novelraw Chapter 127: Iberica - The Eastern Empire
Chapter 127: Iberica - The Eastern Empire
The Revolutionary Army, which had recruited close to one hundred thousand men, was mostly demobilized.
These men, who had fought relentlessly from the civil war and the revolution to the battles against King Louis and the Germania Empire, briefly returned to their daily lives.
Some argued that to face the Krafte army, a mighty force trained by maintaining a standing army of 100,000 for ten years, we should fiercely train our soldiers for two years without demobilization, but…….
Unlike the Great King, who transformed Krafte from a mere feudal state to the hegemon of the northern Empire and became a fanatically followed icon of the era, we had to first consider our people.
With an election looming before the war with Krafte, no party dared to insist on keeping the soldiers enlisted.
Besides, the government had no money for it anyway.
Still, we couldn't just leave them be, so Louis Desaix and the Chief of Staff, Alexandre Berthier, remained behind to regularly train the disbanded Revolutionary Army soldiers as a reserve force.
Meanwhile, the undemobilized standing army, led by the Revolutionary Guard and the Cuirassiers, was in the midst of preparations for dispatch to the Iberian Peninsula.
My leading them to help Kroxx would allow the soldiers to gain combat experience.
According to Shandra, when I last visited, the rockets Abyss Corporation had brought in had decimated the armies of the tribes allied with Porto, so there shouldn’t be much resistance. If all goes well, we might be able to end the war in the Iberian Peninsula quickly.They were the demons who had interfered in some way or another even in the war with the Empire.
Given the Great King's nature, it's unlikely he would join hands with the demons, but if the demons have nowhere else to turn, there is a high chance they will make a move in Iberica, where what little of their influence remains.
Rooting them out in advance to stabilize the rear through Kroxx, and then receiving aid in the war against Krafte, would therefore be the best-case scenario.
Unlike last time when we crossed the southern mountains by land, this time we traveled to the naval port of Brest and would go to Iberica by sea.
This was thanks to Christine, who had invested in northern Iberica and built a trading port while we were at war with the Empire.
Due to time constraints, it wasn't yet a large port, but as our forces weren't numerous, we could transport them sequentially.
And so, I was leading the Revolutionary Army down to the Bretagne region and preparing for departure.
I was at the port, watching a massive ship-of-the-line coming to anchor.
The flagship of the Francia Navy, the ship-of-the-line Libre, which had returned from a long voyage without its admiral, Christine, on board.
Unlike me, who suffered from seasickness, a man with a perfectly fine face disembarked and smiled broadly.
“Ah, it has been a while. I was surprised to hear that Marquis Lafayette had returned inland from Krafte, but I did not expect you to come out to greet me personally.”
I smiled back at Chairman Maurice Talleyrand and responded.
“It has been a while, Chairman. Welcome back.”
I was already preparing for departure and happened to be out, but there was no need to mention it.
*
After giving a light word of praise to Dureng, the captain of the Libre, for his hard work, I arranged a place to talk with Talleyrand.
The place Talleyrand had visited was the Eastern Empire.
A nation in the east, where elves reigned over a vast territory and ruled various races, so immense that one could not even fathom its size.
Now that the Kingdom of Krafte, our hope, was confirmed as an enemy, securing a positive answer from them would be beneficial.
“So it ended up that way with Krafte after all.”
Having just returned from the Eastern Empire, he couldn't have heard the details, but Talleyrand wasn't surprised to hear that we would be at war with Krafte in two years.
“……You thought it would turn out that way?”
“Yes, diplomacy relies on understanding the other party's disposition. Seeing the Great King's nature, the moment he called for the Marquis, refusing me, the head of foreign affairs, I judged a conflict all but confirmed.”
No wonder that man came all the way to Krafte only to drop me off and leave immediately...
“If you were so certain, you could have told me in advance.”
“Haha, but there is always a 'what if,' isn't there? Had I sent you off with negative words, you wouldn't have been able to handle negotiations that might have succeeded. I simply entrusted it to you without much expectation.”
I let out a faint sigh.
Thanks to him, I had to sweat bullets before that mad Great King.
Anyway, the man is competent, but insufferable.
“So, did you succeed, Chairman?”
Hadn't he left, vowing that if I failed but he succeeded, the Revolutionary Party would save face in the National Assembly?
Hearing my words, Talleyrand's expression became a bit ambiguous.
Did this man fail too?
“The elves are, hmm… quite arrogant.”
“Wasn't that already well known?”
There was nothing new about elves looking down on humans and reigning arrogantly.
“They said they have no interest in intervening in wars between human nations, and would only deal with us if we attended the Tsar's court.”
“Attend court? What is that?”
“It means to offer tribute.”
“…….”
No, this was beyond what I imagined, no matter how I looked at it.
Francia is still a great power in the western central continent, and they treat us like this?
“Well, according to my research, it's not simply offering tribute, as the Tsar supposedly repays it with corresponding gifts, but we can't become their subjects, can we?”
“Wait, so there was no gain at all?”
“The elves' vodka was absolutely fantastic.”
Did this man go there, fail to negotiate, and just come back after getting free drinks?
Just as I was becoming increasingly dumbfounded, Talleyrand smiled faintly and spoke again.
“If it's a war between human kingdoms, yes.”
“Hmm?”
“The Eastern Empire, however, is known to loathe Abyss Corporation.”
“When it comes to loathing them, isn't it the same for the human nations?”
Talleyrand raised his index finger and waved it back and forth.
“Oh no, it's not quite that bad. They say the Eastern Empire is practically in a state of semi-war with Abyss Corporation, not on this central continent, but on the distant Old Continent to the east.”
“Hmm…….”
According to the Eastern Empire's claims, their territory stretches from east of the central continent to the eastern edge of that distant Old Continent.
