Therefore, as soon as she arrived in Lanu City, she revealed her trump card and presented the kingdom's conditions to the parliament and the five generals of the military.
As for what choice the council and the military would make, that had nothing to do with her. She was only the king's envoy.
All the conditions the council presented to the kingdom were agreed to by the king. The only condition was for Aueras to be the governing nation of the region and for both sides to be on the same page in terms of diplomacy and military affairs.
The region's administrative actions, promotions, taxes, finances and military would remain independent and wouldn't be under the kingdom's jurisdiction. However, it would have to be reported to the kingdom so that it could be coordinated in the event of an emergency.
At the same time, the kingdom would allow the region to have the right to set prices for the goods it produced in the kingdom's market. While they couldn't fully monopolize the trade in their respective prefectures, they could give the region ten entry permits for their goods.
As long as the merchant companies of the overseas autonomous region had this commodity access pass, their goods could be freely traded throughout the kingdom ….
It could be said that the wishes of the overseas autonomous region's parliament members had been fulfilled by the kingdom. Looking at the official notice signed by King Frederick the First in black and white, the parliament members didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Everyone knew that Aueras was in a precarious situation. That was probably the real reason why Fredrey I agreed to all of the region's conditions. What the hell was he doing earlier?
Apart from that, Maria also brought promotion orders from the ministry of the army to the five generals of the region and the soldiers of the two corps. It was a promotion order that had been delayed for three years, as well as an honorary title for the soldiers who won the colonial war against Shiks.
Bolonik and Claude were officially promoted to the rank of general. They were already lieutenant-general, so it was only natural for them to be promoted.
Skri, Eiblont and Beechklin were also promoted to lieutenant-general.
Apart from that, seven colonels were promoted to major-general.
Moriad, Berklin and Dyavid, the three lackeys of Claude, crossed the line between lieutenant-general and general and became major-general.
Myjack, on the other hand, was rather lucky. Perhaps because he was Claude's brother-in-law, he was promoted to major-general by the king.
Four of Thundercrash's men were promoted to generals and three were colonels of Monolith.
Compared to promotions, Fredrey the First's bestowments were much more generous. He conferred the title of new nobles to twenty-four men in one go. Claude's was the most generous of them all. Perhaps it had something to do with his previous title of honorary count, he was conferred the title of a hereditary baron, a title that could be passed down to his descendants.
General Bolonik was conferred the title of Viscount III, while General Skree, General Eiblont, and General Beechlin were conferred the title of Baron III, which could be passed down for three generations.
Moriad, Berklin, Dyavid, Myjack and a total of nineteen high-ranking military officers were made honorary barons.
The decree stated that the reason why His Majesty bestowed the titles of nobility was to commend the soldiers of the autonomous military zone for their contributions in expanding the territory, and to thank the soldiers for their sacrifices and contributions in the bloody battles for the kingdom …
The parliament of the region was also given three titles by the king. One was the one-armed Knight Bennett, who was made an honorary viscount. Perhaps it was because he had lost an arm in an assassination attempt by Greytower magi, so the title was given to him as compensation.
The other one was Saljorak, the head of the patrolling police. He was forced to retire from the military due to the Greytower magi's assassination attempt and was asked by Claude to reorganize the patrolling police in the colonies.
Due to the region's excellent law and order, he was made an honorary baron by Fredley I.
The last councilor to be made an honorary baron was Weyblon, which came as quite a surprise to many.
However, the reason he was made an honorary baron was because he had used a large sum of money to fund Libord's research and improvement of the steam engine, which led to the development of the train and changed the transportation system in the region. It could be said that Weyblon's insight and support were crucial to the development of the train, so he was made an honorary baron as well.
Seven people in the autonomous region had been conferred titles, but only five had accepted it in the end. Liboyd had been conferred the title of a hereditary baron, in recognition of his contributions in inventing the train and improving the steam engine. The four rune magicians who had worked with him had also been conferred the title of honorary baron.
The two who declined were Sonia and Claude's sister, Anna. Both of them were made honorary barons for inventing the new rifle. However, they declined in unison because they didn't think it was necessary and because they wanted to keep a low profile.
The reason why Frederick the First agreed to the request for autonomy and bestowed titles on the region was simple. He only made two requests to the region's parliament and military. The first was for the region to pay a million crowns as taxes and tribute to the kingdom and the royal family. The second was for the region's two corps to return to the kingdom to help him defend against the invasion of the Eastern Alliance.
