Wartime problems

''divide et impera'' Prussian officers' manual by Friedrich von Roon 289 AC

5 days after the capture of tumbleton

Pike man POV on the outskirts of ciderhall

''ah finally a day of rest'' said my best friend Bertram

''I think the same thing almost 5 days of forced marching, the king is determined to take this land as fast as he can, hey give me the mill, I'm going to make some biscuits and porridge'' I said sitting near the campfire, so I can make the dough.

''Remember that today we must go to collect our weekly payment, we could go to the village that is 20 minutes away and buy some meat or fruits'' said Bertram rubbing his feet

''right let's go right away with the quartermaster officer to collect our payment of the first, so we don't have to stand in line, for so long'' I said getting up to go to collect my coins.

When we arrived at the quartermaster's tent, there was still no line, so we were among the first to receive our payment.

''we are lucky there is no line'' I said to Bertram.

''So it looks like, what do you want to eat today, remember it's my turn to pay'' said Bertram with a lot of confidence

''we have to see what we can get with our coin'' I told him without much importance

''Do you think that will be a problem? We are paid 2 silver coins a week, we are professional soldiers, and we are paid accordingly, we could pay for good beers like we do in Munich'' he said.

Finally, we got to the quartermaster officer

''Name and company?'', said the quartermaster officer.

''Bertram of the first company of pikemen of the tercio of Danzig'' said Bertram pointing to the insignia of our company

the quartermaster looked in his book and said ''copper or silver?

''half and half'' said Bertram

''here is 1 silver coin and 56 copper'' Bertram picked up his payment and stepped out of the line

''name and company?''

''Emil of the first company of pikemen of the Danzig tercio'' I said also pointing to our insignia

''silver or copper?'', asked the quartermaster.

''only silver''

''here you have 2 silver coins''.

after receiving our payment we asked our superior for permission to go to buy in a town that had not yet been sacked, but already had a Prussian garrison in it, arriving to a tavern we entered and had problems, we did not speak the language of the locals.

Bertram quickly pointed out the things he wanted to buy and managed to order a meat pie and two jugs of wine.

''mhhh this wine is very diluted'' said Bertram moving his lips in disgust

''if it's like drinking posca, at least the meat pie is good'' I said looking at Bertram.

''yes, but this shitty wine won't get anyone drunk, we only have one fucking day off then we'll go back to the forced marches I was hoping for at least a good wine or beer, and we get this a watery wine'' said with much disgust Bertram

''Let's finish this quickly, I want to be able to pop the blisters on my feet, so I can sleep peacefully'' I said to Bertram.

When we finished and asked for the bill another problem happened, the owner of the store was pointing out to Bertram that he had to pay 1 silver coin for everything and as it was obvious, he is like a beast because we were being taken for a fool with the food price

''Like fuck 2 glasses of watered down wine with a meat pie is going to cost 1 silver coin. If you think you're going to rip us off you're wrong asshole'' said Bertram trying to pull his mace from his belt

''don't do anything stupid, Bertram remember if we make trouble, the captain will crucify us for insubordination, besides, no matter how much you yell he doesn't understand us'' I said catching Bertram before he did something stupid that would cost him his life.

Finally, I relaxed my furious friend and decided to pay myself, finally we left the tavern and found ourselves back to some furious soldiers, among them an infantry captain

''Captain'' I said saluting my superior officer

''soldier'' replied the Captain

''a consultation soldier my men say that they were scammed in that damned town, everything cost an arm and a leg, by chance you also buy something there?''said the Captain

''yes 1 silver coin for 2 glasses of watered-down wine and a meat pie big enough for two hungry soldiers, half our pay'' I said without hesitation.

''Ah it seems then what the quartermaster told me is true, I couldn't believe it'' said the captain desolately

''what do you mean captain?''

''the quartermaster said that there is a big difference between the income of these heathens and our pay'' showing his hands with a sad face

''how big is the difference?'' I said with a face of disbelief

''yes, they earn 4-5 silver coins a week, a family of 3 earns on average 20 silver coins a month'' when we heard this we were all dumbfounded

''but... but that's more than a sergeant's pay'' I said surprised

''I know, but we can't do anything, our service contracts stipulate our pay, only the king can modify them and I don't think he likes the idea of having to almost triple our salaries, especially now that he has no steady income to his coffers we are totally dependent on looting and capturing noble families for ransom'' said the captain sadly.

''we can ask for an audience with the king, he has always listened to his soldiers, I don't think it makes a difference, now he should help us'' I said trying to find a solution to the problem

''ha, ha, ha, ha good luck, with that, he is too busy managing and planning his strategies to conquer this place, even a field master will have to wait weeks to see the king'' the captain said to me sarcastically

Finally, we finished our conversation and headed back to the camp, I decided to ask the quartermaster for a meeting with the king, in the worst-case scenario they will laugh at me again.

''What happened soldier, any problem with your pay?'' said the quartermaster while looking at his ledger

''no sir, the pay was correct, I want to request an audience with the king'' the quartermaster stopped looking at the ledger and looked me in the eyes

''why do you want an audience with the king?''said the quartermaster

''recently, we discovered that our pay is worth less than what a peasant earns and I thought the king would like to know this'' I said with a lot of fear, the quartermaster scratched his beard and took a paper and wrote something on it

''here go to the castle there is the king, everything will depend on your luck, show the paper to any officer and if god smiles on you, you will have an audience with the king today, or you will have to wait for a long time'' said the quartermaster giving the paper.

I received the paper, I don't know what the hell he wrote on it, I can't read, and I decided to walk to the castle even with all the pain that my blisters generated, when I arrived at Ciderhall castle I was greeted by Teutonic knights that guarded the entrance of the newly conquered castle.