According to what Abyss Corporation has announced, if you sail west from the central continent, there exists a New Continent, and if you sail west from that New Continent, you reach the Old Continent.
In reality, sailing the seas and freely advancing to other continents was pretty much the exclusive domain of the demons, so we could only take their word for it.
“But, a war with Abyss Corporation. Is such a thing possible?”
The reason why even the great King of Krafte cannot wage war unless Abyss Corporation agrees is simple.
Unless they leave their island, there is no way to break through Lust Corp's fleet and set foot on their island.
We, too, have built several powerful ships-of-the-line, including the 86-gun ship-of-the-line 'Libre', and plan to build more, but they are nowhere near comparable to the fleet of Lust Corp.
Talleyrand shrugged and said.
“For one, the elves claim their fleet is of a massive scale, and that they possess ships even more powerful than the 'Libre'.”
“Is that true? It's hard to believe. Where is such a navy? Did they have such a navy in their capital?”
“No, their western territory, the capital Tsarigrad, is protected by a massive coastal fortress, but there were only a few ships-of-the-line that looked more outdated than the 'Libre'……”
Yes, as far as we knew, there was no such great fleet in the Eastern Empire's central continent territory. If there were, there's no way we wouldn't know.
“However, their territory stretching to the east is said to extend even further than the land from the Iberian Peninsula, the western tip of the central continent, to the Eastern Empire. Naturally, an incredibly long coastline unfolds with it, and they say their 'Blue Dragon' and 'Black Tortoise' fleets protect the southern and eastern seas.”
“Well now. I don't know if that's the typical bluff of arrogant elves, or if it's real.”
“I'm thinking it's about half-and-half myself. In any case, the Tsar has no intention of interfering in disputes between human nations, but says he would positively consider an alliance to stand against the demons of Abyss Corporation. He didn't say in detail, but it seems Abyss Corporation is pulling a great many...... schemes in the Eastern Empire.”
“Hmm.”
Abyss Corporation: the demons of terror who possess technology and a powerful fleet, including the Industrial Revolution, that is clearly superior to the human nations of the central continent.
They have the power to threaten the central continent, but since their founding after the Demon King was executed in the 100-Year War, they have never posed a major threat.
I had thought it was because it was more profitable for them to do business selling their superior products than to pose a threat, but what if that's not it?
What if they see the central continent as no great threat because it has no decent navy, so rather than antagonize it, they use it to make money, and use that money to keep other, more threatening nations in check?
What if Abyss Corporation is maintaining a nominally decent relationship with the central continent to fund its military while keeping the Eastern Empire in check, and the Eastern Empire, which possesses a mighty navy, has no capacity to interfere with human nations because it is busy holding back the demons?
If that's the case, then, provided the elves' claims are true, it explains why two nations that could overwhelm most human nations of the central continent do not directly intervene.
“……Not right now, but it's worth considering for later.”
Revolutionary Francia is in a position where it cannot be friendly with Abyss Corporation anyway.
The very justification for the revolution was rebelling against a king who sold his people to demons, and as long as Saintess Eris, recognized by the Holy Theocracy, is queen, joining hands with demons is impossible, not even in jest.
Personally, I want to screw those demons over if I get the chance.
“Yes, but well…… It's a shame it's not the gain I had hoped for.”
Talleyrand smacked his lips.
The elven empire, busy dealing with demons, would have no interest in a fight with Krafte, so in the end, they won't be of any help in this war.
Talleyrand took a sip of his coffee and asked.
“By the way, why are you out here?”
“Hm?”
“Surely the Marquis wouldn't have come all the way down here just to welcome me.”
……He knows full well without me having to say anything.
“The Great King of Krafte gave us two years, so in that time I will lead the elite standing army of the Revolutionary Army to the Iberian Peninsula to help King Kroxx, to gain experience, stabilize our rear, and secure reinforcements for the war with Krafte.”
When I replied with a soft laugh, Talleyrand paused a moment before asking back.
“Hmm, so you're going to fight the tribes that conspired with the port of Porto?”
“Yes, that's right.”
Talleyrand stroked his chin with his hand and said softly.
“I shall have to visit the Eastern Empire again.”
“Hmm... Ah!”
I had wondered what he meant, but Kroxx's sworn brothers are fighting against the port city of Porto and its allied tribes in the Iberian Peninsula, which have colluded with demons.
Since we are waging a war to oust the demons' influence from the central continent alongside a faction hostile to them, this is definitive proof to the Eastern Empire that we can be their allies.
“Even if the Eastern Empire has no interest in the war with Krafte, if we prove our worth as their allies against the demons, it should be possible to cooperate and exchange something.”
Oh, definitely.
From the Eastern Empire's perspective, it can't be easy to find allies against the demons, so if we just play our cards right, cooperation should be possible.
Especially in the military field.
“I've heard rumors that their artillery technology is quite good, Chairman.”
Hearing my words, Talleyrand looked dumbfounded.
“You want me to placate that arrogant Tsar, who openly demands we attend his court, and get their military technology?”
“Isn't coaxing and cajoling with plausible, honeyed words what you do best, Chairman?”
“Aren't you speaking a little too easily, since it's not your problem……”
As Chairman Talleyrand replied hesitantly, I shrugged and said.
“Well, while you're doing that, I'll have to go to Iberica and fight hard to be able to return before the time Krafte gave us is up.”
In other words, let's both work our asses off within this limited time.
“Look forward to it. If you fail and only I succeed, won't the Central Party save face in the National Assembly?”
Hearing that, Chairman Talleyrand twisted the corner of his lip into a smirk and replied.
“Oh, I can't let that happen. Look forward to it, Marquis. I will make the arrogant Tsar fall in love with Francia.”