"Prince Wedrick has set the 10th of August as his coronation date. He doesn't want to drag it out any longer.
It's said that his final offer to Prince Hansbach was to merge the former duchies of Askilin and Rimodra into his fief in exchange for his consent to Prince Wedrick becoming Stellin XI. "
Weyblon reported the latest news from the royal capital. By the time the news reached the generals of Nubissia, Prince Hansbach would have already given his reply.
The offer was already quite generous and it even broke the law left by Stellin IX that forbade nobles from being granted lands.
However, Prince Hansbach wasn't a noble. He was the eldest prince. If Wedrick were to ascend to the throne, he would become a prince.
They were both Stellins, so no matter how big the fief was, it wouldn't change anything. There would surely be legal experts who would come out to explain if it was against the law.
It was said that countless people who went to persuade Prince Hansbach were met with dust and dirt. Most of them didn't even get to see the prince.
The prime minister, Duke Duncan, made a trip as well. He was influential enough to meet with Hansbach for two hours and returned to the royal capital with a bitter smile without saying a word.
Wedrick, on the other hand, couldn't wait to ascend to the throne. After discussing with the bigwigs in the royal capital, he gave them a deadline. Regardless of whether Hansbach agreed to it or not, he was going to ascend to the throne on the 10th of August.
After all, the throne had been vacant for half a year. They couldn't just not ascend to the throne just because they were afraid of the eldest prince. Many important matters of the kingdom were delayed.
Claude and the other generals in the theatre had already made up their minds that even if the two princes started fighting each other, they would only stay in Nubissia and watch the show. They wouldn't get involved in the mess.
All they had to do was declare their loyalty to the king. As for which of the two princes would become king, that would depend on their own abilities.
But before May arrived, a few generals in the war zone command received an urgent request for help from Wickham Castle, which was under Cromwell's direct jurisdiction. It was said that because there were too many immigrants, the logistics officers in charge of verifying the immigrants' admission qualifications and distributing personal property for land exchange in Wickham Castle were overwhelmed.
In addition, Wickhamsburg Castle needed to urgently transport large amounts of rations and tents to prevent the families of the soldiers from sleeping in the wilderness.
Claude found it rather strange. He didn't see many immigrants heading towards Cromwell and Balingana during his stay in Lanu. Why would Wickhamshire Castle complain all of a sudden?
But since they had received the letter, Claude, Bolonik, and Skri led the guards to Wickhamsburg.
When they reached Wickhamsburg Castle, the three generals all fainted.
There was a sea of people around Wickhamsburg Castle. Countless immigrants carrying big and small bags looked like refugees, surrounding Wickhamsburg Castle so tightly that not even a drop of water could trickle through.
"Why are there so many people?" General Bolonik murmured.
That's right, why are there so many people?
Claude asked a second lieutenant in uniform. The second lieutenant recognized Claude and hurriedly saluted before answering Claude's question.
It turned out that the officers knew that the immigrants' admission qualifications and personal property for land exchange had to be registered at Wickhamsburg Castle in Cromwell's Colony. So, they didn't plan to walk there after they disembarked at Tyrrsim Harbour. It was too far and would take at least a month.
So, they found someone to charter a flat-bottomed transport ship. They followed the coastline and landed at the abandoned fishing village near Cromwell's Colony, saving half the time.
The three generals finally understood why they didn't see many immigrants on the road in Lanu.
But where did so many people near Wickhamsburg Castle come from? There were at least two to three hundred thousand people.
When they entered Wickhamsburg Castle, they found that it was even more crowded inside. They finally reached the immigration registration office. The person in charge was on the verge of tears when he saw the three generals. He explained the situation in a hoarse voice. Claude, Bolonik and Skri were all dumbfounded.
"Did … did they move their entire family over?" Claude stared blankly at the registration book in his hand.
He could tolerate the first and second uncles, but what the hell was this first aunt and third uncle? Were they even relatives?
General Skri was still calm and quickly understood what was going on. "This is indeed our oversight. We forgot to remind them that immigration qualifications are only given to immediate family members.
They brought almost all of their family here to avoid trouble. The first and second princes might fight for the throne, and they don't want their family to be forced to serve as cannon fodder.
