Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 437 Negotiations (below)

“Sit down…" Claude raised his hand to show those two Nikan elders and chiefs to sit down again and have given one of these Nikan envoys in the presence of them a horseway, believing that no Nikan would say anything stupid about abandoning the northern coastal mountains and driving the Hicks straight in.

“Perhaps you are not yet aware of the fact that the Hicks are unlikely to deliver all 10 of their standing regiments to the colonies of the Gulf of Rodex in one breath. Depending on the size of their country's two naval fleets, they can only transport more than 100,000 men and horses in two standing regiments at a time. In other words, even if they travel three times a year between two continents, they can only bring in more than 300,000 troops from six regiments.

We cannot, of course, exclude them from employing naval fleets from other countries to help transport their troops, such as the United Kingdom naval fleet in the Fox Islands. But anyway, in the coming month of April, the first shipments of the Hicks to the Rodex Bay colony will be two or three standing legions. These three Hicks Standing Regiments pose no threat to us in our immediate war zone, but not to you. ”

Claude looked at the envoys of the Nikancas here, and clearly saw anxiety and burning from the faces of the elders and chiefs. It is absolutely impossible for a standing legion of the three Hicks kingdoms to venture into a direct territorial theatre of battle, but they have no hesitation in attacking the Nykancha nation.

“We can assure you that one regiment in our immediate area of battle can withstand the fighting power of the three Hicks standing regiments, as evidenced by the triumph of the previous three colonial wars. So the first three Hicks standing regiments to arrive in the colony of the Gulf of Rodex will never attack our immediate battlefield, even if you Nikancas abandon the entire northern coastal mountainous area. The Hicks will also only be cautious in sending small troops to reconnaissance, fearing that this will be a trap set in our immediate war zone. ”

Claude began by exaggerating the fighting power of two regiments in the direct command zone, and then turned to the point: “As a rival to this colonial war waged by the Hicks over the years, our war zone knows our enemy very well, that of the King of the Kingdom of Hicks, Machid III. He was an insane gambler who invested enormous chips in this colonial war one time and again, disregarding the tragic failures they had suffered the previous three times.

Obviously, this mad gambler king believes he will win the final victory. The first three standing regiments to be transported, he could not have ordered an attack on our theatre because he feared that it would happen again, cutting off more than 100,000 troops. Nor could he have left the three standing legions to waste their food in the colonies of the Gulf of Rodex, so our war zone thinks they are bound to attack your Nikanca nation.

For them, attacking you is simply suppressing riots. In the eyes of the Hicks, you are slaves to their rebellion. Destroying you not only calms the riots, but also recaptures the hinterland colonial areas that you occupied and reconnects them with the remaining hinterland colonies. Once all their inland colonies have been reclaimed, then the next few of their subsequent standing regiments arrive, there will be more options for launching further offensives into our immediate war zones, without even taking up positions against us in the mountainous areas. ”

Perhaps Claude's statement did address the most worrying issues of the Nikancha envoys, who looked ugly in the faces of elders and chiefs, but nobody stood up to rebut them. It was just a moment of silence, and just as Claude wanted to keep going down, an elder Nikanca finally stood up.

The elder bowed humbly to Claude before standing up and saying, "Dear General Claude, what you said was once the vision of our prophet. That's why our envoys are here, asking for your help in the war zone, asking for your help. In this war, the Hicks are our common enemy, whether or not they attack our Nikancha nation first, but their final goal will be your direct war zone. In this critical moment, helping us Nikancas is helping yourselves..."

The old man is such a liar that even the prophet's foresight has moved out. If it's true, as you said, we wouldn't have made so many unreasonable demands on our battlefield. Now we're in the right position to ask for help. Why did you go long ago? Still threatening us, abandoning the northern coastal mountains and all that, do you really think we'll be scared to do what you want?

“No, no, no, this elder, please sit down.” Claude and Hyatt said, "Actually, you are wrong about one thing. In this war, it is true that your Nikancha nation needs the help and assistance of our immediate war zone. And we don't need your help from the Nikanchas in the war zone, and we're even worried that the more you help, the more you mess with us.

