EP.276
First of all, to prevent the Archduke of Warsaw from fainting and hitting his head on the ground, I asked the archduke’s guards to put him back on his chair.
The Archduke looked a bit dazed, as if he hadn’t co to his senses yet, and then I asked the ssenger again.
“Koszalin Castle must be quite a large castle. Is this report true?”
“This is the report sent by Brigadier General Anastasia von Kergit and the surrender docunt signed with the mayor when we delivered the castle.”
“You go away now. “If you don’t have any urgent plans, take a rest today and go back ho.”
The ssenger left imdiately and I read the surrender docunt first.
The docunt clearly had the seal of Anya and the seal of the mayor of Koszalin Castle, and judging from this, it was a genuine docunt of surrender.
There was little chance of the ssenger coming to with fake docunts in the first place, so there was no need to check.
The reason I bothered to check is because with this, I now have a weapon that can impose slightly more unfavorable conditions on His Highness the Archduke of Warsaw.
“Your Majesty the Grand Duke. “Are you unwell?”
The Archduke must have co to his senses only when I finished reading the surrender docunt and asked him the question while looking at his face, and he waved his hand and answered in a slightly fussy voice.
“I get dizzy sotis. It’s not a major illness, so don’t worry about it. It will last for a while. It’s okay now. “You showed sothing I shouldn’t have seen.”
“no. By the way, I just received a ssage from Brigadier General Anastasia von Kergit, commander of my archer cavalry brigade, informing that Koszalin Castle has been surrounded and captured. Would you like to read it?”
“Give it a try! There is no way Koshalin Castle could be taken over so easily, so it must be fake.”
After hearing my words, the Grand Duke imdiately took the surrender docunt written by the mayor of Koszalin Castle like an eagle snatching a rabbit.
According to normal diplomatic etiquette, if I hand it to you with both hands, it is appropriate to receive it leisurely with one hand.
It seed very beautiful to , who had to surrender, as it showed that he was cornered to the point where he lost the ability to even maintain his manners.
As it is said in so Korean broadcasts that other people’s misfortune is my happiness, it is because it is a great fortune for the allies when a high-ranking enemy soldier is delighted.
On the other hand, the Archduke held the surrender docunt so tightly that it beca crumpled in both hands and began grinding his teeth.
“How could Count Kominz, who has served the Grand Duchy of Warsaw for over 200 years, open the castle gates just because it was surrounded by one division, or even one cavalry brigade? This is ridiculous! “If we had just locked the walls and held on for a little while, peace negotiations would have been completed soon, or I would have brought in reinforcents.”
In my heart, I wanted to further harass the Archduke, who had suddenly sent 50,000 reinforcents into the war against the Kingdom of Stockholm and put our troops through hardships.
If that surrender docunt is torn, it will be difficult to prove Anya’s achievents, so we shouldn’t let that gentleman handle the docunt carelessly.
I slightly bowed my head to the Grand Duke, asking for his understanding, then took the surrender docunt with the seals of Anya and Mayor Koszalin from his hands and placed it back in my hands.
When the docunt disappeared from his hand, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Warsaw looked as if he had reached the state of liberation, and for a mont I thought he looked pitiful.
The duty of a general going to war is to frugally rip off every drop of flesh and blood from a cornered enemy, so he decided to use pressure instead of sympathy.
“Imdiately after the Battle of Gryfino, the Reich Imperial Army captured 13 castles of dium or larger size, including these. In the process, neither the blood of our allies nor the blood of our enemies was shed.”
“Are you bragging about your victory in front of , who is now a loser? Okay, congratulations. “But if you act so recklessly, won’t you be a nuisance to His Majesty, the Emperor of the Reich Empire?”
“Your words are too harsh. And how could I have such an ulterior motive? I simply wanted to inform His Majesty Stefan von Báthory, Archduke of Warsaw, of the current situation in detail. Since we are still at war and we don’t know when we will cross paths again, wouldn’t it be good for you to learn a little bit of information about the other side? So rather than criticizing , shouldn’t you say thank you?”
The face of His Highness the Archduke, who had been trying to show off his dignity by appearing relaxed after coming in a little while ago, turned bright red.
What I said was, ‘Your Grand Duchy’s army is so weak that it doesn’t seem to know how you are firing, so I will tell you one by one. But it’s a mockery close to saying, ‘You can’t beat anyway.’
Our Royal Highness Bathory, who was born as a Grand Duke, equivalent to the King of a Grand Duchy, has never experienced this kind of humiliation and sha, so it seems to be working very well.
