In March of the year 605 of the Holy Light Calendar, Claude received three pieces of news: two good and one bad. The good news is that the two standing armies of the Hicks Kingdom stationed at the entrance to the Manoli Plain, the Dahli Army and the Faklin Army, laid down their arms and moved the Koona Seaport, Patkara Port and the Manoli Plain. These three local counties surrendered, which meant that the eight local counties in the southern coastal zone of the Hicks Kingdom were firmly in the hands of the Dominion Military District.
After the eight counties along the southern coast were occupied by the Thunder Division and the coalition forces of the Breault Kingdom, it meant that the five seaport towns had opened their doors to the ocean-going transport fleets of the overseas autonomous territories. Relatives and family members of the eight Hicks Returning Division officers and soldiers gathered in the royal capital will have a safe and direct passage to the seaport. They will take the ships of the ocean transport fleet to the Beibu Gulf and then be transported to the Nubisian continent. , becoming a formal immigrant from an overseas dominion...
According to the agreement reached between the Dominion Military Region and the Kingdom of Breout, the three local counties of Coona Seaport, Port Kara and Manori Plain were forcibly separated from the Kingdom of Breout by the Kingdom of Hicks more than 30 years ago. The occupied land will be transferred back to the Breault Kingdom after recovering these three local counties. Claude chose Patkara Port as the port for the relatives of officers and soldiers of the Hicks Returning Division to board the ship because the safety was relatively guaranteed.
The king of the Kingdom of Breault, Avitley I, was very helpful in persuading the Dahli Army and the Faklin Army to lay down their weapons and surrender to the Dominion Military District. The Dahli Legion was originally a local legion formed by the three counties of the Manoli Plain. Most of the officers and soldiers of this legion were locals, and their fathers still remembered that they were from the Breout Kingdom. For this reason, the envoys sent by Avitley I had very smooth contact with them. In the end, Avitley I took the risk to go there in person and persuaded most of the officers and soldiers of the Dahli Army to return to their homeland.
The Faklin Legion was unable to support itself. After the Dahli Legion returned to the Kingdom of Breault, it was left alone. Not only were they shocked by the powerful combat power of the three mountain legions of the Thunder Legion and the Kingdom of Breault, which swept across the 350,000 troops assembled by the Buckler Legion and the Bruce Legion, but also because there was only a single standing legion of more than 60,000 people left. Coupled with the good relationship between the two legion commanders, under the persuasion and introduction of the Dahli legion commander, they put down their weapons smoothly to save the lives of the entire legion officers and soldiers...
The second good news came from General Albert, who was guarding Wangjing. After a three-and-a-half-month investigation, the soldiers of the Storm Legion and the four Hicks Returning Divisions were all at Wangjing St. Hippoly. 270,000 so-called hostile resistance elements and suspected rebels were captured in Anseong and Wanggyong areas. In the process, more than 41,000 resistance members were shot or stabbed to death on the spot because of their armed and hostile resistance. The officers and soldiers of the Storm Legion and Hicks Homecoming Division suffered nearly 6,000 casualties during the arrest and investigation operations.
The end of the inventory operation means that the city of Saint Hyprian in Wangjing and the Wangjing area have indeed been controlled by the Dominion Military District, and the public security order in the local area and in the city has been restored. Maybe there are still resistance groups secretly. But at least on the surface, there will no longer be attacks on occupiers with guns in broad daylight. The officers and soldiers of the Storm Legion and Hicks Homecoming Division no longer have to worry about their lives being in danger by having fun in the tavern near the military camp.
On the surface, this good news means that the Dominion Military Region has completely controlled the situation in St. Hyprian City and the Wangjing area, but the good news secretly is that in the process of tracking down and arresting those resistance elements, the total value of property seized Already nearly thirty million gold crowns.
Worthy of being the dominant power in the North, the wealth of the people in the Kingdom of Hicks has exceeded Claude's imagination. The property currently looted from the Wangjing St. Hyprian City and the Wangjing area alone, plus the seizures from the Hicks royal family's treasury, has already met the goal that the Dominion Military Region hoped to achieve before sending troops, a financial gain of 50 million gold crowns. General Albert even thought that he could simply let go and rob the city of Saint Hyprian in Wangjing and the Wangjing area, and then he could withdraw his troops...
