Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: Deceiving the Enemy in War is Proper (2)
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His Highness the Crown Prince was one thing, but His Imperial Majesty the Emperor's expectant expression weighed even heavier on him.
Moreover, the man who always wore a face laced with political calculations when dealing with his ministers was now beaming with pure delight. It was almost frightening.
What was this? Why was he smiling like he was about to hand over his own daughter?
"In addition, what I've been thinking is that Your Highness should focus on promoting talented low-ranking officers and administrators from commoner backgrounds. I caught Your Highness's eye through my service on the Rhineland Front, but if you hadn't supported and elevated me from then until now, I would never have reached my current position today."
I had risen faster than most noble officers, but without His Highness's backing, I wouldn't have advanced as aggressively as I had.
After all, opportunities didn't come easily to an orphan commoner like me.
"With your abilities, you would have overcome the limitations of your commoner status and reached this point eventually. But it would have taken at least ten more years to make major general."
"Thank you for the high praise, Your Majesty. Then consider this: even now, among the commoners graduating from the Imperial Academy, there are those more capable than noble officers yet facing slight disadvantages. If Your Highness continues to promote based on merit, the Imperial Army will gain even more excellent commanders."
"The counts and higher might grumble a bit, but baron and viscount houses—those with votes in the imperial election—do lag behind in promotions compared to the top nobility anyway. So they'll think, 'If even commoners are being appointed by ability, imagine how much better treatment and opportunities I can get by siding with the Crown Prince.'"
Just as His Majesty said, humans had that psychology.
'That loser weaker than me has a girlfriend, so why should I stay single? If I do what he did, I could land an even prettier one. I'm single not because I can't, but because I choose not to.'
Seeing commoners promoted would make the knight families and lower nobility like barons and viscounts think the same.
For their house's future and their children's success, they'd contemplate switching factions.
The Emperor nodded at my words, then asked in a puzzled tone.
"But if the Crown Prince promotes commoners and comforts bereaved families, won't the other princes follow suit?"
"Even if the other princes imitate him, it won't harm the Empire. And in searching for talent among the far more numerous commoners and lower nobles, we'll soon find commanders who surpass even me. Besides, won't His Highness the Crown Prince be remembered as the one who first tried all this?"
"......I asked for ways to bolster the Crown Prince's position, and you provide plans that aid the Empire's progress as well. Impressive."
Well, that was obvious.
Because as a soldier—and a commoner at that—I didn't know things like whom to bribe or which nobles to bind through political marriages to gain influence.
All I could think of was that the best strategy for winning the imperial election was also the greatest boon to the Empire.
But these alone wouldn't overturn the assessment that His Highness lacked decisive military prowess.
"However, these aren't enough. Because Your Highness the Crown Prince, as the next Emperor, must prove his own military capabilities."
As if he'd been waiting for those words, the Emperor leaned forward in his chair, his eyes gleaming as he fixed them on me.
"Do you have something in mind? If we pick the right target, I'll appoint you as deputy commander for the Crown Prince's next campaign, without fail."
Deputy commander in name, but a position with authority and responsibility equivalent to the overall commander.
It was exactly what I most wanted to climb to now—and what I'd always coveted.
My heart pounded, but this was the time to stay cool-headed.
"From a grand strategic perspective—one that decides the Reich Empire's future—the Empire's next target should be the Archduchy of Ostrica."
"The Archduchy of Ostrica. I expected you'd suggest the Franco Republic, Belgia, or Morenzia. Unexpected."
"If the Franco Republic were intact, striking Morenzia for conquest would be ideal. But the current Franco Republic is on the verge of civil war if left alone a bit longer. Belgia eyes the Franco Republic, while Morenzia checks Belgia, creating perfect balance among them."
The Franco Republic hadn't recovered from our last war, where we devoured vast territories.
No, the wounds we inflicted had festered, splitting the cabinet and parliament completely.
The two parties were at each other's throats—according to intelligence reports, they'd even commissioned assassinations against rival noble assemblymen.
In that situation, why poke the hornet's nest by invading or altering the surroundings? They might unite against us.
"Meanwhile, Ostrica, Warsaw, and Checovia will one day ally to attack the Empire. Thus, we must strike Ostrica first—the core of their power—to eliminate their focal point."
Warsaw had the largest land area, but the Archduchy of Ostrica's vast plains produced enough grain to sustain a huge population.
Among the three, Ostrica had the most people and the largest army.
