Chapter 2
"Sir!" shouted the young man as he saluted. He didn't remember who the young man was, but he looked to be a higher rank than a common foot soldier, his armor was high quality and had a beautiful embossing of the sun on it.
"It is good to see you up and about sir! You really had us worried there!"
"Sorry young man, but that bullet did a real number on my memories. Please, remind me who you are." The young man looked taken aback, but quickly recovered, lowering his salute and falling into parade rest.
"Sir! I am Lieutenant Ludwin Albrecht, one of your five current Lieutenants! I volunteered to check on you while the others decide who will lead the men during the next engagement."
"Well, I thank you for volunteering to check on me. In fact, because of that I shall give you command of our troops for this battle!"
"Wait...really sir? We assumed when you woke up you would take command again."
"I wouldn't trust someone who has recently sustained a traumatic brain injury with my life, and I assume the men would feel the same way." In reality I just have no idea how battles are fought in this world, so I just want to see what he does. I have the memories of what to do but I have no idea how exactly to pull it off, no guarantee muscle memory will carry me to victory.
"Ok sir, I suppose I won't complain about a chance to prove myself!" The two men walked down to the War tent, and on the way there, Ludwin explained to the Baron the state of the rebellion.
"...and after that, the Empress sent us here to Holenstadt to quickly put down the rebels that rose up here, and then to return back to the frontline as soon as we finished. Despite the delay caused by your skull's sundering, we are on track to mopping up the remnants ahead of schedule, meaning the Empress will give us an even larger bonus!"
"Wonderful, then we should hurry on to the War tent and inform everyone else of my decision so we can wrap up the Holenstadt chapter of...um, does this rebellious faction have a name?"
"I believe they call themselves 'Aktion Fur Die Freiheit', or 'Abschaffung Aktion' depending on who you ask, they are rebelling against the Empress to make slavery in all it's forms illegal, as well as ending the Empire's policies of cultural assimilation."
"Sounds like a far more worthy cause than ours…"
"At the beginning we asked you what our plan was, your response was that it would be too early to raise the flag of rebellion and responded to the Empress's call of duty."
"I see...fair enough, I agree with my reasoning." He said while opening the curtain to the war tent. He was greeted by four men sitting around a table, they each looked pretty distinct. One of them stood up and greeted the Baron. He was tall, almost as tall as the Baron was, he would guess about 6ft, and he had a very strong build. He has long blonde hair and a very attractive face, his jawline looked like it could cut glass and his eyes projected a radiance that made him just a pleasure to look at.
"Baron! It is so good to see you man! We thought you were a goner!" His voice was deep, and his tone belied a sense that he doesn't take anything serious. The rest of them stood up shortly after the first man. One of them stepped forward and saluted, he was slightly shorter than the Baron, he would guess about 5'10, and had short slicked back black hair, he was also attractive, but in a different way than the blond one, his face was sharper and more severe in a way, his brown eyes had a sharp angularity to them that made him look very serious and intimidating.
"Baron, just as Udo said, we were very worried about you, it makes us very glad to see you are ok." His voice was even deeper than the blond man and smooth like high quality chocolate. So the blond guy is named Udo? Thought the Baron. It looked like he was going to continue speaking when someone jumped from their spot and gave the Baron a giant bear hug. He was about a head shorter than the Baron, about 5'7, but twice as wide and looked like he had never seen a carb in his life. Never in his life had he seen someone so muscular. His hair was dark auburn, the right side of his head was shaved and the left was braided, as was his beard, giving him a very vikingesque look.
"BARON! AYE THOUGHT WEH LOST YA!" Fergus, The name entered his mind, Fergus Ulpagahn, I guess if I would remember any name it would be his, he does seem very hard to forget.
"It's ok Fergus, It would take a lot more than that to put me down."
"True, you do seem pretty hearty." The last person said something lazily. He was slinking around in the background and kind of felt hard to notice, even though the Baron was staring directly at him. He was as tall as Udo, though thinner and more spindly looking. His face was boring but attractive, though boring is not quite right. After staring at him for a bit longer the Baron realised he was ethereally attractive. it almost felt as though some force was stopping the Baron from coming to that conclusion, it took a good amount of thinking and soul searching for him to be able to come to that conclusion. Though he could tell the man was attractive, he couldn't quite feel it.
After struggling out of Fergus's bear hug, everyone sat back down and the Baron sat at the head of the table.
"Gentlemen, I hate to say this, but I have lost most of my memories, including who you men are, so I would need you to reintroduce yourselves to me. I would appreciate it if you told me your name, where you are from, where I met you, and why I decided to hire you if I shared such information with you."
