Year 594 of the Sacred Light Calendar: Between the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th month, as the transport ships left Cape Loducus to return to their respective ports, the western colonies learned that the four remaining standing corps of Shiks had been wiped out along with the loss of an Alliance fleet.
What was more interesting was that even Cape Loducus was taken over by the theatre, claiming that they were there to fulfill the five-year lease agreement on behalf of Shiks.
Shiks became the laughing stock of the western colonies once more. Two years ago, Shiks announced that they would form ten standing corps and offered Fochs a concession to Cape Loducus, swearing to fight the war to the end against the Aueran colonies.
At that time, everyone believed that Shiks would be the victors of the war. The reason was simple. The two Aueran monarchs were fighting for the throne and were in a state of civil war. How could they have the time to think about the war between the colonies and Shiks?
Be it in terms of military strength or logistical support, the wealthy Shiks had a clear advantage.
Some nosy people even set up bets on when the war would end and how many colonies the theatre would lose.
Then, something unexpected happened. The five standing corps of Shiks that attacked the first time were dealt a heavy blow and three and a half corps were wiped out in the war theatre.
The result of this battle shocked many people, and they gained a new understanding of the combat power of the two corps in the war zone.
However, after Shiks sent the rest of their corps to Cape Loducus, most people still believed that Shiks would emerge victorious.
Not to mention, Shiks had deployed seven corps of 400,000 men to Cape Loducus. That number was enough to wipe out some of the smaller kingdoms and duchies on Freia.
The theatre, on the other hand, didn't receive any support from the kingdom, so it would be difficult for them to defend against the Shiksans' second attack.
News of the war continued to be relayed back to the western colonies by the ship owners and sailors who helped transport the Shiksan soldiers to the fishing town. Many newspapers and experts believed that the theatre had suffered great losses due to the Shiksans' ingenious tactics and that they could only admit defeat in the end.
Back then, the Shiksans had sent three standing corps of a hundred thousand soldiers to attack Lanu, the administrative centre of the war theatre. The defending force was only 13,000 or so, which was more than ten times the number of soldiers. Everyone believed that Lanu could be conquered with a flick of a finger.
In the end, the Shiksans suffered around 60,000 casualties and fought for nearly a month without taking Lanu. Almost everyone who paid attention to the war found it unbelievable.
Then, Thundercrash came to reinforce them from afar. The biggest mistake the Shiksans made was not taking Dorinibla River in advance to cut off the theatre's reinforcements.
When Thundercrash crossed Dorinibla River and appeared outside Lanu, the Shiksans had no choice but to go on the defensive and give up the initiative on the battlefield.
When the fishing town was razed to the ground by Thundercrash and the pontoon bridge was destroyed, the three Shiksan corps that landed had lost their path of retreat.
The Shiksans who were besieged by Thundercrash made the mistake of retreating to Mormaly, putting an end to the three standing corps that had landed in the war theatre and besieged Lanu.
Under Thundercrash's relentless harassment and attacks, the retreating Shiksans eventually collapsed from exhaustion. Most of them became captives. Even the high-ranking officers of the three corps that ran to Mormaly's coastal town, Popia, couldn't get past Thundercrash's blockade when they saw the Shiksan warships in the distance. In the end, they raised the white flag and surrendered.
This landing battle proved the strength of the two legions in the war zone, but at the same time, both sides suffered heavy losses.
The Shiksans lost three more standing corps. As for the war zone, Lanu was reduced to rubble due to the fact that the war happened within their borders. There were many casualties and property losses.
When the newspapers of the western coast published a report on the battle, they all agreed that the two corps in the theatre were comparable to five to six Shiksan corps. That was proven by Thundercrash's performance in Lanu and their subsequent attack on the retreating Shiksans.
However, most of the newspapers believed that both sides would be at peace for at least half a year.
The Shiksans would need reinforcements from the mainland, while the theatre would need to recover from the wounds of war.
Shiks still had four standing corps stationed in Cape Loducus, which numbered around 260,000 to 270,000 men. While that number wasn't enough to attack, it was more than enough to defend.
