"Based on the current situation, Shiks helping the so-called Nasri and Canas court in exile to form some sort of renegade army doesn't pose much of a threat to us for the time being.
"No matter how loud it shouts, it's all thunder and no rain. The only thing it can do is send a small group of people to infiltrate the country to gather intelligence and contact the rebels. That won't affect the peace and stability of the entire eastern region."
General Skri held a small wooden stick in his hand and pointed at the map hanging on the wall as he spoke. The meeting room was filled with councilors and senior officers of the two corps. This was another meeting held by the councilors and military representatives of the overseas autonomous territories in the capital. The topic of the meeting was the two pieces of bad news that they had just received two days ago.
As the representative of the region's military, Skri gave a detailed analysis and explanation of the situation to let them understand the crisis the region was facing.
"Shiks' seaking fleet has already been annihilated by our armoured fleet, so they won't be able to mobilize their main forces to land on the eastern coast.
"Also, during times of war, Shiks can rent a land route from Bleyotte and Mambamark to transport supplies to their frontline forces.
They could also allow their defeated soldiers to retreat back to their country through this land passage.
"But now that the war is over, Shiks won't be able to mobilize their main forces to rent a land route from Bleyotte and Mambamark to Nasri.
"Doing so would mean that Bleyotte and Mambamark have joined Shiks and declared war on us.
"Bleyotte and Mambamark definitely won't participate in a war that has nothing to do with them.
Since our territory and Shiks are separated by two countries, we don't have to worry about them starting another war in the east. Plus, Shiks has lost its only fleet at sea, so we don't have to worry about them starting another war.
No matter how much it supported the Nasri and Canas court in exile, it was like a peddler trying to make a name for itself and show that it was still the leader of the eastern nations.
As for the Nasri and Canas factions that Shiks helped form, even if they sent a small force to cause trouble, they could only do so in Nasri.
"As everyone knows, Nasri has already been granted by His Majesty to the nobles of the kingdom as a hereditary territory. So, it's the nobles who have to think about how to deal with the rebels. Their armed forces are more than enough to deal with these small groups.
"The region we received from His Majesty is the coastal region of the Great Plains of Canas. Once the ceremony is over, it will become another part of our territory on Freia.
"The region has already decided to send an armoured fleet to Northbay to protect the safety of the territorial waters.
So, to us, Shiks is no more than a caged dog. No matter how loud it barks, it won't be a threat to us. "
After discussing Shiks, Skri had his adjutant and guards change the map on the wall to that of Nubissia. Next, he was going to talk about the negative effects of the trade ban on the region.
Skri pointed at the western colonies on the map with a wooden stick and waited for the chatter to die down before he said, "Compared to Shiks helping Nasri and Canas form the renegade army, we believe that the joint declaration by the western colonies of Nubissia is the worst news for us. They've imposed a trade ban on us!"
The chatter in the meeting room grew louder and louder. "We declare war!
We declare war on them!
How dare they expel the merchants and merchants of our autonomous region! This is discrimination against our autonomous region!
We can use force to crush them and force them to sign an agreement to allow us to trade freely on the western coast! "
General Skri smiled bitterly. The owner of this voice was probably superstitious about the invincible military strength of the Overseas Autonomous Territory. The first thing that appeared in his mind was war, using war to open a path for the overseas autonomous territory's commerce.
Quite a few people in the meeting room agreed with him and cheered for war, war, and war.
He slammed the small wooden stick in his hand against the wall twice to silence the discussion in the conference room. When everyone calmed down, General Skri shook his head. "Yesterday, the Dominion Executive Committee and the military discussed this issue and came to the conclusion that we can't declare war on the colonies on the West Coast.
This matter isn't something that can be resolved with a single war. Our military doesn't have the time or ability to achieve victory in a short period of time. Besides, the longer this drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for our region. "
"Why?"
A councilor stood up and asked loudly. From his voice, he seemed to be the one who wanted to declare war on the western coast.
"Look at the map, this is the West Coast …" General Skri pointed at the map of the West Coast with a small wooden stick. "You should be able to see from the map that the area of the colonies of the West Coast is about four times larger than our overseas territories. Their colonies have already penetrated deep into the mainland and were developed nearly a hundred years earlier than our overseas colonies.