"Indeed, those three can't unite now only because Warsaw is fighting Belasc and Kaunas. If Warsaw makes peace with them someday... the thought alone is horrifying. It would be a crisis for the Empire."
"Doesn't that paint a fine picture, Your Majesty? His Highness the Crown Prince personally conquers Ostrica—a future major threat to the Empire."
"How will you prepare the groundwork?"
......This time, we'd been baited by the Swiss into biting off a big loss.
But their strategy had been devilishly effective, so I intended to learn it thoroughly and use it.
"The former majors who served His Highness the Crown Prince bear little guilt. So, to give them a chance at redemption, I'll send them to Ostrica as double agents. They'll feed Ostrica command critical Reich Empire secrets until the decisive moment—then we'll smash them from behind."
Those former majors were Staff College graduates, intimately familiar with Imperial Army doctrine, strategy, and tactics.
They'd also memorized some Class 2 secrets.
Even if not everything, offering that to Ostrica would delight them enough to accept.
Of course, they'd quietly purge them once their usefulness waned.
His Imperial Majesty asked in a surprised voice.
"True, they merely followed orders from above, so there's room for leniency. But is it really alright? When the Crown Prince becomes Emperor, this would truly expand his inner circle."
Those five former majors held noble succession rights, and unlike me—who was only publicly close to His Highness—they were privately very tight with him.
When His Highness teasingly invited me to a brothel, I always politely declined, but those guys tagged along every time.
Our relationship was only 4-5 years; theirs was nearly 20.
In a way, it undercut my position...
But I'd survived this long by prioritizing the Empire's interests.
"This isn't a proposal to gain their gratitude or bolster my position. Though it's awkward to say, those five performed their duties per His Highness's orders and bore harsh punishment for it."
"Indeed. Such promising young talents, wasted."
"In a sense, His Highness bears responsibility for them. Publicly showing he gives them another chance portrays him as a lord who cares for his followers to the end, even if they lose value and fall."
His Majesty stared blankly at me for a moment after hearing this, then spoke.
"Very well. Do as you wish. But treat any secrets leaked in the espionage op as top-classified, and report directly to me in writing before starting."
"I shall obey."
After the discussion ended, Emperor Ferdinand of the Reich Empire thought.
'I never intended to check Major General Jaeger, the Empire's benefactor. Quite the opposite—I planned to let him keep spreading his wings.'
However, the Emperor had meant to remove those clinging to him for political power.
No, he even planned to separate one particular girl who followed him without such motives.
"Baroness Kerjite isn't on Jaeger's level, but she's sharp. And she's central to securing and holding the northern territories. In a few decades, when the north thrives, she'll deserve a county there. That way, even after I'm gone, the north stays with the Empire."
The Emperor felt a twinge of regret personally.
Because Jaeger—mocked in high society as the most oblivious to romance among imperial nobles—simply hadn't noticed.
He knew Baroness Kerjite, who cherished the north more than anyone, avoided marriage for political gain purely because she yearned to bear Jaeger's child.
"That's why she had to be kept away. If those two united, the Jaeger house would gain too strong a foundation. I thought restraint was necessary."
Then the Emperor chuckled.
Because when Jaeger proposed the Ostrica conquest, he'd suggested sharing the next Emperor's inner circle spot—which he could have monopolized—for the national interest with those five former majors.
Thinking only of the Empire, beyond personal gain.
Doubting the man who'd worn a major general's rank into the jaws of death and slain over 200 foes for the Empire seemed downright foolish.
Having abandoned suspicion, the Emperor wanted to bind Jaeger even tighter to the Empire.
"Honestly, even stripping away his noble influence, Jaeger's value rivals a ducal house. Making him family might be best. Plus, under imperial special law, if a princess marries a man with a principal wife, both are recognized as equal 'principal' wives."
Thus, the Emperor was grateful for the law allowing him to fully win Jaeger over without displacing the loyal Marquis of Venner's daughter's principal wife position.
"My daughter Louise turns twenty the year after next and must marry. Since childhood, she's steadfastly said, 'I want to marry a knight on a white horse from a fairy tale!' and strived to be a fitting lady for such a knight. Fulfilling that dream would make her happy, surely."
Yet one worry lingered in the Emperor's mind.
It was just...
"But Jaeger is so conservative. Once he makes general, he keeps his exclusive maid by his side—one openly smitten and signaling desperately. He sees her only as a loyal subordinate... Can Louise manage?"