The siege of Kellerheim was carried out swiftly and decisively. Now that we’d replenished our gunpowder, the crown prince immediately moved the troops, cut across Selthausen and Konstanz, and launched a surprise attack on Kellerheim.
The Baron of Kellerheim resisted desperately, but the small wall couldn’t withstand the firepower of twelve cannons. A provincial domain’s wall wasn’t as sturdy as the wall of a great city.
What unfolded after our forces fiercely poured in was plunder and slaughter. It was nothing new anymore. The merciless violence carried out in occupied territory was the rightful privilege of the occupying army.
A supply base was set up in Kellerheim, and with a bridgehead secured for taking on Radensdorf in earnest, Fried returned to Euz. From here on, we’d be advancing deep into enemy territory.
It was extremely dangerous for both the count and his heir to be on the same battlefield. If things went wrong and both of them fell in battle, Angela, who’d become Lily’s handmaid, would become the sole heiress of Euz.
Since this raised the risk that Euz could slip into the hands of another prince, it was only natural that Fried return. Through this war, Fried had not only sharpened his skills but had also grown crueler in temperament.
The Count of Euz regarded that growth in Fried with pleasure.
Just as I’d suspected, the Count of Euz, as a margrave, wanted not an heir of soft character but a cruel yet strong heir who could reliably hold the line.
Watching the Euznirk father and son up close, I began to ponder how I should raise an heir who hadn’t even been born yet. A strong heir? A righteous heir? A cruel heir?
It was a bit silly to be worrying about the future already, but honestly, it was a concern I couldn’t help dwelling on. Thankfully, I had a domain where the system’s help made it possible to overcome things to some degree.
When the system’s diagnosis ruled that my child was an Excellent Heir, I’d been overjoyed, but the moment I learned there was innate genius on top of that, I couldn’t help but get greedy.
The truth was that excellent talent alone was more than enough, but the human heart really is a fickle thing. Maybe it was because of a parent’s heart, but I couldn’t help wishing for my child to have even higher talent.
Hmm, I’ve been an undutiful son to my parents in my previous life.
So far I’d only invested a single talent boost, but I intended to invest in earnest after the civil war ended. Even if it consumed an enormous amount of points, my heir was the future of the Streit family.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
To patrol the Kellerheim-Konstanz border, I’d ridden out leading only forty-five Gale Knights cavalry. We were securing the supply route and making preparations for the invasion, but there was something nagging at me.
It was the existence of the Hungarian mercenary company hired by the duke’s army.
This Hungarian mercenary company was composed of light cavalry, and it even included some horse archers. The first place we’d encountered them was Offenburg.
On the way back with Lily, we’d been ambushed because information had leaked, but fortunately, with the duchy army’s help, we’d been able to crush them. And some of them had been hired by Michael.
If I were the enemy commander, I’d actively make use of the Hungarian mercenary company to intensively attack the enemy’s supply routes, so I’d ridden out on patrol as a kind of safety check.
In fact, it was through this Hungarian mercenary company’s activity that the Grand Duke’s army had suffered a great setback and been pushed back to Breisburg. So this worry of mine was by no means groundless fretting.
And at last, I found the traces.
"...A step too late."
"Commander, there are no survivors."
When we found the brutally murdered corpses of a supply unit and the wagons reduced to ashes, the existence of the raiding party was confirmed. I’d been hoping my worry was merely groundless fretting.
After checking the surrounding hoofprints, it seemed the enemy wasn’t a large-scale cavalry force. You could call it the textbook strategy of scattering into small units to wreak havoc here and there.
While examining the wiped-out supply unit, I found a broken arrow lodged in a corpse. The arrow was notably shorter than the arrows archers used.
"Anton, it seems there are horse archers mixed in with the enemy raiding party after all."
"Horse archers? Wouldn’t it be dangerous to pursue them with just our own men?"
