enemy on their sides while the infantry holds them down in the center. However, Queen Henrietta had positioned most of her mounted troops in the ‘center’.

Hundreds of knights and thousands of mounted troops rushed forward.

The Frank army was surprised. They quickly rallied their troops and sent 2,000 cavalrymen forward. 2,000 mounted troops were basically almost all they had. They were hoping that those troops would be enough to buy them some time.

The battle between mounted troops ended after only a single clash. The mounted troops led by Queen Henrietta quite literally tore the Frank army apart.

The Frank army was so scared out of their minds that they fled. A calamity occurred where allies were hit by the hooves of horses as the mounted troops ran away…….

Supreme Commander Marquis Montmorency dragged his seventy-year-old body out on the battlefield for the sake of maintaining their ranks as much as possible. However, a knight from Brittany stabbed Marquis Montmorency through his chest before they could fully regain their formation.

The supreme commander had died as soon as the battle started. The Frank army was already demoralized due to the defeat of their mounted soldiers, so this made them fall even further into disarray. Queen Henrietta wasn’t someone to miss this kind of opportunity.

The Brittan army sliced through the middle of the Frank army. The Frank army was torn apart helplessly as they were divided and conquered…….

In conclusion.

“The Frank army suffered 5,000 casualties and 6,000 were captured as prisoners……. On the other hand, the Brittan army only lost about 400 soldiers.”

“What a horrible result.”

I smiled wryly.

Henrietta de Brittany. As expected of the monarch who led the Iron Chancellor Laura de Farnese in Dungeon Attack and aspired to unite the continent. She will undoubtedly be a difficult opponent to deal with.

***

Author’s Afterword

During the battle on the where Dantalian first debuted. 

There was a scene where Barbatos came to congratulate her troops after the battle and teased Zepar who was the commander of the vanguard. She called him ‘a brat who recklessly clashed with knights and lost all his soldiers’. The knights of Brittany were the knights in this case that had wiped out Zepar’s troops. 

The Kingdom of Brittany and Teuton both boast the strongest knights on the continent.

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Another day, another moment where I feel like I had something to say here but I don’t remember at all now. Oh well, Path of Pilgrimage is finally over. I’m going to take a nap again.

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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