Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Franco Invasion Operation Formulation (2)
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Just like that, over the course of a month—no, precisely a month and a half—I had to voluntarily endure the hellish schedule known as the General Staff's tradition: overtime five nights a week.
During that time, I received a letter from His Highness the Crown Prince like this.
'His Imperial Majesty the Emperor holds you in particularly high regard as well. He has great expectations for the task you've been assigned this time. I've heard about your marriage to Laura. Congratulations. I'd love to summon you right away, but you're swamped with work, and I'm about to tour countries like Checobia and the Grand Duchy of Ostalica, so I'm incredibly busy myself. Normally, since you've become a general and gotten married, you should come pay your respects to me. But specially, you don't need to push yourself to come until things settle down a bit.'
If the procedure to pay respects to His Highness the Crown Prince had been added on top of all this, the work would have been delayed even further.
It's truly fortunate that he put it off.
Even so, up until now, even when I was a professor at the Staff College—where everyone else pulled all-nighters preparing lectures or writing papers, focusing on study and research—I hardly ever worked overtime.
This is all because the Minister of Military Affairs suddenly ordered me to draft an operation plan for tens of thousands of troops from scratch, all by myself.
On top of that, since the information I was handling was top-secret, even Laura—who had been reassigned to the General Staff Operations Department to assist me right by my side—received an order barring her from the office, leaving me to formulate the plan in solitude during our newlywed period, which made it feel all the lonelier.
"But thanks to grit and guts, if I just add this one more thing..."
So, though I often muttered to myself during work, over the course of a month and a half, I succeeded in drafting a plan ready for immediate review and adoption by the General Staff.
I flung open the door to my office as the Third Deputy Director of the Operations Department and headed to the Minister of Military Affairs' office to obtain approval for this operation plan.
But for some reason, through a General Staff officer, I received orders to go directly to the Minister of Military Affairs' residence, leading me here to the Moritz Ducal estate.
Ha, well, once this plan gets approved, I should finally be able to live a peaceful life—leaving the office at 6 p.m. and arriving at 9 a.m. the next day—for a while, right?
"Minister of Military Affairs, sir. This is Brigadier General Peter Jaeger, Third Deputy Director of the Operations Department. May I enter?"
"Come in."
With those words, the door opened, and there stood an incredibly young and beautiful maid right beside the Minister of Military Affairs.
To be precise, the girl named Marie whom the Fifth Prince had once tried to assign to me was quite pretty too.
But she was nowhere near the level of the maid standing next to the Minister of Military Affairs.
So, caught off guard, I stood there blankly for a moment, and the Minister of Military Affairs looked at me and urged impatiently.
"Come in already. Sit down if you're here. Why stand there making your legs ache?"
"Yes, sir. If you'll excuse me."
As I sat in the chair in front of the Minister of Military Affairs' desk and set down the bag containing the operation plan,
"An important guest has arrived. Lena, you can go now."
At those words, the girl detached herself from the Minister of Military Affairs' side, quietly closed the door, and left. The Minister of Military Affairs looked at me with an innocent expression and asked.
"So, did you formulate the operation plan well? I'm personally looking forward to it greatly."
"Over the past month and a half, I did my absolute best. I believe even you, sir, will be satisfied."
"Then present the operation plan you've formulated. I hope it meets my expectations."
This moment would decide my future promotions and career advancement—and whether I'd have to endure that hellish overtime again.
"First, I'll report the damage the Franco Republic has inflicted on our Reich Empire. 156 villages completely burned down, 8 castles rendered practically unusable, and the total area plundered by the enemy amounts to roughly the size of three baronies."
Three baronies might sound small, but it's land where about 200,000 people had taken root and lived.
If that many people suddenly lose their livelihoods and become unemployed, for the Empire, it means a massive drop in tax revenue, of course.
Those who turn into wandering beggars will flow into the slums of cities, becoming petty thieves, or head to the mountains to turn into bandits and criminals...
The additional crime damage from them, plus the costs to suppress it, turns it into a serious problem.
