Quit being a knight and become a mercenary

97 – Operation Beheading (2)

“I would like to propose a beheading operation.”

Hearing those words, the Margrave frowned and muttered.

“Is it true that what you are talking about is the beheading operation in which a small number of troops I know are sent to capture or assassinate the ‘commander’? “It’s such a random operation.”

As Margrave said, a beheading operation is actually just a slightly more sophisticated way of saying ‘assassination.’

In this world, assassination is considered a cowardly act.

Even if it is an action to end the war quickly and simply by killing the leader of the enemy army.

So, recommending a lowly act like ‘assassination’ to the Margrave, a nobleman whose honor is more precious than his life, is tantamount to touching his vice.

I added something to Estelle so as not to give her any room for misunderstanding.

“I am by no means talking about assassination in a classy way. “It is clearly a fair operation to surprise and defeat the ‘enemy army leadership.'”

Then the Margrave’s frown returned to its original state.

“I got on my nerves because you, who are not even an assassin, suddenly mentioned a beheading operation. But from a common sense standpoint, a surprise attack would be extremely difficult. “Isn’t this place where we are fighting now a plain?”

It is virtually impossible to make a surprise attack in an open plain.

This is because people with good eyesight can see us coming from 3 to 4 kilometers away without a telescope.

Estelle continued to ask me questions.

“Besides, the enemy commander probably knows how many troops we have. Therefore, in order to be used in the beheading operation. For example, if we just take 2,000 troops out today, the enemy commander will notice by tomorrow morning.”

Just as we use reconnaissance units to know the approximate size of the enemy’s forces, the enemy will also use scouts to get an idea of the size of our army’s forces.

Therefore, if more than 2,000 troops are taken away at once, the enemies will notice, as the Margrave said, ‘that we are plotting something.’

‘In fact, the way the scouts figure out the number of our soldiers is as obvious as fire.’

“It is as you said. However, unless an enemy spy infiltrated the Margrave as a mid-level knight, centurion, or executive member of the mercenary unit here, we would not know the ‘exact number’ of our troops.”

The reason is very simple.

Even if you have gathered about 20,000 troops, information such as how many of those troops have died in battles so far and how many have deserted are classified as ‘high-level information.’

So, unless you are a person of a certain level, you cannot know how many soldiers are left after the war breaks out.

Right now, I have a high status as the centurion leader of the mercenary army, but I don’t know how many ‘soldiers who can fight normally’ that Margrave Estel currently has.

The Margrave also nodded at my words.

“That’s right. Only a few people know the exact number of their allies. And it would be better to assume that there is virtually no chance that a small fraction of those people are acting as spies for the Montmartre bastards.”

“So wouldn’t the enemy be counting things like the number of smokers preparing meals and the number of flags to figure out how many troops our troops have?”

From ancient times to the Middle Ages and modern times, scouts actually figured out the number of enemy troops through the number of flags and the number of smoke from cooking rice.

And this was very effective.

For example, if 10 people can eat rice with one rice pot, then 4,000 smoke pots mean that the number of soldiers is approximately 40,000.

‘To put it the other way, it doesn’t mean that if you place 4,000 pots for preparing meals, you can make it look like 40,000 people.’

The Margrave opened his eyes wide.

“Even after taking out 2,000 soldiers, if we reduce the number of cauldrons little by little rather than drastically, it will be difficult for the enemy to notice.”

If you were talking to Pappenheim, I understand that you can count the number of allies using the meal preparation pot, but what about slowly decreasing the number?

I would have given this answer, and I would have had to explain for nearly an hour why the scouts had no choice but to determine the number of allies based on the number of cauldrons.

However, our Margrave understands my intention right away even if I explain it roughly.

‘The nobles who serve this margrave must be truly happy.’

If I wasn’t someone who risked his life for success, I would have aimed for a stable life as a civil servant or senior engineer under this person.

“Yes, that’s right. So, even if you withdraw about 2,000 troops, you will be able to fool the enemy commander by slowly reducing the number of cauldrons, flags, and barracks.”

