Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 617: Two letters and the Patriotic Front

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"... I don't know what to say, but I believe that the God of War must be protecting our Dominion Military Region. Claude, do you know why the Grand Duke of the North, Duke Pyrag Sy Ferriot, has been silent? "I just got the news from the North, that Duke Piraghi Ferriot has been staying in his family manor to recuperate for the past six months..." Colonel Bockaar said.

"Recuperate?" Claude looked at his young friend in confusion. Perhaps this was the real reason why the Grand Duke of the North, Duke Pyrag.

"Yes." Colonel Bockar nodded. He was very clear about Claude's taboo against Duke Pyrag Syferriot. After all, the Grand Duke of the North had served as the supreme commander of the alliance army. In Polyvisia Later in the battle, Claude's plan was revealed. Evacuating early made Claude fall short. In Claude's heart, the Archduke of the North of Hicks, who had such keen battlefield intuition, was his real opponent in this attack on the Kingdom of Hicks.

What Claude didn't expect was that the Thunder Legion and the Storm Legion ravaged the Kingdom of Hicks, captured the royal capital Saint Cyprian City, swept through the eight counties in the south and the nine counties in the east, and stirred up the surrounding vassal countries to covet the Kingdom of Hicks. . More than half a year has passed, but the Grand Duke Hicks of the North is like a turtle with no movement in the North. The Dominion Military Region has no spies stationed in the northern plateau of the Hicks Kingdom, so they can only dispatch them temporarily. Only now can confirmable news come back.

"I believe that even the vast majority of the nobles of the Kingdom of Hicks don't know the news that Duke Pyrag Heath Ferriott was injured. It is said that the Ferriott family immediately took confidentiality measures to block the news to prevent Discovered by that Melchid III. Because this Melchid III once dealt with an old nobleman who had a conflict with him. When the old nobleman was ill, he summoned him to the royal capital and traveled back and forth, which eventually led to his death... ..

Now that the Grand Duke of the North has almost recovered from his injury after recovering for half a year, the people in their family have relaxed a little. In addition, the Kingdom of Hicks has been conquered by our autonomous military area. It is difficult to say whether it will still exist in the future. The servants in the manor are talking. He felt a lot more relaxed, and inadvertently revealed the secret of the injury that the Duke of the North had been nursing for more than half a year. Our agent hooked up with a maid at the Ferriott family estate, and the maid told him the secret when they were having sex.

The maid said that after the Archduke of the North returned to the country last time, the crazy King Melchid III was deprived of his military position in the kingdom, and even lost the rank of marshal. She let the Archduke of the North go home and make mistakes behind closed doors. Just before our Dominion Military Region was preparing to attack the Kingdom of Hicks, civil strife broke out in a barbarian country surrounding the Northland. The Grand Duke of the Northland led his family's border defense corps to quell the chaos. However, he was unlucky and was snatched up by a hidden barbarian before the war ended. Hit in the right chest...

Because the lead bullets used by these barbarian gunmen were soaked in venom and fecal water, the wound of the Northern Archduke who was shot quickly became inflamed and he almost couldn't be saved. Later, a mysterious doctor came and used a strange flesh insect to eat up all the carrion around the wound. The insect spit out saliva and formed a mucous membrane to seal the bleeding wound. Only then did the Grand Duke of the North come back. Because the injury was so serious, it took more than half a year to recover... "

No wonder the Grand Duke of the North has been quiet. The two Hicks kingdoms that went to join his standing legions only chose places to stick to the North. What's the name of that one? The Grand Duke of Sunset River was able to assemble more than 100,000 civilian armed forces, claiming that 300,000 were transferred to the ten western counties to compete for territory and raise flags to become king. If the Grand Duke of the North was in good health, maybe he would have suppressed the Grand Duke of Sunset River long ago and would not have let him leave the eleven northern counties at all...

Of course, this may be the result of the Grand Duke of the North's deliberate laissez-faire. He asked the Grand Duke of Sunset River to go out to the ten western counties just to test the bottom line of the autonomous territory's strategy. Is this the end of the story or does he want to sweep the entire Hicks Kingdom. After recovering from his injury for half a year, he should be able to think carefully about the current situation. After all, it is related to the future of his family, the Grand Duke of the North...

