Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~

Chapter 66: Burn, Volden 2 (4)

If there was a country that could take such a measure, it would have to be a country with a land area larger than the norm, with enough land power to survive even if the invaded regions were burned to the ground and cut off. In addition, it would need to have a central authority strong enough to force the provinces to accept such unreasonable orders. There was no such country in the continent of Ithuselah. Not even Molbaehr, where the royal family held a strong control, or Omnia, where the royal family reigned with religious legitimacy. One was an island nation, the other a peninsula nation. Both did not have the strength to survive if they burned their provinces.

So what if it's a small country that's fighting an all-out war? While it was understandable if destruction was avoided by burning ...... but that did not seem to be the case at the moment. Rather than the country falling into complete ruin, it was common for the royalty and nobility of a destroyed country to be incorporated into the conqueror's regime and become a new nobility. There were also cases where they would be downgraded to commoners. Or other harsher punishments such as annihilation of the entire family or three degrees of kin but those are reserved for the more serious cases. It was not a good idea to leave deep-seated resentment in the governance of the new territory. If this was obvious, then the option of razing the ground to ashes would unlikely be taken. And the populace would not go along quietly with a leader who tried to do such a thing.

......Bauer, or rather the people of the continent of Ithuselah, where the Holy King belief was widely practised, were unaware of another point of view. When countries of different religions and ethnicities fought each other, even if the gap in power between them is enormous, they might try to make a desperate attempt to resist each other by uniting in a fierce scorched earth strategy. But this was an example from another world. Just a little digression.

Or perhaps using the example of Bauers plan to intercept the main body of the Army of Arquell. There was a similar option of the expeditionary force retreating while razing the lands they had occupied. Nevertheless, burning down one's own land is pure madness.

"But...... what kind of person is this lord who ordered this?"

Considering the time of year, reinforcements from the royal capital have yet to arrive. It was doubtful that even the messenger had arrived. In other words, this scorched earth operation must be led by the lord of Volden. A lord who burned down his own territory without hesitation, even in times of war. What kind of heart does he have?

The enemy had burned enough food to feed 40,000 St. Gallen troops. In other words, they threw away 40,000 people's food supply themselves. Even if they were to win this war, they would be at their wits end with their territory in ruins and their people starving. This was a foolish measure that no lord should ever take.

However, the foolishness of this plan was certainly driving Bauer and the rest of the Army of St. Gallen into a corner. They lost the food they had gathered, and the yet to be occupied villages they had hoped could make up for their supplies were being burned to the ground. At this rate, instead of surviving the winter, they would have to starve to death sleeping this autumn. There was virtually no way out of this desperate lose-lose move. Bauer wondered if the enemy lord was prepared to fight to the death at this point.

A chill ran down Bauers spine as he thought. Was it caused by the chilling autumn wind?

"......Its as if the enemy lord has gone mad."

If he was going to carry out a crazy strategy, he himself must be crazy too. He was setting fire to his own territory in order to drive the St. Gallen army to the brink of collapse. Did he have such burning hatred for St. Gallen that he was willing to sink into hell together? Or was he so loyal to his kingdom that he was willing to give up his territory and his position?

Or did he think this was better than losing the battle and dying? No, that's not likely either, Bauer denied such a thought in his heart. Victory or defeat was a part of being a soldier, and even if one was defeated, there was still the possibility of a second chance as long as ones life was preserved. Even if defeated by a larger sized army or due to poor luck, it would be more highly regarded than to leave behind a stigma of a thousand years by doing this. Moreover, if noble families were executed after defeats, nobility in this continent would die out. If a noble was willing to endure temporary shame and survive, and rely on the right people, the family would be left intact and there would be a chance to survive even if you lose your family status. What happens to another noble family might very well happen to the person causing it. With such in mind, nobles usually would not beat a drowning dog with a stick. The fact that he was so scared of such a possibility that he chose this crazy tactic was either because he was so politically isolated, or because he was so suspicious of the kingdom's upper echelons that he could not expect any mercy from them. Bauer did not know at the time that it was both.

Perhaps he simply didnt have any common sense. Either way, it was insane to go this far though it might be the correct choice.

"General. Are we going to fight this crazy enemy in a straightforward war?"

One of his subordinates suggested to Bauer, who was still shaken, though his expression did not change.

In short, he was suggesting a retreat.

"Don't say that....... It would upset the morale of the troops."

The simple reply contained a strong sense of rejection.

What would happen if they retreated at this point? Arquell would boldly claim to have repelled St. Gallen, and there was no telling what kind of conditions they would impose at a peacemaking conference. The purpose of this war was to correct Arquells unempathetic trade practices. By burning their lands, they would no longer be able to extract that concession. In fact, they will probably use it as an excuse to be reluctant to export food, along with the excuse of the Great Fire in the royal capital. It was also obvious that they would thoroughly blame St. Gallen for causing the fire too. In this way, there was no point in fighting, and the situation was worse than before the battle.

And the St. Gallen side also had circumstances that would not allow them to withdraw. It was obvious that if the troops from the near dysfunctional territorial countries were gathered and sent out to fight, and then withdrawn without any satisfactory results, there would be complaints from all over the Federation. What was the purpose of dispatching troops, military funds, and food supplies when they were already low in supplies? There was no excuse they could make in the face of these questions. They had to produce results. It wont be sufficient to destroy a few military forts in the rural area. Examples of acceptable results might be eliminating the reinforcement of Arquell so that peace could be obtained on extremely favourable terms or kidnapping many nobles and royalty to extract a large ransom.

It could be argued that their surprise strategy was not utilised to the fullest. This simultaneous declaration of war and sudden attack by crossing the mountains was a one-time trick. If they retreat early while the enemy has room to mount a retaliation, Volden's defence would be strengthened in the future. As long as they do not stay blind and stupid. A new defence plan would be devised considering the possibility of using the mountain pass as a vector. In that case, there was no way that a second surprise attack could succeed. And there was no need to take a hard march over the mountains if there was no advantage of a surprise attack. Therefore, in this battle, the results must be worth the cost of playing this one trump card.

Above all, there was the problem of the way out. As the only road leading from Erebus Rohtlehrgen to Volden was the mountain road, St. Gallen would have to take the same road to return home. They would have to march along the steep and cold mountain road without food or wine to warm themselves. It was nothing short of suicide. The hunger and cold would cause more damage than a half-hearted battle. At least, it would be a different story if there were supplies accumulated from the looting so far, but even that has been denied from them as their supplies have been burned by someone probably a saboteur from Arquell's side. If their supplies were not destroyed, they would not have to be discussing retreat at this point.