At 9.10 am on the 27th of the 11th month of the 603rd year of the Sacred Light Calendar, General Beechlin appeared at the headquarters of the autonomous region. Claude gave him a warm hug to welcome his return.
The two then returned to Claude's office and had a private discussion behind closed doors.
General Beechlin embarked on his journey back to the autonomous region in late September, while Monolith's 1st and 2nd Folk would need more than a month to reach the region.
The reason Beechlin was asked to return earlier was that he would be taking over the affairs of the autonomous region from Claude.
Claude, on the other hand, would be heading to the kingdom's mainland. There were many matters that required his presence as the supreme commander of the military and the big shots in the royal capital.
Claude opened a bottle of fruit wine and chatted with General Beechlin as they drank.
General Beechlin briefly introduced the kingdom's mainland, the Nasrin region, the Great Plains of Canas, the development of the hereditary family in the autonomous region, as well as the situation in the Askilin and Rimodra regions that were still in the hands of the autonomous region's military.
In August of that year, Reddragon, one of the three ace corps of the kingdom that had been reorganized, took over the capital of Polyvicia in the Nasrin region, while Gryphon took over the Odin Mountains and the Sidins region.
Monolith's 1st and 2nd Folk moved to Rimodra and made preparations to return to the autonomous region.
After Monolith's return, there were still four divisions of Thundercrash and eight local garrisons stationed in the eastern part of Freia, totaling more than 200,000 troops. They would have to wait for Claude's return to reorganize the new military system.
"… There are three main goals for you to take over my management of the autonomous military area this time. The first is to reorganize the Monolith Army into four divisions according to the new military system. The third division has already been reorganized and is stationed at the Cape Loducus Colony. We've already swallowed this territory, so don't expect us to give it back.
As for how to build it, Marshal Bolonik already has a plan. It's not under our control, so we just need to cooperate.
The second task is to continue with Operation Wildfire. The situation in the Pamigal Republic has stabilized.
War is the best way to unleash a person's potential, and the same goes for a country.
Although the pamigar had suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties in the war, their armed forces had gained sufficient experience and training in the war.
"The first phase of Operation Wildfire was to allow the natives of Morosik, Risnia's second colony, Vasilika and Opsaro, as well as the third colony of Fokes Islands to establish their own nations. We'll also annex Cape Loducus.
The first phase of our original Wildfire Plan was to allow the natives of the Kingdom of Morosik, the second colony of the Kingdom of Lesnia, the colony of the Vassilico Principality, the colony of the Opsaro City-States Alliance, and the third colony of the Fox Islands United Kingdom to establish their own independent nations.
Judging from the current situation, we have overestimated the execution capability of the first phase of Operation Wildfire. Apart from the liberation of the Pamigal people, the Luthman people have disappointed us greatly.
"Not only did they refuse to cooperate with us at the start, they even went on a killing spree in the name of vengeance for their great chief. They killed almost all three hundred thousand Risnians in the colony. The only ones left alive are young women.
"The two Shiksan folk we stationed there even stopped their slaughter and saved the elderly, women and children.
"In the end, we were attacked by the Lusman, who accused us of being in cahoots with Risnia.
We killed those rioters with bloodshot eyes and the Luthmans banded together to demand that we leave their land. They even cut off our supply of supplies to the two Shiksan folk.
The biggest problem for the Lusman people was the death of their Great Chieftain, Unamas de Modríguez. There was no longer a leader among the Lusman people that they could accept wholeheartedly.
After the great chief's death, his nephews started fighting for power and gathered their own tribal forces to become a de facto warlord. None of them were willing to submit to the others, and sometimes, armed conflicts would break out between them.
"So, even though we've recovered all of Risnia's second colony, the Lusman people are still in a state of disunity. If the three million Lusman people can't unite to form a nation, it'll be useless for our plans and might even drag us down.
"If we interfere and let them choose a suitable leader as soon as possible, we'll be viewed with hostility by the Lusman people. That puts us in a difficult spot.
The strategists in the military headquarters had come up with many plans, and some even suggested purging the entire race of Lusman, allowing the autonomous military to occupy the second colony of Lesnia and merge it into the territory of the autonomous military.
"However, that won't do us any good. It'll be the same as us moving from behind the scenes to the front of the stage. We'll also have to spend a huge amount of money on it.
"Just look at the map and you'll know that a quarter of the inland colony is the Gobi Desert. The plains are barren, and the area of the colony is larger than three of our regions.
