Episode 119 Revolutionary Defense War – Krafte (1)
Germanian Empire.
It is a vast empire centered on Germanic peoples, occupying more than half of the central continent, but the area actually ruled by the emperor is not even half of the vast territory.
The remaining territories are all ruled by feudal lords, and each lord enjoys a status no different from that of a king, at least in his own territory.
Among them, the Kingdom of Krafte, the conqueror of the northern part of the Germanian Empire and controlling territory second only to the emperor, was considered to be a de facto independent country.
In the first place, the currently reigning King Charles II is praised as the ‘Great King’ after fighting a war against the Emperor of the Empire and seizing rich territory.
The Imperial Kaiserin Cecilia was sitting in a carriage looking at Mittelburg, the capital of the Kingdom of Krafte.
Although it is the capital of an emerging power, Mittelburg’s urban area is extremely monotonous and crude, unlike Germanburg, which is home to the glory of the empire and its brilliant culture.
It is only natural that from the beginning, it was merely the Margrave’s fiefdom established to subdue pagans and expand the empire’s territory.
However, after a short journey, when she arrived at the Great King’s palace outside the center of Mittelburg, Cecilia felt overwhelmed.
Is the palace extravagant compared to the imperial palaces of the empire?
no.
It cannot even be compared to the splendor of the imperial palace.
If she hadn’t known the destination in advance, she wouldn’t have even guessed that this was the palace where the king of a country resides.
Although it is a little long on the left and right, the low palace, which consists of two floors at most, is smaller than the palaces of princes who are only dukes, not kings.
Even though it is a palace without extravagance, splendor, or grandeur.
The vast parade grounds surrounding the palace give an intimidating feeling to the small and simple palace.
The huge parade ground, which could easily accommodate tens of thousands of troops, was empty.
That cruel sight actually made Cecilia’s heart sink.
Cecilia, who got off the carriage, was not given the kind of hospitality befitting a state guest.
She entered the palace guided by an attendant who had come to meet her in advance.
After enduring the humiliation, I passed through the short hallway on the first floor and made my way to the second floor.
“His Majesty the King, His Highness Kaiserin Cecilia of the Germanian Empire, has arrived.”
The man standing on the balcony overlooking the vast military parade ground beyond the room, which had only a long table and rows of chairs reminiscent of a strategy conference room, let alone a throne, slowly turned his back.
The white-haired old man, who was wearing military uniform rather than the king’s fancy clothes, opened his mouth with a blunt expression on his face.
“Welcome, Kaiserin Cecilia. “Carol II, Margrave of the Empire and High King of the Kingdom of Krafte welcomes you.”
“…It’s been a while.”
The conversation was very simple, and Charles II waved his hand and sent the servant away.
There is no usual rhetoric or suggestions for seats or drinks.
Charles II just stands there with both hands on his staff and just looks at Cecilia.
Cecilia looked at Charles II for a moment and then slowly opened her mouth.
“As Kaiserin of the Germanian Empire, I have come to negotiate with the Great King.”
Charles II still answered with an expressionless face.
“I’m sorry, Kaiserin. Negotiation is only possible when there is a hand to give and take.”
Cecilia bit her lip.
However, the hesitation was only a moment, and she slowly bowed to her knees in front of Charles II.
Only then did Charles II’s expressionless face gain some expression.
Neither the joy of seeing the enemy’s submission nor the arrogance of the victor.
Showing very little interest.
The greatest master of the Central Continent opened his mouth.
“Yes, I guess I came with the bare minimum of preparation.”
* * *
Summer is almost over.
I led the revolutionary army and occupied the Rhineland, the border region of the empire, and was stationed there.
There was little resistance.
It seems that the Prince of the Rhineland was belatedly considering a mobilization order after the Archduke retreated to Metz, but when he heard the news of the Archduke’s defeat and issued a mobilization order, we had already entered the Rhineland.
As expected, the princes of the Germanian Empire rushed to express their intention to withdraw from this war and not to oppose Frangia.
The process of bringing back the families of imperial soldiers who had surrendered to the revolutionary army from the princes was so smooth that it was frustrating.
The imperial princes realized that the imperial army could not protect them anyway, and they seemed to have received the threat that the revolutionary army might advance at any moment and turn their territory into something like the Rhineland.
