It had been a long time since the zone received any news from the kingdom's newly conquered territories. It was said that Hansbach was assassinated a year ago after leaving the kingdom's mainland and returning to the newly conquered territories. The lands were then divided and occupied by the four corps under the first prince.
Bluefeather occupied most of the former Rimodra Duchy's territory, while the other three corps occupied the remaining territories of the three duchies. It was a de facto state of separation.
The Pioneer Tribune, the most famous newspaper in the western colonies, had once published an article on the matter. The gist of it was that the four corps would fight each other until a final victor emerged. Then, the newly conquered territory of Aueras would become an independent nation.
Of course, this was on the premise that the four armies had not been disturbed by external factors during the chaotic battle, and in reality, this was impossible.
Compared to the kingdom's mainland, the newly conquered territories were surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Hansbach was able to keep things under control when he was still around, but after his assassination, the four corps commanders couldn't accept each other and couldn't choose a suitable successor in a short period of time.
If it wasn't for the harsh environment and the hostile neighbors of Nasri and Canas, forcing the four corps to huddle together, they would've fought each other a long time ago.
Back then, the duchies of Sidins, Rimodra, and Askilin were wiped out five years later. Their territories were taken over by Aueras.
The five-year war in the east ended in a lose-lose situation for both sides. There was no true victor, and it became a hidden danger for the two kings of Aueras to fight for the throne.
Of the three destroyed duchies, except for Grand Duke Askilin who surrendered, Grand Duke Siddings and Grand Duke Rimodra both fled as soon as they saw that the situation was not good.
They took their belongings and fled to Nasri with their families. Their desire to reclaim their country was strong and they often secretly supported the resistance forces in their former duchies to cause trouble for the new occupiers.
However, the Nasri and Canas dukedom had also suffered heavy losses in the five year war and couldn't provide much help to the two dukes.
Even though Aueras was reduced to ruins by a civil war between two princes over the throne, Nasri and Canas chose to sit on the sidelines and watch from the sidelines. They had no intention of interfering.
Aueras' mortal enemy, Nasri, was very satisfied with the current situation. They were the fishermen who reaped the benefits. They didn't even need to go to war to get what they wanted.
The wastrel king, Stellin XI, returned the four prefectures that Aueras had seized from Nasri over the past sixty years, ending the territorial war between the two kingdoms.
At the same time, he borrowed three huge sums of money from Nasri to deal with the kingdom's civil war. The three loans added up to 5.6 million crowns, but only 4.8 million crowns were paid out. The loans were spread over three and five years, and after five years, he would have to repay 8 million crowns.
It could be said that Stellin XI borrowed a large sum from Nasri to pay for his military expenses. If he couldn't pay it back when it was due, the interest would increase exponentially, unless he continued borrowing from Nasri and borrowed new money to pay off the old.
Given Stellin XI's personality, he would definitely do that. When the loan reached 20 million crowns, it would mean that the entire economy of Aueras would be in Nasri's hands.
Unlike Nasri, who used high interest rates to suppress and control the economy of their archenemy, Canas was powerless to do so.
Back then, Canas rented a volunteer corps to Shiks. Although it was said to be formed of retired soldiers, it was actually the most elite light cavalry corps in Canas.
Their annihilation at the hands of Thundercrash was a huge blow to Canas.
Back then, Canas only had two light cavalry corps and rented one to Shiks because they had no other choice.
Before the war, the four duchies could complement each other economically. But after the war, Canas was left alone and the market for its beef and mutton was no longer there. The poor economy of the duchy couldn't sustain two elite light cavalry corps.
However, they didn't think that the light cavalry corps would be wiped out in the colonial war on Nubissia.
Even though Shiks paid some compensation, it wasn't enough to make up for Canas' loss in terms of military strength.
So, Canas could only watch on obediently from the sidelines. It wasn't that they didn't want to help Sidins and Rimodra recover, but they didn't have the confidence to get involved in the chaos.
Prince Hansbach was a famed general, and his legions had always been strong. Even if the prince had been assassinated, the four legions under his command would not have disappeared because of it.
Not to mention, the first prince's subordinates were like rabid dogs after failing to catch the assassin. Canas wouldn't go looking for trouble at such a crucial time.
So, even though they wanted to help the two duchies recover, they had no choice but to hold back for the time being and allow the newly conquered lands to enjoy a year of peace.
There were two big jokes on Freia at the moment. One was Majid III of Shiks. The colonial war he started nearly used up the entire national treasury of Shiks over the past two decades. Apart from that, they also lost more than a dozen standing corps and nearly a million soldiers. In the end, they didn't get anything out of it and ended up being a huge embarrassment.