They all stood up from their chairs and moved into a line. The first to step forward was the tallest one with blond hair.
"Hey Baron! I am Udo Fudopfiegler! You scouted me at a bar in Bickenstadt, though I'm from Grossendorf. I got into a bar fight and I won handily, you told me that you liked the way I fought and invited me to be one of your lieutenants." Suddenly, the Baron was flooded with the memory of Udo's bar fight. From what he could remember, he recruited Udo because he saw great potential in his fighting style, and with some nurturing he thought he could turn him into an absolute powerhouse, so he decided to pay for his martial arts education on the condition that after he finished he would serve in the Baron's mercenary company for 5 years. He had finished his training and had been working with the Baron for a year now.
"Thank you Udo, you may sit down."
The next to step forward was the man with the slicked back black hair. He stood at attention and quickly saluted the Baron.
"I am Hans Volkner. Like Udo I also hail from the Imperial capital, though we did not meet each other in all our years there. You scouted me in the Imperial Officer's School, I was dropping out because my family could not continue to afford the tuition and you offered to pay for my education on the condition I enlisted as a lieutenant in your mercenary company." Again, the Baron was given another memory, this time of Hans. He was one of the top students in the academy, his family were farmers but he showed an aptitude for military strategy so he was given a scholarship to the Imperial Officer's School, though because the war the Empire was waging turned against them, they had to cut funding to scholarships to lowborns to feed the military. The Baron saw a chance to gain a fantastic strategist and a loyal ally in one fell swoop if he helped Hans finish his education, so he gave Hans the same deal as Udo, and just like Udo, he had been serving with the Baron for a year.
"Thank you Hans, you may also sit down."
Next up was Ludwin. He gave a quick salute but quickly assumed a more natural stance.
"I am Ludwin Albrecht, my family is rather well known from the Albrecht Trading Company operating out of the Bvarian Region of which we hail. You scouted me when I helped you fend off a large scale bandit attack, we commissioned your mercenary company for caravan protection and you personally ran with my caravan because we were moving through The Land of Everlasting Snow. You said you were impressed with my combat prowess and leadership skills despite being the sheltered son of a Great Merchant Family." More memories flooded into the Baron. It was exactly as Ludwin described it, he was riding in a carriage, it was snowing lightly and he was freezing. Bandits attacked and Ludwin dispatched 12 Bandits by himself. There were possibly 50 bandits attacking that caravan at once so that was a pretty decent chunk of the attackers for one pampered kid to take down. He was impressed and offered Ludwin tutelage and a place as a lieutenant. Ludwin wanted adventure so he accepted. He had been with the Baron for two years now. I feel like his family wouldn't take kindly to that, but that's neither here nor there, and what the hell is The Land of Everlasting Snow?, Thought the Baron.
"Thank you, Now take your seat again, Ludwin."
Next up was Fergus.
"Ya found meh when aye wa' takin' part in tha Timburkastahátíð, ya said somethin' like 'I cannot believe a man could lift so much weight" an offered meh a mercenary job. A' course aye said yes! Bein' tha leader a' tha Berzerkeri donnae pay as much as ya do! Which aye mean feels a wee bit off but whatever!" The Baron did remember that, he still doesn't have any of the background knowledge to understand the Log Throwing Festival was or what a High Berserker is, but what he did remember matched up perfectly. Fergus had been serving with the Baron for the shortest amount of time, for only about six months now, but he had proven himself to be quite the competent warrior. Wait, thought the Baron, slightly confused, Why do I understand what Timburkastahátíð and Berserkeri means and how to break down the words and its suffixes and prefixes?
"Ok Fergus, I actually remembered all of that when I woke up, I just had no idea what it meant, now it makes sense, thank you. You may sit down."
The Baron went to sit down when someone else stepped forward. He almost completely missed him, he seemed to kind of blend in with his surroundings, not in the way camouflage does, but just in the way a normal looking person melts into a crowd unnoticed. He looked completely unassuming, he was medium height and build, and his hair looked normal.
Wait, the Baron stopped in his tracks, something is wrong here, now that I look at him closer, that isn't true at all. He looked very different from his first impression, His hair was short and looked nice, but it was also completely white. He was tall, taller than the Baron but only slightly. He was very attractive in an ethereal kind of way. It felt almost like there was some sort of force compelling the Baron to ignore what made him special and see him as normal and unassuming.
Wait, didn't I have this exact thought earlier?
He stood there lazily, his eyes looked sleepy and his pupils looked unfocused.
