Claude had his hands full.
Since February of the 595th year of the Holy Light Calendar, the ocean-going cruise fleets of the overseas autonomous territories have been continuously transporting various large-scale mechanical equipment, technicians and their families from Bailu City. According to Captain Murray, Admiral of the Fleet, there is no longer a large manufacturing workshop in the entire three southwest counties and the seven local counties in the kingdom occupied by the Thunder Legion. Whether it is military or civilian, all mechanical equipment has been transported back.
Claude had to admit that the most effective way to improve the manufacturing technology level of overseas autonomous territories was to form a group to rob. According to Sir Bennett and Mr. Veblen, with these mechanical equipment and technicians, the products that can be produced in the Kingdom can also be produced by overseas territories, and they are even better in terms of production efficiency and product quality. In addition, The cost of producing the same products in overseas dominions and selling prices on the market are lower and more competitive.
The reason is very simple. The large-scale manufacturing workshops in the Kingdom are basically in the hands of the old aristocratic families and the emerging business aristocrats. Most of their products are in a monopoly position in the Kingdom and when they are sold to foreign countries, and there is no pressure from competition. Therefore, They will increase the sales price to maximize profits. At the same time, in these manufacturing workshops, there are more managers who join with various connections, and the staff is overstaffed, which increases the labor cost and the waste of resources.
Until mid-May, the ocean-going cruise fleet, which had made three trips back and forth, began a month-long period of repair and ship maintenance. When transportation resumes in June, a large number of refugees and refugees from the Kingdom will be transported back. The report sent back by General Albert asked the military region to increase the delivery of food and grass, because in White Deer City alone, the Thunder Legion gathered nearly one million refugees and refugees, and the pressure on food was a bit high.
Claude can only stay at the Port of Copicius now, busy separating various large-scale mechanical equipment that was transported back. The military industry belongs to the military industry, the civilian industry belongs to the civilian industry, and the military industry belongs to the Blackstone Firearms Manufacturing Workshop, and which belongs to the United Military Manufacturing Industry that Mr. Veblen is responsible for. Civilian machinery and equipment are divided into which ones are under the control of overseas dominion military regions, and which ones can be handed over to the dominion members for operation...
There are many council members who want to establish friendship with Claude so that they can take advantage of the distribution of these civilian machinery and equipment. They all know that this store will disappear after passing this village. Let your family open a large-scale manufacturing workshop in the local area. This is the best industry for the family to maintain local influence and pass it on to future generations.
For this reason, there are many congressmen who are ready to send their daughters or granddaughters to Claude's bed in order to get closer and allow their families to be taken care of in the distribution of these civilian machinery and equipment. Claude was exhausted mentally and physically trying to avoid these uninvited congressmen who came to visit with their children. Fortunately, General Bolognik and Sir Bennett arrived at the Port of Copicius quickly and took over the distribution of these civilian machinery and equipment, which finally made Claude feel a lot calmer.
While busy, Claude sometimes felt puzzled. After Bokoal came back last year, he had a secret conversation with himself and said that many senior officials in the Guards Corps were dissatisfied with Sterling XI's incompetence in governing the country and were preparing to elect the fourth prince, His Royal Highness Frederic, to power. It has been more than a year now, but there is still no movement in the royal capital. Even the report sent back by General Albert from the Kingdom itself said that the Kingdom was peaceful and there was no sign of dispatching troops to deal with the Thunder Legion.
Claude was puzzled at this point. Naturally, he would not think that Boker would deceive him and fabricate a story out of thin air that the senior officials of the Guards were dissatisfied with Sterling XI. In addition to transporting restricted large-scale military machinery and equipment, improving the manufacturing technology level of overseas autonomous territories, and recruiting refugees from the Kingdom to fill the lack of human resources in the autonomous territories, the plan for this attack on the mainland of the Kingdom is also to slap His Majesty the King in the face. very important.
To force the overseas territories to rebel, to force the armies of the territories' war zones to land on the Kingdom's mainland to rob military production and manufacturing equipment, to loot manufacturing workshops in various local counties, and to recruit refugees and refugees from the Kingdom's mainland, all of which were carried out during the Sterling 11 The slaps on the face of the world can be said to have made His Majesty the King lose face both at home and abroad. The hats of incompetence, stupidity, and absurdity were put on his head one after another, which almost made him lose face in the kingdom. He lost his prestige and dignity as a king in front of ministers and nobles.