There is a saying in our Royal Army that we would rather have an enemy like God than a pig teammate. God's enemies are just tough to deal with, and we have the confidence to kill him as well. But there's a pig-like teammate, and it's over. Not only will he drag our hind legs, but he'll do everything he can to help us. Maybe he'll make us defeat and die without meditation. ”

We're not pig teammates! ”Several Nikanca leaders were enraged by Claude's utterances and stood up loud to rebut:“ We Nikancas will show you in this war what blood means and what heroism means! We will not give up one inch of our territory, and if the Hicks want to enslave us, we will fight them to the death! ”

General Albert and a few high-ranking officers, as well as the recorders, were there with their mouths shut and enjoying themselves. It's ridiculous, Claude hasn't specified who the pig teammates are, and the Nikantha leaders jumped out automatically to argue that they weren't pig teammates, but they didn't know they were doing it, so they actually took the name of this pig teammate. General Bolognick can only shake his head with a smile...

“Well, your courage is laudable, not to give up an inch of territory, to fight your enemies to the end, and then you fight the Hicks at the border. Who will defend your Nikanca nation? After the Hicks wiped out your Nikantha forces, did they enter your colonies, burn, loot, capture prisoners? For the Hicks, your old and your weak are of no value to them, wasting food rather than killing them clean. Even in capturing slaves, they only need young men and women, strong enough to work..."

Claude only questioned one word, embarrassing these Nikantha leaders because they knew that Claude was telling the truth, it was hard to hear, but it was the truth. But there was also a Nikantha chief who was disgusted and said, “What makes you think we're going to be wiped out by the Hicks? Can't we stop them from attacking or even defeat them? ”

“Ignorance is sometimes a happiness!” Claude's poignant comment: “How can you defeat the Hicks with so many men? More people can solve problems simply by spending more ammunition. This is the age of firearms, and even if you're a great Nikanka warrior, you can't resist a little gun fired by the Hicks!

Yes, you own guns, too, or are they made of the same equipment as the Hicks? But what good is that? The Legion of the Hicks was trained in strict tactical tactics and had strict discipline. Perhaps their soldiers are not as brave as you Nikanchas, but they obey orders and obey orders, which is the most basic condition for winning a war.

I learned from the officers who went to your colonies to help you arm yourselves, that you were undisciplined, and even during military training, you were the first leaders to violate military discipline, followed by your relatives and friends, who were also trained, and then the entire group of trainees. At the end of the day, you learned nothing but to set a gun on fire!

Discipline! This is the only precondition for maintaining an army that is cohesive and capable of fighting, but you have given up discipline yourself, as our officers have commented back, that your Nikantha fights alone are good hands, but you can assemble an army, and that is a bunch of people. Even with 10,000 of you, we can beat you with just one team of 1,000.

Do you still want to beat the Hicks and dream? With all of you? Do you know how to set up a defensive front, how to set up a front command? You're not the first to wave a gun at the enemy, are you? That's going to die! How many Nikancas are you going to use to defend against the Hicks' three standing legions? Half a million or a million?

How do you protect yourself when the Hicks attack your defensive positions with artillery? Or is it a mess? How do you guard against judgment when the Hicks attack you at night? You don't just know that Hoo-hoo wakes up and becomes a slave, so I congratulate you, at least you're alive.

You don't even know the most basic tactics, even if you've learned how to fire a gun. But even if your battle power matches those of us that were previously under direct control in the war zone, you will still have to pay a high cost of casualties in order to win an unrequited victory. I don't get it. Where do you get the confidence to beat the Hicks? ”

Claude's words in the presence of these Nikanchas, the envoys, gathered the chiefs and elders in shame, and even the Nikanchas, who stood up to argue that they were not pig teammates, did not know when to sit down and bow their heads.

Claude swept through the large conference room and was very satisfied with the ridiculous effect of his words, in which case the Nikancas should be more intelligent and less likely to offer imaginary terms of cooperation.

“To be honest, let's talk about how to deal with the Hicks. Claude understated:“ Actually, I don't think this is a negotiation, it's just an ultimatum for you, yes, an ultimatum for your Nikantha nation. Of course, the war zones under our direct administration are not interested in your country and do not want to occupy your territory. Eight overseas jurisdictions, big enough for our war zone headaches, we don't want any more trouble and carry the burden of the size of your Nikantha country...

The so-called ultimatum is that if you do not carry out this strategic plan drawn up in the war zone under our direct administration, the destruction of your Nikancha nation will be in the hands of the Hicks. Your country has always been regarded as our ally in the war zones under our direct jurisdiction, and your demands have been met. But this time, unlike all previous deals, this is about the survival of your independent Nikanca State, and our immediate battlefield has had to be treated with caution, attracting a large number of staff officers for a few exercises to come up with this strategic plan.