Of course, this is nonsense. Looting property from the Hicks Kingdom will cover the future financial expenditure of the Overseas Dominion Military Region. Although this is one reason for sending troops to the Hicks Kingdom, it is not the main reason. The biggest problem at present is to transport the families and relatives of the eight Hicks Returning Division officers and soldiers gathered to the overseas autonomous territories. The local administrative offices of the autonomous territories will then be responsible for giving these immigrant families a share of land and other properties. Integrate them into the Dominion.
Before the troops were dispatched, the Dominion Military Region estimated that if the number of relatives of a returning division soldier was five to six, the overseas Dominion would receive more than three million new immigrants. But now it seems that this number will far exceed the initial estimate, because the 500,000 or 600,000 military dependents gathered in Wangjing St. Cyprian City total only less than 40,000 family members and relatives of the officers and soldiers of the returning division. Almost every The number of soldiers and relatives who gathered was more than double what was expected.
Originally, these soldiers who participated in the Hicks Kingdom Expeditionary Force were serfs and subjects with the lowest social status. If the colonial war was victorious, these soldiers would still be serfs and subjects after they retired and returned home, and their status would not change. But now that the Kingdom of Hicks failed in the colonial war, these soldiers were all taken as prisoners and served in the overseas autonomous territories. Now that the overseas dominions have agreed to allow them to bring their families to immigrate, this is the best opportunity to change their social status.
Even though they are all small people, they can still think and seize the best opportunity. When I found my family, I brought all my relatives and friends with me. They just changed their names and became cousins. Some even married their wives, and then brought their wives and family with them openly, so that their relatives suddenly increased. This situation has happened to overseas autonomous territories once before. In order to obtain free land from immigrants, the officers and soldiers of the Thunder Legion and the Rock Legion brought more than two million so-called relatives from the kingdom.
It's just that the Thunder Legion and the Rock Legion combined only had more than 100,000 troops back then, but now there are eight Hicks Returning Divisions with nearly 300,000 troops. There are still more than 200,000 failed Hicks prisoners in the overseas dominions. Although they cannot join the returning division, they drag their comrades to bring back their families and relatives, and they have all made up rosters.
If this is the case, it is estimated that the number of people immigrating to the overseas autonomous territories will more than double. For the overseas autonomous territories, transportation capacity will become the biggest difficulty. After all, from the Kingdom of Hicks to White Deer City and then to the Port of Corbichus in the overseas autonomous territories. , the sea voyage is almost twice as far.
Back then, the journey from White Deer Port in the Kingdom to Corbicius Port took about once every two months. The overseas autonomous territories mobilized all transport ships, and with the help of the Kingdom's Storm Fleet, it was completed in one and a half years. This huge transportation task. The overseas dominions' ocean-going transport fleet now has more than 400 large-scale ocean-going sailing transport ships, as well as armored fleet escorts, which can transport 4.5 million people at a time. It seems that the transportation capacity has been greatly increased, but it has also lengthened the sea voyage. Even if one trip is made every three months, it can only make four trips a year, and can only transport a maximum of two million people.
Therefore, the increase in the relatives of these officers and soldiers of the Hicks Returning Division means that while the number of immigrants to overseas autonomous territories has increased, it has also brought more problems. The two legions of the Overseas Dominion Military Region need to stay in the Kingdom of Hicks for a longer time, need to spend more costs on these immigrants, need more war expenditures, and need more shipping capacity... . ..
Bad news from the Noble Alliance. Four months have passed since the Thunder Legion and Storm Legion from the Dominion Military Region made a surprise attack on Saint Hyprian City, the royal capital of the Hicks Kingdom. The local counties of the Hicks Kingdom have already reacted. They have summoned young men to form local garrison forces, and under the leadership of territorial nobles or local officials, they have launched a people's war against the invasion of the Ovelas Kingdom and the overseas autonomous territories.
