The replies from Duke Reddragon and Marquis Griffon reached Claude very quickly. However, Claude could sense a deep sense of fatigue in the duke's letter.
In the letter, the old man beat around the bush and said a lot of good things about the allied nobles. In the end, he admitted that when they conquered the fourth county, the allied nobles did not reap a satisfactory result after paying a huge price in casualties because of the enemy's fortification and timely retreat.
Coincidentally, they ran into slave traders from the seven central kingdoms and decided to sell the captives to make up for their losses.
The old man admitted that it was his oversight that caused the allied nobles to do such a thing that went against the laws of the kingdom. However, he said that he was old and frail and could no longer lead his troops in battle. He planned to resign from his post as the highest commander of the allied nobles and return to his fief to recuperate.
That was why he apologized to Claude. It seemed that the mission to sweep through the ten western prefectures of Shiks wouldn't be able to be completed.
Compared to the old Red Dragon Duke's words, which were a mixture of truth and lies, the Griffin Marquis' reply was much more straightforward.
He told Claude that the allied nobles had lost the most basic of military discipline and were no longer an army. Instead, they were a huge criminal organization, the most despicable and shameless of bandits.
He felt ashamed that he was the vice-commander-in-chief of such an army.
Ever since the allied nobles invaded the three western prefectures, he had seen all sorts of immoral crimes committed. Most of the crimes were committed by the dignified and proper nobles of the kingdom.
They had completely lost their manners as nobles in the territories they conquered. All they saw was the light of gold.
For the sake of a gold tooth, they would cruelly behead an old man in his seventies. To force a merchant to hand over his last gold coin, they would throw an infant to death against the wall.
That was how Marquis described the crimes committed by the allied nobles. If all of them were to be executed, there would definitely be some who were unjustly accused. There were a hundred thousand of them, and many of them committed suicide.
However, apart from the execution of one of them, more than half of the remaining ones were full of crimes.
There was no military discipline in the coalition army of the nobles. Nobles of all sizes had formed their own groups of different sizes. Their only purpose was to plunder the wealth of the people. That was why they could immediately strike a deal with the slave traders and violate the kingdom's prohibition and legal provisions to carry out the slave trade.
In the letter, Gryphon reminded Claude not to hold any hope in the coalition army.
These nobles who had made a fortune did not have the intention to continue fighting. What they wanted now was to retreat back to their own territories and enjoy the loot.
Whether it was the nobles above or the soldiers below, they were all worried that they would lose their lives here.
Because of the evil deeds they had committed, there were resistance groups and guerrilla forces everywhere in the four occupied prefectures. If a small team went out, it was very likely that only three or four people would return …
Most terrifyingly, they didn't feel safe even in the heavily guarded camps. The Shiksans once sent suicide soldiers to drive carriages filled with gunpowder into the camp in the name of delivering vegetables, causing an explosion that killed almost a hundred people.
There were even Shiksans who infiltrated the camp and poisoned it, almost paralyzing the entire camp and killing more than a hundred people.
Now, the coalition army didn't dare to go out for patrols unless they had at least a company of men.
All of the nobles were scared out of their wits by the people's spontaneous resistance. They all requested to retreat, not daring to continue sweeping through other prefectures. No one was willing to continue attacking either. Now, they were worried about whether or not they could safely retreat.
Gryphon told Claude in the letter that the coalition army might have already started their retreat by the time he read the letter.
Claude regretted his decision to join the Shiksan invasion plan. He shouldn't have coveted the 100,000 men from the coalition army and thought that they could be a powerful support for the region.
Now, not only were they idiots, but they were also a bunch of idiots who wanted to run away after getting their hands on the spoils, leaving a mess for the region to clean up.
Claude had no choice but to send an urgent letter to Avitelli I of Bleyotte to have him raise his guard and prepare for battle. He didn't want the nobles to cause any more trouble when they passed through Bleyotte.
It wasn't a bad thing for them to leave. The coalition army was a bunch of pestilence after all.
However, Claude still had to send a folk of Stormwind to the borders of the ten western prefectures to monitor the retreat of the allied nobles and to clean up after them. He didn't want the resistance forces from the western prefectures to enter the regions controlled by the autonomous region.
In the latter half of the 5th month of Year 605, the transport fleet returned to Port Patkara under the escort of the armoured fleet. That meant that the families and relatives of the Shiksan folk gathered in Saint Cyprian would be able to migrate to the region again.
In these two months, as the Thundercrash army swept through a few more prefectures, more than six hundred thousand soldiers and their families gathered in Saint Cyprian City.
Fortunately, Count Murides and Jay Kleist's national guard had taken over the five southern and central prefectures, so the frontline command didn't have to worry about the safety of their flanks.
