313 Unreal offer (2/2)
”Right now, you guys are kinda in the middle of the area that is the witness of the greatest development spree that this world has ever seen so far in its existence. As we are talking, my people are laying down the train tracks, connecting all sorts of mines to the logistical centres and laying the foundations for the industrial areas.”
Taking a few steps to reach the nearby table, I made sure to move slowly enough to not alert the soldiers from either side. With the devious plan already budding in my head, unnecessary bloodshed here was the last thing that I wanted.
”All Ostros forces got decimated, and their household is no longer a thing. Their lands were divided between local nobles, and the most important points of interest in the province we are here right now were annexed to my private domain. Within the next two weeks, the forces that I scrambled together to defeat the Ostros, all the heavy, light and supportive equipment, will be produced by this land on the daily basis, supporting the war effort against your main armies. That means every single unit will be equipped with more thanks than your people have guns.”
Dropping the bomb one after the another on the man in front of me, I could see how his expression continued to deteriorate. Even if he didn't understand more than half of what I said, just the confidence that was brimming from my words should be enough for the proper message to be conveyed.
”Why are you telling me all of that? Do you wish to flex? Or do you want to imply that despite having more men than you, we are doomed to lose if the fight were to break off?”
Seeing the strange look in the envoys eyes, I realisde that there was something going on that I had no clue about. Maybe they had some sort of ace card hidden in a place that my scouts missed? Or maybe they had some way of conveying the messages over the long distances?
This second guess was actually supported by the way in which they conducted the war on the border. Even though I didn't directly involve myself with this grand conflict, I wasn't as lazy as to completly ignore those few reports that were arriving in my lands about the… negative progress of the Commonwealth forces. Faced with the Muscovitean advance on the entire length of the border, the old type of Commonwealthan army was simply unable to cope with the aggresion!
Still stuck at the idea of fighting the grand battles if the chances were even or turning towards the proxy war if the chances of wining the war were nigh, once they were attacked with something that I could only describe as the first world war style of conducting the war, then even the superior quality of polish-lithuanian troops couldn't change the inevetable outcome!
But as dangerous as it was for the commonweal to face against this kind of general strategy, there were a lot of reasons why this style of warfare only developed far later in the future.
And the most important of them all, was the means of instant communication.
To spread one's forces across the entire, insanely long border between Muscovy and Commonwealth, meant putting them at the risk of Commonwealth forces just riding from the top to the bottom of the border, using their mass alone to just wipe all the enemy contingents one by one. In order to counteract this kind of defense, the aggresor had to be capable of instantly moving his troops around, either to push them deeper into the enemy territory or to pull them back, clearing the path for the pancer fist of the defendant.
And with how Muscovites were winning this war so far, I could tell that either they were insanely lucky, or they had some means of communication that even I couldn't figure out!
”Listen to everything that I want to say now. Right now, you are facing against my smaller force, that is capable of shooting everyone in your group before even a single one of my soldiers would have to change the magasine in their weapons. Even if somehow you would manage to clutch your way out, two more mobile units with machines far faster than horses are on the standby nearby. In other words, if we start fighting, then no matter the outcome, you won't be able to carry your head away from this place.”
Starting with a light threat, I kept my eyes glued to the Envoy's face, trying to see whether my words were not pushing him too far. After all, a cornered man was the most dangerous one!
”Now, two informations that you need to understand at the same time. First, I'm the one who holds the power in this force. There are no doubles, nor there are any hidden figures pulling the threads from behind. But at the same time, while I hold this power, I never really bothered to use it on a huge scale. That's why, killing me would meant that my designated heir would take my place, while still holding all the means of conducting warfare against you.”
Even if revealing my deepest secret soundded stupid, by doing so I proved that I dind't really care about it. After all, outside of some early work that I did myself, the entirety of the progress made by my people and lands came from their own efforts, with just a tiny amount of me overseeing their work!
”And since now you know that killing me wouldn't change anything, let's get to the crux of the matter. How about we call it a day and sign a peace?”