In particular, they had set up perfect defensive camps at the border of the northern and eastern mountains. Together with the defensive line at Fombix Hill behind them, they had set up layers upon layers of defense. They could prevent the troops from the war zone from ambushing the main logistics base in the rear again. There was nothing to worry about.
Apart from that, the theatre's territorial waters were under the control of Seaking and the Alliance. The theatre had to guard against another Shiksans landing somewhere in the theatre. Since the coast of the theatre was long, they had to divide their forces to defend it. That way, they wouldn't be able to concentrate their forces on the Shiksans.
The newspapers of the colonies on the West Coast, therefore, were of the opinion that the colonial war would go on until one of the two sides could no longer hold out.
They didn't think that less than three months after the Shiksans landed, the theatre would launch a surprise attack. Using the trade between Wild Bull and the Shiksan logistics officer, they hid among the transport fleets and hid from the Shiksans' patrolling warships. They arrived at Cape Loducus and ambushed the Shiksans' logistics base, capturing the Alliance's warships and transport ships along the way.
Right after that, Thundercrash's 1st Folk attacked the Shiksans' defensive line at Fenbix Ridge and wiped out 3rd Expedition. Then, they split up to attack 4th Expedition's camp at the northern border and joined up with 2nd Folk to launch a pincer attack, wiping out 4th Expedition.
In the end, Thundercrash ambushed Shiksan 2nd Expedition and 1st Retribution at the border of the eastern mountains. With the cooperation of Monolith 2nd Folk, they forced 1st Retribution and 2nd Expedition to surrender after ten days of intense battle and wiped out all the Shiksan troops stationed at Cape Loducus in one fell swoop, as well as the Alliance fleet.
It was an undeniable victory. It could even be said that the war with Shiks that had lasted for seven years had ended. The colonies were the final victors.
That shocked the jaws of all the pundits on the west coast. Thinking back to the ten mighty standing corps of Shiks and how they were reduced to dust now, they couldn't help but feel that the world was far too unpredictable.
Pioneer Tribune, the most widely circulated newspaper on the west coast, commented that if Shiks wanted to continue the colonial war, they would have to form more than ten standing corps and build another Alliance fleet.
At the same time, they had to wait for the five-year lease of the Cape Loducus Colony to expire. After the troops from the colony were withdrawn, they would negotiate with the Fokes Islands United Kingdom to lease the Cape Loducus Colony for a second time. Only then could they continue the colonial war.
Any king with a normal brain would not invest countless money into a colonial war where there was no hope of victory ….
The funniest part was that Seaking's fleet arrived on Nubissia at the end of the 4th month with a newly formed standing corps. When they stopped at a port on the west coast to resupply, they received news that Cape Loducus had fallen into the hands of the war theatre. Four standing corps were wiped out and the Alliance captured. Seaking's commander didn't know what to do after that.
If they continued north, Seaking's fleet wouldn't be in a position to start a naval battle. But if they didn't head north, none of the ports on the west coast would welcome Seaking's fleet.
Seaking alone wouldn't be a problem, but they would have to reject the offer of a standing corps.
Nobody knew if the Shiksans would suddenly launch a land attack and take over their colony.
So, every port Seaking's fleet arrived at would draw the attention of the port guards. They couldn't even dock their supplies and had to use transport ships to trade at double the price.
After half a month of wandering in the west coast, Seaking's fleet couldn't hold out any longer. There was nowhere to dock.
If they stayed any longer, they would have to sell their ships to replenish their supplies. In the end, Seaking could only use up all the money in their pockets to replenish their supplies before embarking on their return journey. They had to bring the unfortunate news back to the kingdom.
By then, Claude had been in Cape Loducus for three months. The war only took a little more than half a month and twenty days to end, but it took more than two months to clean up the mess.
He had just finished negotiating with the officials in Cape Loducus and reiterated that the troops would only leave Cape Loducus after the five-year lease agreement between Shiks and Fochs expired.
That was because the theatre had won against Shiks, so everything Shiks left in Cape Loducus would become spoils of war for the theatre. The lease agreement was no exception.