At the same time, Thundercrash could be deployed to carry out the original plan of taking over the four eastern prefectures of Shiks for Bleyotte.
By then, the vassal states around Shiks finally reacted. Shiks was like a juicy piece of meat placed in front of their former underlings. The vassal states who thought they had the right to get a slice of the pie started preparing their troops to take a bite out of that juicy meat.
News from all over the place reached the ears of Claude, who was stationed in Saint Cyprian City in the royal capital.
"Lord Marshal, this is an urgent letter from Avitelli I," said Fachselin as he placed a letter he had just received in front of Claude.
Claude took a look at the urgent letter and saw that the vassal states around Shiks, namely Santa Cruz, Caslort, Montero, Tumaco and Isabela, had sent envoys to Bleyotte.
They wanted to use Avitelli I's connections to pay a visit to Marshal Claude, who was the highest-ranking military officer in the region. That was why Avitelli I sent a letter to Claude.
Claude stood up and looked at the map of northern Freia hanging on the wall. He quickly noticed that the five countries Avitelli I mentioned were all vassal states that bordered the eastern and western borders of Shiks.
It was obvious that the envoys they sent were plotting against Shiks.
Just like Bleyotte, they had all had their territories forcibly ceded or ceded to Shiks in the past.
"Let their envoys come and inform Avitelli I," Claude instructed.
Captain Fachselin agreed and went out to send a messenger hawk.
Claude pondered as he looked at the map. The five countries bordering the eastern and western borders, together with Bleyotte, made six.
On the other hand, the five countries bordering the northern borders didn't show any signs of activity. The three northernmost countries were barbarian tribes, so they could be ignored. However, it was rather strange that the other two countries, Zemaria and Pramaya, didn't show any signs of activity.
Shiks had eleven prefectures in the north, but three of them were forcibly taken from those two kingdoms. They even fought a four-year border war for it.
Colonel Borkal pushed the door open and opened a bottle of fruit wine without any hesitation. He poured himself a glass and started drinking by himself.
Claude looked at him and saw that he was covered in dust. He had no idea where he had come from. "Where did you go?"
"Port Patkara.
We have four more ironclad transports this time, so we can transport more people and supplies back.
Also, General Skri of Northbay has requested that we transport 30,000 young captives to him for labor. He needs a large number of laborers there for basic construction.
At the same time, he also needs three million crowns for basic construction. The parliament wants us to use our profits for that. "
Claude chuckled. They had gotten so much from Shiks that even the parliament was envious. Now, they even had to pay for the construction of Northbay. "It's fine. We'll send 50,000 young captives there first. As for the funds, we'll send 10 million crowns worth of goods to General Skri. We just need to keep a good accounting.
The parliament can slowly repay the money we spend now anyway. We don't have to worry about them going back on their word. "
"That's only a small matter.
I received a report from a spy in the bureau yesterday. Count Murides Jay Kleist has called for a local council in Skanamo, the capital of Sckovia. He gave a speech there and the gist of it was that Shiks is currently at its most critical juncture. The reason why the national army endured the humiliation and came to an agreement with the invaders was to restore the kingdom's strength and save the nation.
"During the meeting, he said that the occupying forces of the region are at their peak and that not a single Shiksan army is a match for us.
That was why the national guard was willing to compromise and deal with the invaders in order to restore social order and safety to the areas they conquered. They wanted to restore production as quickly as possible so that they could one day drive the invaders out of Shiks.
During the meeting, someone accused Count Mullides Jay Kleist of siding with us and betraying the great kingdom of Shiks.
"If he truly wanted to serve the nation, he should've sent his troops to Duke Pilag Xi Feriot.
"It's said that the duke has gathered 300,000 troops and is heading for the ten western prefectures under the banner of restoring Shiks.
"That representative was refuted by Count Jay Kleist. He said that he's only taking a roundabout path to save the nation, so it's understandable that he's being criticized.
"However, what he wants to say is that if the national army defers to the duke, who can guarantee that the duke's troops will be able to defeat the invaders?
If they fail, Shiks will truly be done for. They won't have a reliable army to protect the innocent citizens.
"So, while others can seek refuge with the duke, the national army can't. It has to stay here and protect the citizens of the invaded land from being humiliated by the invaders. At the same time, it has to build up its strength and give Shiks its last hope. That's the most important duty of the national army at the moment."
Borkal's mouth was parched from all the talking and he downed a glass of fruit wine in one gulp. Panting, he said to Claude, "I don't think this Count Mullides Jay Kleist is very reliable. He actually dared to say such hostile words about our region. Shouldn't we give him a warning?"
