12 Episode 11 Peronia War Part 2 (1/2)

Darius the Kuro Panther, mercenary captain.

He is a high-ranking member of the warbeast race.

He is the third son of a small baronial family in a certain western nation.

Darius is one of the Reconstructionists in military history.

He is one of the Reconstructionists ...... who revived the advanced tactics of the past, which had been forgotten during the chaos that began with the fall of the Lemurian Empire.

Infantry, cavalry, and archers. Infantry, cavalry, archers.

This may seem like a common practice, but it is not the case in this world today.

The fact that Hadrian III, the father of Hercule, neglected the infantry because he was too concerned with heavy cavalry is a clear example of this.

Even the Lemurian Empire, which has preserved most of the ancient materials, is in this state.

Not to mention the barbarians.

With the long history of human warfare and the loss of honed killing techniques, warfare in this world is degenerating into a very primitive form of head-on pitting of armies against each other.

Not to mention the concept of logistics, even the concept of strategy and tactics has long since been forgotten.

Prayers to the gods determine who wins or loses a battle. The technology of warfare in this world had degenerated to the extent that a general of a country would seriously say such a thing.

Therefore, Darius, who could use a combination of infantry, cavalry, and crossbows, was one of the few great generals in this world, and was the ”Reconstructionist”.

”How many men have you gathered?

In addition to 10,000 mercenaries, 5,000 infantrymen and 5,000 crossbowmen, 30,000 infantrymen and 5,000 barbarian light cavalry have already been assembled, for a total of 45,000 troops.

”Hmm ......, well, if we can gather that many, we should be fine.

I'm not sure what to make of it, but it's a good idea.

The mercenary captain Darius nodded in satisfaction at his second-in-command's report.

Currently, the financial situation of the Pelosonian mercenary territory was in a state of crisis.

The Pelosonian Peninsula was too weak to sustain 10,000 mercenaries.

The Pelosonian Peninsula is not a poor region, with industries such as olive oil, wine, and marble.

But it did not have the economic base to support 10,000 money-eaters all the time, and the Darios Mercenaries lacked the ability to collect taxes.

Disbanding the mercenary corps would cause a rebellion and give other nations an opening to take advantage.

However, in order to maintain the mercenary corps, it would be necessary to impose heavy taxes, which would cause resentment among the people and increase the risk of rebellion.

This is what it means to be poor.

So Darios decided to take a gamble.

The plan was to gather mercenaries with his wallet, invade the Lemurian Empire, and snatch the territory and reparations.

Incidentally, Darius' purse alone was not enough to gather enough troops to extract a major concession from the Lemurian Empire, so he received major financial support from two countries that were enemies of the Lemurian Empire, and also borrowed money from foreign merchants to raise funds... ...and to make up for the lack of funds, he collected mercenaries by allowing them to loot the territory of the Lemurian Empire.

Darius had defeated the Lemurian Empire twice.

Even though the Lemurian Empire was in a slump, he was able to smoothly gather both military funds and mercenaries thanks to the fact that he had twice defeated the emperor of a superpower that once ruled the world.

”But, Captain. Are you sure you want to do this?

”What, are you worried?

Darios laughed and patted his second-in-command on the shoulder.

He was only fifteen years old. He's only fifteen years old and he's the son of Hadrian III.　He's no match for me.

Darius recalled his battle with Hadrian III.

The emperor of Lemuria, a great power, was so weak that Darios was disheartened.

A frog's child is a frog.

Hadrian III's son would be Hadrian III.

Darios laughed it off at the thought of ......

”Captain!　It's a disaster!　The Lemurian Imperial Army is invading our territory!

Darios' smile froze: ......

Somewhere, Hercule smiled broadly.

”Hahaha!　In any case, that black cat said of me, 'A frog's child is only a frog. I'm only a frog's child. I can handle a 15 year old! I'm sure he was saying something like that. How does it feel to be outwitted by a frog?

Hercule smiled broadly.

He was probably quite happy to have fooled the famous Kuro Panther, Darios, and was at the peak of his powers.

In fact, until a short while ago, I was full of anxiety about whether or not I would be exposed and whether or not there were any ambushers ......, and Karolina encouraged me. ...... That's a secret.

It went well, Your Majesty.

Yeah. We landed easily.

The Lemurian Empire's army led by Hercule and his men (800 heavy cavalry (cribanarius), 1500 infantry, 500 longbowmen, total 2800) is stationed at a small port in the Pelosonian mercenary territory.

Why were they able to land so easily? ...... There are three reasons for this.

First of all, the Pelosonian Mercenaries do not have any ships. Since they don't even have a transport ship as far as I can tell, it's nearly impossible for them to catch the Lemurian Imperial Navy, let alone prevent it.

Secondly, he did not expect to be attacked because he was planning to attack. In other words, Darios was completely careless.

Third, Hercule had put the standing army on a ship in the middle of the night and sailed from the capital under the cover of darkness, and he was using merchants to control information.

The cooks and servants working in the palace of the Lemurian Empire are now finally asking, ”What?　Where did His Majesty go? Darios would be a psychic if he knew where Hercule was.

Now that Hercule and his men have successfully made a surprise attack, the odds are not in their favor.

I don't know how many troops Darios has gathered, but they're probably bigger than us. In order to make up for this difference, we must always take the initiative. We have to make the first move.

Hercule said and unfolded the map.

It was a very accurate map of the Pelosonian Peninsula that had been lying in the archives of the Lemurian Empire.

I'm sure it's much more accurate than the map Darios has.

Here's where we are. South of here is the largest city in Pelosonia. Darios' home base is the citadel north of ...... near the border of the Lemurian Empire.