Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend

Chapter 226.3

“Wait, seriously, why are we so busy?”

“It can’t be helped, since we have been entrusted with the responsibility of spearheading the mission.”

I complained to Max. In reality, Max, Augen, Valcay, and other officers were also all equally busy giving instructions and checking things to make sure everything was in order.

It was natural that the speed of the march would vary between safe and unsafe areas, but if the rear got stuck in a jam, that would be a problem as well, so I had to prevent any delays.

The total number of knights in the Zeavert Knights, which was the spearhead of the mission, was close to 400 people. Normally Zeavert Knights only consisted of the knights from Zeavert House, but this time, knights from other noble families were also assigned to the squadron. So far, there have been no protests from these noble families for Zeavert House just being a family of civil faction or against me for being a youngster.

“Do not neglect the prevention and treatment of shoe wounds and injuries, and take the attitude that not a single person from Zeavert House is allowed to be left behind.” (Welner)

“Yes, sir.” (Knights)

There was a common term for this, “marching sickness,” which included overworked myositis and overworked tendonitis, but shoe sores could be just as much of a problem as corns and calluses caused by long-distance travel in unfamiliar shoes.

Depending on the quality of the shoes, this problem could not be ignored, especially since it could affect the marching speed. It would be terrible if the spearhead army had to slow down its march because of sores.

Prevention before it developed into something worse was essential, and we were actively sending healing magicians, including church officials, to the area to provide treatment. 

At the same time, we marked the shoes of soldiers who have been treated and instructed them to follow up on their treatment properly.

The soldiers who repeatedly got the same problems probably didn’t have the right shoes to match their feet, or their shoes were of very cheap quality. We made proper arrangements for such cases too.

“Welner-sama, another new merchant. He wishes to meet you.” (Neurath)

“I’ll meet him later in the evening. Let him wait.” (Welner)

“Yes, sir.” (Neurath)

Sometimes a group of merchants would accompany the army to the battlefield. This was not unusual, especially during large marches. Moreover, armies often entrusted the merchants with the temporary procurement of food as these merchants could get better deals for them than directly dealing with locals.

They also exchanged heavy loot from soldiers for money, helping in maintaining the speed of the soldiers’ march.

On the other hand, such merchants were not always well-intentioned. To take it to the extreme, some merchants would not shy away from bringing moneylenders and women who sold p̲r̲o̲s̲t̲i̲t̲u̲t̲i̲o̲n̲ with  them.

Sometimes, soldiers would start borrowing money from the moneylenders and start gambling or engage in other “activities”. Such incidents could cause a heavy blow to the army’s reputation.

Anyway, these merchants have to be closely monitored to prevent such issues.

“The enemy isn’t moving.” (Neurath)

“That’s probably because they’re planning to fight a defensive battle.” (Welner)

From the Bain kingdom’s side, in addition to the Crown Prince’s main army, the First and Second Order were marching toward the Coltrezis territory from different directions. This was an intentional division of troops, but so far, there have been no indications from scouts that the enemy had moved.

(T/N: First Order and Second Order split from the main army under Crown Prince’s command to head towards different targets.)

Perhaps it was because newly built forts on the front line of Coltrezis territory were mostly posted with farmers forcibly converted into soldiers. That’s why we couldn’t just annihilate them separately.

It would have been easier if the enemy attacked first so that we could deal with them quickly, but in this respect, while my hope was not fulfilled, there was no problem with the plans I made. The enemy’s arrangements were still within the scope of my expectations.

In any case, as long as we have no information from the scouts, we could assume that the enemy’s plan of operation was not bad, but it did not seem very flexible. Or maybe they might be the type to stick to their original plan. More information on that should be available in due course.

“Tell him I’m busy.” (Welner)

“Give it up.” (Schunzel)

Unlike the armies of the early modern period, which had a well-developed civil service and bureaucracy, this part of the military had a strong medieval flavor. Therefore, the authority and responsibility of the commander was great, and as a result, the problems that needed to be handled were concentrated on me. So the authority of the aides who responded on behalf of the commander was greater than the authority of the system.

If I didn’t deal with this part as soon as possible, it could become a hotbed of entourage politics.

“Please think about how you will deal with him soon.” (Schunzel)

“I understand.” (Welner)

Schunzel told me to give up and deal with the problem soon. Ugh. I thought stupidly that I should have at least brought Frenssen with me.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Three days later, we invaded Coltrezis territory and sighted their first fort. Usually, the attack would start early in the morning. If our group arrived around noon, we would normally have to stay overnight in a place where the attacks from the fort would not reach us during that time.

But, well, I did not know if it was fortunate or unfortunate for the other party, but I was not normal. I even took the time to rest beforehand before the fort was within visual distance.

“Okay, start assembling the Catapult. And get the ladder ready.” (Welner)

“Ye, yes.” (Soldier)

Even the soldiers from the other families assigned to the Zeavert unit looked surprised by my decision. Farmers being holed up at the fort, or rather forcibly conscripted and holed up, could also be deemed as victims that were being pushed around by the powers that governed them. Because of this, we had to minimize the casualties and deal with the fortress as soon as we could.

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