Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 578 The Colonial Situation on the West Coast

“You have embarrassed our king this time...” Speaker Bennett said in his first words when he met Claude in Campaster City, the capital of the northern Gulf of the Kanas region.

Indeed, it is disgraceful that His Majesty King Frederick I of the Kingdom of Ovieras held a grand celebration of the completion of the victory of the Hicks Kingdom in Kingdoms. None of the General Likung of the Autonomous Territory was present, but only some officers and soldiers of the Red Dragon Regiment, who had travelled to the Kingdom of Hicks to guard the armed battles with those places, were recruited. Speaker Bennett attended the celebration, saying that His Majesty the King was shady all the way and smiled without smiling.

Claude had by then returned to the northern Bay Territory of the Overseas Autonomous Territories, where General Scully had built a Fields family estate on the coast of the capital, Campaster City, facing the sea and blooming in the spring. So Claude lived in the name of rest and recuperation and gave himself a good rest. Speaker Bennett ended his official duties and itinerary in Wangdu and visited Claude here, bringing him some gifts as well.

The Aristocratic Court hears the verdict, the receipt, the splitting of the blood affinity, and now Claude is Han. Homeowner of the Fields family. What surprised Claude was that Speaker Bennett bought the Fields Family Hall in White Deer City and gave it to himself as a gift. This is ancestral property, and Claude had to accept Speaker Bennett's affair.

What Claude didn't expect was that her mother would sell the house, and it seemed that she and Albert had decided not to go back to White Deer City. This side said not to forget the honour and glory of his late father, Mr. Morsan, for the family, but even the White Deer City and ancestral estate where his father's cemetery was located were abandoned. It was unpredictable, and Claude was also emotional...

After a half-month of rest in the North Bay, Prime Minister Blancat came again, this time with his official duties. Despite the refusal of the Ligong officers and soldiers of the Claude and Autonomous Leadership Regions to attend the King's Congregation for Commemoration in Wangdu, promotions and awards should be given. As if Frederick I had pinched his nose and approved Claude's list of General Likung, Claude was still promoted to the kingdom's hereditary marquis.

Only three members of the Autonomous Territory were promoted to the rank of General, and Colonel Bockard, with Claude's help, played a significant role in the Six Kingdoms offensive and was promoted to Major General of the Kingdom. The two senior officers promoted with him were colonel officers of the newly formed Storm Corps, which was also promoted to Major General of the Kingdom.

Compared to the promotion of the ranks, Frederick I was very generous at the helm, and this time eleven more senior officers were promoted to the Baron Emeritus of the Kingdom in the Autonomous Territory, and it appears that His Majesty is still prepared to make a contribution from the costs of marching and land selection. In contrast to the senior generals who have been promoted to the hereditary title and have acquired family territory, in addition to Claude, three more have been promoted from the hereditary Baron to the hereditary Viscount, with the exception of General Albert, General Berklin and General Diavid, whose family territory has also been expanded, although land selection fees remain to be paid.

Claude, for example, was originally a hereditary count of the kingdom, and this promotion to the hereditary Marquis almost tripled the family territory. But because Claude, under the pretext of nursing illness, did not attend the Congregation, making it difficult for His Majesty the King to leave office, the family territory sealed for the promotion of the title was placed by His Majesty the King in the Nasserley area, more than 600 miles from the territory originally in the North Bay. If Claude wants to put the two family territories together, he has to go to King's and pay the land selection fee...

This time, however, the Autonomous Territory reaped a great deal from the Kingdom of Hicks, and I do not mind giving His Majesty any further credit in this regard. And it was naturally Speaker Bennett who packed the courtesy again and brought a battalion of escorts to the King with nearly six million gold and silver items. Soon news came from Wangdu that the family territory of the Overseas Autonomous Territories of the Kanas region had once again been extended to a large circle, and General Skerry was busy again.

Claude was also aboard when the ocean cruise fleet belonging to the Autonomous Territory arrived again to transport military immigrants to the Overseas Autonomous Territories. Next, the main focus of the Autonomous Territory was on the colonies of the countries of the West Coast. Progress in the implementation of the wildfire plan has been very slow owing to increased vigilance and vigilance by those colonial Powers.

As General Bichclin reported, although the Pamigals and Russmans, with the help of the Voluntary Corps of the Autonomous Territorial Regions, once again wiped out the three Expeditionary Forces of the Kingdom of Morosik, the Kingdom of Resnia and the Principality of Vasiliko. But there is another crisis of incursion by several other colonial Powers on the West Coast. Almost everything in the Pamigal National Republic and the newly established Union of Russman Chiefs now requires the assistance of the Autonomous Territory, which has become a huge economic and military burden for the Autonomous Territory...

In April 606, Claude returned to Langhu City, the overseas autonomous capital. In spite of that last estate in Hillah, Claude convened a military conference in the autonomous military region to learn about the implementation of the wildfire plan, as well as about the situation and various assistance issues in the Pamigal National Republic and the Union of Russman Chiefs on the West Coast.

General Bitchklin believes that the current pattern of colonies across the West Coast has changed considerably and that wildfire plans need to be adapted to the situation. The biggest problem was the fact that for the third consecutive year since the establishment of the Pamigal National Republic, war had engulfed those indigenous peoples who had suffered extremely heavy casualties, which in part had frightened the colonies of other countries. Many indigenous peoples who were prepared to respond, and who wanted to riot, to build independent States, to expel colonizers, were silent and watched the battle between the two independent States succeed.

The wildfire plan developed by General Boquer in that year was intended to launch a wave of national liberation and statehood throughout the colonies of the countries of the West Coast, depriving the eight colonial Powers of the southern coast of Farea of their capacity to suppress the colonial indigenous peoples' uprising and to resist military assistance from the overseas autonomous territorial military zones to the colonial indigenous peoples of all countries, ultimately enabling the liberation of the indigenous peoples of the entire colony of the eight West Coast countries and the establishment of nation-States.

Only the armed uprisings of the Pamigals and the uprising of the Russmans alerted the colonial authorities of the remaining West Coast countries, who had sent large numbers of troops from their own kingdoms, imposed severe closures and vigilance on colonial borders and made it extremely difficult to communicate with the indigenous peoples of the various colonies by sending agents from the autonomous territorial military regions, even arms and armaments to assist those indigenous peoples could not be delivered in the past.....

The indigenous peoples of several colonies had originally drawn up violent plans, and for that reason they were playing a role. This was followed by two expeditionary wars between the kingdoms of Morosic and Reznia and the Principality of Vassilico to reclaim their colonies. Although the Pamigal National Republic and the Russmans had been victorious with the support of the Autonomous Territorial Regions, three years of war had left those two indigenous peoples with nearly a million dead and wounded, which had resulted in the intimidation of those in other colonies, who were unwilling to pay such a great price for independence.

The only good news is that the total demise of the two Expeditionary Armies of the Kingdom of Morosic, the Kingdom of Reznia and the Principality of Vassilic has left the rest of the colonial countries on the West Coast with a palpitation, even if they have assembled two or three standing regiments, and no one is willing to make the first attempt to invade the two indigenous peoples' countries, fearing that their military operations will fail as well. Instead, they maintain a delicate balance.

The Kingdom of Morosik and the Principality of Vassilico have completely withdrawn from the western coast of the Nubian continent as a result of the failure of two expeditions, and only the Kingdom of Reznia has retained a colony on the western coast, which has prolonged its asthma. However, the problem it now faced was not that the indigenous peoples of another colony would also riot, but that two expedition failures had deprived the Kingdom of Riznia of most of its military and self-preservation capabilities, and the two colonial countries around it had turned their greedy eyes to its only remaining colony...

Perhaps it would be more reasonable for the Kingdom of Riznia, the colony of the Kingdom of Cameron and the colony of the Principality of Rigliolo around the colony, not to attack the Pamigal National Republic and the Union of Russman Chiefs, to be compromised by the resolute resistance of indigenous peoples to acquire a colony without paying great war damage, but to provoke a colonial war with the Kingdom of Riznia. Anyway, the Kingdom of Riznia is now an exhausted soup dog who can crush the colony without any effort.

Consequently, the border dispute between the colonies of the three countries has continued in recent times, with several armed clashes reportedly taking place. Even though the Kingdom of Riznia has stood idly by and the colonial authorities have repeatedly called upon States to unite against the threat of armed violence by indigenous peoples to achieve national liberation and the establishment of an independent State, the colonies of the Kingdom of Cameron and the Principality of Leriolo are still self-sufficient and pressing, and their two countries are now only one reasonable excuse to strike a big hand at that Riznian colony...

It is precisely because of the ambiguity between the colonies of the Kingdom of Cameron and the Principality of Leriolo that the three remaining countries, the Union of the States of Opsaro, the Principality of Federo and the United Kingdom of the Falkes Islands, have lost their desire to attack the Pamigal National Republic and the Union of Russman Chiefs alone and have to watch the situation unfold.

In particular, the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands, which occupies the largest number of West Coast colonies, has lost even the Rodex Bay colonies occupied by autonomous military zones, leaving three colonies of varying sizes. These three colonies are not connected, and the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands is a strong naval fleet, not a land corps, and now each of the three colonies has a combined corps of stationed indigenous peoples in the colonies...

The United Kingdom of the Fox Islands is the most nervous place at the moment, and its biggest concern is the war waged by the colonies of the Kingdom of Cameron and the Principality of Leriolo against the remaining colony of the Kingdom of Lisnia, so that it is also likely to be caught up in this storm of struggle for colonies. After all, its three colonial garrisons were weak, with only one low-powered garrison, and were not rivals of the two or three standing corps of neighbouring colonies.

Fortunately, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland had a very strong navy and, seriously speaking, had the least fear of rioting among the indigenous peoples of the colonies. Because the indigenous peoples of their colonies have been influenced for centuries by the British colonists of the Fox Islands, calling themselves the Langstobuks, meaning the spoilers of the sea and the warriors of the wind, who are good at fishing and diving in the sea. So the four main naval fleets of the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands all absorbed a lot of Langstobuks as sailors and treated the indigenous peoples of the colonies well.

From the Farea continent to the Nubian continent, it is a long voyage by sea, the territory of the four great naval fleets of the Kingdom of the Fox Islands. Its four colonies on the West Coast had not been involved in colonial warfare for nearly a hundred years, thanks also to the blessings of a strong maritime fleet. Because even if colonies were occupied by other countries, the naval wars and blockades launched by the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands would reverse all the unfavourable situations, and the last country to provoke war would have to return the occupied colonies to the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands.

But with the advent of Navy Ironclad Battleships in the Overseas Autonomous Naval Regions, that kind of sailboat began to fall overnight. The United Kingdom of the Fox Islands, even though it already has four strong maritime fleets, is still at the same level as other countries. In the years in which all coastal States have invested heavily in the development of Ironclad warships, the United Kingdom's greatest weakness has been exposed to other countries. It is that as an archipelagic nation, its kingdom does not have a wealth of mineral resources and advanced iron processing technology...

Compared to the rest of the southern part of the Farea continent, the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands has traditionally suffered in terms of iron making and forging techniques, as can be seen from the backward-looking fire rope guns that its army is equipped with. So when the Autonomous Territory sold the seized Hicks Kingdom flare rope guns at a low price to the colonial officials of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, they were very happy to empty the colonial bank vault and eat a lot of weapons and equipment...

Two years ago, the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands had sent envoys to overseas self-governing territories in the hope of purchasing an Ironclad warship from the autonomous military region for research. General Muried, who was merely the admiral of the navy, said this to the envoy in disdain, meaning that they could not buy it and imitate the Ironclad warships, and that their kingdom did not have the basic industrial techniques needed to make the Ironclad warships, such as refining, forging and welding, even the simplest firepower and steam engines could be imitated.

Moreover, over the past two years, other coastal countries have made progress in the development of Ironclad warships, and even two countries have manufactured ocean warships covered with copper armor, also powered by marine steam engines. Though far less than the Ironclad warships of the navy of the Autonomous Territories, it is nevertheless a glimpse of bright prospects and hope that the battle power has exceeded that of the wooden Windsurf Ocean warships.

So the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands is also well aware that once a coastal State manufactures an Ironclad Battleship like an Overseas Autonomous Territory, the crown of its naval power will change. If it could not become a maritime power, it would not be able to preserve the three remaining colonies on the western coast of the Nubian continent.

In the face of the predicament of a lack of resources and production technology in the United Kingdom alone, the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands decided to invest in one of the colonies known as the Wades Hill Seaport. The Fox Islands United Kingdom decided to acquire technology and recruit technicians to build the colony into a naval harbour base capable of producing and developing Ironclad warships.

That was why the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands feared most of all that the rest of the colonial Powers would break out of their colonial wars and therefore disrupt its colonization plans. That is why it seeks to reconcile the colonial Powers so that they can once again turn their objectives to the Pamigal National Republic and the newly established Union of Russman Chiefs. At the same time, using his kingdom's currently rather powerful naval fleet, he threatened those colonial Powers, whoever provoked the colonial war, facing his maritime blockade and declaration of war...

Speaking at the military conference, General Bitchklin believed that the best way to do that was to provoke colonial wars in those colonial Powers, where troops piled up in their colonies were killing each other and consuming each other, until they had exhausted their efforts to come out and pick up cheap prices, which was the ideal situation. That would make it possible to accomplish the objectives of the wildfire plan without any effort to liberate and establish independent States for the indigenous peoples of all colonies.

But the biggest impact and disadvantage at present is that of the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands, whose presence and naval fleet are threatened, and the colonial Powers on the West Coast will not be at war. The best way is to destroy the naval fleet of the Fox Kingdom first, without the threat of its four naval fleets, a colonial war will surely erupt, and even the three colonies of the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands will be annexed by another country...

The problem is that the Autonomous Territories are unable to destroy the United Kingdom's maritime fleet in the Fox Islands without a name or excuse. In particular, the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands had ceded the colony of the Gulf of Rodex to the Overseas Autonomous Territories and maintained friendly relations with the Overseas Autonomous Territories. It also hoped to purchase Ironclad warship production technology from the Autonomous Territories at high prices.

Under such circumstances, the autonomous territorial military region is also embarrassed to attack it for no reason. After all, the autonomous territorial military region is also famous as a lecturer and needs a little face. In the West Coast colonial war, the name of a volunteer corps could be used on land, which could also cover up the past. But at sea, you can't talk nonsense with your eyes open. Hard to say that the Ironclad fleet is also a volunteer fleet, that really can't be explained...

“Have you considered using pirates to attack the United Kingdom naval fleet in the Fox Islands?” General Boquer stood up and said.