Chapter 34 – Imperial Knights Order – Two Factions

The Zeltreich Empire has several knight orders. Combined with the armies held by the lords, the total can be considered the military strength of the empire.

The scale of the armies held by the lords varies. Few territories have the leeway to maintain standing armies, so most conscript as needed.

Even for standing armies, their size ranges widely from small to large.

In small territories, some have private forces of less than 100 people that also serve as escorts. For village headman-level lords in the frontier, they may not even have standing armies at all.

But in this era of civil unrest, the vulnerability of territories is a perfect target for bandits and hostile forces. Therefore, the lords each needed to increase their defence capabilities by their own means.

The easiest way is to place oneself under the protection of a higher-ranking existence.

By offering some compensation, they can have military forces arranged for them in times of need. This is necessary for powerless lords. Ties with neighbouring territories are especially important.

For those serving as lords in imperial territories, if they are near the imperial capital or frontlines, the Imperial Knights will also defend their territories. This required stationing troops, but it was a natural cost when considering territorial defence.

However, this Imperial Knights Order was deeply divided into two factions: the Neo-Imperial Knights centred around Arloston, and the old Imperial Knights Order.

‘From my perspective, they are just a stubborn bunch…but it is also true that they were responsible for the empire’s expansion policies in the past. Even they would not want to be brushed aside…’

Appointed as the knight commander by the emperor’s arrangements, Arloston first set about reforming the knight order.

However, he could not act from the very beginning. The knight order had its own vested interests and was connected to multiple noble houses. So relying on his wife’s Londonic family, he gradually advanced the reforms.

The reforms did not involve anything particularly novel. He specialised the military into higher expertise units, had each undergo rigorous training, and emphasised joint training drills. That sums it up roughly.  

And to effectively leverage these troops with enhanced specialisation, he pulled out many materials from the imperial library.

Those materials contained records of the empire’s military history and renowned commanders whose names still remain.

Arloston had them translated into modern language and compiled into more readable materials. He then distributed them to the officers and educated them as commanders.

Originally, the empire had produced numerous great commanders who went around invading other countries, but that was an ancient tale. Eventually, the expansive territories and national strength the empire gained bred arrogance even within the knight order.

This long-standing arrogance gradually led to the knight order’s weakening. Priding themselves as the strongest knights on the continent, they cut back on the costly and troublesome training regimens.  

Meanwhile, political struggles occurred in the capital, provoking other countries with their excessive military might as threats. Such an era continued.

But the overly expanded empire came to border numerous countries, leading to more conflicts. And when major clashes began, their win rate was shockingly low.

Other countries also noticed.【Huh? The imperial knights are just weak in numbers?】

This prompted not just small countries, but those with considerable national strength to take a firm stance against the empire. Some even began provoking at the borders.

Of course, the empire did not accept this. With its vast territories and the largest population on the continent, it still had numerical superiority.  

Though the imperial knights had lost some tactics due to their long era of complacency, their brute force style of overpowering the enemy to snatch victory sometimes unexpectedly worked.

Eventually the nation split into three factions descending into civil war, but in the early civil war this overwhelming style was still mainstream. In other words, the old Imperial Knights Order had many such veterans from that time.

Their understanding of tactics and military specialties was likely lower than the Neo-Knights.  

However, they had battlefield experience, and their force could not be dismissed outright. For the empire able to muster troop numbers, overwhelming force was a fundamental tenet of war.

Tactics like ambushes or sneak attacks were seen as necessary only for the weak…some held that mindset.

‘Even I do not underestimate them. But their method is too costly for their actual strength.’

There were also many arrogant personalities. For Aeroston, newly appointed as knight commander, they were initially difficult to handle.

The emperor likely foresaw that Arloston would not get along with such military factions, intentionally appointing him in a provocative personnel move.

The imperial knights did not hide their attitude towards Arloston;【An upstart. We have our own ways】,【What would you know without battlefield experience?】

After twists and turns to solidify his base within the military, he began establishing the Neo-Imperial Knights – more highly trained and capable of advanced tactics than the conventional order.

Of course, there was opposition. At times, as knight commander, he made forceful personnel decisions despite resistance, reassigning dissenting knights to lesser posts.

As his Neo-Knights base began producing results and diminishing the presence of the old Imperial Knights, it took time, but Aeroston could now command the order with some freedom.

‘Even so…times like these are tiring.’