By the way, it is surprising that the skills of mocking others learned in Korea, where the best online gars gather, often beco the best conversation skills on the Europa continent.
It’s amazing, new, and thrilling, and it’s the best technology that works very well in the current situation… so I should keep using it.
“Okay then, let’s change the conditions.”
At those words, the Archduke looked very puzzled.
In fact, it is not like he is saying that he will cut down the conditions in the peace negotiations as if he were being generous, but he suddenly says he will change them in a playful tone. Who could imagine such a thing?
I’m tolerant, so I can understand that much and overlook it.
“We, the Reich Empire, are requesting an official letter of apology for arbitrarily sending reinforcents in the battle against the Kingdom of Stockholm, as well as compensation for the entire Warsaw coastal area and 500,000 gold cessions from the Duchy of Königsburg.”
“The initial conditions were ridiculous, so I just wanted to return. If it turns out like this, I’ll go back! No, I would rather continue the war.”
After saying that, the Archduke seed to want to express how bad he felt, so he kicked the innocent chair, knocked it over, and tried to leave.
Since our army won completely anyway, the situation was so bad that most castles would surrender imdiately after a siege, so there would be no harm to us even if the battle continued with the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.
I had no intention of grabbing His Highness the departing Archduke by the leg of his pants and making him sit back down at the peace negotiations.
However, I was full of thoughts of having them grab my pant legs and make crawl away on their own.
“Are you okay, Your Highness?”
“More soldiers will be brought from other parts of the Grand Duchy. I will compete with you again. So, wash your neck clean and wait.”
“Listen carefully before you go, Your Highness. The Grand Duchy of Warsaw has already been defeated.”
At those words, the Grand Duke of Warsaw stopped.
“No matter what we do, we cannot resist the Reich Imperial Army. Because so far, I have already captured more than 13 castles even though I only gave one division to each of the lieutenant generals under my command.”
So, I stopped talking for a mont, walked up to the Archduke, and whispered quietly into his ear, applying pressure.
“If today’s negotiations break down, I plan to personally take up the sword and surround not only the coastal area but also other major cities. Even cities with walls that could easily be blocked by a force of about 8,000 n are surrendering with both hands and feet out of fear of the Reich Imperial Army. But what do you think will happen if I step forward?”
Even if you beco a major general in the military, you will have so much influence that you can spread an enormous disaster among the soldiers and officers.
When you beco a lieutenant general beyond the rank of major general, your power and status are much higher, and when you reach the rank of captain, your power and influence increases to the point where you can control the major generals with just a gesture of your chin or a movent of your fingers.
So, from the perspective of a castle guard, how big of a difference does it make whether it is the ‘major’ or the ‘captain’ who is trying to attack you?
“Don’t you think they will open the gates of most cities except the capital of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw?”
“……”
“Even if you regret it by hitting the ground then, they will not accept your surrender on the sa lenient terms as they are now. So take your pick. Are you going to hit the ground running and do sothing you’ll regret? Or do you want to accept these conditions now?”
When the Archduke heard , he looked at with both fear and contempt, as if he were looking at the devil.
“The Emperor of the Reich Empire is raising a devil. You are like an evil devil. This is a war in which the people of Warsaw, who serve the sa god, keep dying! As a general, do you think it is the human thing to keep driving the soldiers of the Reich Empire to death?”
If you look at the results alone, it was the Grand Duke of Warsaw who tried to starve 2 million Warsaw people to death.
As a general of the empire, it is my duty to order my soldiers to die for victory, and I have always done my best to make their deaths worthwhile and noble.
Well, I wanted to refute all these facts, but I don’t have the ti or the ti to do so right now.
Therefore, we must instill fear in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw so that it can never look towards the Reich Empire again.
“As a general of the Reich Empire, it is my duty to bring victory to the empire, even if I am called a man worse than an animal or a man worse than a dog or a pig. I don’t know what to do when people praise for doing my job so well. Now let ask you again. Would you accept the conditions I proposed? Or would you rather fight to the death for the next ten years for the survival of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw?”
With those words, the Archduke returned to his seat.
I presented him with a contract containing all the conditions I had proposed, and the Archduke signed it with his signet ring and seal.
After that, His Majesty Stefan seed to have lost all strength in his body and started to feel limp.
“Your Highness the Archduke’s escort knights will take you to the VIP reception room at Gryfino Castle.”
This is the end of the long and dirty war with Warsaw.
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