But no matter what, the Grand Duke of the North has lost the opportunity. His current situation is that he has more than enough to protect himself and not enough to make progress. Claude didn't want to provoke the Grand Duke of the North, and insisted on deciding the outcome with him. In his opinion, after finally conquering the remaining six counties in the west and allowing the families of the last batch of officers and soldiers from the Hicks Returning Division to reunite and immigrate to the overseas autonomous territories, this time the Hicks Kingdom raid can be a perfect end. There is no need to sacrifice the precious lives of the soldiers to confront the Duke of the North head-on. Avoid it if you can.

"Let's do this, I'll write two letters, and you find two reliable people to be the messengers, and deliver these two letters to the Grand Duke of the North and the Grand Duke of the Sunset River who occupies the western region." Claude said to Boker said the colonel. If possible, he would not even attack the remaining six local counties in the west. After all, the Grand Duke of Sunset River still has over 100,000 troops under his command. With the garrison troops from six local counties, there are still more than 300,000 troops. To conquer the Storm Legion, it will require a lot of casualties... ..

Colonel Bockard nodded, slowly tasting the fruit wine in the glass while waiting for Claude to finish writing his two letters. The letter that Claude wrote to Duke Pyrag Syferriot was nothing more than a long-standing admiration, and then he told his difficulties in conquering the Kingdom of Hicks, which meant that he encountered a paranoid man like Melchid III. The king had no choice but to take this step. Otherwise, there will be no peace in the Kingdom of Ovilas and the overseas autonomous territories in the next few decades. Peace can only be achieved by solving this Melchid III.

Just now, Colonel Boker said that the news that the Grand Duke of the North was injured had to be hidden from Mechid III. So Claude believed that the Grand Duke of the North would not be a die-hard loyalist of the Hicks royal family, and he also knew very well that Claude Did De mean what he said? The presence of such a paranoid king will indeed cause headaches for the ministers below. It should be said that this Melchid III brought it upon himself. If he had admitted defeat earlier and signed an armistice and peace agreement, Claude would not have been interested in the Hicks Kingdom, and this sudden disaster to the Hicks Kingdom could have been avoided.

Claude stated in the letter that he would not send troops to the eleven northern counties because the officers and soldiers of the Hicks Returning Division who were going to immigrate to the overseas autonomous territories did not come from the northern region. At that time, most of the rebellious lords were in the western, central, eastern and southern regions. After their failure, Melchid III punitively recruited young men from their territories to form the Nubisian Continental Expeditionary Force to carry out the war with the Dominion Military Region. colonial war.

If the Hicks Kingdom had allowed those Hicks prisoners released by the Dominion Military District a few years ago to return home to visit their relatives, then this war might not have happened. However, Melchid III declared that these captives who came back to visit relatives were traitors to the kingdom, and they would be hanged if caught. This ultimately aroused the anger of more than 500,000 Hicks captives living in overseas autonomous territories.

The year before last, King Michael Kidd III saw that the Hicks Volunteer Division formed by the Dominion Military Region performed exceptionally well in the war on the west coast, and he had bad intentions again. He wanted to use these two Hicks Volunteer Divisions to gain territory for the Hicks Kingdom on the west coast. Colonies sent special envoys to persuade them to rebel, which forced Claude to decide to implement the Hicks Kingdom attack plan and eliminate this henchman.

Claude told the letter very straightforwardly the reasons why the Dominion Military Region attacked the Kingdom of Hicks. He promised that the Dominion Military Region would not occupy an inch of the territory of the Kingdom of Hicks, and that the officers and soldiers of the Hicks Returning Division would be reunited and immigrate to the Dominion overseas. He would evacuate after the mission, so he hoped there would be no misunderstandings with the Ferriot family. The Dominion Military Region will not attack the eleven counties in the North. At the same time, we hope that the Grand Duke of the North will not leave the eleven counties in the north. Otherwise, there will be misunderstandings and conflicts, which is what everyone does not want to see...

Seal the envelope, add wax and stamp it, and the letter is finished. Then came another letter to the Grand Duke of Sunset River. In this letter, Claude didn't say any nonsense. He only proposed an exchange condition, pointing out that the remaining six local counties in the west were the next targets of the Dominion Military Region. , if the Grand Duke of Sunset River does not resist and surrender, then Claude can hand over Wangjing Saint Hyprian City and Wangjing area to his management before evacuating...

