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Chapter 453 Summary after the war
Twenty days later, Claude, General Albert, and General Beachlin returned to Lanhu Town with a temporary regiment of troops from their respective legions. After spending another five days holding a grand burial ceremony for the fallen officers and soldiers at Yinglie Mountain not far from Lanhu Town, Claude finally got a day's rest. Then I received several friends who came to visit me at home, and the next day I went to the theater headquarters to attend the post-war summary meeting.
First, Colonel Fodeles, the director of the Theater Intelligence Division, made an intelligence report on the Hicks. Based on the intelligence and messages sent by the secret agents at Rodkers Bay Colony, it can be concluded that the Hicks currently staying in Rodkers Bay Colony The three and a half Hicks Kingdom's standing legions in the Gulf Colony are no longer able to launch an attack. What they need is to protect themselves and raise a large amount of grass.
Claude led the first division of the Thunder Legion to raid the Hicks general logistics base camp near Rhodes Bay City. Although the weapons and equipment produced by the Hicks Kingdom were transferred to the Fox Islands United Kingdom at a low price in Rhodes The administrative officials of the city of Kos Bay exchanged gold coins worth millions of gold crowns.
But Claude did not resell the large amounts of grain and grass stored in the general logistics base camp. Instead, he took away the fine grain that could be taken away and the high-end ingredients enjoyed by senior Hicks officers, as well as After the fresh meat such as live cattle and sheep could be slaughtered at any time, all the warehouses for storing grass were set on fire...
The Hicks have a total of three camps in Rodex Bay Colony. In addition to the general logistics base camp near Rodex Bay City, they have built defensive camps on the northern mountainous border and have enough reserves for two The standing corps was provided with food and fodder for three months.
The large camp built on the border of the eastern mountainous area was the starting point for the attack and served as a transfer station. The food and grass reserves were not much, only enough to maintain the daily consumption of three standing legions. Of course, this has a lot to do with the Hicks' wishful thinking of attacking the Nikancha settlement to collect food and grass on the spot.
Five standing corps formed mostly by Hicks veterans, with more than 300,000 troops. In addition to the two standing corps guarding the northern mountainous border, three standing corps formed by Hicks veterans on the eastern mountainous border launched the attack. It is a pity that these nearly 200,000 troops with strong combat effectiveness were invincible in the first month, but after capturing the first defensive line built by the directly-administered territorial theater in the mountainous area of the central part of the eastern front, they could no longer go any further.
No matter how many Nikanchas died, it would be of no use to the Hicks. The higher command even ordered that the Nikanchas not be included in the registration of military exploits. For the Hicks, the real and only big enemy is the two direct legions in the direct-administered war zone. Whether they encounter the Thunder Legion or the Rock Legion, the disappearance they get is always bad, and even the casualty ratio is slightly similar. Some of them have become extravagant hopes, and even two to one or three to one cannot be achieved.
Sometimes the commander of the Hicks was also surprised that he could fire a musket without a match rope, accurately aim and shoot the musket with a range of more than 150 meters, and it could be used in rainy days without lighting a match rope without being exposed and thrown at night. The grenades were thrown at various locations, and during the final evacuation, they even encountered explosive weapons buried on the ground that could explode on the ground. All this simply refreshed the Hicks people's new understanding of weapons...
The senior commanders of the Hicks are not incompetent. They clearly realize that if there is no way to suppress the endless new weapons in the territorial theater, then there will be no hope of victory in this colonial war.
What made them depressed was that when the investigation report on all new weapons in the territorial war zone was sent back to the kingdom, the response they received was nonsense. King Mechid III even wrote a reply in his own hand, scolding the senior commanders who stayed in Rodex Bay Colony, asking them not to make excuses for their failures and to make up lies that no one believed.
King Melchid III of the Kingdom of Hicks and the Kingdom's Ministry of War certainly did not believe that the territorial theater would have the new weapons that the senior commanders of the legions said. The reason is very simple. In order to compete for the throne, the two local princes of the Kingdom of Ovelas killed the kingdom with mountains of corpses and seas of blood. If there were new weapons, they would have been used long ago.
