The Youngest Prince Of The English Royalty House [EN]: Chapter 182

182. The Wolf and the Lion

Humans are no different from beasts, fattening themselves by preying on the weak.

Perhaps that’s why peace in this world is so fleeting.

A rumor reached the newly dominant Polish Kingdom. They had crippled Kyiv Rus [a medieval state in Eastern Europe], allied with Denmark to thoroughly discipline Sweden, and seized new hegemony.

It concerned the Holy Mongol Empire, a disaster from the East, nomads whom Europeans called ‘Mongols.’

Reportedly, the Mongols were more cruel and vicious than even the Huns of old. Moreover, they were the strongest heretics imaginable, having converted to Christianity only for appearances.

The great King Casimir II acted as if he were Jeremiah, showing great fear of the Mongols.

However, the Polish Kingdom’s subjects didn’t believe that these so-called strongest heretics would cross the East and come to ‘Europe.’

But that calm peace didn’t last long. Tremendous news arrived from beyond the borders.

Though torn to shreds by the Polish army, the news was that Kyiv Rus, Poland’s beloved yet hated neighbor, had fallen.

“Kyiv Rus has fallen.”

“We’re finished.”

“The Mongols are invading.”

“They massacre the men and drag the women away as sex slaves!”

Naturally, the Polish people were terrified.

Even though their great monarch, Casimir II, personally reinforced the northern fortresses and comforted his subjects, it was hard to stop the spread of fear.

They didn’t know which direction the Mongols would attack from, and neighboring countries might use this opportunity to invade Poland.

Eventually, the Duchy of Opole, little more than a Polish vassal, fell under the Mongol hooves, and the Mongol invasion began from the southern part of the Polish Kingdom.

“We must stop the Mongols.”

“We must defend our homeland!”

“They are just people too. Don’t be afraid!”

The Polish people resisted bravely, for the Polish were living in their greatest era.

But the Mongol army was stronger.

“For the Great Temujin!”

“We, the suzerain state, will wipe out the Catholic heretics!”

There are many ways to describe strength, but they were so strong that the Antichrist and the Red Dragon came to mind.

The Mongol cavalry, the alpha and omega of their forces, was powerful, and with the recent Han Chinese updates, they even had ‘gunpowder’ weapons.

Despite the resistance of the Polish army stationed in the fortress, using all available means, cracks began to appear in the walls that couldn’t withstand the Mongol siege.

The people defending the castle fell to the merciless offensive, and one by one, the southern fortresses of Poland began to fall.

“Mommy~”

“Mother.”

A baby cried for its lost parents, and a soldier called for his mother before death.

“My country, Poland…”

Those who shed tears at the horrific sight.

There was a nonchalant Mongol watching them.

Subutai, a young Mongol commander in his early thirties, surveyed the battlefield with the cold, indifferent eyes of a wolf.

And he gave a perfectly natural order.

“Leave only what is needed, and dispose of the rest.”

“Yes, Commander!”

“Commander’s orders. Sort them out!”

Originally, they would have brutally massacred those taller than a wheel, but the soldiers of the Holy Mongol Empire, who had read the Bible a little, were cultured and performed ‘sorting’ instead of massacre.

The Mongols’ favorite part of the Bible was the Book of Joshua, which tells the story of Joshua and his warriors struggling to gain the ‘Promised Land.’

The ruthless conquest shown in the conquest for the Promised Land. Was it not basic to ‘behead’ even innocent babies and slaughter even innocent beasts?

The commanders and soldiers receiving the order of the Great Emperor, who said, ‘Show them first, the spirit of us true Christians,’ properly showed their spirit as they were told.

There was no word that fit the Mongol taste better than this.

If they were ‘wrong’ in God’s eyes, shouldn’t they be dealt with according to the case of Jericho [a city destroyed by the Israelites in the Bible]?

The Mongols who obeyed the Word were the happiness of God. There was nothing to be gained from heretical pagans with the wrong beliefs.

In that way, a Mongol-style creative economy was achieved, where what had to be thrown away was thrown away.

The vanguard of the Holy Mongol Empire was strong.

But they did not know that the Western army was rushing from afar to save the Polish Kingdom.

They came to save the people of Poland, holding their swords with serious and tense faces.

“Save the Polish Kingdom!”

A cry in Latin was heard.

So the Mongol army turned their eyes back.

The rear attack was beginning behind the Mongol army.

-Boom.

A large amount of gunpowder was fired.

-Phew.

Longbows fired from a distance.

-Thud.

Muskets fired from a relatively close distance.

“Drive out the heretics and defend the Christian world!”

Richard I, wearing plate armor with a large lion drawn on it, raised his voice.

“Great thorns of France, save our brothers in faith!”

Philip II raised his hand and shouted, not to be outdone.

“Wh-who are those guys?”

“It’s the Western army.”

“So they’ve come?”

The Mongols already knew that the real Western army might come.

“We are just the vanguard anyway. Since the enemies have come, we’ll play along and then retreat.”

“Yes, Commander.”

But Subutai did not know.

“How dare they invade Europe. I will slaughter those evil Mongol heretics!”

How strong the lion was, who had gone out hunting after a long time.

“Drive out the Mongol heretics!”

“This is our home!”

How strong the resistance spirit of the Poles, who had been hiding and waiting for revenge, was.

* * *

This is the main camp of the Holy Mongol Empire.

As the Great Emperor values generals who surrender or cooperative foreigners, regardless of race or religion, various figures were present here.

There were also many Westerners who had converted to Mongol Nestorianism [an early Christian sect], the true faith.

“That’s all, Your Majesty.”

“I see. Thank you for the explanation.”

One of those Westerners, Yuzef, a centurion from Kyiv Rus, finished explaining Europe.