Since the beginning of the new year, the noble coalition has suffered a lot. They have obtained the right to capture the ten western counties from Claude. In fact, it is the right to plunder property. This territory belongs to you. Whatever you can plunder is your own gain. , the Dominion Military District does not care. The aristocratic coalition of nearly 100,000 troops captured three local counties in the west from the beginning, burning, killing, looting, and doing whatever they wanted. It can be said that they did all kinds of evil...
As news of the misfortune of these three local counties spread, other local counties became vigilant and began to form local defense forces to fight against these evil bandits and robbers. After the aristocratic coalition wiped out the three unlucky local counties, they encountered firm resistance when they prepared to attack the adjacent local counties. After a fierce battle, they finally captured a local county, only to find that this local county had long been fortified and cleared. , there were guerrilla combat teams everywhere, and the noble coalition suffered heavy casualties for a while, so they had no choice but to send a messenger to the Thunder Legion, hoping that Claude could help them.
Claude also wrote a reply directly, rejecting the request to help the noble coalition. In fact, the coalition of 100,000 nobles is already a very powerful force. The problem is that these coalition of nobles have made everyone's pockets rich in the first three western counties. Now they encounter a tough battle and everyone is afraid of death. They hope that the Thunder Legion will come to help them. Be a Kaizi. It's up to the Thunder Legion to charge into battle, and it's up to them to rob and make money. They really regard the Dominion Military Region as a role at their disposal...
Claude had expected that the aristocratic coalition would encounter local resistance, let alone the aristocratic coalition, from the reports of the troops sent by the Hicks Returning Division to various local counties to find the families and relatives of the officers and soldiers. It can be seen how serious the situation is. In the first three months, the officers and soldiers of a battalion of the Hicks Returning Division were able to penetrate into various local counties. Whether it was aristocratic territory or a town directly under the royal family, their operations were very smooth and the progress was very good.
The people who went to search were the officers and soldiers of the Hicks Returning Division. They pretended to be soldiers of the Hicks Kingdom to find the families of the expeditionary officers and soldiers, and they also received assistance and hospitality from the local government. At first, local officials and territorial nobles hoped to obtain information about the current situation from their mouths. Even if they had questions about the family members of these expeditionary officers and soldiers who they inquired and took away, they were also used as hostages and soldiers by these returning division officers and soldiers. The purpose of the prisoner exchange was fooled...
As time went by, these returning division troops who went to various local counties to find the families of expeditionary officers and soldiers also encountered more and more difficulties. Not only were they subject to interrogation by local officials and territorial nobles, they were also subjected to local garrison attacks. Armed siege. Some well-informed territorial nobles even sent people to take the families of the expeditionary troops as hostages, so much so that the Returning Division had to give up its plan to send small groups of troops deep into the local counties to bring back the families of the officers and soldiers.
Even the Red Dragon Legion of the Overas Kingdom, which entered the territory of the Hicks Kingdom to sweep the central local counties, reported that they encountered stubborn resistance when they occupied two local counties. However, the Red Dragon Legion was more powerful after being equipped with new rifles, and easily crushed the local defense forces that resisted. The only shortcoming was the excessive consumption of ammunition. They originally brought three million rounds of ammunition before the expedition, thinking that they could last until the end of the war. However, they did not expect that just by occupying two local counties, one-third of the new rifles were consumed. Bullets...
Prime Minister Blancart sent a hawk message to Claude for this purpose, asking the Dominion Military Region to bear the ammunition consumption of the Red Dragon Legion. Claude also rejected this unreasonable request and wrote back saying that he wanted money to buy the bullets. To paralyze you, you robbed a local county and made at least nearly a million gold crowns. You also asked me for the consumption of bullets and supplies. How could you have the nerve to say it out loud...
Claude now has many headaches, the most important ones being the reunion of the eight Hicks Homecoming Division officers and soldiers with their families and relatives, as well as transportation issues. At present, in the eight southern counties and the overseas autonomous military regions, the local counties that the noble coalition and the Red Dragon Legion have occupied are close to 700,000 to 800,000 military dependents. This has caused a great deal of material supply to the autonomous military regions. Influence.
