Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 137 The Argument of the King's Court

Claude sighed deeply, expecting the worst. The loss of the merchant fleet is not only a failure of investments by Mr. Morsan and others, but also means that hundreds of families in White Deer Town have lost their loved ones.

In her letter, Mrs. Maria stated that the news was still blocked because of the quarrels in the Royal Court over the matter, mainly because the new route concerned the strategic shift of the Kingdom's maritime forces. The Royal Navy Department means to continue the strategic plan that was originally developed to accompany the Army's offensive against the A5 with the intention of defeating the A5's land, sea and military forces in one of the key battles.

As long as the occupation of several key strategic port cities of the AOSIS countries forces the other to cease fighting and cede those port cities to the Kingdom, the maritime forces of the Kingdom will have the opportunity to expand considerably, with each port city producing a maritime fleet and no longer having to worry about the route of the Kingdom to the seven overseas direct territories of the continent being blocked by the enemy.

The strategic plan developed by the Royal Navy, while looking good, is fraught with uncertainty and the possibility of an accident. The main point is that no one can guarantee that, following the war between the Kingdom and the A5, the situation will be as smooth as planned and that the Kingdom will prevail.

What is most reprehensible is how much the Kingdom will have to pay to win this war, and whether it can be guaranteed that this war will not be prolonged so long that the kingdom and the anti-Olympic alliance will be exhausted and defeated in the end, and no one will be able to win or even achieve their intended strategic goals...

Military command and strategic planning in this era were mostly conceived by high-ranking figures. The following officials follow the points of authority above to develop a strategic plan, and the biggest problem is overestimating their enemies. Imagine the army on your side as a strong man who can't be shot dead, imagine the enemy as tofu scum. When many plans are implemented, it is completely different. It is not uncommon to lose sight of each other, and it is not uncommon for the North and South to lose sight of each other.

As in the case of the strategic plan developed by the Royal Navy, it was not endorsed by the Ministry of the Army. Without him, if implemented in accordance with the plan, the Ministry of the Army would spend the greatest amount of money against the Allied Coalition of Five armies, defeating the enemy's occupation of the port city and then handing it over to the Ministry of the Navy. This means that the Army's greatest force and most blood is shed, but the results of the war become the Navy's.

Although the Department of the Navy is also facing an anti-Olympic coalition maritime coalition fleet, the Department of the Army believes that it would be absurd to launch a full-scale offensive against the coalition land-based military forces of the five countries just to occupy a few port cities. Do you really think that the army of the Kingdom cannot be killed? There is nothing wrong with dealing with one or two countries, but with five countries at a time, the Army Department is not sure.

The most vehement objection to the strategic plan of the Royal Navy is the Royal Prime Minister, Crius. The Duke of Man Duncan, his father was the former invincible Commander Dubok. Marshal Mann Duncan, first left arm of Wang Sterling IX. So he's not afraid of the consistently powerful Royal Navy, sarcastic in the face of Sterling X, and the heads of the Navy are full of water, and he doesn't see how much bread he can put in his head. What's drunk to think that the Kingdom's fearless fleet can rival the Alliance of Five? The combined fleet of battleships on the bright side alone is twice as large as the fearless fleet...

In the presence of Sterling X and several of his loyal court ministers, Kreus disputed the strategic plan developed by the Navy for nothing, angry at the competent minister of the Navy, Andreq. Marshal von Carlos threw his white gloves on Prime Minister Kreus' face on the spot and drew his sword to duel him, almost turning into a court farce.

It was also difficult for Sterling X, the Admiral of the Admiralty of Andrec, to be one of his most resolute supporters, in particular his extraordinary contribution to the development of the continent of Nubicia, to the building of the Kingdom's maritime power and to the formation of a fearless fleet, following his accession to power, and to one of his closest kingdom ministers.

But Prime Minister Krieus was also right that the strategic plan developed by the Navy was truly a mistake, beginning with the maritime forces of the anti-Olympic S-5 alliance, the United Fleet imagining itself as the dog of the guardians, who did not dare to launch an attack on the Kingdom on their own initiative. Then, as long as the Dauntless fleet stands up to them, naval warfare will not erupt and the Army of the Kingdom will occupy several of their port cities, then the United Fleet will surrender. This ensures that the Dauntless fleet will not lose its warships as a result of naval warfare, but will also be able to assemble surrendered Joint Fleet battleship extensions...

Sterling X also did not understand why the Navy was so certain that the United Fleet would not initiate an offensive. Admiral Andrec's explanation is that the maritime forces of the five countries are grouped together to form a joint fleet, which is certainly inconsistent. They all want to keep their own warships and are reluctant to lose their own maritime forces as a result of naval warfare, so they will not attack on their own initiative.

This reason sounds plausible, but when you think about it, you feel a little unreliable, and you rely on the lack of unity of your enemies, which is a little too obvious in itself. Stirling X felt that Prime Minister Krieus was right, and since another route to the Nubian mainland had been developed, what was there to wait for? If I did not, I should begin immediately to shift the focus of the Kingdom's maritime forces to this new route.

Prime Minister Krieuse's proposal is to dismantle the Dauntless Fleet, split it it into two, and leave one third of the fleet in Port Neru for day-to-day patrolling of the eastern waters of the Kingdom. Two-thirds of the fleet was transferred to Lake Bailinga in Bailinga Town, where Bailinga Town was divided from three southwestern counties into a kingdom military town, upgraded to a city, and a new storm fleet was formed to wipe out new route pirate gangs and maintain the safety of new routes by sea.

