42 Aftermath of the victory
Warning lothar kills the wounded on the battlefield
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trusting the heathen not to stab me in the back is the hardest test god has given me
-Lothar von ruppin
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Lothar von ruppin POV
2 hours later
I was in the fields of battle with a spear in hand, finishing off the survivors that were scattered across the battlefield as we awaited the reports of this battle.
''a good fight no doubt commander'' said a knight as he thrust his spear into a body.
''I don't know why they trust the defense of their cities to mercenaries, mercenaries may have years of experience, but they are not willing to die in post most of them when they saw a flank collapse started to flee without giving a fight'' I said while finishing off a mercenary with the spear.
''they are merchants they don't like to get their hands dirty so they prefer to pay others to do it, ah this one is playing dead'' said another knight while killing a man who was hiding among the dead
''no pleee'' said the mercenary while being pierced through the heart with a spear.
''but they should at least make sure the mercenaries have decent equipment, most of them barely had a padded jacket, there were only certain men with decent equipment, the rest looked like they had used what they could find in the wreckage of a battle'' I said serenely, as I kicked a pile of bodies to see that they were all dead
''mercenaries are not lacking in these lands, it comes from all over the world to die for the endless struggle of the free cities and while none of that changes their strategy can be maintained over time, as their ways of raising funds for the war are not affected'' said a soldier with a serious tone as he removed the shoes of a dead man
a quartermaster officer had approached towards our group
''Commander we have a report for you'' said the man with a serious tone.
We were lucky with the loot'', I said without looking at him while I was still checking the dead.
''yes commander, the camp brought with it many crates loaded with silver to pay the salaries of the mercenaries as well as the personal belongings of all our enemies, since they couldn't recover anything before fleeing'' said the quartermaster
the quartermaster paused for a moment as he moved his lips in annoyance.
''in the camp there were many slaves' commander, they are things of the prisoners'' said the quartermaster with annoyance.
''little can be done is their culture where they commit the vile act of slavery, leave them captured for the moment we will give them to the lys men they will know what to do'' I said with annoyance as I do not share the idea of enslaving people and prisoners.
''I understand commander'' said the man as he nodded his head.
''Prisoners?'', I asked calmly.
''we have many captured, as well as some captains of small mercenary companies, what do we do with the prisoners'' asked the quartermaster with a serious tone.
''we will let them live, we will choose some that we will keep to torture and get information, but the rest I need to justify my actions against the city that we captured yesterday, since I doubt that they will take willingly the information that a city with a population between 8000-14000 has been stripped of all life from one day to another'' I said seriously
''I understand commander, we have 112 dead and 832 wounded'' said the quartermaster.
''I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth feeling the pain of the blow of the losses, the victory had been resounding, we had forced them to retreat, and now they were being chased and ambushed all over the road, but it doesn't change anything the result that I have already lost 124 soldiers in this campaign, and it will be a very long one.
''I see, thank you for the report you may withdraw'' I said as I looked up at the sky.
My men continued with their work of disposing of the wounded and retrieving the most important equipment, while I was thoughtful for a few minutes
''commander, horses on the horizon'' said a knight as he pointed at a group of riders approaching.
As they got closer, I realized that they were our riders.
''they are our horsemen, calm down'' I said to my men.
We saw a group of 15 horsemen bringing with them a group of men tied to their horses.
Thrusting my spear into the body of a dying mercenary, I went to see what news the horsemen were bringing.
''commander lothar, we accomplished your mission, the efforts to escape from the enemy have been unsuccessful, we managed to set a trap to the enemy cavalry trying to escape on the road, with a good pair of ropes and many arrows we managed to capture almost all the cavalry trying to flee, the remaining enemies were liquidated by ambushes on the road, the survivors of this battle should not be more than a couple of thousand'' said the scout with a serious tone
''Good news, who are these prisoners'' I said with annoyance.
They have colored hair, most of the prisoners have red green hair, even pink, how strange, is it natural?, or is it just an attempt to show that they are not men?
I approached even the prisoner who was gagged i took his hair and saw that the roots of the hair were of a different color, so they have dyed hair, but why? He doesn't gain anything for it.