"If we occupy this territory, we'll just be a burden to the region, and the Lusman people who live here will be a big problem …"
"Let's put it this way. Without clear benefits, the region will not consider seizing the territory of the Lusman people.
"The region is already big enough, and we won't sacrifice the lives of our soldiers for a piece of barren land.
"To us, the Lusman people are more valuable than their territory. These young men from nomadic tribes are very suitable to become excellent soldiers. With a little training, they can become qualified light cavalry.
"We can only hope that a wise leader will appear among the Lusman people and continue to cooperate with us.
"Of course, they have no other choice but to cooperate with us because they have already formed a blood feud with Risnia.
"Three hundred thousand colonists were slaughtered, and Risnia won't let the Lusman people off easily.
According to news from the south of Freia, the kingdoms of Morohek, Lesnia, and Vasilko had all mobilized for war. They were recruiting new soldiers to form new expeditionary corps, and it was likely that they would attack the pamigars and the ruthless losmans again in the second half of next year.
"If the Lusman people still don't understand this, what awaits them is a bloodbath and cruel revenge.
"Also, the pamigar people's armed uprising and the ruthless slaughter of the Lusman people have caused the rest of the colonies on the west coast to be on guard.
They've all strengthened their control over the natives in their colonies.
At the same time, they've also sent troops from the south of Freia to strengthen the defenses of the colonies. "
Claude's mouth was dry from all the talking and he took a few gulps of wine.
Birkin listened quietly and looked at the map hanging on the wall from time to time, comparing it to what Claude said.
Claude opened another bottle of fruit wine and poured himself half a cup before going to the map.
He pointed at the Pamigal Republic on the map and said, "Based on the current situation, I'm guessing there will be another war to wipe out the nation next year, perhaps even two.
The colonial nations on the west coast would never allow a native nation to establish their own nation. It would be detrimental to their colonial rule that lasted for two to three hundred years. They would never allow the native nations in their colonies to follow the example of the pamigars ….
I believe that the Kingdom of Morosik, the Kingdom of Lesnia, and the Principality of Vassilico should launch an attack on the Pamigal Republic. They should first destroy the independent nation, then wipe out the Lusman people.
"Reports from the south of Freia say that the kingdoms of Morohek and Risnia have each recruited three corps, while Vasilik has two. That's a total of eight corps of around 400,000 soldiers.
"To be honest, Piccolo, you have a heavy burden on your shoulders. Those 400,000 soldiers are the enemy you have to deal with.
"However, you can't do it in the name of the region, but you can lead the pamigars and our forces to destroy the enemy as the commander-in-chief of the Shiksan corps.
From recruiting new soldiers to forming an army, to going through half a year of basic military training, and then transporting them to the West Coast, it will probably take at least eight months. In other words, the war will start in August next year. You have nine months to prepare.
Destroy or defeat the enemy and ensure the existence of the pamigar nation. That's your third mission. "
Birkin nodded and asked, "How many troops do I have?"
Claude smiled bitterly. "To be honest, I don't know.
The three pamigar corps are fighting in Vasilik right now, and no one knows when it will end.
According to the original plan, the Skorlo and Gisde people of the Vassiliko Principality would launch an armed uprising and defeat the colonial army of the Vassiliko Principality with the support of the Pamigal and Lusman forces. They would recover their territory, establish an independent state, and form a united government …
Now, the losman people were in a mess and the hundred thousand reinforcements they had planned were gone.
On the other hand, the armed uprising of the Skoro and Gist tribes was all bark and no bite. They made a lot of noise, but they weren't effective at all and were easily suppressed by the local garrison forces of Vasilik.
Although the three pamigar legions were well-armed, they were entangled by a legion from the Vassiliko Principality and a legion from the Opsaro City-States Alliance. Although they had the upper hand on the battlefield, they were unable to break through the enemy's defensive line and were still in a stalemate.
According to the original plan, if the Skorro and Gist tribes of the Vassilico Principality could establish their own nations, the pamigar and the other three legions would return to their homeland to recuperate, while the losman could provide two light cavalry legions. Together with the Skorro and Gist tribes, there would be a total of seven native tribes' legions.
When the time came, the autonomous region would send another corps of 500,000 troops and they wouldn't have to worry about the expeditionary forces of the colonial countries.
But now, only the Pamigar's three legions were reliable, and the Luthmans did not need reinforcements until the outcome of the battle was decided.
As for the Skoro and Gist tribes, they couldn't be counted on either.