It is impossible for any kingdom in the Farea continent to equip new weapons only to the garrison troops in overseas colonies without equipping the kingdom's local troops. However, in the protracted civil war in the Kingdom of Overas, the two princes' troops did not have any new weapons except for the grenades that were eye-catching at the beginning. Otherwise, they would have been imitated by other kingdoms.
Therefore, King Mechid III and the Ministry of War of the Kingdom of Hicks believed that these senior officers of the legions who participated in the colonial war were more shirking the responsibility for the failure. The five standing legions dealt with the two legions in the Overseas Directly Administered Territory of the Overas Kingdom. As a result, they not only lost most of the territory they had occupied in the eastern mountainous area, but even the general logistics base camp in the rear was destroyed.
The Hicks veterans of the two standing regiments stationed on the northern mountainous border were even more embarrassing. They had strong defensive camps and were waiting for work, but they were wiped out by the attack of the Thunder Legion in the directly governed theater area, leaving only more than 10,000 wounded soldiers. . However, the Hicks veterans of the three standing corps in the eastern mountainous area, with nearly 200,000 troops, were unable to break through the second defensive front guarded by a division of the enemy's Rock Corps. It is simply a shame for military personnel.
This was named the first war of the Rodex Bay Colony, and was also considered the fourth colonial war between the Kingdom of Hicks and the Kingdom of Overas. The outcome of the war was somewhat unexpected. The Overseas Territory War Zone of the Overas Kingdom once again won with the weak defeating the strong. After the war, the Hicks Kingdom's five standing legions were left with only one and a half standing legions. Even if all the wounded soldiers were counted, they could not make up the manpower of the two standing legions. It can be said that they encountered another battle. Big defeat.
However, the Kingdom of Hicks still has the strength to continue. As long as all the standing legions are transported to Rodex Bay Colony and some new soldiers are recruited to supplement them, they will soon be able to assemble seven standing legions with more than 400,000 troops. They still have There is a chance to turn defeat into victory. After all, on paper, the Hicks Kingdom's military strength is much stronger than that of the Ovilas Kingdom's overseas direct-administered territory war zone.
It's just that King Melchid III of the Kingdom of Hicks and the Kingdom's Ministry of War did not understand the true situation of this war. Instead, they believed that the incompetence of those senior commanders led to the failure of this war. Therefore, while Melchid III personally wrote a letter to reprimand the senior commanders of these legions, he also appointed a more brave and loyal lieutenant general from the kingdom to come to Rodex Bay Colony to replace the scolding in the mouth of Melchid III. The old, incompetent, and cowardly army general, Count Norbriton Pomberundi.
Currently, there are barely four Hicks standing corps in Rodex Bay Colony. Since the two Hicks standing corps in the border camp in the northern mountainous area were mostly annihilated, the grass stocked there can still be maintained for the time being. It took about two months for one and a half legions to retreat from the eastern mountainous front, and the light cavalry legion that had newly disembarked and came to the rescue.
The standing corps that stayed near Rodex Bay City and had just arrived was already in a food shortage. In addition to purchasing food at high prices in Rodex Bay City, the corps also mobilized Hicks soldiers directly in the bay. Fishing and picking up seafood such as shells on the beach to solve the problem of lack of food.
The most ridiculous thing is that the residents of Rodex Bay City were greedy for the high food prices and sold all the food reserves at home. There are only more than 20,000 residents in the entire Rodex Bay City, but the strength of a Hicks Kingdom standing army reaches more than 63,000. Therefore, the three months of food reserves in the homes of those residents are only enough to consume the Hicks Kingdom's standing army for one month. Now the entire colony is in a food shortage.
The spies of the Buffalo Trading Company lurking in the city reported that basically the lunch and dinner in the city now consists of a glass of ale and a piece of sea fish. There is no meat or bread. If you can find a few potatoes, it is a rare delicacy. Compared with before the war, the price of food has increased ten times. The poor city residents sold the reserved food at five times the price, but now they have to buy it back at ten times the price...
Since the Buffalo Trading Company in the Territory War Zone is still continuously transporting ale to Rodex Bay Colony to fulfill the Hicks' ale order, even the colonial administrators of the Fox Islands United Kingdom are privately asking the Buffalo Trading Company if they can We can't smuggle them some food from the war zone directly under their jurisdiction. They are willing to pay a high price to buy it to relieve the food shortage.
