Waiting was a process that made people anxious, but all the insiders had to keep it a secret and not leak a single bit of information.
In this world where the pace of everything was slow, it would take several months to get a result.
Claude attributed it all to the slow flow of information. In his previous world, the entire world was on the internet and any news would be known by the entire world in a matter of hours.
Be it the pace of life or the changes in society, everything in Faslan was abnormally slow.
Even though they were all on Nubissia, it would take a month or two for news from the colonies to reach the colonies.
As for what happened on the Freia Continent, it took more than half a year for the news to reach the west coast and then to the colonies.
The end of the year came in the blink of an eye. Colonel Borkal rushed back to the war theatre and toured the colonies of three countries on the west coast. He finally confirmed that Shiks had leased Cape Loducus to Fochs.
After more than four months of negotiations, Shiks paid five million gold keptons for the five-year lease of Cape Loducus colony in Fochs Islands.
Two gold keptons were exchanged for one crown, so five million gold keptons would be 2.5 million crowns.
The lease would last for five years, which meant that the yearly rent would be 500,000 crowns.
Shiks was so rich that the descendants of the Kramer pirates of Fochs laughed so hard their teeth almost fell out.
To them, Shiks was obviously a rich man. The only valuable part of Cape Loducus was the catch of the bay. It produced some of the rarer and more expensive fishes. Every year, the fishes would be frozen by magi and shipped back to Freia to be sold at exorbitant prices as delicacies at the banquets of the nobility.
Even so, the annual value of the catch didn't exceed a hundred thousand crowns. Coupled with the colony's population of less than twenty thousand, the income it brought to Fochs was less than ten thousand crowns a year.
That was why Fochs was prepared to sell Cape Loducus to Shiks. However, the astronomical price they offered wasn't something Shiks could afford, so they had no choice but to lease it.
"That's news from a patrol fleet of Fochs that arrived on the west coast of Nubissia in late October. A Shiksan purchasing party came along with it.
Their mission is to purchase food and other daily necessities from the colonies next year and the year after. They've already paid a hundred thousand gold keptons as a deposit.
"Currently, a few colonies are considering large-scale farming. It's estimated that the food production of the colonies will double in the next year or two.
"I came into contact with a Shiksan purchasing party called Solum. He heard that I was a smuggler from the colonies and asked me a lot about the war theatre.
"I brushed him off about the military and war theatre, telling him that I didn't pay much attention to those things and only cared about business.
However, he was very interested in the fact that I was able to get a large amount of low alcohol ale from the colonies and gave me an order for thirty thousand barrels of ale. He even gave me a thousand gold keptons as a deposit.
"From that encounter, I realised that there were definitely quite a few Shiksan spies in the war theatre. I noticed that Solum was rather knowledgeable about the war theatre, such as the formation of eighteen new garrison lines, the recruitment of a hundred thousand new soldiers and the sale of three hundred thousand Shiksan muskets to the nikancha nation.
"Ordinary civilians wouldn't be privy to such information, so I suspected that there might be Shiksan spies in the war theatre. Otherwise, the enemy wouldn't know about the exact figures.
"I told him that Wild Bull Merchant has a brewery that buys a large amount of wheat every year to brew ale.
"So, Solum wanted me to provide him with a thousand bushels of wheat and he was willing to pay three times the market price for it.
"I suspected that he was trying to test my identity as a smuggler. The war theatre has always had strict control over the flow of food out of the country, but Wild Bull Merchant was able to perfectly avoid suspicion by purchasing grain to brew ale. Offering three times the market price was enough for countless smugglers to risk their lives to complete the deal.
(Note: Bushels is a unit of weight in Shiks. It's equivalent to a ton, or a thousand catties.
A thousand bushels is a thousand tons.)
However, based on his request, we can deduce that apart from placing orders for the food produced by the colonies in advance, the Shiksan delegation isn't doing so well in purchasing the remaining food from the colonies.
"It's very likely that the colonies need to maintain food demand and social order, so they don't want the prices to rise too high. That's why they refuse to sell their grain in large quantities. That's why Solum has no choice but to pay three times the market price.
