"Lord Marshal, this is a messenger eagle we just received from General Berklin," a captain in charge of communications said as he handed the grey slip of paper to Claude.
Claude took a look at the note and saw the words written on it: Sweep away all obstacles before you.
He couldn't help but smile. It seemed that Thundercrash was progressing smoothly. Otherwise, Berklin wouldn't have bragged about it in front of him.
At that moment, Claude was leading Thundercrash's main force and the three mountain corps led by King Avitelli I towards Skovia.
It had to be said that after getting used to the swift movements of light cavalry, marching alongside pure infantry felt like a snail crawling slowly.
Thundercrash's four main light cavalry divisions had already launched an unstoppable assault on the enemy's defensive line, but the three mountain corps were still slowly advancing from the rear.
Being able to cover 15 kilometers in a day with 170,000 to 180,000 men was already a very good progress. For the past two days, they had only been able to cover 10 or so kilometers a day. It seemed that they wouldn't be able to reach Sidpass without at least half a month.
That wasn't all that surprising. Avitelli I explained to Claude rather embarrassedly that the troops could cover at least 50 kilometers in a day in the mountains. On the other hand, marching on flat ground felt rather strange. There were always all sorts of problems that delayed the journey.
Back then, most of the troops traveled on flatbed carts, so they could reach the royal capital in around 10 days.
Now, the flatbed carts were used to carry the provisions and other supplies. Everyone had to walk on two legs, so their speed was greatly reduced.
"The organization isn't good, and neither is the military discipline!"
That was Borkal's evaluation of the three mountain corps. He pointed out the flaws of Bleyotte's army with a single prick.
Monolith was also an infantry corps, but they could cover 50 to 60 kilometers in a day. They could even cover 40 kilometers in a rush.
However, Monolith was a professional army. Be it their training or tactics, they far surpassed the armies of Freia by a large margin.
But the Bleyot Kingdom's three mountain legions were behaving in the same manner as the armies of other kingdoms.
He woke up around six or seven in the morning and slowly made breakfast. It was nothing more than a big bowl of porridge or soup with two pieces of black bread.
By the time they finished packing up the tents, it was already past nine or ten o 'clock. Then, they set off amidst the curses of the leading officers.
They did not maintain any formation. A large group of people gathered together and moved forward. If they were in a good mood, they would sing a few folk tunes. If they were in a bad mood, they would walk for a while while cursing. A few of them would find a place to sit down and catch up on sleep. This was a very common scene.
This kind of scene could be seen everywhere. Ordinary officers would not care about them as long as they could rush back to their units at night.
Borkal told Claude that in the three mountain corps of Bleyotte, it was common for fathers, sons, and brothers to be in the same corps. Most of the time, relatives, friends, and the like were grouped together in the same corps to ensure combat effectiveness. As a result, there was a lack of discipline on the part of the soldiers. If they broke the law, it would be a group of people. Punishing them would only lead to protests from the entire corps.
The three mountain legions of the Bleyot Kingdom couldn't be said to be without fighting strength.
Such troops and soldiers could be very powerful when they went berserk or got used to it.
However, against highly specialized professional armies like the Thunderclap Corps or the Monolith Corps, they would be crushed.
That was also the reason why Bleyotte was powerless against Shiks. Even if Shiks wasn't as strong as the military of the region, they would still be able to grind Bleyotte into the ground a few times.
Avitelli I and Ikedo, who served as Claude's adjutant, were very envious of Thundercrash's strict discipline and hoped to follow the military reforms of the region.
So, Claude decided to help them out. He stayed at the border of Skovia for a few days and reorganized the three mountain corps.
Naturally, Claude had no choice but to stop the march. Apart from reorganizing the three mountain corps, Blancarte had finally arrived and wanted to discuss the matter of the kingdom's army participating in the war.
The twenty days of continuous travel had worn him out. The moment he saw Claude, he greeted him and fell asleep. Claude didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Blancarte slept for about 14 hours. When he woke up, it was already the night of the next day.
He immediately asked to see Claude and had a hearty meal in his tent before telling Claude the reason for his visit.
Blancarte wanted the kingdom's army to participate in the war against Shiks. At the very least, they would have to show their faces in Shiks.
Reddragon stationed in Nasry's royal capital was ready to set off and would arrive in Shiks in half a month's time.
Similarly, Reddragon could listen to Claude's commands, but Blancarte wanted them to be stationed in the Shiksan royal capital, Saint Cyprian.
That was the only way to show that Aueras wasn't just a bystander in the war.
Claude welcomed the idea of the kingdom's army interfering in the war.
