Chapter 158

My father, who had the greatest authority here except for me, spoke with a serious expression.

“Mobilizing 220,000 troops… His Imperial Majesty has decided to launch an expedition. And the majority of this force will be filled with ambiguous lords who have not shown loyalty to His Imperial Majesty, like us… There will be considerable sacrifices… In this kind of war, we will shed blood, while the honors will go to the lords closely tied to His Imperial Majesty. Then, the East will put in the effort, and the money will sweep into the hands of those affiliated with the center.”

The other barons seemed to agree with his words, nodding in unison.

“Given that the Architel region isn’t well stabilized yet… If His Majesty acts like this already, isn’t it going to be really difficult for us?”

“If a self-proclaimed empire, neither sacred nor the true successor of Romania, runs amok, our borders might become dangerous. Especially, the Duke of Papenheim’s territory seems suspicious.”

“How many soldiers should we send then?”

At least the Romanian Empire is currently bent double under the cost of building the Great Cathedral in the Papal States, so a major issue shouldn’t arise.

Even if we are invaded, it would at least come after the Elaline Empire has confronted Franche and some time has passed.

Because if we are attacked, the Emperor will have no choice but to pour the soldiers and supplies prepared for the Franche expedition into the Romanian front to save his vassal, me.

And in about two years, even though it might be awkward to use them as the main force of the attack, reserve forces that can be sufficiently utilized as defenders will pour out from the territories… So there shouldn’t be much to worry about.

“First, we will dispatch our troops two years from now when the soldier recruitment and training in Architel are completed. The scale of the force that sets out will be 30,000, and we will mobilize 20,000 for territory defense.”

“If the Architel region stabilizes, we could manage 50,000 standing troops, but… Your Excellency the Marquis… Isn’t the military obligation imposed on us around 20,000? Why take 30,000 instead?”

Fulfilling a military obligation that exceeds the imposed amount may seem like a loss from a narrow perspective, but from a long-term view, it becomes advantageous to mobilize a large force, even at some cost.

First of all, our Emperor is suspicious of all nobles, including me.

In such a situation, if we only mobilize the exact amount required by the military obligation, the Emperor would think on his own like this.

“Oh, that guy only wants to fulfill his military obligation, showing no loyalty to me…. I should write his name in the purge note.”

Moreover, if I gather 30,000 troops, the other nobles will have no choice but to mobilize even more troops accordingly.

Because this type of war is also an occasion to prove one’s loyalty by the number of soldiers mobilized.

Unless they belong to a family that isn’t concerned about the loyalty competition like mine, they would strive as hard as possible to gain the Emperor’s favor.

If that happens, I can inflict more damage on other nobles than I would suffer.

Also, since the number of soldiers affiliated with the Eastern Army increases, the chances of success for this expedition also rise, killing two birds with one stone.

However, even though it’s in front of the vassals, there’s no need to say that the Emperor suspects me.

“We need to prove our loyalty to His Imperial Majesty and make other lords mobilize more soldiers than the military obligation imposed on us. After this meeting, if we report that we were imposed 20,000 but are mobilizing 30,000… Those guys might try to fulfill twice, maybe three times the military obligation to not fall behind in the loyalty competition. Using that force against Franche will increase the chances of victory for us.”

“Your Excellency the Marquis handles soldiers very well. Generally, wars are more favorable for a larger number of troops…”

Other barons echoed admiration in their voices.

“Even other nobles are our competitors. They will keep an eye on us even after this war… I never thought they would think about leaving that room for us.”

“And while 20,000 might be fine, with 30,000… That’s enough to occupy a count’s territory the size of Nante, and then maintain, manage, and defend it… Even if our forces lose, if we just plant our flag on a count’s territory and hold out until the end of the war, we could expand our territory…”

“Truly, it is the Croilet Marquess… As long as I follow this man… The safety of my family is guaranteed…”

Earlier, Baron Crescent said that with 30,000 we could just hold out and defend a count’s territory…

If we can operate more than 50 artillery pieces being made right now… We could fight against twice the attacking force and five times the defensive force to achieve a significant victory.

Because, exaggerating a little, there are stories of dozens of soldiers marching in tight formation being slaughtered in a single cannon shot.

If we shove knights into the wrecked formation, enemy soldiers would be torn apart like bamboo split in half.

Of course, this can only happen if we have as many cannons as I desire…

“And the grain that comes in taxes next year will not all be sold but stocked, with that food to be used for the rations of the Western Army soldiers during next year’s deployment. Also, the barons should hire appropriate courtesans, clowns, and minstrels in their territories… and report to me by September next year. After that, I will check if there are any spies among them.”

While everyone seemed to accept the idea of stocking grain rather than selling it for use as rations for the Western Army, they all looked at me with blank expressions when I suddenly mentioned hiring courtesans, clowns, and minstrels.

Sure, if my beloved lord suddenly told me to hire courtesans and clowns for a good time in a war, I would be dumbfounded.

However, since the success or failure of this war is uncertain… we need to profit even from this.

That way, if we succeed, we hit the jackpot, and even if we fail, I can provide ample rewards to the soldiers and nobles who have made achievements in the war.

To reassure them, I spoke in a calm voice.

“Securing rations does not mean we are giving away grain for free to those guys. Rather, we aim to take on the transport to the battlefield and gain enormous profit. Additionally, hiring clowns and minstrels is to provide entertainment and drinks to allied lords participating as allies, to ensure that the soldiers’ wages end up in our hands.”

Everyone nodded as if they understood.

“Especially, this war will involve more than 70,000 troops. So, a huge amount of food and supplies will be consumed in this war. Particularly in war, the scarcity of those items increases several times. We will act as the supply merchants for those fools. And until now, it was a fight between our army and the enemy army, with me sacrificing getting a return for my efforts… but now is different, isn’t it?”

In real history, supply merchants have earned enormous profits by selling the items they handle.

Typically, at least five times the minimum market price of a city is the base price, and there are cases where unscrupulous supply merchants took advantage of difficulties and dangers in transport to sell food and goods at prices up to 50 times.

Even so, supply merchants enjoyed the merits of meeting the difficulties of supply and providing entertainment for the soldiers, so they could prosper for a long time.

Of course, I didn’t want to overcharge my soldiers…

So, I controlled the prices to double based on the city closest to the battlefield, but there was no need to show such mercy to those who are not even my soldiers.

Additionally, since they have become barons now, unlike before, they have to bear some of the military costs when going to war…

I needed to compensate for that by taking a bit more loss.

“I will manage all supply merchants targeting our troops, and for those targeting allied troops, I will use the shop of Margerita, a merchant from Hamburg, to build a justification for offering slightly more expensive services. And from the profits gained from Margerita’s shop, I will fairly distribute half to you.”

For a force of 40,000… no, since I increased the soldiers, maybe even more than 60,000 would benefit from the income brought in by supply merchants.

Exaggerating a bit, this could likely account for the income of a count’s territory for a year or two.

With that money, the barons could fill some of the war expenses incurred in this war.

“Therefore, you should all do your best to prepare for this war. Also, as soon as the guns are made in the armory, supply them immediately to the soldiers in each region. Before we set out, 30% of our total force must be able to handle the guns freely.”