Empire Conquest

Chapter 599 - 595 Empire Ambition

According to the currently circulating news, Ter Authority had proposed within the Consortium Group to reclaim the territory taken by Luosha during the Crimean War.

To be more direct, it is the entire Mo Sea region!

This claim seems far-fetched because before the war that erupted before the rise of the Liangxia Empire and involved almost all the Western Great Powers, the north coast of the Mo Sea was already under the control of the Luosha Empire. Ter Empire was simply made to give up the occupied Crimean Peninsula during negotiations.

After giving up the Crimean Peninsula, the Ter Empire at that time obtained enough compensation in other regions and did not suffer a loss.

Obviously, Ter Republic wanting to control the entire Mo Sea region is simply asking for too much.

Because it is so preposterous, not to mention the Liangxia Empire, even the Tiaoman Empire, which has close relations with Ter Republic, would definitely not agree. Therefore, the Consortium Group did not release the related news publicly; only some less reliable, or rather, doubtful rumors have emerged.

There’s hardly any doubt regarding the authenticity of these rumors.

At that time, Ter Empire and Luosha Empire were irreconcilable enemies.

Before the Crimean War, Ter Empire and Luosha fought eight wars!

In fact, it was also because Luosha Empire suffered a terrible defeat in the Crimean War and its national power significantly weakened, which gave the rising Liangxia Empire a chance.

During the last great war, Ter Empire joined the Consortium Group, forming a triad with the Liangxia Empire and Tiaoman Empire. The key factor was the hope of recapturing the north coast of Mo Sea, including the Crimean Peninsula, which was ceded by agreement from Luosha Empire.

Of course, it also involved Bulan Kingdom and Locke Republic.

According to declassified information, before the last great war broke out, Bulan Kingdom and Locke Republic had secret contacts with Ter Empire, hoping Ter Empire would join the Alliance Group. They even offered a decent price, including interest-free loans from Locke Republic to purchase three of the newest Dreadnoughts from Bulan Kingdom. Unfortunately, they couldn’t agree on the most crucial issue.

Ter Empire demanded the return of the Crimean Peninsula, but Bulan Kingdom and Locke Republic refused to comply.

The reason was simple: the Crimean Peninsula was owned by Luosha Empire, a major member of the Consortium Group.

Although Ter Empire controlled a strategic location connecting the East and the West, its strength and strategic value were inferior to Luosha Empire.

Bulan Kingdom and Locke Republic had no reason to abandon the more important Luosha Empire for Ter Empire.

Even with the intervention of Bulan Kingdom and Locke Republic, Luosha Empire did not oppose inviting its former foe, Ter Empire, to join the Alliance Group, but when it came to vested interests and national core interests, Luosha Empire definitely would not make any concessions.

Moreover, Tiaoman Empire also took action upon hearing the news.

Upon learning that Bulan Kingdom and Locke Republic were trying to persuade Ter Empire, Tiaoman Empire not only sent an ambassador but also dispatched two large battleships to the Land Heart Sea, one of which was the highly popular battlecruiser, to gain favor from Ter Empire.

As a result, before the great war broke out, Tiaoman Empire successfully won the favor of Ter Empire, used two large battleships to make Ter Empire a member of the Consortium Group, and established connections with Liangxia Empire through Ter Empire, thereby forming the triad.

In fact, even at the last moment, the Alliance Group still had a chance.

Unfortunately, knowing that Ter Empire had secretly negotiated with Tiaoman Empire, Bulan Kingdom impounded the battleship funded by Ter Empire. As a result, the Supreme Commander of Ter Empire immediately signed the membership treaty brought by the Tiaoman Ambassador upon learning this.

Tiaoman Empire not only provided two large battleships but also made assurances that the entire Mo Sea region, including the northern Crimean Peninsula, belonged to Ter Empire.

Although Liangxia Empire did not participate in negotiations, allowing Ter Empire to join the Consortium Group and signing a military alliance treaty with Ter Empire indicated that Liangxia Empire recognized the guarantees and promises made by Tiaoman Empire, and would provide the necessary support under the framework of group obligations.

Unfortunately, the Consortium Group was defeated in the last great war, leading to the disintegration of Ter Empire.

The issue lies here.

Although many people regard the Ter Republic as the heir to the Ter Empire, the fact is that the Ter Republic did not inherit the mantle of the Ter Empire.

If anything, the Ter Republic is more similar to the Boi Country.

It was also one of the many national states born after the disintegration of the Ter Empire.

The Ter Empire was a very typical multiethnic country without any ethnic group dominating.

Even the Ter Clan, which had founded the empire, never accounted for more than half of the population.

Most importantly, the territory of the Ter Republic only amounted to one-fifth of the Ter Empire’s territory, and its population was only a quarter of that of the Ter Empire.

Clearly, no matter how one looks at it, the Ter Republic could not inherit the mantle of the Ter Empire.

This is fundamentally different from the Luosha Federation.

Even at its worst, the Luosha Federation inherited eighty percent of the territory and seventy percent of the population of the Luosha Empire, thus it was regarded as the empire’s heir.

Additionally, the founder of the Ter Republic, referred to as the father of the nation, Kemal, originally rallied troops to revolt under the banners of anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism, with the slogan "overthrow the old regime", and established the modern sense of the Ter Republic, thereby heralding a new era.

Then, what reason was there to restore the imperial territories?

Or, what reason was there to reclaim land that represented the old era?

Fundamentally, it still related to national power.

Originally, the Ter Empire, though imperfect, was a dominion bridging the Giant Continent and the West Continent, serving as a conduit for Eastern and Western interactions, with millions of square kilometers of territory and a population of hundreds of millions, and its military strength was not too shabby, at least in terms of troop size.

The current Ter Republic was but a second-tier, or even third-tier country.

Then, what right did it have to negotiate with the Consortium Group?

To put it more bluntly, even if its demands were met and it annexed the region around the Mo Sea following the war, with the limited strength of the Ter Republic, it was doubtful that it could maintain control. If uprisings or ethnic rebellions broke out in the occupied areas, the Ter Republic could be left struggling from the setback.

There were not a few examples of this, but rather, far too many.

Take the Liangxia Empire, for instance; it had similar experiences.

After defeating the Luosha Empire and acquiring territory in the Extreme North and the hinterlands of the Giant Continent, the Liangxia Empire spent decades suppressing rebellions.

To mention another point, Chen Bingxun dying in battle outside Jibu Fortress related to this.

Because a majority of the Army’s forces were suppressing revolts in the occupied territories, reinforcements to the Fan Flame Ocean were never increased, and the forces sent to the Xuan Continent were pitifully inadequate.

If even the Liangxia Empire had such a fate, how could the Ter Republic fare any better?

However, this problem was simply inescapable.

According to Bai Zhizhan’s assessment, both sides would ultimately make concessions, and the most likely outcome would be the Ter Republic reclaiming the Crimean Peninsula and accepting the status quo, no longer seeking the lands around the Mo Sea, and abandoning the dream of reliving the imperial era’s glory.

Indeed, this might be the only outcome acceptable to both parties.