Both Rosais and Rezad estimated the war to begin in March.

　Both countries began preparations for the war to begin two months later.
　Lesado recruited mercenaries, and Losais trained his soldiers.

　And diplomatic laying the groundwork.

　The battle for the city-state that existed between Losais and Rezad had begun.

　Resad is trying to fish for economic gain, and Losais is applying military pressure.

　As a result of the fierce diplomatic battle between the two countries, many of the city-states ran to the side of Losais.

　It was never because King Rosais' country was righteous.
　It succumbed to its military might.

　The military threat to the country of King Losais outweighed the economic benefits presented by Rezad.

　The reason for this was the economic downfall of Rezad.
　Rezad continued to grow in its economic and national power over the last few years.

　The reason for this is that it was one of the first to get involved in the distribution of paper and spirits produced by the country of King Losayes.

　They sold paper and spirits by sea and made a lot of profit.

　Since the country of King Losais was hostile to it, it was only natural that Lezad would fall economically.

　A break in the money is a break in the relationship.
　There is no need to continue to associate with Rezad at the risk.

　Also, the way King Rosais ruled over the invading city-states also provided a tailwind for his country.

　If they surrendered early, the treatment would only be in the autonomous city.
　The treatment of an autonomous city is total autonomy, except for diplomatic and military rights.

　This means that there is no economic pain at all.

　The problem is that the country's security will be in doubt if its diplomatic and military rights are taken over.......
　That would be a bit of a stretch now.

　The security of small countries has always been suspect.
　Rather than small countries fighting with each other, it would be better for them to come under the patronage of a military power like King Rosais' country, which would result in lower military spending.......

　One can think of it as a good idea.


　But most significantly, though, is Rezad's response to the parliamentary defection case.

　With this incident, Rezad exposed to the world the internal coup and the incompetence of his coup regime.

　The city-state, seeing Rezad's inability to lead, switched to Losais, where there was a young king named King Almus.



　However, Rezad is not unilaterally defeated either.
　Except for Rezad, the major cities of Gehenna and Nemeth he has succeeded in bringing Nemeth in eventually.

　They saw the country of King Rosais as a threat and sympathized with Rezad.

　Most of all, Rezad's success was just that.
　Gehenna proclaimed active neutrality towards the kingdom of King Rosais.

　Abraham, Gehenna's pretender, was the maternal grandfather of Tetraas, King Almus's flanker.
　King Almus could not despise his own grandfather-in-law either.

　He has decided that it is far more profitable to maintain friendly relations with the country of King Loseys than to be hostile to him.

　However, Abraham, the Pretender of Gehenna, is a cunning man.
　He refused the request for reinforcements from King Rosais' country, citing preparations against the | Lupus tribe of the north, the Ariace tribe《Alvaeans》.

　It's probably because he decided that it was safer and more profitable to stop the wounded sheep than to hunt the healthy ones.
　From Rezad's point of view, it was a blessing in disguise.

　Most of the Adelian nations in the north circled in support of King Rosais's country.

　King Evil's kingdom, Belvedil's kingdom, and Equus' kingdom even announced that they would send reinforcements.

　It was King Fardham's kingdom and Gilbeth's kingdom that were reluctant to support them.
　They feared that the power of King Rosais' kingdom would increase and its voice would become too strong.

　But in the end, they declared their neutrality.

　The alliance against Gaul would not be possible without the country of King Rosais.
　Since the two countries do not share territory in the first place, even if they issued a statement of condemnation, their influence would be small.

　Besides, the two countries have little to do with the Cilician nation in the south.

　The fact that the Cilician nation in the south came under the control of the country of King Loseys had little direct impact on them.

　Hence the decision.

　The only nation that sent a statement of condemnation to the country of King Loseys was the country of King Zoldiers.
　But that's about it.

　They didn't take military action.

　The Kingdom of Roselle remained silent.
　This is because it was too busy putting down the civil war in the north to get involved in the situation in Adelnia.

　Thus, the two countries made preparations, and March arrived.





　From the castle balcony, I watched the soldiers noisily lining up below me.

　To my right, Bartolo, Raimondo, Ial, and their vassals were standing in line.
　To my left are the kings and generals of various countries, including Tonino, the general of King Domorgal's country, and Muzio of the Equus tribe.

　The only troops gathered were the heavily armed infantry.

　King Rosais' kingdom alone is 30,000.
　The kingdom of King Evil is two thousand.
　One thousand in the kingdom of Belvedere.
　Two thousand in the kingdom of King Domorgal.
　Five thousand from the colonial cities, the autonomous cities, and the city-states stretching between the borders of Rezad.

　Forty thousand in all.


　And two thousand two hundred cavalrymen from the land of King Rosais. (Two hundred are conscripts. One thousand are the Kingsguard.)
　A thousand Equus cavalrymen.

　And the cavalry of all the nations combined, three thousand.

　Forty-three thousand in all.

　How can they have so many men?

　"Bartolo, how many men do you think the enemy has?
　'Rezad is a country that relies on mercenaries. You won't be able to gather much troops. And mercenaries don't take part in losing battles. Together with Nemeth, it's probably around 20,000 at most.


　In other words, the force difference is twice as great.
　If we go head-to-head with them, we can win.

　The problem is the enemy leader, Alexios.
　No problem about it.

　I sent him a bunch of gifts and letters addressed to Alexios.
　Rezad suspected Alexios and wouldn't send him into battle.

　Wars are almost always won or lost before they are fought.

　I've won this one.

　"Let's go. Let's get Lethard down!






　'I've said it a thousand times!　The enemy is a large army. They'd have to go through the wide road, even if it meant avoiding the woods!

