Re: Steel and Gunpowder

Chapter 126: Hidden Hounds

Eckhard didn’t look terrified by the prospect of fighting a Bavarian vanguard.

He had spent the last month dealing with administrative headaches, bogged down by training new recruits and managing the raw logistics of the Savoyard border.

Now, his Lord was taking the leash off.

"If we are going to strike them before the wedding bells finish ringing, Lord Konrad," Eckhard began. "We cannot just march seven thousand men straight up the main trade road. The Bavarian scouts would spot us a mile away. The northern pine forest is too thick for a single pike square."

Konrad crossed his arms over his doublet. "Then how do we break them?"

"We choke them out," the Marshal stated. "We use the woods to our advantage. But to execute a flawless encirclement in the dark, I cannot command the army by myself. I need you to raise the rank of my best soldiers."

"Hmm.." Konrad gave a short nod.

"Give me the names," Konrad commanded .

"Klaus, Dieter, Georg, and Lukas," Eckhard rattled off, naming the most effective veterans who had survived the Bohemian slaughter.

"And... I want to elevate Sergeant Mathias from the second halberdier company... the men trust him."

Sergeant Mathias? His sister Elise certainly had an incredibly sharp eye for talent.

"Done," Konrad declared without a fraction of hesitation. "As of this very second, they are Captains of the Swabian army. What is the exact formation?"

Eckhard tapped his finger against the five distinct entry points leading into the northern woods.

"I want to give them troops to make parties, spreading them out to be everywhere at once," Eckhard explained.

"We make exactly five parties. Every single party will have one thousand men.

They will entirely fan out and silently surround the Bavarian camp from the flanks and the rear.

When the shooting starts, the Bavarians won’t know which direction the main assault is coming from."

"And the rest of the men?" Konrad asked.

"My main party will have two thousand veteran halberdiers," Eckhard continued. "I will march them straight up the middle and hit their vanguard right in the teeth."

"We need a dedicated part on the artillery," Eckhard pointed out, gesturing to the high ridges overlooking the pine valley on the map.

"...we take the remaining musketeers and position them on the high ground with the twelve-pounder cannons and the Gatling carts.

The moment the Bavarians try to push through my center line, our gunners will rain lead down on their heads."

"And what about the keep?" Isolde finally spoke up. The spymaster crossed her arms, unimpressed by the military posturing. "The Duke of Bavaria is sleeping just a few corridors away. Bishop Tomas is already riding to Munich. When the cannons start firing in the north, Duke Wilhelm is going to realize he has been betrayed."

Eckhard looked up from the map. "I am leaving you two hundred of my best killers, Lord Konrad," the Marshal stated firmly. "They will lock down the courtyard, the Great Hall, and the upper guest wings. Their only job is to protect you, Lady Katarina, and the child."

Even so, Konrad knew that leaving himself with a reduced guard while surrounded by treacherous noblemen was dangerous.

But he also knew he could not afford to weaken Eckhard’s encirclement in the northern woods.

If even a single Bavarian messenger escaped the ambush and warned Munich, the entire Duchy would mobilize.

"Two hundred is enough to hold the stone walls," Konrad agreed. "Take the rest of the army. March them out through the eastern supply tunnels before the sun fully rises. I do not want a single Bavarian spy in the courtyard to see the halberdiers leaving."

"It will be done, My Lord." Eckhard bowed deeply.

He turned on his heel and marched out of the doors.

The iron latch clicked shut, leaving Konrad and Isolde alone in the quiet study.

Konrad leaned back against the edge of his desk. He rubbed his jaw.

He turned his eyes toward his spymaster. "Alright, Isolde," Konrad said quietly. "What is this Duke holding in that forest, and what are they going to do?"

"I don’t know the entirety of their plans, Konra," Isolde admitted, her voice tight. "The Bavarian camp is locked down. They have executed anyone who even wanders too close to the tree line."

"...."

Konrad nodded slowly. "Never mind. What about their artillery? Is there anything else besides the ten bronze cannons?""

"Ten bronze siege cannons, no more," Isolde answered smoothly. "But they haven’t unlimbered them yet... but that is not the part that worries me."

Konrad frowned. "What is it?"

"The numbers my shadow-walkers brought back don’t add up," Isolde whispered. "Four thousand landsknechts and ten siege cannons require a continuous supply line of grain and fresh water. But the supply wagons entering their camp from the north are carrying too much food."

"Too much food? What are you saying, Isolde?"

"I am saying there is an unaccounted group of men hiding inside that pine forest," Isolde revealed. "The rations indicate there are at least five hundred more mouths to feed in that camp. They stay inside the command tents. And my spies heard the Bavarian generals calling them by a specific name."

"What name?" Konrad raised an eyebrow.

"They call them the Pope’s Hounds... a ridiculous name, isn’t it?" she replied calmly.

"Hmm? No time for jokes, Isolde." Konrad tilted his head slightly, his eyes narrowing into freezing, lethal slits as he stared at his spymaster.

"In short, they are a highly specialized infiltration unit. If Duke Wilhelm is planning to break the alliance today, the Hounds will use the chaos of the wedding crowds to slip inside. They disguise themselves as traveling merchants, visiting monks, or even hired cooks for the feast."

Konrad slowly loosened his grip on the handle of his pistol. What Isolde was saying was more dangerous than an army of 4,000 men.

Five hundred hidden enemies... It was a terrifying number for assassins.

They certainly wouldn’t need to fight spearmen in organized formation; all they would have to do was sow panic, open a gate, or slaughter those they deemed worthy while everyone sipped Bavarian beer.