Be it in terms of population, resources, or scale of development, they are more developed than ours. "
Skri's words were true. The earliest colony on Nubissia was on the western coast. It was known as the land that flowed with nectar under the sun. It was flat and rich in resources.
The southern continent where the region was located was a barren wasteland. Stellin X of the Aueran Kingdom had no way of establishing a foothold on the western coast, so he sent his colonial army to the southern continent. It took more than 60 years of continuous development to form the region that it was today.
"Over the past two centuries, the colonies on the western coast have been warring and annexing each other to form the current state of affairs.
This is the colony of the eight southern kingdoms of Freia. The former northern kingdoms were pushed out of the western coast and could only find a few barren lands on the eastern coast and the northern snowfields to establish their colonies.
"That's why Shiks started the colonial war with us back then. They hoped to gain their own colonies from the southern continent.
"Now, the western coast is the colony of the eight southern kingdoms. Forty to fifty years of peace has allowed the western coast to develop greatly in terms of economy and society.
Fortunately, the eight southern countries still adopted an economic policy of blood transfusion for their colonies on the West Coast, just like our former kingdom, suppressing the economic and industrial development of the colonies, treating the colonies as an export of resources and a dumping ground for domestic goods.
"Why do we have to dump the goods we produce on the western coast?
The reason is simple. The goods are cheap and of high quality.
They don't act like the eight southern kingdoms and dump the inferior goods they produce on their own colonies at high prices.
"Due to the eight southern kingdoms' monopoly policy, the people in their colonies could only choose those high quality goods and endure being exploited by their own merchants because they had no other choice.
However, all of this changed after the goods produced by our overseas dominion were smuggled into the colonies on the West Coast. Even if the local government of the colonies on the West Coast tried to prohibit smuggling activities, the people of the colonies would still choose to buy the goods produced by our dominion.
"As a result, the goods the eight southern kingdoms sent to their colonies became unmarketable and couldn't be sold at all.
"In other words, we touched their cheese.
"Thanks to us winning the colonial war against Shiks, the eight western kingdoms didn't dare to use force against us. All they could do was protest and ask us to stop the smuggling.
"We refused. We told them that we believe in freedom of trade and that we have to do business with others if they want to buy from us. It's none of our business where the goods are shipped to.
"Two years ago, two-thirds of the goods we produce were smuggled to the eight western kingdoms. Last year, due to the war, sales decreased a little. However, half of the goods were still shipped to the western coast.
It is worth noting that the low denomination notes issued by the Dominion's Overseas Minsheng Bank are worth more than ten million gold crowns in circulation in the eight colonies of the West Coast ….
"The people of the eight western kingdoms use our notes and avoid the taxes they have to pay to the colonial governments.
The colonial governments don't recognize our notes, but the people of those colonies can take them to the trading houses our merchants have set up in the eight western kingdoms and exchange them freely.
I believe that's why the eight colonial governments have also kicked out the trading houses legally established by our merchants. "
The councilor who had questioned why they hadn't declared war interrupted General Skri, "We are aware of the situation, but that shouldn't be an excuse for us to not declare war on them!
If we mobilize the Thundercrash and Monolith Corps, as well as our Ironclad Fleet, then the blockade of the eight colonies on the west coast will be for naught. Their colonial garrisons will be routed, and they will have no choice but to open their gates and welcome us to trade freely with them! "
"You're oversimplifying things!"
Skri sighed helplessly. "Our declaration of war against the eight colonies doesn't just mean that we're going to war against them. It also means that we're going to war against the eight colonies on the southern coast of Freia. Do you understand?
It's just like how Shiks instigated the war back then. They sent Ranger as reinforcements and eventually turned us into Thundercrash and Monolith.
The total area of the colonies of the eight countries on the west coast is four times the size of the overseas autonomous region, with a total population of more than 60 million. Although most of them are mixed-blood natives, the colonization of the eight southern countries for nearly two hundred years has made these mixed-blood natives recognize their colonized countries as their motherland. This is many times better than the nikancha here.
"If we declare war on them, they'll see us as invaders and they'll take up arms to resist us.
"Do you think we can wipe out the eight western kingdoms in a short time with just two corps of 200 thousand men?
It's impossible without at least five years of effort.