"There's also another unconfirmed piece of information that the patrolling fleet of Fochs revealed during a party in the tavern.
"Due to the high rent Shiks paid, Fochs will send two fleets between the two continents to transport supplies or troops to Shiks once a year. That's one of the terms of the lease agreement.
Since the delivery was free of charge, the officers and soldiers of that fleet were very discontented. We couldn't determine whether the news was true or not. Those officers and soldiers were all drunk.
"Lastly, there's another piece of unconfirmed news from Fochs.
"It's said that Prince Wedrick has returned Kafreizit, Lasdonkelen, Botarnia and Woodnesia to Nasri in exchange for a million crowns in compensation and a four million crowns high-interest loan.
"Gryphon has given up on Odin Mountain Range and moved to the three southwestern prefectures. They're currently attacking Whitestag, which is occupied by Prince Hansbach. There's no word on the progress of the battle yet."
That was the report Colonel Borkal gathered from the colonies on the west coast. He confirmed that Shiks was determined to continue the colonial war. Renting Cape Loducus to gather troops was a fact.
After this New Year's Eve, the war theatre would once again face the threat of war after welcoming the new year.
The outcome of this battle would determine the survival of the entire war zone.
The atmosphere in the meeting room was heavy. When news of the impending war became a reality, all the high-ranking officers who had the right to sit in the meeting room felt a heavy sense of pressure.
For some reason, Claude thought of a poem from his past life. The scene before him perfectly described the mood of the poem.
Just as he was about to cough and say something to boost everyone's morale, Bolonik forced a smile and nodded at Borkal.
Bolonik forced a smile and nodded at Borkal. "Colonel Borkal, you've done well. Thank you for your hard work, running back and forth.
With the information you've collected, our theater of operations can make targeted preparations for this war.
I believe that the final victor will be us. It's simple. The Shiksans have always been defeated by us, and this time will be no exception! "
"General Bolonik is right. The Shiksans have never been our match."
Eiblont slammed his fist on the table. "Even though they claim to have ten standing corps and six hundred thousand soldiers, I think they're nothing more than a motley crew.
Regardless of whether it was in terms of elite and well-trained troops, advanced weaponry, or advanced tactics, our troops were far superior to theirs.
Perhaps we're going to write a legendary chapter in the history of war. The ten standing corps of Shiks will be the cornerstone of our rise to godhood. "
Birkin clapped his hands and attracted the attention of all the high-ranking officers in the meeting room. "Actually, there's nothing to be afraid of about the upcoming war. I'm sure you've all seen General Claude's analysis of Shiks' operation. The information Colonel Borkal gathered also confirms General Claude's foresight.
Shiks definitely won't be able to gather ten standing corps in Cape Loducus all at once. Rations will be the biggest problem limiting their ability to fight.
Even if Shiks sent out purchasing teams to the western colonies to book the next year's harvest, they'll still have a certain amount of rations stored.
But as long as they attack, we can use the nikancha's mountainous regions to lure them in and play hide-and-seek with them, delaying their progress and draining their rations.
By then, the Shiksans will have no choice but to surrender after being cut off from their rations and supplies. "
"We hope to keep the six hundred thousand Shiksan troops out of the theatre to prevent the flames of war from spreading to the colonies and affecting the economic development of the colonies.
"So, we'll set the battlefield in the nikancha's mountainous regions. We'll make use of the good terrain and forests to deal with the Shiksans and drag them to their deaths in the mountains.
"If we can't wipe out the enemy's forces, we'll have to exhaust their limited rations and trap them in the mountains.
"All units in the theatre, be they from the two corps or the local garrisons, will be undergoing mountain combat training in the coming year.
"Command has come up with a training plan for that. All units are to train strictly according to the plan. No sloppiness or half-heartedness is allowed.
The war zone command center would send out inspectors to conduct on-site inspections and assessment of the training conditions of each unit. All personnel who failed to meet the standards in mountain combat training, whether they were officers or soldiers, might face the fate of forced retirement.