I don't understand why you rejected this strategic plan in the past few days, but I can tell you for sure that it is the only option to save your Nikanca country from being destroyed by the Hicks. Only by strictly following the steps of this strategic plan, coupled with the assistance of troops from our immediate area of operations, will you have any hope of defeating the Hicks. It is also only after the complete victory of this war that the independence of your Nikanca nation will be recognized and respected by the colonies of the countries of the West Coast.

Otherwise, in the eyes of the colonies of those countries on the West Coast, you are merely a rebellion of Hicks slaves who have formed a ridiculous Nikanca nation by force that will never recognize the independence and autonomy of your Nikanca nation, unless you can defeat the Hicks and earn the respect of others with your strength. And that, as friends of yours, will also be greatly assisted in our immediate battlefield. Whether you're trooping or selling your artillery and state-of-the-art rope guns, you can get them as long as you pay... "

“What if we fail to meet the requirements of this strategic plan, or the conditions for not fulfilling our mandate?” A Nikantha elder stood up and asked.

“Very simple.” Claude replied: "Since you cannot implement this strategic plan, it means you have no confidence and no way to defeat the Hicks. Our immediate battle zone will save you trouble and support you. We will be watching the demise of your Nikantha nation and then marveling at your country as the Hicks triumph over you.

Of course, by then you Nikanchas had no country. Then we will fight the Hicks on what was originally your country's territory and eventually defeat the Hicks. Hopefully by then you will still be living in the Hicks' slave camps, and we will free you and give you freedom. But we will no longer allow you to build an independent Nikanca nation, you may try your luck in other colonies on the West Coast... "

This is forcing the Nikanchas to make a choice, and as Claude put it, the Nikanchas need a lot of help in the theatre, but the theatre doesn't really need the Nikancha as a pig teammate. If the Nikantha are wholeheartedly helping the war zone against the Hicks, of course, the war zone is welcome, but if the three minds are behind this, then don't blame the war zone for being rude. The war zone could well set the Nikanchas aside and watch them die before marching into a war with the Hicks.

By then, even the territory of the Nikancha nation could be occupied and three more direct jurisdictions built. The only constraint to the theatre is the fact that the current eight Overseas Territories are so sparsely populated that eight areas under theatre jurisdiction, namely, Cromwell, Bering Ghana and Amphiston, each with an immigrant population of more than one million, have developed three thirds of their constant territorial area. The remaining five Immigrant Departments are mostly between 400,000 and 600,000, surrounded by wasteland and forests...

Another Nikanca elder stood up: "Dear General Claude, we have also discussed this strategic plan, which can indeed help us to defeat the Hicks, but it is very difficult for us to do so. As requested above, most of our country needs to be cleared of solid walls, but these places live with our two or three million compatriots, and the rest of the territory is simply not enough for these colonies to live there..."

Claude shook his head helplessly and walked to the wall of the conference room, pointing to the territory of the Hicks hinterland colony, where there were two thirds left on the map: “I have never understood why you Nikancas were so impatient, and now the territory is enough for you Nikancas to live in colonies and not want to attack the mineral bases and estates of those Hicks. Why don't you take over this big land and let your two or three million people live there?

If you have no confidence in your armed combat power, we can send troops to help you attack the remaining hinterland colony of the Hicks kingdom, and we can give you all the land, but we demand 70 percent of the seizure and capture of the battle. At the same time, we can teach your armed forces to learn how to attack in a team with one team, and this can be written in a protocol.

Besides, why did you come to this point to spend those gold and silver ingots as treasures on credit and instalments from our immediate war zone? Do you want to leave these gold and silver ingots with the Hicks? If you use these gold and silver ingots to buy artillery and advanced guns from our battlefield, you can also kill some more enemies. As long as the mineral base of the Hicks' inland colony is yours, there will be this gold and silver ingot. If you don't have the money, send someone to dig it. Can't you understand the simple logic? ”

......

Finally, these Nikanca envoys gave in, demanded a recess for private discussion, and soon an elder of the age walked out of their private discussion room: “Dear General Claude, we have agreed to all your demands, only that you may lead us to victory over the evil Hicks..."