The Hicks also rushed to the colonies of various countries in the Western Continent to purchase a batch of food at a high price to solve the crisis. However, it took time to go back and forth, and the food shortage was estimated to continue for another month. As the business manager of the Buffalo Trading Company, Colonel Bockal has formally applied to the theater command to transport a batch of food to the Rodex Bay Colony. This is a tenfold profit gain. General Skerry and General Bolognik are still considering it. middle.
Colonel Fodeles, who is in charge of the intelligence department, finally concluded that based on all the current situation, the Hicks will not be able to pose a threat to the war zone and the Nikancha country in the next six months. They also need to treat wounded soldiers, restock food and other military supplies, and also need to wait for the arrival of the next three standing legions. If nothing unexpected happens, it is estimated that Hicks will not launch another attack until June or July next year.
This conclusion is drawn because according to what the war zone knows about the Hicks Kingdom’s transportation plan, and from those administrative officials in Rodex Bay City, the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands, the Hicks will be the last to arrive in April next year. of three standing regiments transported to Rodex Bay Colony. Based on the lessons learned from the first Rodex Bay Colony War, the Hicks needed the three last arriving standing corps to complete their rest before launching an attack, so that they could exert their maximum combat power.
It is now October of the 592nd year of the Holy Light Calendar. Until June next year, the directly-administered war zone will have nearly eight months to rest and replenish its troops. During the three months that Claude and others were fighting fiercely on the front line, General Bolognik and General Skerry in the rear were not idle either. They recruited another reserve army recruit and started training for new recruits.
The shortage of soldiers and loss of combat power of the Thunder Legion and the Rock Legion who died in the war this time will be filled by outstanding personnel from the directly affiliated troops who did not go to war, the local garrison regiment and the recruits of this reserve legion.
After Colonel Fodeles of the Intelligence Department completed his report, General Bolognik's speech followed. His main purpose was to enhance the confidence of the senior officers in the theater to achieve the final victory in this colonial war. This war that took place in the Nikancha country and the Rodkers Bay colony did not have any adverse impact on the entire overseas territorial theater. On the contrary, it greatly promoted the development of people's livelihood industries.
Without the various armaments and supplies provided by the Kingdom, the war zones had to meet their own needs for all supplies and equipment needed for the development of the troops in the directly-governed territories. The large number of orders caused various direct-governed territories to set up various production workshops. upsurge. As long as the quality meets the requirements of the war zone, even small workshops that produce socks can make huge profits.
In addition, the establishment of the Overseas Minsheng Bank freed the territorial war zones from the Kingdom's shackles on the economic development of overseas territorial territories through the use of national banks. The issuance and smooth promotion of banknotes freed the territorial territories from the dilemma of shortage of low-denomination currency. General Bolognik excitedly told the senior military officers in the war zone who attended the meeting that the Overseas Minsheng Bank had successfully issued low-denomination banknotes worth 10 million gold crowns and also lent private loans of more than 10 million gold crowns. This was a powerful move. Supported the economic development of various jurisdictions.
This is also the main reason why General Bolognik and General Skerry have the confidence to recruit and form a reserve corps again within the theater. The economic development of overseas territories will naturally benefit the theater greatly. The tax revenue earned this year alone is Enough to cover the military expenditures of this war. As long as this kind of economic development can last for three years, the war zone will be completely self-sufficient in military expenditures.
After General Bolognik's speech, General Skerry reported at the meeting on the war zone's reserves and funds of various military supplies for the colonial war with the Kingdom of Hicks. Thanks to Claude before the war started, The two main field regiments of the Thunder Legion were dispatched to clear out the entire inland colony of the Hicks. The gold and silver ore ingots obtained from the captured trophies in the war zone were worth more than 13 million gold crowns.
The current headache in the war zone is how to deal with these gold and silver ore ingots. It seems unnecessary to cast them all into gold and silver coins. The vault of Overseas Minsheng Bank stores eight million gold crowns and silver thalers of minted gold and silver coins. After issuing low-denomination banknotes worth ten million gold crowns, in the past few months, few people have come. Banks exchange banknotes for gold and silver coins, and minting more gold and silver coins will put overseas Minsheng Banks on a certain capital cost burden.