Currently, a meeting is being held at the military affairs ministry. The topic was the total annihilation of the new recruits dispatched to the grasslands. A middle-aged man raised his voice shouting angrily.

“Was it not the knight commander’s decision to send in those new recruits and mercenaries!? Resulting in the destruction of 7,000 troops…the responsibility clearly lies with the commander!”

The man’s name was Barkdine Bihickturk, the de facto leader of the old Imperial Knights faction.

He typified the old-fashioned thinking, not pleased with the rise of the inexperienced Arloston.

Meanwhile, the conventional imperial knights had once suffered a crushing defeat against the outnumbered Neo-Imperial Knights in a large-scale exercise.

That very event raised Arloston’s reputation and cemented the power balance within the order.

Naturally, the one whose position was most shaken by this was Barkdine. These days, defectors from his faction to Arloston’s were not uncommon. He had completely lost in both numbers and influence.

Barkdine wanted to pursue this failure and try to undermine Arloston’s standing somehow.

“…Lord Barkdine. Rather than assign blame now, we need to analyse what happened on the grasslands. Why did they flee from the nomads?”

“Hmph. It’s obvious – because you used those poorly trained recruits and mercenaries only good for chasing money! This is your doing!”

This was it. While Arloston simply wanted an objective account of the grasslands incident, Barkdine was only concerned with assigning blame.

Many other nobles also participated in this meeting. Certainly, it was an opportune moment to embarrass himself. However, if they only focused on that, the meeting would not progress, which was problematic.

Unable to watch further, Adrldon spoke up.

“Lord Barkdine. Sir Arloston has already acknowledged responsibility. Now, let us consider what happened on the grasslands.”

“Hmph. I once fought alongside your father…but you’ve become his lapdog after being appointed knight commander?”

“Lord Barkdine…”

An awkward air filled the meeting room. Barkdine snorted and turned away.

Judging that Barkdine had vented enough, Arloston turned his gaze to another noble.

“Then Alfred, please continue your report.”

“Y…Yes…”

Alfred was the commander who led the imperial forces that invaded the grasslands. He recounted what happened after they advanced onto the grasslands.

“So…we succeeded in capturing some nomads shortly after entering the grasslands. But then a small force of mounted archers appeared at dawn and decimated us?”

“Yes. I have no excuse. It was entirely my mistake. I caused the deaths of many soldiers…I accept any punishment.” 

“We’ll consider how to take responsibility for this later, including myself. But for now, tell me about those mounted archers.”

Alfred continued. The highly skilled archers threw the new recruits into disarray, taking time to regroup. But the enemy was few, so they immediately sent a messenger north and began trying to encircle them from three directions. 

Once the nomads realised they were at a disadvantage, they began retreating. However,

“When we got separated, they started shooting arrows at us again.”

If they simply fled, they could have been let go. But once it seemed they were giving up pursuit…they provoked with intermittent arrow fire.

This could not be ignored. Completely taunted, they resumed pursuit to attempt encirclement.

Then suddenly amid warcries, another unit appeared. All mounted, they split into two and circled north and south. Tightening the encirclement. 

As the final blow, heavy cavalry charged head-on.  They tried encircling, but ended up encircled from three sides instead.

‘Completely lured in…outmanoeuvred by their mobile horse forces.’

After encircling and annihilating the surrounded imperial troops, they then attacked the soldiers remaining at the camp. As a result, they were swiftly routed.

“Their total numbers were likely around 2,000… I was taken as a prisoner to the nomads’ camp, but there did not seem to be many armed individuals.”

Listening to Alfred’s account, Arloston pondered deeply. The nomads likely had a strong sense of camaraderie, determined to rescue their captured comrades no matter what.

However, one point struck him as odd. The nomads’ movements sounded like those of highly trained soldiers.  

Yet it was hard to imagine these territoryless people with no battlefield experience undergoing such rigorous training. It was puzzling… but Alfred’s story continued.

“There, I spoke with who seemed to be the man commanding them. He introduced himself as… the son of the former emperor, Vilgard Zeltreich.”

“Nn…?”

“Who is that…?”

Nobody seemed to recognize the name Vilgard. But Arloston did.  

‘…! I-It cannot be… Nii-san…!?’

In his childhood, Arloston had met Vilgard many times in the imperial palace. And on the day of the civil war, he was told Vilgard died alongside his mother.