Almost half of their force was lost. However, the fact that they were able to withstand the Shiksans' counterattack and emerge victorious showed that they had the qualifications to grow into a powerful corps. The losses they suffered would be recorded in the history of the corps and the legacy of their iron-blooded military spirit.
Claude talked about the difference between the use of projectiles for offense and defense, as well as the issue of ammunition for the new rifles. He only briefly mentioned the appearance of sniper rifles and landmines. Those two new weapons weren't truly proven in the war, mainly because they were too few in number and weren't widely used.
Claude mostly talked about the chaotic battle and the process of the bloody battle, which he witnessed with his own eyes.
He even cursed Bolonik for being a miser in front of everyone in the conference. Bolonik didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he couldn't hold it against Claude.
Everything Claude said was the truth. Bolonik could understand the sorrow he felt at the loss of his men, especially when he found out that the losses could have been avoided in the first place.
Claude said that if the theatre had provided all the officers of both corps with a revolver, Thundercrash would have suffered at least a few thousand casualties during the battle royale.
The sacrifice of so many outstanding officers made Claude's heart ache. If they had a revolver, many of them wouldn't have had to be sacrificed.
However, Bolonik had only offered five gold crowns for a revolver before the war, which was not even enough to cover the cost of production. They would have to pay at least ten gold crowns to cover the cost, so the theatre cancelled the order for the revolver.
Compared to the twenty to thirty thousand casualties and the compensation the theatre had to pay, was it really that difficult to increase the cost by fifty thousand crowns?
That was why Claude slammed the table and cursed Bolonik for being stingy. Bolonik didn't know what to say.
It wasn't that Bolonik was stingy, but that he didn't realize how important a revolver could be in close combat.
He thought that with the new rifle, he would be able to eliminate the enemy from a long distance, so the close-range revolver would become a dispensable decoration.
Given the tight budget of the theatre and the fact that he didn't realise the huge profits he could get from clearing out the Shiksan colonies, he cancelled the order for the revolver.
Claude went on to talk about the performance of the various units of Thundercrash. He agreed with Birkin that they should recruit a batch of veterans to serve as the backbone of the base and help the new recruits grow.
On the battlefield, the existence of veterans would allow the new recruits to perform better, and they would learn more combat experience from the veterans.
After Claude's speech, Bolonik said a few more words. He told the officers to do their jobs well and complete the mission assigned to them before the meeting was adjourned.
However, Claude and the others couldn't leave just yet. Next up was the meeting of the five titans to discuss the aftermath of the colonial war.
From a certain perspective, the real purpose of the meeting was to discuss the continuation of the alliance between the nikancha nation and the theatre against the Shiksans.
At the start of the meeting, Claude, Eiblont and Birkin all expressed in unison that there was no way they could continue working together.
Birkin complained bitterly that he spent more energy on the nikancha than the Shiksans during the Shiksan attack. He even had to be wary of the nikancha causing trouble for him.
Disobeying orders and violating military discipline were no longer a small matter worth mentioning. The most important thing was that the nikancha had always been eyeing the troops equipped with the new rifles. This was the most intolerable thing for General Chiklin …
Eiblont still held a grudge against the nikancha camp stationed in the mountains to the north, especially the fact that they refused to participate in the attack on the Shiksan camp.
He also believed that working with the nikancha wouldn't benefit the theatre at all. Instead, it would drag them down and cause them to suffer even more losses in the upcoming war, especially when it came to logistics.
Claude, on the other hand, was infuriated by the nikancha's insolence. He felt that he had always been kind to them. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent his troops to help them clear out the Shiksan colonies and even split a third of the spoils with the nikancha who were just watching from the sidelines.
After the war, that third was worth more than four million crowns. Skri was so furious when he heard about it that he cursed Claude for being a wastrel.
However, the theatre's goodwill didn't earn the nikancha's wholehearted help during the war. At first, they mobilized a hundred thousand nikancha youths to assist the theatre in clearing out the wilderness purely because they were under immense pressure from the Shiksan invasion.
Their poor performance at the start of the war aside, when a hero volunteered to die to boost morale, they reverted to their old ways and started throwing tantrums again.
Ignoring the fact that they disobeyed orders and acted on their own, they were the ones who suffered losses anyway.
Logistical supplies were transported inexplicably. So many of them had fallen off the cliff for no reason. They could have turned a blind eye to it.
But when they set their sights on the rifles of the two corps, they crossed the line. The nikancha had crossed the line.
What infuriated Claude the most was the fact that the nikancha camp at the frontlines actually forced him to hand over the Shiksan iron pumpkins and throwers he had captured to them after he brought Thundercrash back to the northern mountains to rest.
After Claude rejected their demands time and time again, the nikancha gave up on their stronghold in the mountains and left without saying a word, thinking that they could force Claude to submit. Where did they get that confidence from?