"My name is Helmut Freier, son of Waffenstadt. You found me wandering in the wilderness. You allowed me to travel with your company to Bickenstadt, and on the way there after talking to me and fighting off bandits you hired me as a lieutenant."
Again, the Baron was flooded with memories. Helmut was very strange, he wasn't very interesting to talk to in the moment, but after he left and stopped talking to him he suddenly felt very enriched by his conversation with Helmut. And when bandits attacked he showed an almost precognition level of being able to predict how the bandits would attack and strike him, parrying their strikes almost more out of prediction than reflexes. He was a very strange man, it was almost like there was an aura around him that made him seem less impressive and interesting than he actually is. He had been working with the Baron for about 10 months now.
"Thank you Helmut, as I recall our conversations on the way to Bickenstadt were good enough to make my consider patronizing you as some sort of philosopher for my libraries, you may sit down."
"Now that introductions are somewhat over, we have to decide who will be leading the men during the next battle, so I would like to know what our enemies are most likely to possess and bring against us." After a small wait Ludwin brought in a stack of papers and maps, unrolling them on the table and pinning important documents to the wall. In this world the printing press and paper making technologies were already in use and widely circulated, so the printed word was widespread and literacy was on the rise.
"They have a cohort, mostly made up of greatswords and spearmen, our intelligence network delivered an estimate of 400 swordsmen and 450 spearmen, as well as 150 archers and 80 light cavalrymen. As far as we could tell they have no muskets or cannons to work with." Strange, the Baron thought, in my past life I wouldn't have been able to really absorb what they are telling me, but now as he is telling me this I am able to think of strategies to use against them.
"Please, remind me of our forces and our allies, I have already decided that Ludwin will be leading the men in the upcoming battle, but if there is any information that would change my mind I would very much like to know."
"Of course Baron, the Klarwasser Mercenary Company is a battalion strong, 115 men with swords and shields, 164 spearmen, 75 archers and 30 musketeers. We have a cannon but it is running low on ammunition, we have 6 shots of grapeshot and 8 iron balls. We are working with two other mercenary companies, both also a battalion strong. Der Bande Des Wolfe has roughly the same makeup, though they have no musketeers and they have about 50 greatswordsmen, the other mercenary company, the Schneebeeckter Berg Mercenary company has about 200 swordsmen, 60 archers, and 20 musketeers. None of our companies field any cavalry and the other mercenaries have no cannons. All together, our forces are roughly even."
"Which of you has the most experience already leading, and which of you are better fighters than leaders?"
Hans shot up and stood at attention.
"Sir! So far the only men here who have lead armies are myself, Ludwin, and Fergus. Fergus, Udo, and Helmut seem to be more at home on the front lines than giving orders from the back, but I imagine they would still make effective leaders. Fergus has the most experience leading troops in the Orkney Isles, I have led the men for the past 3 battles. In my opinion Ludwin should lead the men for this battle, it seems to be roughly even and he needs the experience."
"Does anyone have any objections to Han's appraisal of your abilities?" They all shook their heads.
"For the most part what he said makes sense, I don't really like leading armies and Ludwin needs the experience, so yeah, Ludwin ought to lead."
"Thank you Udo, I relish the opportunity to improve my skills. I promise I will not disappoint!"
"Well, it's settled then, Ludwin shall lead the men for the upcoming battle. I want Helmut, Hans, and Fergus to sit this one out. I would like to avoid having too many cooks, so to speak. I would like you men to set up and prepare logistics for the town. I plan to take it before the other mercenary companies, so focus on finding medical supplies and food. I know that may be unsatisfying, but I want to be absolutely sure we have enough for everyone, our men and for the town. If we bring in a surplus of food and feed everyone well, we will encounter less resistance in the time it takes for a new governor to be appointed and take over for us. Understood?"
Hans, Fergus, and Helmut looked disappointed. Fergus began to speak when Helmut stepped forward.
"We understand, Baron. We understand your reasonings and will carry out your will to the best of our abilities. We just request that at the next opportunity you have to allow us to lead and fight." They all looked at the Baron.
"Yes, of course. I will remember this, no worries! Next time one of you may lead and I will allow more of you to fight personally." They looked happier with their assignment, but not exactly happy about it. Udo looked confused and raised his hand.
"Yes Udo? You look confused."
"Uh, does this mean I get to fight?"
"Yes, if you so choose. I will allow you the choice of where in our formation you wish to place yourself."
"Thanks Baron! I appreciate it! I'll be with the men on the front lines!"
"Sounds good. Alright then, let us move out!"