Secondly, they hope that when Thundercrash and Monolith recruit new soldiers, their relatives will get a chance to enlist. That way, their relatives can have property here as well. "
Originally, the Logistics Department of the Theater of Operations had formulated very detailed regulations, including the immigration qualification and personal property land exchange.
After the registered retired officers arrived at Wickhamshire Castle with their families, they only needed to go through the identity verification process to receive their personal property. They would be given fields or farms, and then they could build houses, tidy up the fields, and start farming with their families.
However, they didn't expect that they would bring so many relatives. During this period of time, the people in the immigration registration office were exhausted. They didn't do anything else but register the identities of these immigrants' aunts and third uncles.
Fortunately, they were all led by retired officers. Even though there was a huge crowd near Wickhamsburg Castle, they were still able to maintain basic order.
But in order to provide food for so many relatives, the food reserves in Wickhamsburg Castle were quickly depleted.
The three generals had no choice but to meet and discuss countermeasures. General Bolonik rushed back to Lanu's command center and mobilized more men and rations from the colonies.
Claude was there to organize Thundercrash and maintain order.
As for General Skri, he immediately took charge of the immigration qualifications and the distribution of personal property. He distributed land to the retired officers and had them bring their relatives with them.
Following that, General Skri decided to set up a recruitment office to recruit the relatives of the immigrants to build irrigation works and open up public fields. He wanted to make use of the people instead of letting them do nothing.
But that caused the war theatre to be short on funds. Using so many people to build public facilities would require a huge amount of funds.
They could still supply food, but the funds could only be used from the military budget.
Fortunately, May came and the annual migration of the bison across the plains of Albatol was about to begin.
Claude sent two light cavalry regiments from Thundercrash to hunt the bison. They were led by Berklin and Moriad. On one hand, they could use beef to replenish their food consumption. On the other hand, they hoped to trade the bison hides for funds for development.
From the middle of the fourth month of Year 591 of the Sacred Light Calendar, the relatives of the officers and soldiers of the two corps arrived at Cromwell and Balingana. That lasted until the end of the third month of Year 592 of the Sacred Light Calendar. It was the largest migration wave in Aueras in the past year.
Close to two million relatives of the officers and soldiers migrated to Nubissia in order to obtain a share of their family's property and escape the civil war in the kingdom.
According to the statistics, on average, a soldier of the Thunderclap Corps or the Monolith Corps had relocated almost 23 of their family members.
That wasn't just the paternal family, but the maternal family as well. It put a huge strain on the war theatre's finances and population.
Disregarding everything else, just the travel allowance alone was enough to make General Skri regret his decision. The theatre would have to spend more than 200,000 crowns on this.
Claude was so busy that he almost lost weight. The more people there were, the more problems there were.
In the end, Claude half invited and half kidnapped Mr. Saljorak, who had been discharged from the army and returned to the countryside, and gave him the position of Chief of Patrol, putting him in charge of the law and order of the two colonies of Cromwell and Balingana. Only then did he feel a little more at ease.
By the end of the tenth month, everything was finally back on track. Only then did Claude have the time to go home. At the same time, he received the latest news from the kingdom.
As expected, the two kings were fighting for the throne and civil war broke out.
Weyblon reported that Prince Wedrick's conditions were ridiculed by the eldest prince, Hansbach. Even though a few elders related to the royal family tried to persuade the eldest prince to respect Stellin X's choice of successor, the eldest prince angrily questioned the authenticity of the will.
As the eldest prince hadn't seen Stellin X's final moments, he was forbidden from entering the royal court. Even the will for Prince Wedrick to inherit the throne popped out of nowhere. He had never heard Stellin X mention anything about a will being passed down.
So, the eldest prince suspected there was a conspiracy behind it all. If Stellin X hadn't chosen him to inherit the throne, he wouldn't have allowed him to handle the affairs of the kingdom on his behalf.
One had to know that Stellin X had been bedridden for more than eight years, and it had been Prince Hansbach who had acted as the acting king. He had handled the kingdom's affairs with Prime Minister Duncan, so much so that the officials of the kingdom treated him as the regent and heir to the throne.
Stellin X died and left a will for the second prince, Wedrick, to inherit the throne.
