On the 13th of the 12th month, the Shiksan families arrived in the region once more.
However, Thundercrash's 90,000 soldiers were also being transported this time. According to the arrangement of the autonomous region's military, the soldiers of Thundercrash would have a three-month holiday to reunite with their families. They would then head to the Pamigal Republic at the end of March next year.
But soon, Claude personally issued orders for Thundercrash to be stationed in the four states of the region: Arturas, Tyrrsim, Mormaly and Robisto. HQ was to be stationed at Lanu in Anfiston.
The Monolith Army that was originally stationed in these four states was sent to Balingana, Cromwell, Port Vebator and Loki Mountains. The army headquarters was moved to Lanu …
That way, apart from Anfiston, each of the nine states of the region would have a folk stationed there.
The troops directly under the two corps headquarters added up to about a folk's strength and were all in place.
So, on the 10th of the 1st month of Year 607 of the Sacred Light Calendar, the region's parliament and the region's military district issued an order to crack down on organized crime in the region, known as Operation Crackdown.
The new year wasn't a good one for many people in the region. Usually, government offices would only start operating normally after the 15th of the new year.
But this time, before the tenth day of the new year, all local civil servants received a notice to go to another local town to handle official business and cooperate with the autonomous territory's military in the crackdown. Their performance of official business this time would also be included in the official assessment list.
For the sake of the official hat on their heads and the hidden income of gray and black, even the most bad-tempered local public officials had to obediently obey. They were just handling a case in a different place. This was a precedent, and all the local public officials in the cities and towns were being transferred. It was not specifically targeted at an individual.
So, nobody suspected anything. At most, they would scold the higher-ups for having nothing better to do than come up with such an idea to ruin the new year for everyone.
But when the officials arrived at their destination, they found it to be a heavily guarded military camp.
Before they could settle down, investigators who claimed to be from the Dominion Investigation Bureau came to their door and took some of them away, saying that they wanted to know more about the criminal activities of the local triads. However, those who were taken away never returned.
The other local public officials were not surprised. They could only secretly rejoice that they did not collude with the underworld organizations, because the people who were taken away were very close to their local underworld organizations, and some of them were even members of the underworld organizations.
At this time, everyone already knew about the crackdown, so it was inevitable that these guys would suffer …
As the crackdown continued, some administrative and public officials were taken away and never returned. It was said that these people were secretly colluding with local triads or working for them.
Now that more and more members of the underworld were arrested, they confessed more and more. The things that were hidden were also confessed, and some of them even provided physical evidence such as account books, dividends, and signatures.
It was understood that most of the local public officials colluded with the local triads or used each other …
Since every state was guarded by a division of the Thundercrash or Monolith Army under the Dominion Command and all the main roads were sealed, the crackdown in all the local towns was carried out smoothly.
The local garrison forces led the arrest of the local triads, and most of them were arrested accurately.
Even the bosses of the underworld organizations who were informed by the spies couldn't escape tomorrow. The whole place had been sealed off, and they couldn't escape even if they wanted to. Instead, the spies they were on good terms with were exposed.
There were also some triad bosses who were prepared to fight to the death. They gathered their men and resisted stubbornly, causing a certain number of casualties to the officers who arrested them.
However, no matter how they resisted, they could not stop the light infantry field artillery brought by the officers of the two corps. After two or three shots, the rest were either corpses or prisoners.
After all, no matter how powerful the triads were, they could not resist the largest violent organization in the army …
The progress and harvest of the crackdown in various places were quickly summarized and sent to the Crackdown Command set up by the Dominion Command through Hawk Messenger.
According to the reports of the officers who carried out the mission, the officers in charge of the local garrison forces rarely colluded with the local triads. There were only four or five cases in the nine states.
On the other hand, there were quite a number of patrol departments in the local towns who were in cahoots with the evil. More than a third of them had learned about the crackdown and tipped off the local triads. It was obvious that the patrol department needed a major cleanup and purge. The executive councilor in charge of the overseas autonomous region's patrol department, Hazorak, was furious. He felt humiliated …
However, the arrest of the triads did not mean the crackdown was over. What followed was the reorganization and investigation of the governance of the overseas autonomous region.
All the local administrative and public officials who were dispatched to other places to deal with the crackdown would all be investigated. Those corrupt officials with clear evidence would be taken away directly. What awaited them would be the confiscation of their properties and the sentence of their entire families to the labor camps. They would have to pay the price for all the happiness they had enjoyed in the past.
General Bolonik was determined to rectify the governance of the overseas autonomous region.