''Identify yourselves'' growled the knight

''I am emil pikeman of the first company of the tercio of Danzig, I come to ask for an audience with the king'' I said this while I showed him the paper, the knight saw it and read it.

''Hummm, all in order ¡OPEN THE DOOR! Someone requests an audience with the king'' shouted the knight.

The castle doors opened

''walk straight ahead and enter the keep, you shouldn't get lost'' he said pointing to the biggest tower of the castle

''thank you very much...''.

I was excited, I had never seen the king, although I participated in all his campaigns, I never had the honor to meet the hero who saved us from the Catholics, I never thought about how lucky I am for the mere fact of having an audience with the king on the same day, I just hope I don't ruin everything.

15 minutes before the previous story

Friedrich Wilhelm POV Ciderhall

after 5 long days we had quickly managed to take several castles on the river mander without any problems, we only had to modify a little the story with which we deceived the castle guards because it is possible that the news of the death of lord Connington had already spread, so I preferred to change the story with the capture of Tyrell banners now we are pretending to be Tyrell knights than for the recent defeat of lord Connington, Mace tyrell is putting extra garrisons in the castles to prevent an attack by the forces of the pretender king and his rebel friends and the idiots open the gates for us thinking we bring security and only open the door to the sharp claws of the Prussian eagle.

With the capture of those fortifications also came the abundance of gold and food after a full week of constant pressure for not knowing what to do to get food for my men, now I have in abundance enough to feed my army for 1 or 2 years and with almost a million golden dragons already among all the looted by my attack force I feel safe and confident to be able to relax for a few minutes.

When I finally relaxed a little, I could think about more things than politics and strategy, I remembered some past lives in case something turned on my light bulb, but unfortunately many useful memories were blocked to avoid my traumas, until I saw something in my thoughts that caught my attention

There I was, the typical average working adult in a modern civilization that complains about the internet, but does nothing to improve, I was watching a TV series that happens to be too similar to where we are, westeros, the seven kingdoms, Robert's rebellion, the sacking of king's landing and other memories according to that, but there were more memories from different timelines about the same series

mhhhh I know where I am the problem now is to know in which timeline I am, I was seeing many different results among my memories, Stannis victory, Renly victory, Joffrey victory, Balon and Theon victory and even Stark victory in taking the iron throne.

This information would be important if I knew which of all these possible lines I am on; however, at least now I know where I am and what I am up against, as so far I am just shutting down short-term problems I have and haven't planned anything long term

I continued to research my thoughts until someone knocked on my door.

''my king a soldier requires audience with you'' said a Teutonic knight

''mhhh? Well let him in I'm surprised at how few people request audience with me, though I said anyone who wants to can request it''.

It must be because of the law of accessibility, the easier it is to get in, the fewer people want to do it.

After 2 minutes, a soldier entered without military ranks

''I salute you brave soldier what is the problem that deserves this hearing'' when I said these words the soldier remained stiff and did not move at all.

the soldier knelt down shortly after and spoke ''my..my..my..my my king mhhhh eeeh well there is a problem .... yes a serious problem with the salary payments'' said the soldier with a lot of nervousness

What's the problem? Did some quartermaster take part of your pay?'', I said trying to get the question out of the timid man.

''no..no..no sir.... our quartermaster would never do something like that,it..it's the pay sir today we tried to buy food in a nearby village.... and.. and with our weekly pay, we were barely enough for a meal and tasteless drinks, then we found out that the peasants earn almost triple than any soldier'' said the man almost shaking.

Oh shit, the price difference is abysmal, I didn't contemplate it, why didn't anyone tell me? Shit, what do I do now, the soldiers may revolt for receiving what they consider poor pay, I must increase the salaries ''MUCH'' I CAN'T HAVE A REBELLION NOW, with the ultra fanatics I've got enough

''who told you to come see me about this?'', I said with a questioning tone

''no one my..my my my king I just decided to do it, I thought you would like to know'' said the soldier.

"What is your name, soldier?

''Emil my king''

Emil mhhh this information saved me from a possible rebellion, now I just have to act fast and avoid an unrest in the soldiers, I have the gold, so it's not a problem, the problem here is that I pay plenty of quartermasters and no one warned me.

''I am grateful for your concern, I was not aware of the situation, today you proved to be very brave and proactive, tell me your wish and I will grant it, if it is within my reach.''

''I have nothing to ask of you, my king I only wanted the best for my comrades who were all angry about the situation'' said the soldier full of confidence.

What fine soldiers my officers have trained.

''I see, but I cannot let you go without any reward, you showed all the values expected in a Prussian officer, independence, loyalty and bravery, therefore, provisionally until I find a company for you, I will promote you to captain of a tercio company and I will grant you the honorary title of knight of the Hohenzollern order as well as 10 golden dragons, so you can support your costs according to your new rank''.

''my king, I don't know what to say'' said the newly appointed knight astonished ''you have nothing to say, you saw a problem, and you took measures by your own means, people like you are the future of Prussia, officers like you are what prevented us from falling before the Catholics, you can retire knight''.

I gave him a paper that said all the prizes that I granted him, as also the assignment of a professor to teach him to read and to write, then the knight retired almost crying of joy.

I quickly signed some decrees that quadrupled the salaries of my soldiers to try to equalize the difference between the cost of living and their income and I had many messengers go out to warn the quartermasters of the new change in salaries

''Well, we solved a problem''.

As I said this a messenger came in exhausted and tired giving a message from one of the Teutonic knights protecting Captain General Lothar.

(Lothar is extorting money from the local monasteries by threatening them, I await instructions.)

''ah, for god's sake, this fanatic can't stop thinking about god even for a single day''.