Temujin, after hearing the report, seriously considered how to prevent the Westerners’ counterattack.

Temujin knew the power of the Mongols he led well. But what he didn’t know was the potential of Europe.

To the Mongols, the East was a predictable battlefield. But the West was an unknown entity.

‘The Muslims and Kyiv Rus, who we fought until recently, were weakened by being beaten by the Crusaders and Poland, respectively. The real ‘Western’ army, properly prepared, will be different.’

And some time later, Temujin had the opportunity to know the more objective Western power.

Because his confidant, whom he had sent to Jerusalem, returned.

“Your Majesty, I am sorry. I could not obtain the Holy Land.”

“Do not worry. After all, the purpose of sending you there was not to recover the Holy Land. It is enough if you have grasped their power.”

In the Mongol headquarters, Jebe, who failed to invade the Holy Land, came.

Temujin did not punish Jebe, who had failed to fulfill the original purpose, that is, the order to devastate the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but rather rewarded him.

That was because the information Jebe brought was so important.

And around that time, the story that the Western army was flocking near Poland was heard.

“Your Majesty, Commander Subutai has sent a signal.”

“Is their main force coming?”

When a war broke out in the Middle Ages, the main force meant the troops under the command of the monarch or commander-in-chief who was leading the campaign.

Richard I, who had already shown his ability in the Third Crusade and countless civil wars, was a monarch that Temujin knew well.

-Click.

Temujin stared at the giant in front of him, slaughtering the Mongol army with a halberd.

“Is that the Lionheart?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Richard I, the Lionheart, I have heard many stories. Well, it’s the moment when the wolf and the lion meet.”

“And the main force of England….”

Temujin was pleased to see the enemy army, which was not inferior to Subutai’s unit, known as one of the best units in the East, and in some respects, was overwhelming it.

The army of the man called Richard was an elite corps that the Mongols could not easily deal with, and Temujin, who wanted to spread the true faith of the Lord to the end of Iberia, was rather pleased with this new ‘trial.’

* * *

-England, Rouen-

Many people were dispatched from England to prevent the Mongol invasion.

But England was peaceful today.

The English have now adapted.

What they had adapted to was the fact that their daily lives were peaceful despite the ongoing war.

Even the daily lives of the lowest class, the serfs, have not changed.

-Cock-a-doodle-doo!

They wake up normally when a loud rooster crows in the morning.

“Let’s work today too!”

They plow the fields normally, pulling the plow.

“That’s it for today.”

When the time of dogs and wolves comes with the sunset [dusk], they return home without regret.

“Today’s white bread is quite delicious.”

They eat the salty soup with a little bit of meat in the white bread that their wife has just prepared.

“Good night.”

“You too?”

They lie down with their wife on a cheap bed bought from Venice.

This is the ordinary daily life of the ignorant, but the powerful people who watch the ordinary subjects of the kingdom were shocked.

In particular, people like the Earl of Oxford were even more surprised.

“Is this possible?”

Even though only volunteers were taken to the battlefield, it is incomprehensible that the lives of the people are so ordinary.

War is fought by soldiers, but the burden must be borne by the entire country.

It was not for nothing that Richard I in the original history was criticized for ‘being good at war like a lion, but doing internal affairs like a dog!’

Already a considerable number of troops have been deployed to the Jerusalem Kingdom front. Several naval battles are taking place in the Mediterranean, and more troops are being deployed in real time.

But as time goes by, the country’s finances are getting better?

England’s trade, centered on military supplies, was carried out normally, and people were able to fully engage in their livelihoods.

Currently, England is implementing a ‘co-monarch’ system due to the political calculations of the royal family. The subjects are serving two monarchs.

King Richard I, who left to defend against the Mongol invasion, and King John I, who is managing England in the capital, Anjou.

Among them, King John I was the monarch who actually saw the nobles often.

Recently, the nobles bowed their heads to John I for the time being. This is because the king himself is raising war taxes even by emptying his own pockets, and the increased amount is not so burdensome.

But John I has not asked for anything since then. So the nobles had more headaches.

“What… what are you thinking?”

“Our dear John I has not requested anything other than raising war taxes. He could summon us and demand troops.”

“Earl of Oxford, this seems to be the fear that His Majesty in Rouen possesses. He has nothing to regret from us.”

“But to call the royal family to Rouen at a time like this.”

The reason why the Earl of Oxford is thinking this way now is because special guests are coming to Rouen today.

James and Adelaide, the Count and Countess of Poitiers, who effectively ruled Aquitaine [a historical region in southwestern France], and John I’s other children.

When onlookers and guards to prevent any possible danger gathered, gorgeous carriages appeared from beyond.

“Long live England!”

“Glory to the English royal family!”

As a reward for the English royal family who protected their peaceful daily lives, all kinds of people praised the royal family in the carriages.

The first carriage was occupied by James and his wife.

“Ha… I want to stay in Aquitaine more. I could have done better there.”

James, the would-be emperor who was now getting a ‘feel’ for ruling.

-Thud.

“Do you want to get hit? You know why we came up here.”

“Didn’t you already hit me?”

“Daddy’s getting hit!”

“I’m not getting hit, I’m letting you hit me.”

He was just a sad head of the household who was caught by his son William and his wife Adelaide.

The second carriage was occupied by Prince Charles and Isabel, who were already engaged.

“So, it ended up like this?”

“The prince’s expression is too evil.”

“Evil? That’s a misunderstanding.”

The royal family in the third carriage was Princess Elizabeth.

“….”

She looked out the window without saying a word and raised the corners of her lips.

The youngest prince Louis was in the fourth carriage.

“Is this Rouen, where my father reigns?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The city he saw for the first time was unfamiliar.

Thus, the lion’s cubs arrived in Rouen.