By the middle of February, the entire crackdown had entered the final stage. At this time, quite a number of parliament members had come to intercede on behalf of their relatives who were arrested in a roundabout way.
However, General Bolonik rejected every single one of them. He reprimanded the councilors and told them that the captured people were harming the foundation of the Dominion. Pleading on their behalf was akin to digging up their own people. They wouldn't even know when the wall would collapse …
With Claude's support, Bolonik was not afraid that the pleading councilors would fly into a rage.
In fact, the councilors had formed an alliance based on their interests. They had shares in the industries that the autonomous region monopolized, such as the railway company and the tobacco factory.
Privately, they also owned shipbuilding, brewing, papermaking, mining and so on. They were all highly profitable industries.
The councilors were the ruling class of the autonomous region. Now that they had enough profits, they would prioritize their local reputation and family's reputation. Those who came to plead on behalf of their relatives or families were pressured by them.
After being rejected and reprimanded by Marshal Bolonik, they immediately expressed their support for the reorganization and investigation. They even published articles in the dominion's major newspapers, praising the crackdown and the investigation …
Bolonik was a shrewd man. He was hoping that one of the councilors would go against the executive committee for the arrest of his relatives and connections so that the committee would make an example out of him and revoke his councilor position.
Unfortunately, no one gave him the chance. Becoming a councilor meant entering the ruling class of the autonomous region.
No one would give up the coveted position and become the enemy of Bolonik and Claude for the sake of a distant relative who made a huge mistake.
The crackdown and the crackdown that ended at the end of February left the autonomous region with a huge shortage of civil servants. Almost three-quarters of the civil servants were missing and many of the administrative offices in the cities and towns were paralyzed.
Thanks to the crackdown, however, law and order were still relatively good.
The patrol department wasn't as bad as imagined either. Half of the officers were still on duty after the crackdown and could maintain basic social order.
Bolonik led the inspectors of the executive committee to conduct civil service examinations in the various cities and towns while urging Claude to settle the list of retired soldiers as soon as possible.
He wanted to fill the vacancies with outstanding veterans. Be it the executive committee or HQ, they were all swamped with work.
Fortunately, Claude didn't forget to give Thundercrash's officers and soldiers some time off after the crackdown ended. Otherwise, things would definitely get out of hand.
In the third month of Year 607 of the Sacred Light Calendar, the biggest task of the region was to cash in the rewards. Most of the bountiful spoils from Shiks had been shipped back to the region and they had to be cashed in for the soldiers' rewards.
That didn't just apply to Thundercrash. Stormwind and the eight Shiksan homecoming folk were given a share as well. However, the distribution would be reduced based on their performance on the battlefield.
Generally speaking, a Shiksan homecoming folk soldier would receive ten crowns, a Stormwind soldier would receive twenty to twenty-eight crowns, while a Thundercrash soldier would receive thirty-five to forty crowns. The distribution of the rewards was posted on the walls of the camp. Whichever corps experienced more battles would receive more.
Towards the end of the third month, the transport fleet arrived at the region once more. Moriad brought Eiblont's report to Claude.
Eiblont's Stormwind was currently stationed at Port Patkara, which was leased to the region by Bleyotte. The only ones left there were Stormwind, the eight Shiksan homecoming folk and five to six hundred thousand Shiksan immigrants.
After the transport fleet made two more trips to transport the eight Shiksan homecoming folk and their families back to the region, only Stormwind and a hundred thousand Shiksan captives were left in Port Patkara.
According to the plan, the Stormwind Legion would only need to leave a division of 18,000 men to defend Port Patcara. Another 30,000 to 40,000 young captives would be responsible for reclaiming the wasteland outside Port Patcara. The other three divisions would escort the selected captives to the Great Plains of Canas to be stationed at the North Bay.
Eiblont's report stated that the departure of Thundercrash caused Shiks to be in a state of unrest. The grand duke of the north had already formed his own armed forces and it was said that they had four standing corps.
The kingship forces were also in constant conflict with the Dusk River grand duke at the border. Small skirmishes often broke out.
As for the national defence forces, they were fighting amongst themselves and trying to annex each other's territory. They were the first to start fighting.
In other words, the three biggest factions of Shiks hadn't officially started fighting yet. Instead, it was the small fries like the national defence forces that were jumping around the most.
It seemed like they wanted to wait for the autonomous region's army to retreat before starting the battle. This was to prevent the autonomous region's army from suddenly appearing from behind and dealing a fatal blow while the three forces were engaged in a fierce battle. If that happened, they would really be done for.
