Shadow King Chronicles: Building a Kingdom From Behind the Scenes
The Increasingly Desperate Party
The wars in the empire were fierce. The Duke Wallenstein faction plus Marquis Baldwin were fiercely fighting with the Duke Manstein faction. Due to being superior in numbers, Marquis Baldwin and Duke Wallenstein had the upper hand. His forces managed to repel Duke Manstein's army and inflicted heavy losses on their side.
Besides getting help from the Moskov Empire, they also got help from other parties. That assistance was enough to fund most of the troops even to make contracts with the mercenaries.
Meanwhile, forces from the side of Duke Manstein and Marquis Welden suffered massive demoralization. Besides hunger, they also suffer from disease. It is possible, the disease they suffer from is derived from food that is not feasible or dirty water.
Not to mention, the mage on their side suffered from a severe mana deficiency. Of course this condition recovers by itself even without mana-enhancing potions. But it takes a month. The problem is, wars can happen at any time before they are fully recovered.
Some areas under the influence of Duke Manstein have also fallen into enemy hands. It was an emergency alarm for them. Effectively, Duke Manstein's influence was only left in the capital and its surroundings.
"DAMN! FOR THE THIRD TIME WE HAVE LOST THIS BATTLE!"
Prince Fritz, who was on Duke Manstein's side, angrily hit the table until the glasses above him were raised. He himself has used a lot of his power. But the result was far from what he expected.
Not only was prince Fritz, the others were also very upset. But somehow they can't do much. Winter makes everything difficult. Other than their snow-covered logistics supply routes, not many warm clothes were enough for the soldiers.
They can no longer extort anything from the people. That's because they don't even have anything left. Even just to find firewood, they are very difficult.
Duke Manstein and Marquis Walden looked at the map and the pawns standing on it. Their movement is getting desperate. It was impossible for them to reclaim strategic positions with their current condition. The only thing they could do was to recast their fragmented power despite having to stumble over it.
"Don't worry, prince. We can still regain our strength. There are more than 500,000 people in the Reichstaag. If we recruit them, we'll get more troops. In addition, let's make a secret agreement with the two kingdoms and the Dukedom in the west. We'll ask them for help"
The Grand Duchy of Radmond, Dalmiro Kingdom, and Diedrich kingdom were indeed being sanctioned by the empire. But as Lambard's trade union has been destroyed and the emperor who exerted them pressure has died, Duke Manstein intends to mend ties with them.
He did this even before the emperor died. He sent his emissaries to negotiate with them and helped the three territories by sending them aid and money.
The preparations made by Duke Manstein were quite mature. Actually, the secret deal was formed from the beginning. Now, help is being delivered on the way. But they really don't know what's going on.
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In the western region of the empire, a motorcade was on the move. A total of 15,000 troops were moving towards the empire. They consisted of 5000 cavalry, 8,000 light and heavy infantry, and 2000 mages. Behind them, the transport of supplies also accompanied them.
Its destination was the western region that was under the control of Duke Manstein and Marquis Walden. Upon arrival at the empire, they would join the forces of prince Fritz. Of course, the accompaniment of this army came from the neighboring empire of the Grand Aria empire.
They were promised a lucrative offer. Had Duke Manstein won this war, he would have given a portion of the western territory to them instead. Of course, the western region was a mountainous region that contained a lot of minerals to mine.
Something like that is not a small deal at all. Moreover, the three leaders of each region assume that Duke Manstein will win this war. So this is not a bad deal at all.
The commander who led the parade encouraged the men behind him. His cheer made the soldiers mentally stronger and finally cheered.
Once they entered the forest area, the sky that had been dark because it was only illuminated by the moonlight now became darker. Torches and light magic started to shine brighter to make sure no one was mired due to the sticking out roots or holes in the ground.
But their journey is further hampered when a large tree falls in the middle of the road. The commander clicked his tongue and told the few soldiers behind him to get rid of the large trunk.
But before the soldiers moved, hundreds of arrows and earth magic sprung up in the sky and attacked all of them. The commander immediately ordered his soldiers to calm down but alas, an arrow flew towards him and pierced through the iron helmet he was wearing. The man fell off the horse and died instantly.
"Ko-commander's dead!!!"
Panic was brewing inside the army. Once its commander has been killed, the chain of command will be cut off and the troops will become topsy-turvy. There were actually some subordinates who would become field commanders after the main commander was killed. But they all died too.
In the end, the chain of command was completely broken and the forces from these three regions were completely engulfed in chaos. Although ambushes may not be too many, they benefit from forest conditions that have dense vegetation that makes the troops become limited in moving.
The supplies they brought had been burned so that continuing the war felt impossible.in the end, they would rather retreat than continue fighting.
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Meanwhile from the southeastern region of the empire, a skinny old man and a fat man were having a meeting. But between the two people, there was another one present.
"Thank you Miss Lambard. Thanks to the help you gave us, we can all defeat the army of Manstein bastards who killed the emperor. As we agreed at the beginning, we won't touch your assets."
In attendance was a blonde girl in the style of a ponytail shaped like a drill. That girl looks so pretty. Even the boy of these two nobles tried to propose to her but she bluntly refused. Sorry, there is someone who has my heart. So said.
Of course it made both of them very angry considering they were very selfish people. But it would be a disaster if they hurt the girl. That was why their parents stopped the two boys.
The girl's name is Carolina Von Lambard. He has struck a secret deal with both sides to defeat Duke Manstein. Of course these two Nobles were Duke Wallenstein and Marquis Baldwin.
Not only did he give out loans at a small interest rate, he also provided the information he had on the condition of Duke Manstein's forces and provided information on the mercenaries who could help these two Nobles win the war.
These two nobles thought that he was helping them out because of a grudge against Duke Manstein who had been the mastermind of his father's murder. Maybe they're right, but that's not why.
Whoever wins and loses, he doesn't care. But clearly, if it turns out that the winner does not benefit her and her future husband, Issac, she will immediately act. These two Nobles had promised to keep the stock of items needed by the La-Sa Guild (actually for Starfall) secure in exchange for the assistance they received.
That way, there's nothing to worry about. Everything went according to plan.