Cape Loducus would be occupied by the theatre's forces until the lease expired. Only then would the colony be returned to Fochs.
Strictly speaking, the theatre's forces weren't welcomed by the citizens and officials of Cape Loducus.
Compared to the Shiksans, the theatre's forces were extremely stingy. Be it Thundercrash or Monolith, they wouldn't indulge in debauchery in the city.
Even the brothel tents set up by the citizens near the main camp were rarely visited by the soldiers. Additionally, they were more calculative than the Shiksans and didn't spend extravagantly.
For the officials of Cape Loducus, the war theatre's supplies were supplied by the theatre and wouldn't be purchased from the city. As a result, the officials in the city didn't have a way to earn extra income.
Coupled with the supplies and rations they seized from the main camp, it was enough to last the garrison for a year and a half.
Even the price of the Shiksan firearms and cannons the officials wanted to purchase increased by half.
While it was a 50% discount last time, it was sold at the original price this time. The only difference was the transportation costs.
By the time the officials of Cape Loducus gritted their teeth and bought all the Shiksan equipment, they came to ask when the war theatre troops would be leaving, only to hear a grievous piece of news from Claude. The war theatre troops weren't planning to leave and would be staying until the end of their lease.
That was a bolt out of the blue for the officials in the city. If the war theatre's troops don't leave, when will the Shiksans come? If they don't come, who are we going to sell the equipment to at a high price?
Claude consoled them by saying that if the Shiksans don't come, they could sell the equipment to the western colonies or the garrisons there.
After all, they were Shiksan's current military equipment, so there was still a 20% to 30% profit margin.
In May, news came from the western coast that Seaking's fleet had been roaming the western colonies for half a month with a standing corps and supplies. After being unable to find a port to dock at, they had no choice but to return home.
Claude breathed a sigh of relief. Cape Loducus would be under the theatre's jurisdiction for the next two years.
At this time, the mountainous area adjacent to the Cape Loducus Colony, which was ceded by the Nikancha Nation, including the northern and eastern mountains, had already been named the Loki Mountain Colony by the theater command, becoming the ninth overseas colony of the theater.
While the colony was mountainous, it was rich in mineral resources. There were seventeen mid-sized and small-sized gold and silver mines alone. The other minerals hadn't been explored yet.
The 230,000 Shiksan captives from Cape Loducus were escorted into the colony by four garrisons. They were to take on the task of building roads and fortresses in the mountainous region. The construction would take them three to four years to complete.
Claude also promised them on behalf of the theatre that they would be fed and clothed, that they would be treated by herbalists when they fell ill, that they would be given a small salary every month, and that they would be rewarded if they did well.
In short, the 230,000 Shiksan prisoners were guaranteed to be treated as normal labourers, not prisoners serving hard labour.
That was also the condition for 1st Corps to lay down their weapons and surrender. Birkin agreed to it.
In truth, the theatre had been harmed badly by the kingdom's new merchant nobles.
Back then, Michelc agreed to their request and handed over 300,000 Shiksan captives to them in exchange for 100,000 families of retired soldiers.
In the end, the three hundred thousand Shiksan captives were mistreated by the new merchant nobles. After they were reformed into corps, they became the bravest and most fearless foes in the war theatre. The two corps suffered great losses because of that.
This time, General Birkin would lead the Second Monolith Division to guard the Cape Loducus colony, and at the same time, General Birkin would also be responsible for the construction of the Loki Mountains.
Claude's Thundercrash 1st Folk would be stationed at Castle Monknad in Port Vebator to monitor the nikancha nation's movements and the safety of Port Vebator.
Eiblont would lead Thundercrash 2nd Folk back to Lanu to act as the theatre's mobile force.
Claude selected some of the more obedient marines from the captive camp and set sail from Cape Loducus under the watchful eyes of Thundercrash. They first arrived at Port Vebator before heading to Port Patres in Robisto.
In the next two to three years, the theatre would build its own fleet.
However, when Claude arrived at Port Vebator, he received an eagle message from theatre command that Colonel Borkal had finally returned.