A few days later, I left Anheim with my thirty knights, sixty foot soldiers, and all sixty of Goecke’s mercenaries. Accompanying us were thirty porters and a few guides familiar with the lay of the land. Our forces were more than enough to take on brigands and bandits, but honestly, moving like that for too long would drain our supplies faster than we could afford.
Naturally, the larger the army, the better. However, larger armies required more supplies, and unfortunately, it was too early to send our volunteer forces into battle.
To be safe, I had our forces leave from multiple gates, rather than sallying forth from just one. In our absence, Sir Behnke would be handling governance, and Sir Kesten, the volunteer force. Frenssen would be assisting them as well.
“I pray for your safe return.”
“Please do be careful out there. Make sure you lay the groundwork for some construction and keep an eye on the border.”
“Got it,” I said as they saw us off.
Rafed and the head of Anheim’s garrison would also remain in Anheim. The only forces mobilized were those directly under my command, and I had personally procured all their provisions as well. The commune provided no budget, but that also meant they had no say.
The captain of the garrison asked if we didn’t trust his forces, but because I needed the commune’s permission to deploy them, it would just have been a pain. I’m sure the councilmen would come complaining soon enough, and it was about the time I expected the Salters’ Guild leader to run out of patience for keeping quiet. We had to deal with the bandits before that happened. We were giving the Demon army too much time to prepare, though I supposed the same went for the bandits too.
Right now, they were largely divided into three gangs. Or rather, I had baited them into splitting themselves up that way. I had Sir Holzdeppe and Goecke take out the smaller squads so the others would unify. I purposefully made sure to keep them in large groups while ensuring they didn’t all band together.
Exterminating the bandits would take more time if smaller groups were spread out all over the region, but gathering them all in one place also posed a bigger risk for us. The larger possibility of bandits escaping would also make things difficult.
I had wanted to divide them into two groups, but one of the groups had dug their feet in precisely where I was hoping they wouldn’t—and they’d up and built a fortress while they were at it. Calls for help had flooded in from the nearby villages they were exploiting. Still, I couldn’t help but feel pillaging was much more a bandit’s style than “exploiting.”
In any case, I sent a knight to scout the place out, sent some messengers to the neighboring domains, and filed some quests with the Adventurers’ Guild before leaving Anheim. There was no way the majority of the councilmen would fail to see the threat the bandits posed, and it wasn’t like they weren’t cooperative. But still, as they sent me off, they seemed at once satisfied and displeased. I just hoped they stayed out of my lane—I came here without insurance after all.
“Lord Werner, we have determined our enemies’ locations.”
“I see. Where are they?”
It had been two days since we left Anheim, and my scout had returned with intel on the bandits’ hideouts. Sir Holzdeppe really knew how to handle scouts. Oddly enough, Neurath seemed like he might be a dab hand at it too. This was the perfect opportunity, so I had him work under Sir Holzdeppe as an aide.
“I’ll demonstrate on the map. One group, those in the high grounds, have held their position thus far. Another group is located here, and the third is headed this way.”
“I see.”
Those under my command had rarely seen a map, much less an image capturing the terrain in three dimensions. They were shocked at first, but they quickly realized the convenience of having both a map and image that represented the topography. While the technique had yet to spread, I was sure it soon would. I could spread contour maps as well, but that would have to wait until Mazel defeated the Demon Lord.
I stopped thinking about next steps and studied the pawns on the map. There was a basin near the group that was staying put. It was more likely they were hoping we’d miss them entirely, rather than planning an ambush in that spot. The group in motion was heading toward Baron Zabel’s lands. All three groups were about a one-to-three-day’s journey away. I guessed that made sense, considering we were trying to keep them away from each other. Now, what to do?
“Let’s take out the group that’s trying to hide, first. The cavalry will flank the basin, and the infantry will descend from this hill.”
“I heard it was you, Lord Werner, who devised the strategy used in the Hildea Plains.”
“So I’ve got rumors like that spreading about me too.”
It was a knight who had spoken, an aide to Sir Holzdeppe, far as I could tell. Thinking back on it, I had asked that the incident be credited to Duke Seyfert, but I guess I never asked that it be kept secret… Wait.
While I hadn’t instituted a gag order, there shouldn’t be many people who knew about that in the first place. There wasn’t any reason to bring it up. That meant Sir Holzdeppe probably wasn’t just some assistant to the deputy, but someone with close ties to a person of power. Well, as long as he did his work, it didn’t matter either way.
“Could we use that here as well? They’re nothing but bandits. We may as well completely exterminate them.”
“Like that’d prove successful again,” I said. The others were speechless, but I was only speaking the truth. During the Battle of Canae, Hannibal had been able to completely surround his enemies, but when Hannibal’s younger brother had tried to recreate that feat during another battle, he utterly failed.
In order to completely encircle your enemies, you needed the right terrain, a commander skillful enough to direct two flanks, and a frontline leader with keen judgment, among many other factors. To put it plainly, the crown prince had managed it, but I had no chance. However, I had my own fighting style.
“What shall we do about the bandits who have made camp far away?”
“We leave them alone for now. They found a base that works in their favor, but that also means they’re stuck there.”
I was sure it would have been a pain for them to climb that hill after joining up with other groups. They probably were having trouble getting supplies, among other things. While I couldn’t judge that for now, Sir Holzdeppe’s intel suggested they were waiting for other groups to seek an audience with them. It seemed that bandits quibbled over power as well.
That group seemed like it might be a bit of a mismatch, but if they weren’t moving, we could leave them for later. It was time we hurried up and began to take some of these bandits out.
“Sir Holzdeppe, take the cavalry on a long path and lead them to the opposite side of the basin. I’ll take the footmen toward this hill. Neurath, accompany Sir Holzdeppe and wait for a guide and my signal: two long, two short.”
“Understood.”
“Yessir!”
I ordered Schünzel to quickly make the rest of the necessary preparations and gave my orders to Goecke and his mercenaries. Then, I started the footmen on their path to the hill, all the while watching the ground at my feet. There were some perfectly sized stones, so I ordered the others to collect them as we went. I wanted to take these guys out as quickly as possible.