Episode 167

Before dawn the next day.

Near Dolphino Castle, the Swiss Confederation army’s Duke’s private barracks.

Duke Christian von Swiss Confederation, unable to sleep and unable to contain his rising fury, screamed while clutching his head with both hands.

“Peter Yaeger!!! Even if I pulled out all his guts alive and made them into sausages, it wouldn’t be satisfying enough! Damn! Damn!! Damn!!!”

Yelling like that, he threw all sorts of items inside his tent onto the floor, screaming almost like a wail.

To an outsider, it might seem as if a genuinely deranged person was being confined.

It wasn’t entirely incorrect to think so, as the harsh reality he faced had left him half-mad.

“And that damn Crown Prince! A commander of a great army who leaves his men behind and runs away first? Cowardly, filthy bastard. A piece of trash who should eat pig dung! I’ve been preparing for 2, no, 3 years to catch you!! Why?!”

To the Duke, the Crown Prince was a cowardly piece of trash who deserved to be fried in feces, but from a strategic point of view, the Crown Prince running away as soon as he was isolated by the Swiss army was a brilliant move to prevent the worst-case scenario.

Moreover, pouring all kinds of insults at the enemy commander on the battlefield meant that the stronger the expression of the insult, the more it praised the opponent.

Thus, the more he belittled the Crown Prince, the more it became equivalent to lavishing extreme praise.

“Moreover, that damned bastard just barely saved his own neck and fled. What? Demanding 50,000 gold as compensation?! Such heathen trash destined for hell…”

The one who fled like a scared puppy, tail between its legs, at Richten Hill.

Recalling the sight of him boldly demanding money upon returning to his own house.

The Duke of the Swiss Confederation felt his anger, which had been somewhat subsiding, flare up again.

Thus, he vented his anger by stomping on the innocent ground, and gradually, as befitting the Duke managing the nation of Switzerland, he regained his composure.

Eventually, he returned to his field bed, buried his face in the pillow, and murmured quietly.

“However, he must not be planning to truly fight us. If he were, he would have come in humbly to lower our guard even slightly. At least he wouldn’t have blatantly threatened to attack the Swiss military.”

As the Duke said, in normal cases, if the Crown Prince of the Reich Empire truly intended to attack Switzerland, it would be much more advantageous to claim to be ready for war at any time rather than giving themselves time to prepare, to make them complacent.

Therefore, even the Swiss nobles, who would doubt if the Duke said he was making bread from flour, unanimously agreed that the Crown Prince had no intention of waging war now.

“Still, there’s a slim chance he might attack. For now, let the soldiers rest as much as possible, and we must leave this place by the day after tomorrow at the latest. Anyway, I’ve lost this war…”

As the Duke acknowledged his reality and began to ponder giving up and committing suicide, a loud shout came from outside the tent.

“Those worse than dogs, the scum of Switzerland, die! Avenge the 7th Division!”

“You dare to invade the empire’s land, worse than dogs and pigs. Don’t spare a single one! Kill them by smashing their heads!”

“Only death befits the bandits who invaded the Reich Empire. Let’s kill them!”

Upon hearing that, the Duke’s brain quickly turned and came to the following conclusion…

“Damn, we’re finished.”

And then, just at that moment, the Duke’s tent was flung open, and a messenger rushed in, shouting loudly…

“The Crown Prince of the Reich Empire has launched a surprise attack with 50,000 troops. Your Grace, you must flee immediately! It’s dangerous here!”

Upon hearing those words, Duke Christian von Swiss Confederation felt as if something inside his head had snapped.

So he gave his own cheek a hard slap.

Naturally, since it was all real, only the slapped cheek felt numb with pain.

From afar, he could hear the death cries of his soldiers; the smell of their blood wafted into the tent, irritating his nose; and through the slightly opened tent door, he saw the Reich soldiers bathed in the dim dawn light, roaming the Swiss camp and killing their comrades.

From the perspective of the Reich Empire’s army, it was a gratifying battlefield where they killed those who had tormented them, but for the Duke of Swiss Confederation and his legion, this place had now become hell.

“No, no… Damn, this can’t be happening! This just can’t be!”