Under such circumstances, the top brass of the Guards wanted to depose him from the throne. It should be easy to elect the fourth prince, His Royal Highness Frederic, to the throne. But why is there no movement in the capital? Isn't this the best time
In fact, what Claude didn't understand was that the top brass of the Guards Corps were also scolding them, and they were targeting the Thunder Corps. Originally, the Guards had made preparations to mutiny and elect the fourth prince, His Royal Highness Frederic, to power. Just when they were about to launch, the Thunder Legion landed, sweeping through ten local counties in the kingdom, and their troops reached the Ibinist Plain. surrounding area.
Sometimes the guards on the pass defense facilities set up by the Janissaries on the outside of the Ibiniste Plain can see the light cavalry of the Thunder Legion cruising nearby. Although these light cavalry of the Thunder Division showed no hostility, they only gathered the refugee teams and promoted the benefits of going to overseas autonomous territories in the kingdom's refugee gathering areas. However, the guards of the Guards Corps on the checkpoint can still only prepare for battle as if facing a powerful enemy.
It can be said that the arrival of the Thunder Legion interrupted the senior guards' plan to overthrow Sterling XI. Because the Imperial Guards did not know whether the arrival of the Thunder Legion was intentional, they now regretted vaguely revealing this plan to the representatives of the directly-administered war zone. Originally, they wanted to win the approval of the territorial war zone. After their plan was successful, they would recognize the fourth prince, His Royal Highness Frederic, as the new king and issue a statement.
Now, not only has the territory war zone been renamed the Dominion, but the Thunder Legion has also been sent to land on the kingdom's mainland. This made the senior officials of the Guards Corps anxious, wondering whether they should continue the plan. These days, they cannot trust other legions, especially the Thunder Legion from overseas territories. Even though the Thunder Legion had made a slogan of opposing Sterling Eleven and not the Kingdom, which seemed to have the same purpose as theirs, the senior officials of the Guards Corps still did not dare to take it lightly.
Knowing people but not knowing what they know, what they fear most is to launch a plan to abolish the throne of Stirling XI. After His Royal Highness Prince Frederi came to power, the Thunder Legion counterattacked, claiming that the Guards Corps deposed the monarch without authorization, which was really treason. , and then marched into the Ibiniste Plains claiming to be rebellious. The result is sour when you think about it...
Therefore, the senior officials of the Guards Corps and the established aristocratic families behind them could only stand still and watch as the Thunder Legion moved machinery and equipment in the Kingdom, gathered refugees, and so on. With this posture, it seems that the Thunder Legion will not stay in the Kingdom for a long time. They can wait for the Thunder Legion to evacuate before launching a mutiny. They have plenty of time and patience.
It's not that they didn't send envoys to contact the Thunder Legion, and they also believed General Albert's words that the Thunder Legion was only here to help the kingdom solve the problem of refugees and refugees, and would soon withdraw to the overseas autonomous territories. But as long as the Thunder Legion is still in the Kingdom, they will never act rashly and give the Thunder Legion an excuse to intervene.
However, after June, the ocean cruising fleet set off again, transporting the first batch of more than 300,000 kingdom refugees. After returning, they told Claude that the Red Dragon Legion of the Kingdom of Ovelas was ready to move. After learning from the Guards and the Gryphon Legion, Sterling XI felt that he could still be saved, and once again collected a war tax from the residents of the Ibinist Plain and the Royal Capital, and gave it to his father-in-law, the Marshal of the Kingdom. Duke Siegfried used military expenses to prompt the Red Dragon Legion to come to conquer the rebellious officers and soldiers of the Thunder Legion who illegally landed in the Kingdom...
This is mainly because after June the Thunder Legion began to shrink its troops and evacuate from the occupied counties in the kingdom. Anyway, everything that needs to be moved has been moved, and the refugees that need to be collected have also gone to Bailu City to wait for the arrival of the transport fleet. Even some local county officials and wealthy families packed up their belongings and evacuated with the Thunder Legion. They were very worried that after the Thunder Legion left, His Majesty the King would send someone to liquidate and hold people accountable...
