Chapter 156: Tactical Victory & Strategic Defeat (3)'
On the plains near Reichenstein Castle.
The command tent of the Swiss Expeditionary Force.
Here, division commanders, including me, deputy commanders, and key commanders of the expeditionary force, like His Highness the Crown Prince, were gathered.
Normally, before starting a meeting, to lighten the mood, there would be dad jokes or teasing about the good old days, especially targeting me, the youngest among the generals.
But now, our expeditionary force was trapped in enemy territory, in a situation where annihilation at any moment wouldnt be surprising.
In such a situation, saying the wrong thing to lighten the mood could attract all sorts of curses from those already burdened, so everyone wisely kept silent.
Amid this heavy silence, His Highness the Crown Prince was the first to speak.
I have failed in this expedition. My fault is too great for not anticipating that Count Bern was a double agent, leading us this deep into enemy territory.
Honestly, it was an extremely unfortunate circumstance that His Highness was deceived this time.
Especially considering that Count Bern, who had been feeding valuable Swiss information to the imperial intelligence for years and promised betrayal, was actually preparing to betray the empire, which was an unforeseen issue for anyone.
Therefore, it was understandable if he blamed the intelligence guys for being incompetent, even though he admitted his own mistake.
I have no excuse to offer you. Im truly sorry, truly sorry.
However, the Crown Prince admitted his mistake and bowed his head in front of everyone.
In Korea, where public apologies were a culture, even a president bowing his head was taken very seriously, let alone in the Reich Empire, where class system and authority were firmly established.
Generals, including myself, immediately knelt on one knee to pay respects and prevent the Crown Prince from feeling embarrassed, and His Highness personally helped each of us to stand up.
Then lets discuss the retreat operation now. Anyone who has thoughts on the retreat operation, feel free to speak.
When no one came forward immediately, I quietly raised my hand and spoke.
There is a retreat operation that can efficiently save and return the most troops in this situation.
As I spoke, the attention and gaze of numerous generals were focused on me.
In this desperate situation, I wondered if the best we could do was to save at least His Highness the Crown Prince and return to the Reich Empire? Wasnt that our limit?
If some crazy person suddenly claimed to have the most efficient strategy to save many lives, even I would be dying to know.
Let me start the detailed explanation of the plan. First, we must lead our 50,000-strong army into the Ticino Canton, which the 7th Division has passed through. Thats the only way to survive.
Why specifically Ticino Canton? Is there a reason were not considering other routes?
According to my estimation, in the other cantons, experienced mercenaries capable of organizing and commanding the men of the villages as soldiers are likely waiting. If we try to pass through those routes, theyll incite the village men to fight as soldiers, aiming to slow us down.
Caught in that tactic, the slowed Reich Empires army would be cornered and eventually caught and devoured by the Swiss soldiers.
The case was a bit different for the route I mentioned through Ticino Canton.
However, Count Ticino of Ticino Canton borrowed soldiers from other cantons to annihilate our 7th Division. More than half of them have been killed or injured, reducing their combat capability. Thus, they wont be able to deploy many commander-level mercenaries and village militia capable of conducting guerrilla warfare or defensive battles, reducing the number and scale of the militia that can be organized to halt the retreat of the Imperial Army.
For information, I executed all the captured prisoners regardless of age or rank, although I didnt mention it here.
Normally, I wouldnt have done such a thing unless I was insane, but in a situation where we had to fight to retreat, we couldnt afford to drag prisoners along.
And if we released the prisoners to maintain our speed of movement, they would immediately take up spears or swords to hold us back.
So, what I did was necessary to survive and, more importantly, to send back home as many of our 50,000 soldiers as possible as a general of the Reich Empires army.
Because of this, I doubt Id end up in a good place after death.
If you want to survive, you must absolutely take the route through Ticino Canton that the 7th Division passed.
Everyone here nodded in agreement with my words, and I started explaining the next part of the operation.
The escape route will be as follows. Now, I will discuss the most crucial aspect, the order of escape and the tactics for defending the rear. Once this meeting is over, I would like His Highness the Crown Prince to immediately lead an escape with 2,000 knights.
The Crown Prince seemed about to get angry upon hearing my words, but then he calmed down and asked,
Understood. But is there anything else youd like me to do afterward?
Considering His Highnesss pride here would help maintain a cordial relationship in the future.
As soon as Your Highness enters the Reich Empire, please issue mobilization orders to the 14th, 16th, and 25th Divisions to gather near the Swiss-Reich Empire border. And please wait there until all other divisions have returned.
Understood. We will do so.
Thank you, Your Highness.
After exchanging those words, I gestured with a pointer over the route we had taken through Ticino Canton and said,
After Your Highness departs, we will also slowly retreat through Ticino Canton. While doing so, well establish a position favorable for engagement, draw in the enemy, and repel them in the first encounter. This should momentarily tie down the enemy.
Currently, the Duke of Switzerland is trying to keep us off guard until the end by dispersing his forces along paths known only to locals.
It was true that it was difficult to ascertain the exact number of enemy forces by sending scouts, but one thing was certain
if the Duke wasnt mad, he would have prepared far more troops than us.
After immobilizing them, the plan is to allow one of the six divisions to escape. At that time, we intend to provide horses to all soldiers of the escaping division to enable faster movement. Well use the reserve horses from the knight units and the mules and horses pulling the supply carts.
Firstly, all knights, in principle, receive three or more horses from the empireone they ride and two as reserves.
If the knights generously offer their reserve horses, we could mount up to 10,000 soldiers.
By gathering all the draft animals and pulling various carts, we could mount about half of the soldiers on horses.
Although, honestly, regular infantrymen, unless they were non-commissioned officers or above, could barely manage to walk a horse when seated on a saddle.
Anyway, since the walking speed and endurance of horses and humans were on different levels, even mounting them on draft horses would significantly speed up their movement.
Well engage and immobilize them, then evaluate the situation to continually allow one, two, or three divisions to retreat at the same time. In the end, only one division will remain to secure the retreat path, and well slowly withdraw from the Swiss Confederation.
It might seem like an impossible tactic, but our tactical goal wasnt victory but to buy time for other retreating divisions to escape.
We would be reducing the size of our force gradually while conducting guerrilla warfare and retreating.
And I would like our 7th Division to take on the most critical role in this battle as the rear guard if thats alright?
Upon saying this, the Crown Prince sought agreement from the other generals with his eyes, and as everyone nodded, he placed his hand on my shoulder and said,
Lieutenant General Yeager, you must return alive. You need to live to hold your child, dont you?
Yes, I understand.
And if you havent decided on a name for the child yet, if I return alive, I will personally name that child.
You might think naming a child is trivial, but in the Empire, it is common for a vassals child to be named by their lord.
Unless the parent-to-be betrayed them, it was practically a vow to protect them at all costs.
In other words, even if I died here, my child would be under the protection of the Crown Prince, who was most likely to become the next Emperor, so there was no need to worry about my childs future.
So, even though I felt a real fear and tension about possibly dying this time, and was grateful for the Crown Princes consideration, it brought tears to my eyes.
In such times, keeping up appearances helped maintain everyones morale, and even if I were to die, Id leave behind a dignified image.
I thought I couldnt die before holding Lauras child. Now, with the added curiosity about what name the Crown Prince will choose, it seems I couldnt die even if ordered. So, I will definitely return alive.
And on this night, the Crown Prince, along with the Deputy Commander, his personal guard, and 2,000 knights, took the road passing through Ticino Canton, heading towards the Empire.
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