“That’s a very good idea. But there are still a lot of obstacles to overcome. First of all, if you’re going to carry out a surprise attack, where on earth do you plan to set up the ambush?”

I pointed to the forest behind the Montmartre camp on the map on the Margrave’s desk.

“I plan to set up an ambush here in the Lev Forest. Additionally, if we head straight to the Forest of Leves, the commander of the Montmartre army might notice. “I plan to disguise myself as a deserter and go back over the next few days.”

The Margrave expressed strong doubts about my words.

“Isn’t this going to take a while to steal troops by disguising desertion?”

“The enemy is not stupid either. So it’s best to postpone desertion.”

“Well, you’re right. There are only 15,000 of us and the war is going on, so it would not be surprising if there were a large number of deserters. If a scout reports that there is a large number of deserters, he will believe it. “If you want to fool someone properly, you have to act like this.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

When persuading Pappenheim, I should have talked about his reputation and praised him without exaggerating, just like when you get into Gukppong, like when you get caught up in Gukppong YouTubers saying, ‘Korea is great!’

It’s great because you don’t have to worry about such things when talking with the Change Encyclopedia.

The conversation continued so happily that I thought about this several times.

“Okay, now let me tell you how to surprise him. Even if we were to surprise the rear, wouldn’t it be important to know how to catch him off guard?”

I nodded at those words.

“Over the course of four days, we will march in a circle and head towards the Lev Forest. Therefore, when the battle breaks out on the fifth day from today, please pretend to be defeated and pretend to retreat.”

When told to fake defeat and retreat, the Margrave frowned.

“Are you saying we should fake defeat? As you know, when soldiers suffer the most casualties, isn’t it when they fight from the front with spears and swords? “You don’t know that, do you?”

When you fight in an organized manner with a spear and sword, you can resist enemy attacks, so in fact, the number of soldiers who die during battle is not that large.

However, when retreating, there is no power to resist the enemy’s attack, so it is a one-sided attack…

Wouldn’t you know what the result would be without even saying it?

“That’s right. Of course, there is a reasonable reason for this.”

“Tell me.”

“Anyway, the essence of this operation is fishing. Try changing your perspective. What would you do, Margrave, if you had the opportunity to capture an enemy commander? Why not concentrate all your efforts on the ‘vanguard’ and pursue it?”

At those words, the Margrave nodded.

“Then only weak reserve forces will remain in the rear. We will see that as a signal and act. “Wouldn’t it be okay if the decapitation unit attacked directly at that time?”

A very bright smile appeared on Estelle’s face.

“If the rear, where the enemy commander is, is attacked, the enemy army will fall into confusion. At that time, if our troops pretend to retreat and then reverse (turn the unit 180 degrees), the Montmartre guys will be defeated without even using their hands or feet. “It’s a great operation.”

“If we do this, it will not be a long-term war, we will sacrifice our troops, and it is believed that we will be able to secure victory. “What do you think, Margrave?”

“I heard that even with that Pappenheim guy, 2,000 men came up with a plan to defeat Count Résumé, who came with 5,000 troops… I had expectations from the beginning, but this exceeded my expectations. So, do you have the support you need?”

At this time, the thought of telling Pappenheim’s ‘report full of lies’ occurred to me, but I resisted the urge.

Because if you report Pappenheim’s wrongdoing now, you will only be punished for reporting a false report to the Commander-in-Chief, and the level of punishment will be lowered.

Besides, we are currently talking about the ‘beheading operation’, so it would be a good idea to change the topic.

“Please select all troops from each mercenary unit and the regular soldiers under the nobles of the Rhine-Palatinate Empire Army. That way, it will be easier to disguise it as ‘desertion’. In addition, the best of the best is needed to capture the enemy commander alive…”

Margrave Estelle smiled and answered those words.

“I will support Baron Ainz, who has reached the level of Auror Master under my command, and the elites of our Margrave family. “They will lead this operation. Are there any complaints?”

If it is a knight who has reached the level of Auror Master, then of course there are no complaints.

“Yes.”

“Okay, then you should hurry up and get ready. And since I have to think about the troops I will use for the beheading operation when to carry out the operation, I will postpone it until tomorrow night.”