''one of tyrosh's generals, we captured him when he was desperately trying to escape with all his valuables, he was escaping with a wagon loaded with silk and dyes'' said the Finnish man.
''and why is he gagged'', I asked with a tone of doubt.
''he talks too much, he tried to bribe me more than 5 times to release him or defect with him, although his common tongue is horrible, I could barely understand him'' said the soldier looking at the tyrosh general
''well what can you expect from scum who abandon their men to their fate soon after the battle starts'' I said looking at the tyrosh man with contempt
I want to hear what he's going to say'' he said with a serious tone.
My men obeyed and cut the gag in his mouth, and the first thing the tyrosh general did was to spit on the ground
''I demand my right to ransom, my family is rich, they can pay handsomely for my release'' said the man with green hair.
''wow not even a greeting, and they say that mercenaries have no manners, well, I expected that take him with the rest, and we will deliver them to the men of lys'' I said as I returned to the camp.
5 days later
I had gotten an audience with the general of lys 3 days ago to give him a report of our situation, luckily the military campaign of lys was nearby, and I was transporting a huge amount of prisoners, usually I would have crucified them on the way, but now they have a very important use.
I will have to give explanations about what happened in the city, and they will be my excuse, although the contract stated that I could do whatever I wanted to a population that resisted, I think they had in mind that no walled city would resist, since every time we arrived to a new city they surrendered in a matter of minutes.
I had my suspicions about the war of the free cities, but everything is too suspicious, but all my doubts were confirmed when we had to kindly ask the general of tyrosh what was going on.
it seems that the war of the sisters in the beginning started as a conflict to settle all the territorial problems that happened after their dissolution; however, with time they found the way to turn their war into something very political
a way to escape and blame the other cities for their problems, if a city had an unpopular council they coordinated and won a great victory over the forces of the other 2 cities.
Although it is not always like that, sometimes the war is real when they get to have many commercial conflicts, but they tend to be resolved quickly, currently the war is real for lys and tyrosh while Myr is in relative peace; however, that does not mean that they do not coordinate attacks against Myr.
So, the merchants found a way to bring a lot more politics into the war and I thought it couldn't get any lower, wars are invented to solve problems of unpopular governments, this confirms a lot my decision of not executing the prisoners of battle if it came empty-handed it could generate annoyance in the council of lys
I went into the camp of lys, if you can call it a group of tents without any order and few guards, I waited about 10 minutes until the general of lys received me in his tent.
This tent was one of the largest in the camp and was finely decorated, as soon as I entered the tent I was welcomed by the general who was surrounded by slaves, both slaves/guards and slaves/prostitutes.
''ser lothar, nice to see you again, please take a seat, wine?'', said the general of lys.
''thank you, but I don't want wine, come to give a report to continue my work'' I said in a serious manner.
''mhh I see you Prussians are hard workers, give me your report'', he said while drinking wine.
''a week ago, while fulfilling our mission to take the walled cities, one city resisted us, it refused to change sides, mainly because tyrosh's army was in the area, I quickly organized an assault on the city and made use of the right given to me by the council to loot the cities that resisted'' I said looking him in the eye.
The general's face became very serious
''So the city was sacked, how many prisoners did you take?''
''few, only about 800'' I answered quickly.
''but that city must have had around 10000 people, did you kill them all?, didn't you think that those people could be sold in the slave market?'', said the general a bit annoyed.
''my decision was based on having a quiet city for when the tyrosh army arrived, since we couldn't fight if the city tried to rise in arms'' I said with a serious tone.
''I see, but the city is intact?'', asked the general.
''yes the city is intact, but more importantly we have fought with tyrosh's army, and it has been completely destroyed'' I said as I clasped my hands together.
''oh interesting ser lothar, you turned out to be more competent than I expected, tell me the details please'' said the general without being able to contain his smile
''23000 was the army we faced, we killed around 8000,we captured 12000 alive, the rest escaped, tyrosh's general died in combat along with all his close ones he was caught in the fight and he and his guards died, unfortunately.''
''Wow it's really sad that you couldn't capture the tyrosh general alive it would be a great ransom for him, but this information is a wonder ser lothar it must have been a tough fight'' said the general very happy.