How was that possible? The second prince had no experience in governance and was a notorious playboy in the royal capital. How could he suddenly surpass the eldest prince and become the successor?
If Stellin X had chosen the second prince, he should have relieved the eldest prince of his duties early on and let him gain some experience in governing instead of letting the eldest prince rule until the end.
This was why the eldest prince doubted the authenticity of the will. He believed he had been framed and that the will had been altered. If he stayed in the royal capital any longer, his life would be in danger.
So, he snuck out of the royal capital with his entourage to the eastern border and seized control of Bluefeather. He was determined to fight for the throne he deserved.
The royal capital was worried that Wedrick's ascension would agitate the eldest prince, so they hoped to persuade him to give up on the throne with generous terms.
Therefore, he could only postpone his coronation time and time again. He wanted to negotiate the conditions with the eldest prince, and he even offered him generous treatment.
However, the eldest prince had already made up his mind and rejected the olive branch offered by the royal capital. He reorganized the army and even instigated the defection of the three southern prefectures and two standing corps in Rimodra.
Wedrick finally ascended to the throne on the 10th of the 8th month as Stellin XI.
When the news reached the eldest prince's ears, he declared himself king on the 18th of the 8th month and declared that Wedrick's ascension to the throne was illegitimate.
Prince Hansbach announced that Prince Wedrick had colluded with the royal court to tamper with the will of Stellin X to take the throne.
As the rightful heir of Aueras, he was going to purge the usurper in the royal capital and restore peace and happiness to the people.
That was all nonsense, but the eldest prince's army advanced at lightning speed. In less than half a month, they reached Elfina Castle in the former Sidins Principality.
One of the standing corps that was stationed there only resisted for about an hour before a mutiny broke out. The soldiers were practically shouting "Long live Prince Hansbach" as they opened the castle gates and joined the ranks of the rebels.
Yes, the rebels. When the eldest prince declared himself king, he was declared a traitor by the royal capital. All the soldiers who followed him became traitors as well.
However, the rebels were now at their peak. The new territories the kingdom had gained in the five years of war in the east were all occupied by the eldest prince's troops.
But when the eldest prince's army attacked Odin Mountains in the 9th month, they were held back by the urgently dispatched Gryphon Corps.
Gryphon Corps was one of the four ace corps of the kingdom and was best at fighting in the mountains.
First prince Hansbach had wanted to have them surrender, but the emissary he'd sent had been executed by the Gryphon Legion in the name of traitor. This had infuriated the first prince, who had led two legions to launch a fierce attack on the Odin Mountain Range.
After half a month of fighting, the eldest prince's side still couldn't gain the upper hand. Both sides suffered heavy losses and Hansbach had no choice but to retreat to Emis with his army and wait for reinforcements.
On the royal capital's side, they began to gather the local garrisons and expand the local second line corps. They also sent the royal guard to Odin Mountains, ready to lock the eldest prince up on the other side.
The battle between the two kings had been going on for almost two months. Both sides had sufficient strength, and it was still unclear who had the upper hand.
In terms of military command, the eldest prince's ability to lead and command was top-notch. He could beat the various commanders in the royal capital.
But the royal capital had more troops and resources than the eldest prince's side. They could afford to fight a war of attrition.
No one could say for sure who would emerge victorious.
But what puzzled the generals was that all the reports and news from the royal capital didn't mention Marshall Micheli. Logically speaking, as a general loyal to the eldest prince, Marshall Micheli should be with the eldest prince.
However, Marshal Michelic's name was not on the list of traitorous officers who followed the Crown Prince that was published in the capital. That was strange.
The last news he had was that he was heavily injured by an assassination attempt two years ago and had left the royal capital to recuperate. It had been two years since then. No matter how serious his injuries were, he should have recovered by now. How could there be no news of him? He was one of the three marshals of the kingdom's army.
Apart from asking Weyblon and the mining association's department in the royal capital to investigate the general's whereabouts and news, there wasn't much else they could do.
They could only watch the kingdom fight in full swing from Nubissia's colonies. Apart from setting up a sand table for a few simulations, there wasn't much else they could do.
Their only worry was what they would do if Marshal Michelić joined the Crown Prince's side. As Marshal Michelić's student, this was a huge problem!