　It was Nemeth's general who claimed this.
　He came from Nemeth with a force of ten thousand men.

　The mainstay of Nemeth is the heavily armed infantry, which seems to be a Cilician colony city.
　But they were not just heavy infantry.

　Instead of downsizing their shields and simplifying their armor, they have enlarged their spears.
　In the world of Almus, it has a form similar to the Macedonian style phalanx.

　However, it is not as lightly armed as the Macedonian Phalanx, and its spear is not as long as the Macedonian Phalanx.
　It's something in between the Macedonian and Greek phalanxes.

　'Not necessarily. It's true that the road facing the forest is narrow, but at the same time it faces the river. There's no shortage of wood and water. There are no city-states around here. From the point of view of supply and the speed at which we march, it is reasonable to take this road.

　That said, he pointed to the map, a Gallic mercenary captain hired by Rezad.
　He had been hired on short notice to replace Alexios.


　The two men are torn between which way King Rosais' country will take them.
　There are many city-states between King Rosais's country and Rezad... but overall most of the city-states are on King Rosais's side.

　The only city-state that supports Rezad is the small group of nations at the southern end.

　From Rezad's point of view, this small group of countries is the only stronghold.
　Therefore, the line of defense must be set up before this small group of countries.

　Normally, Rezad, which is inferior in terms of military strength, should hope for a siege battle.
　However, if a siege battle is fought in the home country of Rezad, the control of all the city-states north of Rezad will be lost to the country of King Loseys.

　However, there is no way that Lesad's allies, the small nations that are allies of Lesad, would accept a siege battle, and the walls are too low to fight in the first place.

　The walls are too low for a battle to be fought in the first place, so the battle must be fought out in the field.

　The question then becomes, where is the battlefield?

　The initiative is in the country of the attacker, King Rosais.
　Therefore, the defenders must find out what route the enemy will take.


　There is a large river running through this area, and on the other side of the river is a forest.
　There is a wide road west that bypasses this forest, and a relatively narrow road east that runs through the forest along the river.

　Either of these two routes was the route of choice for King Losey's country.

　I don't know which of these marching routes to take.

　Lowering or raising the line of defense would solve the problem, but....
　That is politically impossible.

　You really have to choose one or the other.


　It can't be anywhere but here!
　No, you're right.
　"Shut up, you barbarians (Barbaroi)!
　'What!　Do you know how many years I've been fighting in Gaul?　You aristocratic sweetheart!

　The shouting match between the mercenary captain and the general continues to heat up.
　There was no way to get them to act at this point.

　The senators dispatched from Rezad began to get impatient with this.

　They couldn't decide on the matter forever, and they kept backpedaling and backtracking, and the result is now.
　We can't keep making the same mistakes any longer.

　So how about this?　The mercenary captain will lead a Gaulish unit to defend the East Road. The general will lead Nemeth's heavily armed infantry to guard the west road. Then we can set up a base at the confluence of the East Road and West Road and communicate with each other. This way we can rush right over!

　The mercenary captain and the general looked at each other after hearing the suggestion of the Rezad senator.

　'It can't be helped. Let's go with that.''
　And in the end, only King Almus can tell you which way you're going to go.

　Thus ended the military debate.
　Whether this strategy would turn out to be good or bad....

　No one could know that.

　But there was one person who could.





　Oh no it's terrible.

　Alexios looked at the map, which was either the Rezad side of the line or drawn, and let out a dismayed voice.

　Alexios had a suspicion of insider knowledge. However, there is no proof of that.
　Therefore, he was under house arrest at home.

　Normally, Alexios would not be given a map with a map of the battlefield drawn on it.

　But Rezad's senators are not monolithic.

　One of the senators who heard about the formation of the Rezad Army and felt uneasy came to Alexios to ask for his opinion.

　''Is this still........a subterfuge?''
　'Of course. Even though we don't have many troops over here for free, you're letting it divide us. 　Even a layman with a little experience in the military would know that dispersing forces is not a good idea.

　Oh dear.
　Alexios cowered his shoulders as if to say.

　'Which one do you think Alexios is?'
　Me?　 It's never too wide for a large army to advance, and there's no reason to rush. Just scratching the back and saying the east road is also quite possible.
　So what should I do?

　Alexios smiled inappropriately at the senator who asked.
　He drank his tea and put his cup on the desk before answering .

　'The strategy is wrong to begin with. In war, strategically, it's more advantageous to attack. After all, we can choose the battlefield at will. We've already lost the diplomatic negotiations," he said. If we are going to make up for this loss, it is not enough to defend ourselves, we must attack. We must go on the offensive.
　But if you push the battle lines any further you'll be in hostile territory.
　Hostile territory but are you sure about that?　The city-states didn't pledge allegiance to King Almus. They just bowed to that military pressure. If we come out on top, I'm sure some of the city-states will cooperate.


　Many in the city-state are uneasy.
　Isn't the reign of King Almus only kind while the threat of Rezad is around?

　Once the advantage is decided, won't they turn over their palms?

　You never know what will happen if the king changes his mind.

　If King Almus is a good king, then what's next?
　How can you trust the unborn crown prince?

　Rezad has been discredited, but that doesn't mean that King Rosais' country has been discredited.

　What they really want is for the military-political balance to be maintained between the two great powers of King Losais's country and Rezad.

　Therefore, if Rezad gets a little stronger, even if they don't support him outwardly, they can expect support behind the scenes, such as being told about the terrain and getting food aid.

　'Well, I think it was a political mistake when we turned against King Rosais' country in the first place. It's not easy to make up for a political mistake with a war. .........Now, will Rezad be able to weather this storm?

　Alexios cowered his shoulders, as if it were someone else's business.