Episode 164 Krafte War – Northern United Kingdom (2)
“Gustav XII is certainly an ambitious man. “There are a lot of complaints.”
Talleyrand leisurely took a sip of coffee, sipped it slowly as if savoring it, and then opened his mouth again.
“I think I understand why the Count of Aquitaine said it would be possible to appease them.”
Christine took a sip of coffee and answered lightly.
“As expected, you didn’t completely trust me and followed me.”
“Haha, as I said, the Count of Aquitaine is a person who must be trusted. But…”
Talleyrand grinned and winked.
“There is no such thing as 100% in diplomacy. Basically, we are working with a country we don’t know well, so we don’t know where and what variables will arise.”
“okay. I just observed it with the eyes of a merchant. So what do you think of Gustav XII and the Northern United Kingdom as seen through the eyes of the governor?”
Talleyrand took another sip of coffee and answered with a grin.
“There is a severe gap between the king, who is greedy and thinks he is capable, and the national power that cannot support him. “Of course, I can’t be 100% sure, but won’t this country ever reach its heyday?”
Christine also smiled darkly.
Gustav
The fame of the Great King of Krafte and the young magnates of Francia stimulated the young King to think that he, too, would like to do the same.
On the outside, he acted as if he was displeased with Francia’s proposal, but Gustav
Of course, they don’t know that Christine knows all those confidential matters.
“It was a good thing you did not guarantee their return of territory. “President Talleyrand’s speaking skills are something I admire.”
Talleyrand responded to Christine’s words with a grin.
“There is absolutely no guarantee that their army will be able to defeat Krafte’s army, so Franzia cannot shed blood to give territory to an alliance that has been brought in to disperse its power. Of course, this is also possible thanks to the support of the Count of Aquitaine.”
“What is immediately important to the vested interests of the Northern United Kingdom is to lift the maritime blockade and sell their minerals. It is easy to use because the king and his supporters have separate interests. Ultimately, what they lack is food, and we can solve that somehow.”
Talleyrand touched his chin with his hand and asked:
“What is the scale of the rebellion within Krafte that would respond to them?”
“Well…”
Christine paused a bit before answering.
“Due to the nature of the rebellion, it is difficult for me to make an exact guess, but if we add it all up, it would be tens of thousands.”
“Wow. “Do you think the loser of the rapidly rising northern part of the empire will have a hard time?”
“It’s possible because he’s a loser who quickly emerged. Currently, about half of the Kingdom of Krafte’s territory is territory occupied by a foreign country during the reign of the Great King. “In the meantime, Krafte was doing well and the outcome was obvious if we rebelled against their army, so we were just cowering.”
Talleyrand laughed.
“On top of that, we defeated the Krafte army and brought in the Northern United Kingdom, and the Count even provided financial support. “It’s like pouring fuel on a dying ember.”
“That’s right.”
Talleyrand’s face became complicated as he looked at Christine who answered calmly.
It’s easier said than done, but neither Krafte nor they are fools.
He carried out an intelligence operation that made people believe that Francia was focusing on military operations, while at the same time bribing the nobles of the Northern United Kingdom and inciting the feudal lords within Krafte.
It’s hard to imagine how busy she was and how much money she must have spent during the two-year blackout that Krafte allowed.
It is said that the Aquitaine upper class made a lot of money during the civil war and revolution, as did the sacred power amplification revision that shocked the National Assembly, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that they poured almost everything into this war.
And yet you remain so calm.
In fact, even those who called for the so-called defense of the revolution in the National Assembly would hesitate if asked to donate all their assets for the victory of the revolution.
Unfortunately, this becomes even more true the more people have.
“The Count of Aquitaine is amazing. “Even if I wasn’t a merchant, my heart would tremble if I placed that kind of stake.”
“I’m shaking.”
Just as Talleyrand was laughing when he saw Christine’s expression, which was as sad as she said, a servant came.
“Governor Talleyrand, Count of Aquitaine.”
“Oh, it looks like the news you’ve been waiting for has arrived?”
Talleyrand took the letter handed to him by his servant, opened it, and smiled.
“Ah, it seems that King Gustav XII finally gave the courageous decision. “There will be a little more coordination before signing a formal agreement.”