I believe that the Grand Duke of Sunset River will definitely think twice about such conditions. Wangjing Saint Hyprian City and Wangjing area have always been the essence of the Hicks Kingdom, and they are not remote places like the ten western counties. Moreover, the Grand Duke of Sunset River is a member of the Hicks royal family. He can completely claim to be orthodox after occupying the royal capital, Saint Hyprian City, and then build the Hicks Kingdom. Of course, whether other forces are willing to obey him is another matter.

There was nothing Claude could do to put forward such conditions. Originally, he planned to transfer the remaining ten local counties in the central region, together with the city of Saint Cyprian of Wangjing and the Wangjing area, to a separatist force. But the problem is that the local garrison armed organization called the Patriotic Front selected by the Ministry of Military Intelligence is a bit unable to get on the stage. To put it bluntly, this organization called the Patriotic Front is a puppet military organization that has taken refuge in the autonomous military region. The local defense forces established are also to maintain social order in local towns.

The Patriotic Front was headed by a territorial baron, who was the first to defect to the Dominion Military District. Although he is a member of the territorial nobles of the Hicks Kingdom, his family belongs to a poor family among the territorial nobles. The poor family does not even have new clothes, they are all patched, and they have to go to the fields to farm. The soldiers who arrested the local territorial nobles went to his house. Looking from left to right, he didn't look like a territorial noble. He looked poorer than the average town residents...

However, this baron named Laux was a smart man. He immediately defected to the Dominion Military Region and became a leader. Starting from the first central local county along the way, Westgate County, he led the officers and soldiers of the Thunder Legion to catch all the territorial nobles, local officials, and wealthy merchants and gentry along the way. No one slipped through the net, not even these It was clear how much property the arrested family owned.

A major officer who led the team was curious and asked him how he knew the details of these rich people so well. As a result, the territorial baron burst into tears when he talked about it. Starting from his father, he indulged in the dream of going out to explore for minerals and make a fortune. Then he mortgaged everything in the family and took out a debt. As a result, they were deceived. The mountainous land they purchased was a piece of land with no mineral resources, and their family was saddled with a heavy debt...

Before his father passed away in grief and anger, the three brothers in their family were so humble for the title. No one wanted to be a baron in this territory. The territory had been mortgaged. Whoever inherited the title would be responsible for the family debt. As a result, he was unlucky to win the lottery. , he became a bald territorial baron. In addition to this title, he also had an unpayable debt. The reason why he knew the details of the rich people in the towns along the way was because he had borrowed money from these rich people.

Speaking of which, he is considered smart. He knows very well that the amount of debt his family owes is too huge, and the annual interest is his biggest expense. So he tried to find a way to borrow money from these rich people to pay off the huge debt. In this way, by paying off some of other people's debts every year, he could have hope of paying off his debts. For example, the original debt of 10,000 yuan was divided into twenty 500 yuan, so that one debt could be repaid every year. Firstly, it could reduce the interest, and secondly, it could pay off these debts...

Well now, the Dominion Military District has come, and he has become the leader. He has wiped out all the creditors and is now debt-free. Moreover, he was able to beat down the Thunder officers and soldiers when they ransacked their homes, and even threw those things he didn't like into his hands, and he was considered rich. Because of his good work, he was appointed as the head of the local garrison. He gathered some leading parties who also defected to the Autonomous Territory Military Region and formed a Patriotic Front to do some errands for the Autonomous Territory Military Region.

Claude really doesn't understand how Colonel Boquear chose this member of the Patriotic Front organization to support them to become a separatist force. Speaking of which, these should be considered traitors. He is loyal to the Dominion Military Region, but his ability is too poor. . Claude was very dissatisfied with this, but the Military Intelligence Department screamed that they were wronged. They said how could they find a hero in such a short period of time? It would be better to take advantage of these leading parties who seemed to be honest and obedient... ..

But the problem is that these honest and obedient leaders are all helpless Adou! Even if Colonel Bokoal says they have great potential, they will grow as long as they are given the opportunity and time to develop. But where is the time for them to develop slowly? For example, just like the Red Dragon Legion, because Claude rejected their request for additional troops, they put down the three occupied local counties and gathered troops to attack another central local county that had not yet been cleared. I am also preparing to make a big profit and evacuate...