"What's the current situation in the kingdom?"
"General, the Ministry of the Army has reorganized two defensive lines in Cookley, Chaniaral, Cremes, Birmoro, and Bajashantana Counties. Currently, the main forces deployed on the front lines are a division of the Imperial Guard and the entire Gryphon Legion. In addition, there are two second-line legions, totaling over two hundred thousand soldiers.
"Apart from that, the ministry of the army has also mobilized some of the refugees in Whitestag to form two secondary corps.
Facing off against the kingdom at the frontlines, the eastern alliance had a total of 430,000 men and was split into seven corps. Shiks had three standing corps, Nasri had two, Canas had a light cavalry corps and the remaining corps was formed by Sidins and Rimodra.
Perhaps it's because they've already occupied our kingdom's capital, but the seven legions of the Eastern Alliance that are currently deployed at the frontlines don't have a strong will to fight. They barely launched two large-scale attacks a month ago and only lost a few thousand soldiers before quickly retreating, maintaining a stalemate.
"However, the enemy is still mobilizing troops from their own kingdom. Another six corps should arrive at the frontlines in three months.
Perhaps when the enemy reinforcements arrive, it'll be time for them to launch their final attack. "
The kingdom no longer had any information lockdown on the region and a new report would be sent to the region's command centre almost every half a month.
"Do you think we should send our troops?" Bolonik asked.
Needless to say, all the high-ranking officers of the region were in favor of sending troops.
Frederick the First's generous bestowal in the autonomous military zone finally yielded unexpected results.
Be it the soldiers of Thundercrash, Monolith, or the soldiers of the Dominion's ocean patrol fleet, all of them were clamoring to return to the kingdom's mainland with bloodshot eyes. They wanted to teach the Eastern Alliance's ungrateful army a lesson …
Even though the region had gained full autonomy, the people still considered themselves citizens of Aueras.
Now that the kingdom was in trouble, the people of the region were in an uproar. They all requested for the region to send their troops back to the kingdom. There were even young men lining up outside the command centre or at the entrance of the barracks to volunteer to join the army and defend against the eastern alliance.
As for the soldiers of the two corps, there was no need to even mention them.
The Shiksan army had always been defeated by them. The result of the colonial war and the five hundred thousand captives were proof of that.
Nasri, on the other hand, was Aueras' mortal enemy. Canas had yet to take revenge for the losses Aueras suffered during the five-year war in the east. As for Sidins and Rimodra, they were nothing more than grasshoppers at the end of autumn. No one paid any attention to them.
That was why Thundercrash and Monolith's morale was at an all-time high. First, they didn't care about the enemy at all. Second, they wanted to earn a noble title for themselves so that their families could live in glory for the rest of their lives.
Third, they weren't used to not fighting for a long time.
That was especially true after they were equipped with the new cannons and rifles. The notion of being number one in the world was deeply ingrained in every soldier's mind. They couldn't wait to show off on the battlefield. Some even signed petitions in blood.
That was no longer something the five powerhouses of the region could handle. Even Bolonik and the others wanted to return to the kingdom to fight.
Perhaps Claude's barony title had spurred them on and made them want to make more contributions.
That was a hereditary title that could be passed down to their descendants. It was even more enviable than their third and honorary titles.
"We can send our troops," Claude said calmly.
Claude kept his cool. "But we want independent command and combat rights. We won't be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Army.
We're the region's military, after all. Our fighting style is different from the native corps. We don't need to rely on the ministry of the army for supplies either. There's no need for us to accept random commands from them.
Sometimes, the enemy isn't scary. What we need to be careful of are our allies with ulterior motives. "
That's right, Claude was right.
The high-ranking military officers who participated in the meeting came to a realization. They could send troops to participate in the war, but they couldn't accept the command of the Kingdom's Ministry of Army. Otherwise, they would be pushed to the frontlines to be used as a shield.
It wasn't that the ministry of the army couldn't do something like that. They had to have independent command and combat rights.
"Let's discuss that with Lady Maria. Do you have any other requests?" Bolonik asked.
"Perhaps we can ask His Majesty to grant permission for the refugees to migrate. Didn't you say that there are two to three million refugees in Whitestag?
They're all relying on the food and produce we gave to the kingdom for free to survive.
If His Majesty allows us to migrate the refugees, we can provide the kingdom with another batch of food and military supplies. "
Ever since Claude led Thundercrash to Whitestag two years ago to loot the machinery in the other prefectures and migrate the refugees, the royal capital banned the citizens of the kingdom from migrating to the region to prevent the loss of manpower in the kingdom.