At the same time, the colonial war in the southern part of Nubissia burst Shiks' bubble as the hegemon of northern Freia. The Shiksan army was ridiculed as a sheep army.
Based on the records alone, Shiks had mobilized a total of 17 standing corps, yet they weren't able to defeat the two second-line corps deployed by Aueras and never returned.
Shiks' military power was rated very low on Freia at the moment. They couldn't even suppress the restless neighboring countries.
When two neighboring countries clashed over their borders, they ignored Shiks' mediation and resolved the conflict on their own.
Majid III thus became a negative example for the monarchs of the continent to teach their children. His ambition was higher than the sky and he didn't know how to size up the situation. He would only follow a single path to the end.
Another joke was the new wastrel king of Aueras, Stellin XI. In order to fight for the throne with his elder brother, he treated the kingdom like trash, abandoning it and giving it away so that he could sit on the throne.
As a result, Aueras fell from being a powerful country in the eastern region to a normal kingdom. The good work two generations of previous kings had done their best to build the kingdom was destroyed in a single day.
After becoming king, Stellin XI didn't focus on governance. Instead, he indulged in sensual pleasures and hosted all sorts of banquets and balls.
At the same time, he sent people to investigate the crimes of the first prince's supporters during the civil war and plundered the wealth of the people for his own enjoyment. The people of the kingdom had no way to make a living.
In the end, he even forced the colonies to rebel. Not only did he declare autonomy, he even sent Thundercrash to Aueras to plunder the machinery of the factories in the prefectures and take in the refugees.
In the eyes of the people of Freia, Stellin XI was no different from an incapable ruler. Together with Majid III of Shiks, they were known as the Two Foolish Kings.
Majid III was known as the Stubborn King who refused to lower his head even in the face of death.
Stellin XI, on the other hand, was a wastrel king and a hopelessly incapable ruler.
Nobody could've guessed that Siddings and Rimodra's guilds would set their sights on Majid III. They went to Shiks to seek an opportunity to meet Majid III and convince him to do so.
They worked with Nasri and Canas to secretly send four standing corps of Shiks to Nasri and Canas to attack Aueras' newly conquered lands in the latter half of the seventh month.
The war came very suddenly. Canas sent four standing corps to attack Askilin: two from Shiks, one from Canas and one from Nasri.
They formed the Western Legion and caught the garrison off guard. Before they could gather their forces, the light cavalry of Canas cut off their communications and surrounded them before they were completely annihilated.
However, the three southern prefectures of Askilin were the most important military bases in the newly conquered lands. They had always been heavily guarded by Prince Hansbach's faction.
There was a perfect defensive line there. Upon receiving the alarm, a folk stationed there managed to hold off the combined forces of the three kingdoms and bought precious time for the rear to gather their forces.
However, two of Nasri's standing corps and two of Shiks's standing corps formed the East Corps and invaded Sidins' former territory from the Nasri border. The four corps that belonged to the first prince's faction were attacked from the front and rear and were caught in a pincer attack.
The corps stationed in Siddings was caught off guard and didn't expect to be ambushed at all. They were drowned in the raging waves like a reef.
Only the Bluefeather Legion stationed in the Principality of Rimodra put up a determined and heroic resistance. However, in the face of overwhelming numbers and the enemy's endless supply of new catapults, their resistance was tragic and helpless. After only half a month, the Bluefeather Legion was completely annihilated.
The remaining standing corps that was stationed in the three southern counties could not resist for long either. They could only retreat as they fought. About two regiments of troops finally retreated to the Pikleit Mountains before they could shake off the pursuit of the allied forces of the three countries.
The war that took place in the newly occupied territory only took two months from start to finish.
Shiks, Nasri and Canas used a total of 500,000 soldiers from eight standing corps to attack the four standing corps of 200,000 soldiers from the newly conquered territories.
The two corps formed by the three kingdoms swept through the newly conquered lands like the autumn wind sweeping away the fallen leaves. Majid III had finally given Shiks a proper name.
In this battle, the allied forces of the three kingdoms had lost about fifty thousand men, while the four garrisoned legions under the First Prince's command had suffered nearly a hundred thousand casualties and nearly a hundred thousand prisoners. Only less than twenty thousand of the remaining soldiers had escaped into the mountains and become roving bandits.
While the kingdoms of Freia were shocked by the short war, Aueras, the nominal owner of the newly conquered lands, pretended to be deaf and mute. Stellin XI, on the other hand, held a grand banquet to celebrate the kingdom's rebellion. The four corps under the first prince's faction suffered a shameful defeat and were wiped out.