Perhaps it was this evacuation that gave Sterling XI the illusion that the Thunder Legion, carrying such a large package of refugees and refugees, had little stamina and had to shrink its forces. This gave him a hope, that is, to defeat the Thunder Division and regain his prestige as a king.
This hope is placed on the Red Dragon Legion commanded by his father-in-law. Although his wife died early due to dystocia, his father-in-law really had nothing to say to him. Without the support of his father-in-law, he would not have been able to defeat his eldest brother, Prince Hansback, and ascend to the throne. At the critical moment, his father-in-law's Red Dragon Army could still be relied upon...
It's funny to say that the one that Sterling XI valued most and relied on the most was the Guards Corps. This was the oldest and most powerful regiment in the Kingdom of Overas, but its internal forces were also the most complex. Prince Hansback wanted to eliminate the influence of the old aristocratic families in the Guards Corps, so he was opposed by the Guards Corps. They pushed Prince Wedelek to the throne and proclaimed him Stirling XI. In the kingdom He made great contributions in the civil war.
But now many senior officers in the Guards Corps have regretted selecting the wrong candidate for the throne. Sterling XI's performance is not as convincing as when he was a prince. Especially after becoming the king, he focused on the emerging business nobles who were like losing their families. Instead, he threw aside the forces of the established noble families that had greatly helped him ascend the throne. This caused dissatisfaction among many ministers of the kingdom and officers affiliated with the forces of the established noble families.
Sterling XI was not ignorant of this, but he thought that as a king he would gain the allegiance of the Guards. Over the past three hundred years since the Kingdom of Overas was established, the Guards Corps has always been the most trusted and most relied-upon force for every king, and his king is no exception. Therefore, the matter of fighting should be left to other legions. Suppressing the other two ace field legions who were somewhat disobedient to the command was also one of the main things that he, the king, had to do.
It's just that the Griffin Legion doesn't listen to the instructions. In order for them to go to war, they have to pay a huge amount of military expenses in arrears, which is not cost-effective. After thinking about it, Sterling XI felt that his father-in-law's Red Dragon Legion was more reliable. Adding family affection and a military expenditure could still convince his father-in-law to support him again. After all, in the eyes of his father-in-law, what the Thunder Legion did was indeed a rebellion against the kingdom. As a veteran soldier of the kingdom, it was the right thing to send troops to attack.
However, this much-anticipated war ended in a short time. The Red Dragon Legion was attacked by the Thunder Legion before they arrived at the front line. They only lasted for half a day before the entire Red Dragon Legion collapsed. The muskets are not as accurate as the Thunder Legion, and the projectiles are not as powerful as the long-range explosions thrown by the Thunder Legion. Even the physical fitness and combat consciousness of the soldiers were not as good as those of the Thunder Legion, which was crushed almost in all directions.
Not to mention that the Thunder Legion is still a light cavalry army, and its mobility exceeds that of the Red Dragon Legion several times. In the field, the Red Dragon Legion simply cannot withstand the separate attacks of the Thunder Legion. All the officers and soldiers of the Red Dragon Legion who faced the continuous attacks of the Thunder Legion had the illusion that they were fighting against the many, weak against the strong, and that this small group of them was facing the surprise attack of the entire Thunder Legion. Without a complete and solid defensive position, the officers and soldiers of the Red Dragon Legion were quickly defeated and became prisoners of the Thunder Legion...
The top brass of the Red Dragon Legion, who finally escaped to the Ibiniste Plains, wept together with the legion commander, Kingdom Marshal Duke Siegfried. There were more than 65,000 people in the legion, and less than 7,000 people escaped with them. . This was a huge defeat. One of the kingdom's ace field regiments was wiped out in one battle. Finally, the kingdom's local soldiers could appreciate the combat power of the two second-line regiments of the overseas direct-administered corps that could defeat and eliminate the Hicks Kingdom's ten standing corps. , let them understand why the territorial war zone was able to win that colonial war.