He only had Thundercrash and Stormwind as his main forces at the moment. The rest were a corps and a half of the nobles' allied army and three Bleyottean mountain corps.
Putting aside the strength of the allied army, the three Bleyottean mountain corps were far from ideal and it was hard to say whether they could be relied on during critical moments.
As for the eight Shiksan folk, they were still passable in terms of maintaining order. But the problem was that their main mission was to migrate their families and relatives to the region.
Claude doubted whether the Shiksan captives would be able to maintain their fighting prowess and determination in their homeland if they were to become the main force of the war.
After all, the region was now an invader and the eight Shiksan folk were, to put it bluntly, a puppet army. Claude naturally knew how strong the puppet army was.
Even though he had already found a way out for the eight Shiksan folk to migrate to the region with their families, he was still worried that they would just slack off and get away with it.
Shiks was a huge kingdom with 53 prefectures and the royal capital. It was also the hegemon of Northland.
The region's army had set up a meticulous trap to lure Majid III and his ministers into taking the bait. Then, Thundercrash and Stormwind attacked the royal capital with lightning speed and wiped out their base.
Saint Cyprian fell too quickly and Shiks was left without a leader. Most prefectures didn't even have the time to react.
That was why Claude ordered Eiblont to lead Stormwind and four Shiksan folk to investigate Saint Cyprian while he led Thundercrash to attack the Shiksan army gathered at the southern coast. He wanted to eliminate the enemy before they could react and lessen the threat they posed to him.
The Royal Capital's resistance forces and organizations in Saint Cyprian City had to be eliminated as soon as possible. This was to prevent these resistance forces from leaving the Royal Capital and mobilizing the people to resist the invasion of the overseas autonomous military zone.
Only by wiping out the Shiksan standing corps gathered along the southern coast would they be able to intimidate the prefectures so that they wouldn't dare to resist.
Strictly speaking, the four prefectures between Bleyotte and the royal capital were under the control of the four Shiksan folk.
Next up was the royal capital region and Saint Cyprian, which had fallen into the hands of Tempest. They were currently conducting an investigation of the royal capital with the four returning Shiksan folk that had just arrived.
Apart from that, there was also Dartmouth, which Thundercrash had plundered, and Skkovia, which Thundercrash was currently attacking.
Shiks had fifty-three prefectures and the royal capital. Claude could only confidently say that he had six prefectures and one royal capital under his control.
However, among these six prefectures, Dartmouth Prefecture had already been looted clean and abandoned. Another prefecture was in the middle of a battle. Once this battle was over, no one could tell what would happen to Skovia Prefecture …
So, Claude welcomed Blancarte's anxiousness when he rushed over to say that the kingdom would join the war as well.
Reddragon, on the other hand, had already switched to the new rifles manufactured by the region. They were much stronger than before.
They were also willing to accept Claude's command, which made him very happy.
He was currently lacking armed forces that could hold his own, so he could have Reddragon help him defend one side.
However, Blancarte went overboard and suggested that Reddragon be stationed in Saint Cyprian, which Claude immediately rejected.
What a joke. Giving Reddragon to guard Saint Cyprian? How could he even think of something like that?
Claude looked at Blancarte in disdain. We're still in the middle of the investigation and will only start looting the capital after it's over. How can I let you share such a juicy piece of meat?
After Stormwind took over Saint Cyprian, the Shiksan royal treasury plundered a staggering 17 million crowns. That didn't even include the huge amount of resources taken from the treasury.
It was no wonder that Majid III still had the confidence to fight the region to the death even after Shiks suffered so many defeats at the hands of the region.
One could only imagine how wealthy Shiks was. Claude's plan to murder them was the right one.
Blancarte wasn't in a hurry despite Claude's rejection. He asked Claude where he was going to station Reddragon.
Claude spread out a map of Shiks and gave Blancarte an analysis of the current situation.
Currently, Duke Reddragon and Marquis Gryphon had a total of three folk of nearly a hundred thousand men. They had taken over the ten western prefectures where Shiks' defences were lacking.
The remaining eleven northern prefectures, nine eastern prefectures, eight southern prefectures, fifteen central prefectures, and a large number of other prefectures needed to be swept through. Reddragon could choose his targets.
Claude's Thundercrash and the three Buyoth mountain corps would have to deal with the Shiksan standing corps gathered along the coast of the eight southern prefectures. On one hand, they would have to clear out Shiks' armed forces, and on the other hand, they would have to take over a few port cities.
The families and relatives of the eight Shiksan homecoming folk would have to migrate to the region. They would need a safe port city for the transport fleet to dock.
