Cromwell Dominion, Wickham Castle.
Wickhamsburg had once again become a huge construction site. More than fifty thousand soldiers of Toferd who had surrendered became hardworking labourers, contributing their blood, sweat, and tears to the construction of Wickhamsburg.
There was only one reason for their hard work: the highest commanding officer of Aueran war theatre, Major General Baron Claude Han Ferd, felt that the strategy of fortifying the defenses and clearing the fields wasn't suitable given the current situation.
When the nikancha rioted in the Shiksan colonies and took over more and more territory, Thundercrash had to have a good base of operations near Port Vebator. That way, it would be convenient for them to take advantage of the chaos in the Shiksan colonies and work together with the nikancha.
So, Claude chose Wickhamsburg as the new base of operations for Thundercrash.
According to Claude's plan, after Wickhamsburg was completed, he would have the fifty thousand captives build four more fortified castles in Cromwell and Balingana. That way, they would have a perfect supply route from Wickhamsburg to Dorinibla River and strengthen their control over Cromwell and Balingana. At the same time, they would have a solid foundation for economic development and town development in the two colonies after peace.
While he was busy with construction, he didn't forget to sweep through Port Vebator Colony.
From Wickhamsburg to the base of Port Vebator's walls, Thundercrash's light cavalry had already swept through the area.
Shiksan's situation on Nubissia wasn't looking good. They could only hold on to Port Vebator. The mountain ridges in the north of Port Vebator had become nikancha territory and the roads leading to Port Vebator had been cut off by Thundercrash.
From the 7th month of Year 589 to the 3rd month of Year 590, Claude hadn't been back to Lanu for nearly eight months.
He had been sitting at the frontline all the time, and all the official affairs of the command center in the rear could only be communicated and discussed through messenger hawks.
Three months after Thundercrash took the initiative to wipe out three of Shiks' main corps, Claude had no choice but to lead the lightly-equipped guards back to HQ at Lanu for a visit three months after the end of the third colonial war.
Major General Bolonik, who was in charge of the Dorinibla River defence line, crossed the river to welcome Claude. The two of them hugged each other before they crossed the bridge again. When they reached Bolonik's camp, Claude went to take a bath first to wash off the dust from the journey and change into a new uniform before accepting Bolonik's hospitality.
The banquet prepared by Bolonik was extremely sumptuous, but neither of them was in the mood to enjoy it. After filling their stomachs, they started discussing the news they received.
After the news of the third colonial war was uploaded to the Ministry of the Army, it took three months before they received a definite reply.
Subtracting the one month spent on the journey, the Ministry of the Army had wasted more than two months to respond to this great victory. This efficiency was astonishingly slow.
However, Bolonik's information came from the mining and merchant association. They had an office in the royal capital and were more well-informed. After receiving the news, they sent it to Whitestag via messenger hawk. The messenger would then board a ship to Tyrrsim before sending it to the mining and merchant association headquarters in Anfiston.
Apart from the half-month journey across the sea, it took less than twenty days for the news to travel from the royal capital to the association headquarters.
"The Ministry of the Army has agreed to put Allen's 3rd Monolith Folk under Thundercrash. However, it won't be reorganized as 2nd Folk, but Thundercrash as Thundercrash Corps.
You are promoted to lieutenant-general in recognition of your achievement in wiping out three Shiks' main corps.
At the same time, because you wiped out the volunteer corps of Nasri and Canas, your title has been raised by a rank. You are now an honorary viscount of the kingdom. "
General Bolonik clicked his tongue. "You've done a good job. You've wiped out the main forces of our two mortal enemies.
It's just that the kingdom was a little too stingy with their rewards this time. That's why you were promoted to one rank and honorary viscount. Allen only received one credit.
According to the information, you will be appointed as the corps commander of Thundercrash and Allen will be appointed as the chief of staff.