As for the more than a decade of narrow waterways leading to Sharkmouth Bay in Lake Beringa, the Kingdom could organize manpower excavations to expand into canals to ensure unimpeded access for new storm fleets. The Kingdom, on the other hand, travels twice a year to the continent of Nubicia, suspending for a period of one year until the new route is safe and secure before sailing.

Only Prime Minister Kreus' proposal was similarly strongly opposed by the Ministries of the Army and Navy. Since the adoption of this programme would require substantial development and construction funding from the Kingdom, the greatest possibility would be to reduce military expenditures. The Army Department is ready to recruit 300,000 to 500,000 recruits to expand its field corps pending the outbreak of a war against the A5.

But now that a new route has been discovered, it is unnecessary for the Kingdom to fight the anti-Olympic Alliance for a route to the continent of Nubicia. It would be more appropriate for you to die, to alleviate the situation and to do more armaments to relaunch the war. Under these circumstances, the Department's plan to recruit recruits could well be postponed by a year or two, without the need to start recruiting now, and the savings could be used to upgrade White Deer Town to a city expansion.

For the Ministry of the Army, this is simply to take out the money already in the pocket and give it away. Every year, that amount of military spending can only sustain the existing seven empty shelves of the Field Legion. It is unwilling to wait until the time to have a big bite to throw up again. But the arms can't twist the thighs, and if Sterling X finally adopts Prime Minister Krieus's plan, the Army Department will have to do the same.

As for the Department of the Navy, objections were made out of opposition, and Navy Marshal Andrec was unwilling to split the Dauntless Fleet into two parts, as it was the main force behind his deliberate anti-Olympic coalition fleet. He believed that once the Dauntless fleet was dismantled, the Dauntless fleet would lose its ability to intimidate the Joint Fleet, which would break the current confrontation and make the eastern waters of the Kingdom a free place for the Joint Fleet to come and go…

Prime Minister Kreus believes, however, that the dismantling of the Dauntless Fleet is imperative and that a temporary disadvantage does not mean that the combined fleet of the Anti-Olympic Five can invade the eastern waters of the Kingdom without fear. They must also take into account the consequences of provoking the kingdom, and the strength of maritime power does not mean that the armies of these five countries can also stand alone against the kingdom.

If war did break out, the two countries neighbouring the kingdom would be the first to have bad luck, and the kingdom of Nasri, which dominated the anti-Olympic alliance, was both a neighbour and a defeated member of the kingdom, so the kingdom of Nasri was the least willing to engage in a land war with the kingdom. He has remembered this lesson deeply, having been beaten twice by the kingdom to seek peace.

In her letter, Mrs. Maria informed Claude that the opening of a new route to the Nubian mainland in White Deer Town remained confidential, precisely because Wang Tingli was disputing the proposal put forward by Prime Minister Krieus and Sterling X was considering whether to adopt it. She wrote to Claude because Claude's father, Mr. Morsan, was also implicated in the incident.

Mrs. Maria wrote in her letter that she already knew what had happened and was willing to say something about Mr. Morsan's arrest. At the New Year's Eve party, she presented Claude's letter to her and introduced Claude as her student. Count Andrec, the Navy Marshal, was also present at the time, and he believed that Mr. Morsan and his friends must be severely punished for the unnecessary damage they had inflicted on the Kingdom by risking to attract pirate groups from the Nubian continent.

At this time, Secretary of the Treasury, Elvich. Lee Frank came out to speak fairly, ironically saying that the Navy Department knew every year that it was going to build a battleship and then continue to be consumed on the way to the bloodshed of that maritime route, but was less adventurous than civilian officials and businessmen in a local town in Southwestern Three Counties, knowing that it had opened a new route for the Kingdom, and it had succeeded.

Although the merchant fleet they organized was exterminated by pirate attacks and attracted pirate attacks on the waters of the central and western parts of the Kingdom, this is an indication that this new route is perfectly capable of allowing the Kingdom to navigate to and from the mainland of Nubian. Not only has the kingdom failed to reward these adventurous officials and businessmen who have opened new routes to the kingdom, but they are also prepared to impose severe penalties for crimes against the security of the kingdom, which is an absurd farce. Since then, there has been no willingness to serve the Kingdom on its own initiative.

The Minister of Finance was right, and Prime Minister Kreus said that punishing the local officials and businessmen was a small matter, but would have a great impact on the kingdom. The pursuit of interests is human nature. They have opened new routes. It is also normal for people to use this new route to make a profit for themselves. After all, they have spent a lot of money to open new routes.

Moreover, the destruction of their merchant fleet by pirates is indicative of the limitations of their vision and lack of understanding of the situation and the situation, so much so that such a result would be a lesson to them. In addition, their confessions and letters from Mrs. Maria's students prove that they have not forgotten to repay the Kingdom. They were originally prepared to report the new route as soon as the merchant fleet returned, but their luck was only bad...

Mrs. Maria finally wrote in her letter that Claude did not have to worry about his father, Mr. Morsan and his friends, and that Sterling X would not punish Mr. Morsan if he had the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister to speak for them, at best without reward or punishment. However, Mr. Morsan's official duties may be dismissed because of the damage they have caused to the Kingdom by concealing new routes, but his national identity will still be preserved.

In addition, Mrs. Maria asked Claude not to divulge the letter's plan regarding the Prime Minister, as it was easy for someone with a heart to drill into the emptiness. The Royal Court will most likely not be able to make a final decision on this option until February, while Southwest Tri-County and White Deer Town will not be informed until mid-March...