"Even if we do defeat the eight colonial armies, we won't have enough men to defend the various territories and maintain order.
"We can only do that if we mobilize our forces and recruit more than a million soldiers.
"Do you understand what that means?
That would be a large-scale regional war. Can our overseas autonomous region afford the price of such a regional war?
"Regrettably, we can't afford it. We don't have the capital either.
"Our enemies aren't just the eight western kingdoms, but the eight southern kingdoms of Freia as well. They'll keep sending reinforcements to their colonies and might even send troops to attack our region.
"When that happens, we'll be left without any help.
"You know what the kingdom's situation is like. Not only will they not be able to support us, they might even sever all ties with us.
"They can't handle the diplomatic pressure from the eight southern kingdoms. What they need the most right now is time to rest and recover.
"That's why we can't risk declaring war on the eight western kingdoms just because of the trade ban."
Skrein was very direct this time. He was basically saying that the region couldn't afford to fight such a war, nor did they have the resources or military power to do so.
The councilor who questioned him stood there for a long time, still unconvinced. He wanted to say something more, but the person beside him pulled him back to his seat.
"Who is he?" Claude asked Weyblon.
"Oldman Borman's son, Andros Joist.
The kid's pretty lucky. He replaced Oldman as a councilor last year and became a hereditary baron this year.
However, their family owns seventeen factories in Robisto and Anfiston, and most of their products are smuggled to the Eight Colonies on the West Coast. The trade ban has affected their family the most … "Weyblon knew the background of these councilors.
Claude smiled. "No wonder he's so worked up and wants to declare war."
Skrein was still speaking. "Even though the eight western kingdoms have imposed a trade ban on us, as long as there's profit to be made, smuggling won't be stopped.
The Dominion Executive Committee has come up with two countermeasures. The first is to arm the smuggling caravans and open up new smuggling trade routes to ensure that they won't be easily captured by the various colonies' garrisons. At the very least, they will have the ability to escape and resist …
"Two, in the next three years, we'll develop the Great Plains of Canas into our hereditary territory. It will become a new trading center on Freia.
The specialties and goods from both continents will converge here and become the largest free trade market. Merchants from all over the world will come here to pick out the goods they want and ship them back to their own regions for sale.
The executive committee believes that this place will soon become a new economic growth point for the overseas autonomous territory. Even if the economic losses caused by the trade ban imposed on us by the eight colonies on the West Coast, they will soon be compensated by the free trade market here. Therefore, we need some patience and time. While we develop this territory that belongs to us, the executive committee will also send people to the colonies on the West Coast to negotiate and ask them to lift the trade ban as soon as possible. "
"You're going back to the region as well?" Weyblon asked.
"Yes.
Claude nodded. "Thundercrash and Monolith are stuck here and can't be deployed back. The trade ban on the west coast has to be lifted as soon as possible. Otherwise, it'll negatively affect our economy.
"Our excuse to the outside world is to redirect our investments to Northern Bay, but we have to teach the eight western kingdoms a lesson in secret.
"They've chosen a good time to make things difficult for us. Two of our corps are stuck in the east and our armoured fleets have to split up to guard the ports here to maintain the safety of the seas.
"That's why the eight western kingdoms issued a joint ban on smuggling and chased away our merchants because we couldn't do anything to them during this period.
However, the eight western kingdoms have already become the biggest market for our goods. We can't give up on them. "
"But the Dominion only has a folk from Monolith and twelve garrison regiments left. Should we transfer a folk or two back?" Weyblon asked worriedly.
"I'm not going to war. I'm just trying to see if there's a way to get rid of the trade ban without resorting to arms.
The region's military has been fighting in the kingdom for the past two years and it's time for them to rest. I'm also planning to reduce some of our forces to reduce our military expenses.
Moreover, not all problems can be solved by force. Trust my judgment, the eight colonies on the West Coast do not wish to go to war with our Overseas Dominion. "
"I hope so," Weyblon said, "Is Marshal Bolonik returning to the region as well?"
"Yes. He'll be transferred to civil administration and will be in charge of the council when Master of Ceremonies Bennett isn't around.
As for the development of Northbay, I'll leave General Skri, General Birkin and General Eiblont here. I believe they'll be able to maintain order in the Great Plains of Canas, "Claude replied.