Fortunately, after the Thunder Legion won the battle, they did not take all the prisoners back to the overseas autonomous territories. Instead, they released all the captured soldiers of the Red Dragon Legion. At the same time, they also treated the injured Red Dragon Legion soldiers on the battlefield and collected the war dead. All the corpses were handed over to the officer corps sent by the Red Dragon Legion to accept them, and the weapons and ammunition collected on the battlefield were also thoughtfully returned to them.
In total, nearly 10,000 people were killed by the Red Dragon Legion in this short battle, and more than 20,000 were slightly or seriously injured, which is equivalent to the casualties of half of the troops. The commander of the Red Dragon Legion, Duke Siegfried, the marshal of the kingdom, was so ashamed that he did not even go back to the capital. He quietly returned to their garrison with the remnants of the Red Dragon Legion to lick their wounds... ..
The only benefit of this war to the Thunder Division was that it once again received overtures and wooing from the Guards Corps and the Gryphon Corps. Both regiments invariably sent a group of condolences officers to improve relations. At the same time, the new rifles and new grenades equipped by various units of the Thunder Legion also caught their eyes. However, out of concerns about the powerful combat power of the Thunder Legion, they could only keep it in mind and wait until they returned to study and imitate it.
The Dominion Military District soon received General Albert's summary report on the battle, and Claude disapproved of it. The victory of such War Thunder Legion is inevitable, and the failure will be surprising. Although the Red Dragon Legion is one of the three ace legions of the kingdom, it is an infantry field legion. When encountering a sudden attack by light cavalry regiments like the Thunder Legion in the plains, there is no defensive front to rely on, and a major defeat is inevitable.
Not to mention the difference in weapon performance. Compared with the matchlock gun, the range, power and firing speed of the new rifle are many times higher. If both sides had used matchlock guns, the Red Dragon Legion would not have suffered such heavy casualties. In particular, detailed information about their marching route and the marching position and deployment of each unit were obtained from the Guards Corps. On such a battlefield, the defeat of the Red Dragon Legion became a foregone conclusion.
After this battle, the Thunder Legion's progress in the kingdom was very smooth. The local counties they evacuated from were quickly taken over by the Griffin Legion. The two sides maintained a very tacit understanding. To the surprise of the Griffin Legion, those local counties were no longer burdened by refugees and refugees from the kingdom, had a certain degree of social order, and had begun to see a recovery in production. At least some people are starting to plant winter wheat in some farms and fields outside the town...
For Claude, the 595th year of the Holy Light Calendar was a very peaceful year, and the overseas autonomous territories were in the stage of great post-war production development. Thanks to the large amount of machinery and equipment shipped from the Kingdom, nearly a hundred large-scale manufacturing workshops have appeared in the autonomous states in just one year. This heralds a further increase in the productivity of the overseas autonomous territories and also means that there will be a lot of tax revenue. big gains.
The laying of railway tracks from Vibato Port State to Cromwell State has begun. Railway transportation has finally opened a new transportation chapter in the overseas dominions. In the next three years, the main task of the Dominion Executive Committee is to It will be laid in every town in every state to improve the convenience of commercial logistics and promote the development of railway transportation. Originally, it would take over a month to go from the southernmost state of Aturas to the northernmost mountainous state of Rocky Mountains. But with the railway, this trip will be compressed to seven days.
This attack on the Kingdom's mainland not only gave the overseas autonomous territories the machinery and equipment of a large-scale military industry, but also allowed the autonomous military region to own a large steel refining furnace and forging workshop, which can produce special steel such as gun steel. In addition, it is estimated that more than 1.6 million people from the Kingdom and refugee families will be transported, which will somewhat make up for the lack of human resources in the overseas autonomous territories.
However, at the end of the year, a piece of news came from the colonies on the west coast, which made Claude and others angry, but there was nothing they could do. This news said that the Kingdom of Hicks, the Kingdom of Nasseri, and the Principality of Karnas sent a total of eight legions to invade the newly occupied territory obtained by the Kingdom of Orvilas after the five-year war in the eastern region. The three countries fought It must be a slogan to help the Principality of Rimodra and the Principality of Sidings recover...
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