Chapter 247
Chapter 247
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 247
Chapter Title: Siege of Griffino Castle (1)
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Two months later, near Griffino Castle in the Warsaw Grand Duchy.
"When we came here two months ago, the village was quite a sight, but now it's a mess of hastily rebuilt shoddy houses mixed with the charred skeletons of those that couldn't be fixed. It's all so futile, isn't it? Don't you think, Lieutenant Vincent?"
Saying that, I didn't wait for Vincent's reply and looked around.
Among the official residences and the houses of the village elders, the stone-built ones still bore some scorch marks but stood firm, having been properly repaired. The fields burned to ash had been abandoned for harvest and plowed over, leaving nothing but bare earth.
In the midst of it all, the serfs and townsfolk of this village had thrown together crude huts from straw and wood in a desperate bid to survive. Scattered among them were the ugly, blackened frames of houses untouched by any repair efforts. The sight stirred a faint pity in me.
Of course, that didn't mean I regretted carrying out the tactical operation necessitated by strategy.
"Yes, sir. It's turned into a truly wretched village."
"That's just how war is—nothing to be done about it. So, what's the defensive posture like at Griffino Castle's walls?"
"According to the scouts' reports, the defenses at Griffino Castle are extremely tight. In contrast, the morale of the soldiers on the walls and the civilians inside appears very low. Despite that, the strict guard suggests they've received orders from the Warsaw Grand Duke to hold the castle."
... Griffino Castle is a decent-sized trading port, but the garrison is only about one division strong.
Even packing in refugees, there couldn't be more than around 30,000 able-bodied men capable of defending the walls.
The castle itself wasn't built with defense in mind, so it's clearly insufficient against our 100,000-strong army.
That bastard Warsaw Grand Duke is ordering the citizens and soldiers of Griffino Castle to die here just to bog us down.
"Aide, what's our line of march? I thought it was through Griffino to Swipsk."
"Yes, we're scheduled to pass through Griffino and Swipsk, then engage the enemy main force on the Utz Plains nearby. But if we're blocked here at Griffino Castle, the operational plan falls apart."
"The Warsaw Grand Duke's pulled a clever move. This is a real headache."
"How about we pull back a short distance from Griffino Castle and fight from the Piwa Plains instead?"
If I committed our 100,000 troops to a siege, Griffino Castle would undoubtedly fall to the Reich Empire's forces.
Securing the castle would give us a port as a gateway for resupplying deep into Warsaw Grand Duchy territory via our Imperial supply lines—a strategically sound option.
But even if the walls are low and defenses seem weak, it's still a castle with some defensive capabilities.
The civilians inside are probably trembling in fear right now, before we even start the assault. But once we launch the siege, they'll fight to the death to avenge the villages we burned.
They can't escape the castle anyway, and even if they desert and survive, their homes are in ruins—so they'll fight with the resolve to at least settle the score before dying.
Our forces would face fierce resistance at Griffino Castle, suffering significant losses.
And if we then had to face the Grand Duke's main army in that state, we could suffer a major defeat.
The aide was suggesting we fight on the Piwa Plains to improve our odds from that perspective... But first, there's something I wanted to check.
"Who's the mayor of Griffino?"
"According to our internal spies, it's Baron Lishu von Spiegelmann. He's held the position from before our raid right up to now."
"Strictly speaking, it wasn't his fault, but he got completely stripped bare around Griffino Castle just a few months ago. And he wasn't sacked? In the Reich Empire, he'd have been stripped of his office and forced to retire at minimum."
"During Grand Duke Batory's great purge two months ago to tighten administrative discipline, he seems to have barely held on because he wasn't implicated in corruption. The spies say he's always had a good reputation for caring for the people and being incorruptible."
If I'd been planning a siege, hearing that the citizens somewhat loved their lord would have grated on me terribly.
Because in a defense where every soldier and civilian fights to the death, the difficulty hinges greatly on how the commanding officer is regarded.
A prime example—though not a castle defense—is the Battle of Ritzen...
If there hadn't been near-perfect trust between me and the soldiers of the 7th Division under my command, even fighting from advantageous hilly terrain, our defense would have crumbled quickly...
I led by example, sword in hand, fighting like a demon, and the soldiers responded by exceeding their limits.
In the end, that damned Duke of Switciland couldn't breach our lines.
Fortunately, the current situation suggests we can take the castle without a siege.
"Anything more on Baron Spiegelmann's personality or career?"
"We don't know his personality precisely, but according to the spies, he's a talent who passed the Warsaw administrative exam and proved himself to rise this far. No military service, it seems."
"Passing the administrative exam and climbing to what equates to major general level in the Reich Empire—his administrative skills must be exceptional. But he doesn't seem suited for defending a castle with his life on the line. Don't you agree?"
The aide didn't fully grasp what I meant but nodded along since I'd said it.
"If Deus is with us, we can take this castle easily. Surround it now with the 100,000 troops. Have the soldiers build simple trebuchets and siege towers."
"Shall we prepare for the siege, then?"
"Prepare for siege, but we won't actually scale the walls. We're just going to pretend we're trying to take it, so inform all commanders division level and above."
As Aide Melkeimheim left to relay my orders, I grabbed Vincent beside me and said,
"Lieutenant Vincent, the principle of war is very simple."
"What is it, sir?"
"The one who exploits the enemy's weaknesses wins. So a general must act unfazed even when the enemy strikes our vulnerabilities, and when he finds theirs, pour salt in the wound until it festers."
Vincent, fresh out of the academy, looked a bit uncomfortable as he replied.
"...That's a bit different from what I learned at the academy. I was taught that war is about achieving victory through honorable combat."
"Doesn't that honorable combat include 'methods to enrage and provoke the enemy' and 'ways to analyze and strike weaknesses'? I'm just being a little more straightforward. And as Imperial officers, our top priority is returning as many Reich soldiers as possible to their families. That's the highest honor."
"So everything else is unnecessary?"
I patted my brother-in-law's head and said,
"Essentially, yes. You can see it with me, right? I've outranked and outpromoted all those hotshot academy professors."
**
The next day.
The 100,000 troops under my command had Griffino Castle surrounded airtight—not a drop of water, not even an ant could slip through.
In the rear, soldiers began felling nearby trees to construct siege towers, battering rams, ladders, trebuchets, and other siege engines.
"Move those logs faster, you bastards!"
"Yes, sergeant! Coming right now!"
"You idiots! If you shape the wood like that and build a siege tower, it'll collapse on us! I said smooth the surfaces properly!"
If things felt truly urgent, I'd grab a hammer and join in like General Keitel did back then.
But usually, if high-ranking officers meddle in the soldiers' work, it's the poor grunts who end up beaten bloody by pissed-off officers.
So I spent my time overseeing the soldiers' work or watching the walls for any ballista shots or catapult fire.
Over the six days of building siege engines, I went to the gates every day, urging surrender until my voice grew hoarse, but Baron Spiegelmann refused.
And on the seventh day, when all siege equipment except the towers was complete.
"Load stones into the trebuchets and stand ready to use the siege gear at any moment. But first, bring out one oak barrel of wine. This is the final surrender demand."
If my guess was right, we'd get some kind of response today.