''not at all the fight lasted barely 1 hour, we smashed their right flank and the whole rotten structure of their army collapsed'' I said seriously.
''I see, those prisoners will you sell them as slaves?'', asked the general of lys with a smile.
''we don't practice slavery, but I don't have the capacity to have 12000 men captured, so I will leave them to you so that you can get a ''ransom'' and give us a share'' I said smiling
''I understand, I understand, I am very pleased with your service, this deserves a reward ser lothar, tell me what you wish and if I can I will give it to you'' said the general while showing his hand to his slaves
''I would like the city that was plundered I can use it as a center of operations in the area, where we can gather the loot and be sure that we will not be attacked by surprise'' I said looking at him in the eyes.
''mhhh difficult, you can use it in the meantime, lys will want to repopulate that city, but for the moment you can use it, I will consult with the council about your request, but in the meantime ser lothar let me invite you to eat, you must be bored of eating simple things'' said with serenity the general of lys
''no thanks that's all I must return to duty'' I said as I got up to leave.
''the council made it right hiring you ser lothar, I wouldn't want to be against you'' he said as he laughed.
of course not pagan because I would have you on a pyre for your decadent life, I thought as I left the camp.
2 days later
having returned to the city where our camp was, the city was coming back to life with my soldiers who were busy reinforcing the walls and repairing the quay
as today my king's great fleet would arrive with its reinforcements, I only hope the supplies would be plentiful to continue an aggressive campaign against the heathens.
''commander lothar we have made contact with the supply fleet, they will be docking soon'' a soldier said with concern.
Why the concern, soldier, is the king's reinforcements, you should be happy'' I said smiling.
''well, commander, mhhh it's only 5 ships'' said the soldier.
I opened my eyes in surprise
without answering the soldier I went running to the city dock, the information must not be correct.
100 ships accompanied us to essos, they cannot come only 5 ships, to supply us with the necessary supplies for the campaign, something must have happened, they were ambushed, problems with pirates, something terrible must have happened.
Arriving at the dock, I confirmed this information, there were only 5 galleys that had arrived and were sailing with white sails.
During all the time they took to dock the nervousness consumed me, I felt my stomach tighten because of the stress of the situation.
When the first ship docked, I quickly went to look for the commanding officer.
''WHAT HAPPENED!'' I shouted to the officer.
''lothar von ruppin I suppose'' said the officer.
''If it's me, what happened because there are so few ships'' I said very angry.
''this is all that was sent lothar, it's not easy to transport supplies through an area that is plagued by pirates'' said the officer
''but the king would not have sent so few'' I said while I was breathing very hard.
''the king warned you that the supplies would be few, besides if we send every moon a big supply convoy, they would realize that the king finances this operation'' said the officer
''well give me the report of what you brought'' I said in a serious tone.
''well 100 tons of grain,10 tons of steel ingots,10000 crossbow bolts,5 tons of prefabricated pieces of crossbows and siege weapons, shoes, socks, bandages, pure alcohol and 200 soldiers of reinforcements, we have orders to take the most wounded only if they can no longer fight'' said the officer reading the report
''but that grain will only last us about 15 days between feeding the soldiers and the horses'' I said a little upset.
''the king also sent 30,000 golden dragons, but he insists again, you will have to secure a way to maintain the operation, you will have to rely on the locals'' said the officer as he handed me the inventory sheet
''the heathen cannot be trusted''' I said angrily.
''it's either that or starve to death, you will have to plan a way to supply yourself for the time, as remember by the king's own estimation this campaign will last for years'' the officer replied wryly
stop bothering to ask for more explanations we unloaded the supplies and according to the doctors we had no wounds that would prevent the wounded from fighting so we didn't send anyone home luckily 200 new soldiers was a good start, but I will have to be cautious with my strategies.
I will have to find a way to set up a system to find supplies, lys only gives me gold I will have to buy almost everything and maybe, god I thought I would never say it, negotiate with the locals and maybe offer protection for tribute.
''This day couldn't get any worse'' I said as I returned to my tent.
A soldier came running towards me
''commander, a group of merchants are trying to bring prostitutes into the city'' said the soldier.
Shit I shouldn't have spoken
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