I Became A Black Merchant In Another World-Chapter 262: Newspapers, Deception, and War (6)

The information controls the war.

When the Normandy landings took place, the Allied forces successfully deceived the Nazi German command by leaking information about landing in the Pas-de-Calais region, and even as they lost Normandy, the Nazis were still convinced the invasion would happen there.

Admiral Yi Sun-sin was also deceived by the false information spread by the spy Yoshira, leading King Seonjo to misinterpret the situation during the Japanese invasions of Korea.

“Anyone who underestimates the value of information should not engage in war. A military led by such a commander is doomed to defeat.”

Therefore, even ancient warriors made every effort to gather information about their enemies.

They strived to discover when and where the enemy would attack, how many troops they had, and what their supply situation was like.

They also spread disinformation to mislead the enemy.

The most famous example of this is the cunning tactic employed by Huang Gai during the Battle of Red Cliffs, where he staged an entire performance, enduring torture at the age of over 80, just to deceive Cao Cao.

“While it’s essential to focus on gathering information, it’s also courteous to spread disinformation, isn’t it?”

Even in simple games, like those where a player denies the existence of another’s mother while she is still alive, strategies are used to outwit opponents at all costs.

In war, where no such concept as "cheating" applies, I must use every evil method at my disposal to win.

Victory would give me everything, but defeat would cost me everything.

“That’s why, we should spread information that will drive the Kingdom of Lyon crazy. Right, Sebastian?”

Sebastian, who was standing in front of me, wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.

“Isn’t it enough to have already manipulated Mayor Guillaume and his faction to betray us at the most critical point in the war?”

“Of course it’s not enough. The more preparation we make, the better, and if you’re satisfied with just that, then what’s the point?”

If we had no other choice but to fight right now, that would be a different matter. In that case, we would fight with everything we have.

But when there is time and financial resources at our disposal?

Then I must mobilize every resource, every bit of wealth, time, and manpower, to prepare for what’s ahead.

“We’ve already invested 250,000 gold coins in this war.”

The Rothschild Barony pretends to be out of liquid assets for the year.

Even though I’m a baron, after establishing cities and even universities, if I were to claim I still had an excess of money, people would start to get suspicious.

The actual profits from our Rothschild trading firm and the gains from tulip coins were completely spent, after all.

“Did you invest part of the gold from the gold mines bought from the Maasai Confederation?”

“This war is one we must win, and one we will win, so I invested in a way that won’t get me caught.”

The fact that I’ve invested this money is confidential, not known by the Duke or the Emperor. Only a few within our family know, and they have no way of discovering it.

“How many workers can you hire for the munitions factories like the matchlock gun and armor factories? How much production can they handle?”

“If we have enough materials, we could produce around 2,000 matchlock guns, 1,000 suits of armor, and 1,500 swords each month.”

That’s enough to equip two divisions in a year.

At this point, we can consider ourselves a defense contractor capable of supplying entire armies.

The years of effort spent building our family’s power are finally paying off.

‘But it’s still far from enough.’

Personally, I feel that within the next five years, a religious revolution will undoubtedly happen.

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When that occurs, battlefields will turn into chaos, and military supplies will be sold like hotcakes.

Just like how America profited immensely during the World Wars, we will have a similar opportunity.

‘To catch the wave, we need to prepare in advance.’

“Sebastian, it’s fine to use up to half of the gold we received from the Maasai Confederation. Set up front men and start building more weapon and armor factories.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Also, tell the factory managers to produce as much as possible, given the current conditions. We’re going to sell everything to the Holy Empire.”

If war breaks out in the Tuscany Empire, the best price for weapons and armor will undoubtedly come from the Tuscany Empire itself.

Why? Because selling to foreign countries means high transportation costs and tariffs.

But if we sell within our own country, we can save on both tariffs and transport fees.

“The Holy Empire is preparing for war with the Kingdom of Lyon, so our stockpile will be gone quickly. In fact, they’ll be demanding more before we even finish.”