Eiblont asked Claude if he was really going to leave only a folk of Stormwind to defend Port Patkara.
He felt that it was better to leave Stormwind there. That way, they would be a threat to all three factions and perhaps the war wouldn't break out.
Eiblont was worried that the three factions fighting would affect the construction and development of Port Patkara.
Claude could only shake his head and write back to Eiblont.
In the letter, he told General Eiblont that he was determined to carry out the plan drawn up by the Dominion.
It would be best if the three factions of Shiks fought each other. Only then would Port Patkara be at peace.
The longer they fought, the more they would rely on the Dominion's blood transfusion. Only then would Port Patcara be truly developed and become another prosperous market for the Dominion …
Eiblont was a pure soldier. The first thing he thought about when he saw an enemy was how to protect his own people by destroying them instead of using them to achieve his own goals.
What Claude and the region hoped for was for the three Shiksan factions to fight each other for a few years while the region's military supported the weak and suppressed the strong. That way, Shiks would truly lose all hope of being united and split into three smaller nations.
After replying to General Eiblont's letter, Major Fachselin reported that the Pamigal Republic had sent another envoy. They were here to urge the Dominion to send Thundercrash over as soon as possible to fulfill their duty as an ally.
No matter what, the Pamigars had accepted the suggestion of the Dominion's military and voluntarily reduced the strength of the Republic's two standing corps. They felt like they were naked and defenseless. When they saw that Thundercrash hadn't arrived by the deadline, they sent an envoy to urge them to hurry up.
Claude could only apologise helplessly. Due to the sudden mission, Thundercrash's soldiers had to delay their vacation and were only given a month's leave.
Claude hoped that the pamigar emissary would be understanding and give him another month. Thundercrash would be able to gather at the end of the fourth month and head to the pamigar republic.
During that month, Claude could guarantee that the pamigal republic wouldn't be attacked by enemies. That was something he was confident about.
Due to the alliance with the pamigals, news of Thundercrash being stationed in the pamigal republic had long since spread to the colonies of the western coast.
No one would be so stupid as to send their own troops to attack the pamigals and draw the retaliation of the region's military.
Fortunately, apart from Thundercrash, who needed a month to reach the Pamigal Republic, the military aid provided to the pamigals by the other autonomous regions had arrived on time.
The instructors, muskets, and other military supplies had already been dispatched, so Ambassador Parmigarte had nothing to say but worry.
A month passed quickly. Thundercrash's 1st folk had already boarded a ship and set off for Filimuz Port, a port city the pamigals had leased to the region.
The pamigal envoy went back with the ship and thanked Claude profusely before he left.
Claude promised him that he would deploy a folk a month and have all four of Thundercrash's folk in place within four months.
However, Thundercrash's headquarters would only be able to set off after half a year.
Because of the retirement and the recruitment of new recruits, the two instructional groups directly under the headquarters had to complete the half-year training mission of the new recruits before they could set off for the Pamigal National Republic.
After dealing with all those trivial matters, Claude wanted to find some time to take a two-day break when Borkal came.
His goal was money, and the reason he had for it was very convincing. He said that the security bureau was in charge of the entire region, just as the investigation bureau was in charge of the region.
Only the intelligence bureau he was in charge of had to deal with all the countries on Freia. Given how vast its scope was, why did it only get a million crowns like the security bureau and the investigation bureau?
Claude smiled bitterly and told Borkal that the biggest difference between the intelligence bureau and the investigation bureau was that the intelligence bureau was autonomous.
That autonomy could be seen in the collection and use of commercial intelligence. For example, the intelligence bureau could use the name of a trading company to enter and leave the various countries on Freia and smoothly deploy spies to the capitals and important cities of the various kingdoms. As for the commercial gains, the intelligence bureau would have its own say.
In other words, apart from the funds allocated by the higher-ups, the intelligence bureau could also earn its own income. That was why the intelligence bureau had the same budget as the security bureau and the investigation bureau despite having the largest scope of operations.
Claude felt that rather than worrying about how to set up the intelligence bureau, it would be better for Borkal to set up a trading company or a trading company to organize goods and manpower to head to Freia to gather intelligence. That way, it would be much better than complaining about the lack of funds for the intelligence bureau in the region.
Borkal came to a realization. Just as he was about to leave the office, Claude stopped him.
Claude told Borkal that it was better to come at the right time than to come early.
Marshal Bolonik had handed him a million crowns draft in the past two days. This was the harvest from the crackdown and the investigation of corrupt officials. It added up to about three million crowns. The autonomous army could use the money to invest in the Intelligence Agency's trading company.