The only thing you can do is to persuade the pamigar to form two more corps to prepare for war. That way, you'll have five pamigar corps under your command.
One more thing, Piccolo. Your first task is to reorganize the Monolith Corps according to the new military system.
You can combine the extra troops with the temporary garrison forces of the autonomous region to form a volunteer corps to help the pamigar fight.
At the same time, I hope the losman people can quickly elect a new leader to continue working with us and provide us with two light cavalry corps as reinforcements. "
"Why aren't the two Shiksan folk fighting in Vasilik?" Birkin asked curiously.
"We can't!"
Claude sighed. "There are two reasons. Firstly, it's because of Cape Loducus. Before the envoys of Fochs come to discuss the ownership of the colony, the two Shiksan folk have to be stationed in the losman's territory.
"The play we put on with the pamigar was that the Shiksan folk were hired by the losman. If the two Shiksan folk were hired by the pamigar to fight in Vasilik before the losman territory was stabilized, our lies would be exposed.
"The other reason is that Shiks sent an emissary to contact the two Shiksan folk. Fortunately, they were discovered and captured by the losman.
Majid III still hasn't given up. The envoy he sent wants the two Shiksan folk to rebel against us and seize a colony on the western coast for Shiks.
His condition is that the two folk will be pardoned for their crimes and be allowed to return to the Shiksan army after the colony is seized. They will be allowed to return to Shiks to reunite with their families. "
Birkin was shocked. "Shiks sent an emissary to incite the two Shiksan folk to rebel?"
Claude nodded helplessly and took out a document from his desk and handed it to Birkin. "Shiks has planted spies in our region. When we recruited the Shiksan captives to form our folk, the spies reported this to their superiors.
"When news of the two Shiksan folk helping the pamigar establish an independent state spread, Majid III set his sights on them. He wants them to rebel and give Shiks a colony on the west coast.
Look at this document. The emissary's confession is clear. It was Majid III himself who ordered him to carry out the mission.
"Fortunately, the two Shiksan folk were stationed in the interior of losman territory and the emissary came ashore at the port.
Because he was a white man, he was subjected to a strict interrogation by the losman. He had no choice but to produce his Shiksan identity in order to escape and was sent to the office we had set up in the region. He became a prisoner of his own volition and confessed his purpose for coming.
"That's why we can't touch the two Shiksan folk. I'm worried that if we capture one emissary, there'll be more coming.
"If we make contact with the emissary while marching or fighting, we won't know about it. If we're persuaded, it'll cause us a lot of trouble. It might even bring disaster to our Project Wildfire.
I'm now replacing the two folk with a few temporary guard lines and pretending to be Shiksan mercenaries stationed in luthman territory.
I've ordered the two Shiksan folk to head to a secret camp in Robisto to expand their numbers there.
"Word of what happened to the 2,000 Shiksan captives has spread among the Shiksans and they're all furious. I've decided to bring them back to Shiks next year."
Birkin understood. "You mean I won't be able to count on the Shiksan folk next year?"
"Yes, after New Year's Eve, I'll be heading to the kingdom's mainland. The first reason is to complete the order for the armoured fleet with the royal navy. The second is to reorganize Thundercrash and build Stormwind. I'll also gather Shiksan volunteers and find an opportunity to attack Shiks. I'll try to take down the northern hegemon in one fell swoop so that the kingdom and the region won't have to worry about anything else.
"At the same time, I also want to reap some profits from the war with Shiks. Our Project Wildfire will probably take more than ten years to see any results, and before that, we don't know how much money we'll have to invest in it. We can't afford such a huge project with the profits we earn from the war alone, so we'll have to look elsewhere.
"The experience we gained from Nasri in the second great war shows that nothing is more profitable than robbing a country, not to mention that Shiks has always been at war with us.
"Lastly, I hope we can get a sufficient number of immigrants from Shiks.
"The kingdom has already closed its doors to us, and for the region to develop, we need enough manpower.
"The 500,000 Shiksan captives have been living in our region for years and really like our life here. They all want to settle down here.
However, Shiks has judged them to be traitors and they can't return to their homes.
"My act of borrowing 2,000 captives to represent our return has infuriated them, so they all want to join the army and fight their way back to Shiks.
"I've decided to expand the Shiksan folk by eight and bring them back to the eastern part of the continent. That way, we'll have enough troops when we attack Shiks.
Once we defeat Shiks, they'll bring their families back to the region. How many more people would we be able to add to our population then? "