As the saying goes, the road to happiness is strewn with setbacks. When Maria relayed the request to send troops back to Whitestag, the temporary court in Whitestag erupted in a heated argument that lasted for more than a month before a conclusion was reached.
It was said that the ministry of the army strongly objected to the region's two corps having the right to fight and command independently and insisted on bringing the region's logistics to the two corps under their jurisdiction.
In other words, the logistical supplies that the overseas autonomous region transported to the kingdom's mainland for the two armies of their own military region had to be handed over to the kingdom's Ministry of Army for management before being distributed to the two armies.
The reason the ministry of the army made such a suggestion was to increase the efficiency of the logistics.
They didn't care if the region believed it or not. At the very least, they believed it.
The Dominion was only willing to pay five hundred thousand crowns as taxes and tribute to the kingdom every year, which was also criticized by the high-ranking ministers of the kingdom as heartless and unscrupulous. They had no loyalty to the kingdom at all.
The current finance minister of the kingdom insisted that the region had to pay a million crowns as taxes and tribute or the kingdom would revoke their autonomy.
There were already many emissaries from the kingdom who had been to the region, not to mention the number of spies the kingdom's intelligence agency had stationed there.
The development of the region was clearly displayed to the high-ranking officials of the kingdom. They knew that the region wasn't the wilderness it used to be and the taxes they collected every year exceeded two million crowns.
That was why they insisted on paying a million crowns as taxes and tribute.
Of course, there were no lack of clear-headed ministers in the temporary court.
They believed that it was good news for the region to be willing to send troops at a time of life and death for the kingdom.
There was no need for the royal court to waste time with the region. The most important thing was for the region to send the two corps over as soon as possible.
It was already extremely fortunate for the kingdom to have two corps that weren't any weaker than the royal guardsmen. If they could agree to the terms, they should. There was no need to dawdle.
Unfortunately, the ministry of the army and the finance ministry, which were controlled by the old noble families, insisted that the two corps under the region obey their commands and pay a million crowns as taxes and tribute.
Coupled with the stable situation at the frontlines and the slow progress of the eastern alliance, the ministry of the army believed that the enemy was lacking in stamina and had lost their drive to attack. So, they were training two new corps to wait for a chance to counterattack.
More good news came from the frontlines at this time. The Gryphon Legion had launched a few small scale attacks, and all of them had successfully taken over the enemy's defensive lines. They had even reclaimed a lost prefecture.
That made the high-ranking officers of the army even more certain that the enemy's offensive had faltered and that the time for a counterattack would soon arrive.
Their attitude towards the royal court was even more unyielding, saying that they didn't need the support of the two corps and that the kingdom's army could still reclaim lost territory and chase the enemy out of the kingdom's borders.
To be honest, the Kingdom's army performed very well in resisting the invasion of the eastern region's alliance army.
From the moment the Red Dragon Army and the royal guardsmen stopped the enemy's attack at the border, the eastern alliance's casualties were twice as high as the royal army's.
In the battle at the border, four and a half of the eight standing legions of the Eastern Alliance were defeated, while the Red Dragon Legion was almost annihilated. Of the two divisions of the Imperial Guard Legion, only one and a half regiment was withdrawn.
The eastern alliance's army suffered 270,000 casualties, while the kingdom lost 110,000 elite field troops.
The problem was that the enemy replenished quickly. In less than two months, another eight standing corps were assembled and the vanguard reached the Ibnister Plains.
The royal capital had no choice but to give up. The kingdom formed two second-line corps, led by the two remaining royal guardsmen, and fought a battle at the Ibnister Plains.
However, they couldn't stop the enemy's relentless attacks. The two second-line corps were defeated and the royal guardsmen retreated to the royal capital at the cost of one of their own.
The kingdom lost 140,000 soldiers in that battle, while the eastern alliance's eight standing corps suffered another 200,000 casualties. However, they were already at the gates of the royal capital.
King Frederick the First was forced to abandon the royal capital and retreat. If he didn't leave, he might be trapped there.
It wasn't that he didn't want to defend the royal capital to the death, but he didn't have many soldiers left. The royal guardsmen were reduced to one out of four.
Even if he recruited volunteers to defend the royal capital, he wouldn't be able to muster a full corps. Left with no other choice, he set up a temporary court in Whitestag and traded space for time to form a new second-line corps.
It could be said that he was the poorest king in the history of Aueras when he left the royal capital. He didn't bring much wealth with him because all the wealth he obtained from the merchant nobles had been spent on defending against the invasion. There wasn't much left.
He didn't bring much with him either, so the kingdom's armory was already empty.
The three years of civil war had depleted almost all of Aueras' armaments. Prince Hansbach took everything he could with him when he retreated from the royal capital. What he couldn't bring with him was burned to the ground.
Later on, the old nobles fought the first prince's army in the kingdom, which also depleted the armory's armory.