However, the war against the invasion of the eastern region's alliance army had once again caused a large number of refugees to erupt in the kingdom. Countless people of the kingdom dragged their families and fled from the enemy-occupied territory to the southwest of the kingdom. That was the city where Frederick the First lived.
The refugees believed that they would be safe if they stayed by the king's side. The endless influx of refugees put a lot of pressure on Whitestag.
However, this was a very good opportunity for the Overseas Autonomous Dominion to migrate.
Claude had once jokingly calculated that if he wanted the region to be able to prosper for a long time, he would have to have a population of more than fifteen million.
There were less than seven million immigrants in the region at the moment. Only a third of the regions with more than a million people had been developed, while the ones with fewer people only had a seventh. Apart from the areas around the cities, most of the land was barren and undeveloped.
So, Skri didn't mind using the opportunity to increase the region's population.
"Alright, this will be the second condition for us to send troops," General Bolonik said. "Is there anything else? Nothing else?
Alright then, since we're both going to send troops, let's discuss how we're going to send troops and how many we should send. Claude, why don't you tell us first? "
Claude rapped his fingers on the table and said, "I believe we should send out both corps, but we should at least leave a folk of garrison in the region just in case.
"We already have twenty garrison lines equipped with new rifles that are more than enough to deal with anything that happens in the region. Even if Shiks were to launch another colonial war, we wouldn't have to worry about it.
"However, this is our new home now, so we can't be too careful.
"Everyone here is a soldier who participated in the war five years ago. You should know that one or two corps won't be able to make a difference in a war of this scale.
"Just like the battle in Rimodra all those years ago, when our most elite and powerful royal guard was sent into battle, they lost more than half of their soldiers to the enemy's fortifications. Their morale plummeted and they had no choice but to retreat to recuperate.
"This war is happening on our own soil. If we fight the enemy, not only will it take up a lot of time, it will also cause the most damage to the kingdom.
"That's why I want to have independent command. There's no need for us to dance to the enemy's tune.
"As for the number of troops we send out, the more the better. If our corps are damaged on the battlefield, the ministry of the army won't be able to replenish them.
"That's why we have to expand our corps if we send out troops this time. At the very least, we need to add a folk to each corps.
Thunderclap is a light cavalry corps that specializes in attacking. I hope that we have a reliable force behind us to defend our rear. If we send in two divisions to launch an attack, then we will have at least one more division to supply us with supplies and ammunition. This way, we won't have to worry about our rear.
"The same goes for Monolith. We'll send one folk to guard the region and two folk to fight on the kingdom's soil.
"Now that the region is in a state of turmoil, the young men who volunteered to join the army are crowding outside the camp and HQ every day.
"I don't think we should let them be so eager to serve their country, so we might as well let them join the army and train them for three months.
"As for the officers and veterans, we can recruit some from the local garrison."
He didn't think the king would be so generous as to promote seven new major-generals.
Berklin, for example, would have no problem leading a regiment if he was still a colonel.
But now that he was a major-general, it wouldn't look good for him to be called a regimental jarl. So, expanding the corps was a must.
Since they were going to fight in their homeland, as long as their equipment could keep up, having more troops would be a good thing. "Alright.
"Alright, then let's establish a division for each of the two legions."
General Bolonik nodded. He was already used to these military affairs. After asking General Skri if there were any logistical problems with the expansion of the two divisions, he passed down the conscription order. General Eiblont and General Birkin were in charge of the reorganization and training of the new recruits of the Thunderclap and Monolith corps respectively. They were to prepare for battle before the expedition.
"We've come to an agreement here. We can send troops.
But how's the discussion going on with the king's demand for us to pay a million crowns a year in taxes and tribute? "Skri asked curiously.
Unlike the region's decision to send troops, the council and Maria had a heated debate on the issue.
In the end, the council voted to reject the king's request. They were only willing to pay 500,000 crowns a year in taxes and tribute, which was 100,000 crowns more than the previous 400,000.
Maria angrily pointed out that the region's total tax revenue was already more than two million crowns and it was their obligation to pay half of it to the kingdom.
But Bennett retorted that the region was paying for Thundercrash and Monolith's military expenses on behalf of the kingdom.
If the overseas autonomous region had to pay half of the taxes, it would be very simple. The kingdom would pay for the military expenses of the autonomous region's two armies …
Maria immediately shut up.