That's the good news. The bad news is that you've been relieved of your post as the field marshal. Just like us, you're now the deputy field marshal. You'll be acting as the field marshal for the time being until the kingdom sends a new field marshal to take over.
According to the association's information, the new field marshal will be the former field marshal of the royal guard, Hereditary Earl Aljess Kai Osmol. He'll be taking over with a folk of the royal guard. "Claude furrowed his brow.
He furrowed his brow. Was the ministry of the army giving him a sweet date and a slap in the face?
Being promoted to lieutenant-general and honorary viscount as well as Thundercrash's corps commander was a reward he deserved.
General Bolonik was right. The reward given to him was too little. After all, he had annihilated the two main armies of two of the kingdom's mortal enemies.
Even though Nasri and Canas both claimed that the two corps were formed from retired soldiers of the two kingdoms and had nothing to do with them, the countries involved knew that was only an excuse.
However, the countries involved knew very well that this was just an excuse. The so-called volunteer armies were the main standing armies of the two countries, and their combat power was not something that those mercenaries could compare to.
During the second colonial war, before Michelic was promoted to field marshal, he led Ranger to wipe out five Shiksan corps. When he received orders from the Ministry of the Army to attack Port Vebator, he discovered that Canas's light cavalry was stationed at the border of the two colonies. Michelic immediately stopped the attack because he wasn't confident that he could defeat the light cavalry corps with Ranger alone. But in the end, he was promoted to field marshal thanks to his two consecutive victories.
The five years of war in the east had allowed Aueras to understand just how powerful the armies of their mortal enemies were. That was why the two volunteer corps hired by Shiks became a thorn in the side of the war theatre.
Now, Claude had wiped out the two corps at the cost of half of Thundercrash's casualties. Logically speaking, that shouldn't be much different from Michelic's five Shiksan corps.
However, the kingdom only gave him a rank and an honorary title. It was no wonder that even Bolonik felt it was unfair and felt that the kingdom was being too stingy with their rewards.
What was even more shocking was that Claude was stripped of his post as commander-in-chief. Given that he had made great contributions without making any mistakes, being stripped of his post was more of a humiliation to a general of the kingdom.
His superior, on the other hand, was a hereditary count from an old noble family of the kingdom and the former chief of the royal guard, Aljes Kai Osmolin. While Claude was disappointed, he also found it rather strange. Since when did such a high-ranking general of the kingdom get sent to the colonies? Was it a form of exile?
"Do you know where this Aljes Khai Osmolin came from?" Claude asked Bolonik.
Bolonik shook his head. "I'm a civilian officer. I was only a minor major during the five years of war. I don't have much to do with a high-ranking general like the royal guard, but I've heard of him before.
However, I have heard of him. He was the one who commanded the fiercest and cruelest battle in the Principality of Rimodra, which resulted in the heaviest casualties.
It was said that he was the best general in the kingdom in terms of positional warfare. No matter if it was a fortress or a castle, under his command, they were invincible. The only downside was that every time they won, the soldiers under his command would suffer heavy casualties. It was common for a battalion or a regiment to be disbanded because all of them died in battle …
The only thing I can be sure of is that your post as field marshal wasn't removed because you did anything wrong. It was to make room for the new high-ranking general of the kingdom.
Otherwise, having a high-ranking general and hereditary count under a lieutenant-general and honorary viscount like you would be a huge embarrassment to the kingdom's military and noble houses.
Therefore, the Army Ministry of the Kingdom easily approved the reorganization plan you submitted. They even went a step further and directly reorganized the Thunderclap Division into the Thunderclap Legion. Allen's Third Monolith Division and the Thunderclap Division merged into one and placed them under your command. This can be considered a form of consolation for you. "
It was a reasonable explanation. Even though he didn't know why a high-ranking general like a hereditary count would take up a post in a war theatre, it was still embarrassing for him to accept Claude's command.
Claude's military rank and title were lower than that of the general, a hereditary count, so he had no choice but to obediently give up the seat he was sitting on.
