Rise of the Radomirs
Part 4
“How can you be so happy about losing a war?”
“It’s not about losing a war, Trpimir,” Dmitar explained one evening while moving the war tents even farther away from the invading Bulgarians, “It’s about what we have learned. Up to now, we Croatians haven’t used an army. We’ve either grabbed land, had it given to us, or been fleeing from surprise attacks. This is our first true battle, and it has taught us many things.
“You saw how our armies fought in the first year of the war. They were glorious. They occupied every piece of land all the way to Constantinople. It was not until the enemy gained reinforcements from the east that they even started to think about pushing us back. And that is what it has taught us. Winning the war is all about numerical superiority. Whichever side has that will come out on top. It doesn’t matter whether we surprise them, they surprise us, or we tell each other a year before the war starts. It boils down to simple numbers.”
“Sir, what about strategy, or the armor we wear?”
“Those things help, and strategy certainly helps win a war, but you can’t win if your enemy outnumbers you 3 to 1. This is something some people never grasp. They think that little thoughts and numbers will help them win, but it’s only the big numbers that matter.”
“Sir… I hope you know what you’re talking about…”
Whether Dmitar’s revelation was true or not, it was told as the truth. He began using the expert messengers, storytellers, and gossipers his father used in his middle-years as king to spread the word. “We might’ve lost, but what we’ve learned is invaluable.” “We’ve come back from worse, and this time we have information.” “We are beaten for now, but Croatia is no longer the idiot nation who is stumbling around in it’s new-found power.”
Croatia after losing the war:
Croatia after the Duke of Erstogozm exchange:
