Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 553: To the Realm

The Hicks kingdom is hard to fight, Claude knows that very well. But he can't stop now, because the kingdom is a little disgusting. It's like a skinny dog, staring at you, you give it a few feet, you run it off. But then it comes back, far away, still staring at you, and it upsets you. Perhaps if I were careless, I'd get a bite of it where it came from, and I couldn't even cry.

This is a rogue country, especially King McKid III of the Kingdom of Hicks, and a madman and paranoid man. You cannot say that he has no way of ruling the country, and that he alone has no ordinary means of dealing with the nobles of the territory of the Kingdom of Hicks. Four colonial wars consumed the power of the nobles of those territories, and the Hicks' royal family, apart from being ridiculed for its defeat, had not lost any power, so that Machid III could act arbitrarily and with no one to confront his chamber.

In the northern part of the Farea continent, the Kingdom of Hicks is considered an immense country, almost as large as the mainland of the Kingdom of Auvellas plus the Nasserley region. With a population of nearly 30 million, eight standing legions, all the countries surrounding them are proxy countries, respecting them. The kingdom is rich in mineral resources, the forge industry is very developed, or it can be said that the best of the Hicks are mineral exploration and mining, who are natural miners.

This is the continent of Nubicia, where other countries like to expand their colonies along the coastal zone, while the Kingdom of Hicks only knows why it is moving to the hinterland mountains. They love mining, especially gold and silver mineral resources, and they can become huge assets if they have access to them. Decades of mining in the hinterland colonies of the Nubian continent have resulted in the influx of countless gold and silver mineral resources into the Kingdom of Hicks.

If other countries had spent so much money on military spending, lost seventeen or eight legions, and lost so many colonial wars, the crown riot would have been wiped out long ago when the country was financially bankrupt. But the Hicks kingdom remained unchanged, and instead allowed the Hicks royal family to expand its power within the kingdom, and the reasons for the failure of the colonial war were pushed to the nobles of those kingdoms, who became the best scapegoats.

Then the Kingdom of Hicks intervened in the eastern part of the Farea continent, and in the name of helping to restore the Principality of Siddins and the Principality of Rimodra, troops took over the new occupation of the Kingdom of Ovieras, gaining an enclave for the Kingdom of Hicks and harvesting a wave of prestige. Then formed the Eastern Region of the Continent National Coalition, spearheaded for the Kingdom of Ovieras, ready to avenge the failure of the colonial war on the mainland of the Kingdom of Ovieras...

Through the debt wars between the kingdoms of Nasserly and Oweras, the Kingdom of Hicks succeeded in forming the coalition of nations of the Eastern Region, invading the kingdom of Oweras and occupying the capital of the king, and Machid III deliberately arrived in the capital of the king, holding a grand parade to announce the destruction of the kingdom of Oweras and a definitive solution to the origins of the war that deprived the eastern part of the Farea continent of peace and tranquillity.

In fact, McKid III's speech had almost become a reality, and if the Kingdom of Ovilas did not receive support from the Overseas Autonomous Territories, perhaps the Kingdom of Ovilas did not exist. Only when the Overseas Autonomous Legion of Thunder and the Rock Legion returned to the kingdom's homeland did the balance of war favour the Kingdom of Orvilas.

The Rock Regiment took hold of Ambrizeshire, the armies of the Nasserly and Hicks kingdoms were severely damaged and retreated a hundred miles to stabilize their feet, while the Legion of Thunder landed from the Florrick seaport of the Principality of Rimodra, sweeping the enclave of the Kingdom of Hicks in the eastern part of the continent, the Eskilin area, as well as the Principality of Rimodra and the Principality of Siddins. The two principalities, which relied on the Kingdom of Hicks to restore their kingdom, were completely annihilated, and the Grand Duke and family of the two principalities were all stranded fish and none of them escaped.

Immediately afterwards, the Legion of Thunder inserted directly into the Royal City of Polyvasia in the Kingdom of Nasserli, broken the city, captured the Royal Family of Nasserli alive, a series of combined punches turned the Alliance army dizzy, the crisis in the rear destabilized the front army, helplessly the Alliance troops had to withdraw from the mainland of the Kingdom of Orvillas, the soldiers headed straight towards the Royal City of Polyvasia, with the intention of resolving the enemies behind them, the Legion of Thunder and the Rock Regiment of Overseas Autonomous Territories...

Lastly, the battle of Polyvoria was fought, with the Allied armies and two regiments of the Overseas Autonomous Territories fighting a special death in the Royal City of Polyvoria. As a result, the Alliance army, though overpopulated, unfortunately fell into the trap of its enemies, and its generals were driven to extinction by greed. Only the commander of the Allied armies, Pilag, Duke of the North of the Kingdom of Hicks. Marshal Hi-Feliot, acutely aware of the unsatisfactory state of the war, fled back to the Kingdom of Hicks with more than 100,000 remnants of his army.

It can be said that the Alliance of Nations of the Eastern Region of the Continent, formed by the Kingdom of Hicks, was once again a loser in the Second Eastern Region War with the Kingdom of Ovieras. The Principality of Siddins and the Principality of Rimodra were completely extinct, the Kingdom of Nasri became the territory of the Kingdom of Ovilas, the Kanas Prairie was occupied by the Legion of Thunder, the Grand Duke of Kanas fled with his family to the Kingdom of Hicks, and the entire eastern region was included in the territory of the Kingdom of Ovilas.

Normally, the Kingdom of Hicks should sign an armistice peace agreement with the Kingdom of Ovieras, so to speak, the two countries are not adjacent, and there are two kingdoms between them. From the colonial war to the Second Eastern War, the Kingdom of Hicks was one of the failing parties, and there was no need to remain engaged with the Kingdom of Orvilas. As long as they are willing to admit defeat, the Kingdom of Ovieras will not make excessive demands, and it is easy for the two countries to end the state of war and reach a peace agreement.

But the Hicks kingdom had a paranoid king, Majid III, who would not admit to being a loser, even if he lost three or four standing legions, a strong wind sail fleet, and he was still reluctant to volunteer to send envoys to the kingdom of Orvilas for peace, preferring that the state of war between the two countries persist and remain so deadlocked.

In addition to this refusal to admit defeat, Machid III helped Prince Vedario, the only escaped from the annihilated kingdom of Nasri, to become the new king of Nasri, and, together with the Grand Duke of Kanas, who fled to the Kingdom of the Hicks, formed the King in exile, claiming that the Second Eastern Region War was not over and that the Kingdom of the Hicks would help its allies regain their country and destroy the Kingdom of Ovilas...

I have to admit, this feeling is really disgusting, just like whatever you're doing, you have a disgusting gaze behind your back or in the shadow, and it seems to be looking for the time to give you a hard time. Claude received some information about the Kingdom of Hicks in the Overseas Autonomous Territories, and the hereditary family territory of the royal nobles bestowed on the Nasserley region was frequently attacked and looted by bandits from the Kingdom of Menbamak, all of whom had the image of Hicks agents behind them.

Claude also had the feeling of happiness and misfortune that it was not a bad thing to have a Hicks kingdom add a little trouble to the king, lest the king's bosses keep their eyes on the overseas autonomous territories. Especially with regard to King Frederick I, who, in the manner of encapsulating his hereditary family territory, took a huge sum of gold kroner out of the nobility of the kingdom at the cost of martyrdom and land selection. He was all the more jealous of the financial crisis in the kingdom.

Needless to say, Claude was suffering from 30 million gold kroner in cash collected from overseas autonomous territories alone, 400,000 new rifles, 30 million rounds of ammunition and 16 Ironclad warships. He alone could not object, after all, to the satisfaction of all the members of the Overseas Autonomous Territories Council, the honorary nobles and the marquis generals. Money and supplies can be exchanged for a patrimonial family territory, which is arguably the pinnacle of their lives and deserves the infinite respect of future generations...

The situation on the mainland of the Kingdom is now very good, with a thriving view. With sufficient funds and less involvement of the kingdom's old-fashioned aristocratic family forces in the royal court, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, the Marquis Blancat, has carried out his economic revival plan on the kingdom's mainland. A year later, it is considered a first-time success, and the kingdom has the prospect of revival.

Claude is therefore pleased with the various small-scale armed clashes that have taken place along the borders of the Nasseri region and the Kingdom of Menbamak. Although the Nasseri region has been granted to the kingdom's territorial nobles, it is perfectly possible for the nobles of those territories to form family forces in response to these bandit attacks. But as king, Frederick I also needs to take charge of the territorial nobility of his kingdom, and it is his duty to send envoys to intervene with the Kingdom of Menbamak.

Only Claude did not expect that the wildfire plan of the autonomous military region in the eight colonies of the West Coast would attract the attention of that paranoid king of the Kingdom of Hicks, Majid III, who sent envoys to contact the Hicks volunteer corps. That was by no means an acceptable situation for Claude, who could only order the two Hicks divisions to quietly withdraw their autonomous territories.

As Claude said to General Derivique and General Sibylos, in the unlikely event that agents of the Hicks Kingdom lurk into the Overseas Autonomous Territories, contact those Hicks released prisoners, use the conditions for returning home to reunite with their families, or coerce those Hicks released prisoners with the security of their families, this would really cause havoc for the Overseas Autonomous Territories...

If the two Hicks volunteer regiments were allowed to continue their wildfire programmes on the West Coast, it would be easy to obtain a colony from indigenous peoples with the combat power of the two Hicks volunteer regiments in case the Special Envoy subsequently sent by the Kingdom of Hicks reacted. It was then that the Kingdom of Hicks sent troops back to the continent of Nubicia, and with the generosity of that paranoid king, Majid III, the Overseas Autonomous Territories said they would have to fight another colonial war.

That is the main reason Claude is determined to settle the Kingdom of Hicks once and for all, and this rogue country must be totally beaten to the ground and stepped on one foot so that it can never mess up behind its back. Only in this way can the Kingdom's own economy be built in peace, and the overseas autonomous territories can continue to implement wildfire plans without fear.

For Claude, now is the best time to defeat the Kingdom of the Hicks. First, the Kingdom of the Hicks has just defeated the Second Eastern Regional War, and even if McKidd III is harder to talk about, it will not change the fact that the Association of Eastern States has destroyed the participating countries. Even though the Kingdom of Hicks still has two exiled kings, struggling to preserve the Alliance's shelves, they have lost territory in the eastern region and are now in a low tide.

The second point is that the Overseas Autonomous Territories and the Kingdom of Orvillas also maintain a military advantage over the Kingdom of Hicks, which has led the Hicks Army in almost decades in terms of advanced weaponry and tactical tactical tactical training.

A Legion of Thunder can strike two standing legions of the Kingdom of Hicks with one enemy. If Claude doesn't put this advantage on the battlefield as soon as possible, but sits back and waits for the Hicks kingdom to catch up militarily, that's the biggest fool...

The third advantage is that Claude is now not lacking in the Road Party, and the eight Hicks Return Regiments are the best pseudo-armies, not belonging to the forces of the Hicks Royal Family, but to the opponents of Machid III, the territorial nobility of the Kingdom of Hicks. Now they hate Machid III very much because he sees them as garbage, abandons them in overseas autonomous territories, disregards their lives and even prevents them from returning home to reunite with their families.

And in Claude's eyes, he had taken over half a million Hicks prisoners as his own, and the only difficulty was how to get them to settle in a self-governing overseas country if they wanted to. So taking them back to the Kingdom of Hicks and moving them with their families and relatives to the Overseas Autonomous Territories is the only option.

This is a win-win situation for the Overseas Autonomous Territories, which have more new immigrants than are lacking, not thousands but millions a year, as is the case in the Kingdom itself. If more than half a million Hicks prisoners and their families and relatives were to emigrate to overseas self-governing territories, that would be at least two or three million immigrants.

Claude did not need these eight Hicks Returning Regiments to be at the forefront of the cannon dust, even the Hicks captives of these Returning Regiments hated King McKid III very much. At the same time, the eight Hicks prisoners of the Returning Regiment resented their original owners. The nobles of the Hicks kingdom put their lives and deaths in jeopardy, leaving them to serve in the overseas autonomous territories without being able to return home, and no one came to visit them...

Claude only needed the eight Hicks Return Division to guard the land after the Thunder Regiment took over the Kingdom of Hicks. They were Hicks and would not provoke resistance from Hicks residents, and would even use their experiences to arouse the sympathy of the Hicks people. As long as there is no chaos in the rear, the Thunder Corps in front can naturally strike forward with no hesitation and flourish.

On January 16, 604, the Holy Light, Claude boarded the new flagship of the Ironclad Fleet, the Ironclad Cruiser St. Huslind, to the mainland of the Kingdom.

“... for our Autonomous Territory, the three elements of the Ironclad are structure, speed, and artillery fire. In this era, the Farsian world has yet to compare itself to the Ironclad warships of our autonomous military regions, and essentially other countries are still in a position to explore how mechanical power can be used to propel ship navigation. We're already a lot ahead of them, so the first thing that matters to us is how to design iron nail ships that are better suited for cruising and combat and optimize their long-distance performance.

For maritime warfare, I have always believed that the speed of Ironclad warships is the most important, so that we can catch up with our enemies, even if we are in a quantitative disadvantage, we can use maritime guerrillas to fight and run, or raid and break through enemy fleet formations, creating confusion for them, then divide the siege and eat the enemy's fleet with one bite.

Artillery fire is also very important, and this is the third element. In fact, our Ironclad warships do not need to consider defense at this stage, because the enemy's front-loaded artillery makes it difficult to pose a threat to our Ironclad warships. Unless it's one of those heavy guns that fires huge solid iron bullets, it will do some damage to our Ironclad warships.

And our guns, from what we're equipped with, are still not very good. Look at the six turrets now assembled in front, one turret and one barrel. When two tubes of a turret can be fired together to pass. Now, of course, our guns are the best because no other country can compare with us, and our range of guns has reached 2,500 meters, which is already a great advance... "

Claude and his younger brother, General Muried, the governor of the Ironclad fleet, have been discussing the tactical aspects of the Ironclad in naval warfare on this voyage, as well as Claude's views and insights on the Ironclad warship, almost emptied all the stock in his stomach to satisfactorily let General Muried go. More than two decades later, retired General Muried wrote a Review of Naval Warfare, in which he celebrated Claude as the founder of a new era of naval warfare.

On a 16-day voyage, the Ironclad fleet appeared in Sharkmouth Bay, outside the kingdom's native White Deer City, with two Ironclad warships honking a whistle in the distance. In the single binoculars, on the command deck of the Ironclad Destroyer on the left, a sailor is waving two tiny flags of different colors.

“The flag says that when the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Lord Blancat, has been waiting for him in White Deer City, he welcomes the Kingdom's Marshal, Lord Claude, back to his hometown...” General Muried said of the flag.

“What's Prime Minister Blancard doing here?” Claude has some doubts: "Wasn't the last six Ironclad warships handed over supposed to be received by the head of the Royal Navy Department, General Pracek? ”

“Obviously, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom is here for you, and you are also the Marshal of the Kingdom, who, as Prime Minister of the Kingdom, appears to be equal in identity. As for the idea, it's up to you to meet him...” General Muried said with a smile.

“Damn, I also want to go straight to the North Bay...” Claude whispered. “Forget it. Go to the port. I'll see what he has to say. ”