Sacred Light Year 595, 5th September, Sidins Duchy was reinstated.
21st October, Rimodra Duchy was reinstated.
The former Askilin dukedom fell into the hands of Shiks.
Majid III proudly declared that since he couldn't get a colony on Nubissia, getting an enclave in the eastern part of Freia wasn't a bad idea. That way, Shiks would have a legitimate reason to meddle in the affairs of the eastern part of the continent.
On the 18th of the 11th Nov, Shiks, Nasri, Canas, Rimodra and Sidins issued a joint declaration announcing the formation of the Eastern Freia Nation Union. They planned to use a common currency and promote business and other economic policies. They would also set up a joint military command. Any nation that got into a military conflict with any of the nations in the union would be declaring war on all of the nations in the union and would face the combined might of all the nations in the union.
"It's obvious that this so-called alliance is aimed at Aueras. It's nothing more than a replica of the anti-Aueras alliance from back then!" Bolonik said with a steely expression.
Those who heard those words were soldiers who had participated in the war five years ago. They naturally knew what the old general meant.
They claimed to be an alliance of nations in the eastern part of Freia, but why did they leave out Aueras? What else could it be other than targeting them?
Back when Stellin X was on the throne, Aueras grew stronger by the day. Nobody was afraid of being targeted by the anti-Aueras alliance. In fact, they didn't even think much of it.
But the situation now was completely different. The one on the throne was a wastrel and the kingdom had just ended a civil war between two kings.
Putting aside the damage caused by the civil war, Stellin X's misdeeds after the war brought even greater disaster to the people of Aueras, causing the strength of the kingdom to plummet.
For those nations to form this alliance at a time like this, it was clear that they had ill intentions towards Aueras.
To put it bluntly, Aueras might even face the threat of being destroyed.
Claude felt a little resentful. Even though he was a transmigrator, it had been almost two decades since then.
Feelings were bound to develop after staying in one place for so long. He was already used to his current status and power.
After all, he had been wounded and bled for the kingdom and fought on the battlefield. He subconsciously saw himself as a soldier of Aueras.
Regarding General Bolonik's words, he also felt that they shared a common enemy.
But what could they do even if they were anxious?
Be it Nasri or Canas, they were once defeated by Aueras. Now that they had Shiks on their side, they were getting cocky again.
But the problem was, what could the autonomous region do to these countries?
To put it bluntly, the region was isolated from Aueras. As long as Stellin XI was on the throne, Aueras and Aueras would remain enemies. There would be no chance for them to improve their relationship.
In the blink of an eye, Year 595 of the Sacred Light Calendar passed and the second month of Year 596 arrived.
By then, Thundercrash and the last batch of refugees boarded the ships and returned to the region under the escort of the patrolling fleet. Their attack on Aueras was finally over.
When Eiblont returned, he brought a letter personally written by Jarios Ho Hadro, the Gryphon Corps' general and a hereditary marquis. The letter stated that Gryphon Corps would be stationed in Whitestag to prevent the coastal areas of Aueras from being attacked by the Blacksail Pirates again.
He hoped to conduct ocean trade with the region and purchase all sorts of special products and minerals from the region at a fair price.
The only condition was that the region could only conduct ocean trade with Gryphon Corps. Gryphon hoped to make up for the shortfall in their military budget through the trade.
That was Gryphon's intention to monopolize the ocean trade in Aueras. Claude smiled and handed the letter to the executive committee.
As long as there were profits to be made, there would naturally be merchants willing to take the risk. Bolonik and Skri would take care of that, so Claude didn't have to worry about it.
What Claude had to worry about was the expansion of Blackstone Gunsmith Workshop, as well as Sonia and Angelia's plans for the production of the explosive shells and the new infantry field artillery.
They already had a rough idea of the explosive shells and the new infantry field artillery was in the final stages.
There was also a lot of progress in the development of the long-barrelled rockets.
Another piece of good news was that after Boyd's steam engine was finalized, he started working on the steam engine for ships.
At present, a model of marine steam engine had entered the experimental stage. For this purpose, a coastal transport ship was specially built to test the ship's speed. At the same time, an ocean-going light cruising warship was equipped with iron armor to test the power of the marine steam engine.
On the 21st of the 3rd month, just as Claude was about to watch Boyd conduct the steam engine tests in Port Patres, he received an eagle message from the war zone.
The message stated that there had been a mutiny in the royal capital and that Stellin XI had been shot dead in his palace. The fourth prince, Fredri, had been elected by the royal guards as the new king of the kingdom with the title of Fredri I.