This problem is actually easy to solve. Claude casually came up with the idea of refining all these gold and silver ore ingots, casting them into standard gold and silver cubes that required two people to lift, and printing numbers on them. For example, using a weight of one hundred kilograms as the standard, then build a large open room at the Overseas Minsheng Headquarters and fill it with this standard type of gold and silver cubes.
All those who come to the Overseas Minsheng Bank Head Office to handle financial business can see this large room filled with standard gold and silver cubes through the glass and iron railings. People with distinguished status can even invite them to visit. The purpose of this will greatly enhance the credibility of the banknotes issued by Overseas Minsheng Bank. As long as all users of banknotes know that Overseas Minsheng Bank has sufficient gold and silver reserves, they will not lose confidence in the banknotes in their hands.
Claude's suggestion is indeed a good idea, but it still requires the war zone to convene bank managers and various shareholders to discuss and discuss. As for security issues, Claude has no worries. Even if a powerful robber breaks into the bank, he will not be able to take away such a heavy gold and silver cube. In this era without cars as a means of transportation, trying to take away such a large gold nugget is simply an act of seeking death. To put it bluntly, carrying a gold nugget and silver nugget with you is the biggest burden.
After General Skerry finished speaking, it was the turn of the three generals on the front line to comment on the performance of the participating units in the war zone and the post-war summary. Claude asked General Albert and General Beachlin to speak first. The two generals unanimously praised the excellent performance of the new rifles in the war, believing that if all the troops were equipped with the new rifles, they could defeat the ten standing legions of the Kingdom of Hicks.
It is a pity that the Blackstone Firearms Manufacturing Workshop can only produce up to 30,000 new rifles per year, and it will take several years to meet the equipment needs of various units in the entire theater.
General Beachlin also praised the performance of new weapons and mines in the war. He believed that they were powerful weapons for defense and besieging enemies, and hoped that more of them would be stocked in theaters. At the same time, General Beachlin also criticized the grenade produced in the theater, believing that compared with the Iron Pumpkin produced by the Kingdom of Hicks, it was completely inferior in terms of throwing distance and explosive power, so that the Rock Army was at a disadvantage in the initial defense. Suffered heavy losses during the war...
In addition to summarizing their own strengths and weaknesses, the two generals also commented on the performance of the Hicks veterans in this war. They were tenacious and tenacious in fighting, brave and fearless of life and death. The Hicks Kingdom was responsible for this war. The commander-in-chief of the war, the hereditary earl, General Norburyton Pomberundi, is indeed not an easy veteran soldier to deal with. He is cunning and cunning. His performance in dealing with the offensive in the theater is remarkable, and it is difficult to find any omissions in him. .
If it weren't for the fact that the Territory War Zone had taken advantage of new rifles and other advanced weapons, to be honest, the five standing legions of the Hicks Kingdom, composed of veterans, who launched the attack this time should have become evenly matched opponents in the Territory War Zone. They were not weaker than The combat power of the Thunder Legion and the Rock Legion. Fortunately, although the Thunder Legion and the Rock Legion paid heavy casualties in this war, they still annihilated the strength of their three standing legions, which reduced the strength of the Hicks and seriously injured them, making it much easier to deal with in the next war.
Commenting on the performance of the units participating in the battle between the Thunder Army and the Rock Army, General Beachlin focused on the performance of the Rock Army's division in the defensive battle in the central part of the eastern mountainous area. Since a large number of veterans were transferred to local garrison regiments, the performance of the newly recruited recruits on the battlefield was still somewhat immature. They were easily affected by adverse battlefield situations and lacked self-confidence.
For example, the loss of the first defensive line had a lot to do with the panic of the new recruits of the Rock Legion when they encountered night attacks and grenade bombings. In the end, the collapse of the Nikancha people on the flanks made it impossible for the entire defensive front to hold on, and all the new soldiers involuntarily retreated with the defeated Nikancha people.
In fact, if a counterattack was organized at that time, Hicks' enemies on the flanks could be pushed back, but by that time General Beachlin's military orders could no longer be conveyed to the front line. Therefore, General Beachlin hoped to replenish his troops again by recalling a group of veterans from the local garrison to serve as the grassroots backbone of the army. Just like the veterans of the local garrison that Claude brought to the second defensive front, their arrival quickly stabilized the situation on the front line.