"I'm a little worried," Claude said, "We wiped out two volunteer corps and one standing corps at the end of last year. It's been more than three months since then.
Our situation in Port Vebator Colony is the same as before. The remaining standing corps of the enemy is defending Port Vebator to the death, refusing to take a step out of the city. All supplies are being transported by ships. The area between the city and Wickham Castle is a piece of cake for Thundercrash's light cavalry patrols. Everything is under our control.
"So much time has passed. I believe Shiks should've known about their defeat and come up with a strategy to deal with it.
However, we're on Nubissia and don't know what Shiks' next move will be.
The only news we have is from the mining and trade association in the royal capital. Aljess Kai Osmol will be appointed as the highest commanding officer of the theatre. He also brought a folk of the royal guard with him. Doesn't that mean the ministry of the army has received some sort of intelligence and is strengthening the theatre's forces to deal with Shiks' next attack? "
Bolonik said solemnly, "That might be possible. You wiped out three of Shiks' main corps and they can only defend Port Vebator to the death. They've been cut off from the other colonies.
To the Shiksan Kingdom that cared so much about their reputation, it was no different from being slapped thrice in the face. We've already wiped out a total of ten standing corps in the three colonial wars.
Even if the two corps weren't from their kingdom, it would still cost them a lot to maintain them. Coupled with the eight other standing corps, Shiks wouldn't be able to sustain such a huge expenditure on the battlefield no matter how wealthy they were.
Every time they boast, they end up getting slapped in the face by us. They've lost all three wars and they've become the laughing stock of the neighbouring kingdoms.
If Shiks can't win the next war, they might have to step down from their position as the hegemon of Northern Freia.
At the very least, it would no longer be able to suppress the ambitions of the smaller nations around it. If things went awry, a regional war might break out in the northern part of Freia and even Shiks might be annexed by other nations.
"I also suspect that Shiks will make a big move in Nubissia. The ministry of the army might have received that information and sent a general to be the highest commander of the theatre. They also brought a royal folk to strengthen our forces so that we can fight Shiks to the death in the colonies."
According to the mining association, General Aljes Kai Osmolin had already boarded a ship at Whitestag with a folk of the royal folk. If the journey was smooth, they would arrive at Tyrrsim in half a month's time. After that, they would arrive at Lanu in Anfiston, where Claude would have to hand over his new post.
So, Claude only had a month or so to deal with all the work in the theatre before the new highest commander arrived. That way, the new general wouldn't have to clean up after him.
The banquet ended quickly. Claude, who was filled with worries, didn't get much rest. He woke up after four to five hours of sleep and meditated to rouse himself. After breakfast, he rushed back to Lanu with Bolonik on horseback for three days.
Claude was gratified to find that the head of logistics, Major General Skriti, was still there.
As Claude's former superior, he knew Claude's temper very well. He took the initiative to let Claude deal with all the trivial matters in the theatre, leaving only a memo for Claude to look through. That relieved Claude of the worry that he would be buried in a pile of documents.
However, all the official matters regarding Thundercrash were left to Claude to deal with. One of them was the report from the head of intelligence, Colonel Kofesler, to Borkal.
His good friend from his youth, Borkal, was sent to take over the Wild Bull Trading Company and head to Port Vebator to carry out a reconnaissance mission.
Borkal had become the intelligence staff officer of Thundercrash and was directly under the command of the intelligence department.
It seemed that the fatty had done a good job. Claude picked up the report for Borkal.
The report stated that Borkal had established himself in Port Vebator and opened a branch of the Wild Bull Trading Company. He had also investigated the reason for the nikancha spies' disappearance.
Claude already knew that all nikancha were enslaved by the Shiksan army, and the secret agents were no exception.
If Borkal hadn't gone to Port Vebator to relay the news, the theatre might still be sending nikancha spies there to continue sending slaves to the Shiksans.