However, the reaction of the most important empire was going a little differently than we expected.
“Keuhum khum. “Why do you seem a little disappointed?”
The Central Party leader, Count Anjou, cleared his throat.
It’s definitely a pity that he came and not Christine, but since she was busy, the governor came and put together the assortment instead, so you have to understand.
But that’s not the problem now.
“The Empire refused to negotiate peace?”
“Yes, I officially rejected it.”
I was so dumbfounded that I burst out laughing.
As if they were competing with each other, the princes of the empire declared that they would withdraw from this war and sent the families of those who had surrendered.
This is a de facto declaration of surrender, and the Rhineland has also been occupied. But you are refusing peace negotiations here?
What on earth are you doing?
I heard a rumor that Archduke Leopold has fallen, but is the emperor crazy? Or empress? Which one?
“I don’t understand.”
The deal with the devils was just a rumor, but since the feudal lords couldn’t have supported it on their own, the empire was already deep in debt.
Even when the emperor is stronger, if he collects the debts of his feudal lords, he has to worry about backstabbing and rebellion. How on earth is an empire whose regular army has been crushed by us showing such courage?
I had no expectations, but are we really going to do this to see a revolution break out in the empire?
“How about we just advance like this and capture the capital of that damn empire? “As long as the Marquis decides, the central party will work together to pass it.”
Count Anjou spoke with a secretly expectant expression.
In fact, there is nothing other than the Central Party working together.
The advance to the Rhineland was also passed almost unanimously in the National Assembly.
Members of the National Assembly want to completely collapse the empire if possible.
But I shook my head.
“It’s realistically impossible.”
From the beginning, the situation in which we are occupying the Rhineland and making threats is itself a kind of bluff.
“We are exporting large quantities of food to the Alpine Kingdom and the Iberica Peninsula, and this time we have accepted a large number of refugees from the empire, including their families. “It is impossible to supply food for an expedition to such a large army.”
The Kingdom of Francia is a land blessed with farming, but we are at war.
The military is a group that only consumes without producing anything, so the mobilized troops are just a burden, and since the exiles from the empire have not started farming right away, they must also be provided with food while they are settling down.
Moreover, the farther the distance is, the more difficult it becomes.
Since supply troops need to eat to move and livestock transporting supplies also consume food, the amount needed increases exponentially as you go deeper into the empire.
At least we decided to accept people from the empire in the name of revolution, and since Eris is the queen, supplying local supplies through looting is also out of the question.
“Hmm, how about stopping grain exports for now….”
“Should we stab the allies who sent us reinforcements during the war, or cut off the business partners that Governor Talleyrand had a hard time breaking through and are now exporting weapons to arm our troops? “Should I?”
I guarantee you that if we cut off food exports here, even the bold Crocs will feel betrayed.
If you suggest cutting off the deal with the Alps, Talleyrand will immediately start foaming at the mouth.
“I… that’s the way it is.”
Count Anjou answered hesitantly.
“And even if we have enough food anyway, our supply capacity is limited.”
When Archduke Leopold brought in the Storm Witch and waged war, the number of revolutionary troops was at most 40,000.
But now we are operating a force of 80,000.
Naturally, expanding troops so rapidly without sufficient preparation is accompanied by significant side effects.
Procuring supplies and being able to transport them and supply them to the military on time are completely separate issues.
Normally, we would have suffered and suffered just because of the supply problem of the army that had expanded so rapidly.
However, the one responsible for our supply now is none other than the Aquitaine Merchant Marine, which has managed extensive trade routes throughout Francia.
Because of Christine’s management ability and the infrastructure of Aquitaine, which had been sufficiently expanded over the years, it was barely possible to maintain it as the war continued only in the domestic region.
The Rhineland is at least a border area with Francia, and our troops are stationed there, not fighting, so Christine is somehow maintaining it.
That alone is great, but let’s go all the way to the capital of the empire?
No matter how excellent Christine’s abilities are, it is impossible to achieve anything within Franzia, where the infrastructure built by the Aquitaine upper class, or within an empire where there is nothing to do with her capabilities.
“Besides, if we go deeper into the empire’s mainland, the feudal lords will also stick to the emperor again.”