After defeating the first prince with great difficulty, Prince Wedrick ascended to the throne as Stellin XI. He didn't even pay attention to replenishing the armory's armory.
At the same time, the military industry controlled by the old aristocratic families had always been in arrears with the expenditure of military supplies during the civil war. Coupled with the fact that the overseas autonomous region had cut off the supply of mineral resources to the kingdom, the production of the kingdom's military industry had always been in a state of half-stop, unable to replenish the consumption of weapons and equipment for the kingdom's three ace field armies …
After Frederick the First ascended to the throne, he wanted to change the armory, but due to the lack of funds, he could only produce some armory in small batches.
In the end, the debt war and the invasion of the eastern alliance depleted all of the kingdom's armory.
The reason the temporary court was set up in Whitestag was because there were free provisions and armory provided by the autonomous region there. It would allow the ministry of the army to form another three second-line corps.
The war against the invasion of the Eastern Region Alliance had been going on for a year. The kingdom had paid the price of 300,000 casualties, while the Eastern Region Alliance had lost 500,000 to 600,000 soldiers.
The ministry of the army believed that the enemy had lost their morale and that the time for a counterattack was near.
However, they had forgotten that their enemies were five nations. Shiks and Nasri weren't any weaker than Aueras, while the other three dukedoms could still muster up enough manpower to deal with them.
Five to six hundred thousand casualties would be a huge blow to a country's vitality, but it would be insignificant if it was distributed among the five countries.
After a month of delay, another four standing corps from the eastern alliance arrived at the frontlines. Only then did the temporary court realize that things were far from good.
The number of troops at the frontlines was now three to one, increasing the pressure greatly.
As expected, the first line of defence finally fell after half a month of bloody battle. Gryphon lost more than half their men and the royal guard's last folk only had two lines left.
The two second-line corps were defeated by the enemy and only one folk managed to retreat.
While the enemy suffered heavy casualties as well, they still had the advantage in numbers.
The ministry of the army had no choice but to focus all their forces on the second line of defence. Even the two second-line corps that had been trained for less than a month were sent to the frontlines as well.
It was only then that the voices of the temporary court asking King Frederick the First to agree to the region's terms gained the upper hand.
If the second line of defence were to fall, Aueras would face the threat of extinction.
Whitestag no longer had enough troops to defend the region, nor did it have the resources and funds to form a new second-line corps.
Perhaps Frederick the First could still bring his family and ministers to the overseas autonomous dominion to establish his court in exile, but it wasn't a good feeling to live under someone else's roof. This was especially true for the high-ranking officials and bigwigs of the old noble families who had never been on good terms with the autonomous dominion. They would definitely have to rely on fishing poles to survive in the overseas autonomous dominion.
The old nobles finally admitted defeat. The cowardly King Frederick the First no longer wavered between the two sides and handed over all military matters to the ministry of the army.
Realizing the danger he was in, he immediately made up his mind and signed an imperial edict and an official notice of the agreement. He then sent messengers to the region and handed the edict and notice to Lady Maria so that she could urge the region to send reinforcements back to the kingdom's mainland.
However, the kingdom was separated from the region by the Silent Ocean and it would take a month for them to travel back and forth.
Even if the autonomous territory's military sent out troops immediately, it would take at least one and a half months. It was only at this moment that Frederick the First regretted listening to the nonsense of the Ministry of the Army, believing that they could drive the enemy out of the country without the support of the autonomous territory's military. He had wasted one and a half months' time.
But now, he could only pray that the frontlines could hold the last line of defence and buy more time for reinforcements.
On the other hand, while the region didn't receive a reply from Whitestag after more than a month, the recruitment and expansion of the two corps were still progressing in an orderly manner.
Bolonik, on the other hand, didn't know what to do. He wanted to have a chat with Claude to know what to do if the kingdom rejected the request.
What to do?
Nothing, of course!
Claude's answer was simple. "If the kingdom rejects our request, it means that the situation is still under the control of the ministry of the army and there's nothing to worry about.
As the saying goes, sending reinforcements is like putting out a fire. If the kingdom really can't hold out any longer, they would've sent a messenger to us long ago.
The fact that they didn't reply after so long means that the situation isn't tense at all. "
"But what if the kingdom refused to send reinforcements because of our request?" General Bolonik was still worried.
Claude looked at Bolonik solemnly. "If the kingdom doesn't agree to our request and asks us to send reinforcements, I won't send any.
We all know that we're not on the same side as the old nobles of the kingdom. I don't want to have to be on guard against the backstabbing and conspiracies of our allies when we're fighting the enemy. To be honest, I don't even want to be on the same side as them.
Don't be fooled by the fact that His Imperial Majesty has made us part of the noble class, but in the eyes of the old nobles, we're nothing more than nouveau riche nobles. We're not even on the same side as the new merchant nobles.
