The families I intended to recommend to them were mostly those of high-ranking duchy army commanders. Looking at the list of families that had approached them, most had no real connection to the duchy army nobility.
It seemed these were nobles trying to expand their influence by using the rising Royal Artillery Corps, which was why I decided to handle the matchmaking myself. They were artillerymen, and I couldn’t let them be exploited by political factions.
After going on for a while about the matchmaking, Marco asked.
"By the way, Supreme Commander, what brings you here?"
"Is there an effective way to disable a cannon for a while?"
The artillery commanders stared at me, dumbfounded that I was asking not how to fire a cannon well, but how to make one unusable. It was to wreck the enemy’s cannons, not ours.
"Here, listen to the situation. Say the enemy has cannons, and I lead a raiding party on a flanking maneuver and attack their artillery corps. What’s the best way to disable the cannons and bolt?"
"How about using the method that’s most infuriating to deal with? Pouring water into them, for instance."
It was true that to cool down a cannon that had heated up during reloading, artillerymen used all sorts of methods. Most of them involved repeatedly covering the barrel with a water-soaked cloth to cool it.
Like the cold towel you put on a feverish head when you’ve caught a cold. The moment that water runs down and gets into the touch hole, you can witness Schneider’s spectacular flying side kick.
Marco scolded his superior as though the man were hopeless.
"Commander, that can be used again once it dries. Why don’t you try using your head?"
"Dreckskerl! Why don’t you shove your little Schwanz into the touch hole instead!"
"My Schwanz is far too big to fit, but I think it’s along the lines of what the Supreme Commander wants."
"What? You’re saying we should shove the Supreme Commander’s junk into the touch hole?"
Well, it’s not often you see an adjutant deliver a flying side kick to his superior’s face. Ignoring Schneider, who’d been hurled aside, Marco explained quite logically.
"If you drive a small stake or something into the touch hole, not only would the cannon be unusable, but pulling the stake out would take a considerable amount of time too. For whoever’s on the receiving end, it’d be infuriating enough to make them want to kill you."
A very good idea, isn’t it?
If you drive a stake into the touch hole and bolt, not only would the cannon be temporarily unusable, but pulling it out would take a long time. It seemed like a good way to render a cannon inoperable without destroying it.
"If the operation succeeds, I’ll grant you a great reward."
"Could you give us some high-quality wine?"
"I’ll give you the finest Rosenheim wine."
"Huh? The finest wine, the kind they say only high nobles and royals drink? Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty!"
What’s some fancy wine worth, anyway?
If we just succeed, our army can win.
"But why are you suddenly asking about weaknesses? Will there really be enemy cannons in the field battle?"
"Good question, Lieutenant Marco. The Royal Artillery Corps is scheduled to be deployed in this field battle."
".....You must be joking. The cannons we have are for sieges, though?"
"I opposed it on those very grounds, but I couldn’t stop it."
The lords had unanimously approved it, so there was no way I could have stopped it. Schneider’s eyes went wide, the drunkenness apparently shocked right out of him, and Marco cried out to the Lord and fled from reality.
But there was no overturning the decision.
Schneider practically screamed.
"Once they’re deployed, it takes forever to move them! These aren’t cannons with wheels!"
"I know. But when the enemy is firing cannons, are our artillerymen supposed to just sit there?"
"In the name of the Royal Artillery Corps, we’ll grind those nobodies into pulp with firepower!"
A battle of artillery against artillery would unfold, but in truth, the cannons of this era were more about deterrence than killing. Even so, Schneider, now brimming with pride, burned with the will to fight, as if losing to the enemy were unthinkable.
"I wish I could empty out my skull like the commander."
"Halt die Klappe! We are the proud Royal Artillery Corps!"
In his mind, Schneider was already on the battlefield.
But the ever-pragmatic Marco asked the most important thing.
"Where’s the unit that’ll protect the artillery corps?"
"I’ve prepared the finest escort, befitting the Royal Artillery Corps."
"Don’t tell me it’s the Swiss mercenary company or something? Hahaha."
When I grinned, Marco’s expression turned awkward.
