As we turned our troops around and moved on, the news continued to come in.
Brand Nahum, Althea''s husband, was approaching the castle of Maust and engaging with the lords on our side, and Fanelia, the financial bureaucrat who had betrayed us, was moving about in an attempt to increase her own numbers.
At least as far as reports are concerned, the enemy is not yet ready and does not seem to be strong enough to sweep over us soon.
"If we fail in our uprising, we will not be able to continue our house. Until the situation becomes clearer, I think most of the lords will remain opportunistic.
During the trip, Kerala explained in a calm tone.
"In the past, if this was a war between lords, betrayal was a common occurrence, and in most cases it was forgiven if one bowed. However, the regent does not show mercy to those who betrayed him. The lords must be afraid of that.
"Of course. I''m not a private soldier, I command the army of the kingdom. The rebels who bow down to you will be dealt with accordingly. I can''t have my own rules in operation."
We have given those who have been our enemies from the beginning the opportunity to surrender, but we will not forgive those who have betrayed us while remaining our allies.
"And why did Juaneria move at this time? It''s true that I haven''t been using him much lately."
"Since entering King''s Landing, the regent has been taking advantage of the merchants'' backgrounds more and more, which must have made him feel uncomfortable. The trumpets eventually came under the direct control of the regent.
"Come to think of it, I got all the mistletoe, too. But he was the one who agreed to give them away. I didn''t force him to take them.
Kerala was a little lost for words,
"If you couldn''t foresee the future, it means that you were only a merchant of that caliber, don''t you think?"
He said.
"Quite so. And the worst part is that you turned your back on people who shouldn''t have turned against you.
I expected more interruptions along the way, but it seemed that Kerala was telling the truth about being opportunistic, and most of the lords were not only friendly to me, but also tried to treat me politely. There was no sense in being careless here. It was the right thing to do.
Thanks to this I was able to get closer to the county of Nayvle without much of a fight. The castle of Maust is still standing under the command of Sivik.
Brand Nahum, the lord of Olbia County, would have originally intended to take complete control of Olbia County and even seize the castle of Maust if he could have afforded to do so. However, he missed his opportunity because of the many forces resisting him.
Or rather, there was no opportunity from the beginning. Surprise has no value if the enemy is already prepared. Whether you liked me or not, you should not have entered into a battle you did not know if you could win.
Brand Nahum has decided to try to defend himself for now in the northern part of Fordonia.
It would be a complicated move if he was attacked from the rear, but that was not a problem since the lords who were undecided could not attack from the rear.
Brando''s greatest weakness was that he had too much ambition and power. Somewhere he wanted to be a hero who could take over several prefectures.
But once I became the regent and created a new political order, I could not destroy the neighboring lords who were also subordinated to me. It is precisely because I am a young lord with spirit that I have been suffocated.
But what you have done is a failure.
I rallied the troops of those who wished to join my side and faced Brand with 15,000 for the time being.
Brando''s side, on the other hand, had about 7,000 men, even though he would have had reinforcements from Ailes.
--Nagamasa Asai was unlucky on many levels. However, as a samurai, he had to take responsibility for his actions.
Oda Nobunaga must have seen many such cases. I understand most of them. If he had been born at least ten years earlier than me, his position would have been a little different.
Probably, the brands don''t think about winning here. He''s going to join with Ailes to take on Navarre County.
That''s why I''m going to use this as a test of our capabilities.
I summoned Tarsia to our pre-battle quarters, which were little more than a shack.
"Are you sure you don''t have any guards? What will you do if I try to kill you?
"I''ll draw my sword then, and you''re the one who said you had no intention of joining the enemy. I''m on your side.
I''ll decide if I can trust my word."
I said it like it was nothing.
"Huh. ....... If my husband had had that kind of backbone, he wouldn''t have died."
"If you''re hungry for a man, I''ll take you."
Obscene jokes are common on the battlefield. We''ve killed each other before, so there''s no need for us to be so sensitive about it now.
"If you are in high spirits, you can calm them down on the battlefield.
"If you want to stand on the front line, I''ll lend you some men, but it''s a plain, so it''s hard to plan an attack."
"No need."
Once and for all, Tarsia said.
"With my command, we can easily defeat the enemy. We will thoroughly defeat the enemy.
She''s a tough one, that''s for sure. Perhaps it''s because of your profession? No, it''s the other way around. It''s because he had a personality like Shingen that he got into that kind of job. A person''s occupation is a reflection of his character.
Tarsha, with her 2,000 men, really showed her full strength and crushed the front line troops on Brand''s side.
The enemy, perhaps because they were not in command from the beginning, were defeated in no time.
--After all, she is a woman, but she is a Shingen! She could easily defeat an enemy of this caliber.
Oda Nobunaga was also in a good mood as if he was facing a good opponent. I understand how you feel. Only a big man can understand the feelings of a big man.