On the other hand, we have cut off their source of income from the colonies. Perhaps in their eyes, we are more disgusting than the armies of the Eastern Alliance who invaded our kingdom.
"If we send our troops without conditions, they'll have plenty of tricks up their sleeves to deal with us. We won't be able to do anything about it and we won't be able to get justice.
"That's why, I'd rather not send my troops if they don't agree to our request. I'm responsible for the lives of our two corps.
"Since we brought them to the kingdom, we should bring them back in one piece. Even if there are casualties, we should at least make their sacrifice worthwhile.
Letting them shed their blood in defending the kingdom against the invasion is much better than letting them become disposable pawns in the eyes of the big shots. "
"But … What if Whitestag can't hold out?" Bolonik was still worried.
"You mean the kingdom will fall?
The entire army will be wiped out … "Claude asked.
General Bolonik nodded.
Claude laughed. "If that's the case, we'll be free and the autonomous region will be independent.
As for the kingdom itself, there's even less to worry about. Now that the kingdom is gone, we don't have to wait for a reply. We can attack however we want. There are no orders or rules to restrict us. The entire eastern part of Freya will become a battlefield for our two armies to roam … "
Bolonik couldn't keep up with Claude's train of thought. He was so shocked by what Claude said that he said, "You … You're saying that if the kingdom falls, we'll have to continue the war?"
"Of course." Claude gave Bolonik a strange look. "We're the region. Just because Aueras is wiped out doesn't mean the war is over.
So what if it's wiped out? Can't we just fight our way back to reclaim it?
You don't think the kingdom will just surrender just because we're gone, do you?
Why did we recruit two more corps? Isn't it to fight?
Actually, even if the kingdom doesn't agree to our request, we can still send troops.
However, we don't have to help the kingdom. Instead, we have to attack the enemy's base.
The Duchy of Rimodra and the Duchy of Sidins have been restored, haven't they?
We can wipe them out again.
And Shiks, didn't they refuse to acknowledge the end of the colonial war?
They even occupied a new territory in our kingdom's territory. Can't we just reclaim it?
As long as we have the will, we'll be able to find an opportunity to send troops.
"As for the soldiers, they've gotten bored after not fighting for a few years and they've started to slack off in their training.
"We all know that elite soldiers aren't made through training, but through fighting.
"I've been thinking about it for the past two years. The region really has too many soldiers and it's a huge burden on the region's economy. Out of the 2.6 million crowns collected in taxes, 1.6 million is spent on the military. That's not normal.
"You can do the math. Twenty garrison lines with a hundred and ten thousand soldiers, two corps with a hundred and fifty thousand men and an ocean patrol fleet. That's a total of 270,000 to 280,000 soldiers.
"If we were still fighting the colonial war against Shiks, it would be normal for the region to have such a large number of soldiers.
"But now that the colonial war is over, there's no longer a threat to the region on Nubissia.
"There's no need for the region to maintain such a large military force in times of peace. But given the current situation, we can't immediately reduce our forces and cripple our own martial arts. We have no choice but to keep so many soldiers.
"Our problem lies in the fact that the region is sparsely populated. A force of 300,000 would be a heavy burden on the region's economic development.
"If there's a decade of peace, the region's economic development will stagnate and the military's fighting capacity will drop drastically.
That's why we need to find an enemy for our armed forces, and we also need our military forces to add more power and fuel to the economic development of the overseas autonomous region … "
Bolonik was initially puzzled by Claude's words. Why did he suddenly start talking about how having too many soldiers would affect the economy of the region and become a burden? If that's the case, why would they need to recruit more soldiers to expand their corps?
But when he thought about what Claude said about the region being able to attack even if the kingdom was destroyed, he quickly came to a realization.
"I understand now. For us, war is only a means to an end.
We are going to fight to create more economic value for the overseas autonomous region, so that our army can maintain its combat power, not to waste our pay … "General Bolonik said.
Claude nodded. Bolonik's words weren't far from what he was thinking. What else in the world could be more effective than a large scale robbery and forced migration?
Not only could they increase the number of residents in the region, they could also gain a lot of wealth.
Last time, they were on the kingdom's mainland and had to maintain military discipline. They could only rob machinery and the estates of the new nobles, so they didn't get much.
This time, they could go all out in the enemy kingdom.
Also, the troops had gotten new equipment, so they should go for a walk on the battlefield. That way, they could maintain morale and gain combat experience. It would be much better than sitting around doing nothing.
"Actually, I discovered a huge problem during the Dominion's population statistics. There are more men than women, and there's a huge gender imbalance.
There's a huge gender imbalance. So, there's another reason we're going there. We want our soldiers to find their other halves in the eastern part of Freia and bring them back to the region. To put it bluntly, we're going on a blind date. It's our duty as generals to help our soldiers settle down and build their families, "Claude laughed shamelessly.