So the frontline command of the Dominion Military Region asked the Patriotic Front formed by the leading party to take over the three central local counties that had been abandoned by the Red Dragon Legion. As a result, these leading parties were severely beaten and driven back by the local escort formed by the local gentry who had defected to the Red Dragon Legion. In the end, the Storm Legion sent a light cavalry field regiment to sweep away these chaotic local armed forces again, and by the way, they made a small fortune to allow these leading parties to gain a firm foothold.

With the Patriotic Front's little ability, how could it be possible to achieve the three-legged situation of the Hicks Kingdom after the withdrawal of the entire army planned by the Autonomous Territory Military District? On one side is the Grand Duke of the North, who owns basic territory and family force. On one side is the force of the Protectorate Army. The former commander of the Hicks Falklin Legion, Count Murides J. Kleist, is not a simple figure. He has direct descendants. Compared with these two parties, the leading party of the Patriotic Front is simply useless.

To put it harshly, for the ten local counties in the central part of the country, each of the leading parties of the Patriotic Front will have one local county. Claude believes that once the troops from the Dominion Military Region withdraw, they will still kill each other and fight with each other. Not to mention resisting the forces of the Northern Archduke and the Protectorate Army. Even if the city of Saint Hyprian of Wangjing and the Wangjing area were handed over to them, it would be in vain, and it might just make them die faster. That's why Claude chose another candidate and took a fancy to the Grand Duke of Sunset River.

Handing Wangjing Saint Hyprian City and the Wangjing area to the Grand Duke of Sunset River will make him a thorn in the side of the Protectorate Army. The first person that the Protectorate Army must deal with must be the Grand Duke of Sunset River. But there are also hidden dangers in the forces of the National Protectorate. Behind him is the eyeing Duke of the North. In this way, the forces of the Protector of the National Army will use the enemy's weapon. If they cannot defeat the Grand Duke of Sunset River in one fell swoop, they will have to unite with them to deal with the Grand Duke of the North.

The Grand Duke of Sunset River, who controlled the city of Saint Hyprian in Wangjing and the Wangjing area, was inferior to the Protectorate Army in terms of power, so he would inevitably turn his annexation target to the ten central local counties controlled by the Patriotic Front. If these leading parties of the Patriotic Front want to avoid being annexed by the Sunset River Grand Duke, they can only cooperate sincerely to resist the Sunset River Grand Duke. In this way, the situation in the entire Hicks Kingdom has formed a delicate balance, and no one can be sure of it. Swallowing the target is the only way to maintain it.

Claude handed the two written letters to Colonel Boquear and asked him to find two reliable messengers to deliver the letters to the Grand Duke of Northland and the Grand Duke of Sunset River respectively. He believed that the Grand Duke of the North would not act rashly after reading his letter. He would send troops to the North to fight against the Dominion Military Region. We are all smart people and would avoid unnecessary battles if possible. As for how the Sunset River Grand Guild would choose Claude, I really can't say for sure. It doesn't matter if he doesn't agree. Under the attack of the Storm Legion, he will only end up being trampled...

The Kingdom of Hicks has fifty-three local counties and the Wangjing area. Now the nine eastern counties are gone. The Kingdom of Breault has annexed four. The remaining five local counties have also been annexed by the former vassal brother of the Kingdom of Hicks, the Saint. The Principality of Cruz and the Kingdom of Castro were swallowed up. Only five of the eight counties on the southern coast were left, and the three counties of the Manoli Plain returned to the Breault Kingdom.

After the ten western counties are swept away by the Storm Legion and then given to the three surrounding countries, the Kingdom of Monadillo, the Principality of Tumaco and the Kingdom of Isabella, the remaining territory of the Hicks Kingdom will only be in the north. Eleven counties and five southern counties, plus fifteen central counties and a Wangjing area.

If such a large territory is divided and occupied by four separatist forces, the strength of those four forces will not be much different from that of an ordinary principality. They will no longer be able to cause trouble for the Kingdom of Ovelas and the overseas autonomous territories in the future. . Now Claude only hopes that these four forces can fight for as long as possible in the future, preferably forever...