"You're saying we've got a conscription missing?"

"Yes, yes...... The Grand Duke ......"

The fat intelligence director wiped the sweat from his handkerchief vigorously while inwardly scolding the bastards who pushed him out as a substitute for the dead. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Don't you look down on me?! Don't you think I'm a eunuch, and you don't even let me interfere with the normal collection of military intelligence, why are you thinking about making me a good person now?

It's just a pity, although reluctantly, but this can really be regarded as his job.

"As far as I know, the missing is a levy led by the Knight of Andri, whose fiefdom is close to Saint-Malo, I'm afraid I'm ......"

"Could it be that something is delayed? Or maybe it's because you want to evade military service and hide in the mountains to be a bandit? ”

The Duke of Brittany asked rhetorically, the war was imminent, whether it was delaying the fighter plane or evading military service, it should be his most disgusting behavior, but now he hoped that it was indeed both.

Because if not, it can only represent......

"Lord Duke, the enemy has at least thirty, no, fifty cavalrymen who have infiltrated our place, and we have absolutely no idea where they are."

This is the worst-case scenario.

A knight's fiefdom is about three to five villages, and the Duke of Brittany, a knight of Andri, knows that his fief is the most and richest among knights, almost on par with some barons, and the levies brought by Knight Andriy can make up two hundred people.

But all the 200 disappeared, and not even one of them came to report it.

It is easy to defeat 200 people, but if you want to completely annihilate them, it is definitely impossible to rely on infantry alone, only cavalry, and a large number of cavalry.

This also meant that the Duke of Brittany had to deploy a large number of defenders to defend the city of Nantes before the war, which was undoubtedly worse for him who was already short of troops.

Of course, he had another option.

"How many of our soldiers are there now?"

"Lord Duke, as of yesterday, a total of five barons and thirteen knights have come with their levies, plus the ones we have summoned from the south, there are about seventeen hundred."

One thousand seventeen hundred, not counting the most elite cavalry, this is already quite a lot.

But the Duke of Brittany still felt that it was not enough.

"What about the Count of Brest? Hasn't he received my letter to him? ”

"Count of Brest, he ......"

"What's wrong with him? You mean! ”

Seeing that the intelligence director was spitting again, and the sweat was almost like a river, and he couldn't wipe it off no matter how much he wiped it, the Duke of Brittany was so angry that he grabbed the heavy anvil on the table and smashed it in his face.

"Count him...... He...... He said that you had already recruited his soldiers last year, that he had fulfilled his duty as a vassal, and that he would not be here this time! ”

What a poor intelligence director, he will cry when he speaks.

But it's really not his pot.

The vassal was obliged to serve the vassal for forty days a year free of charge - but only forty days, beyond which the vassal wanted to recruit more soldiers from the vassal depending on his relationship with the vassal.

And it is clear that the Duke of Brittany did not have a good relationship with his vassals.

Or maybe the Count of Brest wants to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight? After all, there must be one injury when the two tigers fight, and when both sides are exhausted, he will come out to pick peaches.

It's a beautiful idea.

But since the count refused to send troops, it meant that the Duke of Brittany could only rely on himself.

"Seventeen hundred, seventeen hundred......"

After venting his emotions, the Duke of Brittany sat back in his chair and tapped his fingers on the table in a deep groan.

There are 1,700 cannon fodder, plus cavalry and elite infantry, as well as the defenders in the city of Saint-Malo, the total strength of his side will exceed 2,000 men, while the enemy will only have more than 1,000......

No, no, no, the number of enemies is uncertain, and the information that those remnants of the defeated army will bring back is not credible. However, it is true that the enemy has not captured Saint-Malo until now, which means that they are not strong enough to take risks......

So, let's estimate that the enemy has 1,500 men.

The Duke of Brittany nodded, feeling that the data was still credible.

With two thousand men against fifteen hundred, and still on his own turf, the Duke of Brittany thought that he could still win.

But as soon as the forces were divided - the city of Nantes was not large, but if it wanted to guard against more than fifty cavalry, it would have to be at least ten times as many, that is, five hundred, and five hundred, one thousand and five against one thousand five, and the Duke of Brittany would not be absolutely sure.

Besides, he not only has to win this battle, but also has to win beautifully.

At least we have to make sure that we still have the strength to guard against the Count of Brest at the end.

Is...... Headache.

The Duke has begun to regret why he used to think about the 'big picture' in the past, and did not quickly cut through the chaos to kill this rebel (1).

However, no matter how much you regret it now, you still have to make a choice in the end.

"Calvin, I'll give you the castle, can you keep it?"

"Lord Duke?"

The veteran who was named was stunned.

"Kavin, I can only give you a hundred. A hundred, guarding the castle, do you know what I mean? ”

The Duke of Brittany stared closely into the eyes of the veteran who had followed him for more than ten years, and his most trusted veteran, and the meaning was already obvious.

Abandonment of the city of Nantes.

Once the enemy's cavalry really hit, abandon the city of Nantes and only defend the Fort of Nantes.

The enemy has only cavalry, without any siege equipment, and a hundred people defend a castle, and there is absolutely no problem in two or three days.

And in two or three days, the results of the war should be known. If you win, you don't have to worry, and if you lose, you don't have to worry.

But the Duke of Brittany could not say it himself.

The word duke is derived from the Latin word 'dux', which in French originally means 'leader'. What kind of person can be a leader? In primitive societies, it is natural that only those who can capture prey and protect their tribes can be leaders.

And now, if the Duke of Brittany had personally said that he would abandon the city of Nantes and his own people, and that there would be no need to fight, the morale of the conscripted peasants in the city of Nantes would have been reduced by half.

Therefore, he can only find someone to come out and help him carry the black pot, as if it is a red face in history, can he really blame women when the country is destroyed? Obviously, the monarch himself is not an egg, okay.

“…… I get it all. ”

After much thought, even though it was entirely possible to ruin his reputation, Calvin accepted the order.

As mentioned before, the European lords have always done quite well in the cultivation of these personal knights.

"Well, I'll leave it all up to you."

The Duke of Brittany closed his eyes and stopped talking.

Note (1): Regarding this overall situation, because the Count of Brest has fulfilled his responsibilities as a vassal, no one can say anything about him even if he does not send troops, on the contrary, if the Duke of Brittany wants to make a big fuss about this, then he must be careful that his vassals are all centrifuged.

That's right, the feudal system of the Middle Ages (referring to the early period alone) was such nonsense.