War consumes weapons and supplies like a monster.

I’ve seen it firsthand while I was in charge of logistics for Duke Dukat’s division. After just one battle, half of the weapons were damaged.

Especially the most expensive matchlock guns.

70-80% of the damaged weapons could be repaired, but in constant combat, you’ll soon have to use backup weapons.

And on top of that, you have to account for loss and damage during transport.

A soldier must have at least two matchlock guns to fight effectively.

‘But when the war starts, who knows how long it will last and how many battles we’ll have?’

So, military headquarters has to start stockpiling weapons immediately when preparing for war.

The Holy Empire is already doing just that.

“We need to sell weapons to them and spread rumors about it. The Kingdom of Lyon won’t be able to gather enough funds for war and won’t be able to declare war yet, but the Holy Empire has been preparing for this war for years and is now ready to mobilize a massive army.”

In modern society, one war can make tens or hundreds of trillions of dollars vanish in the blink of an eye.

Even in this medieval fantasy world, such large-scale wars rarely happen, but still, preparing for war requires massive resources: people, weapons, powder.

“The Kingdom of Lyon will naturally believe this.”

It sounds entirely plausible to me.

The Holy Empire has suffered enormous economic and political losses due to the Kingdom of Lyon, and they have a deep-seated grudge.

What’s more, they’ve been secretly incited by some lunatic in the Kingdom of Lyon who wasted tens of thousands of gold coins, ruining the lives of the Holy Empire’s citizens. Now, they’re looking for revenge...

‘It would be absurd if a war didn’t happen.’

Once they receive intelligence that the Holy Empire is buying up weapons from us, they’ll be convinced it’s true.

“With that alone, it’s not enough. We also need to spread rumors across the Holy Empire that the prices of food, ironware, and weapons are rising in the border regions with the Kingdom of Lyon.”

There’s a common mistake made by young entrepreneurs and retired officials who start new businesses.

They rush to open a chicken shop or a schnitzel restaurant when they hear it’s the latest trend on TV...

But by the time it’s advertised on TV, that business is either about to fail or is already in decline.

‘Who would broadcast money-making information on TV?’

But just like how modern people tend to follow trends they hear about, merchants in the Holy Empire will also rush to the border regions to sell food, weapons, and ironware.

Of course, many will go bankrupt because they failed to spot the fake news, but that’s their problem, not mine.

And once they take these supplies to the border with the Kingdom of Lyon...

“The Holy Empire’s border will be flooded with goods, and when the Kingdom of Lyon sees this, they’ll think a large-scale invasion is imminent. Why? Because in any war, supplies always concentrate in the areas where the war is about to start.”

It’s like how, when we hear strange noises from a machine, we quickly turn it off, fearing it’s about to break.

The Kingdom of Lyon’s military will do the same, focusing their troops along the border with the Holy Empire.

Just like how, during the Maginot Line defense, the French military focused everything there, assuming that’s where the Germans would attack.

The Kingdom of Lyon will do the same along the border with the Holy Empire.

“The Kingdom of Lyon’s army will naturally focus on the Holy Empire’s border. And when that happens, we’ll mobilize all our forces and...”

I’m not a commander.

So, I’m not the type to discuss tactics in detail.

However, through the lessons of history, I know how to trick the enemy.

“If we use Guillaume City as a foothold, we can win this war. Then, all we need to do is sit back and reap the benefits while the Holy Empire and the Kingdom of Lyon fight each other. Simple, right?”

Oh, by the way, the fact that I spread these rumors and caused all this chaos will remain a secret.

If that gets out, I won’t just end up as a military adviser; the Emperor will try to kill me.

I’ve drawn a clear line when it comes to the rewards I’m claiming.

“I’ll spread the rumors as ordered and sell all the weapons to the border.”

And by the time the harvest comes in, the Kingdom of Lyon’s command will be in turmoil.