Christine sighed lightly and answered.
“I’ll leave that to the governor.”
“hmm? Are you planning to return home first?”
“I have a lot of work to do. It would be nice to be able to see the results as much as possible, but it would be difficult if you couldn’t respond to other matters in the meantime. “The president is more skilled at diplomacy than I am, so I will trust you and leave it to you.”
Talleyrand touched his chin with a perplexed look on his face.
“Haha, this is it. “Do you know that it’s very ambiguous?”
“What?”
“Usually politicians are anxious to get even a little more on such a large number. “But all you have to do is prepare all the dishes and serve them to the customers, but to see them hand over the whole plate and leave makes me feel strange because I see them as competitors.”
Christine glanced at Talleyrand, then the corners of her mouth twitched and she smiled.
“Did I lack enough influence to have to worry about signing a single treaty?”
Talleyrand’s expression crumpled at the seemingly arrogant remark.
“Oh yeah. I understand. Anyway, the Marquis de Lafayette and you both do everything they can to serve their country, but they still have no taste for food. “I will take care of this, so please go first and reassure the National Assembly, which is probably feeling restless.”
Here, Christine paused for a moment.
Why is Talleyrand like that? As I tilted my head, Christine slowly opened her mouth.
“I’m going to the Magic Kingdom, not my home country.”
“Magic Kingdom? “Why are you there?”
“I have a deal…?”
Talleyrand narrowed his eyes at Christine’s rarely interrogative words.
“The sacred power amplification fix has been completed. What’s the deal? “What’s the deal?”
“…it’s faster to find a place that doesn’t exist in the upper Aquitaine branch.”
After a moment of silence, Talleyrand spoke.
“Well, even if we go that far, it will only be a few days at most.”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
Talleyrand looked at her like, ‘Ah, what should I do with this pretty girl?’, so Christine cleared her throat and turned her back.
“Okay then, let’s go and say hello to the Marquis de Lafayette and Her Majesty the Queen. “I will handle this very neatly.”
“…Please.”
“It’s youth, it’s youth~ I’m jealous!”
Christine pretended not to hear and left the room.
* * *
A week has passed since the Battle of Bahua ended.
Fortunately, Eris’ eyesight returned to normal in the meantime, and Her Majesty the Queen began to help treat the injured with a lively appearance as if she had never been so.
And I was greeted by a familiar face.
“Meet the king’s brother!”
“It’s been a while, Karok and Shandra. “I would like to thank you for coming this far and accepting the unreasonable request of defending against the invasion of the Germanian Empire.”
Karok and Shandra, who had brought reinforcements from the Brotherhood of Iberica, received my request and went north, defeating the imperial army attached to Krafte and protecting Lorraine.
Just by looking at it, the one-eyed, scary-looking orc who looked like he was going to chew me up smiled softly, and Shandra joked with her cheerful face as always.
“Wow, I almost died. The imperial army was a ragtag group. Was it Count Wittelsbach? “That strike was amazing.”
“Ah, Count Wittelsbach.”
The empire’s strongest knight.
His talent seemed worthy of being called the strongest in the empire, but the gap in experience was his limit.
Have you been training hard ever since you were defeated by me? Even Shandra’s skills are not easy, but she almost died…
If I had given her some unnecessary stimulation to get over the wall, she would have gotten tired. As expected, it’s a pity that I couldn’t kill him then.
“Anyway, thank you again. “If it weren’t for you, Lorraine, the key defense line on the Franzian border, would have been lost in vain.”
“I am glad to be able to repay even a little of the debt owed to my brother country. From now on, we will join you.”
“Ah, please. How is your king doing?”
“Haha, you are full of complaints, saying it was easier to go to war. “I’ve run away and been caught by my brother more than once.”
I laughed as I imagined a muscular orc the size of a house struggling between piles of documents, then running away and being dragged back to the office by the skinny Hassan.
“Haha, it’s actually more difficult to rule than to conquer. But he is your king and no one else. “I believe you will do well.”
“I think the King will be pleased with your brother’s trust.”
As Karok and I were exchanging warm smiles, Shandra opened her mouth.