Right now, they think the war will end soon, so they are giving in to us and thinking it’s just their business, but if we eventually start advancing to crush the empire, they, who have become single-minded agents, will actively help the emperor.
They reduced the empire to soybean dust, but we are going to unite them again? Would there ever be another such foolish thing?
“Keuhum khum. I see….”
The Central Party, which is mainly comprised of nobles from the former Kingdom of Francia, is all good, but it is overly belligerent.
“Forget about advancing on the imperial capital. “We just need to think about how we can pressure them and bring them to the peace negotiation table.”
The Count of Anjou seemed a little shocked to see what I was looking at, and then said:
“That said, there are rumors that the Kingdom of Krafte may join the war on the side of the Empire.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Not crazy? You should have said that first!
The Great King of the Krafte Kingdom is someone who went to war against the current Emperor and robbed his territory, and is naturally the leader of the anti-Emperor faction within the Empire.
It is not for nothing that we tried to establish diplomatic contact with the Kingdom of Krafte.
They thought they had the same interests as us, but are they siding with the empire here?
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Do you guys understand? However, I heard that their empress personally visited the Kingdom of Krafte to negotiate and that discussions were taking place within the Kingdom of Krafte. So, I was trying to suggest that we surrender the empire before they decide to enter the war.”
“What on earth did President Talleyrand do?”
He’s the one in charge of our diplomacy.
Didn’t you originally say you wanted to contact the Kingdom of Krafte?
I was confident that the diplomatic achievements had been quite good so far, but what should I do if I fail in the diplomatic battle of the most important country in such an important situation?
“I absolutely want to avoid fighting the Kingdom of Krafte.”
The Kingdom of Krafte is truly no joke.
The national power itself may be weaker than that of the empire, but when it comes to war, the empire is not a country that dares compare.
In the first place, Archduke Leopold, the greatest general of the empire, became a hero of the empire not because he won against the great king of the Kingdom of Krafte.
He was called a hero of the empire because he was able to ‘defeat him while losing moderately’ against the great king, thus avoiding total defeat for the empire.
The person who gave the Archduke, who was a difficult opponent for me, a series of defeats, is the Great King, and he is not the only problem.
Krafte is a country with a much smaller territory and population than Francia, and is an army-crazy country that maintains a standing army of over 100,000 people.
We’ve just barely defeated the empire, and now we’re going to fight against a country that seems to embody that great king and militarism?
“Even so, Governor Talleyrand has requested a visit from their king. “This time, the Count of Aquitaine finished construction and commissioned ships of the line, and the Northern United Kingdom, seeing the collapse of the imperial army, gave in to our pressure.”
Oh, then the sea route to Krafte and the Eastern Empire has finally been opened.
At least this is hopeful news.
“Thank goodness. Then we will have to wait for Governor Talleyrand to bring us good news.”
If nothing else, he is trustworthy in the field of diplomacy.
“Hmm, that’s how it should be.”
The Count of Anjou seemed somewhat displeased.
Are you doing this because I seem to have quite a bit of trust in Talleyrand, the president of another party?
Now that I think about it, his impression was very different from when I first met him.
He seemed very happy when Eris cured his youngest son, who was dying of a plague, and he seemed quite gentle when he accepted the unconventional offer to hand over his territory and join the Republic.
I recalled him raising his voice in parliament, keeping other parties in check and taking a hard-line stance, while also being wary of whether I or Christine might have different ideas from the central party.
The Count of Anjou has now become quite a power-oriented and political figure.
Was there ambition to begin with, or is it the position that makes the person?
While I was thinking that, I heard a knock on the door.
“Please come in.”
The second lieutenant who came in saluted me and opened his mouth.
“This is a letter from the capital Lumière, Excellency the Marquis.”
“hmm.”
When I received the letter, it was sealed and had Talleyrand’s coat of arms stamped on it.
“This is it.”
“Hehe, I guess you came right away while I was talking?”
“That’s right.”
I immediately broke the seal and opened the letter, then slowly narrowed my eyes.
“What is it about? Even if Krafte doesn’t agree to negotiations…”
“That’s not true…”
I said, handing the letter to Count Anjou.
“They say their great king has named me as a negotiation partner.”
…why?