The greatest threat from horse archers is hit-and-run swarm tactics. They’re tricky to deal with and a hallmark of nomadic cavalry. The outline of the enemy we’d have to face had come into view.
"No, we pursue as we are."
The Beren region is an area with more forests than plains or open fields. Being close to the Alps, it has high mountains, gorges, and hill country, so a horse archer’s range of activity is fairly limited.
It’s for these geographic reasons that a location is fixed in advance for large-scale pitched battles. So as long as I had the Commander Scouter, it was a prime opportunity for me to defeat them piecemeal.
Above all, a horse archer’s effectiveness is halved in a forest.
The dependable vice commanders had all been sidelined by injuries from the fighting up to now, but the Gale Knights were fundamentally very strong in forest combat, so the odds were good.
Neeeigh!
Chrysos, whom I’d brought along in place of Mont Blanc, had such a finicky palate that I’d had to buy sugar cubes to feed her from the start. What a foul-tempered little princess. Even more finicky than Mont Blanc.
Still, being a thoroughbred, she ran carrying my heavy, fully armored body without showing much sign of tiring. It seemed the thoroughbreds our family had come to own each had wildly different personalities and traits.
Schatten was strong and large, perfect as a charging mount, and Mont Blanc was incredibly fast but slender of build and weak in endurance. Chrysos was an all-rounder without a single shortcoming.
She was probably the thoroughbred most specialized for pursuit.
Leaving a horse like this stuck in a stable was an excessive waste of talent.
"Halt! We rest here for a bit!"
"Unit, halt!"
While tracking the raiding party’s traces, we decided to have lunch in the forest. We took out some simple pickled vegetables and Landjäger to eat. Whatever else might be said of me, I paid attention to food, so it tasted good.
Eating his Landjäger, Anton said,
"Feels like it’s been a while since we’ve had lunch in a forest, just us?"
"It’s wonderful not having to mind the looks from other units."
The members apparently hated being crammed in with the cavalry of other units. Despite being the supreme commander’s direct unit, we had the smallest numbers, so it seemed they’d had to eat humble pie.
Come to think of it, the operations where we’d moved on our own hadn’t been as many as I’d thought. That was how much the Gale Knights suffered from chronic manpower shortages.
The Gale Knights numbered eighty-five, but with damage steadily accumulating, our already thin ranks had dwindled further to sixty-three. For a regular order, the size was far too small.
Most of the duchy’s orders maintained around two hundred members.
We’d been operating with less than half that number all this time.
We’d at least raised the numbers again by deploying the twenty-five reserves, but it was still far short of the order’s full complement. Because the selection criteria were too strict. This all came from my bias toward a positive disposition.
As we fought battles, casualties mounted and recruiting was difficult, so in the end I had no choice but to drastically lower the standards. From the next class on, I planned to recruit with somewhat looser criteria.
While we were resting, Anton made a fuss.
"Commander! It seems this fellow has hit it off with a maiden from your domain!"
"Has he? So there was a village maiden who captured my subordinate’s heart."
Back when the Gale Knights were stationed in Feuzen, I’d secretly hoped some romances would bloom with the village maidens, and now at last one seemed to have. The fellow in question looked thoroughly bashful at the attention from Anton and me.
"I’m thinking of proposing after the war ends. Will you give your permission?"
"Of course I’ll permit it. By the way, if any of you are hesitating, speak up now."
At that, a few of them cautiously raised their hands. Oh? More than I expected. I declared to them that if they settled in Feuzen, I’d absolutely provide a settlement allowance.
The textbook approach would normally be to take your wife back to your hometown, but most of these men were second or third sons, so even if they went back there’d be no property to inherit. That was why they wanted to settle in Feuzen.
It wasn’t simply that the population would grow. Because I could settle elite cavalry, I was very pleased. I was quite proud of the village maidens who’d captured my subordinates’ hearts.
I’d have to leave it to Hilda and have her hold a joint wedding ceremony.
Provided, of course, this war ended.