Road to the Crown

Chapter 296: One day away from the rebels

20th September 1574

"So, are you willing to sell or not?"

"Come on, we both know that we are buying a lot, but it's not like we need to buy from everyone!"

"One gold is my last offer."

This kind of sentences could be heard all around the town. With the train tracks now extending all the way to the great city of Lwow, it was given that this would be the rallying point for all of my troops.

Starting with a thousand people strong force that was previously relocated to Tarnow, reinforced with mechanised troops that I just brought from the New Tarnow, leaving only basic guards to keep that place safe behind, all the way to the three hundred people strong unit of mercenaries that I recruited on the way, my combined forces were now reaching two thousand heads, giving me a huge chance at finally dealing with the problem of Ostros.

But rather than rejoicing at the fact that this greatest headache of mine would be soon gone, I had to cough up more and more money with every step that my entire company moved forward. After all, even though war could bring great benefits to the winner, everyone knew that it was never a cheap endeavour. 

Even ignoring all the armnents, soldiers' and mercenaries' pension, the ammunition Even something as simple as the food was putting a huge strain at what my coffers could take!

Yet, I was willing to go for such lengths. With the second and third open-hearth furnaces already well under the construction, it would only take a few weeks before I would be able to change what was the limiting factor of the construction of the train rails. With how in the span of just a few weeks my workers managed to connect the cities all the way from Krakow through Tarnow, Pilzno, Ropian to Premysl and Lwow, as long as it could be moved from the military effort to the civilian use, the amount of gold that would start flowing down to my coffers would greatly exceed any expense that I ever considered to be a burden!

"Sir, at the current rate, we should be both well within our budget and the timeline designed for obtaining fresh food. If our estimates are correct, we should be able to depart with the sunrise."

In most of the wars of the time, there was no such thing as peacefully obtaining the provisions. Rather than that, generals and nobles just couldn't be bothered to waste their precious money on something as stupid, moving to more direct and forceful methods of obtaining food for their soldiers. 

But that was one of the elements that made their forces so weak and fragile. Living off the land could only go so far. Land that was one pillaged, would take years to recover, making it night impossible to lead a prolonged war on a limited territory.

On the other hand, my train could cover nearly half of the distance between my powerbase and the target of my invasion within just a few hours. Even with that, I still opted for obtaining all sorts of fresh ingredients, so that the special unit of military cooks could always make sure that my soldiers were not only well-fed, but they could actually eat better during the war than they would during the peacetime!

Yes, it was costly as heck. Just a single pig was enough only for a single meal for up to a hundred people, meaning that I had to pay twenty red goldens each day to make sure that all of my people were completely satisfied! But as generous as this kind of approach might seem to anyone else of this era, I still believed that this kind of investment would turn out to be worth.

By nailing in this very basic manner to the head of my soldiers that when they were fighting properly, the level of their lives would improve by leaps and bounds, while they would still have to obey the strict discipline that ruled in my forces, they would be far happier to keep fighting than the force made of the people that would struggle to eat whenever on the campaign!

"Good. Even with our carriages, I'm not as stupid as to think that we could travel through the night. If everything goes correctly, we should be able to arrive at Cheerio's family lands in the next day, and start our siege right after!"

Nodding my head to one of the coordinating logistic officers that used to be one of the development officers for New Tarnow colony, I was about to get back to the Inn where I aimed to spend the night, when purely military officer approached me, saluted and passed a simple envelope to me.

"Sir, our spies managed to obtain a detailed map of the Ostros positions and embankments!"

Hearing the news, I couldn't stop myself from prying open the envelope and pulling out a simple sketch of a map, outlining the point that the officer just mentioned.

"Good job. Make sure to take a rest before returning to your duties. Or you know what, give me a moment."

Using the wall of a random building that just happened to be nearby as the handle for a small piece of paper on which I wrote several words, I stamped it down with this new stamp of mine that didn't require lax to leave the mark before passing it back to the officer.

"Take this to the warehousing area and get those scouts a standard bonus pay. If this map proves to be correct, they can be sure I will reward them handsomely."

As much as I wanted to use the knowledge written down in form of simple images and marks on the letter I just received, I couldn't ignore the possibility that it was just another form of disinformation. With how I was personally responsible for making Ostros prepare for our swift arrival, the chances that they would do everything in their power to introduce confusion to my camp were too high for me to ignore them.

"Yes Sir!"

Given how this officer was bound to be connected to the scout unit in some way, otherwise he wouldn't waste his precious time just to pass the message if he could send any of his men to do so, my gratitude was bound to apply to himself as well, explaining why his face suddenly lighted up with excitement.

"Now, with this thing, I guess I won't get to rest early today."

With all the organisational problems bothering me ever since we arrived at the Lwow's outskirts, I barely had any sleep. Yet, no matter my still stinging injuries, no matter how tired I was, I had to make sure that everything that I could influence would be done and ready for the moment when we would finally depart to make our last straight before the real war with the rebels would start.

Keeping that in mind, I left the city, directing my steps to one of the huge tents in the middle of the camp that my forces created right outside of the gate. Given how we had the official mission given by the senate, the city council didn't really have any choice when it came to accepting a huge force of mine making a temporary camp just outside their gates!

And to be fair, with how those rich merchants that managed this city reacted to the first appearance of the train, I could tell that if I told them to suck my dick off one by one, they would be more than happy to do so with the potential benefits that this train would bring to this city looming over their heads!

"Everyone, I'm sorry for the short notice, but we managed to get the general idea on how the Ostros dispatched their forces. While I can't be sure that it's correct, nor that it won't change in the time we will take to arrive at the scene, I still need you to work it all out to figure out the best way to deploy our troops."

After just a few moments after I sent the messengers to gather the highest-ranking officers in my camp, I already had them all gathered around a simple table crafted from anything that happened to be at hand. Throwing the letter that I received a few moments ago on its surface, I sat down in one of the few luxurious items that I just had to take with me on this mission, a comfortable chair directly sent from the wood factory of mine.

"Sir, if what we are seeing is true, then it doesn't seem like we will need to alter our basic formations by much. With the light carriages creating a half-circle around their fortifications to stop any potential sorties, those few tanks that the factory managed to produce could outshine their own cannons with their improved range. In this way, we could force them to use the cavalry to"

Halfway through the lecture of my own office, I already stopped paying any attention to what he was saying. Even though most of the equipment that would be used in the incoming battle was something created from the ideas that I brought, it didn't mean that I was the one best suited to decide their deployment. With how long every single officer of mine had to work around those machines during their training, each of them knew their pros and cons way better than I did.

Rather than thinking about how the battle would go, I just couldn't help but feel a certain type of unsettling anxiety. Even though all kinds of logical thinking would put me in the chair of the winner tomorrow, I had to constantly clean my hands from the sweat as if my body was sending the alarming signals to my distraught mind.

"One day away from the rebels, huh?"