Claude was truly infuriated by the arrogant nikancha and ordered Thundercrash to occupy the entire northern mountains. Be it at the front or the rear, they wouldn't let a single nikancha in.
Since they gave up on their own, don't blame us for taking it without permission.
Claude's orders were clear. From the day the nikancha retreated without a word, the entire northern mountainous region belonged to the war theatre.
General Birkin believed that it would be easier for the nikancha to become the enemy of the theater than to become its ally.
If they became enemies, only a garrison line would be needed to keep an eye on the nikancha. If they became allies, they would have to consider sending a few lines to protect the nikancha.
Otherwise, the moment they crumbled on the battlefield, it would affect the defense of the entire frontline.
General Eiblont hated the nikancha who disobeyed orders. He believed that if they were allies in the colonies, the nikancha must learn to obey orders.
They didn't have to fight bravely, but at the very least, they had to be qualified cannon fodder.
If they couldn't even be qualified cannon fodder, the theatre wouldn't need such an ally.
Claude's intentions were simple. Regardless of whether the theatre would continue to work with the nikancha or become enemies with them, Thundercrash's northern mountainous region was not to be returned to the nikancha. That region was already part of the theatre's territory and no longer belonged to the nikancha.
Bolonik smiled bitterly. He believed that even if they were to fall out with the nikancha, they should at least wait until the colonial war was over. How could they end their alliance halfway through the war?
It would take at least half a year for the Shiksans to launch another attack. He planned to wait for Borkal to return from Cape Loducus before sending him as a special envoy to the nikancha to see what was going on. For now, he had to shelve that topic for now.
Skri was the most conflicted of the five. He agreed with Claude and the other two, but he didn't want to give up on his alliance with the nikancha.
After all, it wasn't easy for the theatre to catch a sucker. In the half a year since the start of the war, a third of the armaments produced by the theatre were sold to the nikancha nation at a high price.
All the Shiksan weapons they got from Shiks were sold to them at double the price. The theatre earned nearly two million crowns from the nikancha alone.
Nikancha like them were huge customers and the theatre should be worshipping them. Claude, the prodigal son, even gave the nikancha a third of the spoils of war when he helped them clear out the Shiksan colonies.
At first, Bolonik and Skri didn't care much about it. They thought the so-called spoils of war were nothing more than mining tools and it didn't matter if they were given to the nikancha.
Who would've thought that the Shiksan mining base would amass 1,700 crowns worth of gold and silver ingots in just two years? When Bolonik and Skri heard that, they finally understood where Shiks got their financial resources from and why they were able to form ten standing corps to continue the colonial war after suffering three crushing defeats.
But soon, they began to stomp their feet in regret. It was all because of Claude's promise of a third of the spoils of war.
Fortunately, General Skri took advantage of the fact that the Nikancha people didn't understand mathematics and ordered the gold and silver ingots to be divided into two piles. One pile was worth 13 million crowns, while the other was worth 4 million crowns.
He then pointed at the four million crowns and told the nikancha, "This is your third of the spoils."
The nikancha did some calculations and found that 30% of the 13 million crowns was 3.9 million crowns. That meant the theatre had given them an extra 100 thousand crowns worth of gold and silver ingots. So, they happily took the four million crowns worth of gold and silver ingots away, thinking that Skri was a righteous man who wouldn't care about such a small interest.
So, Skri didn't object to falling out with the nikancha, but he had to wait until the theatre got their hands on the four million crowns worth of gold and silver ingots first.
During this time, General Skri had been organizing the logistics department to sell all kinds of daily necessities to the Nikancha. Half of the orders he had placed with the production workshops in the colonies were for the Nikancha.
In the end, Bolonik put the matter aside and decided to wait until after the new year's eve to see if the nikancha would give him an explanation.
The next decision was to take over the defense, which was quickly made. The theatre would transfer six local garrison regiments from each colony to the northern and eastern mountainous areas to take over the frontlines and the three defensive lines.
With the local garrison formed by these six veterans taking over, the troops of Thundercrash and Monolith Corps in the mountains at the frontlines could retreat to rest and replenish their forces.
At the very least, it would be more reassuring than having the nikancha stationed there. When Thundercrash and Monolith returned in half a year's time, the six local lines would assist the two corps in fending off the Shiksans.
The third issue was revolvers. Bolonik humbly accepted Claude's criticism and decided to equip all the officers in the theatre with a revolver at the cost of ten crowns and thirty rounds of ammunition.
However, after some thought, he decided to decline the order and let Blackstone take it.
Claude explained that Blackstone was currently focusing on the production of new rifles and didn't have the time or energy to build another production line for revolvers.
Claude wanted to establish a new military industry to produce grenades and revolvers for the theatre.
It just so happened that the grenade production and development needed to be revamped, so Claude decided to separate Weyblon's workshop and build a new production line for revolvers.