Although the supplies seized from the Hicks Kingdom are still sufficient, if more military families are gathered and the time goes by, the supplies that need to be consumed will be an astronomical amount of expenditure. Therefore, Claude must get the first batch of military dependents on the ship to the overseas autonomous territories as soon as possible. The top priority is to let them become immigrants and return to normal life.
As for the battle report submitted by the Hicks Returning Division, Claude thought it might as well wait for now. Those returning division officers and soldiers who were eager to reunite with their families and relatives wrote letters to the frontline headquarters of the autonomous military region, actively requesting to attack their hometown counties and rescue their families and relatives...
Claude instructed his adjutants to respond patiently to these officers and soldiers. When the frontline headquarters has arranged the strategic layout, it will command the troops to sweep across the entire Kingdom of Hicks, and the families and relatives of all officers and soldiers will be sent to their homes. Come to the rescue. It's just that things have to be prioritized and sorted. Which county to attack first depends on the actual situation and changes in the situation. I just hope everyone can be patient...
Nonsense, attack those local counties now, then the gathered military families of the returning division officers and soldiers will soon become a burden to the frontline headquarters of the autonomous military region and the occupying forces. Before the ocean fleet has returned, the more military families gathered. , the heavier the burden, it would be better to let them stay in various local counties for a few more months...
People are always forced by real problems and have to learn to consider real problems. In addition to the problem of gathering military families, there is another problem that also troubles all senior officers in the frontline command of the Dominion Military Region, and that is the problem of prisoners.
So far, the two legions under the Dominion Military Region have captured more than half a million prisoners. There are prisoners of officers and soldiers from the four defeated Hicks standing legions, prisoners of surrender from the local garrison, as well as the Storm Legion and the Hicks Legion. The Resistance Division captured by the Kess Returning Division carried out clearance operations in the Wangjing area and the city of Saint Hyprian in Wangjing, as well as local officials and territorial nobles, etc. And the custody of so many prisoners has become a big problem.
Killing them all would be the most thorough solution, but the problem is that you can't kill them all if you can't do it. Otherwise, once the news of the massacre of prisoners spreads, the overseas autonomous territories will become the villain that everyone in the Farea continent calls for death. No one can bear this responsibility. Ten thousand people's accusations will end in vain, and no one in the autonomous territory military region is willing to do so. Be the butcher's choice.
Shipped back to overseas dominions for mining? This method is not bad, but you also need to be alert. If you have this shipping capability, Claude will not worry about the gathering of military relatives. Currently, even transporting military dependents back to overseas autonomous territories as immigrants requires a trip every three months. Where is the transportation capacity to transport these captives...
It is even more impossible to release them all. Once these prisoners are released, it will ensure that the intensity of the Hicks Kingdom's war of resistance will be even higher. It is simply asking for trouble for the next operations of the Dominion Military District's frontline headquarters. But the problem is that holding so many prisoners together involves a lot of manpower, material resources and energy from the frontline command. Just to guard these prisoners requires a Hicks Returning Division. Fortunately, these prisoners do not need to be fed and clothed. It is enough to build some wooden sheds to shelter them from the wind and rain, so that the prisoners can huddle together for warmth...
Fortunately, King Avitley I of the Kingdom of Breault was more generous. He decided to select 200,000 captives and escort them back after the rainy season to fully develop the Manoli Plain. This was really good news for the frontline headquarters of the Dominion Military Region. Claude personally negotiated with Avitley I and persuaded him to agree to take away 300,000 young prisoners.
No matter whether these 300,000 young and strong prisoners are escorted back by the Breault Kingdom to open up wasteland and farm, go into the mountains to mine, or build roads and bridges, etc., it is better than letting the frontline headquarters of the Autonomous Territory Military Region keep these prisoners in vain. If you want to be strong, at least you can get rid of most of these hot gourds, which is a good thing for Claude. As for whether these prisoners live or die when they arrive at the Breault Kingdom, it has nothing to do with the Dominion Military District...
After working for more than half a month, Claude finally remembered that there was a Hicks standing army over there waiting for him to surrender. He hurriedly summoned Colonel Bockard and asked him to compile the information on the Faklin Corps so that he could see how to deal with the surrendered Hicks Standing Corps...