He shouted in denial of the dreadful reality, but the situation was already too dire for anyone to try to soothe him.

“Escort His Grace! We must take His Grace back to the Swiss Confederation! Hurry, you bastards!”

“If His Grace is either captured or returns from here, we are finished! Finished!”

“Even if we have to drag His Grace, we must quickly send him to Zurich, the capital of the Duchy!”

Meanwhile, the nobles of the Duchy went out to fight the Reich Empire’s army with swords and spears, not even properly armored.

“Die! Damn Reich Empire bastards! It won’t be easy to take my head!”

“Even if twenty of you scoundrels come at me, you can’t defeat me!”

“Brave soldiers of the Swiss Confederation, follow me, Baron Ain! Let’s die fighting honorably! Do not flee cowardly!”

Those who went out to fight made the choice to sacrifice their lives, if necessary, to protect the honor, families, and property of the Swiss Confederation.

No one seemed willing to risk their lives for the Duke of the Swiss Confederation, who had made numerous mistakes in this battle.

The Duke had now come to realize this fact.

He despaired at the fact that his standing had almost hit rock bottom… but bad things tend to happen in succession.

“It’s the flag of the 7th Division of the Imperial Army! Lieutenant General Yeager is fighting with us!”

“It’s Lieutenant General Yeager! The Lieutenant General himself is cutting down the wicked invaders!”

“Long live the Reich Empire! Long live Division Commander Yeager! Long live the Crown Prince!!”

At the forefront of the Reich Empire’s army, there was news that Lieutenant General Peter Yeager, whom the Swiss army so detested, was personally standing and mercilessly cutting down his soldiers.

The Swiss soldiers all recalled the nightmare of facing the swordmaster at Richten Hill—no, just a monster that had transcended human limits.

A monster who, for more than a month, had not taken a single day off and had always stood at the forefront with a small force, personally killing more than ten comrades in a single fight.

And yet, he never seemed to tire, swinging his sword leisurely as if mocking them.

The spirit and desperate venom of the 7th Division’s soldiers, who had rallied around that monster and fought without regard for their lives.

All these elements were engraved as a tremendous fear in the memories and even the souls of the Swiss soldiers.

“Damn, damn! Mercenary or whatever, I’m running away! I’d rather fight the enemy knights with my bare hands. If I fight Lieutenant General Yeager again, I won’t be able to survive.”

“Mom! Mom! Damn, why does that monster appear again? After slaughtering hundreds at Richten Hill for a month, he should’ve just died off. That bastard knows neither conscience nor morality!”

“…Damn, I should’ve just deserted if I knew this would happen. Why is Lieutenant General Yeager there?”

And then, among the soldiers, instances of ignoring the nobles’ control began to appear.

At first, the nobles tried to maintain their formation and retreat from the Duke by killing the fleeing soldiers as a means of control.

Seeing that the control was not working and their numbers were increasing, they intuitively felt that everything was over and despaired.

“Damn, the Duke! Damn Lieutenant General Yeager!”

“Escort His Grace! By any means necessary, we must escort him to Zurich!”

“We have lost this war. So, at least save your lives!”

Thus, the nobles informed the exhausted soldiers that they had already lost, and ordered them to flee to preserve their lives as much as possible, but…

Knights were charging at them with lances pointed ahead, and behind them, the infantry led by Lieutenant General Yeager was launching a joint attack.

“Damn, easier said than done! Damn nobles!”

“Shut up and run! They say if we just get into that damn forest, they won’t chase us!”

“…Is this really war?”

Thus, on this dawn, countless Swiss soldiers were slaughtered by the Imperial Army.

Meanwhile, the Duke of the Swiss Confederation, the supreme commander of the Swiss army, somehow returned safely to Zurich under the escort of his soldiers.

The Swiss Confederation lost about 44,000 soldiers out of the 100,000 mobilized as the defense force.

Strategically, this resulted in a draw between the Empire and the Swiss Confederation.

After tactically analyzing the situation, it was a decisive victory for the Empire.

Thus, despite the Crown Prince’s previous endangerment of the entire army due to his failure to identify a double agent during the campaign, he was able to maintain his position to a certain extent.