Of course, everyone was welcome to invest in that industry.
There was nothing better than a community of shared interests to maintain a close relationship. Claude's suggestion made everyone happy.
So, the four generals each contributed ten thousand crowns, each occupying ten percent of the military industry that was about to be established.
As Claude was the inventor of the grenade and revolver, he also contributed ten thousand crowns for thirty percent of the shares.
The remaining thirty percent was to be given to Weyblon, who was in charge of production. Of course, he would have to fork out a hundred thousand crowns for that ten percent.
The remaining twenty percent was reserved for future use as a reward for the inventor of the new weapon.
Bolonik was worried that the new industry would lack funds, so he used the theatre's name to provide Claude with an interest-free loan of five hundred thousand crowns from the Minsheng Bank.
At the same time, when the contract was signed, the order for the revolvers had increased to twenty thousand and the price had unknowingly dropped to eighteen crowns per revolver.
After everything was settled, everyone continued their discussion. The topic of discussion was Borkal's suggestion on whether they should smuggle a batch of food to the Cape Loducus colony for sale.
The price of food there had already increased tenfold. Selling a batch of food would bring them a huge profit that was even more profitable than robbery.
Eiblon and Beechlin were adamantly against it, believing it to be an act of funding the enemy.
At the same time, they also believed that if they sold the food to the enemy, the Shiksans might launch a surprise attack when they recovered and reorganized. If that happened, the theatre might end up shooting themselves in the foot and it would be too late for regrets.
Skri believed that they should sell the food, but the theatre wouldn't be able to provide a lot of food, so it shouldn't be a problem to smuggle a small amount.
He believed that selling the food would not only bring profit to the theatre, but it would also allow the Wild Bull Company to gain the trust of the Shiksans and gather more information.
Bolonik was caught in a dilemma and felt that everyone's arguments made sense.
In the end, he asked Claude whether they should sell the food to Cape Loducus or not.
Claude gave it some thought and said, "Colonel Fodelus mentioned that Cape Loducus is currently facing a food shortage. The Shiksans have already gone to various colonies in the western continent to purchase food. However, it would take time for them to purchase and transport it back. It would probably take a month for them to send the food back.
"During that month, be it the residents of Cape Loducus or the Shiksans, they can only rely on ale and seafood to fill their stomachs.
"Since the Shiksans won't starve to death for a month, we'll sell them a month's worth of food. Including the Shiksans, there are a hundred thousand people in Cape Loducus. Three catties of food per person per day would amount to three hundred thousand catties. That's ten million catties of food per month at most. I don't believe the Shiksans will be able to recover with that amount. Even if they save up, they won't be able to save even half of it. How would they have the courage to attack us when they're half-full?
"So, it was decided that Wild Bull would sell the ten million catties of food to Cape Loducus under the guise of smuggling.
General Skri was very happy. With ten times the price, the theatre could earn forty thousand crowns. Forty thousand crowns might not seem like much, but to the theatre, it was quite beneficial. It was a pity that this was the only time they could sell it for such a high price …
Following that, the five generals discussed and decided on the amount of compensation and disability compensation. Then, they came across a difficult problem. That was, how to resolve the promotion of the soldiers who had rendered meritorious service in this war.
In the past, the names of the soldiers who contributed to the war would be submitted to the ministry of the army for approval after the war ended. The ministry would verify the names before issuing them.
Rewards weren't much of a problem. The theatre had its own finances and could give out rewards directly. At the same time, the money earned from selling spoils of war would also be distributed to the soldiers.
In the previous three wars, the ministry of the army would also give out a sum of money as a reward when the promotion list was issued. So, many veterans who didn't have much money could only look forward to fighting. Once they won, money would naturally come.
But now that the war theatre and the kingdom's mainland had been cut off by sea, the war theatre didn't know how the civil war was progressing. They didn't know which of the two princes would have the last laugh.
Under such circumstances, the promotion list couldn't be submitted to the ministry of the army. So, what would happen to the soldiers who contributed to the war? Would they be promoted?
For Claude and the other generals, it didn't matter whether they were promoted or not. But for the lower-ranking officers, promotion was related to their futures.
If they were only rewarded and not promoted, it was likely to dampen the morale of the troops, but if the theater of operations decided to promote them, it would be somewhat beyond their authority. General Bolonik, General Screed, and General Birkin were all hesitating.
In the end, Claude made the final decision. Promotions from non-commissioned officers to lieutenant-colonels would be based on merit.
Colonels with merit would be remembered first. After all, promotion from lieutenant-colonel to lieutenant-colonel wasn't something the theatre could decide. It had to be approved by the ministry of the army and the king.
Everything else would be handled according to the normal promotion process. At most, they would just have to go through the reporting process after contacting the kingdom.
During the war, winning the war was the priority. Everything else could be ignored for the time being.
After much consideration, the other four generals finally agreed to do as Claude suggested.