"Please don't forget that the war we're about to face concerns the survival of the entire theatre. None of our soldiers are to slack off.
"Just like General Claude's slogan," The more you sweat during training, the less you bleed during the war, the more you'll bleed during the war, the more you'll have to follow the training plan to achieve your goals.
Any soldier who doesn't pass the test will be kicked out of the unit, regardless of whether they've contributed to the war theatre in the past or not. We can't tolerate such incompetent soldiers dragging down the entire unit in future battles against the Shiksans! "
Skri ended his speech and all the officers turned to look at Claude. Of the five heads of the theatre, Claude was the only one who didn't speak.
Claude was dumbfounded. He wondered what he should say. The four of them had already said everything. Some encouraged everyone not to be afraid, some boosted morale and encouraged everyone to fight for victory, some compared the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, and some lectured everyone to be serious about training. What do you want me to say?
"Ahem, ahem." Claude coughed twice and leaned back on the sofa to give everyone a relaxed impression. Then, he slowly said, "The Shiksans are finally here. As a soldier, I'm very happy because we have a clear enemy again.
"Truth be told, I've been doubting whether I'm even a soldier for the past two years.
I'm a lieutenant-general of the kingdom, so why am I always busy with these boring administrative matters?
He was either dealing with the settlement of the kingdom's immigrants, planning the construction of roads and transportation in the towns, or in charge of herding the nikancha people onto the ships and migrating them to the nikancha nation. That way, they wouldn't be an eyesore in the colonies.
"Sometimes, I wonder if I shouldn't be wearing this uniform. I'm actually quite suited to be an administrator.
If it wasn't for Thundercrash recruiting new recruits for training, I really would've forgotten that I'm a soldier.
"I'm really grateful to the Shiksans for that, especially Majid III. He never disappoints us and insisted on sending his nation's youths over to help us with the construction of public infrastructure. It's all free of charge too. All we have to do is fill their stomachs and keep them warm.
"They're really too polite. We don't even have to take care of the food and clothing. They're the ones who transport it all from the distant continent of Freia.
"The way I see it, the six hundred thousand Shiksan soldiers are basically free labor for us.
All we need to do is make them put down their weapons and enter the prison camp obediently.
"I'm sure that with the help of so many free laborers, the economy of the theatre will improve quickly.
"The only thing we have to remember is that before we make them put down their weapons, we have to make them understand that it's their greatest tragedy to become our enemy!
This time, we'll fight in the mountains of nikancha country. We'll make sure the Shiksans remember that renting Cape Loducus to gather their forces means they're fighting the wrong war in the wrong place.
"I won't say much about the outcome of the war, but there's no doubt about it. This war will put an end to Shiks' ambitions and delusions towards the colonies. From then on, Nubissia will forever be a sore spot for the Shiksans.
"We've already made arrangements to work with the nikancha nation. I'm sure they'll come asking for our help in two to three months.
"Truth be told, if the nikancha aren't willing to work with us, that's fine.
"When the nikancha can't withstand the Shiksans' attacks and are forced to retreat, we can still launch a surprise attack and take over the mountains.
"Of course, that'll be a little troublesome, but they'll belong to us after the war.
The Shiksans resembled a snowfield elephant with a large build.
"If they had gathered so many troops on the plains, I might have had a headache. The difference in numbers is obvious.
"But in the mountains, elephants can't fight mountain monkeys. The terrain limits their abilities and they can only use fifty to sixty percent of their strength.
"The training plan General Skri mentioned is to turn us into mountain monkeys and make the terrain our helpers.
"I've said so much to let everyone know that we're very lucky to have merit to farm again.
"As a soldier, it's both fortunate and unfortunate that we don't have to fight.
"The fortunate thing is that he doesn't have to go to war and risk his life.
"The unfortunate thing is that he's never experienced war and can never prove that he's a true soldier.
"Now that the Shiksans are forcing war on our theatre, there's only one thing we can do: destroy them!"
As soon as Claude finished speaking, the entire conference room erupted in thunderous applause …