Mixing truth, half truth and lies was a perfect technique to win the Emperor's favor. When in a few months he finds out that the English are helping the French in regaining La Rochelle, he will even more believe that this book was commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu, and even if the Cardinal denied it, the Emperor would not believe him.
When the Emperor lost the color of a beetroot and became calmer, we resumed our talks and negotiations. I was able to gain independence as a commander, but I had no right to agree or negotiate a ceasefire or peace terms. The emperor did not pay us a salary or the maintenance of the army, but we could plunder the enemy's lands. The time of our service was set for a year, after that time each side could withdraw, of course it was also possible to extend the period of my service... I was not going to serve the Emperor for more than a year, I had many other important matters to attend to, but at that moment there was no need to tell him about it.
Later the conversations became more cordial and less official. The emperor asked me about Podolia, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Cossacks, Tatars and Turks. We also talked about my books, he was particularly interested in "Quo Vadis", which was not surprising, he was a fanatical Catholic. He also mentioned my grandfather who had a good relationship with Maximilian III Habsburg... Even though the conversations had become friendlier, I still wasn't able to like him.
After a few hours, I was able to break free from this nightmare and return to the camp, I was wondering whether I should visit the shop that Jankiel's relative had opened, but it would be stupid. The store was valuable to me because no one knew about my connections with it.
"Lord, what news?" (Ilya)
"We are officially fighting for the Emperor, I have to prepare a plan of action, but in two days at the latest we will go north towards Brandenburg. Then I will give detailed orders ... Saddat will command the Tatars, you and Ivan, each of you will receive a command over 1,500 Cossacks." (MC)
The next few hours I spent trying to reasonably combine it all into one whole ... I also remembered about West Pomerania, now ruled by Bogusław XIV, the last member of the Griffin family. He will die childless in 10 years and his principality will be divided between Brandenburg and Sweden... I have always believed that it was a big mistake that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth did not intervene in this matter, but perhaps because kingdom was exhausted by wars. Although more than 150 years have passed, the Griffin family was strongly associated with the Kingdom of Poland, there was even a marriage between the Polish Princess Anna Jegiellon and the Pomeranian Prince Bogusław X... I was not sure how to solve this matter, I would like to do it peacefully and not be the one who will end the existence of the Griffin family, but if there is no other way out.
I let those thoughts go and focused on something else. The task set by Weles was relatively simple, I knew what was missing, I knew where the temple of Jarowit was, the only difficulty was the distance. It was almost 1000 kilometers from Vienna to Wołogoszcz (Wolgast), but there was also an additional advantage of this situation, to get there I had to go through Brandenburg and Berlin. Notes I read about the Thirty Years' War, the population of Berlin fell to 2.5 thousand inhabitants, other written sources gave 5 thousand inhabitants... I don't know why so many people were spared, I think someone did a wrong job and now I will have to fix his mistake.
We left two days later, headed north towards Prague, where we made our first stop. After a short rest, we continued our journey to the north, only to reach the Brandenburg border after a few days.
"Ilya, Ivan, Saddat ... a hundred people stay with me. You take the rest and move each one in a different direction. If there is no big threat, you can divide your troops into separate companies. You take over food, valuables, weapons, horses from the locals .. You do not take prisoners, everyone in this country is an enemy. You understand?" (MC)
All three of my commanders nodded.
"Well, you will get the wagons on the locals. You are also supposed to burn every field, orchard, apiary or building. We will meet you here in seven days ... Go and have a good hunt." (MC)
The tactic of scorched earth and killing the local population was the only tactic that could harm Brandenburg, Prussia and the Empire for a long time. Fewer people means fewer soldiers and less taxes ... there was nothing personal about it, it was a necessity. Up to 8 million people died in the Thirty Years' War, tens of thousands more will not make much difference.
I had seven days until my people returned, so I decided to see the area, we found some deserted and burnt settlements, it was the second time I saw the effects of this war ... the first I saw was in Bohemia, Ferdinand II really did his best to destroy this nation, the inhabitants of Bohemia were in fact brought to the second category of citizens, most of the property and offices were transferred to the German Catholic nobility. In Prague itself, I heard more German than Czech... but Bohemia is not my concern, if they are lucky they will free themselves from the Habsburg heel in the future.
In the evening I was sitting with my people by the fire, when one of my men got up and pointed to the west.
"Lord, look ..." (Soldier)
In the distance you could see a glow in the sky, I had a hard time telling how far it was, but it was in the direction Ivan went... well, the hunt had begun.