Swiss Arms 73 (Patreon)

Swiss Arms

Chapter 73

-VB-

Previously…

“I am calling the banners,” Rudolf told his brother. “And crush that uppity mountain hick!”

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“I think you should call up the entire army, including the levies,” Louis advised.

“You think so?”

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Louis watched his brother leave Munich at the head of an army, and smiled as events happened according to his plan.

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Hans von Fluelaberg

“What?” I hissed in surprise.

The ranger in front of me jolted in place but remained firm. “Our rangers have reported that the Duke of Upper Bavaria has been sighted entering the Alps from Innsbruck,” he reported while continuing to hold out the report to me.

I quickly took the report and opened it up.

Technically speaking, my rangers weren’t supposed to be prowling the woods of other territories as that was a violation of whichever lord or city’s rights to the territory. It wasn’t strictly illegal, but depending on the actions of my men, including spying, it may cause conflicts. I had been wary about sending them out beforehand, but reading the report in front of me, I felt vindicated from my previous hesitation in my preemptive action.

And the report…

“Nearly six thousand soldiers…” I muttered.

Someone knocked hastily on the door to my solar. “A letter from the Duke of Carinthia!”

Henry?

“Enter!”

A servant rushed in after opening the door, panting as she quickly handed me a letter. I ripped its envelope open and pulled out the letter.

Dear Soon to be Brother-In-Law,

I am aware of your troubles with the Duke of Upper Bavaria. It was not pleasant news to hear about it from the duke himself and not you and Isabella, but you must have been trying to keep it from escalating. I would like to help, but you are not yet family and no true alliance has been made that can justify me attacking the duke who is asking for passage across my lands to reach yours. Never mind the fact that I do not have my own troops ready to repel an army that matches mine.

I can, however, give you this. On the second page of this letter, you can find the route the Duke of Upper Bavaria told me he would take. As taking any other route with his army might be seen as an act of war, he will have to stick to this route.

May God favor you in the battles to come, Hans.

And, of course, since I gave the duke military access, you too are given military access. If you do hold a battle in my lands, please limit the property damage and keep it away from my commoners.

Also, please burn this portion of the letter.

Sincerely,

Henry I of Gorizia, the Duke of Carinthia, Margrave of Carniola, Margarve on the Sann, and Count of Tyrol

I hurriedly tossed that letter into the open fire and looked at the second page of the letter.

It was a list of town and village names. While I didn’t know many of these names, I knew the last name that was on the list.

Zernez.

It was the town that was right next to Fluelaberg. The one that I had led the first fights of the Compact against.

Well…

It was time to start planning.

-VB-

Leon of Fluelaberg

Leon marched alongside the carts and the rest of the men from Fluelaberg and Davos. It was to his surprise that there was a lack of horsemen among them, even though Fluelaberg was rich enough to train and maintain many men-at-arms.

More than that, Baron Fluelaberg himself did not ride a horse but marched on foot with the rest of them with heavy armor and weapons that would have dragged any other man down by the end of the first hour of marching. But not their lord. Oh no no no. He carried a broadsword wider than Leon’s arms put together and longer than anyone was tall in the Compact with ease, even though it had to weigh as much as a steer.

What concerned him, though, was the lack of the rangers.

The baron never called them his men-at-arms. He always called them “rangers.” They did not train with swords, spears, and shields. What few training sessions he saw was rangers using crossbow of all things. Well, Leon heard about what happened over in the west, so he wasn’t going to doubt the baron about that anymore.

But the lack of their presence made him uneasy. What could they be doing?

“Hey, Leon.”

He glanced over his shoulder and saw the men that he was responsible for. Of them, the five men near him were the squad leaders: Jeremiah the woodworker, Benjamin the farmer, Hector the miner, Arnold “the short” and not of Davos, and Zachariah the former man-at-arms of the Baron of Vaz and now gate guard of Fluelaberg.

“What is it, Zach?” he asked the older man. Personally, he thought that Zachariah should have been the platoon leader. He was a trained soldier and Leon was not.

“What did the lord baron tell you about this war? I know we’re going to be fighting a duke, but I hope it won’t be out in the middle of the field? There’s no way we can.”

Leon blinked. “I don’t think we will,” he replied while scratching his stubbles. “Lord Hans knows what he is doing, especially when it comes to war. A lot of the people who were here first will tell you that.”

Zachariah hummed. The man had come to live in Fluelaberg because his brother-in-law and sister had been one of the first people to live in Fluelaberg due to the Unruly Year. He wasn’t part of any big event just like Leon hadn’t.

Leon, however, did have an idea of what Lord Hans wanted to do.

He glanced over at the barrels of shit that their lord had meticulously collected.

Yes, if Lord Hans’ plan didn’t have those shit barrels in his plans, then Leon would hang up his managerial position.