“ah. Now that I think about it, why did the imperial army come to Lorraine? “Isn’t it normal to join Alsace, which already has a beachhead and is currently engaged in a war?”
“Haha…”
Tactically, yes.
Of course, they may have caught us off guard while we were engaged in an engagement with the Krafte army, but Lorraine is where the defense line we built in preparation for the Krafte army still remains.
Even though the imperial army was a ragtag bunch, that must have been a big reason why the armies of the brother countries were able to easily win.
“I don’t know about the Brotherhood, but the human nations in the central continent are very political. Since they joined the war late, they probably tried to make some kind of achievement rather than join in as a sidekick in Krafte’s battle, which they would win anyway.”
“Hmm, that’s stupid. In the end, I was kicked out and had to fight alongside Krafte.”
I smiled and answered.
“Thanks to you, we survived.”
The army of the Iberian Brotherhood places emphasis on hand-to-hand combat, so its doctrine is very different from that of the Frangian army.
If we didn’t plan a strategy that took them into consideration in advance, it would have been difficult to immediately become a force compared to the troops, and to be honest, I am very worried that they will melt before they can even get in front of the crazy firepower of the Krafte army.
In such a situation, if the imperial army, which was a ragtag group but could keep pace with the Krafte army in terms of doctrine, had come along, we would have probably suffered more.
I glanced behind me and smiled.
“Now, the person who will guide you has arrived, so let’s go and rest. “There will be some time left until the next battle.”
“All right.”
“Yes~ ah.”
Shandra answered me with Karok, turned her back, and ran away with a big smile when she saw Gaston, whom I had called as the guide.
From the looks of it, Gaston seems quite happy to see me now, so a smile naturally spreads across my face.
I watched as the veteran soldiers waved happily to the mixed army of human and orc goblins from the Brotherhood, while the new recruits looked at the orcs with wide eyes.
At this rate, much of the prejudice has disappeared.
When I first met Crocs, I had no idea it would end up like this, but I don’t think cooperation would be difficult for me.
In the last battle, the casualties of the revolutionary army were about 60,000 and the casualties of the Krafte army were about 40,000.
It is quite depressing to see such fighting costs even after mobilizing a huge amount of crystals and pushing Eris to the limit, but there is Eris on this side, and there is also Archbishop John, who cooperates as much as possible as long as it does not go against the policies of the Holy Church.
Thanks to this, about 10,000 casualties have already received treatment and can return to the front line.
The troops brought by Karok and Shandra are equivalent to 50,000, so there is virtually no difference in our troops.
It is painful that the cuirassiers, the core of the Frangian army’s strength, suffered severe damage in the last battle, but the casualties were nothing compared to Krafte, which lost a significant amount of its artillery and suffered a loss of power.
Even if this is not the case here, if the Krafte army, which is inferior in terms of military strength, disperses, there is a good chance of victory.
As I was thinking that, I heard a voice from behind me.
“The Northern United Kingdom has declared war on the Kingdom of Krafte. In response, the princes who had been subordinate to Krafte, led by the Duke of Saxony and the Duke of Warsaw, declared a war of independence.”
I turned and answered.
“This is the news I’ve been waiting for.”
Christine smiled slightly and answered.
“You probably received the news before the Great King of Krafte.”
I walked over and hugged Christine.
Christine paused for a moment and spoke in a low whisper.
“Actually, I wanted to come see you first as soon as the battle was over.”
“Thank you for coming like this.”
Ah, this is the real deal.
When I realized it too late and embarrassedly let her go, the eyes of those around me turned.
Ah….
“I’m sorry. “I’m so happy to see you.”
Christine looked up at me and said.
“I worked hard for you, spent a lot of money, went through a long journey, and was embarrassed as soon as I came home.”
“That…”
As I was fidgeting, Christine spread a fan to cover her mouth and whispered so that only I could hear.
“So I will demand reasonable compensation. “Pierre.”
“….”
I immediately held her hand and started heading towards my dorm.
What are you looking at?
“I didn’t see anything, Commander-in-Chief!”
“Let’s sweep the bar floor. The floor…”
I felt the sound of Christine following me laughing, tickling my heart.