Fortunately, we have the vast newly conquered northern territories, so His Imperial Majesty the Emperor will likely resolve it well by relocating all 200,000 there at this opportunity.
"Isn't this the kind of act you'd expect from heathens who haven't properly enjoyed the benefits of civilization?"
"Invading without a declaration of war is certainly the kind of barbaric act only insolent heathens would commit. But what does that signify?"
"War is the continuation of politics, and at times, politics dominates war."
At those words, the Minister of Military Affairs wore an expression of utter disbelief, but perhaps because I was grinning with an exceedingly wicked smile?
He simply stared at my face intently, as if signaling he would hear me out.
"The enemy didn't want to be excommunicated, so while they plundered the property of our Reich Empire's serfs—who follow the same Deus Church—and destroyed their villages, they didn't sell the serfs as slaves or kill them. On that basis, they've barely avoided excommunication from the Latina Papal Court."
As in the past Canossa humiliation, when papal power was at its peak, a single excommunication decree from the Pope had toppled Heinrich I, the monarch of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Deus Church in this world isn't quite that powerful, but a single excommunication decree has enough force to turn the politics of the Empire and other nations upside down.
So the Franco Republic must have refrained from killing serfs to avoid the horrific scenario of their own government being excommunicated...
"However, the Deus Church has a rule forbidding plunder among those who worship Deus as their god. Unauthorized plunder without a declaration of war qualifies for excommunication."
I dug up this principle back when I was at the Academy, even reading the Church law codes of the Deus Church—which I rarely touched except when necessary.
And from quietly looking into the current state of the Deus Church, the newly installed Pope seems quite authoritarian, intent on reviving and restoring the Church to greatness.
So, if we report the Franco Republic's misdeeds and request excommunication, it should be resolved without much difficulty.
"So what of it? Get to the point."
"Please request that the Franco Republic be excommunicated on the grounds of plundering without a declaration of war. This is a political matter for the Foreign Ministry to handle, but since guarding the border and fighting is our duty, isn't providing diplomatic support the Foreign Minister's job?"
At those words, Minister of Military Affairs Otto Moritz was left dumbfounded by my plan to use excommunication for the sake of war.
Honestly, if some lunatic invades a peaceful country without declaring war, isn't it fair game to break both his wrists for it?
To begin with, the Franco Republic didn't kill or enslave anyone, but they're still arsonists and thieves who looted everyone else's property.
"Fortunately, the new Pope of the Deus Church is the type who will use any means to elevate the Church's authority, and he'll view the Franco Republic's actions with great displeasure. Show a bit of sincerity, dangle the bait of Church authority to persuade him, and he'll promptly issue an excommunication decree against the Franco Republic. It's like a father disciplining a wayward son to assert his authority—pronouncing excommunication as punishment for the Franco Republic's insolence will highlight the majesty of the Deus Church."
Well, the Latina city owned by the Pope of the Deus Church and its surrounding military forces are only sufficient for maintaining internal security.
Naturally, the Reich Empire's army will play the role of the rod enforcing that authority.
In politics, majesty doesn't require personal involvement—just as His Highness the Crown Prince's prestige rises through my achievements without him lifting a finger.
The Pope's authority will rise through a similar mechanism.
"Then, while the politicians and high nobles of the excommunicated Republic won't care, the soldiers—who must die at their command—tend to rely heavily on religion. Gripped by the fear from the excommunication decree that dying for an excommunicated nation might send them to hell, their morale will crawl on the ground."
In modern South Korea, concepts like heaven and hell don't strongly dominate people's values.
But especially among the lower classes like serfs in this era, reliance on religion is extremely strong.
No need to explain how greatly the terror of going to hell upon dying in battle—where death is already likely—will factor in.
"Conversely, our Reich Empire's army will be marching to deliver righteous punishment to an excommunicated nation, boosting our morale accordingly. This allows our Reich Empire forces to wage the 'just war' I lectured on before, so we can employ somewhat radical tactics without issue. I'll continue the explanation."
When I had explained this far, Minister of Military Affairs Otto Moritz stared at me with an expression bordering on shock.
But now the real start begins, Minister.