Claude waved with a smile. "That's normal. To them, we're indeed occupying forces and invaders.
"We gave him the five southern prefectures and five central prefectures because we've already swept through those ten prefectures and they're no longer useful or attractive to us.
Our Dominion supported Earl Mullides Jay Kleist and the Protectorate Army precisely because we do not wish for these ten prefectures to become the headquarters of the resistance forces that oppose us.
"Judging from the current situation, the count is doing a great job. He's a perfect defender.
He can suppress the resistance forces, restore production and maintain social order. That's very beneficial to us.
First, we can carry out normal trade with his territory, and we can provide an endless supply of daily consumables and daily necessities for the area we occupy.
"Secondly, we don't need to waste our troops on his territory.
"That's why it's only natural for him to say something hostile to us. He also hopes to win the hearts of the people.
"But don't you think his words are laughable?
He's trying to save the nation in a roundabout way and building up his strength in secret so that he can drive us out.
Haha, we don't want to occupy Shiksan territory anyway. Trust me, before the count's strength surpasses ours, we'll be long gone back to our own region. "
Borkal froze for a moment before coming to a sudden realization. "That's right. I forgot that we're not going to stay here. Why bother with him?
There was one more thing. The allied nobles had already withdrawn from the Bleyot Kingdom without any mishaps.
However, their trip to Shiks was very fruitful. There were close to a thousand ox carts and even some of the looted furniture was tied to them to be transported back. "
Claude sighed. "That's good news. At the very least, we don't have to worry about those idiotic comrades causing trouble for us anymore.
By the way, is it true that the grand duke of the north gathered three hundred thousand troops to invade the ten western prefectures? "
Borkal shook his head. "We don't know if it's true or not because our spies haven't been able to penetrate deep into the eleven northern prefectures.
They got the news from the Shiksan people. Some people say it's true while others say it's false. The two standing corps that defected to the grand duke are still in Gerusta and the grand duke hasn't appeared in front of the people.
"However, I personally believe it's true. Otherwise, the allied nobles wouldn't have retreated so quickly.
"They were probably the first to receive the news, which is why they decided to retreat.
"I've done some calculations. The allied nobles entered the ten western prefectures from the east while the grand duke's three hundred thousand troops entered from the north. There's a thirty-to-forty day gap between them.
"The allied nobles must have received the news the moment the grand duke's troops moved and retreated without informing us."
Borkal was rather angry. He believed that the allied nobles had other sources of information but didn't inform the region. It was obvious that they were up to no good.
"If I'd known, I would've tricked the retreating allied nobles and made them pay a price."
Claude stood in front of the map and looked at it for a long while before shaking his head. "Perhaps it's just a coincidence.
"What I find strange is that if the grand duke gathered three hundred thousand troops under the banner of restoring Shiks, he should be attacking the nine eastern prefectures.
That's where Thundercrash is sweeping through, so he should be seeking a decisive battle with us.
"But why did he send three hundred thousand troops into the western prefectures?
Apart from the retreating allied nobles, there's no sign of us.
"Another possibility is that the three hundred thousand troops weren't conscripted by the grand duke, but by someone else.
"The person who entered the western prefectures might be trying to occupy his own territory, which is why he avoided the nine eastern prefectures that Thundercrash is attacking.
"That means the marshal of that army has a clear understanding of their own strength and knows that they aren't a match for Thundercrash, which is why they chose to avoid the strong.
"Send someone to investigate and see if that's the case."
Borkal nodded. "I understand. I'll send someone over."
"By the way, keep an eye out for one more thing. Are there any people like Count Murides Jay Kleist in the remaining central prefectures?"
Claude pointed at the map. "Of the nine eastern prefectures, four belong to Bleyotte. The remaining five probably won't be able to hold on to them. The two neighbouring countries, the former vassals of Santa Cruz and Castello, are eyeing those five prefectures covetously. They want to take a piece of Shiks as well.
The Kingdom of Montero, the Principality of Tumaco, and the Kingdom of Isabella, which bordered the ten counties in the west, were also getting restless. They were ready to take back their conquered lands. Whether they could succeed or not depended on their own abilities.
Now that the five southern and central prefectures belonged to the national guard, the eastern and western prefectures would be reduced to the eleven northern prefectures and a few western prefectures.
"That's why we need a suitable candidate for the ten central prefectures and the royal capital to compete with the grand duke and the national guard. That way, we'll be able to form a tripartite balance of power in Shiks after the war.
"When that happens, we won't have anything to worry about when we leave Shiks.
There's a pack of wolves on the outside and three powerhouses on the inside. Perhaps, the hegemon of the north, Shiks will become a legend … "