Since the allied nobles chose the ten western prefectures, Reddragon would have to choose the northern prefectures. Blancarte stared at the map for a long while before making his decision.
Two of the nine eastern prefectures and fifteen central prefectures were already occupied by Claude's Shiksan homecoming folk. Claude's next target would be the eight southern prefectures.
So, Blancarte believed that if Reddragon wanted to be independent, they would have to do the same as the allied nobles and choose the northern prefectures that the region couldn't handle.
Claude hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. He told Blancarte that it would be best not to choose the northern prefectures. There were too many variables there. If possible, the region might even give up on the northern prefectures.
That was because the northern prefectures still had Duke Pilag Xi Feriot, and two Shiksan standing corps were heading north to join him.
"It's said that Duke Pilag Xi Feriot has a frontier corps of fifty thousand men under him. It's a private corps belonging to House Feriot and they defend the four northern prefectures against the highland barbarians. They're very strong," Claude told Blancarte as he pointed at the eleven northern prefectures on the map.
"With the addition of Clyde and Jessica, as well as the garrisons of the various prefectures, we can easily muster four to five hundred thousand men.
Additionally, eight of the eleven northern prefectures are located on the highlands. The terrain isn't favorable to us, so we hope that the duke will stay put and not participate in the upheaval of Shiks. "
After hearing Claude's explanation, Blancarte's doubts were cleared up. The only reason Claude would be so worried was that Duke Pilag Xi Feriot was quite capable and couldn't be underestimated.
Claude didn't hide anything and told Blancarte that Duke Pilag was the highest commander of the alliance during the second Eastertide war.
He was the one who led the hundred thousand Shiksan wounded and wounded back to Shiks when he saw that things weren't looking good for him. He escaped Thundercrash's pursuit and caused Claude's complete victory to fall short.
In truth, he wasn't afraid of fighting the duke again, but he didn't have the time or energy to waste on him.
The most important thing right now was to take the fruits of victory as soon as possible. When everything was settled, perhaps they could meet the Grand Duke of the Northern Lands.
"My suggestion is for the Red Dragon Legion to sweep through the remaining ten or so prefectures in the central region. The Storm Legion will have to suppress Saint Cyprian City and the royal capital region. We won't be able to stabilize the situation in the royal capital region within three months.
Reddragon will sweep through the prefectures we can't deal with. If anything happens, we'll be able to take care of Stormwind, "Claude said.
Blancarte gave it some thought and agreed to Claude's suggestion.
However, he asked, "Majid III is dead. Does the region have any plans for Shiks' future?"
Claude shook his head. All he wanted to do right now was to pacify the situation and have the eight Shiksan returnee folk migrate their families to the region. Then, they would transport all the loot back to Northbay and leave a mess for anyone to clean up.
Shiks wouldn't be able to recover for at least two to three decades after what they did. They wouldn't be able to pose a threat to Aueras and the region anymore.
Blancarte smiled. He wasn't Claude's match in terms of military affairs, but he had far more experience in politics.
The way he saw it, Claude's plan was a little too childish. It was like a child who messed up and didn't want to clean up after himself. He would only learn his lesson after being beaten up by his parents.
"Why don't you consider dismantling Shiks?"
Blancarte smiled. "Take that duke of the north you mentioned for example. You can totally convince him to establish an independent Northland dukedom or something like that.
There was also the vassal states around Shiks. Since Bleyotte could recover its lost territory and give it four prefectures in the east, it was entirely possible for the vassal states to take back the conquered prefectures from Shiks.
That way, the Shiksan territory will be reduced by a large margin. You can support a few Shiksan nobles in the central and southern prefectures and have them occupy a few prefectures to establish their own sphere of influence. They can even form an alliance to establish a kingdom or something like that.
That way, even if your entire military retreats in the future, there won't be any peace in Shiks.
As long as the various forces on this land fight for a long time, they won't be able to pose a threat to our kingdom and the overseas autonomous region. They might even have to rely on the military force of the autonomous region to maintain their power.
"That's much better than your idea of leaving after making a fortune.
Doing what you're doing will only make the region a target of hatred for all Shiksans. Doing what I said will only make the people hate the separatist factions. "
Claude slapped his forehead in shame. Having lived two lives, he had forgotten the wisdom of his ancestors in his previous life. Befriending distant enemies, attacking close ones, splitting up and attacking together, swallowing and devouring, Sun Tzu's Art of War, the Thirty-Six Stratagems and so on. There were too many examples of such strategies to deal with the current situation.
All he could think about was making a fortune and leaving. He even needed Blancarte's reminder to wake him up.