"Wait, really? This is going to be an awful lot of pressure."
"It’s the most expensive escort there is, but don’t worry. They’ll guard you with their lives."
Instead of sending the Swiss mercenaries to the front, I’d assigned them as a rear escort, and that was a testament to how important I considered the Royal Artillery Corps. In fact, the artillery corps’ importance had already been proven countless times in siege warfare.
After leaving artillery headquarters, I immediately summoned Kellerheim’s carpenters.
They’d had a hard time of it repairing the houses destroyed in the last siege.
"You can make stakes and hammers about this size, right?"
"Yes, yes! We can! How many would you like us to make?"
"For now, make a hundred as a trial run."
Based on the specifications Marco had given me, I assigned the carpenters their quota. When they were pulled off the house repairs and put on another task, the man in charge came running over in a panic, but since it was an order from me, he couldn’t even lodge a complaint.
To be honest, my prestige within the Western Lords’ Army was truly considerable. I had quite a lot of titles to match. Aide to the supreme commander, artillery commander, temporary supply commander, combined cavalry commander, and so on.
The temporary supply commander post was to be handed over once a baron from Belfort had finished organizing the supply unit. The sole exception was that Wenzenberg, the monopoly merchant from Strasbourg, remained under my management.
"........"
At first I thought Leto was a very taciturn Swiss man, but it turned out he was extremely shy, and without Gedel at his side I couldn’t make out a word he was saying.
And then Gedel said it seemed like Leto liked me and that the two of us should try having a serious conversation, and he up and left. Hey, the conversation itself doesn’t even work, so what am I supposed to do?
So what I came up with was to bring linen paper and a pen and try to converse in writing. I worried for a moment that Leto might not know how to read and write, but surprisingly, he did know his letters.
[A dear friend of mine taught me.]
Well, even Arzt, a former executioner, knew some letters, so there was no law against people of low birth learning to read. Only, translating the Latin Bible was considered a sin under Church law.
I’d learned that from Father Andreas.
It made me drop the idea of translating and publishing the Bible altogether.
[I’m putting the halberd you gifted me to good use. Thank you for making me realize the appeal of the halberd.]
[I’m honored to have been of help to you, sir knight, but I can only apologize for having given you one of inferior quality.]
There’s a preconception that mercenaries are ignorant brutes who do nothing but fight. But contrary to how he’d dominated the battlefield like a tyrant, swinging that massive halberd, Leto was more polite than I’d expected.
I’d felt terribly sorry for having given him an inferior-quality gift, but what Leto had given me was, quite literally, a practice halberd. So it was perfect for rough use.
Once I fully master halberd technique, I intend to get a fine-quality halberd.
[If the chance arises later, I’d like to test myself against you once more.]
[I’m looking forward to it as well. Every knight who’s faced me so far has run away.]
[With your skill, even if they fled out of fear, that can hardly be held against you.]
Leto’s skill, which everyone agreed made him Switzerland’s strongest mercenary, lived up to its reputation.
Without the Strength +200% Boost Scroll and Fiel, I wouldn’t even have been a match for him. Leto was a monster among monsters, so much so that it would take at least three men of my caliber to barely hold their own against him.
That made my competitive spirit boil over.
The truth was that in Beren it had been hard to even find a worthy opponent, so having someone I had to surpass close at hand was a good stimulus and an opportunity to better myself.
[In the next battle, the Swiss mercenary company will, temporarily, fall under my command.]
[I’m honored to fight alongside you, sir knight. What is it we’re to do?]
[I’m sorry, but you’ll have to protect the Royal Artillery Corps from the enemy cavalry.]
[We are the Swiss mercenary company. We will carry out any task we’re given without fail.]
I’d worried he might balk at being placed in the rear rather than the front, but Leto displayed the pride of the Swiss mercenary company, brimming with the confidence that he could accomplish any task without fail.
With that, I’d taken every measure I needed to.
I’d come to command the combined cavalry along with the Royal Artillery Corps and the Swiss mercenary company, but I wasn’t the least bit anxious. After all, I had the scouter that had brought me victory and glory.